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Human natural killer (NK) lymphocytes play a central role in immune system defense against viral infection and against the formation of primary tumors. Organotin (OT) pesticides have been used in industrial and agricultural applications, and OT contamination has been reported in water, sediment, and fish. Carbamate pesticides are currently used in agricultural chemicals. Two specific carbamates used in agriculture are ziram and maneb; ziram also is used as an additive in rubber products including latex gloves. In previous studies we demonstrated that at concentrations in the 150200 nM range, the OTs tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPT) were capable of disrupting the function of human NK cells after incubations to as short as 24 h. Previously, we also examined the effects of ziram and maneb at higher concentrations on the cytotoxic function of human NK cells. The current study examined the effects of exposure of up to 6 days to lower concentrations of each of these compounds on the cytotoxic function of NK cells. The OTs were studied at concentrations ranging from 200 to 10 nM; ziram was studied at concentrations of 2.5 M125 nM and maneb at concentrations of 101 M. These conditions were studied both in highly purified NK cells and in a mixture of lymphocytes containing both T and NK cells. As little as 25 nM TBT decreased the function of purified NK cells after 24 and 48 h, whereas 10 nM TBT was effective after 6 days. The lowest level of TPT that was effective at 24 h was 50 nM whereas the results after 48 h and 6 days were similar to those seen with TBT. The presence of T lymphocytes diminished the effects of both TBT and TPT on NK cytotoxic function. A concentration of ziram as low as 125 nM produced significant loss of cytotoxic function in highly purified NK cells (65% decrease in function after 6 days). The toxicity of each of the compounds studied increased very significantly with length of exposure. 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 19: 554563, 2004 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about several papers discussed at the 2017 Business Analysis Conference sponsored by the British Computer Society (BCS), International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) and other organizations is presented. Topics discussed include how robotic process automation can mimic user behaviour, decision making and leadership skills in business. The event featured notable speakers which include Melanie Byrne, Roger Ashwood and Adrian Reed.

HAVING VENTED his frustration on the politics of UK renewables policy on the Renewable Energy Focus website, Altium''s Adrian Reed gets more off his chest, talking in depth to Gail Rajgor. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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Hillslope runoff and leaching studies, catchment-scale water quality measurements and P retention and release characteristics of stream bank and catchment soils were used to better understand reasons behind the reported ineffectiveness of riparian buffers for phosphorus (P) management in catchments with sandy soils from south-west Western Australia (WA). Catchment-scale water quality measurements of 60 % particulate P (PP) suggest that riparian buffers should improve water quality; however, runoff and leaching studies show 20 times more water and 2 to 3 orders of magnitude more P are transported through leaching than runoff processes. The ratio of filterable reactive P (FRP) to total P (TP) in surface runoff from the plots was 60 %, and when combined with leachate, 96 to 99 % of P lost from hillslopes was FRP, in contrast with 40 % measured as FRP at the large catchment scale. Measurements of the P retention and release characteristics of catchment soils (<2 mm) compared with stream bank soil (<2 mm) and the <75-μm fraction of stream bank soils suggest that catchment soils contain more P, are more P saturated and are significantly more likely to deliver FRP and TP in excess of water quality targets than stream bank soils. Stream bank soils are much more likely to retain P than contribute P to streams, and the in-stream mixing of FRP from the landscape with particulates from stream banks or stream beds is a potential mechanism to explain the change in P form from hillslopes (96 to 99 % FRP) to large catchments (40 % FRP). When considered in the context of previous work reporting that riparian buffers were ineffective for P management in this environment, these studies reinforce the notion that (1) riparian buffers are unlikely to provide fit-for-purpose P management in catchments with sandy soils, (2) most P delivered to streams in sandy soil catchments is FRP and travels via subsurface and leaching pathways and (3) large catchment-scale water quality measurements are not good indicators of hillslope P mobilisation and transport processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the legal and political risk of offshore renewable energy (ORE) development in the British Islands. It mentions that such exploitation creates a central pillar of Great Britain's plans for a decarbonised economy along with its aim in reducing costs and offering of long-term visibility to investors. It notes the major role of the law in corresponding to such goals through a reform on the electricity market and removal of barriers by ameliorating infrastructure planning.

Introduces a special issue on the social and economic dimensions of biotechnology in Great Britain. Definition; Biotechnology-based companies; Social scientic issues.

In assessing the likely demand for biotechnology products it is not sufficient just to look at what is happening in firms and their immediate market environment. There is no one 'market' for biotechnology products: there are differences between sectors and between countries. You have instead to look at the institutional contexts of the biotechnology product's development. This paper reviews work which has been carried out by social scientists, especially those using 'social shaping' approaches, on the development of new products based on advances in biotechnology and on the creation of markets to go with these products. It examines work on public attitudes to the exploitation of the technology, focusing especially on the issue of social inclusion and exclusion and how biotechnology might make exclusion more likely. It concludes by considering what current differences in public attitudes to the development of some biotechnology-based products might mean for the development of markets for those products in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examples of sediment budgets are needed to document the range of budget types and their controls. Sediment budgets for three small agricultural catchments (7.6 to 15.6 km2) in southwestern Australia are dominated by channel and gully erosion, with sheet and rill erosion playing a subordinate role. Erosion was increased by clearing naturally swampy valley floors and hillslopes for agriculture and grazing, and episodic intense rainstorms. The proportion of sediment from channel and gully erosion in the sediment budget appears to be determined by the depth of alluvial fills. Dryland salinization caused by clearing native vegetation has connected hillslopes to channels across narrow floodplains, increasing the Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR). Yield and SDR are found to be insensitive to major in-catchment changes of vegetation cover after initial clearing, the ratio of sheet and rill erosion/channel and gully erosion, and sediment storage masses. This supports the idea that yield alone is often a poor indicator of the impact of land use and land management change. Riparian vegetation would reduce sediment yield but not phosphorus yield. This study demonstrates the value of mixed methods where field observations and chemical analysis are combined with information from local people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A list of referees from around the world that the editor would like to extend his gratitude to is presented. The success of the publication of the "Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavia" would not have been possible without the help and support of John Augoustides, Elisabeth Gaertner, and Anna-Marie Münster.

EASTERN REGION PELLISSIPPI STATE TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE TRANSFORAMINAL LUMBAR INTERBODY FUSION: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF LONG-TERM PAIN RELIEF AND FUSION OUTCOMES. Cody A. Chastain and Scott Hodges, Southern [...]