Proteomic tools for quantitation by mass spectrometry

Techniques for the quantitation of proteins and peptides by mass spectrometry (MS) are reviewed. A range of labeling processes is discussed, including metabolic, enzymatic, and chemical labeling, and techniques that can be employed for comparative and absolute quantitation are presented. Advantages and drawbacks of the techniques are discussed, and suggestions for the appropriate uses of the methodologies are explained. Overall, the metabolic incorporation of isotopic labels provides the most accurate labeling strategy, and is most useful when an internal standard for comparative quantitation is needed. However, that technique is limited to research that uses cultured cells.     

Fate of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during composting of bovine manure in a laboratory-scale bioreactor

Inactivation profiles of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in inoculated bovine manure-based compost ingredients were determined by composting these ingredients in a bioreactor under controlled conditions. A 15-liter bioreactor was constructed to determine the fate of E. coli O157:H7 and changes in pH, moisture content, temperature, and aerobic mesophilic and thermophilic bacterial counts during composting. Fresh cow manure, wheat straw, cottonseed meal, and ammonium sulfate were combined to obtain a moisture content of ca. 60% and a carbon/nitrogen ratio of 29:1. The compost ingredients were held in the bioreactor at a constant external temperature of 21 or 50 degrees C. Self-heating of the ingredients due to microbial activity occurred during composting, with stratified temperatures occurring within the bioreactor. At an external temperature of 21 degrees C, self-heating occurred for 0 to 3 days, depending on the location within the bioreactor. E. coli O157:H7 populations increased by 1 to 2 log10 CFU/g during the initial 24 h of composting and decreased by ca. 3.5 log10 CFU/g near the bottom of the bioreactor and by ca. 2 log10 CFU/g near the middle and at the top during 36 days of composting. At an external temperature of 50 degrees C. E. coli O157:H7 was inactivated rapidly (by ca. 4.9 log10 CFU/g at the top of the bioreactor, by 4.0 log10 CFU/g near the middle, and by 5.9 log10 CFU/g near the bottom) within 24 h of composting. When inoculated at an initial level of ca. 10(7) CFU/g. E. coli O157:H7 survived for 7 days but not for 14 days at all three sampling locations, as indicated by either direct plating or enrichment culture. At the top of the bioreactor a relatively constant moisture content of 60% was maintained, whereas the moisture content near the bottom decreased steadily to 37 to 45% over 14 days of composting. The pH of the composting mixture decreased to ca. 6 within 1 to 3 days and subsequently increased to 8 to 9. Results obtained in this study indicate that large populations (10(4) to 10(7) CFU/g) of E coli O157:H7 survived for 36 days during composting in a bioreactor at an external temperature of 21 degrees C but were inactivated to undetectable levels after 7 to 14 days when the external temperature of the bioreactor was 50 degrees C. Hence, manure contaminated with large populations (e.g., 10(7) CFU/g) of E. coli O157:H7 should be composted for more than 1 week, and preferably for 2 weeks, when held at a minimum temperature of 50 degrees C.     

Car insurance and the risk of car crash injury

Despite speculation about the role of vehicle insurance in road traffic accidents, there is little research estimating the direction or extent of the risk relationship. Data from the Auckland Car Crash Injury Study (1998–1999) were used to examine the association between driving an uninsured motor vehicle and car crash injury. Cases were all cars involved in crashes in which at least one occupant was hospitalized or killed anywhere in the Auckland region. Controls were 588 drivers of randomly selected cars on Auckland roads. Participants completed a structured interview. Uninsured drivers had significantly greater odds of car crash injury compared to insured drivers after adjustment for age, sex, level of education, and driving exposure (odds ratio 4.77, 95% confidence interval 2.94–7.75). The causal mechanism for insurance and car crash injury is not easily determined. Although we examined the effects of multiple potential confounders in our analysis including socioeconomic status and risk-taking behaviours, both of which have been previously observed to be associated with both insurance status and car crash injury, residual confounding may partly explain this association. The estimated proportion of drivers who are uninsured is between 5 and 15% in developed countries, representing a significant public health problem worthy of further investigation.     

Does green tea affect postprandial glucose,insulin and satiety in healthy subjects: a randomized controlled trial

Background  

Results of epidemiological studies have suggested that consumption of green tea could lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. Intervention studies show that green tea may decrease blood glucose levels, and also increase satiety. This study was conducted to examine the postprandial effects of green tea on glucose levels, glycemic index, insulin levels and satiety in healthy individuals after the consumption of a meal including green tea.     

Orthogonal rotation-invariant moments for digital image processing

Orthogonal rotation-invariant moments (ORIMs), such as Zernike moments, are introduced and defined on a continuous unit disk and have been proven powerful tools in optics applications. These moments have also been digitized for applications in digital image processing. Unfortunately, digitization compromises the orthogonality of the moments and, therefore, digital ORIMs are incapable of representing subtle details in images and cannot accurately reconstruct images. Typical approaches to alleviate the digitization artifact can be divided into two categories: 1) careful selection of a set of pixels as close approximation to the unit disk and using numerical integration to determine the ORIM values, and 2) representing pixels using circular shapes such that they resemble that of the unit disk and then calculating ORIMs in polar space. These improvements still fall short of preserving the orthogonality of the ORIMs. In this paper, in contrast to the previous methods, we propose a different approach of using numerical optimization techniques to improve the orthogonality. We prove that with the improved orthogonality, image reconstruction becomes more accurate. Our simulation results also show that the optimized digital ORIMs can accurately reconstruct images and can represent subtle image details.     

Global learning on carbon capture and storage: A call for strong international cooperation on CCS demonstration

Closing the gap between carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) rhetoric and technical progress is critically important to global climate mitigation efforts. Developing strong international cooperation on CCS demonstration with global coordination, transparency, cost-sharing and communication as guiding principles would facilitate efficient and cost-effective collaborative global learning on CCS, would allow for improved understanding of the global capacity and applicability of CCS, and would strengthen global trust, awareness and public confidence in the technology.     

Unrestricted ramping rates and long‐term trends in the food web metrics of a boreal river

Long‐term monitoring of the food web of a regulated hydropeaking river was conducted to assess if previously documented effects of changing ramping rates (RRs) were maintained with the addition of 6 years of data. Using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses, we hypothesized that: (1) macroinvertebrates and fish inhabiting areas below peaking hydrodams would be higher in δ¹⁵N and lower in δ¹³C due to increased flow velocity and the influence of light respired dissolved inorganic carbon, relative to those sampled from areas with a natural flow regime; (2) the increase in δ¹⁵N of macroinvertebrates would lead a shorter food web length in the regulated river, but δ¹³C and niche width would be similar between the restricted and unrestricted RR periods (i.e., the BACI analysis); and (3) isotopic metrics (e.g., δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, niche width [SEA_B], and food chain length [Δ¹⁵N]) would correlate with variations in flow characteristics through time. Consistent with previous analysis conducted over a shorter time period, a shift toward higher δ¹⁵N values was observed for both fish and invertebrates, but, contrarily, only invertebrates (not fish) had a lower δ¹³C value downstream of the dam. Over the long term, the before‐after‐control‐impact analysis found no effect of RRs on any of the food web metrics, implying that the change in operation did not affect the river food web. However, analysis of the time series data indicated that flow metrics and trophic metrics were often correlated, including a negative effect of RR (invertebrates) and discharge (fish) on food chain length. This study illustrates the difficulty in detecting changes in food web structure and function under changing flow regime influenced by natural and anthropogenic effects. As such, this study highlights the need for considering large spatial and temporal scales to differentiate between confounding effects of climate, natural variability, and altered flow regimes on food webs in regulated rivers.