Challenges in researching racially sensitive topics in HMOs.

When research designed to close the disparities gap is conducted in real-world health care settings, unique sensitivities may arise, particularly when race is the focus of interventions. Researchers encountered this issue in the course of a randomized trial investigating the influence of ethnic identity (EI) among African American (AA) study participants. The study was conducted by the research programs at three health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and the University of Michigan Center for Health Communications Research, as described in this issue of the journal (Resnicow et al., 2009). This commentary describes the research partnership’s concerns for the racially sensitive nature of the study and the precautions undertaken to mitigate them. The research study’s experiences may be informative and insightful for health plans and research centers invested in health disparities research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Fragment‐Based Approach to Probing Adenosine Recognition Sites by Using Dynamic Combinatorial Chemistry

A new strategy that combines the concepts of fragment‐based drug design and dynamic combinatorial chemistry (DCC) for targeting adenosine recognition sites on enzymes is reported. We demonstrate the use of 5′‐deoxy‐5′‐thioadenosine as a noncovalent anchor fragment in dynamic combinatorial libraries templated by Mycobacterium tuberculosis pantothenate synthetase. A benzyl disulfide derivative was identified upon library analysis by HPLC. Structural and binding studies of protein–ligand complexes by X‐ray crystallography and isothermal titration calorimetry informed the subsequent optimisation of the DCC hit into a disulfide containing the novel meta‐nitrobenzyl fragment that targets the pantoate binding site of pantothenate synthetase. Given the prevalence of adenosine‐recognition motifs in enzymes, our results provide a proof‐of‐concept for using this strategy to probe adjacent pockets for a range of adenosine binding enzymes, including other related adenylate‐forming ligases, kinases, and ATPases, as well as NAD(P)(H), CoA and FAD(H₂) binding proteins.     

Social cues influence foraging in dwarf hamsters (Phodopus campbelli).

In 2 experiments, dwarf hamsters (Phodopus campbelli) were trained to find palatable foods in an open field. The location of each food patch remained the same throughout each experiment, and only 1 food was available per day. Once subjects had been trained to find each food in its unique location, they progressed to a testing phase in which subjects’ mates were allowed to eat and hoard the food that was available in the open field each day. The foods that subjects’ mates brought back to the home cages then served as discriminative stimuli signaling which food could be obtained in the open field. Subjects generally approached the patch containing the food hoarded by their mates, suggesting that dwarf hamster burrows could function as information centers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Keeping PV projects alive : Financial sustainability of PV implementation in Swaziland

During the past 10 years, more than 700 Solar Home Systems (SHS) have been implemented in Swaziland, Southern Arfica through an innovative project initiated by the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN). In this article Petra Lasschuit, Chris Westra and Gwen van Roekel, from the ECN describe how the project has provided valuable lessons regarding financial sustainability, the core ingredient of successful PV implementation programmes.     

An ecosystem health assessment of the Detroit River and western Lake Erie

The Canada-U.S. State of the Strait Conference is a biennial forum with a 22-year history of assessing ecosystem status and providing advice to improve research, monitoring, and management of the Detroit River and western Lake Erie. The 2019 conference focused on assessing ecosystem health based on 61 indicators. Although there has been considerable improvement in the Detroit River since the 1960s, much additional cleanup is needed to restore ecosystem health. Western Lake Erie is now at risk of crossing several potential tipping points caused by the interactions of a variety of drivers and their stresses. This assessment identified eight environmental and natural resource challenges: climate change; population growth/transportation expansion/land use changes; chemicals of concern; human health/environmental justice; aquatic invasive species; habitat loss/degradation; nonpoint source pollution; and eutrophication/harmful algal blooms. Specific recommendations for addressing each challenge were also made. Climate change is the most pressing environmental challenge of our time and considered a “threat multiplier” whereby warmer, wetter, and more extreme climatic conditions amplify other threats such as poor air quality effects on vulnerable residents, species changes, and nonpoint source runoff and combined sewer overflow events that contribute to eutrophication and can manifest as harmful algal blooms. Our assessment found that investments in monitoring and evaluation are insufficient and that the region's intellectual and environmental capital is not being leveraged sufficiently to address current challenges. Continued investment in this transnational network is essential to support ecosystem-based management.     

Facile Stereoselective Reduction of Prochiral Ketones by using an F420-dependent Alcohol Dehydrogenase

Effective procedures for the synthesis of optically pure alcohols are highly valuable. A commonly employed method involves the biocatalytic reduction of prochiral ketones. This is typically achieved by using nicotinamide cofactor-dependent reductases. In this work, we demonstrate that a rather unexplored class of enzymes can also be used for this. We used an F₄₂₀-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase (ADF) from Methanoculleus thermophilicus that was found to reduce various ketones to enantiopure alcohols. The respective (S) alcohols were obtained in excellent enantiopurity (>99 % ee). Furthermore, we discovered that the deazaflavoenzyme can be used as a self-sufficient system by merely using a sacrificial cosubstrate (isopropanol) and a catalytic amount of cofactor F₄₂₀ or the unnatural cofactor FOP to achieve full conversion. This study reveals that deazaflavoenzymes complement the biocatalytic toolbox for enantioselective ketone reductions.