We have isolated a cDNA encoding an apo(a)-related protein designated HaRP-1 (Hedgehog apo(a) related protein-1). The HaRP-1 cDNA (2114 bp; corresponding to a 2.6 kb transcript) was isolated from a hedgehog liver cDNA library. The HaRP-1 clone corresponded to an open reading frame of 676 amino acids and contains a signal sequence followed by a preactivation domain and 7 kringle domains which exhibit an average of 57% amino acid identity with hedgehog plasminogen kringle III. We expressed HaRP-1 in human embryonic kidney cells; immunoprecipitation of metabolically-labeled conditioned medium from transfected cells showed the presence of a 74 kDa band corresponding to HaRP-1. Of note, we also observed an approximately 72 kDa species present in hedgehog plasma by western blotting using a human anti-apo(a) monoclonal antibody; we speculate that the 72 kDa plasma species corresponds to HaRP-1. Interestingly, although none of the 7 kringle domains contained a canonical lysine-binding site, we found that recombinant HaRP-1 bound specifically to lysine-Sepharose. It is likely that the evolution of the HaRP-1 gene is coincident with the evolution of hedgehog apo(a), both of which occurred by duplication of the plasminogen kringle III motif. The function of HaRP-1 remains unclear at present, but may constititute a member of the family of apo(a) proteins that functions in the regulation of lysine-dependent proteolysis.

In August 2015 there were executed investigations on the study of the soils diversity of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. One of the directions of this work got be the study of urban soils of settlements of the Yamal-Nenents Autonomous Okrug. The sectors for the observation were settlement of Harsaim, village Aksarka, city of Salekhard, settlement Harp and city of Labytnangi. About 20 soil samples were collected during the field work. Samples were collected from a depth of 0-5 cm and 5-20 cm. Heavy metals (HM) were detected with the use of X-ray fluorescent analyzer “Spectroscan-MAX”. The HM content values were compared with the corresponding Approxible Permissible Concentrations and Maximum Allowable Concentrations (MAC) adopted in Russia. Hydrocarbons content was determined by gravimetric method. Values of the hydrocarbons content in studied soils were compared with the existing regulations of the Russian Federation. The levels of soil contamination by hydrocarbons were determined. The study of soil samples from different settlements allowed to reveal characteristic features of soil contamination of separate settlements by HM and hydrocarbons and to compare them against each other. The vast majority of samples are characterized by arsenic exceedance of MAC, which should indicate to a high regional background of this element. For a more adequate assessment of the Zc meaning as the value of the total pollution index of soils there were used not only arithmetical average values of the coefficients of the chemical composition concentration (Kc), but also their average geometric values. According to levels of total soil contamination most of soil samples are characterized as non-hazardous (Zc<16). Calculation of soil pollution index showed that the most of soil samples have values less than 1. It characterizes soils as unpolluted. Statistical processing of obtained data in the media of the analytical software interface STATISTICA 10 showed a statistically significant difference in the content ofHM and hydrocarbons for the layer of 0-20 cm of the soils for three elements (Cu, Zn, Ni).

1. A monoclonal antibody APP, 1 against harp seal alkaline phosphatase has been prepared. It was found that the antibody was cross-reacted with the intestinal alkaline phosphatase of common seal Phoca vitulina larga. 2. Purified antibody was linked to Sepharose 4B and used for immunoaffinity chromatographic purification of alkaline phosphatase from the intestinal content of common seal. A spec. act. of the purified enzyme was 7300 units per mg of protein. 3. The enzyme in 7.5% polyacrylamide gel in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol and SDS was migrated as a single band of Mr 67,000. The value of the apparent Km for common seal alkaline phosphatase was equal to 3.7 mM.

The content of modified albumin (Am) in harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandica Erxleben, 1777) blood serum was studied. Am was determined by paper electrophoresis by means of re-precipitation in the trichloroacetic acid-ethanol system. Modified albumin content in normal seal pups' blood serum increased from 1990 to 1994. The Am level in undernourished pups was stable from year to year and higher than in normal pups. In oceanarium investigations it was revealed a low albumin resistance to denaturation and the dependence of Am content on the animals' physiological state. Thus there is a possibility to regard modified albumin content as one of the significant parameters in biomonitoring of harp seal population and, moreover, as a supplementary criterion for estimation of seals' health state in captivity.

The IMS act was passed after a lot of thinking, discussions over pros and cons of childhood feeding practices and recommendations of WHA. We are not only legally bound by it, but it is also our moral responsibility to see that the act works. Already 9-10 years have passed but the results are not that encouraging. Most of our colleagues are unaware of the provisions and importance of this act. Making the law effective is very time consuming, costly, unaffordable and avoidable affair. We should not harp on multiplicity of legal opinions & loopholes to allow breaking the law in spirit if not in letter. We feel that most of our laws are paper tigers without any teeth, gathering dust by remaining present only in law books or journals. If we don't act now then there is every possibility that this act may also become one of the historical legal documents. Hence it is time for all of us to become an activist or counselor for BF. We should create awareness and public opinion about protection, promotion and support for BF. Be vigilant, form community watch group and report violations to the authorities. So that our country can become a proud nation of healthy, intelligent and emotionally stable children in the 21st century.

This stone lantern is known as the "Koto-ji", or "harp-tuner", as it resembles the tuning bridge of the Japanese koto. The six windows of the lantern are said to symbolize the six essential attributes of a perfect garden, such as the one it overlooks: spaciousness, seclusion, artifice, antiquity, abundant water, and broad views. R. Hoffmann et al. report on two synthesized compounds containing the unusual S4(2-) rectangles bound to either Ir or Rh fragments, illuminated by the two lamp windows. Like the Koto-ji lantern, this paper, which suggests the presence of S-S half-bonds, sheds some light in the garden of beautiful compounds. For more information, see their Full Paper on page 302 ff.

Tissue distribution and plasma activity values of creatine kinase (CK), aldolase (ALS), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) were determined in 6 ringed seals, Phoca hispida, and in 7 harp seals, P groenlandica. Muscle tissues had the highest activity of CK and ALS, though high activity of ALS was also in most other tissues. The LAP and GGT were mostly concentrated in the kidneys; tissue LAP activity was generally low. Reference plasma values were determined in 17 ringed and 15 harp seals. The CK and GGT, respectively, are recommended for monitoring exertional stress and hepatobiliary dysfunction in phocid seals.

1. Hybridoma secreting a monoclonal antibody APP.1 to the harp seal alkaline phosphatase (A1Ph) was obtained by fusing murine myeloma Sp 2/0 cells with the splenocytes of BALB/c mice immunized with purified isozyme K. 2. The antibody has no effect on the enzyme activity and shows a high affinity for harp seal A1Ph (KD = 8.5 x 10(-10) M). The antibody has similar affinities for the AlPh of harp seal, fur seal, common seal and deer. 3. The antibody APP.1 was coupled to Sepharose and employed in chromatographic purification of the harp seal intestinal AlPh. Alkaline phosphatase isolated on this immunosorbent has a spec. act. of 20,800 units per mg of protein. 4. The antibody-enzyme complex gives an excellent immunocytochemical labeling of tissue sections, cell cultures and smears.

1. Alkaline phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.1.) from harp seal (Phagophilus groenlandicus) has been purified by concanavalin A-Sepharose chromatography to homogeneity with a specific activity of 1200-1500 units/mg of protein. 2. The mol. wt of the enzyme and its subunits were estimated as 260,000 and 70,000, respectively. By chromatofocusing the isoelectric point of this enzyme is 5.5. 3. With p-nitrophenylphosphate, pH-optimum and KM for the enzyme are 9.8 and 0.9 mM, respectively. 4. The enzyme was strongly inhibited by Sn4+, Fe3+ and Zn2+, whereas Mg2+ and Mn2+ were effective activators of the enzyme. Seal alkaline phosphatase was slightly inhibited by high concentrations of Ca2+ and Cr3+. 5. The enzyme activity reached a maximum at 55-60 degrees C. It was shown that the heat stability of seal and calf intestinal alkaline phosphatases were equal at 37 and 56 degrees C.

Plasma and tissue levels of dietary radiotracer-labeled tocopherols were examined in the harp seal, Phoca groenlandica. The d-alpha form showed much higher plasma maxima and retention than d,l-gamma-tocopherol. Concentration peaks occurred somewhat later but were greater when the vitamin was fed with Tween 80 than with herring and corn oil respectively. Greater plasma levels occurred with the use of herring oil as compared with corn oil. Seals previously maintained on a vitamin E deficient diet showed greater plasma maxima than seals not so deprived. Plasma and tissues generally showed maximum levels within 24 h postingestion. Tissue levels of labelled dietary alpha-tocopherol were examined by biopsy and postmortem studies in selected tissues of vitamin E deprived seals.

Phylogenomic analysis of highly-resolved intraspecific phylogenies obtained from complete mitochondrial DNA genomes has had great success in clarifying relationships within and among human populations, but has found limited application in other wild species. Analytical challenges include assessment of random versus non-random phylogeographic distributions, and quantification of differences in tree topologies among populations. Harp Seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus Erxleben, 1777) have a biogeographic distribution based on four discrete trans-Atlantic breeding and whelping populations located on "fast ice" attached to land in the White Sea, Greenland Sea, the Labrador ice Front, and Southern Gulf of St Lawrence. This East to West distribution provides a set of a priori phylogeographic hypotheses. Outstanding biogeographic questions include the degree of genetic distinctiveness among these populations, in particular between the Greenland Sea and White Sea grounds. We obtained complete coding-region DNA sequences (15,825 bp) for 53 seals. Each seal has a unique mtDNA genome sequence, which differ by 6 ~ 107 substitutions. Six major clades / groups are detectable by parsimony, neighbor-joining, and Bayesian methods, all of which are found in breeding populations on either side of the Atlantic. The species coalescent is at 180 KYA; the most recent clade, which accounts for 66% of the diversity, reflects an expansion during the mid-Wisconsinan glaciation 40~60 KYA. FST is significant only between the White Sea and Greenland Sea or Ice Front populations. Hierarchal AMOVA of 2-, 3-, or 4-island models identifies small but significant ΦSC among populations within groups, but not among groups. A novel Monte-Carlo simulation indicates that the observed distribution of individuals within breeding populations over the phylogenetic tree requires significantly fewer dispersal events than random expectation, consistent with island or a priori East to West 2- or 3-stepping-stone biogeographic models, but not a simple 1-step trans-Atlantic model. Plots of the cumulative pairwise sequence difference curves among seals in each of the four populations provide continuous proxies for phylogenetic diversification within each. Non-parametric Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) tests of maximum pairwise differences between these curves indicates that the Greenland Sea population has a markedly younger phylogenetic structure than either the White Sea population or the two Northwest Atlantic populations, which are of intermediate age and homogeneous structure. The Monte Carlo and K-S assessments provide sensitive quantitative tests of within-species mitogenomic phylogeography. This is the first study to indicate that the White Sea and Greenland Sea populations have different population genetic histories. The analysis supports the hypothesis that Harp Seals comprises three genetically distinguishable breeding populations, in the White Sea, Greenland Sea, and Northwest Atlantic. Implications for an ice-dependent species during ongoing climate change are discussed.

The northern Gulf of St. Lawrence (NGSL) stock of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), historically the second largest cod population in the Western Atlantic, has known a severe collapse during the early 1990 s and is currently considered as endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. As for many fish populations over the world which are currently being heavily exploited or overfished, urgent management actions in the form of recovery plans are needed for restoring this stock to sustainable levels. Stochastic projections based on a statistical population model incorporating predation were conducted over a period of 30 years (2010-2040) to assess the expected outcomes of alternative fishing strategies on the stock recovery under different scenarios of harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) abundance and environmental conditions. This sensitivity study shows that water temperature is key in the rebuilding of the NGSL cod stock. Model projections suggest that maintaining the current management practice under cooler water temperatures is likely to maintain the species in an endangered status. Under current or warmer conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, partial recovery might only be achieved by significant reductions in both fishing and predation pressure. In the medium-term, a management strategy that reduces catch could be favoured over a complete moratorium so as to minimize socio-economic impacts on the industry.

Environmentally relevant chlorobornanes (CHBs) were measured in blubber samples of harbor (Phoca vitulina), gray (Halichoerus grypus), harp (Phoca groenlandica), and hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) sampled in different part of the St. Lawrence marine ecosystem (SLME) and ringed seals (Phoca hispida) sampled in the eastern Canadian Arctic waters. The purpose of this study was to compare the levels of six CHBs (Parlar-26, -40/-41, -44, -50, and -62) among the five seal species. Seal species could be separated into three groups based on their respective sigmaCHB mean concentrations (+/-standard error): gray (49+/-3.9 ng/g lipid weight) and harbor (80+/-20 ng/g lipid weight) seals were more contaminated than ringed seals (18+/-7.6 ng/g lipid weight) but less contaminated than harp (370+/-87 ng/g lipid weight) and hooded (680+/-310 ng/g lipid weight) seals. These differences are not expected to be related to different sources of toxaphene contamination, since both the SLME and the eastern Canadian Arctic environments are thought to be mainly contaminated via atmospheric transportfrom the southeastern part of the United States. Thus, biological factors such as sex, age, nutritive condition, metabolism capacity, and diet of the animals collected were considered. Results reported in this study indicated that the diet is likely the main factor accounting for interspecies variations in toxaphene contamination in seals from eastern Canada.

Many animals exhibit ontogenetic changes associated with adaptations for survival. Harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) live in the Arctic and rely on thick insulation to maintain thermal homeostasis. Adult harp seals primarily use blubber for insulation, but newborn harp seals rely on a lanugo pelt while nursing, as their blubber layer develops and their first-year pelage grows. This study compared ontogenetic changes in the thermal properties of harp seal pelts in water and in air. Thermal conductivity, pelt thickness, and thermal resistance were measured in water for pelts of harp seal neonates (1 day old), thin whitecoats (4 day old), fat whitecoats (9 day old), ragged jackets (2 week old), beaters (3 week old), and adults and compared to previously published measurements made on the same pelts in air. Pelt conductivity was significantly higher in water than air for pre-molt and molting pups (P ≤ 0.031). Unlike adult pelage, which flattened underwater, lanugo hairs lifted underwater, a phenomenon that has not been reported previously. Thermal resistance of the pelt was significantly reduced in water compared to air for neonates and thin whitecoats (P ≤ 0.0001). A mathematical model of conductive heat transfer for an ellipsoid body showed volume-specific heat loss in water decreased and then stabilized as harp seals aged (P = 0.0321) and was significantly higher for neonates, thin whitecoats, and ragged jackets in water than in air (P ≤ 0.0089). Overall, pelt function is reduced in water for harp seal pups with lanugo, and this renders neonates and thin whitecoats particularly vulnerable to heat loss if submerged.

Enantioselective analyses of the chiral brominated flame retardant 2,3-dibromopropyl-2,4,6-tribromophenyl ether (DPTE) are the focus of this work. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipped with a column that had a chiral stationary phase consisting of a modified cellulose derivative allowed for the fractionation of the enantiomers of DPTE. The enantiomeric excess was 98.2% for enantiomer 1 and 99% for enantiomer 2. Polarimetric measurements verified that the first eluting enantiomer originated from (-)-DPTE and the second peak originated from (+)-DPTE. Two gas chromatographic columns allowed for the direct enantioresolution of DPTE. The elution order of DPTE enantiomers was the same as observed in the chiral HPLC system ((-)-DPTE before (+)-DPTE). The best enantioseparation was achieved on a Chirasil-DEX CB column, which was used to analyze the enantiomer fractions of DPTE in blubber and brain samples of hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) and harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) from the Barents and Greenland Seas. Analyses were carried out by means of gas chromatography/electron capture negative ion mass spectrometry operated in the selected ion monitoring (GC/ECNI-MS-SIM) mode. In both matrices, only minute deviations from the racemate were observed (maximum +/-3% excess of (-)-DPTE). However, the samples from the Barents Sea were either racemic or showed a slight excess of (+)-DPTE (up to 2.5%), whereas all samples from the Greenland Sea contained a slight excess (up to 4%) of (-)-DPTE.

High hemoglobin concentration, rich hemoglobin supply of the body and high specific weight of the blood were found in harp seal cubs. The erythrocyte number is relatively low which agrees with our previous studies on aquatic and semi-aquatic mammals. Serum proteins from both adult and young harp seals are separated into 5-8 fractions during agar-agar gel electrophoresis. Diving of seals for considerable periods is partly accounted for by high hemoglobin and myoglobin concentrations adn also by perfect supply of the organism by these pigments.

In this contribution to the American Field and Short-tail crickets, two new species from the continental and insular area of Colombia are described. Anurogryllus (Urogryllus) edithsantosum n. sp. from the Meta department, is more related to some Caribbean species, and its genital structure fits the morphological current definition of the subgenus Urogryllus, although it has pseudepiphallic median lophi covered with hairs, as it happens in the species of the subgenus Pilosogryllus. The same way, Gryllus (Gryllus) providiensis n. sp. from Providencia Island, San Andres Archipelago is described, this new species has thick hairs on the pronotum as Gryllus (Gryllus) assimilis (widely distributed in America), as well as the color pattern of the cephalic capsule; but the new species is smaller in size, and has a particular organization in the harp veins of the tegmina, which only resembles Gryllus (Gryllus) marchena from the Galapagos Archipelago (Ecuador), from which it differs markedly in its morphology. Finally, the status of the Gryllus species, distributed in Latin America and the Caribbean, is reviewed, and it is recorded which species have acoustic records, and from here we start with the review of this peculiar genus in Latin America.

Nonpoint source modeling using hydrological models has been extensively studied at agriculture and urban watersheds; however, this has not been well addressed in forested ones where agricultural sources are comparatively minimal and nitrogen deposition exerts remarkable impacts on the nutrient cycles of a catchment. Thus it is critically important for hydrological models to incorporate the dynamics of nitrogen deposition and its transport processes, for reasonable nitrogen modeling. This is especially so for the Canadian Shield, which is characterized by a cold climate and special physiographic features. A revision of Soil and Water Assessment Tool for Canadian Shield (SWAT-CS) was proposed by Fu et al. (2014) to better characterize the hydrological features. In this study, more revisions were added to better simulate processes of nitrate by: 1) incorporating the dynamics of nitrogen deposition; and 2) allowing the deposition to distribute along with rapid-moving macropore flows. The newly revised model, SWAT-CS(enm) (SWAT-CS with an Enhanced Nitrate Module), and SWAT-CS were calibrated and tested with data of a subbasin of Harp Lake in south-central Ontario for 1990 to 2007. Modeling performance of nitrate flux rate in the stream for SWAT-CS(enm) was nearly acceptable with maximum daily Nash-Sutcliffe efficiencies (ENSs) for calibration and validation periods of 0.66 and 0.43, respectively; whereas the result of SWAT-CS was generally unsatisfied with maximum daily ENSs of 0.16 and 0.07, respectively. An uncertainty analysis using GLUE (generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation) showed a modest performance as about 50% of observations can be incorporated by the 95% prediction range deriving from the behavioral solutions (ENS≥0.5) for both daily and monthly simulations. It is concluded that the enhanced nitrate module improved the model performance of SWAT-CS on nitrate modeling, since the previous SWAT-CS failed to consider the effect of dynamics of nitrogen deposition and its sequential processes at the investigated site.

Total particulate carbon (TPC), which includes both elemental carbon and particulate organic carbon, total suspended particulate matter (TSP) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were measured in 53 cloud water samples collected using a passive 'Harp-wire' cloud collector at weekly intervals at a hill-top site in southern Scotland (Dunslair Heights, 602 m above sea level) between December 1990 and April 1992. The concentrations of TPC, TSP and DOC were in the range 0.03-6.9 mg 1(-1) (median 1.05 mg l(-1)), 2.6-51.6 mg l(-1) (median 13.6 mg l(-1)) and 0.-14 mg l(-1) (median 3.6 mg l(-1)), respectively. The concentrations of TPC, TSP and DOC were greatest in winter (December-February), up to 6.9, 42 and 4.6 mg l(-1) respectively in 1990-1991 and up to 6.0, 51 and 14 mg l(-1), respectively, in 1991-1992. Particulate carbon in cloud water samples comprised 1-47% of the TSP. Concentrations of major anions (Cl(-), NO(-)(3), SO(2-)(4)) and pH were measured on the same water samples. Estimates of cloud liquid water content from January to April 1992 were derived from measured wind speeds and volumes of water collected. These estimates suggested that the air contained up to 1.2 microg TPC m(-3), 16 microg TSP m(-3) and 2.3 microg DOC m(-3), which are typical of concentrations to be expected in rural air. There was no correlation between concentrations of DOC in cloud water and either TPC or TSP, indicating that the sources and partitioning of DOC and TPC in the atmosphere are different. The largest concentrations of TPC coincided with the largest concentrations of non-marine sulphate, and although there was a significant linear correlation between the two sets of data, the log-transformed data were not correlated. Concentrations of TPC were significantly correlated with concentrations of other particulate matter (TSP-TPC), suggesting that similar sources and/or partitioning processes were involved in determining concentrations in cloud. Concentrations of DOC in cloud were significantly correlated (p < 0.02) with concentrations of nitrate, suggesting that sources of DOC were related to the emission and chemistry of nitrogen oxides. The very large concentrations of particulate carbon, especially in winter, indicate that carbon-catalysed oxidation of sulphur dioxide by molecular oxygen in cloud water may be a significant pathway when concentrations of hydrogen peroxide are small.

The degradation of a model molecule, 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), was studied using an activated sludge hydrolytic-aerobic recycling process (HARP). 2,4-DCP and chemical oxygen demand (COD) total removal efficiency in the recycling process was 98% and 96% at the recycling flux of 15 mL/min after 24h degradation, respectively. With the recycling flux increasing, the peak values of the concentration of volatile fatty acid (VFA) declined. Polysaccharide and protein contents in EPS were dramatically increased as recycling flux increasing from 5 to 15 mL/min in the HARP. There is obviously fit to the linear correlation between the PN/PS ratios and recycling flux. The zeta potentials decreased with recycling flux increasing. As the recycling flux increasing at a certain degree, the increase in polysaccharide and protein contents of EPS could more favor the stability of the HARP.

Neuroacanthocytosis refers to a group of inherited genetic disorders resulting in a combination of misshapen red blood cells (acanthocytes) and progressive neurological decline. The neurological presentation can vary widely among diseases and can include shared characteristic features of movement disorders, neuropathy, psychiatric symptoms, neurocognitive degeneration, and seizures. Specific diseases are many, including chorea-acanthocytosis (ChAc), McLeod syndrome (MLS), Huntington like-disease 2 (HDL2), pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN, also known as Hallervorden Spatz disease), HARP Syndrome (considered part of the PKAN spectrum consisting of hypoprebetalipoproteinemia, acanthocytosis, retinitis pigmentosa, and pallidal degeneration), abetalipoproteinemia (ABL), hereditary hypobetalipoproteinemia (HHBL), and aceruloplasminemia. The two core conditions are chorea-acanthocytosis and McLeod Syndrome. Each neuroacanthocytosis disorder is extremely rare, with a prevalence of less than 1 to 3 per 1,000,000 individuals for PKAN or fewer than 100 cases ever reported in the case of ABL.