Pollution prevention as a market-enhancing strategy: a storehouse of economical and environmental opportunities

EPA's (Environmental Protection Agency) Green Lights Program for energy-efficient lighting illustrates the economic benefits and the market-transforming value of a pollution prevention philosophy. Using technologies available today, and assuming current prices, this program is expected to reduce air pollution 5%, while saving the nation's businesses up to 20 billion in electric bills every year. However, these pollution prevention and savings estimates may be low. As Green Lights transforms the market for lighting services by creating a higher demand for better technologies at lower costs, the program will likely achieve even larger pollution reductions and electricity savings.     

Sister chromatid exchanges in Chinese hamster ovary cells exposed to high intensity pulsed ultrasound: inability to confirm previous positive results

This study was undertaken in an attempt to determine a physical mechanism of action for a recently published report of a small but statistically significant increase in sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) in Chinese hamster ovary cells exposed to high-intensity pulsed ultrasound. The "positive" report's protocol involved a sizeable chance of ultrasound beam impingement on the side wall of the cell exposure chamber. Ten experiments per regimen were conducted; the regimens included exposures of (a) chamber center, (b) chamber wall, (c) nine grid sites, 0.5 mm between sites, and (d) nine grid sites, 1.5 mm between sites. The last was an exact replication of the conditions previously reported to induce the small SCE effect. The results did not support the postulate of an increase in SCEs with the ultrasound exposures.     

Some epidemiological and scanning electron microscopic features of crazing of the dental enamel of Polynesians

The prevalence of enamel crazing was determined from the maxillary incisors and canines of 1,109 Tongan residents aged 5-20 years, 1,417 Cook Island residents aged 6-20 years, 520 French Polynesian residents aged 10-15 years, and 92 New Zealand-born and -resident Polynesians aged 11-18 years. Crazing occurred in 22 percent of Tongans, 7 percent of Cook Islanders, but not in French Polynesians or New Zealand-born Polynesians. Cracks become clinically apparent at about 8 years of age; were more common in males than females; and became more common with increasing age. The central incisors were the most commonly affected of the maxillary anterior teeth. Cross-sections of teeth with crazing viewed by light and scanning electron microscopy appeared similar to other stained cracks. The indications are that crazing is a post-eruptive change caused by trauma from local environmental factors resulting in stress fractures. The significance of crazing on enamel structure and strength is unknown, but it is probably minor without long-term disadvantages. The prevalence of crazing may prove useful in anthropology as an indicator of the use of teeth as tools and in assessing the "modernisation" of a population.     

Conformational analysis and molecular modeling of 1-phenyl-, 4-phenyl-, and 1-benzyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines as D1 dopamine receptor ligands

Conformational studies on a series of 1-phenyl-, 4-phenyl-, and 1-benzyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines that possess an identical substituent pattern to the prototypical D1 dopamine receptor antagonist SCH23390 [(R)-(+)-7-chloro-8-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5- tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine (1)] were performed with use of molecular mechanics calculations [MM2(85), with newly developed aromatic halide bending and torsional parameters that are now incorporated into MM2(87)], single-crystal X-ray analysis, and high-field NMR spectroscopy. The synthesis and biological testing of compounds 2-7 has been previously reported. The test compounds were compared both quantitatively and graphically to compound 1. Calculations on both the free-base and protonated forms of each compound were carried out. To insure that conformation space was adequately sampled, the test compounds were energy minimized from different starting geometries; ring inversion of the heterocycle was employed, as were dihedral driver calculations on the phenyl or benzyl rings. For N-methyl-6-chloro-7-hydroxy-1-phenyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline (2), it was determined that the torsion angle tau(C8a-C1-C12-C17) had energy minima at approximately 60 degrees and 240 degrees. This finding was corroborated by NMR studies that indicated a dramatic upfield chemical shift of ArH8 after ring cyclization. The nitrogen lone pair or hydrogen vector was approximately orthogonal to the plane of the substituted aromatic ring in the tetrahydroisoquinolines; this explained the upfield chemical shift of the vicinal chiral proton (H1). In all instances, the 6-membered heterocyclic ring in the energy-minimized structures preferred the half-chair conformation with the phenyl rings pseudo-equatorial. Distance comparisons of the proposed pharmacophoric atoms (Cl, N, O, centroid of the phenyl or benzyl ring) showed that the phenyl or benzyl centroid to ammonium H distance, Cl to N distance, and distance of the nitrogen above or below the plane of the isoquinoline aromatic ring are the distances most highly correlated with biological activity (r = 0.82, 0.75, 0.81, respectively). Resolution and single-crystal X-ray analysis of compound 2 showed the most active enantiomer to possess the S absolute configuration, in contrast to the benzazepine (R)-1. Least-squares fitting of the energy-minimized structures with SYBYL molecular modeling software showed (S)-(+)-2, rather than (R)-(-)-2, gave a better fit to (R)-1. Volume determinations derived from SYBYL multifit analyses aided in receptor mapping to qualitatively describe areas of "active" pharmacophore space as well as areas of "inactive" substituent space.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

An intracellular antigen that reacts with MO2, a monoclonal antibody to CD14, is expressed by human lymphocytes

CD14, a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) receptor, is present on the surface membrane of phagocytic leukocytes; it is also present in a soluble form in serum. Recently published results confer to this molecule novel functions that are linked to T-cell activation and to apoptosis. We report here that we have defined and characterized a novel lymphocyte population in human peripheral blood, a population that expresses an intracellular antigen detectable with MO2, a monoclonal antibody directed against the human CD14 molecule. This population is composed primarily of CD8-positive T-cells. We found surprisingly that this novel MO2-positive population of lymphocytes was greatly enhanced in asymptomatic, untreated HIV-positive individuals.     

Evidence for phenoloxidase activity inHolothuria tubulosa (Echinodermata) brown bodies and cells

encapsulating structures occurred inHolothuria tubulosa. Histologically, they were formed by nodules entrapping foreign material. By an internodular mass, two or more nodules were assembled in an encapsulating body that was brown-pigmented. This pigment could be melanin, since an enzyme (i.e., phenoloxidase) responsible for its synthesis was proven. The enzyme exerted oxidase activity against dopa, dopamine and norepinephrine but not against tyrosine. The components of the sea-cucumber phenoloxidase-activating system were present in the circulating cells, which could therefore be responsible for melanin deposition during processes of foreign-body encapsulation.     

Clinical and molecular study in congenital muscular dystrophy with partial laminin alpha 2 (LAMA2) deficiency

Complete laminin alpha2 (LAMA2) deficiency causes approximately half of congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) cases. Many loss-of-function mutations have been reported in these severe, neonatal-onset patients, but only single missense mutations have been found in milder CMD with partial laminin alpha2 deficiency. Here, we studied nine patients diagnosed with CMD who showed abnormal white-matter signal at brain MRI and partial deficiency of laminin alpha2 on immunofluorescence of muscle biopsy. We screened the entire 9.5 kb laminin alpha2 mRNA from patient muscle biopsy by direct capillary automated sequencing, single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP), or denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) of overlapping RT-PCR products followed by direct sequencing of heteroduplexes. We identified laminin alpha2 sequence changes in six of nine CMD patients. Each of the gene changes identified, except one, was novel, including three missense changes and two splice-site mutations. The finding of partial laminin alpha2 deficiency by immunostaining is not specific for laminin alpha2 gene mutation carriers, with only two patients (22%) showing clear causative mutations, and an additional three patients (33%) showing possible mutations. The clinical presentation and disease progression was homogeneous in the laminin alpha2-mutation positive and negative CMD patients.