The role of web-based environmental information in urban planning--the environmental information system for planners

The Environmental Information System for Planners (EISP) is a proof of concept web-based system designed to support decision making within the UK planning framework by making information on environmental issues more widely accessible. It incorporates relevant outputs from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Urban Regeneration and the Environment (URGENT) research programme and from research directly commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). It supports three principal planning functions carried out by local authorities: pre-planning enquiries, development control decisions and strategic planning. Eleven environmental science themes are incorporated: Air quality, Shallow undermining, Landslide susceptibility, Groundwater protection, Flood risk, Drainage, Land contamination, Proximity to landfill, Biodiversity, Natural and Man-made heritage. Decision flow diagrams represent detailed analysis of workflow in each theme, taking account of best practice, regulatory responsibilities and planning guidance. Industry-standard web technologies integrate the flows and provide access to the system via secure web pages. Underpinning the system is an environmental geographical information system (GIS) containing up-to-date data, information and models relevant to each theme. The modular system design allows new legislation and local priorities and datasets to be easily incorporated. Web technology delivers information and research data that have hitherto been difficult for the non-specialist to access and have therefore been under-exploited. The study has demonstrated a successful application of the principles of e-Governance in an area where informed decisions commonly require specialist information. The system, if rolled out nationally, offers potential economic benefits and efficiency savings for both planners and developers.

A cnidarian homologue of translationally controlled tumor protein (P23/TCTP)

A protein homologous to P23, or translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP), was cloned in Hydra vulgaris, the most ancient type of metazoan from which P23/TCTP has been characterized to date. Hydra P23/TCTP is composed of 184 amino acids and is encoded by a single mRNA of 700 bp. This invertebrate P23/TCTP is well conserved compared to those of other invertebrate and vertebrate species. Expression of Hydra P23/TCTP was confirmed by western blot of Hydra cell lysates using a polyclonal antibody against murine recombinant P23/TCTP. Spatial distribution of P23/TCTP mRNA and protein in Hydra was studied using in situ hybridization and immunostaining, respectively. Hydra P23/TCTP expression along the longitudinal body axis is regulated at both the transcriptional and the translational level. High levels of P23/TCTP mRNA were detected in a subpopulation of cells in the body column. In contrast, no mRNA was evident in the differentiated cells of the head and the foot regions. Coincidentally, P23/TCTP protein also concentrates to the body column, with no detectable protein in the head and foot region. However, despite the existence of P23/TCTP mRNA in both the ectoderm and endoderm in the body column, its protein is localized to the endodermal cells, suggesting a regulatory mechanism at the translational level. Taken together, the expression pattern of P23/TCTP in Hydra correlates with regions in which cell proliferation is actively occurring and its expression is excluded from regions where terminal differentiation has occurred.

The demise of a phylum of protists: phylogeny of Myxozoa and other parasitic cnidaria

The notion that members of the phylum Myxozoa Grassé, 1970 do not properly belong in classifications of protists has frequently been suggested because the infective spores of these parasites are not unicellular. Systematists have failed to be decisive about myxozoan phylogenetic affinities, either finding the suggestion of a cnidarian connection to be preposterous or considering the recent suggestion of a relationship with nematodes to be an obvious failure of molecular phylogenetics. Thus, the group has remained in classifications as a protistan phylum in its own right. The ultrastructure of the development of myxozoans was critically re-examined in order to more fully explore the possibility of morphological synapomorphies with metazoan taxa. These morphological characters, in combination with small ribosomal subunit gene sequences, were used in a phylogenetic analysis in order to assess myxozoan origins. The results unequivocally support the inclusion of myxozoans as a clade of highly derived parasitic cnidarians, and as sister taxon to the narcomedusan Polypodium hydriforme. Reassessment of myxozoans as metazoans reveals terminal differentiation, typical metazoan cellular junctions, and collagen production. Their "polar capsules" are redescribed as typical nematocysts bearing atrichous isorhiza. Insofar as taxa cannot be contained within other taxa of equal rank, the phylum Myxozoa is abandoned and it is recommended that the group as a whole be removed from all protistan classifications and placed in a more comprehensive cnidarian system.

Class-level relationships in the phylum Cnidaria: molecular and morphological evidence

The evolutionary history of cnidarian life cycles has been debated since the 1880s, with different hypotheses favored even by current textbooks. Contributing to the disagreement is the fact that the systematic relationships of the four cnidarian classes have received relatively little examination using modern systematic methods. Here we present analyses of class-level relationships based on 18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequence, mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequence, mitochondrial genome structure, and morphological characters. DNA sequences were aligned using a repeatable parsimony-based approach incorporating a range of alignment parameters. Analyses of individual data sets and of all data combined are unanimous in grouping the classes possessing a medusa stage, leaving the holobenthic Anthozoa basal within the phylum.

The palliative effects of octreotide in malignant disease

Octreotide is a synthetic analogue of somatostatin with a longer half-life than the native peptide. It has been used extensively in a variety of clinical settings for some years. More recently, its uses in malignant disease processes have been studied and it is proving to be an excellent addition to the palliative care pharmacy. We look at the current uses of octreotide for the palliation of malignant disease with particular emphasis on inoperable malignant bowel obstruction. Octreotide may palliate nausea and vomiting in this distressing condition when other therapies fail. Octreotide may also control severe diarrhoea and help in the closure of fistulae from benign and malignant conditions. It has unique analgesic properties. Radio-labelled isotopes of octreotide may be used to image some tumours. Recently, it has also shown potential in anti-cancer treatment.

Class-level relationships in the phylum Cnidaria: evidence from mitochondrial genome structure

The phylogenetic relationships of the Recent cnidarian classes remain one of the classic problems in invertebrate zoology. We survey the structure of the mitochondrial genome in representatives of the four extant cnidarian classes and in the phylum Ctenophora. We find that all anthozoan species tested possess mtDNA in the form of circular molecules, whereas all scyphozoan, cubozoan, and hydrozoan species tested display mtDNA in the form of linear molecules. Because ctenophore and all other known metazoan mtDNA is circular, the shared occurrence of linear mtDNA in three of the four cnidarian classes suggests a basal position for the Anthozoa within the phylum.

Longitudinal studies of the immune response of Colombian patients infected with Trypanosoma cruzi and T. rangeli

Two groups of patients were examined for anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies by immunofluorescence and ELISA (i) inhabitants of the village and surrounding rural area of Tibu, Norte de Santander, Columbia (n = 327) and (ii) employees of the Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos (ECOPETROL, n = 849). The latter group had a lower rate of positive serology (12 as compared to 29%) but the distributions of antibody titres were very similar in the two groups. A total of 119 serum samples (37 village and 82 ECOPETROL, including 25 seronegative controls) were analysed for their ability to immunoprecipitate the 7 major polypeptides of T. cruzi trypomastigotes of Mr greater than 72 kDa. Although 10 sera from positive patients showed no immunoprecipitation, all of the remaining positive sera contained antibodies which reacted with the 150, 90 and 85 kDa polypeptides. When the T. cruzi immunofluorescence positive, immunoprecipitation negative sera were retested by ELISA using GP90, all were negative thus suggesting that the patients had had a misdiagnosed T. rangeli infection. The new diagnosis was confirmed by immunofluorescence and ELISA with T. rangeli epimastigotes. Longitudinal studies were carried out on 19 patients from the ECOPETROL group for up to 3.5 years. Five seropositive patients showed a change in their anti-trypomastigote immunoprecipitation profiles over this period; one by loss of a previously recognized high molecular weight band and four others by conversion from a negative to a positive immunoprecipitation profile. These latter patients presented initially with uncomplicated T. rangeli infection but then acquired a T. cruzi superinfection. These patients represent the nucleus of a group in which prospective studies will identify the effect of T. rangeli infection on the course of subsequent South American trypanosomiasis and Chagas' disease.

Clinical Trypanosoma rangeli infection as a complication of Chagas' disease

Laboratory studies on a group of 20 patients from the Rio Negro Valley, Colombia selected for detailed study showed that 14 gave antibody reactions on immunoassay consistent with Trypanosoma cruzi or T. rangeli infections. Four were diagnosed as having T. rangeli infection, 4 had mixed infections and 6 were infected with T. cruzi alone. Immunoprecipitation analysis showed that sera from T. cruzi-infected patients recognized a similar range of trypomastigote-derived polypeptides as sera from patients in Brazil, and all of the Colombian sera reacted with the 160 kiloDalton (kDa) polypeptide associated with active infection. Although sera from patients with T. rangeli infection alone gave a positive immunofluorescence or ELISA reaction with T. rangeli, they failed to bind to parasite polypeptides by either immunoprecipitation or Western blotting. Intriguingly, sera from patients with mixed infections consistently gave a stronger, but qualitatively similar, binding reaction in immunoprecipitation and Western blotting compared to sera from patients infected with T. cruzi alone.