To evaluate the contrast sensitivity of a degenerate retina stimulated by a photovoltaic subretinal prosthesis, and assess the impact of low contrast sensitivity on transmission of visual information. We measure ex vivo the full-field contrast sensitivity of healthy rat retina stimulated with white light, and the contrast sensitivity of degenerate ...
Schulze, Christopher JDonia, Mohamed SSiqueira-Neto, Jair LRay, DebalinaRaskatov, Jevgenij AGreen, Richard EMcKerrow, James HFischbach, Michael ALinington, Roger G
Marine natural products are an important source of lead compounds against many pathogenic targets. Herein, we report the discovery of lobosamides A-C from a marine actinobacterium, Micromonospora sp., representing three new members of a small but growing family of bacterially produced polyene macrolactams. The lobosamides display growth inhibitory ...
Lead poisoning from ingestion of spent lead ammunition is one of the greatest threats to the recovery of California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus) in the wild. Trash ingestion by condors is well documented, yet the extent that trash presents a lead exposure risk is unknown. We evaluated 1,413 trash items collected from condor nest areas and nest...
Ferri, RobertaHashim, DanaSmith, Donald RGuazzetti, StefanoDonna, FilippoFerretti, EnricaCuratolo, MicheleMoneta, CaterinaBeone, Gian MariaLucchini, Roberto G
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Prolonged industrial emissions increase median metal concentrations and most soluble fractions (BCR F1+F2) in home garden soils near ferroalloy plants. Areas near ferroalloy plant sites had spinach Cd and Pb metal concentrations several-fold above maximum standard references. We recommend thorough washing of vegetables to minimize metal exposure.
Adolescents living in communities with ferromanganese alloy plant activity have been shown to exhibit deficits in olfactory and fine motor function. Household dust may serve as an important manganese (Mn) exposure pathway to children, though dust Mn concentrations have not previously been measured to assess household contamination from ferromangane...
Developmental manganese (Mn) exposure is associated with motor dysfunction in children and animal models, but little is known about the underlying neurochemical mechanisms or the potential for amelioration by pharmacotherapy. We investigated whether methylphenidate (MPH) alleviates fine motor dysfunction due to chronic postnatal Mn exposure, and wh...
Pavilonis, Brian TLioy, Paul JGuazzetti, StefanoBostick, Benjamin CDonna, FilippoPeli, MarcoZimmerman, Neil JBertrand, PatrickLucas, ErikaSmith, Donald R
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Ferroalloy production can release a number of metals into the environment, of which manganese (Mn) is of major concern. Other elements include lead, iron, zinc, copper, chromium, and cadmium. Mn exposure derived from settled dust and suspended aerosols can cause a variety of adverse neurological effects to chronically exposed individuals. To better...
The Genome 10K Project was established in 2009 by a consortium of biologists and genome scientists determined to facilitate the sequencing and analysis of the complete genomes of 10,000 vertebrate species. Since then the number of selected and initiated species has risen from ∼26 to 277 sequenced or ongoing with funding, an approximately tenfold in...
Mn plays an important role in fetal development, but the extent to which environmental exposures may cause adverse health effects to the developing fetus is not well understood. Among women living near banana plantations in Costa Rica, we did not observe linear or nonlinear associations of Mn concentrations with lowered birth weight or head circumf...
Site-directed spin labeling (SDSL) is a powerful tool for the characterization of protein structure and dynamics; however, its application in many systems is hampered by the reliance on unique and benign cysteine substitutions for the site-specific attachment of the spin label. An elegant solution to this problem involves the use of genetically enc...
