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Full-Text Articles in Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health

Pesticide Policy And Farmworker Health, Joan D. Flocks Apr 2016

Pesticide Policy And Farmworker Health, Joan D. Flocks

Joan D. Flocks

Although data on the carcinogenicity of agricultural pesticides are still being generated and are thus incomplete, research such as the Agricultural Health Study indicates that populations with increased, regular exposure to pesticides have high rates of a variety of cancers (National Institutes of Health & Environmental Protection Agency 2008). Policies that regulate toxins such as pesticides are envisioned by the public to be empirical and objective, but toxins are socially produced and their regulation is just as often based on political and economic factors as it is on science (Luke 2000). This does not bode well for farm- workers who …


Structural Basis For Mutation-Induced Destabilization Of Profilin 1 In Als, Sivakumar Boopathy, Tania Silvas, Maeve Tischbein, Silvia Jansen, Shivender Shandilya, Jill Zitzewitz, John Landers, Bruce Goode, Celia Schiffer, Daryl Bosco Jan 2016

Structural Basis For Mutation-Induced Destabilization Of Profilin 1 In Als, Sivakumar Boopathy, Tania Silvas, Maeve Tischbein, Silvia Jansen, Shivender Shandilya, Jill Zitzewitz, John Landers, Bruce Goode, Celia Schiffer, Daryl Bosco

Celia A. Schiffer

Mutations in profilin 1 (PFN1) are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); however, the pathological mechanism of PFN1 in this fatal disease is unknown. We demonstrate that ALS-linked mutations severely destabilize the native conformation of PFN1 in vitro and cause accelerated turnover of the PFN1 protein in cells. This mutation-induced destabilization can account for the high propensity of ALS-linked variants to aggregate and also provides rationale for their reported loss-of-function phenotypes in cell-based assays. The source of this destabilization is illuminated by the X-ray crystal structures of several PFN1 proteins, revealing an expanded cavity near the protein core of the …


Role Of Gluk1 Kainate Receptors In Seizures, Epileptic Discharges, And Epileptogenesis, Brita Fritsch, Janine Reis, Maciej Gasior, Rafal M. Kaminski, Michael A. Rogawski Apr 2014

Role Of Gluk1 Kainate Receptors In Seizures, Epileptic Discharges, And Epileptogenesis, Brita Fritsch, Janine Reis, Maciej Gasior, Rafal M. Kaminski, Michael A. Rogawski

Michael A. Rogawski

Kainate receptors containing the GluK1 subunit have an impact on excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission in brain regions, such as the amygdala and hippocampus, which are relevant to seizures and epilepsy. Here we used 2-amino-3-(3-hydroxy-5-tert-butylisoxazol-4-yl) propanoic acid (ATPA), a potent and selective agonist of kainate receptors that include the GluK1 subunit, in conjunction with mice deficient in GluK1 and GluK2 kainate receptor subunits to assess the role of GluK1 kainate receptors in provoking seizures and in kindling epileptogenesis. We found that systemic ATPA, acting specifically via GluK1 kainate receptors, causes locomotor arrest and forelimb extension (a unique behavioral characteristic of GluK1 …


Imagining Possibilities For Healthy Appalachian Communities In An Emerging Postindustrial Landscape, Brian Hoey Jan 2014

Imagining Possibilities For Healthy Appalachian Communities In An Emerging Postindustrial Landscape, Brian Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

This paper explores how community might be re-imagined to promote incipient social and economic agendas born increasingly of broad-minded citizen initiatives within the Appalachian region aimed at what is generally understood as “development,” but of a form distinct from the prevailing models of a more industrial age. I would like to ask whether a city like Huntington, West Virginia can emerge as a progressive example of what we might term postindustrial, urban regeneration and perhaps what we might call community healing—specifically through grassroots movement now finding local governmental support in collective attempts to transform this place from one defined primarily …


Ecosystems And Human Health:Toxicology And Environmental Hazards, Richard Philp Mar 2013

Ecosystems And Human Health:Toxicology And Environmental Hazards, Richard Philp

Richard B. Philp

This is a teaching text covering the toxicology of pollutants such as heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, pesticides, as well as of animal and plant venoms and toxins. Environmental disasters are discussed and updated. There numerous case studies and each chapter has a self-evaluation quizz. See also www.amazon.com/Ecosystems-Human-Health-Toxicology-Environmental/dp/146656721


Pyocyanin-Induced Toxicity In A549 Respiratory Cells Is Causally Linked To Oxidative Stress, Lee Gloyne, Gary Grant, Anthony Perkins, Katie Powell, Catherine Mcdermott, Peter Johnson, Gregory Anderson, Milton Kiefel, Shailendra Anoopkumar-Dukie Nov 2012

Pyocyanin-Induced Toxicity In A549 Respiratory Cells Is Causally Linked To Oxidative Stress, Lee Gloyne, Gary Grant, Anthony Perkins, Katie Powell, Catherine Mcdermott, Peter Johnson, Gregory Anderson, Milton Kiefel, Shailendra Anoopkumar-Dukie

Catherine M. McDermott

Pyocyanin, a virulence factor produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, has many damaging effects on mammalian cells. Several lines of evidence suggest that this damage is primarily mediated by its ability to generate ROS and deplete host antioxidant defence mechanisms. However, a causal role for oxidative stress has not yet been demonstrated conclusively. Parallel measures of ROS production, antioxidant levels and cytotoxicity provide convincing evidence that pyocyanin-induced cytotoxicity in A549 respiratory cells is mediated by acute ROS production and subsequent oxidative stress. Pyocyanin increased ROS levels in A549 cells as measured by the fluorescent H2O2 probes Amplex Red and DCFH-DA. These effects …


Environmental Issues For The Twenty-First Century And Their Impact On Human Health, Richard Philp Feb 2012

Environmental Issues For The Twenty-First Century And Their Impact On Human Health, Richard Philp

Richard B. Philp

This e-book documents environmental hazards from disasters such as the Gulf oil spill, from pollution resulting from resource exploitation, from contamination of the marine environment and from climate change including the role of human source greenhouse gases. Pollution from the electronic industry is a recent and serious threat to human and environmental health. The final chapter offers some means of preventing or reversing these hazards. Now available on Amazon


Human Health And Environmental Hazards Of Farmed Fish, Richard B. Philp Oct 2010

Human Health And Environmental Hazards Of Farmed Fish, Richard B. Philp

Richard B. Philp

Aquaculture, or fish farming, now provides a significant portion of the world's supply of fin-fish for human consumption. Since 1985, the production of farmed fish has nearly quadrupled. Associated problems include levels of persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals as compared to wild-caught fish, enviromnental problems from waste food and excrement, disease hazards for fish and humans and depletion of wild forage fish to produce food pellets for farmed fish. The recent introduction of genetically modified salmon has added another potential hazard for the environment and possible for human health. These and other problems are discussed with recommendations for human …


Pharmacologic Responses Of The Mouse Urinary Bladder, A. Erdem, Christopher Chapple, Russ Chess-Williams Aug 2010

Pharmacologic Responses Of The Mouse Urinary Bladder, A. Erdem, Christopher Chapple, Russ Chess-Williams

Russ Chess-Williams

The aim of the study was to determine pathways involved in contraction and relaxation of the mouse urinary bladder. Mouse bladder strips were set up in gassed Krebs-bicarbonate solution and responses to various drugs and electrical field stimulation were obtained. Isoprenaline (b-receptor agonist) caused a 63% inhibition of carbachol precontracted detrusor (EC50=2nM). Carbachol caused contraction (EC50=0.3µM), responses were antagonised more potently by 4-DAMP (M3-antagonist) than methoctramine (M2-antagonist). Electrical field stimulation caused contraction, which was inhibited by atropine (60%) and less by guanethidine and α,β-methylene-ATP. The neurogenic responses were not potentiated by inhibition of nitric oxide synthase. Presence of an intact …


Pharmacologic Responses Of The Mouse Urinary Bladder, A. Erdem, Christopher Chapple, Russ Chess-Williams Aug 2010

Pharmacologic Responses Of The Mouse Urinary Bladder, A. Erdem, Christopher Chapple, Russ Chess-Williams

Russ Chess-Williams

The aim of the study was to determine pathways involved in contraction and relaxation of the mouse urinary bladder. Mouse bladder strips were set up in gassed Krebs-bicarbonate solution and responses to various drugs and electrical field stimulation were obtained. Isoprenaline (b-receptor agonist) caused a 63% inhibition of carbachol precontracted detrusor (EC50=2nM). Carbachol caused contraction (EC50=0.3µM), responses were antagonised more potently by 4-DAMP (M3-antagonist) than methoctramine (M2-antagonist). Electrical field stimulation caused contraction, which was inhibited by atropine (60%) and less by guanethidine and α,β-methylene-ATP. The neurogenic responses were not potentiated by inhibition of nitric oxide synthase. Presence of an intact …


A Law-Policy Proposal To Promote The Public Nature Of Science In An Era Of Academia-Industry Integration, Michael J. Malinowski Feb 2010

A Law-Policy Proposal To Promote The Public Nature Of Science In An Era Of Academia-Industry Integration, Michael J. Malinowski

Michael J. Malinowski

This article addresses the impact of integration of academia, industry, and government on the public nature of research. The article concludes that, while the integration has benefited science immensely, regulatory measures should be taken to restore the public nature of research in an age of integration.