How people value different ecosystems within the Great Barrier Reef.

Natural ecosystems hold great place within the hearts and lives of people, particularly those within which people live and work. However, whether people equally value natural ecosystems that they regularly frequent is effectively unknown. Such knowledge would greatly assist natural resource managers to better understand what they are protecting, why and for whom. In this paper we look at the different values that people hold for different ecosystems within the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). We test the relationship between eight different cultural values (using ecosystem services framing), and the use of seven different ecosystems (beaches, creeks and estuaries, islands and cays, inshore reefs, mid-shelf and outer reefs, open water, and shipwrecks) from face-to-face surveys of 1934 residents living within the GBR. We also look at whether the relationships that people have with each ecosystem inspires them to; (i) do more to help protect the GBR, (ii) learn more about the GBR, and (iii) feel personally affected if the health of the GBR declines. Results suggest that there are common reasons why all ecosystems are valued. All seven ecosystems were valued because they provide identity, quality of life and well-being, and inspired people to do more to help protect the GBR. Many were valued for their desirable and active way of life, learning about the environment through scientific discoveries, and learning about the condition of the GBR. However, some ecosystems were valued for special reasons. People that used beaches tended to have more pride in the World Heritage Area status of the GBR and appreciated the aesthetics of the GBR. People that used the mid-shelf and open-water areas were more likely to value biodiversity and aesthetics qualities. People that used inshore reefs were more likely to value economic benefits from the GBR. All residents said that they would be personally affected if the health of the GBR declined, except for those that used beaches, creeks and estuaries. Levels of concern for each of the ecosystems within the GBR varied, where people were more concerned about inshore areas than they were about coral reef condition. Specifically, people were most concerned about the level of rubbish on the beaches in their region and least about mangroves. These results suggest that, even though the GBR is valued in its entirety for many reasons, the GBR is not perceived as an entire ecosystem, but that people have different relationships within it. We discuss how environmental sustainability might be optimised through understanding and incentivising the multi-functionality of landscapes.

Our Environmental Value Orientations Influence How We Respond to Climate Change.

People variably respond to global change in their beliefs, behaviors, and grief (associated with losses incurred). People that are less likely to believe in climate change, adopt pro-environmental behaviors, or report ecological grief are assumed to have different psycho-cultural orientations, and do not perceive changes in environmental condition or any impact upon themselves. We test these assumptions within the context of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), a region currently experiencing significant climate change impacts in the form of coral reef bleaching and increasingly severe cyclones. We develop knowledge of environmental cultural services with the Environmental Schwartz Value Survey (ESVS) into four human value orientations that can explain individuals' environmental beliefs and behaviors: biospheric (i.e., concern for environment), altruistic (i.e., concern for others, and intrinsic values), egoistic (i.e., concern for personal resources) and hedonic values (i.e., concern for pleasure, comfort, esthetic, and spirituality). Using face-to-face quantitative survey techniques, where 1,934 residents were asked to agree or disagree with a range of statements on a scale of 1-10, we investigate people's (i) environmental values and value orientations, (ii) perceptions of environmental condition, and (iii) perceptions of impact on self. We show how they relate to the following climate change responses; (i) beliefs at a global and local scale, (ii) participation in pro-environmental behaviors, and (iii) levels of grief associated with ecological change, as measured by respective single survey questions. Results suggest that biospheric and altruistic values influenced all climate change responses. Egoistic values were only influential on grief responses. Perception of environmental change was important in influencing beliefs and grief, and perceptions of impact on self were only important in influencing beliefs. These results suggest that environmental managers could use people's environmental value orientations to more effectively influence climate change responses toward environmental stewardship and sustainability. Communications that target or encourage altruism (through understanding and empathy), biospherism (through information on climate change impacts on the environment), and egoism (through emphasizing the benefits, health and wellbeing derived from a natural resource in good condition), could work.

Immunomodulation against leukemias and lymphomas: a realistic future treatment?

Immunotherapy offers the potential for cure of malignancy without the side effects too commonly seen with conventional chemotherapy. The efficacy of allogenic transplantation and monoclonal antibodies in hematological malignancies illustrate this principle and are now part of routine care. Newer cell based and molecular approaches aimed at stimulating cytotoxic activity against host derived tumor associated antigens are able to 'boost' anti-tumor immunity as judged by immunological assays in vitro. Although clinically meaningful responses were originally less evident, more promising results are now being reported. Our growing understanding of tumor immunology provide rationales for further improvements in the field.

Hodgkin's disease and transplantation: a room with a (nontransplanter's) view.

Hodgkin's disease is a malignancy curable by combination chemotherapy in newly diagnosed patients. Management of refractory disease or relapse has been unsatisfactory with salvage chemotherapy alone, although some patients with long initial remission can be cured with this approach. Because correlations between dose intensity and response to treatment in animal models and in clinical studies have been positive, high-dose chemotherapy (HDT) with bone marrow (BM) or peripheral blood stem-cell (PBSC) transplantation support has been used in an attempt to improve disease-free and overall survival in patients with refractory disease or relapse. Controversy exists over who and when to transplant. Results are difficult to interpret because of the heterogeneous nature of the patients under study and short follow-up times. In general, patient disease-free and overall survival appear to be improved with HDT and PBSC support when compared with historical controls. Allografting has also been tried in Hodgkin's disease as well, but is not recommended due to high associated mortality. Improvements in supportive care for transplantation in general, and antiviral and graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis in particular, have decreased early mortality associated with allografting in other malignancies, but not yet in Hodgkin's disease. The fact that allografted patients who survive the initial transplant procedure have an impressively lower relapse rate makes Hodgkin's disease patients potential candidates for future studies of allografting under more modern circumstances. Some suggestions are made about the introduction of new approaches to treatment.

Biological characterization of a strain of Trypanosoma cruzi chagas isolated from a human case of trypanosomiasis in California.

In August 1982, the first autochthonous case of human American trypanosomiasis in California occurred. The isolate, the Tuolumne strain of Trypanosoma, was infective to young laboratory mice and capable of causing death or chronic disease in these animals. The morphology and mensural characteristics are described. This strain can develop in 2 species of Triatominae native to California, Triatoma protracta and T. rubida. The flagellates isolated from these insects were infective to vertebrate hosts. Rhodnius prolixus, a neotropical species, was not susceptible to infection.

Polymorphisms in the interleukin-10 and interferon gamma genes in Hodgkin lymphoma.

Genetic factors are known to be important in the development of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). Interleukin-10 (IL-10) secretion by both malignant and reactive cells is thought to be important in the pathogenesis of HL especially Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) positive cases. Polymorphisms of the IL-10 gene have been reported to be associated with susceptibility to EBV infection. The cytotoxic response to EBV is determined by a Th1 biased immune response which is characterised by interferon gamma (IFNgamma) secretion. We therefore investigated polymorphisms in the IL-10 (-1082 G/A and -592 C/A) and IFNgamma (intron 1 CA repeat) genes as predisposing factors in the development 147 cases of HL. A difference of borderline statistical significance was demonstrated for the IFNgamma gene polymorphism but significance was lost when analysis was restricted to the common genotypes. No significant differences in the distributions of genotypes were found for the IL-10 gene polymorphisms. IL-10 and IFNgamma levels were also measured on 26 patients with HL. No statistically significant differences were detected when the results were analysed by genotype. We found little evidence IL-10 and IFNgamma genotypes predispose to the development of HL or influence the inflammatory host response.

TLR ligand suppression or enhancement of Treg cells? A double-edged sword in immunity to tumours.

Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists are potent activators of innate immune responses, activating dendritic cell (DC) maturation and inflammatory cytokine secretion by innate immune cells and as a consequence they promote adaptive immune response when coadministered with foreign antigens. There is also some evidence from mouse models that TLR ligands can help to break tolerance to self-antigens and promote immune responses to tumour antigens. Therefore, they have been exploited as adjuvants for tumour vaccines or as immunotherapeutics against cancer. Clinical evaluation of TLR agonists has resulted in a licensed immunotherapeutic for basal cell carcinoma, but there have also been disappointing results from clinical trials, with one pharmaceutical company recently halting its clinical programme. A major obstacle to the development of any active immunotherapeutic approach to cancer is the immunosuppressive environment of the growing tumour, including the induction of tolerogenic DCs and regulatory T (Treg) cells, which suppress the development of protective effector T-cell responses. This can be compounded by the use of TLR ligands as immunotherapeutics. A problem with TLR agonists that has not been fully appreciated is that they can generate suppressive as well as inflammatory responses in innate immune cells and can promote the induction of regulatory as well as effector T cells. This is part of a normal mechanism for limiting collateral damage during infection or sterile inflammation, but can constrain their ability to induce protective antitumour immunity, especially in the immune suppressed environment of the tumour. Alternatively, manipulating the TLR-activated innate immune responses to selectively blocking immunosuppressive arm, as well as that induced by the tumour, may hold the key to enhancing their efficacy as tumour immunotherapeutics and as adjuvants for cancer vaccines.

Successful immunotherapy for Triatoma protracta-induced anaphylaxis.

A successful program of immunotherapy for Triatoma protracta-induced anaphylaxis was developed. This program included a new passive extract-antigen preparation standardized by RAST inhibition. This antigen facilitated the development of a reliable skin test protocol for in vivo diagnosis of Triatoma protracta allergy. Five patients with T. protracta-induced anaphylaxis underwent a rapidly increasing dosage schedule of immunotherapy. The IgE- and IgG-antibody responses during immunotherapy were followed with solid-phase RIA. Protection against anaphylaxis was confirmed in all patients with a "bite challenge" by T. protracta. This is the first report of completely successful T. protracta immunotherapy.

Content and synthesis of several abundant glycolytic enzymes in skeletal muscles of normal and dystrophic mice.

In both 2- and 3-month-old 129 ReJ mice, the catalytic activity levels of three enzymes involved in glycogen breakdown (phosphorylase, enolase, and aldolase) were found to be 35-50% lower in hind limb muscles of dystrophic mice as compared with normal mice. The reduced activities of these enzymes in the diseased tissue was directly due to corresponding reductions in the number of enzyme molecules rather than being due to inactivation of the enzymes in the dystrophic muscle. Results of short term double isotope incorporation experiments conducted with muscle explants in vitro suggested that the rates of synthesis of these enzymes, and of most other abundant cytosolic proteins, relative to each other, were similar in hind limb muscles of normal and dystrophic mice. The present work on murine muscular dystrophy is discussed in terms of our previous studies into the influence of avian muscular dystrophy on the content and synthesis of abundant glycolytic enzymes in chicken skeletal muscles.

Species-specific allergens from the salivary glands of Triatominae (Heteroptera:Reduviidae).

We investigated allergenic cross-reactivity among species of the blood-feeding insects of the subfamily Triatominae. By skin testing, patients allergic to either Triatoma protracta or T. rubida gave positive responses only to the respective salivary antigen. RAST-inhibition experiments demonstrated that binding of IgE antibodies to T. protracta antigen was not inhibited by salivary extracts from T. rubida, T. cavernicola, T. rubrofasciata, or Rhodnius prolixus. The same level of species specificity was found for IgE antibodies to T. rubida. By direct RAST, no T. rubida positive serum bound T. protracta antigen, and 29 of 30 T. protracta positive sera failed to bind T. rubida. One serum from a T. protracta-allergic patient contained IgE antibodies to both T. protracta and T. rubida. RAST-inhibition experiments demonstrated that these antibodies did not cross-react and that this person had separate species-specific antibodies to T. protracta and T. rubida antigens. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of salivary extracts demonstrated that the lower molecular weight bands that contain the antigens responsible for human allergic reactions differed in number and size in all species tested. These studies demonstrate species specificity for the allergic response to Triatoma and stress the importance of accurate insect identification and the need for species-specific antigens for diagnosis and immunotherapy.

Identification and partial purification of species-specific allergens from Triatoma protracta (Heteroptera:Reduviidae).

This article describes the immunochemical characterization of allergens from Triatoma protracta, a hematophagous insect that causes IgE-mediated anaphylactic reactions when it bites sensitized allergic persons. Comparison of the allergenic potency of T. protracta salivary gland extract, thoracic and abdominal hemolymph, and a whole body extract by RAST inhibition demonstrated that salivary glands were the main source of T. protracta allergens. Concentrated salivary gland extracts were purified by gel filtration and isoelectric focusing. Fractions were tested for allergenic activity by RAST inhibition and for protein purity by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoelectrophoresis. Two protein peaks were obtained on gel filtration. The high-molecular-weight peak contained a 70,000 MW protein/glycoprotein that had little allergenic activity. The low-molecular-weight peak comprised six proteins, molecular weight 17,000 to 25,000, and T. protracta allergen(s) eluted in parallel with this peak. These proteins were resolved by isoelectric focusing, and two fractions, pI 6.7 to 7.3 and pI 8.2, contained most of the allergenic activity. By RAST, 25/28 sera from T. protracta-allergic patients contained IgE antibody to these fractions, suggesting that they were major allergens. Each fraction demonstrated a single precipitin arc on immunoelectrophoresis and two bands, molecular weight 18,000 to 20,000, on gel electrophoresis. Cross-inhibition radioimmunoassays demonstrated that each fraction completely inhibited binding of the other fraction to IgE antibody, suggesting that they contained different isoelectric forms of the same allergen.

Rapid reconstitution of Epstein-Barr virus-specific T lymphocytes following allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific CD8 T lymphocytes are present at remarkably high frequencies in healthy EBV(+) individuals and provide protection from EBV-associated lymphoproliferative diseases. Allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (allo-PBSCT) is a commonly used therapy in which T-cell surveillance for EBV is temporarily disrupted. Herein, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I tetramers were used to investigate the reestablishment of the EBV-specific CD8 T-cell repertoire in patients following allo-PBSCT. CD8(+) T cells specific for lytic and latent cycle-derived EBV peptides rapidly repopulate the periphery of matched sibling allo-PBSCT patients. The relative frequencies of T cells specific for different EBV peptides in transplantation recipients closely reflect those of their respective donors. Investigation of patients at monthly intervals following unmanipulated allo-PBSCT demonstrated that the frequency of EBV-specific T cells correlates with the number of EBV genome copies in the peripheral blood and that expansion of EBV-specific T-cell populations occurs even in the setting of immunosuppressive therapy. In contrast, patients undergoing T-cell-depleted or unrelated cord blood transplantation have undetectable EBV-specific T cells, even in the presence of Epstein-Barr viremia. The protective shield provided by EBV-specific CD8 T cells is rapidly established following unmanipulated matched sibling allo-PBSCT and demonstrates that HLA class I tetramers complexed with viral peptides can provide direct and rapid assessment of pathogen-specific immunity in this and other vulnerable patient populations. (Blood. 2000;96:2814-2821)