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Over the next decades, with the growing concern of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, the importance of investigating new approaches for its reduction becomes crucial. Reclamation of CO2 for conversion into biofuels represents an alternative and attractive production method that has been studied in recent years, now with enzymatic methods gaining more attention. Formate dehydrogenases (FDHs) are NAD(P)H-dependent oxidoreductases that catalyze the conversion of formate into CO2 and have been extensively used for cofactor recycling in chemoenzymatic processes. A new FDH from Clostridium ljungdahlii (ClFDH) has been recently shown to possess activity in the reverse reaction: the mineralization of CO2 into formate. In this study, we show the successful homologous expression of ClFDH in Escherichia coli. Biochemical and kinetic characterization of the enzyme revealed that this homologue also demonstrates activity toward CO2 reduction. Structural analysis of the enzyme through homology modeling is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methylphenidate is a stimulant used to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the last decade, illicit use of methylphenidate has increased among healthy young adults, who consume the drug under the assumption that it will improve cognitive performance. However, the studies that aimed to assess the methylphenidate effects on memory are not consistent. Here, we tested whether the effect of methylphenidate on a spatial memory task can be explained as a motivational and/or a reward effect. We tested the effects of acute and chronic i.p. administration of 0.3, 1 or 3 mg/kg of methylphenidate on motivation, learning and memory by using the 8-arm radial maze task. Adult male Wistar rats learned that 3 of the 8 arms of the maze were consistently baited with 1, 3, or 6 sucrose pellets, and the number of entries and reentries into reinforced and non-reinforced arms of the maze were scored. Neither acute nor chronic (20 days) methylphenidate treatment affected the number of entries in the non-baited arms. However, chronic, but not acute, 1–3 mg/kg methylphenidate increased the number of reentries in the higher reward arms, which suggests a motivational/rewarding effect rather than a working memory deficit. In agreement with this hypothesis, the methylphenidate treatment also decreased the approach latency to the higher reward arms, increased the approach latency to the low reward arm, and increased the time spent in the high, but not low, reward arm. These findings suggest that methylphenidate may act more as a motivational enhancer rather than a cognitive enhancer in healthy people. • Chronic methylphenidate increases motivation and/or reward preference for high-value rewards. • Chronic methylphenidate decreased motivation and/or reward preference for low-value rewards. • Methylphenidate did not affect reference and working memory in the 8-arm radial maze. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental solubilities have been measured for isophthalic acid dissolved in eleven primary alcohol, three secondary alcohol and three alkoxyalcohol solvents at 298 K. Results of the experimental measurements, combined with published solubility data for isophthalic acid in ethyl acetate, acetic acid, acetophenone, acetone, cyclohexanone, propyl acetate, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and tetrahydrofuran, were used to determine the Abraham model solute descriptors for isophthalic acid. The calculated solute descriptors described the measured solubility data to within an overall average standard deviation of 0.15 log units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article lists the reviewers of the periodical which includes Siddarth Singh, Milan Lukas, and David Alpers.

The article lists gastrointestinal (GI) fellowship training programs in the U.S. in 2015 including one in the University of Alabama Medical Center Gastroenterology in Birmingham, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Gastroenterology, and University of Colorado Gastroenterology in Aurora.

People whom the editors would like to thank for their assistance in the creation of the journal are mentioned.

The disability rights movement has brought about broad change in what we see today socially in our imagination and pragmatically within the political landscape. Specifically, it has challenged what it means to be human and what it means to have the right to exist within a social democracy based on principles of equality. Yet the disability rights movement has paid little attention to how disability is understood within culturally diverse communities. Often culturally competent models have a "one-size-fits-all" approach that potentially contributes to disparities in service delivery. This approach generally ignores ethnic distinctions within broad racial/ ethnic categorizations such as black Americans and Latinos. The Cape Verdean Women's Project explores the population of Cape Verdeans in the United States. Findings indicate that they are not only often culturally misidentified but also misunderstood especially as it relates to issues of disability. This study demonstrates how race, gender, and culture interact and often contradict mainstream disability philosophy and service practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article lists names of the periodical "American Journal of Gastroenterology's" reviewers including Peter Lakatos, Brian Lacy, and Julio Bai, who are being recognized for being the most outstanding in 2013 in terms of the speed of their reviewing, number of assignments, and reviewing quality.

A simple and convenient one-pot method for simultaneously obtaining decahydroacridine-1,8-diones and 1,8-dioxo-octahydroxanthene derivatives is described. A high conversion yielding both products was obtained under the reaction conditions. To understand the optical behavior of the model compounds and their potential use as antenna moieties in bichromophoric systems, the photophysical properties of all samples were studied using ultraviolet–visible absorption and steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy in methanol solutions. For the case of the acridinediones, the fluorescence spectra were found to exhibit the typical emission profile of the locally excited state, whereas, contrary to previous published experimental results, reliable fluorescence emission spectra for the xanthenes derivatives could not be obtained. On the other hand, the poor quantum yields of the synthesized decahydroacridine-1,8-diones were explained based on the benzene-like substitution effect, which favors the intersystem crossing relaxation mechanism. [Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition ofSynthetic Communications® for the following free supplemental resource(s): Full experimental and spectral details.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article lists several reviewers for the periodical "American Journal ofGastroenterology" including Sunanda Kane, Paola Loria and Brian Lacey who are being recognized by editors of the periodical for their performances at reviewing articles for the periodical.

Abstracts on integrated physiology and obesity are presented including fatty acids stimulating glucose-induced insulin secretion in vivo in mice, comparison of measures of insulin sensitivity in South Asians, and angiotensin-(1-7) counter-regulating the inhibitory effect of angiotensin II on Akt phosphorylation in NIT-1 cells.

Background: There is some evidence that singing lessons may be of benefit to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is not clear how much of this benefit is specific to singing and how much relates to the classes being a group activity that addresses social isolation. Methods: Patients were randomised to either singing classes or a film club for eight weeks. Response was assessed quantitatively through health status questionnaires, measures of breathing control, exercise capacity and physical activity and qualitatively, through structured interviews with a clinical psychologist. Results: The singing group (n=13 mean(SD) FEV1 44.4(14.4)% predicted) and film group (n=11 FEV1 63.5(25.5)% predicted) did not differ significantly at baseline. There was a significant difference between the response of the physical component score of the SF-36, favouring the singing group +12.9(19.0) vs -0.25(11.9) (p=0.02), but no difference in response of the mental component score of the SF-36, breathing control measures, exercise capacity or daily physical activity. In the qualitative element, positive effects on physical well-being were reported in the singing group but not the film group. Conclusion: Singing classes have an impact on health status distinct from that achieved simply by taking part in a group activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the US military expanded its global health engagement as part of broader efforts to stabilize fragile states, formally designating “medical stability operations” as use of Department of Defense (DoD) medical assets to build or sustain indigenous health sector capacity. Medical stability operations have included medical assistance missions launched by US Africa Command and in other regions, deployment of hospital ships to deliver humanitarian assistance and build capacity, and health-related efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The public health impact of such initiatives, and their effectiveness in promoting stability is unclear. Moreover, humanitarian actors have expressed concern about military encroachment on the “humanitarian space,” potentially endangering aid workers and populations in need, and violating core principles of humanitarian assistance. The DoD should draw on existing data to determine whether, and under what conditions, health engagement promotes stability overseas and develop a shared understanding with humanitarian actors of core principles to guide its global health engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (AFHSC-GEIS) has the mission of performing surveillance for emerging infectious diseases that could affect the United States (U.S.) military. This mission is accomplished by orchestrating a global portfolio of surveillance projects, capacity-building efforts, outbreak investigations and training exercises. In 2009, this portfolio involved 39 funded partners, impacting 92 countries. This article discusses the current biosurveillance landscape, programmatic details of organization and implementation, and key contributions to force health protection and global public health in 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article lists several reviewers of the "American Journal of Gastroenterology" in 2008 including Lars Aabakken, Emanuele Albano and Vicente Arroyo.

Experimentation with substances is typical for many young people, but unfortunately some will go on to develop substance abuse problems that substantially affect their lives. Successfully intervening with students who use or abuse substances is a challenge for school mental health professionals across the nation. There is a need for evidence-based practices that school professionals can use when working with students who have substance abuse problems. This article provides school professionals in secondary settings with current information on student substance use rates, evidence-based individual and group interventions, and discussion of the 42 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 2 (42 CFR). © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how the local production of Westerns shaped the postwar racial geography of Los Angeles's suburban San Fernando Valley. White suburban activists drew upon the ideologies about rural land that Westerns promoted and forged political coalitions with the mythmakers who crafted them to secure privileged land-use policies, resist residential integration, and justify white flight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People that the editors would like to thank for their assistance in the creation of the journal are mentioned.

Repeated administration of psychostimulant elicits behavioral sensitization, characterized by an augmented locomotor response to a subsequent challenge injection. This sensitization is paralleled by neural adaptations. Evidences suggest that the rate at which drugs of abuse are delivered to the brain play a key role in this plasticity. Cocaethylene is a pharmacologically active homolog of cocaine, known to have a pharmacokinetic profile different to that of cocaine. Utilizing locomotor sensitization, we evaluated the consequences of the administration of cocaethylene in a rapid- and slow-onset formulation, in naïve and cocaine-sensitized mice. We investigated the development of sensitization after repeated administration of cocaine and cocaethylene and the effects of cocaethylene in animals previously exposed to cocaine. Cocaethylene was dissolved in two vehicles (saline and emulsion). As observed with cocaine, chronic cocaethylene treatment in saline induced a behavioral sensitization, while in a sustained release emulsion, no behavioral sensitization was observed. Moreover, the expression of the sensitized behavior observed in cocaine-treated mice was reduced or totally abolished after cocaethylene administration in saline and emulsion, respectively. Interestingly, administration of cocaine in mice chronically treated with cocaethylene in saline induced an increase in locomotor activity as compared to control animals. In contrast, no difference was observed after the administration of cocaine in animals chronically treated with cocaethylene in emulsion or control group. Cocaethylene in a sustained release emulsion blocked locomotor sensitization. These results suggest that cocaethylene, in a specific galenic preparation, such as gum, may be an efficacious harm-reduction alternative to cocaine users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a list of reviewers of the "American Journal of Gastroenterology," for the year 2006.

Premature infants and those with chronic lung disease or congenital heart disease are at high risk of severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease. Palivizumab (Synagis), a humanized anti-RSV monoclonal antibody, has been used extensively since 1998 to prevent severe RSV disease in high-risk infants. To monitor for possible palivizumab-resistant mutants, an immunofluorescence binding assay that predicts palivizumab neutralization of RSV was developed. RSV isolates were collected at 8 US sites from 458 infants hospitalized for RSV disease (1998-2002). Palivizumab bound to all 371 RSV isolates able to be evaluated, including 25 from active-palivizumab recipients. The palivizumab epitope appears to be highly conserved, even in infants receiving prophylaxis with palivizumab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on the Bakersfield Business Conference in Bakersfield, California. History; Description of the site; Speakers; Issues surrounding its use of electronic mediation.

We describe a child with a neonatal presentation of Bartter’s syndrome. Unlike infants previously described with a similar clinical presentation, the urinary excretion rate of prostaglandin E[sub 2] in this child was similar to normal children and Tamm-Horsfall protein was distributed normally in the thick ascending limb of the loop of Henle. The child failed to respond to indomethacin alone, but thrived after the addition of the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, captopril. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main problems of international environmental treaties is the lack of compliance. This papers evaluates the effectiveness of sanctions employed in the United States-Mexico Environmental Cooperation Agreement and subsidiary agreements. The successes and shortfalls of these agreements offer lessons for effective compliance and enforcement for the North American Free Trade Agreement and other international environmental agreements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Presents abstracts of articles on business-government relationships. `Political Coalition Formation and Firm Configurations: The Case of U.S. and EFTA Multinationals in the European Community,' by Stefan Wally, Walter J. Ferrier et al; `Strategic Predispositions and Firm Strategy: Implications for Foreign Policy Makers,' by Stefanie Lenway & Peter S. Ring.