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Digital databases on 444 stations were used to carry out statistical analysis of regularities in the spatial distribution of Barents Sea water pollution. The analysis was focused on the concentrations in water of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn) and toxic organic compounds: hexachlorocyclohexanes, hexachlorobenzene, chlordans, DDT, polychlorbiphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and normal paraffins. The statistical analysis of data on pollutants was carried out along two major directions in their distribution: the vertical-in the surface and bottom water layers; and the horizontal-over water masses. Reliable differences were identified in the pollution level of different water masses of the Barents Sea. The frontal zone was found to concentrate pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss a model which parameterizes the cosmic-ray (CR) spectrum at different physical conditions, which include the most important effects controlling the CR intensity, like convection-diffusion and energy losses. By a suitable choice of parameters the proposed model results in two approximations: one close to a 'force-field' model (describing the energy losses of CRs in the inner heliosphere) and a 'convection-diffusion' equation (giving the reduction of CR intensity in the outer heliosphere). The BESS ( Balloon-borne Experiment with Superconducting Spectrometer) experimental spectra of galactic protons and helium nuclei are fitted by the model spectra. The calculation of the unknown parameters is performed using a constrained least squares method as an alternative to the standard chi-square minimization method, because the data contain not only random errors, but also systematic ones. The CR spectrum approximation (CRSA) model is compared to the Moscow State University (MSU) model and the Badhwar and O'Neill (Badhwar and O'Neill, Adv. Space. Res. 14, 749, ; Adv. Space Res. 17, 7, ) model; we show that depending on the choice of the model parameters it can be examined in the context of one of these two models. We derive a relation between the parameters of the CRSA and MSU models for rigidities above about 10 GV (drift effects are ignored) during periods of low to approximately average levels of solar activity. The drawbacks of the proposed approximation are that: i) the model parameters do not depend on rigidity and ii) the model does not take into account general trends in the variations of the heliospheric magnetic field; thus, the influence of the drift effects on the shape of the spectral curves for different magnetic field polarity swings is ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human paraoxonase (PON) gene family consists of three members, PON1, PON2, and PON3, aligned next to each other on chromosome 7. By far the most-studied member of the family is the serum paraoxonase 1 (PON1), a high-density lipoprotein-associated esterase/lactonase. Early research focused on its capability to hydrolyze toxic organophosphates, and its name derives from one of its most commonly used in vitro substrates, paraoxon. Studies in the last 2 decades have demonstrated PON1’s ability to protect against atherosclerosis by hydrolyzing specific derivatives of oxidized cholesterol and/or phospholipids in oxidized low-density lipoprotein and in atherosclerotic lesions. Levels and genetic variability of PON1 influence sensitivity to specific insecticides and nerve agents, as well as the risk of cardiovascular disease. More recently, the other two members of the PON family, PON2 and PON3, have also been shown to have antioxidant properties. A major goal in present research on the paraoxonases is to identify their natural substrates and to elucidate the mechanism(s) of their catalytic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]