Characterization and molecular analysis of hepatic microsomal UDP-glucuronosyltransferases in the marine fish, Pleuronectes platessa

Here we report the results of the first molecular enzymological study of fish UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UDPGT). UDPGT activities of plaice liver microsomes were greatest for planar phenols and there was low but measurable conjugation of bilirubin, testosterone and androsterone. A highly purified preparation was isolated which possessed activities towards 1-naphthol, bilirubin and testosterone, containing several molecular weight species of M_r 52–56 kDa. On immunoblot analysis these proteins cross-reacted with a polyspecific anti-rat UDPGT antibody, suggesting that a number of plaice UDPGT isoforms with epitopes in common with the corresponding rat enzymes had been purified.     

Nitrate reductase activity and the speciation of selenium at the mouth of Chesapeake bay

Nitrate reductase activity and the concentrations of selenite and selenate were monitored for six months at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay (USA). A positive correlation was found between nitrate reductase activity and the concentration of selenite, suggesting that selenite may be formed in coastal waters and nitrate reductase may be involved in the process.     

Storms and shoreline retreat in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence

Storms play a major role in shoreline recession on transgressive coasts. In the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL), southeastern Canada, long-term relative sea-level rise off the North Shore of Prince Edward Island has averaged 0.3 m/century over the past 6000 years (>0.2 m/century over 2000 years). This has driven long-term coastal retreat at mean rates >0.5 m/a but the variance and details of coastal profile response remain poorly understood. Despite extensive sandy shores, sediment supply is limited and sand is transferred landward into multidecadal to century-scale storage in coastal dunes, barrier washover deposits, and flood-tidal delta sinks. Charlottetown tide-gauge records show mean relative sea-level rise of 3.2 mm/a (0.32 m/century) since 1911. A further rise of 0.7±0.4 m is projected over the next 100 years. When differenced from tidal predictions, the water-level data provide a 90-year record of storm-surge occurrence. Combined with wind, wave hindcast, and sea-ice data, this provides a catalogue of potentially significant coastal storms. We also document coastal impacts from three recent storms of great severity in January and October 2000 and November 2001. Digital photogrammetry (1935–1990) and shore-zone surveys (1989–2001) show large spatial and temporal variance in coastal recession rates, weakly correlated with the storm record, in part because of wave suppression or coastal protection by sea ice. Large storms cause rapid erosion from which recovery depends in part on local sand supply, but barrier volume may be conserved by washover deposition. Barrier shores with dunes show high longshore and interdecadal variance, with extensive multidecadal healing of former inlet and overwash gaps. This reflects recovery from an episode of widespread overwash prior to 1935, possibly initiated by intense storms or groups of storms in the latter half of the 19th century. With evidence from the storms of 2000–2001, this points to the importance of storm clustering on scales of weeks to years in determining erosion vulnerability, as well as the need for a long-term, large-scale perspective in assessing coastal stability. The expected acceleration in relative sea-level rise, together with projections of increasing storm intensity and greatly diminished winter ice cover in the southern GSL, implies a significant increase in coastal erosion hazards in future.     

On motions in steady,layered, geostrophic models

The interior motions in steady, layered, geostrophic models of large scale wind-driven phenomena are severely constrained if there is no stress transfer across the interfaces. In particular, there will be no motion in the subsurface layers except in regions where the layers rise to the surface and are exposed to the wind-stress or unless the layers are in contact with lateral boundary layers with which they exchange fluid. These results follow directly from quite general considerations that are outlined in this paper.     

A study of the chemistry of iodine and bromine in marine sediments

Several recent marine sediments were treated with eleven chemical reagents in order to ascertain the iodine and bromine species present. The sediments were analyzed before and after each treatment to determine which reagents released the bound halogens. By a process of elimination it is concluded that the iodine is present primarily in its electro-positive state as N-iodoamides while bromine exists in many different chemical forms.     

Evidence from heterologous expression of glutathione S-transferases A and A1 of the plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) that their endogenous role is in detoxification of lipid peroxidation products

cDNA clones for glutathione S-transferases A (GST-A) and A1 (GST-A1) from plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) were expressed as N-terminally 6XHis tagged proteins in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity from Ni-NTA silica. GST-A was an efficient catalyst for conjugation of unsaturated alkenals derived from peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids with the highest activity observed with trans-non-2-enal (8 micromol min(-1) mg(-1)). GST-A1 was a very efficient Se-independent glutathione peroxidase with an activity towards cumene hydroperoxide of 25 micromol min(-1) mg(-1). Although the enzymes exhibited moderately high activities towards the model substrate 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) they exhibited little or no activity towards other common prototypical xenobiotic substrates. Together with data for ontogeny, tissue distribution and inducibility of these enzymes, we contend that a primary function of these enzymes is protection from the harmful effects of lipid peroxidation products generated naturally or exacerbated by xenobiotic exposure.     

Performance of pile-restrained flexible floating breakwaters

The overall performance of pile-restrained flexible floating breakwaters is investigated under the action of linear monochromatic incident waves in the frequency domain. The aforementioned floating breakwaters undergo only vertical structural deflections along their length and are held in place by means of vertical piles. The total number of degrees of freedom equals the six conventional body modes, when the breakwater moves as a rigid body, plus the extra bending modes. These bending modes are introduced to represent the structural deflections of the floating breakwater and are described by the Bernoulli–Euler flexible beam equation. The number of bending modes introduced is determined through an appropriate iterative procedure. The hydrostatic coefficients corresponding to the bending modes are also derived. The numerical analysis of the flexible floating breakwaters is based on a three-dimensional hydrodynamic formulation of the floating body. A parametric study is carried out for a wide range of structural stiffness parameters and wave headings, to investigate their effect on the performance of flexible floating breakwaters. Moreover, this performance is compared with that of the corresponding pile-restrained rigid floating breakwater. Results indicated that the degree of structural stiffness and the wave heading strongly affect the performance of flexible floating breakwaters. The existence of an “optimum” value of structural stiffness is demonstrated for the entire wave frequency range.     

In vitro alternatives to whole animal testing. Comparative cytotoxicity studies of divalent metals in established cell lines derived from tropical and temperate water fish species in a neutral red assay

A simple vital dye (neutral red) uptake method for investigation of the acute toxicity of seven divalent metal cations to cell lines derived from the turbot (TF) and bluegill (BF-2) was evaluated. The method was extremely reproducible between replicate experiments on a week to week basis as well as being reproducible between different laboratories. Whilst there were some species-dependent differences in the relative toxicities of the metals there were good correlations between toxicity and the chemical softness (Σp) of the metal ions and also between in vivo and in vitro toxicities. These studies demonstrate that this simple and relatively inexpensive technique carried out in 96-well microplates may be extremely useful for evaluation of structure-toxicity relationships between related groups of compounds.     

U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) Prelease Geological and Geophysical (G & G) Data Acquisition: A 20-Year Retrospective, 1976-1996

Since 1976, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) has administered its prelease geological and geophysical (G & G) data acquisition program through Title 30, Part 251, of the Code of Federal Regulations, which govern permitting, acquisitions, and data release. Leading indicators of offshore oil and gas activity are the number of permits issued to industry, associated mileage, and expenditures. Over the last 20 years, permit activity has indicated that most of the oil and gas surveying has been in the Gulf of Mexico, where 80 % of all permits have been issued, followed by Alaska (10 %), the Pacific (7 %), and the Atlantic (3 %). These statistics correlate with the dominant position of the central and western Gulf of Mexico areas in oil and gas activity. More than 95 % of all permits were issued for geophysical exploration, mostly for two-dimensional (2-D) common-depth-point (CDP) seismic data. However, over the last 10 years, permits for three-dimensional (3-D) seismic data have averaged 25 % of all geophysical permits and, by 1996, made up approximately half of all geophysical permits offshore-wide. Between 1976 and the early 1990s, industry shot approximately 500,000 linemiles of 2-D CDP data each year on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Of that total, MMS acquired approximately50,000 line-miles annually. In the 1990s, parallel with industry, MMS increased its acquisition of 3-D seismic data in concert with the development and use of interactive workstations. The majority of 2-D and 3-D data have been acquired in the Gulf of Mexico by a ratio of 2:1 over Alaska, the next largest data inventory. With regard to MMS expenditures for G & G data, from 1976 through the 1980s, Alaska, having more offshore area than the other three regions combined, had the largest portion. However, in the 1900s, the vast majority of expenditures have been in the Gulf of Mexico. Over the years, permit totals, mileage acquired, and expenditures for data reflect trends of oil and gas pricing, limitations of offshore moratoria, and a shift of industry emphasis to foreign theaters.