We describe several novel analogs of the seco-steroid 1,25(OH)2-vitamin D3[1,25(OH)2D3] and their effects on differentiation and proliferation of HL-60 human myeloid leukemic cells in vitro as well as their effects on calcium metabolism in vivo. The 1 alpha-25(OH)2-16ene-23yne-26,27F6-vitamin D3 is the most potent analog reported to date, having about 80-fold more activity than the reference 1,...

Overexposure to noise remains a widespread, serious health hazard in the US mining and other industries despite 25 years of regulation. Most categories of illnesses and injuries associated with mining have improved, with the exception of hearing loss. The drilling of rock in a confined work environment contributes to high levels of noise exposure in mining. The National Institute for Occupation...

In the context of the French Phytoplankton and Phycotoxins Monitoring Network (REPHY) programme, shellfish samples were harvested from different locations where harmful algae blooms were known to have occurred. For all shellfish samples found positive by the mouse bioassay for diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) toxins, liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) was used to...

Value at Risk is a measure of risk exposure of a portfolio and is de ned as the maximum possible loss in a certain time frame, typically 1-20 days, and within a certain con dence, typically 95%. Full valuation of a portfolio under a large number of scenarios is a lengthy process. To speed it up, one can make use of the total delta vector and the total gamma matrix of a portfolio and compute a G...

At present WTO member countries use a total of 1425 tariff rate quotas (TRQs) on agricultural products. The implementation of TRQs was envisaged, among other things, as a means to improve market access for developing countries’ exports. Since most of the developing countries are potentially large exporters of agricultural products and market access opportunities for exporters from developing co...

Cholesterol is one of the most ubiquitous compounds in nature. The 9,10-seco-pathway for the aerobic degradation of cholesterol was established thirty years ago. This pathway is characterized by the extensive use of oxygen and oxygenases for substrate activation and ring fission. The classical pathway was the only catabolic pathway adopted by all studies on cholesterol-degrading bacteria. Stero...

1. The effect of climate variability on phytoplankton and zooplankton dynamics and nutrient availability was studied in two high mountain fishless lakes (La Caldera and Rı́o Seco) of contrasting morphology, hydrology and dissolved inorganic nitrogen : soluble reactive phosphate (DIN : SRP) ratios during 1986 and after a 10-year-long drought in 1996 and 1997. 2. Thaw was delayed and water tempera...

Lignans, derived from flaxseed, are phyto-oestrogens being increasingly studied for their health benefits. An 8-week, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted in fifty-five hypercholesterolaemic subjects, using treatments of 0 (placebo), 300 or 600 mg/d of dietary secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) from flaxseed extract to determine the effect on plasma lipids and fa...

The natural antibiotics CC‑1065 and the duocarmycins are highly cytotoxic compounds which however are not suitable for cancer therapy due to their general toxicity. We have developed glycosidic prodrugs of seco-analogues of these antibiotics for a selective cancer therapy using conjugates of glycohydrolases and tumour-selective monoclonal antibodies for the liberation of the drugs from the prod...

Physalis angulata L. is an annual herb widely used in popular medicine for the treatment of a variety of pathologies. Here, we tested immunomodulatory activities of physalins, seco-steroids purified from P. angulata extracts. Addition of physalins B, F or G, but not D, caused a reduction in nitric oxide production by macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccaride and interferon-gamma. In the pre...