The concentrations of Cs and potassium in the surface layers of arable soils were analyzed in the selected region of Eastern Poland approximately 20 years after the Chernobyl power plant accident. Additionally, the occurrence of the elements in soil in the forms available for plants was determined. In relation to the total concentrations of Cs and K in the soil, cesium is found in larger quanti...

Deep water samples collected in 1963 and 1964 in the adjacent seas of Japan were analyzed radiochemically. Sr-90 and Cs-137 were detected in the deep layers down to 6,000 meters deep and showed approximately uniform vertical distributions below 1,000 meters. Mean concentrations of Sr-90 in deep waters were 0.028 ƒÊƒÊc/l in the Pacific and 0.035ƒÊƒÊc /l in the northern Japan Sea, and those of Cs...

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In the recently published paper, no direct claims were made since only relatively indirect global ambient radioactivity levels are available [1]. However, available data from reputable sources clearly shows a global annual average population radiation exposure that peaked in 1962 and 1963 shortly after a spike in atomic bomb testing that pre-empted the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963 [2]. Ambie...

BACKGROUND Schizophrenia is a highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorder. A genetic variant of microRNA-137 (miR-137) has yielded significant genome-wide association with schizophrenia, suggesting that this miRNA plays a key role in its etiology. Therefore, a molecular network of interacting miR-137 targets may provide insights into the biological processes underlying schizophrenia. METHODS...

Evolutionary and physiological considerations argue that study of hyperthermophilic archaea should reveal new molecular aspects of DNA stabilization and repair. So far, these unusual prokaryotes have yielded a number of genes and enzymatic activities consistent with known mechanisms of excision repair, photo-reversal, and trans-lesion synthesis. However, other DNA enzymes of hyperthermophilic a...

Curriculum Change in South Africa Since 1994 The development of a national curriculum is a major challenge for any nation, and when a whole country depends on it to transform society in one broad stroke, it imposes tremendous expectations on such a curriculum. South Africa’s democratic government has inherited a divided and unequal system of education and must recognise that apartheid is not th...