Using the World Wide Web to revolutionise technology transfer and training in the water and wastewater industries

Industry professionals of the near future will be supported by an IT infrastructure that enables them to complete a task by drawing on resources and people with expertise anywhere in the world, and access to knowledge through specific training programs that address the task requirements. The increasing uptake of new technologies enables information to reach a diverse population and to provide flexible learning environments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This paper examines one of the key areas where the World Wide Web will impact on the water and wastewater industries, namely technology transfer and training. The authors will present their experiences of developing online training courses for wastewater industry professionals over the last two years. The perspective is that of two people working at the coalface.

Body size and latitudinal gradients in regional diversity of New World birds

Axe latitudinal gradients in regional diversity random or biased with respect to body size? Using data for the New World avifauna, I show that the slope of the increase in regional species richness from the Arctic to the equator is not independent of body size. The increase is steepest among small and medium-sized species, and shallowest among the largest species. This is reflected in latitudinal variation in the shape of frequency distributions of body sizes in regional subsets of the New World avifauna. Because species are added disproportionately in small and medium size classes towards low latitudes, distributions become less widely spread along the body size axis than expected from the number of species. These patterns suggest an interaction between the effects of latitude and body size on species richness, implying that mechanisms which vary with both latitude and body size may be important determinants of high tropical diversity in New World birds.

Site-Directed Mutagenesis of Dimethyl Sulfoxide Reductase from Rhodobacter capsulatus: Characterization of a Y114 → F Mutant

A system for expressing site-directed mutants of the molybdenum enzyme dimethyl sulfoxide reductase from Rhodobacter capsulatus in the natural host was constructed. This system was used to Generate and express dimethyl sulfoxide reductase with a Y114F mutation. The Y114F mutant had an increased k(cat) and increased K-m toward both dimethyl sulfoxide and trimethylamine N-oxide compared to the native enzyme, and the value of k(cat)/K-m was lower for both substrates in the mutant enzyme. The Y114F mutant, as isolated, was able to oxidize dimethyl sulfide with phenazine ethosulfate as the electron acceptor but with a lower k(cat) than that of the native enzyme. The pH optimum of dimethyl sulfide: acceptor oxidoreductase activity in the Y114F mutant was shown to be shifted by +1 pH unit compared to the native enzyme. The Y114F mutant did not form a pink complex with dimethyl sulfide, which is characteristic of the native enzyme. The mutant enzyme showed a large increase in the K-d for DMS. Direct electrochemistry showed that the Mo(V)/Mo(IV) couple was unaffected by the Y114F mutant, but the midpoint potential of the Mo(VI)/Mo(V) couple was raised by about 50 mV. These data confirm that the Y114 residue plays a critical role in oxidation-reduction processes at the molybdenum active site and in oxygen atom transfer associated with sulfoxide reduction.

Vitamin B12 stalls the 80 S ribosomal complex on the hepatitis C internal ribosome entry site

The effect of cyanocobalamin (CNCbl, vitamin 1312) on hepatitis C virus internal ribosome entry site (HCV IRES)-dependent initiation of translation was studied by ribosomal toeprinting and sucrose gradient centrifugation analysis. These results suggested that CNCbl did not inhibit HCV IRES-dependent translation by a competitive binding mechanism. CNCbl allowed 80 S elongation complex formation on the mRNA, but stalled the initiation at that point, effectively trapping the 80 S ribosomal complexes on the HCV TRES. CNCbl had no effect on cap-dependent mRNA, consistent with the known mRNA specificity of this translational inhibitor. To help elucidate the mechanism, comparative data were collected for the well-characterised translation inhibitors cycloheximide and 5'-guanylyl-imidophosphate, Although CNCbl stalled HCV IRES-dependent translation at approximately the same step in initiation as cycloheximide, the mechanisms of these two inhibitors are distinct. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Defining 'underwater cultural heritage'

The newly adopted United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage provides the first universal protection regime for this value archaeological resource. A central difficulty in concluding this Convention was defining underwater cultural heritage. This article considers the development of the definition agreed upon and analyses its utility in providing for a pragmatic and effective protection regime.