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Bothriocephalid (Diphyllobothrium pacificum) and Ascarid (Ascaris lumbricoides) eggs have been identified in a sample taken in the abdominal cavity of a child skeleton found in Zeto Point (ADK-011), an archaeological site on Adak Island in the Central Aleutian Islands (Alaska).
To clarify the molecular mechanism for the transduction of light signals in plants, we have established an in vitro system that uses crude membrane and soluble fractions of stem sections of etiolated Pisum sativum L. cv. Alaska after irradiation by red light, or sequential application of red and far-red light to the stem section. In a previous report (T. Hamada et al., J. Photochem. Photobiol. B: Biol. 33 (1996) 143-151) the labelling of proteins in membrane fraction by [gamma-32P] ATP at 0 degree C for 15 s and subsequent separation of proteins by two-dimensional electrophoresis allowed unambiguous identification of a heavily phosphorylated protein spot at 18 kDa (p18). In the present study we have confirmed the former results in the membrane fraction, and obtained the result that an increase in the phosphorylation of p18 by red-light irradiation is observed in the soluble fraction. Further, we have provided evidence that the p18 in the soluble fraction is purified and identified as nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) kinase by Western blotting, immuno-precipitation, amino acid sequencing and cDNA analysis. Purified p18 shows autophosphorylation activity and strong phosphorylating activity against myelin basic protein (MBP), a substrate of MAP (mitogen activated protein) kinase. The results show that phytochrome-mediated light signals are transduced to NDP kinase, which may elicit signals by providing high concentrations of, for example, GTP from GDT and ATP, by the autophosphorylation and by the protein kinase activity similar to MAP kinase.
PURPOSE: Dietary factors play an important role in the occurrence of heart disease and cancer. While American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIANs) have unique heart disease and cancer mortality profiles, little is known about the effect of diet on heart disease and cancer risk in these populations. This paper reviews existing nutritional intake data from adult AIANs, and considers the potential impact of diet on heart disease and cancer in these communities. METHODS: A review of the literature was conducted using the Medline database system and other reference materials. Studies documenting nutrient intakes only were included in this review. Studies were limited to those among healthy, non-pregnant adults. RESULTS: A total of twelve reports from 1959 to 1996 were found. Sample sizes for the studies ranged from 20 to 575 subjects. Most studies were done among women, and a variety of nutritional assessment techniques (24 hour recall, food frequency questionnaire, multiple-day food record) were used. Most studies also had limited nutrient intake data, especially for dietary fiber and vitamin E. The majority of studies reported moderately high intakes of fat and saturated fat, and low intakes of polyunsaturated fat and fiber. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the limited data, diet may play an important role in the heterogeneity of heart disease and cancer mortality in AIAN communities. More research is needed to assess the impact of diet on heart disease and cancer risk, including more longitudinal data, and data to assess the validity and reliability of traditional methods of dietary assessment.
Drinking water is supplied by individual roof-catchment systems for homes and businesses near a dissolving sulfite pulp mill (now closed) located just north of Ketchikan in southeast Alaska. This study was conducted to determine if polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs/Fs) found in the sediments of the roof-catchment cisterns resulted from historical deposition of stack emissions from the pulp mill's multi-fuel power boilers. Fly ash from the power boilers had maximum total PCDD/F concentrations of 3.08 x 10(5)-3.10 x 10(6) ng/kg, which resulted from combustion of bleach plant wastewater sludge and saltwater-soaked wood waste. Cistern sediments had maximum total PCDD/F concentrations of 7.71 x 10(4) ng/kg. Potential sources of PCDDs/Fs in the cistern sediments were considered to be automobile exhaust, heating oil combustion, and private trash burning as well as pulp mill boiler emissions. Discriminant analysis was used to analyze differences between profiles of tetra through octa homologue classes of PCDDs/ Fs (defined as proportional contributions to total concentration) from different source terms. Homologue profiles of potential sources from Ketchikan included in this analysis were fly ash collected from the mill's power boilers and soils collected from background areas (areas with similar PCDD/F sources as the residences [e.g., auto exhaust and burn barrels] near the mill but beyond the zone of aerial deposition of emissions from the mill). Profiles for emissions from automobile exhaust, fertilizers, oil heating, residential trash burning, and residential wood heating were also included in the source "training" data set (for the discriminant analysis) using data from published literature. The classification rules developed from the discriminant analysis were applied to the following test media sampled at Ketchikan: roof-catchment cistern sediments and soils collected from areas in the vicinity of the mill's power boilers (i.e., nearby residential or commercial [developed] areas, on the mill property, and nearby forestlands). The homologue profiles of cistern sediment and nearby developed area soil samples were similar to background soils, whereas the profiles for the forestland soil samples (influenced by emissions from the mill but not other anthropogenic sources) closely matched the fly ash pattern. The homologue profiles of the emission sources from published data were more similar to one another than either background soils or fly ash. Soil samples from the mill property were classified as members of all source groups. On the basis of these analyses, the composition of PCDDs/Fs detected in the cistern sediments is typical of Ketchikan background conditions and not reflective of mill emissions.
To test the hypothesis that biomarker levels in fish collected at Prince William Sound (PWS) sites impacted by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill were higher than those collected at unimpacted sites, a 1999-2000 study collected five fish species and associated benthic sediments from 21 sites in PWS and the eastern Gulf of Alaska (GOA). PWS sites were divided in three oiling categories based upon 1989 shoreline assessments: nonspill path (NSP), spill path oiled (SPO), and spill path not oiled (SPNO). Rockfish (N = 177), rock sole (N = 30), and kelp greenling (N = 49) were collected at near-shore locations (approximately 50-500 m from shore); Pacific halibut (N = 131) and Pacific cod (N = 81) were collected further offshore (approximately 500-7000 m). Fish were assayed for bile fluorescent aromatic contaminants (FAC) and cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) levels measured as liver ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity and by immunohistochemistry (IHC) of various tissues. For all species studied at all sites, bile FAC concentrations and CYP1A levels were low and in the same range for fish collected at PWS SPO and SPNO sites relative to NSP sites in PWS and the GOA. Consequently, the hypothesis is rejected for the species studied. The bile FAC results further indicate a pervasive exposure of fish at all sites, including those in the GOA far removed from the effects of the spill, to low levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Analysis of the benthic sediments indicates that the probable sources of this exposure are petrogenic hydrocarbons derived from natural oil seeps and eroding sedimentary rocks in the eastern GOA.
The concentrations of phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene, chrysene, and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were measured in spruce needles at 36 sites in eastern Alaska during early spring. Concentrations of each polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) varied by an order of magnitude. Samples taken from near the city of Fairbanks had higher concentrations than samples taken from more rural areas. Anthropogenic activities near Fairbanks are most likely a source of PAHs. Variation in the concentration ratios of isomeric PAHs indicates the relative importance of combustion and petrogenic sources. The relative combustion contribution is largest in coastal samples and smallest near Fairbanks. In contrast, the concentration of HCB varied by only a factor of 2. Lipid content of needles and distance from the coast were the major factors correlated with the concentration of HCB.
Seafloor sediments in Prince William Sound (PWS) and the eastern Gulf of Alaska (GOA) have a substantial regional hydrocarbon background from natural sources including oil seeps and eroding sedimentary rocks along the eastern GOA coast. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from that background appear to be bioavailable to fish. Fish collected from PWS and the GOA in a 1999--2000 biomarker study (bile fluorescent aromatic contaminants and liver ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase) show evidence of exposure to low levels of PAH at all categories of sites sampled. Seafloor sediments at fish sampling sites in the GOA east of PWS and at three PWS site categories (nonspill path, spill path oiled, and spill path not oiled) contain hydrocarbons from four principal sources: regional background, combustion products, residues from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS), and Monterey (CA) petroleum residues. GOA sediments between PWS and Yakutat Bay, approximately 350 km to the east, are dominated by regional petrogenic background hydrocarbons (total PAH (TPAH) range approximately 60-3400 ng/g) that are the probable cause of low biomarker levels measured in halibut from this area. PWS sediments contain varying proportions of regional background, combustion products, Monterey residues, and EVOS residues at some spill path sites. Rockfish caught in PWS embayments in 1999 have liver EROD activities that correlate positively with the pyrogenic PAH indicator ratio (FI+Py)/C24Ph. Although traces (<5-100 ng/g TPAH) of EVOS residues were detected in seafloor sediments at some nearshore spill path sites, biomarker levels in fish from those sites are not elevated relative to other sites in PWS.
We reconstruct from lake-sediment archives atmospheric Hg deposition to Arctic Alaska over the last several centuries and constrain a contemporary lake/watershed mass-balance with real-time measurement of Hg fluxes in rainfall, runoff, and evasion. Results indicate that (a) anthropogenic Hg impact in the Arctic is of similar magnitude to that at temperate latitudes; (b) whole-lake Hg sedimentation determined from 55 210Pb-dated cores from the five small lakes demonstrates a 3-fold increase in atmospheric Hg deposition since the advent of the Industrial Revolution; (c) because of high soil Hg concentrations and relatively low atmospheric deposition fluxes, erosional inputs to these lakes are more significant than in similar temperate systems; (d) volatilization accounts for about 20% of the Hg losses (evasion and sedimentation); and (e) another source term is needed to balance the evasional and sedimentation sinks. This additional flux (1.21+/-0.74 microg m(-2) yr(-1)) is comparable to direct atmospheric Hg deposition and may be due to some combination of springtime Arctic depletion and more generalized deposition of reactive gaseous Hg species.
The fate of atmospherically deposited and environmentally active Hg is uncertain in the Arctic, and of greatest toxicological concern is the transformation to monometh-ylmercury (MMHg). Lake/watershed mass balances were developed to examine MMHg cycling in four northern Alaska lakes near the ecological research station at Toolik Lake (68 degrees 38' N, 149 degrees 36' W). Primary features of the cycle are watershed runoff, sedimentary production and mobilization, burial, and photodecomposition in the water column. The principal source of MMHg is in situ benthic production with 80-91% of total inputs provided by diffusion from sediments. The production and contribution of MMHg from tundra watersheds is modest. Photodecomposition, though confined to a short ice-free season, provides the primary control for MMHg (66-88% of total inputs) and greatly attenuates bioaccumulation. Solid-phase MMHg and gross potential rates of Hg methylation, assayed with an isotopic tracer, vary positively with the level of inorganic Hg in filtered pore water, indicating that MMHg production is Hg-limited in these lakes. Moreover, sediment-waterfluxes of MMHg (i.e., net production at steady state) are related to sediment Hg loadings from the atmosphere. These results suggest that loadings of Hg derived from atmospheric deposition are a major factor affecting MMHg cycling in arctic ecosystems. However, environmental changes associated with warming of the Arctic (e.g., increased weathering, temperature, productivity, and organic loadings) may enhance MMHg bioaccumulation by stimulating Hg methylation and inhibiting photodecomposition.
We examined 32 shorelines selected at random in 2003 from shorelines in Herring Bay, Lower Pass, and Bay of Isles in Prince William Sound, Alaska, to examine the vertical distribution of oil remaining from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and to estimate the probability that sea otters and ducks would encounter oil while foraging there. On each shoreline, sampling was stratified by 1-m tide height intervals and randomly located 0.25 m2 sampling quadrats were examined for evidence of surface and subsurface oil. Oil from the T/V Exxon Valdezwasfound on 14 shorelines, mainly in Herring Bay and Lower Pass, with an estimated 0.43 ha covered by surface oil and 1.52 ha containing subsurface oil. Surface and subsurface oil were most prevalent near the middle of the intertidal and had nearly symmetrical distributions with respect to tide height. Hence, about half the oil is in the biologically rich lower intertidal, where predators may encounter it while disturbing sediments in search of prey. The overall probability of encountering surface or subsurface oil is estimated as 0.0048, which is only slightly greaterthan our estimated probability of encountering subsurface oil in the lower intertidal of Herring Bay or Lower Pass. These encounter probabilities are sufficient to ensure that sea otters and ducks that routinely excavate sediments while foraging within the intertidal would likely encounter subsurface oil repeatedly during the course of a year.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure biomarkers were measured in high cockscomb prickleback (Anoplarchus purpurescens) fish collected from both previously oiled and unoiled shore in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska, to test the hypothesis that fish living in the nearshore environment of the sound were no longer being exposed to PAH from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Pricklebacks spend their entire lives in the intertidal zone of rocky shores with short-term movements during feeding and breeding restricted to an area of about 15 meters in diameter. Fish were assayed for the PAH exposure biomarkers, bile fluorescent aromatic compounds (FAC), and liver ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity (a measure of cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) monooxygenase activity). Bile FAC concentrations and EROD activities were low and not significantly different in fish from previously oiled and unoiled sites. The similar low EROD activity and bile FAC concentrations in fish from oiled and unoiled shores, supports the hypothesis that these low-level biomarker responses were not caused by exposure of the fish to residues of the spilled oil.
The authors describe and illustrate Wardium canarisi n. sp. (Cestoda: Hymenolepididae), an intestinal parasite of Arenaria melanocephala (Aves: Charadrii) from Alaska, characterised by a strobila 20-40 mm long, 10 aploparaksoid hooks 19-21 microm long, a short cylindrical cirrus (40 microm) covered with very minute spines (0.2 microm), and a short (8-18 microm) and extremely narrow (1 microm) copulatory vagina. These characters have no equivalent, even approximate, among the 27 species of Wardium parasitic in the Charadrii which are reviewed. The genus Debrosia Spassky, 1987 appears to be justified.
This project demonstrates the effect of increasing the skills of Community Health Aides (CHAs) on the use of specific preventive health services by women in remote Alaska villages. Eight CHAs were trained in specimen collection for Pap and sexually transmitted disease testing, and in clinical breast examination. Skill competency was monitored. Computerized medical records of all women between the ages of 18 and 75 in the four villages with trained CHAs and in four comparison villages (n = 1093) were checked for Pap status prior to CHA training and again 12 months later. All eight CHAs achieved competency and provided services in their village clinics with telephone support from an experienced clinician. The post-training year Pap test rate of women who were overdue for a Pap test was 0.44 in the villages with trained CHAs; the rate among the women in the comparison villages was 0.32 (p = .079).
A methanogen, strain AK-1, was isolated from permanently cold marine sediments, 38- to 45-cm below the sediment surface at Skan Bay, Alaska. The cells were highly irregular, nonmotile coccoids (diameter, 1 to 1.2 microm), occurring singly. Cells grew by reducing CO2 with H2 or formate as electron donor. Growth on formate was much slower than that on H2. Acetate, methanol, ethanol, 1- or 2-propanol, 1- or 2-butanol and trimethylamine were not catabolized. The cells required acetate, thiamine, riboflavin, a high concentration of vitamin B12, and peptones for growth; yeast extract stimulated growth but was not required. The cells grew fastest at 25 degrees C (range 5 degrees C to 25 degrees C), at a pH of 6.0-6.6 (growth range, pH 5.5-7.5), and at a salinity of 0.25-1.25 M Na+. Cells of this and other H2-using methanogens from saline environments metabolized H2 to a very low threshold pressure (less than 1 Pa) that was dependent on the methane partial pressure. We propose that the threshold pressure may be limited by the energetics of catabolism. The sequence of the 16S rDNA gene of strain AK-1 was most similar (98%) to the sequences of Methanogenium cariaci JR-1 and Methanogeniumfrigidum Ace-2. DNA-DNA hybridization between strain AK-1 and these two strains showed only 34.9% similarity to strain JR-1 and 56.5% similarity to strain Ace-2. These analyses indicated strain AK-1 should be classified as a new species within the genus Methanogenium. Phenotypic differences between strain AK-1 and these strains (including growth temperature, salinity range, pH range, and nutrient requirements) support this. Therefore, a new species, Methanogenium marinum, is proposed with strain AK-1 as type strain.
Substance abuse has had profoundly devastating effects on the health and well-being of American Indians and Alaska Natives. A wide variety of intervention methods has been used to prevent or stem the development of alcohol and drug problems in Indian youth, but there is little empirical research evaluating these efforts. This article is an overview of the published literature on substance use prevention among Indian adolescents, providing background epidemiological information, a review of programs developed specifically for Indian adolescents, and recommendations for the most promising prevention strategies currently in practice.
The relationship of acculturative status, acculturative stress, and interpersonal violence was examined in a study consisting of 73 incarcerated Alaska Native and non-Native men. The instruments used were the Acculturation Scale, Padilla SAFE Acculturative Stress Measure, Conflict Tactics Scale, Rorschach test, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Results found few inmates in the marginal group and no relationship between acculturative status and acculturative stress. Native inmates had significantly higher levels of acculturative stress than non-Native inmates, and other measures of stress did not discriminate between these two groups. Only non-Native inmates had higher levels of interpersonal violence related to acculturative stress, but their experience of acculturative stress was compounded by perceived, chronic, and situational stress. Apparently, non-Native inmates' feelings of acculturative stress are actually a sense of being discriminated against unrelated to their ethnicity. Bicultural inmates had significantly higher levels of violence than assimilated inmates did. For these inmates, acculturative stress is not the link between cultural conflict and interpersonal violence, but attempting to be a part of both cultures may be. The problem for these inmates seems to be in adapting to their cultural orientation, not in the orientation itself. While in prison, many native men seem to cope by renewing their cultural and spiritual practices, which may be providing them with a cultural identity they did not possess before incarceration. Acculturative status may need to be viewed as a continuum and a conscious choice. Implications for treatment and further research are discussed.
This qualitative study reports on the content analysis of 62 essays written by clients about their experiences in an Alaska public health nursing home visitation project for prevention of child abuse and neglect. Home visitation services were provided to two groups of demographically matched first-time mothers: intense protocol services (intervention group) and "usual" services (current practice group). Intervention and current practice group essays were analyzed separately. The purpose was to determine how congruent client experiences were with public health nurse perspectives of the care they gave to clients. Similarities and differences between groups were also examined. Although in different order of frequency, themes about knowledge and learning, nurse qualities, validation of parenting skills, and suggestions emerged for both groups, but the intervention group essays were, on average, seven times longer and more descriptively rich. Client experiences were similar to public health nurse concepts of effective service and to other findings in existing research.
Bottlenecks can have lasting effects on genetic population structure that obscure patterns of contemporary gene flow and drift. Sockeye salmon are vulnerable to bottleneck effects because they are a highly structured species with excellent colonizing abilities and often occupy geologically young habitats. We describe genetic divergence among and genetic variation within spawning populations of sockeye salmon throughout the Lake Clark area of Alaska. Fin tissue was collected from sockeye salmon representing 15 spawning populations of Lake Clark, Six-mile Lake, and Lake Iliamna. Allele frequencies differed significantly at 11 microsatellite loci in 96 of 105 pairwise population comparisons. Pairwise estimates of FST ranged from zero to 0.089. Six-mile Lake and Lake Clark populations have historically been grouped together for management purposes and are geographically proximate. However, Six-mile Lake populations are genetically similar to Lake Iliamna populations and are divergent from Lake Clark populations. The reduced allelic diversity and strong divergence of Lake Clark populations relative to Six-mile Lake and Lake Iliamna populations suggest a bottleneck associated with the colonization of Lake Clark by sockeye salmon. Geographic distance and spawning habitat differences apparently do not contribute to isolation and divergence among populations. However, temporal isolation based on spawning time and founder effects associated with ongoing glacial retreat and colonization of new spawning habitats contribute to the genetic population structure of Lake Clark sockeye salmon. Nonequilibrium conditions and the strong influence of genetic drift caution against using estimates of divergence to estimate gene flow among populations of Lake Clark sockeye salmon.