As shown in Fig  1, the chromatographic profile revealed four buf

As shown in Fig. 1, the chromatographic profile revealed four bufadienolides in R. marina extracts (RMF-1 and RMM-5), namely telocinobufagin (1), marinobufagin (2), bufalin (3) and resibufogenin (4) ( Figs. 1 and 2), whereas in R. guttatus

venom (RGF-6 and RGM-9), only one bufadienolide was identified (marinobufagin – 2). The compounds were identified by comparison of retention times with standards and on the basis of UV and mass spectra. These findings are in agreement with previous data for B. marinus ( Gao et al., 2010). Regarding the biological assessments, the cytotoxicity of R. marina and R. guttatus venom extracts was first evaluated in a variety of tumor cell lines after 72 h exposure using the colorimetric CH5424802 price MTT assay. All extracts of R. marina male/female venoms revealed higher cytotoxic activity,

with IC50 values ranging from 0.01 μg/mL [RMF-1, RMF-3 and RMF-4 (HL-60); RMF-3 and RMF-4 (SF-295) and RMF-3 (HCT-116)] to 0.23 μg/mL (OVCAR-8) ( Table 1). Meanwhile, R. guttatus venom extracts exhibited a lower cytotoxic effect when compared selleck inhibitor to those of R. marina, with their IC50 values being around 2.9–6.6 μg/mL. Second, the cytotoxicity of the extracts was determined against normal cells, using human PBMC for this purpose. Herein, higher IC50 values were found for proliferating leukocytes (0.8, 0.5, 0.4, 0.3, 1.1, 0.8, 16, 13.1 and 13.9 μg/mL for RMF-1, RMF-2, RMF-3, RMF-4, RMM-5, RGF-6, RGF-7, RGF-8 and RGM-9, respectively) ( Table 2). Statistically, there were no differences in the cytotoxicity outcomes between samples obtained from female and male animals belonging to the

same species (p > 0.05). To better understand this potent cytotoxic activity, in vitro cytolytic analyses were performed with PLEK2 human erythrocytes. Interestingly, the most promising extracts obtained from R. marina (RMF-1, RMF-2, RMF-3, RMF-4 and RMM-5) were not able to cause hemolysis even at the highest concentration tested (200 μg/mL) ( Table 2). On the other hand, all R. guttatus venom extracts led to hemolysis, with EC50 values ranging from 20.8 (RGF-8) to 33.7 μg/mL (RGF-6). BrdU incorporation into DNA was measured in HL-60-treated cells with R. marina venom extracts after 24 h exposure. As seen in Fig. 3, all extracts (RMF-1, RMF-2, RMF-3, RMF-4 and RMM-5) decreased BrdU incorporation, showing labeling of 35.4 ± 3.4, 30.7 ± 1.0, 25.1 ± 1.8, 28.0 ± 1.7 and 38.3 ± 2.6% at 0.1 μg/mL and 19.7 ± 1.3, 19.6 ± 1.2, 15.8 ± 1.8, 16.5 ± 0.8 and 29.5 ± 1.6% at 1 μg/mL, respectively, when compared to untreated cells (73.0 ± 3.2%) (p < 0.05). Dox (0.1 and 1 μg/mL) treatment resulted in 22.6 ± 1.9 and 12.7 ± 0.9% BrdU incorporation (p < 0.05). Drug discovery and development have established a respectable armamentarium of useful chemotherapeutic agents as well as a number of important successes in the treatment and management of human cancer.

, 2008) in 1536-well microtiter plates (Cassaday et al , 2007) E

, 2008) in 1536-well microtiter plates (Cassaday et al., 2007). Ensuring that the enzyme assay is performed under acceptable conditions of enzyme and substrate concentrations to make the assay sensitive to modulators of the enzyme activity is a primary

consideration for enzyme assays. However, there are several artificial mechanisms by which compounds can interfere with the enzyme assay (Thorne et al., 2010) and in many cases there are methods to directly test for these interferences (Figure 8). These include compound aggregation which non-specifically Selleckchem AZD9291 inhibits the enzyme, enzyme inactivation mediated by a by-product from the compound sample, and direct interference with the assay signal (McGovern et al., 2003). Compounds that aggregate to form large (>100 nm) colloidal particles can sequester the target enzyme and prevent interaction with the substrate leading to inhibition (Figure 8A). These click here aggregates are not precipitates of the compound which could be spotted by the presence of a “cloudy” solution, but instead these are colloids which give the appearance of a clear solution and therefore specific tests are required to detect the presence of such compound aggregates. A hallmark of this effect is that the inhibition

is sensitive to non-ionic detergents such as TWEEN or Triton (0.01–0.1% can relieve the inhibition) the IC50 curves can show steep Hill slopes, and the IC50 varies with enzyme concentration. As well, the same compounds often inhibit a completely different enzyme with essentially the same potency (β-lactamase has been used as a counter-screen, Feng et al., 2007). Not all aggregates act the same way with different enzymes so one needs to specifically test for this mode of interference using the methods

listed above. Recently, a compound was identified in an HTS which activated procaspase-3 and subsequent examination showed that the nature of the activation was due the formation of a nanotube by the compound which sequestered the proenzyme to the surface, increasing the local concentration or possibly modifying the conformation PTK6 leading to activation (Zorn et al., 2011). Certain compounds, for example ortho-quinones, in the presence of common reducing reagents such as DTT can undergo a redox reaction which leads to generation of peroxide ( Thorne et al., 2010) that inactivates the enzyme ( Figure 8B). The hallmark of this effect is that the inhibition is relieved when the DTT concentration is reduced (<1 mM) or removed from the assay or a weaker reducing reagent such as Cys is used. A high-throughput colorimetric assay using horse radish peroxidase has also been developed to directly test for compounds which produce hydrogen peroxide through redox cycling ( Johnston et al., 2008). As mentioned briefly above for the SPA format, some compounds may absorb light at the wavelength in which the assay signal is generated.

Very likely, iTRF_140nt originated from the 16S rRNA gene sequenc

Very likely, iTRF_140nt originated from the 16S rRNA gene sequence of Flammeovirgaceae, iTRF_233nt from Actinobacterium hgcl, and iTRF_270nt from Verrucomicrobia. Total bacterial cell counts (TCC) (1–3.8 cells 106 cm−3) and bacterial protein production (BPP) (3.2–34 mgC m−3 d−1) reached their maxima at the Kiezmark station (Table 1). The bacterial doubling times (DT) (19.8 h to 2.17 d) showed a reverse pattern (Figure 6). The doubling time of the investigated bacterioplankton was 20 hours

in the river, 40 hours at station E54 and more than 2 days in the open sea. Bacterial biomass (BBM, 9.9–39.8 mgC m−3) had the highest values in the river and decreased towards the open sea (Figure 6). Bacteria (EUBI-III) accounted for 38–69% of the total cell counts (DAPI). The amount of Betaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria (freshwater bacteria) was Talazoparib supplier highest in the River Vistula (18.0% and GSK J4 concentration 14.2%). In contrast, both bacterioplankton populations accounted for less than 5% of the total cell counts close to the river mouth, at station ZN2. With increasing distance from the land, the relative proportion of Betaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria decreased, and stayed constant at ca 3.5%, starting at station E53 and into the open Baltic Sea ( Figure 7a). Gammaproteobacteria and Roseobacter achieved their maximum amounts (4.8% and 0.58%) at station E54. The SAR11 group

was barely detectable, with a maximum amount (0.7%) at station E53 ( Figure 7b). Alphaproteobacteria accounted selleck inhibitor for 5.7% of the total cell counts at the Kiezmark station and decreased to 2.2% at the open sea station E62. Members of the Bacteroidetes group accounted for 6.5%–11.1% ( Figure 7b). The representative freshwater betaproteobacterium Limnohabitans was below the level of detection at all stations. In this study, we investigated

the differences between the microbial communities of different water bodies in the Gulf of Gdańsk in late summer. The eutrophic waters of the Gulf of Gdańsk are phytoplankton-rich habitats during the growing season, lasting from April to October (Witek et al. 1997). The River Vistula stimulates both phytoplankton and bacterioplankton growth in the inner part of the Gulf of Gdańsk (Wielgat-Rychert et al. 2013). Allochthonous organic matter, as well as autochthonous matter of phytoplankton origin, are substrates which cause the growth of heterotrophic bacteria in the Gulf of Gdańsk (Ameryk et al. 2005). The phytoplankton composition in the Gulf of Gdańsk was typical for this season, as documented for the southern Baltic Proper since 2005 (Kownacka & Gromisz 2011). Coscinodiscus sp., which was the most important factor explaining the separation of station E54, is commonly present in the southern part of the Baltic Sea at the end of summer and in autumn (unpublished observation).

We found that inhalation of helium did not influence cerebral blo

We found that inhalation of helium did not influence cerebral blood flow as compared to inhalation of room air. The mean flow velocity and peak systolic velocity in the right middle cerebral artery as well as heart rate frequency and blood oxygen saturation did not differ during helium or room air (washout) inhalation. Although the pulsatility index (PI) was significantly higher during helium inhalation, this effect was only small (0.95 versus 0.91), and the values stayed well within the normal range (0.6–1.1). A rise in PI selleck chemicals llc can have different causes, such as a rise in intracranial pressure with reduced vessel compliance, bradycardia or

hyperventilation. In our study the latter two did not contribute to the changes in PI, since heart rate frequency, blood oxygen saturation and cerebral blood flow did not change. Increased intracranial pressure has not been described after inhalation of a mixture of helium and oxygen before, although it has been widely used in pulmonary diseases. In addition, another noble gas xenon has been shown not to have any effect on intracranial pressure [8]. Therefore, increased intracranial pressure is not likely to be the cause of the minimal increase in PI. In accordance to our findings, Pan et al. [3] did not find any significant differences in hemodynamic parameters in animals breathing helium as compared to animals breathing

normal air. The present study confirms these findings in a healthy human being. Inhalation

of helium does not HTS assay influence cerebral blood flow in a healthy young person. If proven in future, beneficial effects of helium in stroke patients will be more likely due to other neuroprotective effects than to hemodynamic changes. “
“Brain dysfunction associated with structural brain changes, are the important but under-recognised complication of chronic heart failure (CHF) [1], [2] and [3]. In addition, CHF increases the risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease in later life [4]. One of the possible causes may be cerebral hypoperfusion secondary to Olopatadine low cardiac output in patients with CHF apart from biohumoral, clinical, socio-demographic and other potentially relevant factors [5] and [6]. Cerebral blood flow (CBF), as a measure of cerebral perfusion, can be noninvasively studied by flow volume measurements in extracranial cerebral arteries using Doppler and duplex methods [7]. Relationship of CBF to different markers of heart failure severity was only modestly presented in previous papers. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the relationship between CBF and CHF severity as well as to evaluate its determinants among different parameters of cardiac dysfunction. Based on reviewed medical history archives on the baseline visit we screened 152 males aged 55 years and above with CHF due to ischemic or idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. Following the baseline visit 76 patients were selected all of whom met the study inclusion criteria.

The stock’s total biomass has also increased, even though not con

The stock’s total biomass has also increased, even though not concomitantly with the SSB ( Fig. 2b). In addition to possible climate effects, this recent increase buy 5-FU in SSB could have at least two explanations: First, illegal fishing has been reduced from the maximum of 166,000 t in 2005 to approximately zero in 2009 [4]. This decline is most likely due to the introduction of port control in 2007, requiring all vessels to document that their landings are legally caught. Second, a joint Norwegian–Russian harvest control rule (HCR) that determines the total allowable catch (TAC) has been implemented since 2004,

to ensure that the stock is not at “risk of being harvested unsustainably” or “suffering reduced reproductive capacity” [5] and [6]. NEA cod is an economically very important fish resource [7] and [8] mostly situated in the exclusive economic zones of Norway and Russia (Fig. 1). For years, NEA cod has been managed jointly by those two countries, though not without scientific and political disagreements [9]. To enable more farsighted management and PF-562271 clinical trial to simplify

the annual negotiations on harvest levels, an HCR was agreed upon by the two countries in 2004 (Fig. 2c). In general, an HCR is an algorithm and a tactical management tool that translates biological information, such as a stock’s current SSB, into management information such as a TAC for that stock during the next fishing season. An HCR is often designed with the help of reference points for target biomass and fishing mortality. In particular, the precautionary

reference points for biomass and fishing mortality, Bpa and Fpa, respectively, act as buffers to account for natural variability and uncertainty in the stock assessment: Bpa implements a “safety margin” to reduce the risk that the true SSB falls below a limit reference point Blim below which the stock is expected to suffer from reduced reproductive capacity. Likewise, Fpa is meant to avoid a true fishing mortality that exceeds the limit reference point Flim above which SSB is expected MTMR9 to drop below Blim [5]. The range of these buffers depends on the level of uncertainty and on the level of risk fisheries managers are willing to accept on behalf of society. In autumn 2004, the 33rd session of the Joint Norwegian–Russian Fishery Commission adopted a HCR stipulating that the fishing mortality is allowed to be at Fpa as long as SSB exceeds Bpa, but is required linearly to decrease from Fpa to 0 as SSB decreases from Bpa to 0 ( Fig. 2c). Therefore, fishing can take place at all SSB levels [10]. The HCR contains additional elements that aim to restrict how much the TAC can change from one year to the next. However, the TAC advised by the adopted HCR is not always followed.

This indicates

that (i) the method works equally well for

This indicates

that (i) the method works equally well for earthworms that are not preferential soil-feeders and (ii) it is not necessary to feed L. terrestris additional plant litter, as Dyckmans et al. (2005) proposed for litter-feeding earthworms. In contrast, the finding that the addition of oat flakes affected A. caliginosa more than L. terrestris suggests that the endogeic species is better able to collect small highly palatable food particles than the anecic species. Furthermore, the uptake of non-labelled C and N from this additional food could actually dilute the isotopic signal. The anecic species, L. terrestris, is one of the most active earthworm species in temperate soils but has never been investigated find more in this respect before and our results show that cultivating this species, as well

as A. caliginosa, for four days in enriched soil can result in a stable signature in its tissue for at least 21 days. In the study by Dyckmans et al. (2005), tissue of A. caliginosa had isotopic enrichments about 20% higher for 15N and almost five times higher for 13C than in our study, although the amount of 15N and 13C added to the soil and the average A. caliginosa biomass were similar in both studies. However, isotopic incorporation JAK2 inhibitor drug can vary considerably between individuals due to differences in physiological condition, growth and protein turnover ( Martinez del Rio et al. 2009). Similarly, Whalen and Janzen (2002) and Dyckmans et al. (2005) reported that differences in biomass cause enrichment variability. In our study, we observed considerable differences in earthworm condition, between individuals as well as between boxes. Some earthworms were in suboptimal condition resulting in overall data

variability, partly reduced activity and higher mortality (see missing data points in Fig. 2) that could be associated with low enrichment levels. L. terrestris had considerably higher enrichment in the “once + incub” treatment than in other treatments, but comparable to the highest enrichments in A. caliginosa. In contrast, enrichments in the treatment “once + incub + oat” in A. caliginosa were low compared to other treatments, but still at levels similar to some L. terrestris treatments. This Fossariinae study is the first to test the feasibility of dual-labelling earthworm casts with 15N and 13C in a technically simple way: feeding labelled soil to the earthworms and collecting their casts. The results show that even the simplest treatment, without incubation of the ammonium nitrate and with a one-time addition of glucose to the soil, resulted in casts being readily with stable isotopes. It is possible to store labelled casts over a period of 105 days without a significant loss of the labelling signal, which is very useful for planning and preparing experiments where labelled casts are needed.

Protein was then detected with an enhanced chemiluminescence kit

Protein was then detected with an enhanced chemiluminescence kit (PerkinElmer Inc., Waltham, MA, USA) and visualised with a FUJI Film LAS-3000 (Tokyo, Japan). Enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) was performed with respect to TNF-α using OptEIA kits (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA) and IL-1β using Nordic Biosite, Täby, Sweden. Supernatants from purified microglial cell cultures were collected after microglia had been stimulated for 0.5–24 h. ELISA was performed on

the supernatants according to the manufacturer’s instructions. All stimulations were performed in a total volume of 1 ml MEM. Cell lysates were produced by harvesting remaining cells with a cell scraper in 1 M NaOH, and aliquots were taken for protein Selleckchem Seliciclib determination. IDH targets ELISA plates were analysed at 450 nm with a Molecular Devices VersaMax microplate reader and were analysed using SoftMax Pro 4.8, both from Molecular Devices (Sunnyvale, CA, USA). The protein determination assay was performed in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions using a DC Protein Assay (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA), based with some modifications on the method used by Lowry et al. (1951). Both standard (0–4 mg/ml BSA) and samples were

mixed with the reagents, incubated for 15 min at room temperature, read at 750 nm with a Versa-max microplate reader, and analysed using SoftMax Pro 4.8. Differences between grouped mean values were identified using one way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test. Error bars show standard error of the mean (SEM). In a microglial cell culture we observed that exposure of LPS was associated with a release of both TNF-α and IL-1β, which increased over time. Dexamethasone and corticosterone attenuated these responses. Other investigated anti-inflammatory agents in this study, which previously have been shown to counter a LPS-dependent release of TNF-α and IL-1β in astrocytes, were not associated with corresponding effects in microglial cells. After inflammation, increases of pro-inflammatory cytokines are observed. Astrocytes seem to be better target cells for anti-inflammatory substances than microglia. The physiological relevance might

be that communication within the astrocyte networks seems to be of importance. If the signalling between astrocytes is working, thereby the microglia show a normal and non-inflammatory 3-oxoacyl-(acyl-carrier-protein) reductase state. Thus, our findings indicate that anti-inflammatory substances have a cell-type specific capacity to modulate pro-inflammatory reactions in glial tissues. This work was supported by Edit Jacobson’s Foundation, Arvid Carlsson’s Foundation, Lena and Per Sjöberg Foundation, and the Sahlgrenska University Hospital (LUA/ALF GBG-11587), Gothenburg, Sweden. “
“Physiological and theoretical studies have argued that the sensory nervous systems of animals are evolutionarily adapted to their natural stimulus environment (for review see Reinagel, 2001).

All previous studies that reported a costimulatory role of this m

All previous studies that reported a costimulatory role of this molecule were based on the use of monoclonal antibodies to trigger the CD150 molecule on T cells (Cocks et al., 1995, Aversa et al., 1997 and Howie et al., 2002). CD150 is a self-ligating molecule and no other binding partners have been described. Thus, we wanted to analyze whether the costimulatory effect was also observed upon engagement of T cell-expressed CD150 with its natural ligand. Therefore, we generated stimulator cells expressing CD150 in conjunction with anti-CD3. When co-culturing these stimulator cells with human T cells, no significant contribution of this interaction

to T cell proliferation find more and cytokine production was observed (Fig. 5B,C). In some of our experiments reduced proliferation rates of human T cells were observed in the presence of human CD150 but additional experiments are required to

confirm that CD150 can function as a negative regulator of T cell responses. During APC–T cell interaction Selleckchem Selumetinib a complex interplay of numerous cell surface molecules modulates cellular immune responses by either enhancing or inhibiting T cell receptor complex signalling. Thus, assessing the function of individual costimulatory ligands using natural APC is a difficult task. With our T cell stimulator cells we have generated an experimental tool for studying individual costimulatory ligands in a cellular system, but detached from the context of numerous other molecules involved in the regulation of T cell activation that are expressed on professional APC. Whereas similar cellular systems that have been termed artificial APC (aAPC)

use cells engineered to express Fc-γ receptors (CD32 or CD64) and depend on the addition of anti-CD3 antibodies (Thomas et al., 2002, Suhoski et al., 2007 and Gong et al., 2008) we used cell lines that stably express membrane-bound anti-CD3 antibody fragments. Using different anti-CD3 expression constructs we have generated either two cell clones that stably express different levels of anti-CD3 antibody fragments: A construct where the anti-CD3 antibody fragments are linked to the transmembrane domain of human CD28 molecules yielded Bw-aCD3low stimulator cells that give a weak signal 1 to human T cells, whereas a construct encoding anti-CD3 antibody fragments fused to the human CD14 molecule was used to generate cells expressing high levels of GPI-anchored anti-CD3 antibody fragments (Bw-aCD3high; Fig. 1). The GPI-anchored anti-CD3 antibody fragment is efficiently targeted to lipid rafts and has also successfully been used for the stimulation and manipulation of human T cells with immunosomes — virus-like particles decorated with TCR/CD3 ligands, costimulatory molecules and modified cytokines (Derdak et al., 2006, Kueng et al., 2007, Leb et al., 2009 and Kueng et al., 2010).

In Table 2b, univariate analysis shows that the odds of being bed

In Table 2b, univariate analysis shows that the odds of being bedfast or chairfast are significantly higher in the malnourished group compared to no risk Galunisertib cost of malnutrition. This means that malnourished LTC residents

are significant less active than residents in the no risk of malnutrition group. In Table 2c, univariate analysis shows that the odds of being a faller are significantly higher in the group that walks occasionally and in the group that walks frequently compared to bedfast. This means that LTC residents who walk occasionally or frequently are significantly more often a faller, and most in the group that walks occasionally. Significant differences in resident’s characteristics, i.c. gender, number of diseases, care dependency, physical activity, and BMI were checked for confounding by adding them sequentially into the multi varied model but none of them appeared to be an effect modificator. In Table 3, multivariate logistic regression analyses confirmed the relation between nutritional status and fallers but no effect-modification for activity was found (p = 0.222) indicating that the level of activity does not interfere with the relation between nutritional status

and fallers. Looking specifically Nivolumab at the active group, i.c. those LTC residents who walk occasionally or frequently, the relation between nutritional status and fallers was also not interfered by activity (no effect modification; p = 0.272). Multivariate logistic regression analysis shows no effect-modification of nutritional intervention on the relation between nutritional status and fallers in LTC residents at risk of malnutrition or malnourished (p = 0.277). This indicates that the relation between nutritional status and fallers is similar for those residents who received nutritional intervention and those who did not receive any nutritional intervention. However, looking at this relation in the group at risk of malnutrition and the malnourished group separately, Fig. 2 shows a lower rate of fallers, specifically in the malnourished group Bcl-w (OR 0.738, 95% CI: 0.541–1.007, p = 0.056). Although various

risk factors for falls have been identified, including muscle weakness and physical activity (AGS et al., 2001), an impaired nutritional status is seldom indicated as a risk factor. The present study therefore explored the relationship between nutritional status and fallers in elderly LTC residents. The secondary data analysis confirms that a relationship exists: the risk of being a faller is higher when there is an impaired nutritional status, and malnutrition can be considered as a determinant for being a faller in this population. Therefore our study provides further evidence for the increased propensity to fall with malnutrition, which was hypothesized in sparse previous publications (Daniels, 2002, Vellas et al., 1990 and Vellas et al., 1992).

However, including a measure of the variation in [THg] for an ind

However, including a measure of the variation in [THg] for an individual woman did not have a large effect on the number of women exceeding any given threshold (Table 1). Frequency of self-reported consumption of fish, shellfish and dairy products are shown in Fig. 1. The best approximating a priori model describing [THg] in the proximal segment

of hair of these pregnant women included the frequency of consumption of fish (AICc = -25.88, wi = 0.77, K = 5), and was 2.9 AICc units from the next best model, which included an effect of shellfish consumption (AIC = -22.95, wi = 0.18, K = 8). [THg] varied significantly with fish consumption Selleck APO866 (F = 8.8, p < 0.0001; Fig. 2). Although the 2nd best model included an effect of shellfish consumption, the effect was not significant (F = 0.67, p = 0.58). These findings and results did not www.selleckchem.com/products/AZD0530.html change significantly when the 90 ppm outlier was included. The δ15N values ranged from 7.43‰ to 10.70‰ (mean = 9.35 ± 0.08‰) and δ13C ranged from -18.52‰ to -12.19‰ (mean = -16.62 ± 0.09‰). The [THg] increased with δ15N (F = 5.76, p = 0.02, R2 = 0.08), independent of the 90 ppm outlier, while [THg] decreased as δ13C became more enriched or less negative (F = 4.26, p = 0.04, R2 = 0.06), independent of the 90 ppm outlier. However, the relationship

between δ13C and [THg] was not significant when δ13C was ranked (F = 0.7, p = 0.41) because the influence of an outlying individual is reduced. This individual CYTH4 had the lowest δ15N (7.43‰) as well as the most enriched δ13C (-12.19‰) and the lowest mean [THg] (0.12 μg/g), and reported consuming no fish or shellfish and dairy only once a month. The individual with the high [THg] (90 μg g−1) had values of δ15N and δ13C that fell near the mean (9.2‰, -16.58‰, respectively) and reported consuming fish once every two weeks, no shellfish, and dairy twice or more per week. The best approximating a priori model describing variation in δ15N in the hair of these pregnant women in relation to reported diet included the frequency of consumption of fish and shellfish (AICc = -56.26, wi = 0.78,

no. of parameters K = 8), and was 2.56 AICc units from the next best model, which did not include the effects of frequency of shellfish consumption (AICc = -53.70, wi = 0.22, K = 5). δ15N varied significantly with fish consumption (F = 5.6, p < 0.01) and shellfish consumption (F = 3.3, p = 0.03; Fig. 3). The best approximating a priori model describing variation in δ13C in the hair in relation to reported diet included the frequency of consumption of fish (AICc = -182.91, wi = 0.93, K = 5), and was 5.96 AICc units from the next best model which included the effect of frequency of shellfish consumption (AICc = -176.94, wi = 0.05, K = 5). δ13C did not vary significantly with either fish or shellfish consumption (F < 1.95, p > 0.13).