Two highly divergent alcohol dehydrogenases of melon exhibit fruit ripening-specific expression and distinct biochemical characteristics

Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH) participate in the biosynthetic pathway of aroma volatiles in fruit by interconverting aldehydes to alcohols and providing substrates for the formation of esters. Two highly divergent ADH genes (15% identity at the amino acid level) of Cantaloupe Charentais melon (Cucumis melo var. Cantalupensis) have been isolated. Cm-ADH1 belongs to the medium-chain zinc-binding type of ADHs and is highly similar to all ADH genes expressed in fruit isolated so far. Cm-ADH2 belongs to the short-chain type of ADHs. The two encoded proteins are enzymatically active upon expression in yeast. Cm-ADH1 has strong preference for NAPDH as a co-factor, whereas Cm-ADH2 preferentially uses NADH. Both Cm-ADH proteins are much more active as reductases with Kms 10–20 times lower for the conversion of aldehydes to alcohols than for the dehydrogenation of alcohols to aldehydes. They both show strong preference for aliphatic aldehydes but Cm-ADH1 is capable of reducing branched aldehydes such as 3-methylbutyraldehyde, whereas Cm-ADH2 cannot. Both Cm-ADH genes are expressed specifically in fruit and up-regulated during ripening. Gene expression as well as total ADH activity are strongly inhibited in antisense ACC oxidase melons and in melon fruit treated with the ethylene antagonist 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), indicating a positive regulation by ethylene. These data suggest that each of the Cm-ADH protein plays a specific role in the regulation of aroma biosynthesis in melon fruit

Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia at the Margin of Lumpectomy Performed for Early Stage Breast Cancer: Is there Enough Evidence to Formulate Guidelines?

Background. Negative margins are associated with a reduced risk of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) in women with early stage breast cancer treated with breast conserving surgery (BCS). Not infrequently, atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) is reported as involving the margin of a BCS specimen, and there is no consensus among surgeons or pathologists on how to approach this diagnosis resulting in varied reexcision practices among breast surgeons. The purpose of this paper is to establish a reasonable approach to guide the treatment of ADH involving the margin after BCS for early stage breast cancer. Methods. the published literature was reviewed using the PubMed site from the US National Library of Medicine. Conclusions. ADH at the margin of a BCS specimen performed for early stage breast cancer is a controversial pathological diagnosis subject to large interobserver variability. There is not enough data evaluating this diagnosis to change current practice patterns; however, it is reasonable to consider reexcision for ADH involving a surgical margin, especially if it coexists with low grade DCIS. Further studies with longer followup and closer attention to ADH at the margin are needed to formulate treatment guidelines

Polymorphisms in Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH): A case study on the effects of ADH and ALDH on alcoholism among Native American population

Genetic variations in an individual affects the way alcohol is metabolized in the body. Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH) and Aldehyde Dehydrogenase (ALDH) are the two known enzymes that participate in alcohol metabolism. Polymorphisms of these enzymes are reported to make one more or less susceptible to alcoholism in some ethnic groups. The current study is a review of various articles highlighting the effects of ADH and ALDH on different populations. A study of 26 Native American, 21 Inuit, and 17 caucasian ethnic groups revealed the influence of ADH and ALDH on alcohol dependence. In one of the studies, different ADH allele populations were studied and found that the presence of ADH1B*1 allele led to increase in alcoholism whereas ADH1B*2 and ADH1B*3 alleles led to decrease in alcoholism. In another study, each participant was given alcohol intravenously until their blood alcohol was at approximately 125 mg.%. The rate of metabolism was calculated using body weight, concentration of alcohol, and the time it took for blood alcohol levels to reach a desired amount. The rate of decline of alcohol metabolism among Caucasian was 0.370 mg.% per minute, Native American 0.259 mg.% per minute, and the Inuit population 0.264 mg.% per minute. The study found that the Native American and Inuit rate of decline were similar, and the alcohol metabolism is much slower than the Caucasian counterparts. ADH polymorphism affects the ability to metabolize alcohol at different rates among different ethnicities

PROSES PEMURNIAN AIR PAYAU MENGGUNAKAN MEMBRAN FORWARD OSMOSIS (FO) BERBAHAN DASAR KHITOSAN DENGAN VARIASI LARUTAN PENARIK (DRAW SOLUTION)

Membran forward osmosis (FO) telah dibuat dari polimer khitosan yang ditambahkan 10% DMF sebagai zat aditif. Membran FO diaplikasikan untuk pemurnian air payau berdasarkan prinsip perbedaan tekanan osmotik oleh larutan penarik. Larutan penarik yang digunakan glukosa, fruktosa, serta campuran glukosa dan fruktosa. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa konsentrasi terbaik diperoleh pada larutan penarik campuran glukosa dan fruktosa 1 M pada waktu 1 jam, didapatkan nilai fluks sebesar 3,4081 L/m2jam. Hasil karakterisasi membran 10% DMF mempunyai ketebalan 0,043 mm, porositas 30,3%, dengan derajat pengembangan 43,5%. Hasil uji SEM memperlihatkan struktur asimetri dan hasil uji mekanik mempunyai kuat tarik serta elongasi sebesar 18,10 kgf/mm2 dan 9,92%. Hasil parameter baku mutu air minum pada proses FO menggunakan larutan campuran glukosa dan fruktosa 1 M pada waktu 1 jam memenuhi standar air minum berdasarkan peraturan Menteri Kesehatan Republik Indonesia Nomor 492/MENKES/PER/VI/2010. Parameter pH yang diperoleh yaitu 7,38, standar yang diperbolehkan 6,5-8,5. Kadar TDS yaitu 481 mg/L sedangkan standar yang diperbolehkan maksimum 500 mg/L. Membran FO dapat menjadi metode alternatif untuk pemurnian air payau

Dose-Dependent Change in Elimination Kinetics of Ethanol due to Shift of Dominant Metabolizing Enzyme from ADH 1 (Class I) to ADH 3 (Class III) in Mouse

ADH 1 and ADH 3 are major two ADH isozymes in the liver, which participate in systemic alcohol metabolism, mainly distributing in parenchymal and in sinusoidal endothelial cells of the liver, respectively. We investigated how these two ADHs contribute to the elimination kinetics of blood ethanol by administering ethanol to mice at various doses, and by measuring liver ADH activity and liver contents of both ADHs. The normalized AUC (AUC/dose) showed a concave increase with an increase in ethanol dose, inversely correlating with β. CLT (dose/AUC) linearly correlated with liver ADH activity and also with both the ADH-1 and -3 contents (mg/kg B.W.). When ADH-1 activity was calculated by multiplying ADH-1 content by its Vmax⁡/mg (4.0) and normalized by the ratio of liver ADH activity of each ethanol dose to that of the control, the theoretical ADH-1 activity decreased dose-dependently, correlating with β. On the other hand, the theoretical ADH-3 activity, which was calculated by subtracting ADH-1 activity from liver ADH activity and normalized, increased dose-dependently, correlating with the normalized AUC. These results suggested that the elimination kinetics of blood ethanol in mice was dose-dependently changed, accompanied by a shift of the dominant metabolizing enzyme from ADH 1 to ADH 3

Using the event calculus for tracking the normative state of contracts

In this work, we have been principally concerned with the representation of contracts so that their normative state may be tracked in an automated fashion over their deployment lifetime. The normative state of a contract, at a particular time, is the aggregation of instances of normative relations that hold between contract parties at that time, plus the current values of contract variables. The effects of contract events on the normative state of a contract are specified using an XML formalisation of the Event Calculus, called ecXML. We use an example mail service agreement from the domain of web services to ground the discussion of our work. We give a characterisation of the agreement according to the normative concepts of: obligation, power and permission, and show how the ecXML representation may be used to track the state of the agreement, according to a narrative of contract events. We also give a description of a state tracking architecture, and a contract deployment tool, both of which have been implemented in the course of our work.

Hemodynamic and ADH responses to central blood volume shifts in cardiac-denervated humans

Hemodynamic responses and antidiuretic hormone (ADH) were measured during body position changes designed to induce blood volume shifts in ten cardiac transplant recipients to assess the contribution of cardiac and vascular volume receptors in the control of ADH secretion. Each subject underwent 15 min of a control period in the seated posture, then assumed a lying posture for 30 min at 6 deg head down tilt (HDT) followed by 20 min of seated recovery. Venous blood samples and cardiac dimensions (echocardiography) were taken at 0 and 15 min before HDT, 5, 15, and 30 min of HDT, and 5, 15, and 30 min of seated recovery. Blood samples were analyzed for hematocrit, plasma osmolality, plasma renin activity (PRA), and ADH. Resting plasma volume (PV) was measured by Evans blue dye and percent changes in PV during posture changes were calculated from changes in hematocrit. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were recorded every 2 min. Results indicate that cardiac volume receptors are not the only mechanism for the control of ADH release during acute blood volume shifts in man

A fresh look at the myth of alcohol adaptation in Drosophila melanogaster

The results of the three series of experiments at the biochemical, organismic, and population levels suggest that stabilizing selection is at the basis of the maintenance of alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) polymorphism in Drosophila melanogaster. At the organismic and biochemical levels, several genetically different strains showed adaptive responses to alcohol stress environments. However, this alcohol adaptation was not always associated with an increase in alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity level. Strains with different starting ADH activities (some relatively lower and some higher) all reached an intermediate ADH activity after selection in alcohol environments. The results of further studies revealed the biochemical basis for the disadvantage of the high ADH activity. Relatively higher rates of secondary product buildup in flies with relatively higher ADH activities were shown to be the reason for the lower fitnesses of flies with high ADH activities. However, lower alcohol tolerance of flies with high ADH activities was environmentally dependent, i.e., occurred at high alcohol concentrations. Adh-F homozygotes (with relatively higher ADH activities) also showed lower alcohol tolerance (compared to other Adh genotypes) at low alcohol concentrations. Nevertheless, the biochemical basis for their lower alcohol tolerance at low alcohol concentrations was essentially different from that for high alcohol concentrations. The Adh-F homozygotes were the fittest Adh genotype at medium alcohol concentrations;These results were also confirmed at the population level. At this level the Adh-F allele became fixed in environments with medium alcohol concentrations, whereas in environments with high and low alcohol concentrations Adh gene remained polymorphic in the populations. Another result of the experiment at the population level showed that alcohol adaptation (in medium concentrations of different alcohols) was not just the simple process of the fixation of the Adh-F allele in the populations. Adh-F homozygotes of the populations fixed for Adh-F allele had relatively higher ADH specific activity than the original Adh-F homozygotes, before subjection to alcohol stress. In general, the results of the experiments presented in this dissertation reveal the complexity of the interaction of D. melanogaster and its alcohol environment