METHOD OF WASTE WATER TREATMENT AT ANIMAL CUTTING HOUSE GIWANGAN, YOGYAKARTA

Meat is a staple ingredient that supplies the needs of proteins needed by humans. The needs of meat in Indonesia continues to grow in line with population growth. Establishment Animal Cutting House (ACH) is one of the government's efforts to meet the needs of meat in Indonesia. Animal slaughter and cleaning activities conducted at ACH will produce remains solid and liquid wastes which, if not carried out the processing of such waste, especially waste water would pollute the waters as a liquid waste disposal sites ACH. The liquid waste results from ACH activity contain a number of organic materials might be harmful to aquatic biota can even cause death. The location of the data to compile this report is ACH Giwangan, Yogyakarta. The main data sources obtained from the field and other supporting data comes from books and internet media. In preparing this report, data analysis conducted on the volume, content, and methods of processing efficiency of wastewater treatment at ACH Giwangan for later comparison with the quality standards of existing waste water. The results of the analysis conducted, the data obtained for the volume of waste water per head of animals slaughtered amounted to 1.503 m3. Wastewater generated from activities at ACH Giwangan contains five important parameters, namely BOD, COD, TSS, pH and ammonia. The efficiency of wastewater treatment performed by WWTP unit produces levels decreased by 90.65% for BOD, 89.36% for COD, 86.54% to 33.09% for TSS and ammonia. Methods of wastewater treatment at ACH Giwangan done in two stages, namely processing physically and biologically. Physical processing is done by stage filtration and separation of fat, while the biological processing done by WWTP units using aerobic methods. In general, the levels of waste water parameters ACH Giwangan still within normal limits, except ammonia levels exceed the quality standards for wastewater ACH activity either by MOE (2006) as well as DIY Governor Regulation (2010). Key words: Waste, Waste water treatment, ACH

ACH: Away Cluster Heads Scheme for Energy Efficient Clustering Protocols in WSNs

This paper deals with the routing protocols for distributed wireless sensor networks. The conventional protocols for WSNs like Low Energy adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH), Stable Election Protocol (SEP), Threshold Sensitive Energy Efficient Network (TEEN), Distributed Energy Efficient Clustering Protocol (DEEC) may not be optimal. We propose a scheme called Away Cluster Head (ACH) which effectively increases the efficiency of conventional clustering based protocols in terms of stability period and number of packets sent to base station (BS). We have implemented ACH scheme on LEACH, SEP, TEEN and DEEC. Simulation results show that LEACHACH, SEP-ACH, TEEN-ACH and DEEC-ACH performs better than LEACH, SEP, TEEN and DEEC respectively in terms of stability period and number of packets sent to BS. The stability period of the existing protocols prolongs by implementing ACH on them.Comment: 2nd IEEE Saudi International Electronics, Communications and Photonics Conference (SIECPC 13), 2013, Riyadh, Saudi Arabi

Dysregulated homeostasis of acetylcholine levels in immune cells of RR-multiple sclerosis patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by pro-inflammatory cytokine production. Acetylcholine (ACh) contributes to the modulation of central and peripheral inflammation. We studied the homeostasis of the cholinergic system in relation to cytokine levels in immune cells and sera of relapsing remitting-MS (RR-MS) patients. We demonstrated that lower ACh levels in serum of RR-MS patients were inversely correlated with the increased activity of the hydrolyzing enzymes acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). Interestingly, the expression of the ACh biosynthetic enzyme and the protein carriers involved in non-vesicular ACh release were found overexpressed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of MS patients. The inflammatory state of the MS patients was confirmed by increased levels of TNF alpha, IL-12/IL-23p40, IL-18. The lower circulating ACh levels in sera of MS patients are dependent on the higher activity of cholinergic hydrolyzing enzymes. The smaller ratio of ACh to TNF alpha, IL-12/IL-23p40 and IL-18 in MS patients, with respect to healthy donors (HD), is indicative of an inflammatory environment probably related to the alteration of cholinergic system homeostasis

Generation of Choline for Acetylcholine Synthesis by Phospholipase D Isoforms

DEDICATION: This article is dedicated to the memory of Sue Kim Hanson, a graduate student in the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, who perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. BACKGROUND: In cholinergic neurons, the hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine (PC) by a phospholipase D (PLD)-type enzyme generates some of the precursor choline used for the synthesis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh). We sought to determine the molecular identity of the relevant PLD using murine basal forebrain cholinergic SN56 cells in which the expression and activity of the two PLD isoforms, PLD1 and PLD2, were experimentally modified. ACh levels were examined in cells incubated in a choline-free medium, to ensure that their ACh was synthesized entirely from intracellular choline. RESULTS: PLD2, but not PLD1, mRNA and protein were detected in these cells and endogenous PLD activity and ACh synthesis were stimulated by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). Introduction of a PLD2 antisense oligonucleotide into the cells reduced PLD2 mRNA and protein expression by approximately 30%. The PLD2 antisense oligomer similarly reduced basal- and PMAstimulated PLD activity and ACh levels. Overexpression of mouse PLD2 by transient transfection increased basal- (by 74%) and PMA-stimulated (by 3.2-fold) PLD activity. Moreover, PLD2 transfection increased ACh levels by 26% in the absence of PMA and by 2.1-fold in the presence of PMA. Overexpression of human PLD1 by transient transfection increased PLD activity by 4.6-fold and ACh synthesis by 2.3-fold in the presence of PMA as compared to controls. C: These data identify PLD2 as the endogenous enzyme that hydrolyzes PC to generate choline for ACh synthesis in cholinergic cells, and indicate that in a model system choline generated by PLD1 may also be used for this purpose.National Institute on Aging (AG09525

Differential sensitivity of basal and acetylcholine-induced activity of nitric oxide to blockade by asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) in the rat aorta

<b>Background and purpose</b>: Previous work has shown that NG-monomethyl-l-arginine (l-NMMA) paradoxically inhibits basal, but not ACh-stimulated activity of nitric oxide in rat aorta. The aim of this study was to determine if the endogenously produced agent, asymmetric NG, NG-dimethyl-l-arginine (ADMA), also exhibits this unusual selective blocking action. <b>Experimental approach</b>: The effect of ADMA on basal nitric oxide activity was assessed by examining its ability to enhance phenylephrine (PE)-induced tone in endothelium-containing rings. Its effect on ACh-induced relaxation was assessed both in conditions where ADMA greatly enhanced PE tone and where tone was carefully matched with control tissues at a range of different levels. <b>Key results</b>: ADMA (100 µM) potentiated PE-induced contraction, consistent with inhibition of basal nitric oxide activity. Higher concentrations (300–1000 µM) had no greater effect. Although ADMA (100 µM) also appeared to block ACh-induced relaxation when it enhanced PE tone to maximal levels, virtually no block was seen at intermediate levels of tone in the presence of ADMA. Even ADMA at 1000 µM had no effect on the maximal relaxation to ACh, although it produced a small (two- to threefold) reduction in sensitivity. ADMA and l-NMMA, like l-arginine (all at 1000 µM), protected ACh-induced relaxation against blockade by l-NAME (30 µM). <b>Conclusions and implications</b>: In the rat aorta, ADMA, like l-NMMA, blocks basal activity of nitric oxide, but has little effect on that stimulated by ACh. Further studies are required to explain these seemingly anomalous actions of ADMA and l-NMMA

Regions of beta 2 and beta 4 responsible for differences between the steady state dose-response relationships of the alpha 3 beta 2 and alpha 3 beta 4 neuronal nicotinic receptors

We constructed chimeras of the rat beta 2 and beta 4 neuronal nicotinic subunits to locate the regions that contribute to differences between the acetylcholine (ACh) dose-response relationships of the alpha 3 beta 2 and alpha 3 beta 4 receptors. Expressed in Xenopus oocytes, the alpha 3 beta 2 receptor displays an EC50 for ACh approximately 20-fold less than the EC50 of the alpha 3 beta 4 receptor. The apparent Hill slope (n(app)) of alpha 3 beta 2 is near one whereas the alpha 3 beta 4 receptor displays an n(app) near two. Substitutions within the first 120 residues convert the EC50 for ACh from one wild-type value to the other. Exchanging just beta 2:104-120 for the corresponding region of beta 4 shifts the EC50 of ACh dose-response relationship in the expected direction but does not completely convert the EC50 of the dose- response relationship from one wild-type value to the other. However, substitutions in the beta 2:104-120 region do account for the relative sensitivity of the alpha 3 beta 2 receptor to cytisine, tetramethylammonium, and ACh. The expression of beta 4-like (strong) cooperativity requires an extensive region of beta 4 (beta 4:1-301). Relatively short beta 2 substitutions (beta 2:104-120) can reduce cooperativity to beta 2-like values. The results suggest that amino acids within the first 120 residues of beta 2 and the corresponding region of beta 4 contribute to an agonist binding site that bridges the alpha and beta subunits in neuronal nicotinic receptors

Synaptic transmission as a cooperative phenomenon in confined systems

In this review paper, the theory of synaptic transmission (ST) was developed and discussed. We used the hypothesis of isomorphism between: (a) the cooperative behavior of mediators --- acetylcholine molecules (ACh) and cholinoreceptors in a synaptic cleft with binding into mediator-receptor (AChR) complexes, (b) the critical phenomena in confined binary liquid mixtures. The systems of two (or three) nonlinear differential equations were proposed to find the change of concentrations of ACh, AChR complexes, and ferment acetylcholinesterase. The main findings of our study: the linear size of the activation zone was evaluated; the process of postsynaptic membrane activation was described as a cooperative process; different approximations of ACh synchronous release were examined; stationary states and types of singular points were studied for the proposed models of ST; the nonlinear kinetic model with three order parameters demonstrated a strange-attractor behavior.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figur

Equilibrium Properties of Mouse-Torpedo Acetylcholine Receptor Hybrids Expressed in Xenopus Oocytes

This study used messenger RNA encoding each subunit (α, β, γ and δ) of the nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptor from mouse BC3H-1 cells and from Torpedo electric organ. The mRNA was synthesized in vitro by transcription with SP6 polymerase from cDNA clones. All 16 possible combinations that include one mRNA for each of α, β, γ and δ were injected into oocytes. After allowing 2-8 d for translation and assembly, we assayed each oocyte for (a) receptor assembly, measured by the binding of [^125]α-bungarotoxin to the oocyte surface, and (b) ACh-induced conductance, measured under voltage clamp at various membrane potentials. All combinations yielded detectable assembly (30-fold range among different combinations) and ACh-induced conductances (>1,000-fold range at 1 µM). On double-logarithmic coordinates, the dose-response relations all had a slope near 2 for low concentrations of ACh. Data were corrected for variations in efficiency of translation among identically injected oocytes by expressing ACh-induced conductance per femtomole of α-bungarotoxin-binding sites. Five combinations were tested for d-tubocurarine inhibition by the dose-ratio method; the apparent dissociation constant ranged from 0.08 to 0.27 µM. Matched responses and geometric means are used for describing the effects of changing a particular subunit (mouse vs. Torpedo) while maintaining the identity of the other subunits. A dramatic subunit-specific effect is that of the β subunit on voltage sensitivity of the response: g_ACh(-90 mV)/g_Ach(+30 mV) is always at least 1, but this ratio increases by an average of 3.5-fold if β_M replaces β_T. Also, combinations including γ_T or δ_M usually produce greater receptor assembly than combinations including the homologous subunit from the other species. Finally, E_ACh is defined as the concentration of ACh inducing 1 µS/fmol at -60 mV; E_ACh is consistently lower for α_m. We conclude that receptor assembly, voltage sensitivity, and E_ACh are governed by different properties

Changing rooms in NICU : a comparative descriptive study of parental perceptions of the physical environment of neonatal intensive care units : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree in Master of Philosophy in Nursing at Massey University

The physical environment of a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is unique and can be challenging and stressful for families. As infant survival rates and technology improved, many NICUs became 'busy', overcrowded, noisy environments. New directions in the design of newborn nurseries highlight the potential for the physical environment to support parental needs and optimise the parenting experience. In October 2004 the NICU at National Women's Hospital (NWH) in Auckland (New Zealand), relocated to a new facility at Auckland City Hospital (ACH). A key principle in the design of the new NICU was improvement of family space at the cot side. This non-experimental study sought to describe and compare parental perceptions of the physical environment of a traditional NICU configuration with a new custom built NICU. A sample of parents with infants hospitalised in NICU from NWH (n = 30) and a different group of parents from ACH (n = 30) completed a self report Likert-type questionnaire (with a scale from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Qualitative data was sought using open ended questions. Significant differences were found between the old NWH NICU and the newly designed ACH NICU. Parents perception of the space at the cot-side was more adequate (p = 0.001), lighting levels more comfortable (p = 0.002), the cot-side was quieter (p = 0.02) and technology less intrusive (p = 0.03) at ACH NICU when compared to NWH NICU. Impact of these design changes on privacy, sense of belonging, and socialisation of parents did not show significant differences. Lack of cot-side space for NWH parents was the predominate theme from the open-ended questions. Parents viewed the family space and aesthetics of the new ACH rooms positively. Providers of newborn services contemplating redesign need to consider that increasing cot side space and decreasing infant numbers in clinical rooms can significantly improve a parent's view of NICU and therefore provide an environment that is supportive to parent's needs