Produktivitas Getah Pinus (Pinus Merkusii Jungh Et De Vriese) Berdasarkan Ketinggian Tempat Dan Konsentrasi Stimulansia Asam Cuka (C2H4O2)

The Production of oleoresin is affected by the application of stimulant and effect of elevation. The purpose of this research were to know the effect of C2H4O2 stimulant and effect of elevation to P. merkusii and to know the C2H4O2 concentration and the best of elevation. This research were carried at working area of PT. Inhutani IV, Siborong-borong in March – April 2014 using factorial randomized block design with two factors, i.e. the concentration of stimulant (0, 10, 20 and 30%) and elevation (900 m, 1050-1150 m, 1150-1250 m, 1250-1350 m and 1350-1400 m). Parameter measured were quality and quantity of oleoresin (gram). Result of this research showed that the application of C2H4O2 stimulant on the tapping of pine trees increase considerably to oleoresin. The concentration of C2H4O2 (30%) and the elevation 900 meters can gave the best product of oleoresin, i.e. 154,15 grams/tree/month. Quality of oleoresin were got at this research was B quality

Multi-Locus Sequence Typing of Bartonella henselae Isolates from Three Continents Reveals Hypervirulent and Feline-Associated Clones

Bartonella henselae is a zoonotic pathogen and the causative agent of cat scratch disease and a variety of other disease manifestations in humans. Previous investigations have suggested that a limited subset of B. henselae isolates may be associated with human disease. In the present study, 182 human and feline B. henselae isolates from Europe, North America and Australia were analysed by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) to detect any associations between sequence type (ST), host species and geographical distribution of the isolates. A total of 14 sequence types were detected, but over 66% (16/24) of the isolates recovered from human disease corresponded to a single genotype, ST1, and this type was detected in all three continents. In contrast, 27.2% (43/158) of the feline isolates corresponded to ST7, but this ST was not recovered from humans and was restricted to Europe. The difference in host association of STs 1 (human) and 7 (feline) was statistically significant (P≤0.001). eBURST analysis assigned the 14 STs to three clonal lineages, which contained two or more STs, and a singleton comprising ST7. These groups were broadly consistent with a neighbour-joining tree, although splits decomposition analysis was indicative of a history of recombination. These data indicate that B. henselae lineages differ in their virulence properties for humans and contribute to a better understanding of the population structure of B. henselae

Multi-Locus Sequence Analysis Reveals Profound Genetic Diversity among Isolates of the Human Pathogen Bartonella bacilliformis

Bartonella bacilliformis is the aetiological agent of human bartonellosis, a potentially life threatening infection of significant public health concern in the Andean region of South America. Human bartonellosis has long been recognised in the region but a recent upsurge in the number of cases of the disease and an apparent expansion of its geographical distribution have re-emphasized its contemporary medical importance. Here, we describe the development of a multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) scheme for B. bacilliformis and its application to an archive of 43 isolates collected from patients across Peru. MLST identified eight sequence types among these isolates and the delineation of these was generally congruent with those of the previously described typing scheme. Phylogenetic analysis based on concatenated sequence data derived from MLST loci revealed that seven of the eight sequence types were closely related to one another; however, one sequence type, ST8, exhibited profound evolutionary divergence from the others. The extent of this divergence was akin to that observed between other members of the Bartonella genus, suggesting that ST8 strains may be better considered as members of a novel Bartonella genospecies

Polycation-π Interactions Are a Driving Force for Molecular Recognition by an Intrinsically Disordered Oncoprotein Family

Molecular recognition by intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) commonly involves specific localized contacts and target-induced disorder to order transitions. However, some IDPs remain disordered in the bound state, a phenomenon coined "fuzziness", often characterized by IDP polyvalency, sequence-insensitivity and a dynamic ensemble of disordered bound-state conformations. Besides the above general features, specific biophysical models for fuzzy interactions are mostly lacking. The transcriptional activation domain of the Ewing's Sarcoma oncoprotein family (EAD) is an IDP that exhibits many features of fuzziness, with multiple EAD aromatic side chains driving molecular recognition. Considering the prevalent role of cation-π interactions at various protein-protein interfaces, we hypothesized that EAD-target binding involves polycation- π contacts between a disordered EAD and basic residues on the target. Herein we evaluated the polycation-π hypothesis via functional and theoretical interrogation of EAD variants. The experimental effects of a range of EAD sequence variations, including aromatic number, aromatic density and charge perturbations, all support the cation-π model. Moreover, the activity trends observed are well captured by a coarse-grained EAD chain model and a corresponding analytical model based on interaction between EAD aromatics and surface cations of a generic globular target. EAD-target binding, in the context of pathological Ewing's Sarcoma oncoproteins, is thus seen to be driven by a balance between EAD conformational entropy and favorable EAD-target cation-π contacts. Such a highly versatile mode of molecular recognition offers a general conceptual framework for promiscuous target recognition by polyvalent IDPs. © 2013 Song et al

Susceptibility of hamsters to clostridium difficile isolates of differing toxinotype

Clostridium difficile is the most commonly associated cause of antibiotic associated disease (AAD), which caused ~21,000 cases of AAD in 2011 in the U.K. alone. The golden Syrian hamster model of CDI is an acute model displaying many of the clinical features of C. difficile disease. Using this model we characterised three clinical strains of C. difficile, all differing in toxinotype; CD1342 (PaLoc negative), M68 (toxinotype VIII) and BI-7 (toxinotype III). The naturally occurring non-toxic strain colonised all hamsters within 1-day post challenge (d.p.c.) with high-levels of spores being shed in the faeces of animals that appeared well throughout the entire experiment. However, some changes including increased neutrophil influx and unclotted red blood cells were observed at early time points despite the fact that the known C. difficile toxins (TcdA, TcdB and CDT) are absent from the genome. In contrast, hamsters challenged with strain M68 resulted in a 45% mortality rate, with those that survived challenge remaining highly colonised. It is currently unclear why some hamsters survive infection, as bacterial and toxin levels and histology scores were similar to those culled at a similar time-point. Hamsters challenged with strain BI-7 resulted in a rapid fatal infection in 100% of the hamsters approximately 26 hr post challenge. Severe caecal pathology, including transmural neutrophil infiltrates and extensive submucosal damage correlated with high levels of toxin measured in gut filtrates ex vivo. These data describes the infection kinetics and disease outcomes of 3 clinical C. difficile isolates differing in toxin carriage and provides additional insights to the role of each toxin in disease progression

Use of a New Ziprasidone-Selective Electrode in Mixed Solvents and Its Application in the Analysis of Pharmaceuticals and Biological Fluids

The construction and characterization of a new ion-selective electrode for the determination of the antipsychotic ziprasidone in mixed solvents is presented. The electrode contains a plasticized polymeric membrane based on a ziprasidone-tetraphenylborate ion-exchanger. The influence of membrane composition on the electrode response towards ziprasidone in hydroalcoholic solutions was studied. The electrode displayed a stable response in a 2:3 (v/v) methanol/water medium from a ziprasidone concentration of 3 × 10−6 M with a fast response time of less than 20 s. The electrode also showed good selectivity towards ziprasidone over common inorganic and organic compounds and several species with pharmacological activity. The electrode was successfully applied to the determination of ziprasidone in pharmaceuticals and human urine and serum

First two unrelated cases of isolated sedoheptulokinase deficiency: A benign disorder?

We present the first two reported unrelated patients with an isolated sedoheptulokinase (SHPK) deficiency. The first patient presented with neonatal cholestasis, hypoglycemia, and anemia, while the second patient presented with congenital arthrogryposis multiplex, multiple contractures, and dysmorphisms. Both patients had elevated excretion of erythritol and sedoheptulose, and each had a homozygous nonsense mutation in SHPK. SHPK is an enzyme that phosphorylates sedoheptulose to sedoheptulose-7-phosphate, which is an important intermediate of the pentose phosphate pathway. It is questionable whether SHPK deficiency is a causal factor for the clinical phenotypes of our patients. This study illustrates the necessity of extensive functional and clinical workup for interpreting a novel variant, including nonsense variants

From cat scratch disease to endocarditis, the possible natural history of Bartonella henselae infection

BACKGROUND: Most patients with infectious endocarditis (IE) due to Bartonella henselae have a history of exposure to cats and pre-existing heart valve lesions. To date, none of the reported patients have had a history of typical cat scratch disease (CSD) which is also a manifestation of infection with B. henselae. CASE PRESENTATION: Here we report the case of a patient who had CSD and six months later developed IE of the mitral valve caused by B. henselae. CONCLUSION: Based on this unique case, we speculate that CSD represents the primary-infection of B. henselae and that IE follows in patients with heart valve lesions

UbcH10 overexpression may represent a marker of anaplastic thyroid carcinomas

The hybridisation of an Affymetrix HG_U95Av2 oligonucleotide array with RNAs extracted from six human thyroid carcinoma cell lines and a normal human thyroid primary cell culture led us to the identification of the UbcH10 gene that was upregulated by 150-fold in all of the carcinoma cell lines in comparison to the primary culture cells of human normal thyroid origin. Immunohistochemical studies performed on paraffin-embedded tissue sections showed abundant UbcH10 levels in thyroid anaplastic carcinoma samples, whereas no detectable UbcH10 expression was observed in normal thyroid tissues, in adenomas and goiters. Papillary and follicular carcinomas were only weakly positive. These results were further confirmed by RT–PCR and Western blot analyses. The block of UbcH10 protein synthesis induced by RNA interference significantly reduced the growth rate of thyroid carcinoma cell lines. Taken together, these results would indicate that UbcH10 overexpression is involved in thyroid cell proliferation, and may represent a marker of thyroid anaplastic carcinomas