Changes in some physico-chemical content of Anatolian buffalo milk according to the some environmental factors

The aim of this study was to determine the some physico-chemical content of raw milk from Anatolian water buffaloes raised under different village conditions in the Tokat province of Northern Turkey. The study materials included 1272 milk samples from 149 water buffaloes raised at 12 separate villages of the Erbaa, Turhal, and Pazar counties in the Tokat Province. Milk samples were collected during the morning milking between the months of February and May 2012 to 2014. The density, freezing point degree, dry matter, nonfat dry matter (or solid non fat), fat, protein, lactose, milk urea nitrogen and casein content of the milk samples were determined. The study results demonstrated that the mean dry matter, nonfat dry matter, fat, protein, lactose, casein content, density, milk urea nitrogen (MUN) and freezing point degree (FPD) of the raw milk samples were 16.99±0.108%, 10.88±0.036%, 5.98±0.107%, 4.85±0.043%, 5.17±0.021%, 3.61±0.036%, 1029±0.056, 21, 22 mg/dl and 0.55°C, respectively. The study data were evaluated according to the water buffaloes’ lactation stage, parity, and season by using the SPSS statistical program. It was concluded that the sampling time, parity, village conditions, stage of lactation and calving age had a significant effect (P<0.05) on the density, freezing point degree, dry matter, nonfat dry matter, fat, protein, lactose, and casein content of raw milk from the Anatolian water buffalo. © 2016, Kasetsart University. All rights reserved.TAGEM/60MANDA2011-01 --This investigation was supported by Republic of Turkey Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies for financial support (TAGEM/60MANDA2011-01). -

A Partition-Based Random Search Method for Multimodal Optimization

Practical optimization problems are often too complex to be formulated exactly. Knowing multiple good alternatives can help decision-makers easily switch solutions when needed, such as when faced with unforeseen constraints. A multimodal optimization task aims to find multiple global optima as well as high-quality local optima of an optimization problem. Evolutionary algorithms with niching techniques are commonly used for such problems, where a rough estimate of the optima number is required to determine the population size. In this paper, a partition-based random search method is proposed, in which the entire feasible domain is partitioned into smaller and smaller subregions iteratively. Promising regions are partitioned faster than unpromising regions, thus, promising areas will be exploited earlier than unpromising areas. All promising areas are exploited in parallel, which allows multiple good solutions to be found in a single run. The proposed method does not require prior knowledge about the optima number and it is not sensitive to the distance parameter. By cooperating with local search to refine the obtained solutions, the proposed method demonstrates good performance in many benchmark functions with multiple global optima. In addition, in problems with numerous local optima, high-quality local optima are captured earlier than low-quality local optima

MicroRNA-519a is a novel oncomir conferring tamoxifen resistance by targeting a network of tumour-suppressor genes in ER+ breast cancer

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Tamoxifen is an endocrine therapy which is administered to up to 70% of all breast cancer patients with oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα) expression. Despite the initial response, most patients eventually acquire resistance to the drug. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs which have the ability to post-transcriptionally regulate genes. Although the role of a few miRNAs has been described in tamoxifen resistance at the single gene/target level, little is known about how concerted actions of miRNAs targeting biological networks contribute to resistance. Here we identified the miRNA cluster, C19MC, which harbours around 50 mature miRNAs, to be up-regulated in resistant cells, with miRNA-519a being the most highly up-regulated. We could demonstrate that miRNA-519a regulates tamoxifen resistance using gain- and loss-of-function testing. By combining functional enrichment analysis and prediction algorithms, we identified three central tumour-suppressor genes (TSGs) in PI3K signalling and the cell cycle network as direct target genes of miR-519a. Combined expression of these target genes correlated with disease-specific survival in a cohort of tamoxifen-treated patients. We identified miRNA-519a as a novel oncomir in ER+ breast cancer cells as it increased cell viability and cell cycle progression as well as resistance to tamoxifen-induced apoptosis. Finally, we could show that elevated miRNA-519a levels were inversely correlated with the target genes' expression and that higher expression of this miRNA correlated with poorer survival in ER+ breast cancer patients. Hence we have identified miRNA-519a as a novel oncomir, co-regulating a network of TSGs in breast cancer and conferring resistance to tamoxifen. Using inhibitors of such miRNAs may serve as a novel therapeutic approach to combat resistance to therapy as well as proliferation and evasion of apoptosis in breast cancer. © 2014 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland

PERMEABILITY ANISOTROPY DISTRIBUTIONS IN AN UPPER JURASSIC CARBONATE RESERVOIR, EASTERN SAUDI ARABIA

Most classical reservoir engineering concepts are based on homogeneous reservoirs despite the fact that homogeneous reservoirs are the exception rather than the rule. This is especially true of carbonate reservoirs in the Middle East which are known to be highly heterogeneous. The realistic petrophysical characterization of these kinds of reservoirs is not an easy task and must include the study of directional variations of permeability. Such variation can be incorporated into engineering calculations as the square root of the ratio of horizontal to vertical permeability, a parameter known as the anisotropy ratio. This paper addresses the distribution of anisotropy ratio values in an Upper Jurassic carbonate reservoir in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Based on whole core data from a number of vertical wells, statistical distributions of horizontal and vertical permeability measurements as well as anisotropy ratios were determined. The distributions of both permeability measurements and anisotropy ratios have similar patterns characterized by considerable positive skewness. The coefficients of variation for these distributions are relatively high, indicating their very heterogeneous nature. Comparison of plots of anisotropy ratios against depth for the wells and the corresponding core permeability values indicate that reservoir intervals with lower vertical permeability yield consistently higher ratios with considerable fluctuations. These intervals are represented by lower porosity mud-rich and/or mud-rich/granular facies. Granular facies, on the other hand, yielded considerably lower ratios without significant fluctuations

PERMEABILITY ANISOTROPY DISTRIBUTIONS IN AN UPPER JURASSIC CARBONATE RESERVOIR, EASTERN SAUDI ARABIA

Most classical reservoir engineering concepts are based on homogeneous reservoirs despite the fact that homogeneous reservoirs are the exception rather than the rule. This is especially true of carbonate reservoirs in the Middle East which are known to be highly heterogeneous. The realistic petrophysical characterization of these kinds of reservoirs is not an easy task and must include the study of directional variations of permeability. Such variation can be incorporated into engineering calculations as the square root of the ratio of horizontal to vertical permeability, a parameter known as the anisotropy ratio. This paper addresses the distribution of anisotropy ratio values in an Upper Jurassic carbonate reservoir in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Based on whole core data from a number of vertical wells, statistical distributions of horizontal and vertical permeability measurements as well as anisotropy ratios were determined. The distributions of both permeability measurements and anisotropy ratios have similar patterns characterized by considerable positive skewness. The coefficients of variation for these distributions are relatively high, indicating their very heterogeneous nature. Comparison of plots of anisotropy ratios against depth for the wells and the corresponding core permeability values indicate that reservoir intervals with lower vertical permeability yield consistently higher ratios with considerable fluctuations. These intervals are represented by lower porosity mud-rich and/or mud-rich/granular facies. Granular facies, on the other hand, yielded considerably lower ratios without significant fluctuations

PTPN22 gene polymorphism in Takayasu's arteritis

Objective. Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is a chronic, rare granulomatous panarteritis of unknown aetiology involving mainly the aorta and its major branches. In this study, genetic susceptibility to TA has been investigated by screening the functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of PTPN22 gene encoding the lymphoid-specific protein tyrosine phosphatase. Methods. Totally, 181 patients with TA and 177 healthy controls are genotyped by PCR-RFLP method for the SNP rs2476601 (A/G) of PTPN22 gene. Polymorphic region was amplified by PCR and digested with Xcm I enzyme. Results. Detected frequencies of heterozygous genotype (AG) were 5.1% (9/177) in control group and 3.8% (7/181) in TA group (P = 0.61, odds ratio: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.3, 2.0). No association with angiographic type, vascular involvement or prognosis of TA was observed either. Conclusion. The distribution of PTPN22 polymorphism did not reveal any association with TA in Turkey. © The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved

Split ring resonator-coupled enhanced transmission through a single subwavelength aperture

We report the enhanced transmission of electromagnetic waves through a single subwavelength aperture by making use of the resonance behavior of a split ring resonator (SRR) at microwave frequencies. By placing a single SRR at the near-field of the aperture, strongly localized electromagnetic fields are effectively coupled to the aperture with a radius that is twenty times smaller than the resonance wavelength. We obtained 740-fold transmission enhancement by exciting the electric resonance of SRR. A different coupling mechanism, through the magnetic resonance of SRR, is also verified to yield enhanced transmission. Good agreement is obtained between the microwave measurements and numerical simulations.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, to be submitted to PR