HLA Class I Polymorphism in the Albanian Population

The HLA class I polymorphism was studied in a sample of the Albanian population. Ninety-three unrelated healthy Albanians were typed for HLA-A, -B and -Cw antigens by standard microlyphocytotoxicity test. The antigens with the highest frequencies were: HLA-A2 (34.4%), A3 (14.5%) and A1 (12.4%); B51 (19.3%), B35 (12.4%) and B18 (10.2%); Cw4 (16.2%), Cw7 (16.2%) and Cw6 (10.8%). The HLA haplotypes with high frequency in Albanians included A2-B51 (4.3%), A2-B18 (2.4%), A2-B35 (2.4%), Cw4-B35 (7.6%), and Cw7-B18 (6.5%), which are not significantly different from the other neighboring populations. Low frequency of HLA-A1-B8 haplotype (1.1%) is noted in the Albanian population. The frequency of HLA-B27 antigen (1.1%) is one of the lowest frequencies observed in Caucasians. Such results are important in studies of HLA-A1-B8, HLA-B27 and disease associations. These findings should be also useful in understanding the origin of Albanians, representing a base for future studies about HLA polymorphism in the Albanian population

The quality and chemical composition of Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth. and lucerne silages

The ensiling experiment with Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth. was done in experimental silos with volumes of 60 dm(3) and organized as a three-factorial layout (2 x 2 x 2), where factor A was the vegetation phase of phacelia (the budding phase or the end of flowering phase), factor B was without or with lucerne, ratio 1 : 1, and factor C was phacelia without or with fertilizer, N = 45 kg ha(-1) Maize meal 5% was added to all silages. Silages from phacelia cut at the budding phase and at flowering, had on average lower pH values (5.37 : 5.89), lower lactic acid (26.47 : 60.53 g kg(-1) DM), lower acetic acid (59.57 : 73.72 g kg(-1) DM), and higher butyric acid (15.54 : 0.11 g kg(-1) SM), respectively. The addition of lucerne produced a high effect on acid content (P lt 0.05). Silages made from phacelia and lucerne had lower pH values (4.99 : 6.28), higher lactic acid (62.20 : 24.80 g kg(-1) DM) content, and contained no butyric acid (0.00 : 15.65 g kg(-1) DM). Nitrogen fertilization of phacelia had no effect on silage quality. The addition of lucerne increased the content of crude protein, and decreased the contents of crude fibre and ash. According to the DLG method (1997), ensiling the material after flowering produces better silage and improves its quality, while combining with lucerne improves the quality to an even greater extent

Supplementary Feeding of Grazing Dairy Cows

The objective of this paper was to consider the effect of supplementary feeding of grazing dairy cows on dry matter intake (DMI), milk production and milk composition. Accurate estimations of total DMI and pasture DMI are important to the management of dairy grazing systems. The intakes of dry matter (DM) and net energy-NEL are lower on the pasture-only diet compared with cows supplementary fed with concentrate. Many pasture factors affect DMI, including pregrazing pasture mass and pasture allowance. Milk production of high producing grazing dairy cows in early lactation increases linearly as the amount of concentrate increases to 10 kg DM/day with a milk response of 1 kg milk/kg concentrate. In late lactation, increases are with a lower milk response per kilogram of supplemented concentrate. With the amount of concentrate supplementation, milk fat and protein yield increase while milk fat percentage decreases. Supplementation with rumen undegradable protein (RUP) is important for meeting requirements of grazing dairy cows, because the pasture has high ruminal crude protein (CP) degradability. Corn silage supplementation to grazing cows may increase milk production if pasture offered is restricted, but if pasture is offered ad libitum milk production does not change or can decrease. Supplementation of ruminally inert fat could have positive effect on milk production with concentrate supplemented at a lower rate

HLA Class II Haplotypic Association and DQCAR Microsatellite Polymorphisms in Croatian Patients with Psoriasis

The purpose of the present study was to investigate polymorphism of HLA class II haplotypic associations (HLA-DRB1, -DQA1, -DQB1) and DQCAR alleles in 78 Croatian patients with psoriasis. Patients were divided into two groups according to a family history of disease and age of onset: type I (positive family history and early onset) and type II (negative family history and late onset). The difference in frequency of HLA class II haplotypic associations between type I patients and controls was observed for the following combinations: HLA-DRB1*0701, -DQA1*0201, -DQB1*02 (23.6% vs. 7.2%; p < 0.001), HLA-DRB1*0701, -DQA1*0201, -DQB1*0303 (8.5% vs. 1.3%; p = 0.0018) and HLA-DRB1*1601, -DQA1*0102, -DQB1*0502 (2.8% vs. 9.3%; p = 0.06). The difference between type II psoriasis and controls for association: HLA-DRB1*1501, -DQA1*0102, -DQB1*0602 is not significant (20.0% vs. 8.9%; p = 0.06). The significantly higher frequency of DQCAR 113bp and 119bp alleles in patients with type I psoriasis is a result of linkage disequlibrium of these alleles with both HLA-DRB1*0701 haplotypic associations. Analysis of DQCAR alleles in the HLA-DRB1*0701 haplotypic associations in patients with psoriasis vulgaris and matched controls did not reveal any difference in polymorphism of DQCAR alleles. These data suggest that HLA-DRB*0701 haplotypic combinations are associated with type I but not for type II psoriasis in the Croatian population. DQCAR polymorphism is not useful genetic marker to distinguish susceptible HLA class II haplotypic association

Perspectives of parameter and state estimation in paleoclimatology in Climate Change, Inferences from Paleoclimate and Regional Aspects, Proceedings of the Milutin Milankovitch 130th Anniversary Symposium

Past climates provide a means for evaluating the response of the climate system to large perturbations. Our ultimate goal is to constrain climate models rigorously by paleoclimate data. For illustration, we used a conceptual climate model (a classical energy balance model) and applied the so-called “adjoint method” to minimize the misfit between our model and sea-surface temperature data for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, between 19,000-23,000 years before present). The “adjoint model” (derivative code) was generated by an “adjoint compiler”. We optimized parameters controlling the thermal diffusion and the sensitivity of the outgoing longwave radiation to changes in the zonal-mean surface temperature and the atmospheric CO2 concentration. As a result, we estimated that an equilibrium climate sensitivity between 2.2 degC and 2.5 degC was consistent with the reconstructed glacial cooling, and we were able to infer structural deficits of the simple model where the fit to current observations and paleo data was not successful

Cs-137 and K-40 in some traditional herbal teas collected in the mountain regions of Serbia

Herbal teas are an important part of traditional medicine in Serbia. The objective of the present study was to determine the activity concentrations of K-40 and Cs-137 in herbal tea, using the gamma spectroscopy method. The samples were collected during the period 2011-2012 in three mountain regions in Western and Central Serbia. The activity concentrations of K-40 and Cs-137 were found to be in the range of 130-1160 and 0.7-124 Bq kg(-1), respectively. The average annual effective dose equivalents from ingestion of K-40 and Cs-137 for an adult person consuming one cup of herbal tea daily were found to be 588.4-5250.2 nSv for K-40 and 4.0-706.1 nSv for Cs-137. Our investigation showed that the herbal teas originating from Maljen, Zlatibor and Tara mountains are radiologically safe for human consumption

A modified method for assessment of the morphological stage of development as a predictor of alfalfa herbage chemical composition and nutritive value

The aim of the current work was to investigate the possibility of modifying the existing mean stage by weight (MSW) system for evaluating the average development stage in alfalfa. The modification was performed with the aim of providing a simplified system that may be used to evaluate the alfalfa development stage and to predict its nutritive value for ruminants. The suggested modification consists of designating an MSW value on the basis of the fresh weight of all morphological stages in a fresh green plant, as opposed to the original method which is based on weighing all morphological stages dried at 65 degrees C. The investigation was done on 141 samples of one alfalfa cultivar, collected from the same location during the first three growth cycles: spring growth, the first and the second regrowth. On all collected samples the following characteristics were determined: MSW, modified MSW (mean stage by fresh weight (MSFW)), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), crude ash (CA) and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD). For these characteristics of chemical composition (apart from CA) and nutritive value the regressions were calculated for their prediction based on MSW and MSFW. The regressions were derived for individual growth cycles and all cycles combined. A trend for an increase in the coefficient of determination (R-2) was identified as well as a decrease in root-mean-square error (RMSE) for all equations derived for all investigated characteristics from the spring growth to the second regrowth. A deviation from this trend was observed only in equations derived for IVOMD. A very high correlation was observed between MSW and MSFW (r=0.999). The determined R-2 and RMSE were very similar within the same growth cycle in all regressions for prediction of chemical composition and nutritive value derived for MSW and MSFW. Based on the results of this investigation the MSFW appears to be a quick and accurate method for determining the average development stage in alfalfa which can therefore be recommended for both scientific research and practical field use, as well as for prediction of its chemical composition and nutritive value