Auswirkungen unterschiedlicher Duroc-Anteile von Endmastherkünften auf Aspekte der Mastleistung und Schlachtkörperqualität unter ökologischen Produktionsbedingungen

In der ökologischen Schweinefleischerzeugung wird immer wieder die Berücksichtigung der Rasse Duroc zur Verbesserung der Fleischqualität im Mastschwein gefordert Vor diesem Hintergrund werden unter ökologischen Produktionsbedingungen die Effekte unterschiedlich hoher Duroc-Genanteile im Mastschwein auf Mastleistung, Schlachtkörper- und Fleischqualität geprüft. Insgesamt wurden auf der Leistungsprüfungsanstalt in Rohrsen 190 Tiere in 2 Durchgängen aufgestallt. Es wurden dabei Mastschweine mit 0%, 25%, 50% und 75% Duroc-Genanteil untersucht. Die Haltung erfolgte ökokonform in einem Außenklimastall mit eingestreuten Buchten in 14 Gruppen zu je 6 Tieren und je einer Gruppe mit 5 bzw. 4 Tieren. Es wurde eine Futterration aus 100 % ökologischer sowie weitgehend betriebseigener Herkunft eingesetzt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass bei einem auf Schlachtkörperqualität, d.h. im Wesentlichen auf Muskelfleischfülle orientierten Vermarktungsziel nicht mehr als 50 % Duroc-Genanteil im Mastendprodukt enthalten sein sollte. Der Muskelfleischanteil wird mit steigendem Duroc-Genanteil signifikant geringer. Die Gruppe mit 75% Duroc-Genanteil zeigt auch eine deutlich schlechtere Futterverwertung. Mit steigendem Duroc-Genanteil wird der intramuskuläre Fettgehalt signifikant gesteigert. Schon bei einem 25 %-igen Duroc-Genanteil wird die Fleischqualität deutlich positiv beeinflusst, ohne dass die Schlachtkörperqualität leiden muss. Damit besitzt diese Variante ein deutliches Optimierungspotenzial sowohl für den ökonomischen Erfolg des Mästers als auch für die Profilierung von ökologisch erzeugtem Schweinefleisch gegenüber dem Verbraucher. Nur wenn ein Bezahlungs- bzw. Vermarktungssystem klar erhöhte intramuskuläre Fettgehalte und bessere sensorische Eigenschaften honorieren würde, ohne dabei die damit einhergehenden verminderten Schlachtkörperqualitäten mit merklichen Mali zu bestrafen, ließe sich ein 75 %-iger Duroc-Genanteil im Mastschwein und der damit verbundene geringere Fleisch- und höhere Fettanteil im Schlachtkörper rechtfertigen

Cell membrane array fabrication and assay technology

BACKGROUND: Microarray technology has been used extensively over the past 10 years for assessing gene expression, and has facilitated precise genetic profiling of everything from tumors to small molecule drugs. By contrast, arraying cell membranes in a manner which preserves their ability to mediate biochemical processes has been considerably more difficult. RESULTS: In this article, we describe a novel technology for generating cell membrane microarrays for performing high throughput biology. Our robotically-arrayed supported membranes are physiologically fluid, a critical property which differentiates this technology from other previous membrane systems and makes it useful for studying cellular processes on an industrialized scale. Membrane array elements consist of a solid substrate, above which resides a fluid supported lipid bilayer containing biologically-active molecules of interest. Incorporation of transmembrane proteins into the arrayed membranes enables the study of ligand/receptor binding, as well as interactions with live intact cells. The fluidity of these molecules in the planar lipid bilayer facilitates dimerization and other higher order interactions necessary for biological signaling events. In order to demonstrate the utility of our fluid membrane array technology to ligand/receptor studies, we investigated the multivalent binding of the cholera toxin B-subunit (CTB) to the membrane ganglioside GM(1). We have also displayed a number of bona fide drug targets, including bacterial endotoxin (also referred to as lipopolysaccharide (LPS)) and membrane proteins important in T cell activation. CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated the applicability of our fluid cell membrane array technology to both academic research applications and industrial drug discovery. Our technology facilitates the study of ligand/receptor interactions and cell-cell signaling, providing rich qualitative and quantitative information

Antisense-mediated exon skipping: a therapeutic strategy for titin-based dilated cardiomyopathy

Frameshift mutations in the TTN gene encoding titin are a major cause for inherited forms of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a heart disease characterized by ventricular dilatation, systolic dysfunction, and progressive heart failure. To date, there are no specific treatment options for DCM patients but heart transplantation. Here, we show the beneficial potential of reframing titin transcripts by antisense oligonucleotide (AON)-mediated exon skipping in human and murine models of DCM carrying a previously identified autosomal-dominant frameshift mutation in titin exon 326. Correction of TTN reading frame in patient-specific cardiomyocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells rescued defective myofibril assembly and stability and normalized the sarcomeric protein expression. AON treatment in Ttn knock-in mice improved sarcomere formation and contractile performance in homozygous embryos and prevented the development of the DCM phenotype in heterozygous animals. These results demonstrate that disruption of the titin reading frame due to a truncating DCM mutation canbe restored by exon skipping in both patient cardiomyocytes invitro and mouse heart invivo, indicating RNA-based strategies as a potential treatment option for DCM

Cellular Recognition of Trimyristoylated Peptide or Enterobacterial Lipopolysaccharide via Both TLR2 and TLR4

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Nebuliser therapy in the intensive care unit

The relationship between identity, lived experience, sexual practices and the language through which these are conveyed has been widely debated in sexuality literature. For example, ‘coming out’ has famously been conceptualised as a ‘speech act’ (Sedgwick 1990) and as a collective narrative (Plummer 1995), while a growing concern for individuals’ diverse identifications in relations to their sexual and gender practices has produced interesting research focusing on linguistic practices among LGBT-identified individuals (Leap 1995; Kulick 2000; Cameron and Kulick 2006; Farqhar 2000). While an explicit focus on language remains marginal to literature on sexualities (Kulick 2000), issue of language use and translation are seldom explicitly addressed in the growing literature on intersectionality. Yet intersectional perspectives ‘reject the separability of analytical and identity categories’ (McCall 2005:1771), and therefore have an implicit stake in the ‘vernacular’ language of the researched, in the ‘scientific’ language of the researcher and in the relationship of continuity between the two. Drawing on literature within gay and lesbian/queer studies and cross-cultural studies, this chapter revisits debates on sexuality, language and intersectionality. I argue for the importance of giving careful consideration to the language we choose to use as researchers to collectively define the people whose experiences we try to capture. I also propose that language itself can be investigated as a productive way to foreground how individual and collective identifications are discursively constructed, and to unpack the diversity of lived experience. I address intersectional complexity as a methodological issue, where methodology is understood not only as the methods and practicalities of doing research, but more broadly as ‘a coherent set of ideas about the philosophy, methods and data that underlie the research process and the production of knowledge’ (McCall 2005:1774). My points are illustrated with examples drawn from my ethnographic study on ‘lesbian’ identity in urban Russia, interspersed with insights from existing literature. In particular, I aim to show that an explicit focus on language can be a productive way to explore the intersections between the global, the national and the local in cross-cultural research on sexuality, while also addressing issues of positionality and accountability to the communities researched

A Multicenter Evaluation of Vancomycin-Associated Acute Kidney Injury in Hospitalized Patients with Acute Bacterial Skin and Skin Structure Infections

BACKGROUND: We sought to determine the real-world incidence of and risk factors for vancomycin-associated acute kidney injury (V-AKI) in hospitalized adults with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI). METHODS: Retrospective, observational, cohort study at ten U.S. medical centers between 2015 and 2019. Hospitalized patients treated with vancomycin (≥ 72 h) for ABSSSI and ≥ one baseline AKI risk factor were eligible. Patients with end-stage kidney disease, on renal replacement therapy or AKI at baseline, were excluded. The primary outcome was V-AKI by the vancomycin guidelines criteria. RESULTS: In total, 415 patients were included. V-AKI occurred in 39 (9.4%) patients. Independent risk factors for V-AKI were: chronic alcohol abuse (aOR 4.710, 95% CI 1.929-11.499), no medical insurance (aOR 3.451, 95% CI 1.310-9.090), ICU residence (aOR 4.398, 95% CI 1.676-11.541), Gram-negative coverage (aOR 2.926, 95% CI 1.158-7.392) and vancomycin duration (aOR 1.143, 95% CI 1.037-1.260). Based on infection severity and comorbidities, 34.7% of patients were candidates for oral antibiotics at baseline and 39.3% had non-purulent cellulitis which could have been more appropriately treated with a beta-lactam. Patients with V-AKI had significantly longer hospital lengths of stay (9 vs. 6 days, p = 0.001), higher 30-day readmission rates (30.8 vs. 9.0%, p \u3c 0.001) and increased all-cause 30-day mortality (5.1 vs. 0.3%, p = 0.024) CONCLUSIONS: V-AKI occurred in approximately one in ten ABSSSI patients and may be largely prevented by preferential use of oral antibiotics whenever possible, using beta-lactams for non-purulent cellulitis and limiting durations of vancomycin therapy