Genetic Polymorphisms of the Coding Region (Exon 6) of Calpastatin in Indonesian Sheep

Calpastatin (CAST) is an indigenous inhibitor of calpain that involved in regulation of protein turn over and growth. The objective of this research was to identify genetic polymorphisms in the entire exon 6 of calpastatin gene in Indonesian local sheep. A PCR-SSCP method was carried out to identify genetic variation of CAST gene. In total 258 heads of local sheep from 8 populations were investigated, three groups of samples were Thin Tail Sheep (TTS) from Sukabumi, Jonggol, and Kissar. The rest samples were Priangan sheep (PS) from Margawati (Garut meat type) and Wanaraja (Garut fighting type) and Fat Tail Sheep (FTS) from Donggala, Sumbawa, and Rote islands. SSCP analysis revealed that three different SSCP patterns corresponded to three different alleles in the CAST locus (CAST-1, 2, and 3 allele) with five different genotypes. Genetic variation between local sheep populations were calculated based on genotypic and allelic frequencies. Most populations studied were polymorphic, with genotype frequencies of CAST-11, CAST-12, CAST-22, CAST-32, and CAST-33 were 0.286, 0.395, 0.263, 0.046, and 0.007 respectively. CAST-1 and 2 alleles were most commonly found in all populations with total frequency was 0.970, while CAST-3 was a rare allele 0.030 and only found in TTS population. Variation in the CAST gene could be used for the next research as genetic diversity study or to find any association between CAST polymorphism with birth weight, growth trait and carcass quality in Indonesian local sheep

Association of Polymorphisms Calpastatin Gene with Body Weight of Local Sheep in Jonggol, Indonesia

Calpastatin (CAST) gene is located on the fifth chromosome of sheep and plays important roles in formation of muscles and meat tenderness after slaughtering. Association of genetic polymorphism in the CAST gene locus MspI and NcoI with body weight was examined in local sheep from Jonggol Animal Science Teaching and Research Unit (JASTRU), Faculty of Animal Science, Bogor Agricultural University. The genotypes for CAST were determined by the PCR-RLFP method. Blood samples were collected from 264 local sheep belonging to JASTRU located in Singosari Village, Bogor District, West Java Province. Extraction of genomic DNA was based on the phenol chloroform method. CAST locus MspI had three genotypes including in MM, MN and NN with frequencies of 0.75, 0.23, and 0.02 respectively. CAST locus NcoI had two genotypes including in MM and MN with frequencies of 0.92, 0.08 respectively. Chi-square test confirmed Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for the CAST locus MspI and NcoI. There was no significant effects (P>0.05) of CAST locus MspI and NcoI genotypes on body weight of local sheep in JASTRU

Towards automation of chemical process route selection based on data mining

A methodology for chemical routes development and evaluation on the basis of data-mining is presented.This work was in part funded by EPSRC project “Terpene-based manufacturing for sustainable chemical feedstocks” EP/K014889

Towards automation of chemical process route selection based on data mining

A methodology for chemical routes development and evaluation on the basis of data-mining is presented. A section of the Reaxys database was converted into a network, which was used to plan hypothetical synthesis routes to convert a bio-waste feedstock, limonene, to a bulk intermediate, benzoic acid. The route evaluation considered process conditions and used multiple indicators, including exergy, E-factor, solvent score, reaction reliability and route redox efficiency, in a multi-criteria environmental sustainability evaluation. The proposed methodology is the first route evaluation based on data mining, explicitly using reaction conditions, and is amenable to full automation.This work was in part funded by EPSRC project “Terpene-based manufacturing for sustainable chemical feedstocks” EP/K014889

Identification of Myostatin Gene C.960delg Locus Polymorphism in Indonesian Local Sheep by Using Pcr-sscp Method

Myostatin (MSTN) is a protein inhibit muscle growth. This protein is a member of a superfamily ofmolecules called transforming growth factors beta (TGF-b). Deletion in c.960delG (1-bp deletion atposition 960) disrupts the reading frame from amino acid (aa) position 320 to ending in a premature stopcodon in aa position 359 have been found in Norwegian White Sheep. This deletion in the myostatingene is responsible to increase muscle mass, also known as 'double muscling', in sheep. The purpose ofthis study was to identify the polymorphism of myostatin gene in c.960delG locus of local sheep inIndonesia. The 832 DNA sampels from sheep were collected from 13 populations belonging to thePriangan (86), Javanese Thin Tail (389 i.e. Jonggol, Banjar, Ciomas), Javanese Fat Tail (94), West NusaTenggara (136), Rote Island/East Nusa Tenggara (35), Kisar Island/Southwest Maluku (22),Donggala/South East Celebes (45) and Batur cross breed/Wonosobo, Central Java (25). A gene fragmentof MSTN c.960delG length 299 bp was successfully amplified by using the technique of PCR(polymerase chain reaction) and genotyped by SSCP (single strand conformation polymorphism). Theresult showed no polymorphism in this gene. All sheep tested had G/G genotype for c.960delG locus

Genetic Polymorphisms of the Coding Region (Exon 6) of Calpastatin in Indonesian Sheep

Calpastatin (CAST) is an indigenous inhibitor of calpain that involved in regulation of protein turn over and growth. The objective of this research was to identify genetic polymorphisms in the entire exon 6 of calpastatin gene in Indonesian local sheep. A PCR-SSCP method was carried out to identify genetic variation of CAST gene. In total 258 heads of local sheep from 8 populations were investigated, three groups of samples were Thin Tail Sheep (TTS) from Sukabumi, Jonggol, and Kissar. The rest samples were Priangan sheep (PS) from Margawati (Garut meat type) and Wanaraja (Garut fighting type) and Fat Tail Sheep (FTS) from Donggala, Sumbawa, and Rote islands. SSCP analysis revealed that three different SSCP patterns corresponded to three different alleles in the CAST locus (CAST-1, 2, and 3 allele) with five different genotypes. Genetic variation between local sheep populations were calculated based on genotypic and allelic frequencies.  Most populations studied were polymorphic, with genotype frequencies of CAST-11, CAST-12, CAST-22, CAST-32, and CAST-33 were 0.286, 0.395, 0.263, 0.046, and 0.007 respectively. CAST-1 and 2 alleles were most commonly found in all populations with total frequency was 0.970, while CAST-3 was a rare allele 0.030 and only found in TTS population. Variation in the CAST gene could be used for the next research as genetic diversity study or to find any association between CAST polymorphism with birth weight, growth trait and carcass quality in Indonesian local sheep

GLOSI taxonomy: A tool for ‘seismic risk assessment’ oriented classification of school buildings

For the seismic vulnerability and risk assessment of school infrastructure in a region, it becomes necessary first to identify and classify these constructions into a distinct number of structural typologies characterised by their vulnerability features. This enables us to rank the expected vulnerability of different typologies at the initial screening stage as well as to characterise the representative index buildings of different typologies for detailed vulnerability quantification. Currently, a systematic and comprehensive taxonomy tailored for the school buildings is not available. The present paper thus develops a globally applicable structural taxonomy to be used in the seismic risk assessment of school infrastructure within the framework of the Global Program for Safer Schools (GPSS) of the World Bank. Application as well as verification of the proposed taxonomy is tested to a range of school construction types from different countries across the world

Hybrid loss exceedance curve (HLEC) for disaster risk assessment

Taken into account that the natural hazard risk is a contingent liability and, therefore, a sovereign risk for national governments, it is important to assess properly the potential losses to design a suitable risk reduction, retention and transfer strategy. In this article, a disaster risk assessment methodology is proposed based on two approaches: on the one hand, the empiric estimation of losses, using information available from local disaster databases, allowing estimating losses due to small-scale events and, on the other hand, probabilistic evaluations to estimate losses for greater or even catastrophic events, for which information usually is not available due to the lack of historical data. A ‘‘hybrid’’ loss exceedance curve is thus determined, which combines the results of these two approaches and represents the disaster risk in a proper and complete way. This curve merges two components: the corresponding to small and moderate losses, calculated using an inductive and retrospective analysis, and the corresponding to extreme losses, calculated using a deductive and prospective analysis. Applications of this risk assessment technique are given in this article for eleven countries