Antioxidant properties and heat damage of water biscuits enriched with sprouted wheat and barley

The nutritional value of cereal kernels is markedly improved by the germination process. Aim of this study was to evaluate protein, ash, sugars, heat damage (furosine, hydroxymethylfurfural, glucosylisomaltol), carotenoids, tocols, phenolics and antioxidant capacity (FRAP, ABTS, DPPH, reducing power, superoxide anion, beta-carotene bleaching tests) of water biscuits enriched with increasing quantities (0, 5, 10 and 20%) of sprouted bread wheat or barley. The wholemeals from sprouted wheat and barley showed high concentrations of total carotenoids (82.6 and 119.7 mg/kg, respectively), tocols (53.4 and 88.2 mg/kg), conjugated (368.0 and 564.2 mg/kg) and bound (1811.6 and 3022.0 mg/kg) phenolics. Therefore, the enriched water biscuits had higher carotenoids, tocols and phenolics content, heat damage and antioxidant capacity than the controls. The greatest increase was recorded in barley-enriched samples. The addition of 15%-20% sprouted wheat or 5%-10% sprouted barley improved the nutritional quality of water biscuits while limiting heat damage

Sponge non-metastatic Group I Nme gene/protein - structure and function is conserved from sponges to humans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nucleoside diphosphate kinases NDPK are evolutionarily conserved enzymes present in Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya, with human Nme1 the most studied representative of the family and the first identified metastasis suppressor. Sponges (Porifera) are simple metazoans without tissues, closest to the common ancestor of all animals. They changed little during evolution and probably provide the best insight into the metazoan ancestor's genomic features. Recent studies show that sponges have a wide repertoire of genes many of which are involved in diseases in more complex metazoans. The original function of those genes and the way it has evolved in the animal lineage is largely unknown. Here we report new results on the metastasis suppressor gene/protein homolog from the marine sponge <it>Suberites domuncula</it>, NmeGp1Sd. The purpose of this study was to investigate the properties of the sponge Group I Nme gene and protein, and compare it to its human homolog in order to elucidate the evolution of the structure and function of Nme.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that sponge genes coding for Group I Nme protein are intron-rich. Furthermore, we discovered that the sponge NmeGp1Sd protein has a similar level of kinase activity as its human homolog Nme1, does not cleave negatively supercoiled DNA and shows nonspecific DNA-binding activity. The sponge NmeGp1Sd forms a hexamer, like human Nme1, and all other eukaryotic Nme proteins. NmeGp1Sd interacts with human Nme1 in human cells and exhibits the same subcellular localization. Stable clones expressing sponge NmeGp1Sd inhibited the migratory potential of CAL 27 cells, as already reported for human Nme1, which suggests that Nme's function in migratory processes was engaged long before the composition of true tissues.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study suggests that the ancestor of all animals possessed a NmeGp1 protein with properties and functions similar to evolutionarily recent versions of the protein, even before the appearance of true tissues and the origin of tumors and metastasis.</p

Cylindrical quantum wires with hydrogen-bonded materials

Properties of cylindrical quantum wires are analysed in this paper. Energies of elementary excitations as well as one-particle wave functions were found for mentioned structure. For cylindrical quantum wires the temperature of phase transition was found. The behaviour of electric susceptibility in paraelectric phase was investigated.Comment: 10 page

MEDLEM database, a data collection on large elasmobranchs in the Mediterranean and Black Seas

The Mediterranean Large Elasmobranchs Monitoring (MEDLEM) database contains more than 3,000 records (with more than 4,000 individuals) of large elasmobranch species from 21 different countries around the Mediterranean and Black seas, observed from 1666 to 2017. The principal species included in the archive are the devil ray (1,868 individuals), the basking shark (935 individuals), the blue shark (622 individuals), and the great white shark (342 individuals). In the last decades, other species such as the thresher shark (187 individuals), the shortfin mako (180 individuals), and the spiny butterfly ray (138) were reported with increasing frequency. This was possibly due to increased public awareness on the conservation status of sharks, and the consequent development of new monitoring programs. MEDLEM does not have homogeneous reporting coverage throughout the Mediterranean and Black seas and it should be considered as a database of observed species presence. Scientific monitoring efforts in the south-eastern Mediterranean and Black seas are generally lower than in the northern sectors and the absence of some species in our database does not imply their actual absence in these regions. However, the available data allowed us to analyse the frequency and spatial distribution of records, the size frequencies for a few selected the available data allowed us to analyse the frequency and spatial distribution of records, the size frequencies for a few selected species, the overall area coverage, and which species are involved as bycatch by different fishing gears

Kinase inhibitors for the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders

Drugs targeting inhibition of kinases for the treatment of inflammation and autoimmune disorders have become a major focus in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Multiple kinases from different pathways have been the targets of interest in this endeavor. This review describes some of the recent developments in the search for inhibitors of IKK2, Syk, Lck, and JAK3 kinases. It is anticipated that some of these compounds or newer inhibitors of these kinases will be approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, organ transplantation, and other autoimmune diseases

A global synthesis reveals biodiversity-mediated benefits for crop production

Human land use threatens global biodiversity and compromises multiple ecosystem functions critical to food production. Whether crop yield-related ecosystem services can be maintained by a few dominant species or rely on high richness remains unclear. Using a global database from 89 studies (with 1475 locations), we partition the relative importance of species richness, abundance, and dominance for pollination; biological pest control; and final yields in the context of ongoing land-use change. Pollinator and enemy richness directly supported ecosystem services in addition to and independent of abundance and dominance. Up to 50% of the negative effects of landscape simplification on ecosystem services was due to richness losses of service-providing organisms, with negative consequences for crop yields. Maintaining the biodiversity of ecosystem service providers is therefore vital to sustain the flow of key agroecosystem benefits to society

Role of the Mitochondria in Immune-Mediated Apoptotic Death of the Human Pancreatic β Cell Line βLox5

Mitochondria are indispensable in the life and death of many types of eukaryotic cells. In pancreatic beta cells, mitochondria play an essential role in the secretion of insulin, a hormone that regulates blood glucose levels. Unregulated blood glucose is a hallmark symptom of diabetes. The onset of Type 1 diabetes is preceded by autoimmune-mediated destruction of beta cells. However, the exact role of mitochondria has not been assessed in beta cell death. In this study, we examine the role of mitochondria in both Fas- and proinflammatory cytokine-mediated destruction of the human beta cell line, βLox5. IFNγ primed βLox5 cells for apoptosis by elevating cell surface Fas. Consequently, βLox5 cells were killed by caspase-dependent apoptosis by agonistic activation of Fas, but only after priming with IFNγ. This beta cell line undergoes both apoptotic and necrotic cell death after incubation with the combination of the proinflammatory cytokines IFNγ and TNFα. Additionally, both caspase-dependent and -independent mechanisms that require proper mitochondrial function are involved. Mitochondrial contributions to βLox5 cell death were analyzed using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) depleted βLox5 cells, or βLox5 ρ0 cells. βLox5 ρ0 cells are not sensitive to IFNγ and TNFα killing, indicating a direct role for the mitochondria in cytokine-induced cell death of the parental cell line. However, βLox5 ρ0 cells are susceptible to Fas killing, implicating caspase-dependent extrinsic apoptotic death is the mechanism by which these human beta cells die after Fas ligation. These data support the hypothesis that immune mediators kill βLox5 cells by both mitochondrial-dependent intrinsic and caspase-dependent extrinsic pathways

Hemagglutinin from the H5N1 Virus Activates Janus Kinase 3 to Dysregulate Innate Immunity

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) cause severe disease in humans. There are no effective vaccines or antiviral therapies currently available to control fatal outbreaks due in part to the lack of understanding of virus-mediated immunopathology. In our study, we used hemagglutinin (HA) of H5N1 virus to investigate the related signaling pathways and their relationship to dysregulated innate immune reaction. We found the HA of H5N1 avian influenza triggered an abnormal innate immune signalling in the pulmonary epithelial cells, through an unusual process involving activation of Janus kinase 3 (JAK3) that is exclusively associated with γc chain and is essential for signaling via all γc cytokine receptors. By using a selective JAK3 inhibitor and JAK3 knockout mice, we have, for the first time, demonstrated the ability to target active JAK3 to counteract injury to the lungs and protect immunocytes from acute hypercytokinemia -induced destruction following the challenge of H5N1 HA in vitro and in vivo. On the basis of the present data, it appears that the efficacy of selective JAK3 inhibition is likely based on its ability to block multiple cytokines and protect against a superinflammatory response to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) attack. Our findings highlight the potential value of selective JAK3 inhibitor in treating the fatal immunopathology caused by H5N1 challenge

Crop pests and predators exhibit inconsistent responses to surrounding landscape composition

The idea that noncrop habitat enhances pest control and represents a win–win opportunity to conserve biodiversity and bolster yields has emerged as an agroecological paradigm. However, while noncrop habitat in landscapes surrounding farms sometimes benefits pest predators, natural enemy responses remain heterogeneous across studies and effects on pests are inconclusive. The observed heterogeneity in species responses to noncrop habitat may be biological in origin or could result from variation in how habitat and biocontrol are measured. Here, we use a pest-control database encompassing 132 studies and 6,759 sites worldwide to model natural enemy and pest abundances, predation rates, and crop damage as a function of landscape composition. Our results showed that although landscape composition explained significant variation within studies, pest and enemy abundances, predation rates, crop damage, and yields each exhibited different responses across studies, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing in landscapes with more noncrop habitat but overall showing no consistent trend. Thus, models that used landscape-composition variables to predict pest-control dynamics demonstrated little potential to explain variation across studies, though prediction did improve when comparing studies with similar crop and landscape features. Overall, our work shows that surrounding noncrop habitat does not consistently improve pest management, meaning habitat conservation may bolster production in some systems and depress yields in others. Future efforts to develop tools that inform farmers when habitat conservation truly represents a win–win would benefit from increased understanding of how landscape effects are modulated by local farm management and the biology of pests and their enemies