Spirit drinks: a source of dietary polyphenols

There is a long tradition in the production of spirit drinks and using them in the human diet, especially in the Southeast European and Mediterranean regions. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether and which spirits can serve, and to what extent, as a source of biologically active compounds in the human diet. Polyphenolic compounds are biologically active compounds of fruits, vegetables and derived beverages, which have been implicated in their antioxidant activity. Therefore, the total polyphenol content (TPC) and antioxidative properties of 46 spirit drinks and liqueurs produced in Croatia were examined. The total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity were estimated using spectrophotometric methods (Folin-Ciocalteu, DPPH and FRAP), while certain phenols were detected by the HPLC. It was established that spirit drinks aged in wooden casks, such as wine or plum brandy, contain polyphenols ranging from 40-90 mg GAE/L (gallic acid equivalents), whereas walnut or sour cherry liquors contain much more polyphenols ranging from 680-3360 mg GAE/L. The antioxidant activity of analyzed spirit drinks was in correlation with TPC. Walnut and sour cherry liqueur samples had very high antioxidant activity, within the range of those obtained with 1.26 mM Trolox-DPPH assay and 9.5 mM Trolox-FRAP assay

A different immunologic profile characterizes patients with HER-2-overexpressing and HER-2-negative locally advanced breast cancer: implications for immune-based therapies

INTRODUCTION: The clinical efficacy of trastuzumab and taxanes is at least partly related to their ability to mediate or promote antitumor immune responses. On these grounds, a careful analysis of basal immune profile may be capital to dissect the heterogeneity of clinical responses to these drugs in patients with locally advanced breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. METHODS: Blood samples were collected from 61 locally advanced breast cancers (36 HER2- and 25 HER2+) at diagnosis and from 23 healthy women. Immunophenotypic profiling of circulating and intratumor immune cells, including regulatory T (Treg) cells, was assessed by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Serum levels of 10 different cytokines were assessed by multiplex immunoassays. CD8+ T cell responses to multiple tumor-associated antigens (TAA) were evaluated by IFN-γ-enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT). The Student's t test for two tailed distributions and the Wilcoxon two-sample test were used for the statistical analysis of the data. RESULTS: The proportion of circulating immune effectors was similar in HER2+ patients and healthy donors, whereas higher percentages of natural killer and Treg cells and a lower CD4+/CD8+ T cell ratio (with a prevalence of naïve and central memory CD8+ T cells) were observed in HER2- cases. Higher numbers of circulating CD8+ T cells specific for several HLA-A*0201-restricted TAA-derived peptides were observed in HER2+ cases, together with a higher prevalence of intratumor CD8+ T cells. Serum cytokine profile of HER2+ patients was similar to that of controls, whereas HER2- cases showed significantly lower cytokine amounts compared to healthy women (IL-2, IL-8, IL-6) and HER2+ cases (IL-2, IL-1β, IL-8, IL-6, IL-10). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to HER2- cases, patients with HER2-overexpressing locally advanced breast cancer show a more limited tumor-related immune suppression. This may account for the clinical benefit achieved in this subset of patients with the use of drugs acting through, but also promoting, immune-mediated effects

Effective DNA/RNA Co-Extraction for Analysis of MicroRNAs, mRNAs, and Genomic DNA from Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Specimens

Background: Retrospective studies of archived human specimens, with known clinical follow-up, are used to identify predictive and prognostic molecular markers of disease. Due to biochemical differences, however, formalin-fixed paraffinembedded (FFPE) DNA and RNA have generally been extracted separately from either different tissue sections or from the same section by dividing the digested tissue. The former limits accurate correlation whilst the latter is impractical when utilizing rare or limited archived specimens. Principal Findings: For effective recovery of genomic DNA and total RNA from a single FFPE specimen, without splitting the proteinase-K digested tissue solution, we optimized a co-extraction method by using TRIzol and purifying DNA from the lower aqueous and RNA from the upper organic phases. Using a series of seven different archived specimens, we evaluated the total amounts of genomic DNA and total RNA recovered by our TRIzol-based co-extraction method and compared our results with those from two commercial kits, the Qiagen AllPrep DNA/RNA FFPE kit, for co-extraction, and the Ambion RecoverAll TM Total Nucleic Acid Isolation kit, for separate extraction of FFPE-DNA and-RNA. Then, to accurately assess the quality of DNA and RNA co-extracted from a single FFPE specimen, we used qRT-PCR, gene expression profiling and methylation assays to analyze microRNAs, mRNAs, and genomic DNA recovered from matched fresh and FFPE MCF10A cells. These experiments show that the TRIzol-based co-extraction method provides larger amounts of FFPE-DNA and –RNA tha

Impaired Thymic Export and Apoptosis Contribute to Regulatory T-Cell Defects in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure

Animal studies suggest that regulatory T (T(reg)) cells play a beneficial role in ventricular remodeling and our previous data have demonstrated defects of T(reg) cells in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). However, the mechanisms behind T(reg-)cell defects remained unknown. We here sought to elucidate the mechanism of T(reg-)cell defects in CHF patients.We performed flow cytometry analysis and demonstrated reduced numbers of peripheral blood CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+)CD45RO(-)CD45RA(+) naïve T(reg) (nT(reg)) cells and CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+)CD45RO(+)CD45RA(-) memory T(reg) (mT(reg)) cells in CHF patients as compared with non-CHF controls. Moreover, the nT(reg)/mT(reg) ratio (p<0.01), CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+)CD45RO(-) CD45RA(+)CD31(+) recent thymic emigrant T(reg) cell (RTE-T(reg)) frequency (p<0.01), and T-cell receptor excision circle levels in T(reg) cells (p<0.01) were lower in CHF patients than in non-CHF controls. Combined annexin-V and 7-AAD staining showed that peripheral T(reg) cells from CHF patients exhibited increased spontaneous apoptosis and were more prone to interleukin (IL)-2 deprivation- and CD95 ligand-mediated apoptosis than those from non-CHF individuals. Furthermore, analyses by both flow cytometry and real-time polymerase chain reaction showed that T(reg)-cell frequency in the mediastinal lymph nodes or Foxp3 expression in hearts of CHF patients was no higher than that of the non-CHF controls.Our data suggested that the T(reg)-cell defects of CHF patients were likely caused by decreased thymic output of nascent T(reg) cells and increased susceptibility to apoptosis in the periphery

QNEC2QNEC_{2} in deformed holographic CFTs

Theoretical Physic

Uptake of iron by yeast cells and its impact on biomass production

Procedures for the production of Saccharomyces cerevisiae biomass enriched with iron and the effects of the iron ions addition into the molasses medium on the yeast growth and the production of ethanol were studied. The growth of the yeast S. cerevisiae and the ethanol production in media with different concentrations of Fe were monitored in the batch process under semiaerobic and anaerobic conditions. The highest biomass concentration and ethanol production were achieved in the medium with 0.6-0.8 g l-1 of Fe under both (semiaerobic and anaerobic) conditions. Kinetics of the iron ions accumulation in yeast cells during 24 h of growth in the batch process under semiaerobic and anaerobic conditions were monitored. In anaerobic conditions the maximum uptake (10 mg g-1 d.m. yeast biomass) was obtained after 12 h of fermentation, while in semiaerobic conditions a four times lower uptake (2.5 mg g-1 d.m. yeast biomass) was obtained after 16 h of fermentation

Enhancement of Trigonopsis variabilis D-Amino Acid Oxidase Overproduction in Fed-batch Cultivation of Escherichia coli

D-Amino acid oxidase is a key enzyme in the production of semisynthetic cephalosporins. The Trigonopsis variabilis D-amino acid oxidase with 12- amino-acid peptide at N-terminus was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), in a series of short fed-batch cultivations. The strategy of gradual induction and gradual feeding with D-methionine during expression resulted in active enzyme production twice as high as that in which the inducer and methionine were added all at once at the expression start. In optimal conditions during 14 h of aerobic cultivation, 350 mg L–1 of active enzyme was produced

Effect of treatment by non-thermal plasma jet on the growth of various food spoilage bacteria in superfluous

The efficiency of gas phase plasma at atmospheric pressure by using an electrical discharge in gas argon on the inactivation of microorganisms was examined. The gas phase plasma was applied to suspensions of pure cultures Escherichia coli 3014, Staphylococcus aureus 3048, Salmonella sp. 3064, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 23074 and Bacillus cereus 30. The experiments were planned and performed according to a statistical experimental design, specifically central composite design, which considered three independent variables: volume (2, 3 and 4 mL), gas flow (0.75, 1 and 1.25 L/min) and treatment time (3, 4 and 5 min). Two studied parameters, volume and treatment time, substantially affected the inactivation. For plasma treatment, the inactivation can be attributed to UV radiation and plasma reactive oxygen species (ROS). It was found that Gram-negative bacteria were more susceptible to the plasma treatment than Gram-positive bacteria, and that the susceptibility of Gram-positive bacteria was remarkably species-dependent. Complete inactivation of Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp., and Listeria monocytogenes was achieved when optimal combination of parameters was applied

The surface energy balance and the mixing height in urban areas - Activities and recommendations of COST-Action 715

The specific problems of determining and simulating the surface energy balance (SEB) and the mixing height (MH) over urban areas are examined. The SEB and MH are critical components of algorithms and numerical models for the urban boundary layer, though the constituent parts of the SEB and the MH are not routinely measured by national weather services. Parameterisations are thus needed in applications. In this investigation, several recently developed algorithms and models for estimating the SEB and MH were applied to new datasets and assessed. Results are discussed in terms of the need for spatial resolution and the parameters needed to describe the urban atmosphere. Limitations of models are identified and recommendations for further development and observations are given. Having identified gaps in knowledge, key findings from new urban experiments and numerical modelling for the SEB and MH are given. The diurnal cycle for the SEB is significantly different from rural conditions-urban heat storage is needed in urban parameterisations. The urban MH is increased over the rural MH, as shown by several numerical schemes and careful sodar analyses. This work has been carried out within the COST-715 Action &apos;Meteorology applied to urban air pollution problems (1998-2004). COST 715 reached a consensus proposing representatively sited measurements of meteorological parameters and turbulent fluxes above roof-tops, and recognised that such data are needed to improve numerical models of the urban surface processes. © Springer Science+Business Media, B.V. 2007

Unstationary aspects of foehn in a large valley part I: operational setup, scientific objectives and analysis of the cases during the special observing period of the MAP subprogramme FORM

The Rhine valley, which stretches from the main Alpine crest to the Lake of Constance, was chosen as the target area to study unstationary aspects of foehn during the Special Observing Period (SOP) of the Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP). This large valley is up to 10?km wide and has some of the highest foehn frequencies in the European Alps. The MAP subprogram FORM (FOehn in the Rhine valley during MAP) was designed to investigate various aspects of the foehn including the interaction of foehn flow with the boundary layer and the processes that remove the cold air pool. The subprogram was also focused on improving the understanding and forecasting of foehn-related phenomena such as waves and turbulence. A large number of in-situ and remote sensing observing systems were deployed to take measurements during the field phase of MAP. Among them were about 50 surface stations, up to 9 radiosonde stations, 2 wind profilers, 4 Doppler sodars, 2 scintillometers, 1 scanning and 1 backscatter lidar and different research aircraft. This paper gives an overview of the objectives of FORM, describes the target area and its instrumentation, and provides a detailed synoptic description of the 12 foehn cases observed during the MAP SOP