The Role of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Gonadal Axis in Breast Cancer: a candidate gene approach

This chapter provides a general overview of breast cancer, including the possible role of genetic and exogenous factors and an overview of the role of hormones in carcinogenesis of the breast. Variability in susceptibility to the disease, timing of development, as well as tumor characteristics upon presentation and outcome of breast cancer, are likely to be affected by differences in both genetic and exogenous factors. The role of polymorphic variation in genes involved in hormonal control of carcinogenesis will be introduced. Breast cancer is the most frequently occurring malignancy in women, affecting women of all ages. More than 1 million new cases are diagnosed each year, accounting for almost one third of incident cases of cancer in women in Western industrialized countries . The cumulative lifetime risk, documented between 2000 and 2002, for women in the USA is 13% (1:8), while in The Netherlands the approximate lifetime risk is currently about 11% (1:9) (www.kankerregistratie.nl). In total over 400,000 women die each year worldwide of breast cancer (www.iarc.fr), making it the leading cause of death among women 35 to 55 years of age (3). Important aims of breast cancer research are prevention, early detection and reduction of mortality. Both basic molecular biological research and epidemiological investigations can help to achieve these goals by identification of women at risk, development of techniques for early diagnosis, prediction of outcome and response to therapy and finally optimization of targeted therapies resulting in tailoredtreatment. In essence, breast cancer, like all cancers, is a genetic disease resulting from an accumulation of somatic mutations and/ or altered expression of genes. In addition, breast cancer is a complex, multifactorial disease in which environmental factors and individual genetic background, including germline mutations and polymorphisms, may influence susceptibility, prognosis and response to treatment

Gas Chromatography in Food Authentication

Authentication of food products and food fraud detection are of great importance in the modern society. The application of sophisticated instrumentation, such as gas chromatography (GC), with this aim helps to improve the protection of consumers. Gas chromatography mostly combined with the most powerful detector, a mass spectrometer (MS), and various multivariate data processing tools is in the last few decades being increasingly applied in authenticity and traceability of a wide spectra of food products. These include animal and plant products, beverages and honey. This chapter gives an overview of the most recent applications of gas chromatography technique in determining food authenticity, described in scientific literature

Development and realization of energy management system in process industry, Part II: Advanced functions

One of the specific functions of the energy management system is the prediction of energy consumption for the purpose of the timely reaction to and prevention of undesirable situations. Moreover, the energy consumption prediction enables better planning of the energy production and contributes to the reduction of all production costs. This paper shows a new original algorithm for energy consumption forecasting based on support vector machines. The developed energy management system is realized and it operates in Sojaprotein AD Bečej, soybean processing factory

Uticaj setvene norme na prinos i kvalitet sena lucerke

The objective of this research was to determine dry matter yield (t ha-1) and leaf portion (g kg-1) as affected by different seeding rates. Four alfalfa varieties, two cutting regimes (I – early, cuts at the 10% bloom stage; II – medium, cuts at the 50% bloom stage), and two seeding rates were compared. Higher seeding rate did not produce higher dry matter yield. Cutting in different phenological stages of alfalfa plants had no significant effect on the yield. Leaf portion significantly correlated with the cutting regime, while seeding rate did not show statistical correlation.Tokom 2010-2011. godine ispitivan je uticaj različitih količina semena za setvu na prinos sena (t ha-1) i udeo lista (g kg-1) u prinosu lucerke. U ogled su uključeni sledeći faktori: dve setvene norme (8 i 16 kg ha-1); dva sistema kosidbe (I-rani, košenje u fazi 10% cvetalih biljaka; i II-srednje rani, košenje u fazi 50% cvetanja); 4 sorte lucerke (Banat VS, Nijagara, NS Alfa i NS Mediana ZMS V). Prinos suve materije se nije značajno povećao povećanjem setvene norme. Setvom 16 kg ha-1 dobijen je isti prinos kao i setvom 8 kg ha-1. Kosidba u različitim fazama razvića biljaka lucerke nije značajno uticala na formiranje prinosa. Udeo lista u prinosu značajno je zavisio od sistema kosidbe, dok veća količina semena za setvu nije uticala na povećanje kvaliteta sena lucerke

Određivanje sadržaja heljde u hlebu analizom metil estara dominantnih masnih kiselina

Five samples of bread were prepared by mixing wheat and buckwheat flour. The content of buckwheat flour is raised from 0, 20, 40, 50 to 60%. Fatty acids were extracted from bread crusts and crumbs using n-hexane, and derivatised with TMSH (trimethylsulfonium hydroxide in methanol). Fatty acid methyl esters were then subjected to GC-MS analysis. The surface areas of the most abundant fatty acid methyl esters were integrated, and further subjected to the multivariate data analysis. The results show a clear relationship between the content of dominant fatty acid methyl esters and content of buckwheat flour in bread.Pet uzoraka hleba je pripremljeno mešanjem pšeničnog i heljdinog brašana. Udeo heljdinog brašna je povećavan od 0, 20, 40, 50 do 60%. Ekstrakcijom sa heksanom iz kore i sredine hleba su ekstrahovane masne kiseline, koje su derivatizovane sa TMSH (trimetilsulfonijum hidroksid u metanolu) i podvrgnute analizi na GC-MS uređaju. Integrisana je površina metil estara najzastupljenijih masnih kiselina. Pri obradi rezultata primenjena je i multivarijantana analiza. Dobijeni rezultati pokazuju jasnu vezu između sadržaja metil estara dominantnih masnih kiselina i procenta heljde u hlebu

Analiza odnosa visine biljke i dužine metlice u NS-kolekciji linija oprašivača sirka za zrno

Development of experimental hybrids of grain sorghum requires the selection of „per se“ superior parental components of certain agronomic traits. The aim of the research was to determine whether the ratio between plant height (M1) and panicle length (M2) is stable in different R lines of grain sorghum within the collection of NS cultivars, and if the highest values are typical for shorter or taller genotypes. Lower M2/M1 ratio was confirmed in taller genotypes, while plant height and panicle length variation was 14.9%. The tested population established a solid foundation for obtaining new, interesting genetic recombinations for plant architecture change.Pri stvaranju eksperimentalnih hibrida sirka za zrno odgovarajućih performansi bitan je izbor roditeljskih komponenti koje su za odabrane agronomske osobine superiorne „per se“. Cilj rada je da se odredi da li je odnos visine biljke (M1) i dužine metlice (M2) stabilan kod različitih R linija sirka za zrno u NS-kolekciji i da li su najviše vrednosti ovog odnosa karakteristične za niže ili za više genotipove. Utvrđeno je da viši genotipovi imaju manje vrednosti odnosa M2/M1, kao i da odnos vrednosti visine biljke i dužine metlice varira 14,9%. Ispitivana populacija predstavlja dobar osnov za dobijanje novih interesantnih genskih rekombinacija za promene arhitekture biljke

Značaj leguminoza za organsku poljoprivredu

Legume crops are primarily grown for their quality and value-added traits. Apart from their role in human and animal nutrition, they are being increasingly used as medicinal plants in pharmaceutical production. Legumes are of great interest in cultural practices under all farming systems, particularly organic agriculture. They are essential in crop rotations, and are among the most desirable preceding crops that create favourable biophysical conditions within the soil, with high levels of nitrogen naturally accumulating. There are many legumes suitable for companion and cover crops, and in the absence of quality farmyard manure they are sown for green manuring. In organic farming, legumes are environmental corridor components involved in biodiversity protection and restoration, as evidenced through increasing numbers of beneficial species in these isolation belts.Leguminoze su grupa biljaka koje se prvenstveno gaje zbog njihovog kvaliteta i velike upotrebne vrednosti. Osim za ishranu ljudi i domaćih životinja, sve više se koriste i kao lekovite biljke za proizvodnju različitih farmaceutskih preparata. Leguminoze imaju izuzetan agrotehnički značaj u svim sistemima poljoprivredne proizvodnje, a posebno u organskoj poljoprivredi. U plodoredu su nezamenjive kao jedan od najpoželjnijih preduseva, koji zemljište ostavlja u povoljnom biofizičkom stanju, sa visokim sadržajem na prirodan način akumuliranog azota. Veliki broj leguminoza je dobar za gajenje u združenim i pokrovnim usevima, a u nedostatku kvalitetnog stajskog đubriva, seju se kao siderati. U organskoj poljoprivredi mahunarke su sastavni deo eko-koridora koji imaju ulogu da zaštite i obnavljaju biodiverzitet, što se manifestije povećanjem broja korisnih vrsta u ovim izolacionim pojasevima

Supplementary material for the article: Pejin, B.; Nakarada, D.; Novakovic, M.; Tesevic, V.; Savic, A.; Radotic, K.; Mojovic, M. Antioxidant Volatiles of the Freshwater Bryozoan Hyalinella Punctata. Natural Product Research 2014, 28 (18), 1471–1475. https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2014.905565

Supplementary material for: [https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2014.905565]Related to published version: [http://cherry.chem.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/1828

Genome-wide genotyping data renew knowledge on genetic diversity of a worldwide alfalfa collection and give insights on genetic control of phenology traits

China’s and Europe’s dependence on imported protein is a threat to the food self-sufficiency of these regions. It could be solved by growing more legumes, including alfalfa that is the highest protein producer under temperate climate. To create productive and high-value varieties, the use of large genetic diversity combined with genomic evaluation could improve current breeding programs. To study alfalfa diversity, we have used a set of 395 alfalfa accessions (i.e. populations), mainly from Europe, North and South America and China, with fall dormancy ranging from 3 to 7 on a scale of 11. Five breeders provided materials (617 accessions) that were compared to the 400 accessions. All accessions were genotyped using Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS) to obtain SNP allele frequency. These genomic data were used to describe genetic diversity and identify genetic groups. The accessions were phenotyped for phenology traits (fall dormancy and flowering date) at two locations (Lusignan in France, Novi Sad in Serbia) from 2018 to 2021. The QTL were detected by a Multi-Locus Mixed Model (mlmm). Subsequently, the quality of the genomic prediction for each trait was assessed. Cross-validation was used to assess the quality of prediction by testing GBLUP, Bayesian Ridge Regression (BRR), and Bayesian Lasso methods. A genetic structure with seven groups was found. Most of these groups were related to the geographical origin of the accessions and showed that European and American material is genetically distinct from Chinese material. Several QTL associated with fall dormancy were found and most of these were linked to genes. In our study, the infinitesimal methods showed a higher prediction quality than the Bayesian Lasso, and the genomic prediction achieved high (>0.75) predicting abilities in some cases. Our results are encouraging for alfalfa breeding by showing that it is possible to achieve high genomic prediction quality

BRAF/MEK inhibitor rechallenge in advanced melanoma patients

Background: Effectivity of BRAF(/MEK) inhibitor rechallenge has been described in prior studies. However, structured data are largely lacking. Methods: Data from all advanced melanoma patients treated with BRAFi(/MEKi) rechallenge were retrieved from the Dutch Melanoma Treatment Registry. The authors analyzed objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) for both first treatment and rechallenge. They performed a multivariable logistic regression and a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model to assess factors associated with response and survival. Results: The authors included 468 patients in the largest cohort to date who underwent at least two treatment episodes of BRAFi(/MEKi). Following rechallenge, ORR was 43%, median PFS was 4.6 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.1–5.2), and median OS was 8.2 months (95% CI, 7.2–9.4). Median PFS after rechallenge for patients who discontinued first BRAFi(/MEKi) treatment due to progression was 3.1 months (95% CI, 2.7–4.0) versus 5.2 months (95% CI, 4.5–5.9) for patients who discontinued treatment for other reasons. Discontinuing first treatment due to progression and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels greater than two times the upper limit of normal were associated with lower odds of response and worse PFS and OS. Symptomatic brain metastases were associated with worse survival, whereas a longer treatment interval between first treatment and rechallenge was associated with better survival. Responding to the first BRAFi(/MEKi) treatment was not associated with response or survival. Conclusions: This study confirms that patients benefit from rechallenge. Elevated LDH levels, symptomatic brain metastases, and discontinuing first BRAFi(/MEKi) treatment due to progression are associated with less benefit from rechallenge. A prolonged treatment interval is associated with more benefit from rechallenge.</p