Relationship Between Anti-DFS70 Autoantibodies and Oxidative Stress

Background: The anti-DFS70 autoantibodies are one of the most commonly and widely described agent of unknown clinical significance, frequently detected in healthy individuals. It is not known whether the DFS70 autoantibodies are protective or pathogenic. One of the factors suspected of inducing the formation of anti-DFS70 antibodies is increased oxidative stress. We evaluated the coexistence of anti-DFS70 antibodies with selected markers of oxidative stress and investigated whether these antibodies could be considered as indirect markers of oxidative stress. Methods: The intensity of oxidative stress was measured in all samples via indices of free-radical damage to lipids and proteins such as total oxidant status (TOS), concentrations of lipid hydroperoxides (LPH), lipofuscin (LPS), and malondialdehyde (MDA). The parameters of the non-enzymatic antioxidant system, such as total antioxidant status (TAS) and uric acid concentration (UA), were also measured, as well as the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD). Based on TOS and TAS values, the oxidative stress index (OSI) was calculated. All samples were also tested with indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and 357 samples were selected for direct monospecific anti DFS70 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) testing. Results: The anti-DFS70 antibodies were confirmed by ELISA test in 21.29% of samples. Compared with anti-DFS70 negative samples we observed 23% lower concentration of LPH (P =.038) and 11% lower concentration of UA (P =.005). TOS was 20% lower (P =.014). The activity of SOD was up to 5% higher (P =.037). The Pearson correlation showed weak negative correlation for LPH, UA, and TOS and a weak positive correlation for SOD activity. Conclusion: In samples positive for the anti-DFS70 antibody a decreased level of oxidative stress was observed, especially in the case of samples with a high antibody titer. Anti-DFS70 antibodies can be considered as an indirect marker of reduced oxidative stress or a marker indicating the recent intensification of antioxidant processes

Wynos miedzi z plonem roślin w zmianowaniu oraz jej zawartości w glebie w zależności od nawożenia mineralnego i organicznego

Na glebie płowej klasy IIIa w czteropolowym zmianowaniu uprawiano burak cukrowy, jęczmień jary, bobik i pszenicę ozimą zgodnie z zasadami agrotechniki. Stosowano 5 wariantów nawożenia w 4 powtórzeniach: 1) Bez nawożenia, 2) Obornik biodynamiczny, 3) Obornik zwykły, 4) NPK intensywne + 10 kg Cu·ha⁻¹, 5) NPK optymalne + 5 kg Cu·ha⁻¹. Obornik biodynamiczny przygotowano na bazie obornika zwykłego bydlęcego wprowadzając na 10 ton nawozu 500 m ³ gnojówki z dodatkami mineralnymi (kizeryt, siarczan miedzi (VI), boraks, mączka fosforytowa). Dawki składników mineralnych dostosowane były do potrzeb pokarmowych poszczególnych gatunków roślin. Pod pszenicę ozimą i jęczmień jary wprowadzano miedź w wodnym roztworze soli na powierzchnię gleby. Analizując dynamikę przyswajalnych form miedzi w glebie stwierdzono, że w całym cyklu zmianowania jęczmień jary najmniej zubażał glebę w ten mikroelement, a najbardziej pszenica ozima i bobik. Nawożenie organiczne w postaci obornika biodynamicznego, stosowane co roku pod każdą roślinę utrzymywało zasobność gleby w przyswajalną miedź na średnim poziomie. Stwierdzono, że uprawa wysokopiennych gatunków roślin na glebie płowej o niskiej i średniej zasobności w miedź, wymaga stosowania tego składnika w nawożeniu.On the luvisol class IIIa soil the following crops were grown in four field rotation: sugar beet, spring barley, horse bean and winter wheat. Five fertilization treatments were applied: control, biodynamic manure, farmyard manure, NPK, intensive plus 10 kg Cu·ha⁻¹ and optimal NPK plus 5 kg Cu·ha⁻¹. Biodynamic manure was prepared on the base of farmyard manure by adding 500 m ³ of manure water and mineral additives (kizerite, copper sulphate, boron, phosphate) to 10 t·ha⁻¹ of cattle manure. Rates of mineral fertilizers were adjusted to given crop demands. Copper was applied by spraying cereals with copper sulphate water solution. While analysing available copper in the soil it was found that spring barley uptook the lowest amount of this form of copper whereas spring wheat and horse bean uptook considerably more of available copper. It was found that bio-manure applied every year of crop rotation maintaned a medium level of available copper in the soil. It was shown that the cultivation of high yielding crops on luvisol of a low and medium level of available copper demands the application of that component in a fertilizer

Auditory discrimination: the Konorski quality-location effect.

Konorski showed that when a go/no-go procedure was used, sound quality discriminations were rapidly acquired and sound location discriminations were slowly acquired. These findings have been interpreted as a general constraint on the acquisition of auditory discriminations (quality-location effect). However, experiments carried out within an evolutionary framework (Harrison, 1984) have shown that the rate of acquisition of sound location discriminations varies widely as a function of the inclusion or exclusion of naturalistic features. These data suggest that Konorski's findings were a function of the special conditions of the experiments. The first purpose of the present experiments was to assess whether rats showed the effects noted by Konorski when studied under similar conditions. The second purpose was to study the effect of manipulating two natural features (novelty and stimulus-response adjacency) to assess whether the acquisition rates of quality and location discriminations could be greatly modified or made approximately equal, or both. When a go/no-go procedure was used and the other conditions were similar to those of Konorski, rats acquired a quality discrimination but did not acquire a location discrimination. However, when the S+ or S- were presented through a closely adjacent speaker, the sound location discrimination was acquired as rapidly as the quality discrimination. Finally, preexposing the animal to either S+ or S- retarded the rate of or prevented the acquisition of the quality discrimination. The experiments showed that the quality-location effect was determined primarily by the conditions used in Konorski's experiments, and that the effect is not a general constraint on learning