Expression of mutated pea vicilins by yeast

Site directed mutagenesis has been used to introduce two cysteine residues into two hydrophilic regions of the pea vicilin polypeptide previously expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The mutated polypeptide has been expressed. The resultant protein has been characterised by SDS-Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and the presence of both inter- and intra-polypeptide sulphydryl bonds is indicated by bands of different mobility from those of the native protein. The association of mutated vicilin polypeptides into disulphide-bonded aggregates under non-denaturing conditions is not a random process, trimers being the major species produced

Effect of Specimen Length on Longitudinal Gas Permeability in Hardwoods

A study was carried out to determine whether the longitudinal gas permeability of hardwoods is affected by specimen length. The results indicate that in most woods tested, the permeability remains constant as length is reduced, except for lengths below 0.75 inch. Thereafter, with decreasing specimen length, permeability increases drastically. The large differences in permeability of samples of different length are attributed to random blockages in the capillary structure of the wood

Effect of Cultural Treatment and Wood-type On Some Physical Properties of Longleaf and Slash Pine Wood

Wood was studied from relatively mature longleaf and slash pine trees that had been growing under experimental treatments including cultivation, two levels of thinning, and four levels of fertilization in various combinations. From discs taken at five heights and separated into three wood-types, green moisture content, radial shrinkage, tangential shrinkage, volumetric shrinkage, latewood percentage, number of rings per inch, and specific gravity were determined. In longleaf pine, there were indications of treatment effect on latewood percentage and the number of rings per inch, with the more intensive treatments generally leading to fewer rings and higher amounts of latewood. In slash pine, a similar trend was found with these two variables. The species exhibited an almost identical trend in the interrelationships among properties. Green moisture content was negatively correlated with specific gravity and moisture content of the innerwood and middlewood increased with height. Shrinkage was found to be negatively correlated with height and positively correlated with specific gravity, except in the innerwood. Latewood percentage accounted for much of the variation in specific gravity in all wood-types. In the outerwood only, there was a positive but weak correlation of number of rings with specific gravity

Variation in Shrinkage Properties of Second-Growth Baldcypress and Tupelo-Gum

Trees of baldcypress and tupelo-gum aged from 55 to 75 years, growing in a naturally regenerated stand in the Atchafalaya Basin in south Louisiana, were felled to provide samples for determination of shrinkage, specific gravity, and extractive content. Samples were taken from six heights and from three radial positions (=wood-types) along three radii. Differences among trees and among plots (which had different basal areas) were found for all measured variables. There were also variations in unextracted specific gravity with height in the tree and wood-type in baldcypress, and, except for specific gravity, with wood-type in tupelo-gum. After extraction, shrinkage effects of height and wood-type were reduced or disappeared. Specific gravity was generally lowest in the lower portion of the stem and in the outerwood. Correlation of shrinkage with specific gravity was highest in the outerwood, and extractive content was correlated with shrinkage in tupelo-gum but not in baldcypress

Biological therapy with complementary and alternative medicine in innocuous integrative oncology : a case of cervical cancer

Abstract: Good medicine is based on good science, inquiry driven and open to new paradigms. For a complex disease such as cancer, a complex treatment regime that is well structured and multifactorial is indispensable. In the present day, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies are being used frequently for cancer, alongside modern biological therapies and allopathic medicine, in what is called integrative oncology. In all conscience, the use of natural, less invasive interventions whenever possible is ideal. However, a comprehensive understanding of not only the etiopathology of individual cancers, but also the detailed genetic and epigenetic characteristics, the cancer hallmarks, that clearly show the blueprint of the cancer phenotype is a requisite. Different tumors have a common behavioral pattern, but their specific features at the genetic and epigenetic levels vary to a great extent. Henceforth, with so many failed attempts to therapy, drug formulations and combinations need a focused pre-assessment of the inherent features of individual cancers to destroy the tumors holistically by targeting these features. This review therefore presents innocuous therapeutic regimes by means of CAM and integrative medicine approaches that can specifically target the hallmarks of cancer, using the case of cervical cancer

Nanotechnology in Modern Photodynamic Therapy of cancer : a review of cellular resistance patterns affecting the therapeutic response

Abstract

Respuesta de tomate (Solanum lycopersicum L.) a la fertilización con nitrógeno y aplicación de composta.

The effects of municipal biosolid yard-waste compost and fertilizer N applications on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) growth, yield and fruit quality were evaluated in Lajas (Typic Haplusterts) and Juana Díaz (Cumulic Haplustolls) (Fortuna Substation), Puerto Rico, for three years. In Fortuna, an initial application of compost at 50 t/ha significantly improved yields over those in unamended soil, yet a second application of compost the following year at 50 and 100 t/ha, reduced yields. No residual effect of compost on tomato yields was detected the third year. In Fortuna, levels of N fertilization did not significantly affect tomato yields, growth or quality, except in the third year, when tomato yields were significantly higher in soils fertilized with 75 kg N/ha than yields from unfertilized soil. At Lajas, there was a significant crop response to fertilizer N in one of the two site years, when crop response to initial fertilizer N application was evaluated. Compost addition in Lajas did not improve yields or plant agronomic components for the first year of cropping tomato. The use of the SPAD chlorophyll meter may be a useful N diagnostic tool for tomato grown under drip irrigation and polyethylene mulch. In general, maximum SPAD values coincided with maximum yields, depending on the hybrid or variety planted; treatment effects were adequately separated out. The economic optimum N rate was relatively insensitive to fertilizer and tomato price fluctuations in the range selected. The calculated optimum N rate to achieve 99% yield goals was 143 kg N/ha, at sites with initial N application in Lajas, and 165 kg N/ha, respectively, for second and third applications of N in Fortuna, with maximum yields near 54 t/ha.Por tres años se evaluaron los efectos de composta producida a partir de residuos vegetales y biosólidos, y de nitrógeno inorgánico en el crecimiento, rendimiento y calidad de fruta de tomate en las Subestaciones de Lajas (Typic Haplusterts) y Juana Díaz (Cumulic Haplustolls) (Subestación de Fortuna), Puerto Rico. En Fortuna, la aplicación de 50 t/ha aumentó el rendimiento sobre suelo sin enmendar pero una segunda aplicación de 50 y 100 t/ha redujo los rendimientos. No hubo un efecto residual de la composta en el tercer año. Los niveles de fertilización no incrementaron significativamente los rendimientos excepto en el tercer año, cuando los mayores rendimientos se obtuvieron con la aplicación de 75 kg N/ha en forma de fertilizante inorgánico. En Lajas, hubo respuesta a la fertilización inicial en uno de los dos sitios-años. La adición de composta no mejoró los rendimientos ni los componentes agronómicos del tomate. El uso del medidor de clorofila SPAD puede ser útil para la producción de tomate cultivado en bancos elevados, con plástico y riego por goteo porque los valores máximos de SPAD coincidieron con los mayores rendimientos obtenidos. La medida sirvió para evaluar el efecto de los tratamientos, aunque los resultados dependen de la variedad o híbrido utilizado. El nivel óptimo económico obtenido fue poco sensitivo a los precios de fertilizante y tomate seleccionado. El nivel óptimo de fertilización de N para obtener el 99% de rendimiento máximo fue 143 kg N/ha en áreas que recibieron aplicaciones iniciales de N en Lajas, y 165 kg N/ha en áreas con más de un año bajo el cultivo de tomate en Fortuna, con rendimientos cerca de 54 t/ha