Arabinose biopurification by Ogataea zsoltii yeast

Arabinose is a five carbon sugar which exists in nature as a component of hemicellulose and pectin polymers, naturally occurs in L - configuration . It is used as diet controlling food additive, important intermediate for anti - virus drug synthesis and as base material in the production of vitamin B 2 , among other applications . Commercial production of L - arabinose begins with the acid hydrolysis of gum arabic followed by expensive purification steps. Nowadays biopurification have become an attractive approach for purifying high - value sugars from lignocellulosic hydrolysates . Ogataea zsoltii yeast was investigated in terms of its ability to perform arabinose biopurification on semidefined medium and on the supernatant of acidi c hydrolysis of corn fibre. Arabinose biopurification was performed in shake flasks and bench - top bioreactor under aerobic conditions. Based on our results, this strain can be used for arabinose biopurification on both medium , resulting in near 90 % purity for arabinose

Human primary endothelial label-free biochip assay reveals unpredicted functions of plasma serine proteases

Tissue-on-a-chip technologies are more and more important in the investigation of cellular function and in the development of novel drugs by allowing the direct screening of substances on human cells. Constituting the inner lining of vessel walls, endothelial cells are the key players in various physiological processes, moreover, they are the first to be exposed to most drugs currently used. However, to date, there is still no appropriate technology for the label-free, real-time and high-throughput monitoring of endothelial function. To this end, we developed an optical biosensor-based endothelial label-free biochip (EnLaB) assay that meets all the above requirements. Using our EnLaB platform, we screened a set of plasma serine proteases as possible endothelial cell activators, and first identified the endothelial cell activating function of three important serine proteases – namely kallikrein, C1r and mannan-binding lectin-associated serine-protease 2 (MASP-2) – and verified these results in well-established functional assays. EnLaB proved to be an effective tool for revealing novel cellular mechanisms as well as for the high-throughput screening of various compounds on endothelial cells

The impact of preoperative anxiety and education level on long-term mortality after cardiac surgery

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Psychosocial factors have shown independent predictive value in the development of cardiovascular diseases. Although there is strong evidence to support the role of psychosocial factors in cardiovascular mortality, there is a scarcity of knowledge about how these factors are related. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between depression, anxiety, education, social isolation and mortality 7.5 years after cardiac surgery.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>After informed consent, 180 patients undergoing cardiac surgery between July 2000 and May 2001 were prospectively enrolled and followed for ten years. During the follow-up period, the patients were contacted annually by mail. Anxiety (Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, STAI-S/STAI-T), depression (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI) and the number and reason for rehospitalizations were assessed each year. Those patients who did not respond were contacted by telephone, and national registries were searched for deaths.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During a median follow-up of 7.6 years (25^th to 75^th percentile, 7.4 to 8.1 years), the mortality rate was 23.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 17.3-29.9; 42 deaths). In a Cox regression model, the risk factors associated with an increased risk of mortality were a higher EUROSCORE (points; Adjusted Hazard Ratio (AHR):1.30, 95%CI:1.07-1.58)), a higher preoperative STAI-T score (points; AHR:1.06, 95%CI 1.02-1.09), lower education level (school years; AHR:0.86, 95%CI:0.74-0.98), and the occurrence of major adverse cardiac and cerebral events during follow up (AHR:7.24, 95%CI:2.65-19.7). In the postdischarge model, the same risk factors remained.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that the assessment of psychosocial factors, particularly anxiety and education may help identify patients at an increased risk for long-term mortality after cardiac surgery.</p

Algorithmic solutions for logistic problems

A szakdolgozat során a raktárkezelési algoritmusokba nyújtok betekintést, és az egyes részfeladatok megoldásainak lehetőségeit tekintem át azáltal, hogy egy nagyobb, átfogó problémának keresem a megoldását. Ezt úgy tettem, hogy a raktár kialakításának rögzítése mellett vizsgáltam, hogy a kivételezést hogyan lehet a leggyorsabban végrehajtani, milyen útvonalakon haladjanak a járművek, mely termékeket érdemes egyszerre gyűjteni, és hogyan kezeljük azt az esetet, ha kifogy az árukészlet a polcról