Nährstoffverfügbarkeit und Nährstoffnutzung von klee- und kräuterreichen Aufwüchsen ökologisch bewirtschafteten Grünlandes entlang der Produktionskette Erzeugung - Konservierung - Verdauung

Ziel des Vorhabens war es, kräuterreiche Grünlandaufwüchse, die im Ökologischen Landbau eine große Bedeutung haben, im Hinblick auf die Futterqualität und die Tierernährung zu bewerten. Für Frühjahrs- und Sommeraufwüchse wurden die Futterqualitäts- und Konservierungseigenschaften eines ungedüngten kräuterreichen Grünlandes und eines ungedüngten Weißklee-Weidelgrasbestandes mit dem eines mit mineralischem Stickstoff gedüngten reinen Weidelgrasbestandes (konventionelle Vergleichsvariante) verglichen. Beim kräuterreichen Grünland bestand der Kräuteranteil aus den feinblättrigen Arten Löwenzahn und Spitzwegerich. Futter wurde im Labormaßstab einsiliert und die Gärfähigkeit sowie die Silagequalität ermittelt. Die Verdauungsphysiologie wurde anhand der Pansensimulationstechnik ‚Rusitec’ studiert. Die kräuterreichen Aufwüchse wiesen eine im Vergleich zum reinen Grasbestand gute Siliereignung und Silagequalität auf mit geringen Ammoniakgehalten und niedrigem Proteinabbau. Kräuterreiches Futter enthielt weniger Rohprotein und Gerüstsubstanzen. Bei der Enzymlöslichkeit der organischen Substanz (ELOS) und der energetischen Bewertung (HFT) traten keine signifikanten Unterschiede zwischen den Varianten auf. Dagegen erwiesen sich die Silagen aus kräuterreichen Aufwüchsen in der Pansensimulation als geringer abbaubar, die mikrobielle Zell- bzw. Proteinsynthese war im Vergleich zur Gras-Klee- und insbesondere gegenüber der Grasvariante vermindert. Die Ergebnisse weisen auf ein hohes, N-effizientes Verwertungspotential kräuterreicher Grünlandaufwüchse in der Wiederkäuerfütterung hin. Es bleibt zu klären, ob die nicht mikrobiell im Pansen abbaubaren Futterbestandteile postruminal zur Energie- und Nährstoffversorgung des Wiederkäuers beizutragen vermögen

Effects of fermentation time and pH on soursop (Annona muricata) vinegar production towards its chemical compositions

Vinegar is a liquid product that undergoes both alcoholic and acetous fermentation of sugar (carbohydrate) sources. Soursop (Annona muricata) is easily available in Malaysia throughout the year. However, it is also highly perishable and has a short shelf-life. Therefore, in this research, soursop was used in the production of vinegar, to increase its utilisation and reduce wastage. The objectives of this research were to determine the effects of fermentation time and pH on soursop vinegar using a 3 × 5 factorial design and to determine its chemical compositions. It was found that pH and fermentation time showed significant (p0.05). It was evident that the sugar concentration reduces over time and it was inversely proportional to the ethanol and acetic acid concentrations, due to the conversion of sugar to ethanol and subsequently acetic acid. It was found that higher pH (pH5.5) gave significantly (p0.05) effect on ethanol production. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in vitamin C content in all vinegar samples. Thus, it can be established that at fermentation time of 120 h and pH5.5, more sugar was used and more ethanol and acetic acid were produced

Analysis of PM10 in Kuala Terengganu by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used for the determination of trace elements in airborne particulate matter (PM10) for air pollution monitoring. For the collection of air samples, the PM10 high volume sampler unit and Whatman 41 cellulose filter papers were employed. Samples were collected at 13 selected sampling sites covering areas in the city center, inner and outer city of Kuala Terengganu during the month of March 2005. The average PM10 was 69.64 μgm-3, 83.58 μgm-3 and 72.22 μgm-3 for sampling stations located in the city center, inner and outer city of Kuala Terengganu, respectively. It was found that the mass of air particles in the study area was higher compared to Bangi and Kuala Lumpur. Chemical analysis of selected elements (Al, Fe, Cu, Pb, V, Mn, Zn, Cr, As Cd), ionic species (Na+, SO4 2-, Cl-, NH4 +,Mg2+, K+ , Ca2+) and some rare earth elements (REE) were included in this study. In general, most of the average concentration of trace elements in the city center sampling stations was generally higher than the inner and outer city sampling stations. The concentrations of trace elements in sampling stations follow the general trend of Al>Fe>Zn>Cu>Mn>Pb>V>Cr>As>Ni>Cd. The elements concentration ranged from 680-2119 ngm-3, 170-1132 ngm-3, 8.13-122.4 ngm-3, 8.48-77.3 ngm-3, 7.68-14.4 ngm-3, 1-90.4 ngm-3, 1.47-3.25 ngm-3, 1.43-5.03 ngm-3, 1.15-4.45 ngm-3, 0.24-3.75 ngm-3 and 0.28-1.36 ngm-3, respectively

Global Analysis of Circulating Immune Cells by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

Background: MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry is currently used in microbiological diagnosis to characterize bacterial populations. Our aim was to determine whether this technique could be applied to intact eukaryotic cells, and in particular, to cells involved in the immune response. Methodology/Principal Findings: A comparison of frozen monocytes, T lymphocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes revealed specific peak profiles. We also found that twenty cell types had specific profiles, permitting the establishment of a cell database. The circulating immune cells, namely monocytes, T lymphocytes and polymorphonuclear cells, were distinct from tissue immune cells such as monocyte-derived macrophages and dendritic cells. In addition, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry was valuable to easily identify the signatures of monocytes and T lymphocytes in peripheral mononuclear cells. Conclusions/Significance: This method was rapid and easy to perform, and unlike flow cytometry, it did not require any additional components such as specific antibodies. The MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry approach could be extended t

Increased Hepatic Insulin Action in Diet-Induced Obese Mice Following Inhibition of Glucosylceramide Synthase

Obesity is characterized by the accumulation of fat in the liver and other tissues, leading to insulin resistance. We have previously shown that a specific inhibitor of glucosylceramide synthase, which inhibits the initial step in the synthesis of glycosphingolipids (GSLs), improved glucose metabolism and decreased hepatic steatosis in both ob/ob and diet-induced obese (DIO) mice. Here we have determined in the DIO mouse model the efficacy of a related small molecule compound, Genz-112638, which is currently being evaluated clinically for the treatment of Gaucher disease, a lysosomal storage disorder.DIO mice were treated with the Genz-112638 for 12 to 16 weeks by daily oral gavage. Genz-112638 lowered HbA1c levels and increased glucose tolerance. Whole body adiposity was not affected in normal mice, but decreased in drug-treated obese mice. Drug treatment also significantly lowered liver triglyceride levels and reduced the development of hepatic steatosis. We performed hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps on the DIO mice treated with Genz-112638 and showed that insulin-mediated suppression of hepatic glucose production increased significantly compared to the placebo treated mice, indicating a marked improvement in hepatic insulin sensitivity.These results indicate that GSL inhibition in obese mice primarily results in an increase in insulin action in the liver, and suggests that GSLs may have an important role in hepatic insulin resistance in conditions of obesity

BRCA1 Interacts with Smad3 and Regulates Smad3-Mediated TGF-β Signaling during Oxidative Stress Responses

BRCA1 is a key regulatory protein participating in cell cycle checkpoint and DNA damage repair networks. BRCA1 plays important roles in protecting numerous cellular processes in response to cell damaging signals. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is a potent regulator of growth, apoptosis and invasiveness of tumor cells. TFG-beta activates Smad signaling via its two cell surface receptors, the TbetaRII and ALK5/TbetaRI, leading to Smad-mediated transcriptional regulation.Here, we report an important role of BRCA1 in modulating TGF-beta signaling during oxidative stress responses. Wild-type (WT) BRCA1, but not mutated BRCA1 failed to activate TGF-beta mediated transactivation of the TGF-beta responsive reporter, p3TP-Lux. Further, WT-BRCA1, but not mutated BRCA1 increased the expression of Smad3 protein in a dose-dependent manner, while silencing of WT-BRCA1 by siRNA decreased Smad3 and Smad4 interaction induced by TGF-beta in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. BRCA1 interacted with Smad3 upon TGF-beta1 stimulation in MCF-7 cells and this interaction was mediated via the domain of 298-436aa of BRCA1 and Smad3 domain of 207-426aa. In addition, H(2)O(2) increased the colocalization and the interaction of Smad3 with WT-BRCA1. Interestingly, TGF-beta1 induced Smad3 and Smad4 interaction was increased in the presence of H(2)O(2) in cells expressing WT-BRCA1, while the TGF-beta1 induced interaction between Smad3 and Smad4 was decreased upon H(2)O(2) treatment in a dose-dependent manner in HCC1937 breast cancer cells, deficient for endogenous BRCA1. This interaction between Smad3 and Smad4 was increased in reconstituted HCC1937 cells expressing WT-BRCA1 (HCC1937/BRCA1). Further, loss of BRCA1 resulted in H(2)O(2) induced nuclear export of phosphor-Smad3 protein to the cytoplasm, resulting decreased of Smad3 and Smad4 interaction induced by TGF-beta and in significant decrease in Smad3 and Smad4 transcriptional activities.These results strongly suggest that loss or reduction of BRCA1 alters TGF-beta growth inhibiting activity via Smad3 during oxidative stress responses

Chronic hepatitis B: whom to treat and for how long? Propositions, challenges, and future directions

Recent guidelines of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the European Association for the Study of the Liver, and the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver 2008 update of the “Asian-Pacific consensus statement on the management of chronic hepatitis B” offer comprehensive recommendations for the general management of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). These recommendations highlight preferred approaches to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of CHB. Nonetheless, the results of recent studies have led to an improved understanding of the disease and a belief that current recommendations on specific therapeutic considerations, including CHB treatment initiation and cessation criteria, particularly in patient populations with special circumstances, can be improved. Twelve experts from the Asia-Pacific region formed the Asia-Pacific Panel Recommendations for the Optimal Management of Chronic Hepatitis B (APPROACH) Working Group to review, challenge, and assess relevant new data and inform future updates of CHB treatment guidelines. The significance of and controversy about reported findings were discussed and debated in an expert meeting of the Working Group in Beijing, China, in November 2008. This review paper attempts to identify areas requiring improved CHB management and provide suggestions for future guideline updates, with special emphasis on treatment initiation and duration

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe