A new and efficient method for purification of poly-γ- glutamic acid from high-viscosity fermentation broth

Purpose: To devise an efficient strategy for the separation and recovery of high-quality γ-PGA by investigation of the physical properties, pigment properties and microfiltration mode of high-viscosity fermentation broth.Methods: The bacterial strain, Bacillus subtilis 115, was used in this study. The viscosity of the fermentation broth was determined by digital viscometer with spindle SP-2 at 25 oC. The concentrations of glucose and L-glutamate were analyzed with a biosensor equipped with both glucose oxidase and Lglutamate oxidase electrodes. The pigment in the fermentation liquid was scanned with a UV spectrophotometer at wavelength range of 200 - 500 nm and was removed using activated carbon. Measurement of IR spectrum was performed using an IR spectrophotometer with KBr pellet. Results: The results showed that the γ-PGA yield was 35 g/L. The viscosity of the fermentation broth was 1600 mPa.s at the end of the batch fermentation. After 3-fold dilution, the viscosity was reduced to one-fortieth of the original value at 65 °C for 30 min., which allowed effective removal of Bacillus subtilis 115 from the broth. Maximum UV absorption of the pigment was occurred at 260 nm. The pigment was removed by shaking with 0.6 % activated carbon powder at 50 rpm for 20 min, resulting in 88 % decolorization. Concentration with hollow-fiber membrane (MWCO 500,000) resulted in complete removal of residual glucose and glutamic acid from the aqueous solution of γ-PGA. The molecular weight of the γ-PGA was 1095 kDa, and its UV scanning spectrum showed an absorption peak at 216 nm. The decomposition temperature (Td) of the γ-PGA was 312.92 oC. Its IR spectrum was consistent with the presence of carboxyl, hydroxyl, carbonyl and amide groups.Conclusion: An efficient method for the extraction and purification of high-quality γ-PGA from highviscosity fermentation broth.Keywords: Bacillus subtilis 115, γ-Polyglutamic acid, De-pigmentation, Activated carbon, Ultra-filtration, High-viscosity fermentation brot

Application of citrate as a tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediate, prevents diabetic-induced heart damages in mice

Objective(s):Higher cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels is important in reducing cellular energy charge (EC) by increasing the levels of key metabolic protein, and nitrosative modifications, and have been shown to damage the cardiac tissue of diabetic mice. However, the relation between energy production and heart function is unclear. Materials and Methods:Streptozotocin (STZ, 150 mg/kg body weight) was injected intraperitoneally once to mice that had been fasted overnight for induction of diabetes. After diabetic induction, mice received citrate (5 µg/kg) through intraperitoneal injection every other day for 5 weeks. The caspase-3, plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI1), protein kinase B (PKB), commonly known as AKT and phosphorylated-AKT (p-AKT) proteins were examined to elucidate inflammation and apoptosis in the heart. For histological analysis, heart samples were fixed with 10% formalin and stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and Sirius red to assess pathological changes and fibrosis. The expression levels[AGA1]  of marker proteins, tyrosine nitration, activity of ATP synthase and succinyl-CoA:3-ketoacid coenzyme A transferase-1 (SCOT), and EC were measured. Results:Intraperitoneal injection of citrate significantly reduced caspase-3 and PAI-1 protein levels and increased p-AKT level on the 5th week; EC in the heart was found to be increased as well. Further, the expression level, activity, and tyrosine nitration of ATP synthase and SCOT were not affected after induction of diabetes. Conclusion: Results indicate that application of citrate, a tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediate, might alleviate cardiac dysfunction by reducing cardiac inflammation, apoptosis, and increasing cardiac EC

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass

Severe early onset preeclampsia: short and long term clinical, psychosocial and biochemical aspects

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy specific disorder commonly defined as de novo hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks gestational age. It occurs in approximately 3-5% of pregnancies and it is still a major cause of both foetal and maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide1. As extensive research has not yet elucidated the aetiology of preeclampsia, there are no rational preventive or therapeutic interventions available. The only rational treatment is delivery, which benefits the mother but is not in the interest of the foetus, if remote from term. Early onset preeclampsia (<32 weeks’ gestational age) occurs in less than 1% of pregnancies. It is, however often associated with maternal morbidity as the risk of progression to severe maternal disease is inversely related with gestational age at onset2. Resulting prematurity is therefore the main cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity in patients with severe preeclampsia3. Although the discussion is ongoing, perinatal survival is suggested to be increased in patients with preterm preeclampsia by expectant, non-interventional management. This temporising treatment option to lengthen pregnancy includes the use of antihypertensive medication to control hypertension, magnesium sulphate to prevent eclampsia and corticosteroids to enhance foetal lung maturity4. With optimal maternal haemodynamic status and reassuring foetal condition this results on average in an extension of 2 weeks. Prolongation of these pregnancies is a great challenge for clinicians to balance between potential maternal risks on one the eve hand and possible foetal benefits on the other. Clinical controversies regarding prolongation of preterm preeclamptic pregnancies still exist – also taking into account that preeclampsia is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the Netherlands5 - a debate which is even more pronounced in very preterm pregnancies with questionable foetal viability6-9. Do maternal risks of prolongation of these very early pregnancies outweigh the chances of neonatal survival? Counselling of women with very early onset preeclampsia not only comprises of knowledge of the outcome of those particular pregnancies, but also knowledge of outcomes of future pregnancies of these women is of major clinical importance. This thesis opens with a review of the literature on identifiable risk factors of preeclampsia