Effect of liquid nitrogen pre-treatment on various types of wool waste fibres for biogas production

This study investigated the role of liquid nitrogen (LN2) in increasing microbial accessibility of wool proteins for biogas production. It involves a mechanical size reduction of four different types of raw wool fibres, namely, Blackface, Bluefaced Leicester, Texel and Scotch Mule, in presence of liquid nitrogen, followed by the determination of the methane production potential of the pre-treated wool fibres. The highest methane yield, 157.3 cm3 g−1 VS, was obtained from pre-treated Scotch mule wool fibre culture, and represented more than 80% increase when compared to the yield obtained from its raw equivalent culture. The increase in biogas yield was attributed to the effectiveness of LN2 in enhancing particle size reduction and the consequent increase in wool solubility and bioavailability. Results also showed that LN2 pre-treatment can enhance size reduction but has limited effect on the molecular structure. The study also showed that the biogas potential of waste wool fibres varies with the type and source of wool

Validation of a novel HPLC-based serum thymidine kinase assay for breast cancer detection

Thymidine kinase (TK) has been validated as a serum-derived, tumour-associated marker for a number of malignancies and estimation of TK activity in serum has proved useful for clinical diagnosis and monitoring of therapy. However, the use of this biomarker in the clinical practice is constrained by the lack of an automatable easy-to-perform assay. We have developed and validated a novel HPLC-based assay for measuring TK activity in biological samples. This assay is cheaper, easy to perform and does not depend on the use of expensive antibodies or isotopes. In addition, it has comparable sensitivity with the radioenzymatic assay used in the clinical practice. The assay has been evaluated with samples from breast cancer patients.<br/

Impact of chitosan-beeswax edible coatings on the quality of fresh strawberries (Fragaria ananassa cv Camarosa) under commercial storage conditions

Chitosan-based edible coatings were used to prolong the shelf-life of strawberries stored at 20 C and 35 e40% RH. Strawberries were coated with four different coating formulations (chitosan as monolayer, three layer coating consisting of separate beeswaxechitosanebeeswax layers, three layer coating where chitosan was crosslinked with sodium tripolyphosphate, TPP, and composite). The effectiveness of the coatings was evaluated by the changes of several parameters: fungal infection, weight loss, respiration rate, skin and flesh color, firmness, pH value, titratabale acidity, soluble solids content, reducing sugars content and sensory evaluation. The coatings, especially the three-layer coatings, significantly decreased the senescence and weight loss of the fruits. They modified the respiration rates of the strawberries and slowed down their metabolism as shown by the retention of the color and the texture of the tissue. Sensory evaluation of the coated strawberries showed that the chitosan and composite coatings gave better visual appearance and taste and were therefore more preferable by 90% of the judges than the three-layer coatings, even though the later had higher protective effect of the overall quality of the strawberrie

Plasma Desmosine for Prediction of Outcomes after Actue Myocardial Infarction

BACKGROUND: Elastin degradation is implicated in the pathology of vulnerable plaque. Recent studies show promising results for plasma desmosine (pDES), an elastin-specific degradation product, as a marker of cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential role of pDES as a marker of clinical outcome in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this case-control study, we studied 236 AMI patients: 79 patients who had death and/or myocardial infarction (MI) at 2 years, and 157 patients who did not have an event at 2 years. pDES was measured using a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method. Association of pDES with adverse outcomes, and the incremental value of pDES to global registry of acute coronary events (GRACE) score for risk stratification was assessed. RESULTS: pDES levels were elevated in patients with the composite outcome of death/MI at 2 years (p = 0.002). Logistic regression analyses showed pDES to be associated with death/MI at 2 years [Odds ratio (OR) 5.99 (95% CI 1.81–19.86) p = 0.003]. pDES remained a significant predictor of death/MI at 2 years even after adjustment for age, sex, history of CVD, revascularisation, blood pressure, medications on discharge, Troponin I, and NT-proBNP levels.[OR 5.60 (95% CI 1.04–30.04) p = 0.044]. In another multivariable model including adjustment for eGFR, pDES was significantly associated with the composite outcome at 6 months, but not at 2 years follow up. DES was also able to reclassify risk stratification for death/MI at 6 months, when added to the GRACE risk model [Net Reclassification Index (NRI) 41.2 (95% CI 12.0–70.4) p = 0.006]. CONCLUSION: pDES concentrations predict clinical outcomes in patients with AMI, demonstrating its potential role as a prognostic marker in AMI

An isotope dilution based-targeted and non-targeted carbonyl neurosteroid/steroid profiling

Neurosteroids are brain-derived steroids, capable of rapidly modulating neuronal excitability in a nongenomic manner. Dysregulation of their synthesis or metabolism has been implicated in many pathological conditions. Here, we describe an isotope dilution based targeted and nontargeted (ID-TNT) profiling of carbonyl neurosteroids/steroids. The method combines stable isotope dilution, hydroxylamine derivatization, high-resolution MS scanning, and data-dependent MS/MS analysis, allowing absolute quantification of pregnenolone, progesterone, 5α-dihydroprogesterone, 3α,5α-tetrahydroprogesterone, and 3β,5α-tetrahydroprogesterone, and relative quantification of other carbonyl containing steroids. The utility and validity of this approach was tested in an acute stress mouse model and via pharmacological manipulation of the steroid metabolic pathway with finasteride. We report that brain levels of 3α,5α-tetrahydroprogesterone, a potent enhancer of GABA_A receptor (GABA_AR-mediated inhibitory function, from control mice is in the 5–40 pmol/g range, a value greater than previously reported. The approach allows the use of data from targeted analysis to guide the normalization strategy for nontargeted data. Furthermore, novel findings, including a striking increase of brain pregnenolone following finasteride administration were discovered in this study. Collectively, our results indicate that this approach has distinct advantages for examining targeted and nontargeted neurosteroid/steroid pathways in animal models and could facilitate a better understanding of the physiological and pathological roles of neurosteroids as modulators of brain excitability

Cryogenic pretreatment of keratinous waste for enhanced methane production

Cryogenic pretreatment of keratinous waste for enhanced methane productio

Cryogenic pretreatment of keratinous waste for enhanced methane production

Cryogenic pretreatment of keratinous waste for enhanced methane productio

Effect of pulsed electric field coupled with vacuum infusion on quality parameters of frozen/thawed strawberries

In this study, pulsed electric field (PEF) was coupled with vacuum infusion (VI) to impregnate strawberries with cryoprotectants. Electroporation of fruits was reached with 5 bi-polar, rectangular pulses of 100 ms width with a nominal electric field strength of 850 V/cm. After PEF treatment, the strawberries were vacuum infused with a cryoprotective solution (12 g/100 g trehalose and 0.2 g/100 g acclimated winter wheat extract containing antifreeze proteins) for 14 min. The strawberries were frozen in liquid nitrogen and thawed in air at 20 C. Cell survival, texture and color were evaluated before and after freezing and thawing cycle. The fruit pre-treated with PEF prior to VI exhibited higher cell viability in epidermal layer and 30% more red color retention compared to just VI samples. However, no further improvement on strawberry quality in terms of drip loss and texture was observed upon the application of PEF

Effect of vacuum infused cryoprotectants on the freezing tolerance of strawberry tissues

Whole strawberries were vacuum infused with cryoprotectants to improve their freezing tolerance. The strawberries were infused with 12 g/100 g trehalose solution; 0.2 g/100 g cold-acclimated wheatgrass solution (AWWE) containing antifreeze protein (AFP) or combination of 12 g/100 g trehalose with 0.2 g/100 g AWWE under vacuum for 14 mm. The fruits were frozen in liquid nitrogen and thawed at room temperature before being evaluated for cell viability, drip loss and preservation of texture. The results showed that the combined effects of both cryoprotectants significantly improved the freezing tolerance of the treated strawberries. The cryoprotection effect was influenced by the heterogeneity of the tissues in the fruits. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

ACCOUNTING INFORMATION – A FACTOR FOR EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT OF AN ENTERPRISE (a fragmentary study

Сложният комплекс от задачи, които ръководният орган решава ежедневно, извежда на преден план необходимостта да се изследва счетоводството като информационна система, която предоставя точна, навременна, достоверна, полезна и качествена информация за управлението на предприятието. За постигането на основната цел се изследва ролята на счетоводната информация при управлението на предприятието; анализира се счетоводството в условията на обща нестабилност на световната икономическа система като инструмент за повишаване информационното осигуряване на оптималното ценообразуване; проучват се принципите на организацията на екологично ориентираната анали- тична счетоводна система на предприятието. Основната изследователска теза на изследването е, че успешното развитие на всяко предприятие е зависимо от решенията на ръководния орган, поради което те трябва да почиват на уместни, съществени, надеждни и сравними счетоводни данни за състоянието и промените, настъпили в имуществото му. Изследването ни дава основание да формулираме следните изводи: конкурентоспособното управление на предприятието се моделира въз основа на навременна, достоверна и качествена информация, предоставяна в най-голяма степен от счетоводството; осъществяваната стопанска дейност на предприятията в условията на икономическа криза и силна междуфирмена задлъжнялост налага потребността от нов поглед към счетоводното отчитане вземанията от клиенти на предприятието.The complex of tasks that a governing body solves daily brings out the need to study accounting as an information system that provides accurate, timely, reliable, useful and quality information for the management of an enterprise. In order to achieve the main objective the following tasks are performed: the role of accounting information in managing an enterprise is studied; accounting is analyzed under the conditions of the general instability of the global economic system as a tool for enhancing the information provision of optimal pricing; the principles of the environmentally oriented analytical accounting system of an enterprise is explored. The main research thesis of the study is that the successful development of any enterprise is dependent on the decisions of the governing body, therefore they must be based on reasonable, substantial, reliable and comparable accounting data on the state and changes in property. The research gives us reason to formulate the following conclusions: competitive enterprise management is modelled on the basis of timely, reliable and quality information provided to the fullest extent by accounting; the business conducted by enterprises in an economic crisis and strong intercompany indebtedness imposes the need for a new look at accounting the receivables from clients of the enterprise