A new fungal isolates applicated to bovine skin in beamhouse processes

Content: Beamhouse area is an important step in leather technology, either in the final quality of the leather or in the contribution to the contamination of effluents. In unhairing process, the use of enzymes as sulphide assistants can reduce sulfhidric gas emissions to reach permitted levels for health. The characterization of enzymatic extracts allows controlling the proteolysis mechanism so that its action does not attack the reticular structure. A new fungal enzyme extracts were applied on submerged bovine skin in the soaking and unhairing steps. Fungal strains were isolated from alkaline soils of coast of Buenos Aires province and enzymatic extracts (EE) were obtained by submerged culture with bovine hair waste from hair-saving unhairing process as inducer in the production of keratinolytic enzymes. This activity was determined by quantitative test and the most productive strains were selected: Clonostachys rosea (CR), Emericellopsis minima (EM), Paecilomyces lilacinus (PL), Penicillium sp (Psp), Fusarium oxysporum (FO), Acremonium sp (A) and an unidentified filamentous fungus strain with sterile yellow mycelium (SYM). EE were tested at laboratory scale on submerged bovine skin with biocide 0,2% w/w wet skin, anionic 0,1% and non-ionic 0,5% tensioactives in soaking and unhairing respectively and incubated 48 h at 37°C in shaking thermostatic bath. Controls were tested in the same conditions without EE. Morphological changes in the skin were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Pieces of bovine skin were fixed, post-fixed in formaldehyde 4% and dehydrated in alcohol solutions, treated by critical point drying, metalized and analyzed in SEM. It was observed with FO, EM and A extracts empty hair follicles, absence of epidermis, papillary layer of dermis exposed, hairs enclosed by detached hair follicle sheaths and collagen fibers without characteristic patterns. With PL and SYM EE some hairs were detached while Psp and CR EE did not produce changes. In control samples epidermis and hair without modification were observed. In the quantitative test, keratinolytic activities increased in the following order: A<PL<Psp<CR<FO<SYM. Submerged culture with keratin as inductor produced keratinolytic enzymes useful for unhairing step. Fusarium oxysporum extract showed the greatest effect on the skin, thus the relationship between keratinolytic activity and depilatory effect was found. However, it is necessary to find the optimal conditions to avoid the damage of collagen and enable its application as a sustainable technology. Take-Away: A new fungal isolates applicated to bovine skin in beamhouse processe

The observed oogenesis impairment in greater amberjack Seriola dumerili (Risso, 1810) reared in captivity is not related to an insufficient liver transcription or oocyte uptake of vitellogenin

The greater amberjack Seriola dumerili is an excellent candidate for the Mediterranean aquaculture, due to its large body size and high growth rate, as well as its high flesh quality and commercial value worldwide. For its successful incorporation in the aquaculture industry, an in-depth understanding of the reproductive function of the species under rearing conditions is necessary, since completion of oogenesis in captivity is currently a bottleneck for the commercial production of the species. Liver and ovary samples from wild and captive-reared greater amberjack females were collected at three different phases of the reproductive cycle: early gametogenesis (EARLY, late April-early May), advanced gametogenesis (ADVANCED, late May-early June) and spawning (SPAWNING, late June-July). The cDNAs of three vitellogenins (VtgA, VtgB and VtgC) were partially sequenced and a qRT-PCR for their expression was used to compare ovarian maturity stage and liver vitellogenin transcript levels between wild and captive-reared individuals. An extensive atresia of late vitellogenic follicles, which prevented any further oocyte development and spawning was observed in captive-reared individuals during the ADVANCED phase. The expression levels of the three vitellogenins, as well as the amount of yolk globules in vitellogenic oocytes, did not differ significantly between captive-reared and wild females, indicating that the observed oogenesis impairment in greater amberjack reared in captivity was not related to an insufficient liver synthesis or a reduced oocyte uptake of vitellogenin

The Social Life of Time and Methods: Studying London’s Temporal Architectures

This paper contributes to work on the social life of time. It focuses on how time is doubled; produced by and productive of the relations and processes it operates through. In particular, it explores the methodological implications of this conception of time for how social scientists may study the doubledness of time. It draws on an allied move within the social sciences to see methods as themselves doubled; as both emerging from and constitutive of the social worlds that they seek to understand. We detail our own very different methodological experiments with studying the social life of time in London, engaging interactive documentary to elucidate nonlinear imaginaries of space-time in London’s pop-up culture (Ella Harris) and encountering time on a series of walks along a particular stretch of road in south east London (Beckie Coleman). While clearly different projects in terms of their content, ambition and scope, in bringing these projects together we show the ability of our methods to grasp and perform from multiple angles and scales what Sharma calls ‘temporal architectures’. Temporal architectures, composed of elements including the built environment, commodities, services, technologies and labour, are infrastructures that enable social rhythms and temporal logics and that can entail a politicized valuing of the time of certain groups over others. We aim to contribute to an expanded and enriched conceptualisation of methods for exploring time, considering what our studies might offer to work on the doubled social life of time and methods, and highlighting in particular their implications for an engagement with a politics of time and temporality

Loss of PRDM1/BLIMP-1 function contributes to poor prognosis of activated B-cell-like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

PRDM1/BLIMP-1, a master regulator of plasma-cell differentiation, is frequently inactivated in activated B-cell-like (ABC) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients. Little is known about its genetic aberrations and relevant clinical implications. A large series of patients with de novo DLBCL was effectively evaluated for PRDM1/BLIMP-1 deletion, mutation, and protein expression. BLIMP-1 expression was frequently associated with the ABC phenotype and plasmablastic morphologic subtype of DLBCL, yet 63% of the ABC-DLBCL patients were negative for BLIMP-1 protein expression. In these patients, loss of BLIMP-1 was associated with Myc overexpression and decreased expression of p53 pathway molecules. In addition, homozygous PRDM1 deletions and PRDM1 mutations within exons 1 and 2, which encode for domains crucial for transcriptional repression, were found to show a poor prognostic impact in patients with ABC-DLBCL but not in those with germinal center B-cell-like DLBCL (GCB-DLBCL). Gene expression profiling revealed that loss of PRDM1/BLIMP-1 expression correlated with a decreased plasma-cell differentiation signature and upregulation of genes involved in B-cell receptor signaling and tumor-cell proliferation. In conclusion, these results provide novel clinical and biological insight into the tumor-suppressive role of PRDM1/BLIMP-1 in ABC-DLBCL patients and suggest that loss of PRDM1/BLIMP-1 function contributes to the overall poor prognosis of ABC-DLBCL patients

Primary brain T-cell lymphoma of the lymphoblastic type presenting as altered mental status

The authors present a case of a 56-year-old man with altered mental status. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain revealed non-enhancing abnormalities on T2 and FLAIR imaging in the brainstem, cerebellum, and cerebrum. Immunohistochemisty demonstrated precursor T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. After treatment with methotrexate, he improved clinically without focal sensorimotor deficits and with improving orientation. MRI showed almost complete resolution of brainstem and cerebral lesions. To the authors’ knowledge, there are only five previous reports of primary central nervous system T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. Since treatable, it deserves consideration in patients with altered mental status and imaging abnormalities that include diffuse, non-enhancing changes with increased signal on T2-weighted images

New Insights into Alzheimer's Disease Progression: A Combined TMS and Structural MRI Study

BACKGROUND: Combination of structural and functional data of the human brain can provide detailed information of neurodegenerative diseases and the influence of the disease on various local cortical areas. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To examine the relationship between structure and function of the brain the cortical thickness based on structural magnetic resonance images and motor cortex excitability assessed with transcranial magnetic stimulation were correlated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients as well as in age-matched healthy controls. Motor cortex excitability correlated negatively with cortical thickness on the sensorimotor cortex, the precuneus and the cuneus but the strength of the correlation varied between the study groups. On the sensorimotor cortex the correlation was significant only in MCI subjects. On the precuneus and cuneus the correlation was significant both in AD and MCI subjects. In healthy controls the motor cortex excitability did not correlate with the cortical thickness. CONCLUSIONS: In healthy subjects the motor cortex excitability is not dependent on the cortical thickness, whereas in neurodegenerative diseases the cortical thinning is related to weaker cortical excitability, especially on the precuneus and cuneus. However, in AD subjects there seems to be a protective mechanism of hyperexcitability on the sensorimotor cortex counteracting the prominent loss of cortical volume since the motor cortex excitability did not correlate with the cortical thickness. Such protective mechanism was not found on the precuneus or cuneus nor in the MCI subjects. Therefore, our results indicate that the progression of the disease proceeds with different dynamics in the structure and function of neuronal circuits from normal conditions via MCI to AD