DNA Quality and Quantity on Blood Spot Post Soil and Ultraviolet-C Exposure

Bercak darah dapat ditemukan di tempat kejadian perkara (TKP) pada banyak kasus tindak kekerasan. Asam deoksiribonukleat (DNA) pada darah dapat digunakan sebagai data primer untuk proses identifikasi akan tetapi bercak darah di TKP berisiko rusak akibat pajanan tanah dan ultraviolet. Tujuan utama dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mempelajari efek kombinasi dari pajanan sinar ultraviolet-C dan tanah terhadap kualitas dan kuantitas DNA pada bercak darah. Sebanyak 20 gelas berisi 200 gram tanah ditetesi 900µl darah dan diberikan pajanan sinar ultraviolet-C dalam tiga kelompok berdasarkan durasi pajanan yakni satu hari, tiga hari, dan lima hari. Satu kelompok digunakan sebagai kontrol. Ekstraksi DNA dilakukan menggunakan DNAZol dilanjutkan dengan pengukuran spektrofotometri untuk mengetahui kualitas dan kuantitas DNA. Peningkatan konsentrasi DNA dapat diamati yaitu 681,1 pada hari pertama menjadi 1274,7 pada hari ketiga dan mulai menurun menjadi 1090,6 pada hari kelima, sedangkan kemurnian DNA terus menurun secara konstan seiring dengan meningkatnya durasi pajanan. Penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa pajanan sinar ultraviolet-C dan tanah menyebabkan degradasi molekul DNA menjadi fragmen-fragmen molekul yang lebih kecil sehingga terjadi peningkatan kuantitas DNA yang disertai penurunan kualitas DNA. Penurunan kualitas DNA dapat mempersulit proses identifikasi sehingga isolasi DNA sampel pada tanah terbuka yang terpajan matahari harus dilakukan sesegera mungkin.   Kata Kunci: DNA, darah, tanah, ultraviolet C, patologi forensi

MR Imaging of Pregnancy Luteoma: a Case Report and Correlation with the Clinical Features

We report here on a 26-year-old pregnant female who developed hirsutism and virilization during her third trimester along with a significantly elevated serum testosterone level. Abdominal US and MR imaging studies were performed, and they showed unique imaging features that may suggest the diagnosis of pregnancy luteoma in the clinical context. After the delivery, the serum testosterone level continued to decrease, and it returned to normal three weeks postpartum. The follow-up imaging findings were closely correlated with the clinical presentation

Rifampin-induced Pseudomembranous Colitis with Rectosigmoid Sparing

Pseudomembranous colitis (PMC) is known to be associated with antibiotic treatment, but is not commonly related to antitubercular (anti-TB) agent, rifampin. PMC is frequently localized to rectum and sigmoid colon, which can be diagnosed with sigmoidoscopy. We report a case of rifampin-induced PMC with rectosigmoid sparing in a pulmonary tuberculosis patient. An 81-year-old man using anti-TB agents was admitted with a 30-day history of severe diarrhea and general weakness. On colonoscopy, nonspecific findings such as mucosal edema and erosion were found in sigmoid colon, whereas multiple yellowish plaques were confined to cecal mucosa only. Biopsy specimen of the cecum was compatible with PMC. Metronidazole was started orally, and the anti-TB medications excluding rifampin were readministerred. His symptoms remarkably improved within a few days without recurrence. Awareness of rectosigmoid sparing PMC in patients who develop diarrhea during anti-TB treatment should encourage early total colonoscopy

LUCAS 2018 - SOIL COMPONENT: Sampling Instructions for Surveyors

The European Commission launched a soil assessment component to the periodic LUCAS Land Use/Land Cover Area Frame Survey in 2009. Composite soil samples from 0-20-cm depth were taken, air-dried and sieved to 2 mm in order to analyse physical and chemical parameters of topsoil in 25 Member States (EU-27 except Bulgaria, Romania, Malta and Cyprus). The aim of the LUCAS Soil Component was to create a harmonised and comparable dataset of main properties of topsoil at the EU. The LUCAS Soil Component was extended to Bulgaria and Romania in 2012. Overall, ca. 22,000 soil samples were collected and analysed. All samples were analysed for percentage of coarse fragments, particle-size distribution, pH, organic carbon, carbonates, phosphorous, total nitrogen, extractable potassium, cation exchange capacity, multispectral properties and heavy metals. In 2015, the soil sampling was repeated in the same set of points of LUCAS 2009/2012 to monitor changes in topsoil physical and chemical parameters across the EU. The soil component was extended to points above elevations of 1000 m, which were not sampled in LUCAS 2009/2012. Furthermore, soil samples were taken in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Switzerland. The soil sampling was carried out following the instructions already used in LUCAS 2009/2012. Approximately 27,000 samples were collected and will be analysed during 2016 and 2017. In 2018, a new soil sampling campaign will be carried out within the LUCAS framework. Soil samples will be taken in repeated points of LUCAS 2009/2012 and LUCAS 2015. The novelty of the survey is that new physical, chemical and biological parameters will be analysed. Key parameters for evaluating soil quality, such as bulk density and soil biodiversity, will be analysed. These analyses require specific methods of soil sampling, preparation and storage of samples. Furthermore, field measurements such as the thickness of organic layer in peat soils, and visual assessment of signs of soil erosion will be carried out in 2018. This technical report compiles the instructions for collecting the various soil samples and for performing field measurements in the soil survey of 2018. These instructions will be used for all LUCAS surveyors, to create a comparable database of soil characteristics all over Europe.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Inter-laboratory testing of the effect of DNA blocking reagent G2 on DNA extraction from low-biomass clay samples

Here we show that a commercial blocking reagent (G2) based on modifed eukaryotic DNA signifcantly improved DNA extraction efciency. We subjected G2 to an inter-laboratory testing, where DNA was extracted from the same clay subsoil using the same batch of kits. The inter-laboratory extraction campaign revealed large variation among the participating laboratories, but the reagent increased the number of PCR-amplifed16S rRNA genes recovered from biomass naturally present in the soils by one log unit. An extensive sequencing approach demonstrated that the blocking reagent was free of contaminating DNA, and may therefore also be used in metagenomics studies that require direct sequencing

Wie beinflusst unterschiedliche Düngung die Bodenfauna? - Ergebnisse aus dem DüNaMed-Projekt

Edaphische Vielfalt ist eine wichtige Komponente der Bodenbiodiversität und weitgehend unbekannt. Im Rahmen des Projektes DüNaMed wollen wir die Wirkung differenzierten Düngung auf die edaphische Vielfalt untersuchen

Myo-inositol in autoimmune thyroiditis, and hypothyroidism

Myo-inositol (Myo-Ins) plays an important role in thyroid function and autoimmunity. Myo-Ins is the precursor for the synthesis of phosphoinositides, which takes part in the phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) signal transduction pathway, and plays a decisive role in several cellular processes. In the thyroid cells, PtdIns is involved in the intracellular thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) signaling, via Phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P3) (PIP-3). Moreover, the phosphatidyl inositol 3 kinases (PI3K) family of lipid kinases regulates diverse aspects of T, B, and Tregs lymphocyte behaviour. Different mouse models deficient for the molecules involved in the PIP3 pathway suggest that impairment of PIP3 signaling leads to dysregulation of immune responses and, sometimes, autoimmunity. Studies have shown that cytokines modulate Myo-Ins in thyroid cells. Moreover, clinical studies have shown that after treatment with Myo-inositol plus seleniomethionine (Myo-Ins + Se), TSH levels significantly declined in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism due to autoimmune thyroiditis. The treatment was accompanied by a decline of antithyroid autoantibodies. After treatment serum CXCL10 levels declined, confirming the immune-modulatory effect of Myo-Ins. Additional research is necessary in larger population to evaluate the effect on the quality of life, and to study the mechanism of the effect on chemokines

GINI DP 19: The EU 2020 poverty target

As part of its 2020 Strategy adopted in 2010, the EU has set a number of headline targets including one for poverty reduction over the next decade. This is a major development in the role accorded to social inclusion in the EU, and thus very important at the level of principle. However, the specific way the target itself has been framed, and the implications for approaches to implementing it, also merit careful consideration. The population identified in framing the target is persons in the member states either below a country-specific relative income poverty threshold, above a material deprivation threshold, or in a “jobless” household. This paper presents an in-depth analysis and critique of the way that target is formulated on both conceptual and empirical grounds and documents the consequence for our understanding of both cross-national and socio-economic patterning of poverty. The paper concludes with a discussion of alternative approaches to combining low income and material deprivation to identify those most in need from a poverty reduction perspective.