Decomposition pattern of two green manures in BAU farm soil

Decomposition pattern of two contrasting green manures viz, water hyacinth (Eichhomia crassipes) and mimosa (Mimosa invisa) was studied in an incubation experiment at the department of Agricultural Chemistry, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, during the period from May to July, 2003. The soil was amended with the manures @ 1 g 50 g-1 soil. A basal dose of 250 pg N, 200 pg P and 250 pg K g-1 soil was also applied to each experimental unit. Microbial respiration as a measure of decomposition was monitored over 50 days at room temperature and different intervals of time. Of the amendments, mimosa decomposed more rapidly (14.3% vs. 3.8% by day 2) than water hyacinth. The highest decomposition rate was observed in mimosa at day 2 and water hyacinth at day 10. The decomposition of mimosa was approximately two times higher than water hyacinth. After 50 days of incubation, a total of 32 and 49% of the added C were respired from water hyacinth and mimosa, respectively. Both the rate and total decomposition of the green manures were also found to be related to their nutrient status (C : N : P : S ratios)

A phase I/II study of pemetrexed with sirolimus in advanced, previously treated non-small cell lung cancer

Background: Single-agent pemetrexed is a treatment for recurrent non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that provides limited benefit. Preclinical studies showed promising synergistic effects when the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor sirolimus was added to pemetrexed. Methods: This was a single-institution phase I/II study of pemetrexed in combination with sirolimus. The primary endpoint for the phase I was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and safety of the combination. The primary endpoint for the phase II portion was to determine the overall response rate at the MTD. Key eligibility criteria included recurrent, metastatic NSCLC, ECOG performance status of 0–2, and adequate organ function. Sirolimus was administered orally daily after an initial loading dose, and pemetrexed was given intravenously on day 1 of every 21-day cycle. Results: Forty-two patients with recurrent, metastatic NSCLC were enrolled, 22 in phase I and 20 in phase II. The MTD was pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 every 3 weeks, and sirolimus 10 mg on day 1, and 3 mg daily thereafter. Treatment-related adverse events (AEs) occurred in 38 (90.5%) patients. The most common grade 3–4 treatment-related AEs were lymphopenia (31%) and hypophosphatemia (19%). Two treatment-related deaths occurred due to febrile neutropenia and infection, respectively. Among 27 total patients treated at the MTD, 6 (22.2%) had a partial response (PR), 12 (44.4%) had stable disease (SD) and 5 (18.5%) had progressive disease. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 18.4 weeks (95% CI: 7.0–29.4). Conclusions: The combination of pemetrexed and sirolimus is active in heavily-pretreated NSCLC (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00923273)

Meiotic roles of Mec1, a budding yeast homolog of mammalian ATR/ATM

Budding yeast Mec1, a homolog of mammalian ATR/ATM, is an essential chromosome-based signal transduction protein. Mec1 is a key checkpoint regulator and plays a critical role in the maintenance of genome stability. Mec1 is also required for meiosis; loss of Mec1 functions leads to a number of meiotic defects including reduction in recombination, loss of inter-homolog bias, loss of crossover control, and failure in meiotic progression. Here we review currently available data on meiotic defects associated with loss of Mec1 functions and discuss the possibility that Mec1 may participate as a fundamentally positive player in coordinating and promoting basic meiotic chromosomal processes during normal meiosis