Analisis Produksi Sagu (Studi Kasus di Desa Hatunuru Kecamatan Taniwel Timur Kabupaten Seram Bagian Barat)

Sago trees, especially sago flour, have a high economic value. Various snacks made from sago flour are used as local foods such as sago tumang, papeda, and different cakes. This study aims to find out the economic value of sago production. Data collection method using interviews and direct surveys of 6 key informants who process sago. Primary and secondary data are analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The results showed that sago trees have economic value. The result of calculating the monetary value for the roof is ± Rp 304,660,000, sago tumang amounted to ± Rp 55,987,750 to ± Rp 68,808,250, and sago plate amounted to ± Rp 14,030,000 per year so that the total economic value of sago production of Rp 785,160,000 / year. Sago contributes to the economic improvement of the community and is a culture that is as a local food of the Moluccas that must continue to be preserved

Is the meiofauna a good indicator for climate change and anthropogenic impacts?

Our planet is changing, and one of the most pressing challenges facing the scientific community revolves around understanding how ecological communities respond to global changes. From coastal to deep-sea ecosystems, ecologists are exploring new areas of research to find model organisms that help predict the future of life on our planet. Among the different categories of organisms, meiofauna offer several advantages for the study of marine benthic ecosystems. This paper reviews the advances in the study of meiofauna with regard to climate change and anthropogenic impacts. Four taxonomic groups are valuable for predicting global changes: foraminifers (especially calcareous forms), nematodes, copepods and ostracods. Environmental variables are fundamental in the interpretation of meiofaunal patterns and multistressor experiments are more informative than single stressor ones, revealing complex ecological and biological interactions. Global change has a general negative effect on meiofauna, with important consequences on benthic food webs. However, some meiofaunal species can be favoured by the extreme conditions induced by global change, as they can exhibit remarkable physiological adaptations. This review highlights the need to incorporate studies on taxonomy, genetics and function of meiofaunal taxa into global change impact research

Immunosuppressive effects of radiation on human dendritic cells: reduced IL-12 production on activation and impairment of naïve T-cell priming

Dendritic cells (DC) are professional antigen-presenting cells (APC) of the immune system, uniquely able to prime naïve T-cell responses. They are the focus of a range of novel strategies for the immunotherapy of cancer, a proportion of which include treating DC with ionising radiation to high dose. The effects of radiation on DC have not, however, been fully characterised. We therefore cultured human myeloid DC from CD14+ precursors, and studied the effects of ionising radiation on their phenotype and function. Dendritic cells were remarkably resistant against radiation-induced apoptosis, showed limited changes in surface phenotype, and mostly maintained their endocytic, phagocytic and migratory capacity. However, irradiated DC were less effective in a mixed lymphocyte reaction, and on maturation produced significantly less IL-12 than unirradiated controls, while IL-10 secretion was maintained. Furthermore, peptide-pulsed irradiated mature DC were less effective at naïve T-cell priming, stimulating fewer effector cells with lower cytotoxicity against antigen-specific targets. Hence irradiation of DC in vitro, and potentially in vivo, has a significant impact on their function, and may shift the balance between T-cell activation and tolerisation in DC-mediated immune responses

Enrichment of Sialylated IgG by Lectin Fractionation Does Not Enhance the Efficacy of Immunoglobulin G in a Murine Model of Immune Thrombocytopenia

Intravenous immunoglobulin G (IVIg) is widely used against a range of clinical symptoms. For its use in immune modulating therapies such as treatment of immune thrombocytopenic purpura high doses of IVIg are required. It has been suggested that only a fraction of IVIg causes this anti immune modulating effect. Recent studies indicated that this fraction is the Fc-sialylated IgG fraction. The aim of our study was to determine the efficacy of IVIg enriched for sialylated IgG (IVIg-SA (+)) in a murine model of passive immune thrombocytopenia (PIT). We enriched IVIg for sialylated IgG by Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA) lectin fractionation and determined the degree of sialylation. Analysis of IVIg-SA (+) using a lectin-based ELISA revealed that we enriched predominantly for Fab-sialylated IgG, whereas we did not find an increase in Fc-sialylated IgG. Mass spectrometric analysis confirmed that Fc sialylation did not change after SNA lectin fractionation. The efficacy of sialylated IgG was measured by administering IVIg or IVIg-SA (+) 24 hours prior to an injection of a rat anti-mouse platelet mAb. We found an 85% decrease in platelet count after injection of an anti-platelet mAb, which was reduced to a 70% decrease by injecting IVIg (p<0.01). In contrast, IVIg-SA (+) had no effect on the platelet count. Serum levels of IVIg and IVIg-SA (+) were similar, ruling out enhanced IgG clearance as a possible explanation. Our results indicate that SNA lectin fractionation is not a suitable method to enrich IVIg for Fc-sialylated IgG. The use of IVIg enriched for Fab-sialylated IgG abolishes the efficacy of IVIg in the murine PIT model

Cyclic AMP induces IPC leukemia cell apoptosis via CRE-and CDK-dependent Bim transcription

The IPC-81 cell line is derived from the transplantable BNML model of acute myelogenic leukemia (AML), known to be a reliable predictor of the clinical efficiency of antileukemic agents, like the first-line AML anthracycline drug daunorubicin (DNR). We show here that cAMP acted synergistically with DNR to induce IPC cell death. The DNR-induced death differed from that induced by cAMP by (1) not involving Bim induction, (2) being abrogated by GSK3β inhibitors, (3) by being promoted by the HSP90/p23 antagonist geldanamycin and truncated p23 and (4) by being insensitive to the CRE binding protein (CREB) antagonist ICER and to cyclin-dependent protein kinase (CDK) inhibitors. In contrast, the apoptosis induced by cAMP correlated tightly with Bim protein expression. It was abrogated by Bim (BCL2L11) downregulation, whether achieved by the CREB antagonist ICER, by CDK inhibitors, by Bim-directed RNAi, or by protein synthesis inhibitor. The forced expression of BimL killed IPC-81WT cells rapidly, Bcl2-overexpressing cells being partially resistant. The pivotal role of CREB and CDK activity for Bim transcription is unprecedented. It is also noteworthy that newly developed cAMP analogs specifically activating PKA isozyme I (PKA-I) were able to induce IPC cell apoptosis. Our findings support the notion that AML cells may possess targetable death pathways not exploited by common anti-cancer agents

Is the meiofauna a good indicator for climate change and anthropogenic impacts?

Our planet is changing, and one of the most pressing challenges facing the scientific community revolves around understanding how ecological communities respond to global changes. From coastal to deep-sea ecosystems, ecologists are exploring new areas of research to find model organisms that help predict the future of life on our planet. Among the different categories of organisms, meiofauna offer several advantages for the study of marine benthic ecosystems. This paper reviews the advances in the study of meiofauna with regard to climate change and anthropogenic impacts. Four taxonomic groups are valuable for predicting global changes: foraminifers (especially calcareous forms), nematodes, copepods and ostracods. Environmental variables are fundamental in the interpretation of meiofaunal patterns and multistressor experiments are more informative than single stressor ones, revealing complex ecological and biological interactions. Global change has a general negative effect on meiofauna, with important consequences on benthic food webs. However, some meiofaunal species can be favoured by the extreme conditions induced by global change, as they can exhibit remarkable physiological adaptations. This review highlights the need to incorporate studies on taxonomy, genetics and function of meiofaunal taxa into global change impact research

The role of tenascin-C in tissue injury and tumorigenesis

The extracellular matrix molecule tenascin-C is highly expressed during embryonic development, tissue repair and in pathological situations such as chronic inflammation and cancer. Tenascin-C interacts with several other extracellular matrix molecules and cell-surface receptors, thus affecting tissue architecture, tissue resilience and cell responses. Tenascin-C modulates cell migration, proliferation and cellular signaling through induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and oncogenic signaling molecules amongst other mechanisms. Given the causal role of inflammation in cancer progression, common mechanisms might be controlled by tenascin-C during both events. Drugs targeting the expression or function of tenascin-C or the tenascin-C protein itself are currently being developed and some drugs have already reached advanced clinical trials. This generates hope that increased knowledge about tenascin-C will further improve management of diseases with high tenascin-C expression such as chronic inflammation, heart failure, artheriosclerosis and cancer