Production of a lipase from a pseudomonad species

A lipase-producing micro-organism was found to be a strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. When it was grown batchwise in a stirred 2 dM3 fermenter in a simple defined minimal salts medium containing yeast extract and glucose, it produced lipase at a level of 0.173 LU/cm3 without the need for a lipid substrate. Batch cultures of cells were fed glucose at constant rates. An optimum rate was found to be 0.50 g/dm3/h and this produced a maximum lipase activity of 0.80 LU/cm3. Medium composition was changed until it was possible to produce 25 g/dm3 dry weight of cells. Evidence of linear growth due to nutient, limitations was obtained. A microcomputer controlled protocol was used successfully to feed glucose solutions at exponentially increasing rates. Problems were encountered with the production of lipase from the interaction with pyocyanin production and from possible trace nutrient limitations

Poly-substance use and sexual risk behaviours: a cross-sectional comparison of adolescents in mainstream and alternative education settings

Background: Surveys of young people under-represent those in alternative education settings (AES), potentially disguising health inequalities. We present the first quantitative UK evidence of health inequalities between AES and mainstream education school (MES) pupils, assessing whether observed inequalities are attributable to socioeconomic, familial, educational and peer factors. Methods: Cross-sectional, self-reported data on individual- and poly-substance use (PSU: combined tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use) and sexual risk-taking from 219 pupils in AES (mean age 15.9 years) were compared with data from 4024 pupils in MES (mean age 15.5 years). Data were collected from 2008 to 2009 as part of the quasi-experimental evaluation of Healthy Respect 2 (HR2). Results: AES pupils reported higher levels of substance use, including tobacco use, weekly drunkenness, using cannabis at least once a week and engaging in PSU at least once a week. AES pupils also reported higher levels of sexual health risk behaviours than their MES counterparts, including: earlier sexual activity; less protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs); and having 3+ lifetime sexual partners. In multivariate analyses, inequalities in sexual risk-taking were fully explained after adjusting for higher deprivation, lower parental monitoring, lower parent-child connectedness, school disengagement and heightened intentions towards early parenthood among AES vs MES pupils. However, an increased risk (OR = 1.73, 95% CI 1.15, 2.60) of weekly PSU was found for AES vs MES pupils after adjusting for these factors and the influence of peer behaviours. Conclusion: AES pupils are more likely to engage in health risk behaviours, including PSU and sexual risk-taking, compared with MES pupils. AES pupils are a vulnerable group who may not be easily targeted by conventional population-level public health programmes. Health promotion interventions need to be tailored and contextualised for AES pupils, in particular for sexual health and PSU. These could be included within interventions designed to promote broader outcomes such as mental wellbeing, educational engagement, raise future aspirations and promote resilience

Pharmacogenetics of ophthalmic topical β-blockers

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. The primary glaucoma risk factor is elevated intraocular pressure. Topical β-blockers are affordable and widely used to lower intraocular pressure. Genetic variability has been postulated to contribute to interpersonal differences in efficacy and safety of topical β-blockers. This review summarizes clinically significant polymorphisms that have been identified in the β-adrenergic receptors (ADRB1, ADRB2 and ADRB3). The implications of polymorphisms in CYP2D6 are also discussed. Although the candidate-gene approach has facilitated significant progress in our understanding of the genetic basis of glaucoma treatment response, most drug responses involve a large number of genes, each containing multiple polymorphisms. Genome-wide association studies may yield a more comprehensive set of polymorphisms associated with glaucoma outcomes. An understanding of the genetic mechanisms associated with variability in individual responses to topical β-blockers may advance individualized treatment at a lower cost

Computer and Internet Use by Great Plains Farmers

This study uses data from a 2001 survey of Great Plains farmers to explore the adoption, usage patterns, and perceived benefits of computers and the Internet. Adoption results suggest that exposure to the technology through college, outside employment, friends, and family is ultimately more influential than farmer age and farm size. Notably, about half of those who use the Internet for farm-related business report zero economic benefits from it. Whether a farmer perceives that the Internet generates economic benefits depends primarily on how long the farmer has used the Internet for farm business and for what purposes.agriculture, competitiveness, net benefits, technology adoption, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Computer and Internet Use by Great Plains Farmers

We use data from a 2001 survey of Great Plains farmers to explore the adoption, usage patterns, and perceived benefits of computers and the Internet. Our adoption results suggest that exposure to the technology through college, outside employment, friends, and family is ultimately more influential than farmer age and farm size. Notably, about half of those who use the Internet for farm-related business report zero economic benefits from it. Whether a farmer perceives that the Internet generates economic benefits depends primarily on how long the farmer has used the Internet for farm business and for what purposes.Farm Management, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

The Determinants of Within Metropolitan Immigrant Moves

While the role of immigration and neighborhood change has been studied since the days of the Chicago School of Sociology, recent restrictions to immigration in concert with state and local initiatives to both enforce immigration policy or welcome immigrants raises new questions about neighborhood sorting within metropolitan areas. Policy makers are interested in recruiting high skilled and wealthy immigrants to attract investment and create jobs for native-born citizens. Some have endorsed welcoming immigrants as a solution to regional economic development and to stabilize high poverty urban neighborhoods. Are these immigrant recruitment policies realistic given existing patterns of immigrant housing location choice within metropolitan areas? This study will investigate the determinants of immigrant concentration within metropolitan regions such as presence of immigrant serving organizations, tract level poverty, median rents, education, language ability, minority businesses and other variables. In order to answer this question, we analyze normalized Census data from the National Neighborhood Change Database using standard panel data techniques. Findings show that immigrants appear to be interested in choosing tracts with lower median gross rents, and increasing rental opportunities. They are also moving into new areas that immigrants had not been living in the previous decade. Immigrant entrepreneurship is also important for the attraction on immigrants. Local governments that wish to attract immigrants need to provide quality education and affordable rents

Bundling of actin filaments by aorta caldesmon is not related to its regulatory function

AbstractCa2+-sensitive thin filaments from vascular smooth muscle were disassembled into their constituent proteins, actin, tropomyosin and caldesmon. Caldesmon bound to both actin and to actin-tropomyosin and inhibited actin-tropomyosin activation of skeletal muscle myosin MgATPase. It also promoted the aggregation of actin or actin-tropomyosin into parallel aligned bundles. Quantitative electron microscopy measurements showed that with 1.1 μM actin-tropomyosin, 1.6 ± 0.5% (n = 3) of the filaments were in bundles. At 0.073 μM, caldesmon inhibited MgATPase activity by 50%, whereas bundling was 3.0 ± 1.3% (n = 4). At 0.37 μM caldesmon, MgATPase inhibition was 83% while 28.1 ± 6.9% (n = 4) of filaments were in bundles. Experiments at 4.4 μM in which MgATPase and bundling were measured in the same samples gave similar results. Small bundles of 2–3 filaments showed the most frequent occurrence at 1.1 μM actin. At 4.4 μM actin the most common bundle size was 3-5 filaments, with the occasional occurrence of large bundles consisting of up to 120 filaments. The incidence of bundling was the same in the presence and absence of tropomyosin. Thus caldesmon can induce the formation of actin bundles but this property bears no relationship to its inhibition of MgATPase activity

Responses of genes involved in cell cycle control to diverse DNA damaging chemicals in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells

BACKGROUND: Many anticancer agents and carcinogens are DNA damaging chemicals and exposure to such chemicals results in the deregulation of cell cycle progression. The molecular mechanisms of DNA damage-induced cell cycle alteration are not well understood. We have studied the effects of etoposide (an anticancer agent), cryptolepine (CLP, a cytotoxic alkaloid), benzo [a]pyrene (BaP, a carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo [4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP, a cooked-meat derived carcinogen) on the expression of cell cycle regulatory genes to understand the molecular mechanisms of the cell cycle disturbance. RESULTS: A549 cells were treated with DMSO or chemicals for up to 72 h and periodically sampled for cell cycle analysis, mRNA and protein expression. DMSO treated cells showed a dominant G1 peak in cell cycle at all times examined. Etoposide and CLP both induced G2/M phase arrest yet the former altered the expression of genes functioning at multiple phases, whilst the latter was more effective in inhibiting the expression of genes in G2-M transition. Both etoposide and CLP induced an accumulation of p53 protein and upregulation of p53 transcriptional target genes. Neither BaP nor PhIP had substantial phase-specific cell cycle effect, however, they induced distinctive changes in gene expression. BaP upregulated the expression of CYP1B1 at 6–24 h and downregulated many cell cycle regulatory genes at 48–72 h. By contrast, PhIP increased the expression of many cell cycle regulatory genes. Changes in the expression of key mRNAs were confirmed at protein level. CONCLUSION: Our experiments show that DNA damaging agents with different mechanisms of action induced distinctive changes in the expression pattern of a panel of cell cycle regulatory genes. We suggest that examining the genomic response to chemical exposure provides an exceptional opportunity to understand the molecular mechanism involved in cellular response to toxicants

Polyphosphate in thrombosis, hemostasis, and inflammation

This illustrated review focuses on polyphosphate as a potent modulator of the plasma clotting cascade, with possible roles in hemostasis, thrombosis, and inflammation. Polyphosphates are highly anionic, linear polymers of inorganic phosphates that are widespread throughout biology. Infectious microorganisms accumulate polyphosphates with widely varying polymer lengths (from a few phosphates to over a thousand phosphates long), while activated human platelets secrete polyphosphate with a very narrow size distribution (about 60‐100 phosphates long). Work from our lab and others has shown that long‐chain polyphosphate is a potent trigger of clotting via the contact pathway, while polyphosphate of the size secreted by platelets accelerates factor V activation, blocks the anticoagulant activity of tissue factor pathway inhibitor, promotes factor XI activation by thrombin, and makes fibrin fibrils thicker and more resistant to fibrinolysis. Polyphosphate also modulates inflammation by triggering bradykinin release, inhibiting the complement system, and modulating endothelial function. Polyphosphate and nucleic acids have similar physical properties and both will trigger the contact pathway—although polyphosphate is orders of magnitude more procoagulant than either DNA or RNA. Important caveats in these studies include observations that nucleic acids and polyphosphate may co‐purify, and that these preparations can be contaminated with highly procoagulant microparticles if silica‐based purification methods are employed. Polyphosphate has received attention as a possible therapeutic, with some recent studies exploring the use of polyphosphate in a variety of formulations to control bleeding. Other studies are investigating treatments that block polyphosphate function as novel antithrombotics with the possibility of reduced bleeding side effects.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147856/1/rth212162_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147856/2/rth212162.pd