Urinary hepcidin levels in iron-deficient and iron-supplemented piglets correlate with hepcidin hepatic mRNA and serum levels and with body iron status

Among livestock, domestic pig (Sus scrofa) is a species, in which iron metabolism has been most intensively examined during last decade. The obvious reason for studying the regulation of iron homeostasis especially in young pigs is neonatal iron deficiency anemia commonly occurring in these animals. Moreover, supplementation of essentially all commercially reared piglets with iron entails a need for monitoring the efficacy of this routine practice followed in the swine industry for several decades. Since the discovery of hepcidin many studies confirmed its role as key regulator of iron metabolism and pointed out the assessment of its concentrations in biological fluids as diagnostic tool for iron-related disorder. Here we demonstrate that urine hepcidin-25 levels measured by a combination of weak cation exchange chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (WCX-TOF MS) are highly correlated with mRNA hepcidin expression in the liver and plasma hepcidin-25 concentrations in anemic and iron-supplemented 28-day old piglets. We also found a high correlation between urine hepcidin level and hepatic non-heme iron content. Our results show that similarly to previously described transgenic mouse models of iron disorders, young pigs constitute a convenient animal model to explore accuracy and relationship between indicators for assessing systemic iron status

Measurement and comparison of individual external doses of high-school students living in Japan, France, Poland and Belarus -- the "D-shuttle" project --

Twelve high schools in Japan (of which six are in Fukushima Prefecture), four in France, eight in Poland and two in Belarus cooperated in the measurement and comparison of individual external doses in 2014. In total 216 high-school students and teachers participated in the study. Each participant wore an electronic personal dosimeter "D-shuttle" for two weeks, and kept a journal of his/her whereabouts and activities. The distributions of annual external doses estimated for each region overlap with each other, demonstrating that the personal external individual doses in locations where residence is currently allowed in Fukushima Prefecture and in Belarus are well within the range of estimated annual doses due to the background radiation level of other regions/countries

Chemical preservation of tail feathers from Anchiornis huxleyi, a theropod dinosaur from the Tiaojishan Formation (Upper Jurassic, China)

A panel of geochemical techniques is used here to investigate the taphonomy of fossil feathers preserved in association with the skeleton of the Jurassic theropod Anchiornis huxleyi. Extant feathers were analysed in parallel to test whether the soft tissues morphologically preserved in the fossil also exhibit a high degree of chemical preservation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) indicate that clays and iron oxide pseudomorphs occur in the surrounding sediment and also reveal the preservation of melanosome‐like microbodies in the fossil. Carbon gradient along a depth profile and co‐occurrence of carbon and sulphur are shown in the fossil by elastic backscattering (EBS) and particle‐induced x‐ray emission (PIXE), which are promising techniques for the elemental analysis of fossil soft tissues. The molecular composition of modern and fossil soft tissues was assessed from micro‐attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (micro‐ATR FTIR), solid‐state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (CP‐MAS 13C NMR) and pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry in the presence of TMAH (TMAH‐Py‐GC‐MS). Results indicate that the proteinaceous material that comprises the modern feathers is not present in the fossil feathers. The fossil feathers and the embedding sediment exhibit a highly aliphatic character. However, substantial differences exist between these samples, revealing that the organic matter of the fossil feathers is, at least partially, derived from original constituents of the feathers. Our results suggest that, despite the morphological preservation of Anchiornis feathers, original proteins, that is keratin, were probably not preserved in the 160‐myr‐old feathers

Thematic role assignment in the L1 acquisition of Tagalog: use of word order and morphosyntactic markers

It is a common finding across languages that young children have problems in understanding patient-initial sentences. We used Tagalog, a verb-initial language with a reliable voice-marking system and highly frequent patient voice constructions, to test the predictions of several accounts that have been proposed to explain this difficulty: the frequency account, the Competition Model, and the incremental processing account. Study 1 presents an analysis of Tagalog child-directed speech which showed that the dominant argument order is agent-before-patient, and that morphosyntactic markers are highly valid cues to thematic role assignment. In Study 2, we used a combined self-paced listening and picture verification task to test how Tagalog-speaking adults and 5- and 7- year-old children process reversible transitive sentences. Results showed that adults performed well in all conditions, while children’s accuracy and listening times for the first noun phrase indicated more difficulty in interpreting patient-initial sentences in the agent voice compared to the patient voice. The patient voice advantage is partly explained by both the frequency account and incremental processing account

Comparative analyses imply that the enigmatic sigma factor 54 is a central controller of the bacterial exterior

Contains fulltext : 95738.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Sigma-54 is a central regulator in many pathogenic bacteria and has been linked to a multitude of cellular processes like nitrogen assimilation and important functional traits such as motility, virulence, and biofilm formation. Until now it has remained obscure whether these phenomena and the control by Sigma-54 share an underlying theme. RESULTS: We have uncovered the commonality by performing a range of comparative genome analyses. A) The presence of Sigma-54 and its associated activators was determined for all sequenced prokaryotes. We observed a phylum-dependent distribution that is suggestive of an evolutionary relationship between Sigma-54 and lipopolysaccharide and flagellar biosynthesis. B) All Sigma-54 activators were identified and annotated. The relation with phosphotransfer-mediated signaling (TCS and PTS) and the transport and assimilation of carboxylates and nitrogen containing metabolites was substantiated. C) The function annotations, that were represented within the genomic context of all genes encoding Sigma-54, its activators and its promoters, were analyzed for intra-phylum representation and inter-phylum conservation. Promoters were localized using a straightforward scoring strategy that was formulated to identify similar motifs. We found clear highly-represented and conserved genetic associations with genes that concern the transport and biosynthesis of the metabolic intermediates of exopolysaccharides, flagella, lipids, lipopolysaccharides, lipoproteins and peptidoglycan. CONCLUSION: Our analyses directly implicate Sigma-54 as a central player in the control over the processes that involve the physical interaction of an organism with its environment like in the colonization of a host (virulence) or the formation of biofilm

Hydroliza materiałów keratynowych pochodzących z przemysłu drobiarskiego

In 2011, the European Union produced about 45 million tons of meat and in this time Poland occupied the fourth place in Europe in the production of poultry and pork meat and seventh in production of beef. The consumption of poultry meat grows year by year, which results in an increase of its production. Feathers consist in 90% of keratin and they make up 5-7% of the total weight of adult chickens what causes that feathers waste is the main source of keratin. Feathers are discarded in the process of the converting of poultry as a waste product and contribute to environmental pollution. The development of the poultry industry in the world has led to the generation of more than 4 million tons per year of waste feathers. Average farm size in Poland produces about 7 tons of chicken feathers a day. Nationally, during each year 77,000 tons of waste is produced. Keratin has a high immunity to physical and chemical factors and it is the reason of searching for new methods of keratin waste conversion. It would help to avoid a problem with storage of feather wastes. Application of alkaline hydrolysis is one of the ways of feathers utilizations. During this hydrolysis the keratin swells and is subject to degradation. The increase in solubility of keratin in bases is caused by peptide and disulfide bond cleavage and it leads to increase of keratin plasticity and decrease of its strength. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of process parameters on the degree of degradation of keratin and optimize the process to achieve its maximum value.W 2011 roku w Unii Europejskiej wyprodukowano około 45 mln ton mięsa. W tym czasie Polska zajmowała czwarte miejsce pod względem produkcji mięsa drobiowego oraz wieprzowego, była również siódmym producentem wołowiny. Spożycie mięsa drobiowego wzrasta z roku na rok, co skutkuje zwiększeniem jego produkcji. Pióra zbudowane są w 90% z keratyny i stanowią 5-7% całkowitej masy dorosłych kurczaków, wskutek czego są głównym źródłem odpadów keratynowych. W trakcie procesu przetwórstwa drobiu pióra są odrzucane, a jako produkt odpadowy przyczyniają się do zanieczyszczenia środowiska. Rozwój przemysłu drobiarskiego na świecie doprowadził do generowania ponad 4 milionów ton odpadowych piór rocznie. Średniej wielkości ferma w Polsce generuje około 7 ton pierza kurzego w ciągu doby, a w skali kraju rocznie wytwarzane jest 77 000 ton tego odpadu. Keratyna posiada wysoką odporność na czynniki fizyczne oraz chemiczne, co jest powodem poszukiwania nowych metod przetwarzania odpadów keratynowych. Pomoże to uniknąć problemów ze składowaniem odpadowego pierza. Zastosowanie hydrolizy zasadowej jest jednym ze sposobów utylizacji piór. Podczas tej hydrolizy keratyna pęcznieje i ulega degradacji. Rozerwanie wiązań peptydowych i disiarczkowych powoduje wzrost rozpuszczalności keratyn w zasadach oraz prowadzi do zwiększenia plastyczności keratyny i spadku jej wytrzymałości. Celem badań było określenie wpływu parametrów procesu na stopień degradacji keratyny oraz optymalizacja procesu w celu uzyskania jego maksymalnej wartości

Keratin : origins, properties, application

Celem artykułu jest scharakteryzowanie keratyny. Należy ona do rodziny białek fibrylarnych. Głównym źródłem naturalnego występowania keratyny są odpadowe pióra z przemysłu drobiarskiego. W skali globalnej powstaje ponad 4 mln ton tego odpadu w ciągu roku i należy go unieszkodliwiać. Keratyna charakteryzuje się dużą odpornością na czynniki fizyczne i chemiczne, dlatego niezwykle ważne jest poszukiwanie nowych metod przerobu odpadów keratynowych. Pozwoli to uniknąć problemu składowania odpadowego pierza. W pracy przedstawiono ponadto sposoby otrzymywania, degradacji oraz zastosowania keratyny.The aim of the article is the keratin characterization. Keratin belongs to the group of fibril proteins. The main source of natural occurrence of keratin are feathers from poultry industry. In the whole world there are 4 M tones a year of feathers, which should be utilized. Keratin has a high immunity to physical and chemical factors and it is the reason of searching for a new methods of keratin waste conversion. It would help to avoid a problem with storage of feather waste. The scientific work represents also methods of receiving, degradation and application of keratin

Thermal utilization of mixtures of bone waste

The results of a research related to the physico – chemical properties of the mixture of bone – waste and their ingredients have been presented. The mixtures was made up from waste: bovine bones, pork bones, bone sludge and bone meal. The content of the individual waste in the mixtures was selected on the basis of the heat of the combustion of the mixture and the amount of the waste produced in a meat processing plant. The heat of the combustion has been determined by the calorimeter, the content of phosphorus by spectrophotometric method, calcium by titration and phase composition by X – ray diffraction. The investigations confirmed that pork bones have the highest heat of the combustion 17 MJ/kg because of a big amount of fats. The analyzed waste has contained on average 16.5 wt % phosphorus and above 30 wt % calcium. X – ray diffraction method has proved that in bone waste one phase – hydroxyapatite occurs