Comprehensive Compositional Analysis of Plant Cell Walls (Lignocellulosic biomass) Part I: Lignin

The need for renewable, carbon neutral, and sustainable raw materials for industry and society has become one of the most pressing issues for the 21st century. This has rekindled interest in the use of plant products as industrial raw materials for the production of liquid fuels for transportation1 and other products such as biocomposite materials7. Plant biomass remains one of the greatest untapped reserves on the planet4. It is mostly comprised of cell walls that are composed of energy rich polymers including cellulose, various hemicelluloses (matrix polysaccharides, and the polyphenol lignin6 and thus sometimes termed lignocellulosics. However, plant cell walls have evolved to be recalcitrant to degradation as walls provide tensile strength to cells and the entire plants, ward off pathogens, and allow water to be transported throughout the plant; in the case of trees up to more the 100 m above ground level. Due to the various functions of walls, there is an immense structural diversity within the walls of different plant species and cell types within a single plant4. Hence, depending of what crop species, crop variety, or plant tissue is used for a biorefinery, the processing steps for depolymerization by chemical/enzymatic processes and subsequent fermentation of the various sugars to liquid biofuels need to be adjusted and optimized. This fact underpins the need for a thorough characterization of plant biomass feedstocks. Here we describe a comprehensive analytical methodology that enables the determination of the composition of lignocellulosics and is amenable to a medium to high-throughput analysis. In this first part we focus on the analysis of the polyphenol lignin (Figure 1). The method starts of with preparing destarched cell wall material. The resulting lignocellulosics are then split up to determine its lignin content by acetylbromide solubilization3, and its lignin composition in terms of its syringyl, guaiacyl- and p-hydroxyphenyl units5. The protocol for analyzing the carbohydrates in lignocellulosic biomass including cellulose content and matrix polysaccharide composition is discussed in Part II2

Graft-versus-Host Disease-Like Pattern in Mycophenolate Mofetil Related Colon Mucosal Injury: Role of FISH in Establishing the Diagnosis

Mycophenolate mofetil (CellCept®), a commonly used immunosuppressive drug in solid organ transplantation, has recently been shown to cause graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)-like changes in the gastrointestinal tract. On rare occasions, true GVHD has also been documented in the gastrointestinal tract of solid organ transplant patients. Because the treatment for these two entities is different, i.e. removal of the offending agent versus the administration of steroids, proper identification of the cause is imperative. We present a case of mycophenolate mofetil colitis mimicking grade I GVHD of the gut. In our study, we used fluorescence in situ hybridization for the Y chromosome to document the lack of male donor lymphocytes in the female recipient colon biopsy. We suggest that molecular techniques including fluorescence in situ hybridization could be used to discriminate between MMF-related colitis and true GVHD in order to help guide therapy

The effects of applying a transmissibility correction to data collected by a strap mounted accelerometer

Funding received from the University of Wolverhampton, Early Researcher Award Schem

Extracting nudge test parameters from noisy skin mounted accelerometer data

To correct for soft tissue artefacts in skin mounted accelerometers a transmissibility function can be applied to the data. This function is quantified by analysis of the acceleration-time data from the response to a nudge test; however this data can often be noisy. An application of Fourier analysis can be used to filter the acceleration-time data of the nudge test response. This allows accurate recreation of the signal to determine the required transmissibility function

Applying data correction to strap mounted accelerometers

The tissue underlying skin mounted accelerometers introduces errors to the data they collect [1]. As a consequence various data correction attempts have been made to minimise the effect of local tissue-accelerometer vibration [1,2]. However, accelerometers are not always mounted directly onto the skin. It is often impractical to do so for studies that measure activities during day-to-day living where strap mounting may be a more common attachment method. Therefore an understanding of the response of strap mounted accelerometers is also necessary. As the straps surround irregular shaped body segments strap mounted accelerometers may suffer from poor coupling when compared to skin mounted accelerometers, as well as additional vibration of the strap and pre-loading effects of tissue due to strap tension. This can be especially prevalent for straps around the waist, mounting accelerometers to measure motion at the spine. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the damped frequency (fd) and the logarithmic decrement (δ) of the local system (accelerometer, strap and local tissue) can be estimated so that the Smeathers’ method of data correction [2] can be applied to strap mounted accelerometers at the lumbar spine

Maternal demographic and clinical variables do not predict intrauterine contraception placement: Evidence for postplacental intrauterine contraception placement

Objective: Determine if specific demographic and clinical variables are associated with intra-uterine contraception (IUC) placement by eight weeks postpartum. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included all patients who delivered at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) (July-December 2008) who identified IUC as their preferred postpartum contraceptive method. Medical records of patients identified from the birth log were reviewed for preferred contraception, demographics, medical, obstetric, and social histories, as well as payer status. Chi-squared analysis was performed for categorical variables, and Mann-Whitney U test was used for continuous variables. Nonparametric continuous variables were categorized for regression modeling. Results: 224 (34%) patients who delivered identified IUC as their preferred method of postpartum contraception. Of these, 94 (49.7%) women had an IUC placed by 8 weeks postpartum. In univariate analyses comparing those who received an IUC versus those patients who did not, only mean interdelivery interval in months (39.7 vs. 35.5, p=0.027) and mean gravidity (2.3 vs. 2.8, p=0.036) were statistically significant. In multivariate regression modeling, no variables were significantly associated with IUC placement. Conclusions: While statically significant interdelivery interval and gravidity are not likely to be clinically significant. Multivariate modeling failed to identify a model associated with IUC placement suggesting that postpartum IUC placement is not well predicted by patient variables. Lack of identifying factors may support offering postplacental IUC placement to all patients who indicate IUC as their preferred contraceptive method

Associations between bone loading due to daily activity and hip bone mass and structure

Bone loading due to daily physical activity over one week, was quantified from accelerometer data. Moderate-to-vigorous loading was positively associated with bone health of the left proximal femur. Adopting this level of activity in daily living may have sustained benefits for healthy ageing of bone

A Comparative Study of the ReCell® Device and Autologous Spit-Thickness Meshed Skin Graft in the Treatment of Acute Burn Injuries.

Early excision and autografting are standard care for deeper burns. However, donor sites are a source of significant morbidity. To address this, the ReCell® Autologous Cell Harvesting Device (ReCell) was designed for use at the point-of-care to prepare a noncultured, autologous skin cell suspension (ASCS) capable of epidermal regeneration using minimal donor skin. A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the clinical performance of ReCell vs meshed split-thickness skin grafts (STSG, Control) for the treatment of deep partial-thickness burns. Effectiveness measures were assessed to 1 year for both ASCS and Control treatment sites and donor sites, including the incidence of healing, scarring, and pain. At 4 weeks, 98% of the ASCS-treated sites were healed compared with 100% of the Controls. Pain and assessments of scarring at the treatment sites were reported to be similar between groups. Significant differences were observed between ReCell and Control donor sites. The mean ReCell donor area was approximately 40 times smaller than that of the Control (P < .0001), and after 1 week, significantly more ReCell donor sites were healed than Controls (P = .04). Over the first 16 weeks, patients reported significantly less pain at the ReCell donor sites compared with Controls (P ≤ .05 at each time point). Long-term patients reported higher satisfaction with ReCell donor site outcomes compared with the Controls. This study provides evidence that the treatment of deep partial-thickness burns with ASCS results in comparable healing, with significantly reduced donor site size and pain and improved appearance relative to STSG