Heat shock and structural proteins associated with meat tenderness in Nellore beef cattle,a Bos indicus breed

Nellore beef cattle, a Bos indicus (Zebu) breed, is well adapted to tropical conditions and has allowed Brazil to become one of the largest producers of red meat. Nevertheless, B. indicus breeds are reported to have less tender meat than Bos taurus. This study was designed to identify genes associated with meat tenderness and thus provides important information for breeding programs. A group of 138 animals was evaluated for longissimus thoracis muscle shear force (SF). Animals with the highest and lowest SF values (six animals each) were then selected for protein abundance studies. Samples were subjected to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) followed by peptide sequencing through mass spectrometry (MS) to identify differentially expressed proteins associated with SF values. Seventeen differentially expressed spots were observed (p < 0.05) between the two groups. The 13 proteins identified included structural proteins (alpha actin-1, MLC1, MLC3, MLC2F and tropomyosin), related to cell organization (HSPB1 and HSP70), metabolism (beta-LG, ACBD6 and Complex III subunit I) and some uncharacterized proteins. Results confirm the existence of differentially expressed proteins associated with SF, which can lead to a better understanding of mechanisms involved in meat tenderness.     

Effect of Ozonation on Trihalomethane and Haloacetic Acid Formation and Speciation in a Full-Scale Distribution System

Disinfection by-product (DBP) formation was evaluated before and after ozone implementation at two full-scale drinking water facilities in Las Vegas, NV USA. The two treatment plants used preozonation for primary disinfection followed by direct filtration with subsequent chlorination for secondary disinfection. DBP data was evaluated from the finished water of the two treatment plants along with six locations in the distribution system. Results showed that preozonation reduced the formation of total trihalomethanes (TTHM) by up to 10 μg/L and the sum of five haloacetic acids (HAA5) by up to 5 g/L. These reductions were primarily due to decreases in the di- and trichlorinated DBPs such as chloroform, bromodichloromethane, and trichloroacetic acid. Ozonation appeared to shift the speciation of TTHMs and HAA5 to favor increased formation of the di- and tribrominated species such as bromoform, chlorodibromomethane, and dibromoacteic acid. A bromide mass balance showed that <30% of the raw water bromide was accounted for by the formation of TTHMs (8–21%), HAAs (2–3%) and bromate (5%). Reducing the concentration of THMs and HAAs is often not the primary purpose of ozonation, but it can assist utilities in meeting regulatory requirements during drinking water treatment.     

Imazalil Degradation upon Applying Ozone—Transformation Products,Kinetics, and Toxicity of Treated Aqueous Solutions

The elimination of the pesticide imazalil (IMZ) spiked into ultrapure water as well as into wastewater applying ozone (O₃) and the identification of transformation products was investigated. O₃ under hydroxyl radical suppression conditions reacted rapidly with the aliphatic double bond or the imidazole ring in IMZ, yielding several transformation products by partial oxidation. The structures of four oxidation products not yet described were characterized and identified after liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution, high mass accuracy, mass and tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS and -MSⁿ) in ultrapure water. For two identified transformation products, generated via direct ozone attack on IMZ, formation pathways were proposed. In wastewater, only two of those transformation products were observed. Kinetics studies for the reaction of IMZ with O₃, evaluated by the competition kinetic method, resulted in a second-order rate constant k_O3,IMZ ～ (1.02 ± 0.03)?×?10⁵ M^?1 s^?1 at pH 6.6 ± 0.2, indicating that IMZ is completely transformed during the ozonation process. Tests of acute toxicity were performed applying a solution of IMZ in ultrapure water or treated wastewater to Daphnia magna. In both cases the decrease of toxicity was observed after ozone treatment.     

A simple but sound approach for processing crystal growth kinetic data

The effects of common data smoothing techniques, on the estimating of the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the crystal growth process, were discussed in the light of birth and spread model. Adoption of the moving average, and filtration caused a noticeable misunderstanding of the real ruling growth mechanism, especially, during the early period of the crystal growth.In this work, a MATLAB routine was developed with standard, and reliable method to treat the prolonged concentration-time data sets, as obtained from continuous recording of refractometric °Brix readings of pure sucrose solutions in laboratory batch crystallization process. The method consists of finding the median of the residence time for every °Brix concentration, with and without interference of previous and post readings. In addition to 30% reduction in the evaluated interfacial free energies, up to 5-folds of increase in the estimates of the overall kinetic coefficients were reported using the common smoothing techniques instead of the proposed routine.     

HVDC transmission systems: Bipolar back-to-back diode clamped multilevel converter with fast optimum-predictive control and capacitor balancing strategy

Voltage source multilevel power converter structures are being considered for high power high voltage applications where they have well known advantages. Recently, full back-to-back connected multilevel neutral diode clamped converters (NPC) have been used in high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems. Bipolar back-to-back connection of NPCs have advantages in long distance HVDC transmission systems, but highly increased difficulties to balance the dc capacitor voltage dividers on both sending and receiving end NPCs.This paper proposes a fast optimum-predictive controller to balance the dc capacitor voltages and to control the power flow in a long distance HVDC system using bipolar back-to-back connected NPCs. For both converter sides, the control strategy considers active and reactive power to establish ac grid currents on sending and receiving ends, while guaranteeing the balancing of both NPC dc bus capacitor voltages. Furthermore, the fast predictive controller minimizes the semiconductor switching frequency to reduce global switching losses.The performance and robustness of the new fast predictive control strategy and the associated dc capacitors voltage balancing are evaluated.     

Esterification of Free Fatty Acids Using Layered Carboxylates and Hydroxide Salts as Catalysts

Layered lanthanum and copper(II) laurates were tested as catalysts for methanolic esterification of lauric acid (C₁₂). Factorial design evidenced a positive effect of reaction temperature and amount of catalyst on ester conversion, while the acid:alcohol molar ratio (MR) had a negative effect. With lanthanum laurate, 90.5% conversion was reached at 140???C with 10% catalyst and MR of 6:1. Although the highest conversion with copper(II) laurate converted 81.5% under the same conditions, results were better with a lower amount of catalyst (78% ester at 140???C with 2% catalyst and MR of 6:1). A calcium hydroxide succinate was also investigated showing better catalytic performance than the well-known CaO, under mild reaction conditions (120???C with 1% catalyst and MR of 3:1). Although layered carboxylates can be successively reused, the layered calcium hydroxide salt transformed into inactive CaCO₃ in the second reuse reaction.     

Genetic Diversity and Phylogeny of Antagonistic Bacteria against Phytophthora nicotianae Isolated from Tobacco Rhizosphere

The genetic diversity of antagonistic bacteria from the tobacco rhizosphere was examined by BOXAIR-PCR, 16S-RFLP, 16S rRNA sequence homology and phylogenetic analysis methods. These studies revealed that 4.01% of the 6652 tested had some inhibitory activity against Phytophthora nicotianae. BOXAIR-PCR analysis revealed 35 distinct amplimers aligning at a 91% similarity level, reflecting a high degree of genotypic diversity among the antagonistic bacteria. A total of 25 16S-RFLP patterns were identified representing over 33 species from 17 different genera. Our results also found a significant amount of bacterial diversity among the antagonistic bacteria compared to other published reports. For the first time; Delftia tsuruhatensis, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Advenella incenata, Bacillus altitudinis, Kocuria palustris, Bacillus licheniformis, Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Myroides odoratimimus are reported to display antagonistic activity towards Phytophthora nicotianae. Furthermore, the majority (75%) of the isolates assayed for antagonistic activity were Gram-positives compared to only 25% that were Gram-negative bacteria.     

gef Gene Expression in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells is Associated with a Better Prognosis and Induction of Apoptosis by p53-Mediated Signaling Pathway

Breast cancer research has developed rapidly in the past few decades, leading to longer survival times for patients and opening up the possibility of developing curative treatments for advanced breast cancer. Our increasing knowledge of the biological pathways associated with the progression and development of breast cancer, alongside the failure of conventional treatments, has prompted us to explore gene therapy as an alternative therapeutic strategy. We previously reported that gef gene from E. coli has shown considerable cytotoxic effects in breast cancer cells. However, its action mechanism has not been elucidated. Indirect immunofluorescence technique using flow cytometry and immunocytochemical analysis were used to detect breast cancer markers: estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) hormonal receptors, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 proto-oncogene (c-erbB-2), ki-67 antigen and p53 protein. gef gene induces an increase in ER and PR expressions and a decrease in ki-67 and c-erbB-2 gene expressions, indicating a better prognosis and response to treatment and a longer disease-free interval and survival. It also increased p53 expression, suggesting that gef-induced apoptosis is regulated by a p53-mediated signaling pathway. These findings support the hypothesis that the gef gene offers a new approach to gene therapy in breast cancer.