Meat production characteristics of Egyptian Baladi and Angora goats

Fifteen Baladi and 20 Angora intact males raised together from birth until 8 months of age were grown on a commercial concentrate mixture fed at the rate of 0·6 kg/head/day with chopped wheat straw fed at 0·5 kg/head/day for 14 weeks. Body measurements were taken before slaughter and carcass measurements and offal weights after it. The right sides of all carcasses were dissected into cuts, weighed and deboned. Fat was separated from the 9-10-11 rib joints and estimated. The two breeds did not significantly differ in birth weight, weaning weight, carcass weight, dressing percentage, most body measurements, all carcass measurements and most offal weights. Sigmificant differences were only found in body length, height at withers, weights of spleen and kidney fat. However, the Baladi had significant heavier loin and shoulder (P < 0·05) and breast and flank (P < 0·05) than the Angora which had heavier legs (P < 0·05). The carcasses of the two breeds had very similar percentage of edible meat (68·38 versus 68·65), lean (57·47 versus 57·38) and fat in the rib joint (10·91 versus 11·27).     

Protein folding transition states: elicitation of Hammond effects by 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol

Adaptation of the techniques of classical physical-organic chemistry to the study of protein folding has led to our current detailed understanding of the transition states. Here, we have applied a series of structure--activity relationships to analyse the effects on protein folding transition states of 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE), a reagent that is usually assumed to act by stabilising secondary structure. The folding and unfolding of the highly alpha-helical tetramerisation domain of p53 provides a useful paradigm for analysing its effects on kinetics: The first step of its folding consists of an association reaction with little, if any, formation of secondary structure in the transition state; and the final step of the folding reaction involves just the formation of bonds at subunit interfaces, with the alpha-helical structure being completely formed. We have systematically measured the effects of TFE on two sets of structure--activity relationships. The first is for Phi values, which measure the degree of non-covalent bond formation at nearly every position in the transition state. The second is for relative effects of the denaturant, guanidinium chloride, on kinetics and equilibria, which measure the gross position of the transition state on the reaction co-ordinate. We find that TFE modulated the kinetics by a variety of effects other than that on secondary structure. In particular, there were Hammond effects, movement of the position of the transition state along the reaction co-ordinate, which either significantly speeded up or slowed down protein unfolding, depending on the particular mutant examined. The gross effects of TFE on protein folding kinetics are thus not a reliable guide to the structures of transition states.     

Growth and the microstructural and ferroelectric characterization of oriented BaMgF(4) thin films

The growth of ferroelectric BaMgF(4) thin films on Si(100), sapphire, and other substrates under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions is reported. Microstructural characterization of the films using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that they were oriented crystalline films, although not epitaxial. Ferroelectric hysteresis measurements yielded spontaneous polarization and coercivity values of almost 1.0 muC/cm(2) and 160 kV/cm, respectively. The discrepancy with the bulk ferroelectric values were attributed to the electrical contacts, impurities in the film, and lack of polar axis orientation. Preliminary capacitance-voltage (C-V) hysteresis measurements on a 480-nm-thick BaMgF(4) film yielded a 10.8-V threshold shift (memory window) in response to a +/-10-V programming voltage for a MIS gate structure similar to that of the ferroelectric memory field-effect transistor (FEMFET).     

Future trends in the use of X-ray fluoroscopy for the measurement and modelling of joint motion

Knowledge of three-dimensional skeletal kinematics during functional activities such as walking, is required for accurate modelling of joint motion and loading, and is important in identifying the effects of injury and disease. For example, accurate measurement of joint kinematics is essential in understanding the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis and its symptoms and for developing strategies to alleviate joint pain. Bi-plane X-ray fluoroscopy has the capacity to accurately and non-invasively measure human joint motion in vivo. Joint kinematics obtained using bi-plane X-ray fluoroscopy will aid in the development of more complex musculoskeletal models, which may be used to assess joint function and disease and plan surgical interventions and post-operative rehabilitation strategies. At present, however, commercial C-arm systems constrain the motion of the subject within the imaging field of view, thus precluding recording of motions such as overground gait. These fluoroscopy systems also operate at low frame rates and therefore cannot accurately capture high-speed joint motion during tasks such as running and throwing. In the future, bi-plane fluoroscopy systems may include computer-controlled tracking for the measurement of joint kinematics over entire cycles of overground gait without constraining motion of the subject. High-speed cameras will facilitate measurement of high-impulse joint motions, and computationally efficient pose-estimation software may provide a fast and fully automated process for quantification of natural joint motion.     

Electron beam lithography-assisted fabrication of Au nano-dot array as a substrate of a correlated AFM and confocal Raman spectroscopy

This paper documents a study of an Au nano-dot array that was fabricated by electron beam lithography on a glass wafer. The patterns that had features of 100nm dots in diameter with a 2-mum pitch comprised a total area of 200x200mum(2). The dot-shaped Cr underlayer was open to the air after developing Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). When dipped into the Cr etchant, the exposed Cr layer was eliminated from the glass wafer in a short period of time. In order to ultimately fabricate the Ti/Au dot arrays, Ti and Au were deposited onto the arrays with a thickness of 2 and 40nm, respectively. The lift-off procedure was carried out in the Cr etchant using sonication in order to completely remove the residual Cr/PMMA layer. The fabricated Au nano-dot array was then immersed in an Ag enhancing solution and then into an ethanol solution containing (N-(6-(Biotinamido)hexyl)-3'-(2'-pyridyldithio)-propionamide (Biotin-HPDP). The substrate was analyzed using a correlated atomic force microscopy (AFM) and confocal Raman spectroscopy. Through this procedure, position-dependent surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) signals could be obtained.     

New insights into the morphology of Trypanosoma cruzi reservosome

Reservosomes are late endosomes present only in members of the Schizotrypanum subgenus of the Trypanosoma genus and are defined as the site of storage of endocytosed macromolecules and lysosomal enzymes. They have been extensively described in Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigote: are bounded by a membrane unit, present an electron-dense protein matrix with electron-lucent lipid inclusions, being devoid of inner membranes. Here we performed a detailed ultrastructural analysis of these organelles using a variety of electron microscopy techniques, including ultrathin sectioning, uranyl acetate stained preparations, and freeze fracture, either in intact epimastigotes or in isolated reservosomes. New informations were obtained. First, both isolated and in situ reservosomes presented small profiles of inner membranes that are morphologically similar to the membrane surrounding the organelle. In uranyl acetate stained preparations, internal membrane profiles turned out to be longer than they appeared in ultrathin section images and traversed the organelle diameter. Internal vesicles were also found. Second, endocytosed cargo are not associated with internal vesicles and reach reservosomes on board of vesicles that fuse with the boundary membrane, delivering cargo directly into reservosome lumen. Third, electron-lucent bodies with saturated lipid core surrounded by a membrane monolayer and with unusual rectangular shape were also observed. Fourth, it was possible to demonstrate the presence of intramembranous particles on the E face of both internal vesicles and the surrounding membrane. Collectively, these results indicate that reservosomes have a complex internal structure, which may correlate with their multiple functions.