Enzyme activity and partial characterization of proteases obtained from Bromelia karatas fruit and compared with Bromelia pinguin proteases

Food Science and Biotechnology - The enzymatic activity and partial characterization of proteases from Bromelia karatas fruits were evaluated and compared with Bromelia pinguin proteases. The...     

Demonstration of a tool for automatic learning and re-use of knowledge in the activated sludge process.

Wastewater treatment plant operators encounter complex operational problems related to the activated sludge process and usually respond to these by applying their own intuition and by taking advantage of what they have learnt from past experiences of similar problems. However, previous process experiences are not easy to integrate in numerical control, and new tools must be developed to enable re-use of plant operating experience. The aim of this paper is to investigate the usefulness of a case-based reasoning (CBR) approach to apply learning and re-use of knowledge gained during past incidents to confront actual complex problems through the IWA/COST Benchmark protocol. A case study shows that the proposed CBR system achieves a significant improvement of the benchmark plant performance when facing a high-flow event disturbance.     

Josef Maria Bro?ek (1913-2004).

Presents an obituary and information about the life and accomplishments of Josef Maria Bro?ek. Born August 14, 1913, in the ancient town of Melnik, in central Bohemia, today the Czech Republic, Josef spent his childhood in Poland (Warsaw, 1913- 1915) and in Siberia (1915-1920). His education in Czechoslovakia culminated with a thesis on "Memory, Its Measurement and Structure" and a PhD awarded in June 1937. In the history of psychology, his lifetime project bore the title "Historiography of Psychology Around the World," and it covered about 20 geographical areas. Extensive attention was devoted to institutional and organizational developments as journals, academic settings, archives, museums, research groups, conferences, and institutes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retrograde Amnesia Induced by Drugs Acting on Different Molecular Systems.

The gamma aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA) agonist, muscimol, the glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, D-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (AP5), and the inhibitor of the extracellularly regulated kinases (ERKs), UO 126, cause retrograde amnesia when administered to the hippocampus. In the present study, the authors found that they all cause retrograde amnesia for 1-trial inhibitory avoidance, not only when infused into the dorsal CA1 region of the hippocampus, but also when infused into the basolateral amygdala or the entorhinal, parietal, and posterior cingulate cortices. The posttraining time course of the effect of each drug was, however, quite different across brain structures. Thus, in all of them, NMDA receptors and the ERK pathway are indispensable for memory consolidation, and GABAA receptor activation inhibits memory consolidation: but in each case, their influence is interwoven differently. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inhibition of intratracheal lung cancer development by systemic delivery of E1A

Amplification or overexpression of HER-2/neu in human lung cancer has been correlated with poor prognosis and chemoresistance. We have previously reported that the adenovirus type 5 early region 1A (E1A) gene product can suppress HER-2/neu-mediated transformation phenotypes through inhibition of HER-2/neu expression. To find an efficient way to treat HER-2/neu-overexpressing lung cancer with E1A, a replication-deficient adenovirus containing the E1A gene, Ad.E1A(+), was used to transduce E1A into HER-2/neu-overexpressing and low expressing human lung cancer cell lines. Tumour cell growth in vitro and colony formation in soft agarose were greatly inhibited by Ad.E1A(+) transduction in HER-2/neu-overexpressing lung cancer cell lines. In HER-2/neu low expressing cell lines, E1A could not inhibit cell growth in vitro but could reduce the colony formation ability in soft agarose, indicating different effects of E1A in these two types of cancer cells. To test the therapeutic efficacy of E1A to lung cancer by systemic delivery in vivo, tumor-bearing mice were established by intratracheal injection of lung cancer cells and treated by i.v. tail injections of Ad.E1A(+). As a result, Ad.E1A(+) suppressed HER-2/neu overexpression and inhibited intratracheal lung cancer growth. However, no significant tumor suppression effect of Ad.E1A(+) was observed in mice bearing HER-2/neu low expressing cell line when the same therapeutic procedure was followed. Thus, we conclude that systemic delivery of Ad.E1A(+) can efficiently achieve therapeutic effect in HER-2/neu-overexpressing lung cancer in vivo.     

Morphological changes induced by colchicine in the chick optic cup in early stages of development. A stereological study

In this study chick embryo optic cups at HH stage 13 of development were analyzed under normal conditions and after inoculation with colchicine for 1, 2, 4, and 8 h. Several changes were seen after these periods of treatment: 1) modifications of the structure, with thicker regions in the cup and a general decrease in the total volume according to the duration of exposure to the drug (about 4 times less than normal, 5,035 x 10(3) microns 3 vs 1,334 x 10(3) microns 3 after 8 h of treatment); 2) enlargement of the ventricular cavity and its closure, due to failure of approximation of retinal and pigmentary layers; 3) failure of lens development, with delay and impairment of pit formation and deformation of all structures; lens volume was less than normal (about 4 times less, 2,148 x 10(3) microns 3 vs 658 x 10(3) microns 3 after 8 h of treatment); 4) a general segregation of the cells making up the structure, principally in the more active proliferating zones. The local alterations found are described.     

Baclofen: intestinal absorption mechanism in mice

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem organ disease, and involvement of the gastrointestinal system is relatively rare. We describe a 13-year-old girl who presented initially with abdominal pain, diarrhea, edema, and hypoalbuminemia. She was diagnosed with protein losing enteropathy (PLE) based on the significant increase of alpha 1-antitrypsin clearance in the stool. Two weeks after admission she developed clinical and serological findings that fulfilled the ACR criteria for SLE. Over 22 cases of lupus associated PLE have now been reported, but only 3 in children. Children with PLE should be evaluated for SLE. In addition, PLE should be suspected as a possible cause of unexplained edema and/or hypoalbuminemia in SLE.     

Antisense oligonucleotide inhibition of hepatitis C virus gene expression in transformed hepatocytes

Genetic and biochemical studies have provided convincing evidence that the 5' noncoding region (5' NCR) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is highly conserved among viral isolates worldwide and that translation of HCV is directed by an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) located within the 5' NCR. We have investigated inhibition of HCV gene expression using antisense oligonucleotides complementary to the 5' NCR, translation initiation codon, and core protein coding sequences. Oligonucleotides were evaluated for activity after treatment of a human hepatocyte cell line expressing the HCV 5' NCR, core protein coding sequences, and the majority of the envelope gene (E1). More than 50 oligonucleotides were evaluated for inhibition of HCV RNA and protein expression. Two oligonucleotides, ISIS 6095, targeted to a stem-loop structure within the 5' NCR known to be important for IRES function, and ISIS 6547, targeted to sequences spanning the AUG used for initiation of HCV polyprotein translation, were found to be the most effective at inhibiting HCV gene expression. ISIS 6095 and 6547 caused concentration-dependent reductions in HCV RNA and protein levels, with 50% inhibitory concentrations of 0.1 to 0.2 microM. Reduction of RNA levels, and subsequently protein levels, by these phosphorothioate oligonucleotides was consistent with RNase H cleavage of RNA at the site of oligonucleotide hybridization. Chemically modified HCV antisense phosphodiester oligonucleotides were designed and evaluated for inhibition of core protein expression to identify oligonucleotides and HCV target sequences that do not require RNase H activity to inhibit expression. A uniformly modified 2'-methoxyethoxy phosphodiester antisense oligonucleotide complementary to the initiator AUG reduced HCV core protein levels as effectively as phosphorothioate oligonucleotide ISIS 6095 but without reducing HCV RNA levels. Results of our studies show that HCV gene expression is reduced by antisense oligonucleotides and demonstrate that it is feasible to design antisense oligonucleotide inhibitors of translation that do not require RNase H activation. The data demonstrate that chemically modified antisense oligonucleotides can be used as tools to identify important regulatory sequences and/or structures important for efficient translation of HCV.     

Cardiac tamponade as a presentation of primary hypothyroidism in a young woman

Pericardial effusion (PE) as a hypothyroidism associated sign, is something that can be found with relative frequency; nevertheless, cardiac tamponade (CT) as the first sign of this disease may be considered exceptional especially in young patients. We report a 31 years old woman with clinical symptoms and signs of CT that in the forward workshop was diagnosed of primary hypothyroidism as cause of the CT. We shortly describe the case and review the literature, emphasizing the importance of the knowledge of CT trigger factors in myxedematous PE, as well as its usual benign evolution with hormonal treatment, without recurrences of the CT after pericardiocentesis is performed. This justify a conservative approach, in spite of the slow resolution of the PE what can take as long as 1.5 years.