Utilization of organic phosphates by selected bacteria and algae

Studies showed that synthetic phosphates of a surface active nature may become a source of carbon and energy for the Bacillus licheniformis. Bacillus mycoides, Bacillus cougulans and Azotobacter agilis bacteria in spite of the fact they are hardly oxidizable. In addition, it was found that these compounds may also become a source of phosphorus for the Scenedesmus obliquus alga which proves that these algae contain suitable phosphatases permitting utilization of a specific organic compound.     

Radiation transport calculations for 50 MV photon therapy beam using the Monte Carlo code GEANT4

A new thin transmission target technique for fast dose delivery using narrow scanned photon beams has been developed. High-energy, 50-100 MeV, electron beams of low emittance incident on thin low-Z targets produce narrow and intense high-energy bremsstrahlung beams. However, electrons transmitted through the target are bent from the therapeutic beam by a purging magnet and have to be effectively absorbed in a dedicated electron collector. The electron-photon transport through a treatment head has been studied using the Monte Carlo simulation toolkit Geant4. The Geant4 electromagnetic physics processes have been compared with experimental data of radial dose profiles. The differences between calculated and measured radial dose distributions are approximately 2-10%. Preliminary investigations of the collector design have been carried out in order to minimise secondary electron and photon contamination of the therapeutic beam. The toolkit presented here is promising for further development of narrow photon beam therapy.     

Lebensmittelkontaminationen im Emissionsbereich Chemischer Reinigungen

Zusammenfassung Lebensmittel, die im Emissionsbereich Chemischer Reinigungen gelagert bzw. verkauft werden, können erheblich mit Tetrachlorethen belastet sein. Hohe Tetrachlorethengehalte wurden sowohl in Lebensmittelproben aus über Chemischen Reinigungen gelegenen Wohnungen als auch in Proben aus dem Lebensmitteleinzelhandel festgestellt. Lebensmittel mit hohem Fettgehalt wiesen stets die höchsten Kontaminationen auf.

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Contamination of foodstuffs by emissions from dry cleaning units

Summary Tetrachloroethene (perchloroethylene) from dry-cleaning units may contaminate adjacent flats in the same building. Increased concentrations of tetrachloroethene have been found in foodstuffs in homes situated above dry cleaning units and in foodstuffs from groceries located neat drycleaning units. The concentrations were extremely high in foods rich in fat.

     

Transport of testosterone and estrogen from dairy-farm waste lagoons to groundwater

Although concentrated animal feeding operations constantly generate physiologically active steroidal hormones, little is known of their environmental fate. Estrogen and testosterone concentrations in groundwater and their distribution in sediments below a dairy-farm wastewater lagoon were therefore determined and compared to a reference site located upgradient of the farm. Forward simulations of flow as well as estrogen and testosterone transport were conducted based on data from the sediment profile obtained during drilling of a monitoring well belowthe dairy-farm waste lagoon. Testosterone and estrogen were detected in sediments to depths of 45 and 32 m, respectively. Groundwater samples were directly impacted by the dairy farm, as evidenced by elevated concentrations of nitrate, chloride, testosterone, and estrogen as compared to the reference site. Modeling potential transport of hormones in the vadose zone via advection, dispersion, and sorption could not explain the depths at which estrogen and testosterone were found, suggesting that other transport mechanisms influence hormone transport under field conditions. These mechanisms may involve interactions between hormones and manure as well as preferential flow paths, leading to enhanced transport rates. These types of interactions should be further investigated to understand the processes regulating hormone transport in the subsurface environment and parametrized to forecast long-term fate and transport of steroidal hormones.     

Phenol content,antioxidant activity and metal composition of Croatian wines deriving from organically and conventionally grown grapes

The present study was performed to evaluate the antioxidant capacity, the polyphenol and metal content of conventionally and organically produced wines, which underwent similar winemaking processes. The wine grapes were grown under well-defined organic and conventional conditions from the two different wine-growing sub-regions of Croatia, Prigorje and Southern Dalmatia. The values of antioxidant activity, as evaluated by two free radical methods, ABTS and DPPH, was found systematically higher in organic wines compared to conventional ones. In a reversed phase HPLC analysis, used in order to characterise the phenol fraction of wines, higher concentrations of chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, catechin, trans-resveratrol, all studied hydroxybenzoic acids and flavonols were found in the organically produced wines. No apparent trend was found in the metal contents of the wines, but ICP-MS analysis confirmed that both wine productions, organic and conventional, were well within the toxicological safety limits.     

Excitation and spectral dependence of the rise and decay time responses of Eu2+- and Dy3+-doped strontium aluminates

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - In this paper, we study the phosphorescence rise and decay time responses of Eu2+- and Dy3+-doped strontium aluminates prepared by different...     

Discovery of New Antiproliferative Imidazopyrazole Acylhydrazones Able To Interact with Microtubule Systems

Even though immunotherapy has radically changed the search for anticancer therapies, there are still many different pathways that are open to intervention with traditional small molecules. To expand our investigation in the anticancer field, we report here a new series of compounds in which our previous pyrazole and imidazopyrazole scaffolds are linked to a differently decorated phenyl ring through an acylhydrazone linker. Preliminary tests on the library were performed at the National Cancer Institute (USA) against the full NCI 60 cell panel. The best compounds among the imidazopyrazole series were then tested by immunofluorescence staining for their inhibition of cell proliferation, apoptosis induction, and their effect on the cell cycle and on microtubules. Two compounds, in particular 4-benzyloxy-3-methoxybenzyliden imidazopyrazole-7-carbohydrazide showed good growth inhibition, with IC₅₀ values in the low-micromolar range, and induced apoptosis. Both compounds altered the cell-cycle phases with the appearance of polyploid cells. Immunofluorescence analysis evidenced microtubules alterations; tubulin polymerization assays and docking studies suggested the tubulin system to be the possible, although not exclusive, target of the new acylhydrazone series reported here.     

Beneficial Changes in Rat Vascular Endocannabinoid System in Primary Hypertension and under Treatment with Chronic Inhibition of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase by URB597

Our study aimed to examine the effects of hypertension and the chronic administration of the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor URB597 on vascular function and the endocannabinoid system in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Functional studies were performed on small mesenteric G3 arteries (sMA) and aortas isolated from SHR and normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) treated with URB597 (1 mg/kg; twice daily for 14 days). In the aortas and sMA of SHR, endocannabinoid levels and cannabinoid CB₁ receptor (CB₁R) expression were elevated. The CB₁R antagonist AM251 diminished the methanandamide-evoked relaxation only in the sMA of SHR and enhanced the vasoconstriction induced by phenylephrine and the thromboxane analog U46619 in sMA in SHR and WKY. In the sMA of SHR, URB597 elevated anandamide levels, improved the endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation to acetylcholine, and in the presence of AM251 reduced the vasoconstriction to phenylephrine and enhanced the vasodilatation to methanandamide, and tended to reduce hypertrophy. In the aortas, URB597 elevated endocannabinoid levels improved the endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation to acetylcholine and decreased CB₁R expression. Our study showed that hypertension and chronic administration of URB597 caused local, resistance artery-specific beneficial alterations in the vascular endocannabinoid system, which may bring further advantages for therapeutic application of pharmacological inhibition of FAAH.     

Proteome analysis of tissues by mass spectrometry

Tissues and biofluids are important sources of information used for the detection of diseases and decisions on patient therapies. There are several accepted methods for preservation of tissues, among which the most popular are fresh‐frozen and formalin‐fixed paraffin embedded methods. Depending on the preservation method and the amount of sample available, various specific protocols are available for tissue processing for subsequent proteomic analysis. Protocols are tailored to answer various biological questions, and as such vary in lysis and digestion conditions, as well as duration. The existence of diverse tissue‐sample protocols has led to confusion in how to choose the best protocol for a given tissue and made it difficult to compare results across sample types. Here, we summarize procedures used for tissue processing for subsequent bottom‐up proteomic analysis. Furthermore, we compare protocols for their variations in the composition of lysis buffers, digestion procedures, and purification steps. For example, reports have shown that lysis buffer composition plays an important role in the profile of extracted proteins: the most common are tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane, radioimmunoprecipitation assay, and ammonium bicarbonate buffers. Although, trypsin is the most commonly used enzyme for proteolysis, in some protocols it is supplemented with Lys‐C and/or chymotrypsin, which will often lead to an increase in proteome coverage. Data show that the selection of the lysis procedure might need to be tissue‐specific to produce distinct protocols for individual tissue types. Finally, selection of the procedures is also influenced by the amount of sample available, which range from biopsies or the size of a few dozen of mm² obtained with laser capture microdissection to much larger amounts that weight several milligrams.