Bioactivity of Piper guineense Schum. & Thonn seed and Moringa oleifera Lam. leaf powder against Trogoderma granarium Everts (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)

Laboratory studies were carried out to investigate bioactivity of Piper guineense seeds and Moringa oleifera leaf powders applied singly or in a mixture against larvae and adult Trogoderma granarium Everts in airtight containers. Three levels (0.0 g, 0.5 g, and 1.0 g/20 g groundnut seeds) of the plant powders were used and pirimiphos-methyl was applied at 0.01 g/20 g seeds (recommended dose). Another control consisting of untreated seeds with aerated lids was included in the bioassay. Both larvae and adults were not killed in control with aerated lids throughout the experimental period and larvae were also tolerant to airtight storage conditions. Adults were more susceptible to plant powders than larvae and adult mortality recorded in P. guineense at 1.0 g, 0.5 g and M. oleifera at 1.0 g/20 g seeds were not significantly different from the mortality observed with the recommended dose of Pirimiphos methyl at five days after treatment (DAT). Larval mortality observed in a mixture of both plants (1:1; w/w) caused significantly higher mortality (77.5%) than other treatments at 5 DAT. All treatments (P. guineense and M. oleifera applied singly or in a mixture) were repellant to larvae T. granarium with 60% repellency recorded in the mixture of plants, 50% repellency in P. guineense and 30% repellency in M. oleifera slurry. The water absorption capacity of treated seeds was not affected by treatment with plant powders and ranged from 31.98% to 37.59%.     

Diagnostic utility of HFE variants in Spanish patients: Association with HLA alleles and role in susceptibility to acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Human Hemochromatosis (HFE) gene, C282Y and H63D, are the major variants associated to altered iron status and it is well known that these mutations are in linkage disequilibrium with certain Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-A alleles. In addition, the C282Y SNP has been previously suggested to confer susceptibility to acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We have aimed to assess the diagnosis utility of these polymorphisms in a population of Spanish subjects with suspicion of hereditary iron overload and to evaluate the effect of their associations with HLA-A alleles on the susceptibility to ALL. Both the 63DD [OR = 4.31 (1.7–11.2)] and 282YY (p for trend = 0.02) genotypes were more frequently found among subjects with suspicion of iron overload than among controls. 282YY carriers displayed significantly higher transferrin saturation index (TSI) values (p < 0.001) as well as serum iron (p = 0.01) and ferritin (p = 0.01) levels. In addition, transferrin levels were lower in these subjects (p = 0.01). Likewise, patients who were carriers of the compound heterozygous diplotype (282CY/63HD) showed significantly higher TSI and serum iron and ferritin concentrations. The H63D SNP did not significantly affect the analytical parameters measured. All 282YY carriers and 69.2% of compound heterozygotes showed an altered biochemical index. The frequencies of the HFE SNPs in ALL pediatric patients were lower than those found in controls, whereas the HLA-A*24 allele was significantly overrepresented in the patients group [OR = 3.76 (1.9–7.3)]. No HFE-HLA-A associations were found to modulate the ALL risk. These results suggest that it may be useful to test for both HFE H63D and C282Y polymorphisms in patients with iron overload, as opposed to just genotyping for the C282Y SNP, which is customary in some healthcare centers. These HFE variants and their associations with HLA-A alleles were not observed to be relevant for the susceptibility to ALL in our population.     

Preparation and characterization of mucilage polysaccharide for biomedical applications

In the present investigation, the polysaccharide/mucilage from waste of Abelmoscus esculentus by modification in hot extraction using two different solvents (Acetone, Methanol) were extracted, characterized and further compared with seaweed polysaccharide for their potential applications. The percentage yield, emulsifying capacity and swelling index of this mucilage were determined. The macro algae and okra waste, gave high % yield (22.2% and 8.6% respectively) and good emulsifying capacity (EC% = 52.38% and 54.76% respectively) with acetone, compared to methanol (11.3% and 0.28%; EC% = 50%) (PH = 7) while swelling index was greater with methanol than acetone extracts respectively. The infrared (I.R.) spectrum of the samples was recorded to investigate the chemical structure of mucilage. Thermal analysis of the mucilage was done with TGA (Thermal Gravimetric Analyzer) and DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimeter) which showed both okra and algal polysaccharide were thermostable hydrogels.     

Redox Buffer Capacity in Water-Rock-Microbe Interaction Systems in Subsurface Environments

An incubation experiment was conducted to estimate redox buffer capacity of “water-rock-microbe” interaction systems in sedimentary rocks. The water chemistry, microbial growth and community structure were analyzed during the incubations. The dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) values decreased notably in the presence of active microorganisms, whereas abiotic reactions did not lead to reducing conditions during incubation. The change in microbial community structure suggests that nitrate-reducing and sulfate-reducing bacteria played an important role in reduction of water by using lignite-derived organic matter. These results show that the microbial role is extremely important for the redox buffering capacity in sedimentary rock environments.     

Surface modification via wet chemical etching of single-crystalline silicon for photovoltaic application

The potential of solar cells have not been fully tapped due to the lack of energy conversion efficiency. There are three important mechanisms in producing high efficiency cells to harvest solar energy; reduction of light reflectance, enhancement of light trapping in the cell and increment of light absorption. The current work represent studies conducted in surface modification of single-crystalline silicon solar cells using wet chemical etching techniques. Two etching types are applied; alkaline etching (KOH:IPA:DI) and acidic etching (HF:HNO₃:DI). The alkaline solution resulted in anisotropic profile that leads to the formation of inverted pyramids. While acidic solution formed circular craters along the front surface of silicon wafer. This surface modification will leads to the reduction of light reflectance via texturizing the surface and thereby increases the short circuit current and conversion rate of the solar cells.     

Book review

Fucoid macroalgae are important primary producers and habitat modifiers on North Atlantic intertidal rocky shores. With decreasing latitude, western European fucoid populations display reduced levels of abundance, biomass and recruitment, while experiencing higher levels of physical environmental stress during summer months. We hypothesized that such reduction in the south is accompanied by a detectable decline in fucoid reproductive capacity. To test this hypothesis, morphological and reproductive traits of core (Welsh) and marginal (Portuguese) populations of two common fucoid species, Fucus vesiculosus and F. spiralis (Ochrophyta, Fucales), were examined. Morphological measurements showed that for a given thallus length, both fucoid species had smaller thallus volume and lower biomass in the southerly marginal part of the range. Significantly lower biomass of reproductive tissue of F. vesiculosus and a smaller number of receptacles per individual on specimens of both species indicate that levels of reproductive output are probably lower in southern populations. Despite the differences in reproductive traits observed between regions, reproductive effort (measured as the percentage of total dry biomass represented by reproductive tissue) of both species remained similar, as algae from both regions made similar investments in reproduction. The results indicate that stressful conditions reduced growth and number of receptacles of both species and amount of reproductive biomass of F. vesiculosus in the south but do not seem to change the way these algal species invest their energy. The decline in mass and reproductive biomass of specimens from southern shores found in this study, when combined with the lower abundance of adults and lower recruitment levels previously observed, is a strong indication of fucoid populations with lower levels of propagule output. This is an important factor when considering responses of these populations to a changing environment.     

Copper complexing capacity in fresh-waters using the catechol-cathodic stripping voltammetric method

Abstract

The catechol-cathodic stripping voltammetric (CSV) method for measurement of the copper complexing capacity of marine and estuarine waters, has been modified and applied to fresh-waters. The optimum catechol concentration needed was the major difference between the two methods. It was found necessary to separately optimise the catechol concentration for each of the three fresh-water samples tested, presumably because of the much greater differences in the concentration of complexing ligands in fresh-water compared with marine or estuarine waters. This limits the usefulness of the CSV method for the determination of the complexing capacity of fresh-waters.

The total ligand concentration ([L_t]) and conditional stability constants (*K) derived for the three fresh-waters are compared with similar data obtained using an anodic stripping voltammetric (ASV) method. The set of copper-binding ligands determined using the CSV method were slightly lower in concentration, but stronger binding, than those obtained using the ASV method (CSV: [L_t] 0.04–0.06 μM, log K(pH 6) 8.9–9.4; ASV: [L_t] 0.11–0.17 μM, log *K(pH 6) 7.9–8.1).     

Influence of Age on the Fatty Acid Composition of Breast and Thigh Muscles of Male Turkeys

Large White male turkeys were sacrificed at 4-week intervals from 4 to 28 weeks of age to study the fatty acid distribution in lipid of breast and thigh muscles. A total of 70 turkeys were sampled for this experiment.

Fatty acid distribution varied with advancing maturity and between muscle types. The most abundant fatty acids in the tissues were those with carbon chain lengths of 15:0, 16:0, 18:0, 18:1, 18:2, 20:4 and 24:0. Thigh muscle contained significantly more linoleate (18:2) than did breast. Larger proportions of pentadecanoic (15:0), arachidonic (20:4) and lignoceric (24:0), however, appeared in breast. Indications of minor fatty acids appeared on the chromatograms, but their low concentrations made their estimation and identification difficult.     

Isolation of Intact Chloroplasts from Spinach Leaf by Centrifugation in Gradients of the Modified Silica “Percoll”

The isolation of the photosynthetically competent chloroplast preparations was undertaken by means of the density gradient centrifugation on the modified silica sol “Percoll.” A clear separation of the intact chloroplast sustaining the high photosynthetic activities (light dependent CO₂ fixation ca. 130μmol/mg Chl·hr) was established. The contamination of mitochondria and peroxisomes was estimated to be less than 3% by measuring the activities of their marker enzymes. The chloroplasts were proved to be free from endoplasmic reticulum and cytosol. The photosynthetic CO₂ fixation of the isolated chloroplast preparations was saturated by illumination of the light intensity of 20,000 Lux (12 mW/cm², 400~750 nm).     

Enhancement of exercise endurance capacity by fermented deer antler in BALB/c mice

To investigate the activity of fermented deer antler on exercise endurance capacity, we evaluated endurance capacity in five-week-old male BALB/c mice by administering the fermented deer antler extract (FA) or the non-fermented deer antler extract (NFA) and then subjected the mice to exercise in the form of swimming. The mice administered 500?mg/kg/day of FA showed a significant increase in swimming time compared with mice administered placebo (16.55?min vs. 21.64?min, P?<?0.05). Serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), the marker of the liver and muscle damage, was significantly lower in FA groups. However, NFA groups did not show significantly different swimming time or serum LDH from that of the control group. Moreover, the FA-500 group had significantly higher hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity after forced swimming than the control and NFA groups (P?<?0.05). These findings suggest that fermentation may increase the exercise endurance capacity of the deer antler.