Biodelignification of wheat straw and its effect on in vitro digestibility and antioxidant properties

A variety of methods for feed development have been introduced during last few years. Bioprocessed agricultural residues may prove a better alternative to provide animal feed. For the purpose, some white rot fungi were allowed to degrade wheat straw up to 30 days under solid state conditions. Several parameters including loss in total organic matter, ligninolysis, in vitro digestibility of wheat straw and estimation of different antioxidant activities were studied. All the fungi were able to degrade lignin and enhance the in vitro digestibility. Among all the tested fungi, Phlebia brevispora degraded maximum lignin (30.6%) and enhanced the digestibility from 172 to 287 g/kg. Different antioxidant properties of fungal degraded wheat straw were higher as compared to the uninoculated control straw. Phlebia floridensis found to be more efficient organism in terms of higher antioxidant activity (70.8%) and total phenolic content (9.8 mg/ml). Thus, bioprocessing of the wheat straw with the help of these organisms seems to be a better approach for providing the animal feed in terms of enhanced digestibility, higher protein content, higher antioxidant activity and availability of biomass.     

Isolation of microbial pathogens of subclinical mastitis from raw sheep's milk of Epirus (Greece) and their role in its hygiene

The natural raw milk microflora is a factor that expresses its sensorial characteristics. The microbial charge into the mammary gland of healthy animal is low and the application of right and healthy conditions during milking and cheese making procedure, prevents from contaminating as well as maintains the natural microflora in order to lend the particular characteristics of milk.The purpose of the present project was the study of the Total Viable Count (T.V.C.) and the count of total psychrotropic bacteria of raw sheep milk from Boutsiko and Karamaniko breeds, collected from healthy animals, as well as the isolation, identification and enumeration of pathogenic bacteria related with the hygiene and the quality of raw sheep milk (with a particular interest in bacteria that may cause human infection).During the experiment we examined two hundred forty (240) samples of raw sheep milk. In these samples a) Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella sp., Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens (vegetative cells and spores) and Bacillus sp. were isolated and identified b) the Total Viable Count and the total number of psychrotropic bacteria were also specified. The sampling, the preparation of samples and decimal dilutions were based on international methods. The Total viable count was determined using the standard methods of the American Public Health Association, 2002. The total number of psychrotropic bacteria was determined using APHA 1976, 1978 rules. The identification of the bacteria was carried out according to the Bergey’s manual. Microscopic examination of Gram stained cells, catalase, oxidase and biochemical tests were performed when necessary to further identify.From the 240 milk samples tested, only 5% were E. coli positive, with mean counts ranged from 2 × 10³ to 2.4 × 10⁴ cfu/ml. S. aureus was isolated from 24% of the samples and the mean count per ml was ranged from <10 to 3.4 × 10². Meanwhile, Bacillus spp. was also detected in 29% samples. Vegetative forms and spores of C. perfringens were detected in 13% and 63% of the samples respectively. However, microbiological analyses revealed the presence of a small number of selected pathogens in milk samples such as Salmonella, which was only detected in 5% of the samples. Listeria sp., Pseudomonas sp. and Vibrio cholerae were never found.From the experimental results, the Total Viable Count from raw sheep milk samples, fulfils the microbiological criteria of EU Legislation in a percentage of approximately 97%.     

两种不同术式对老年股骨颈骨折治疗对比

目的：探讨全髋关节置换术与股骨头置换术治疗对比。方法：回顾性的分析对2007年1月-2008年12月年我院接收的70例60岁以上的老年股骨颈骨折的进行股骨头置换和全髋关节置换两组不同手术方式的临床资料。结果：两组股骨颈骨折治疗的手术时间、住院时间及术后并发症及治疗效果无明显统计学差异,两组术后半年到一年半的Harris评分较术前评分有显著的统计学意义。结论：人工股骨头置换术和髋关节置换是治疗老年股骨颈骨折的有效方法,可根据患者的自身情况、疾病特点等选择不同术式。     

Genetic diversity of UPASI tea clones (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) on the basis of total catechins and their fractions

Tea leaf catechins and the ratio of dihydroxylated to trihydroxylated catechin fractions were analysed to identify the genetic diversity of 26 UPASI released tea clones. Principal component analysis (PCA) based on regression factor separated tea clones into five groups according to their jats (Jats are region based rays for e.g., Assam, China and Cambod origin) as well as their quality constituents (such as total polyphenols, total catechins, amino acids in the green leaves and liquor characteristics of black tea), particularly the catechins. Group 1 represented medium quality (quality of the final produce) clones, such as UPASI-10, UPASI-12 and UPASI-15 and drought tolerant clones like UPASI-1, UPASI-2, UPASI-9 and UPASI-10. Group 2 contained purely "China" cultivars while group 3 possessed high quality tea cultivars. "Assam" (group 5) teas had the lowest ratio of dihydroxylated to trihydroxylated catechin fractions (1:4) than the "Chinery" (group 2) teas (1:5). This biochemical differentiation indicated that there is a vast genetic diversity in UPASI released tea clones in terms of catechin fractions, even though the majority of them were selected from one tea estate located in the Nilgiris.     

Flavonoid compounds in maintenance of prostate health and prevention and treatment of cancer

Compounds based on a flavonoid (di-phenolic) ring structure are emerging as a potentially important new class of pharmaceutical compounds with a broad range of biological activities, most prominent of which are their potential role as anticancer agents. These compounds exert a wide range of upregulating and downregulating effects on signal transduction processes within cells in both plants and animals. The observation that human communities, which consume large quantities of these compounds (legume-based vegetarian diets), have a lower incidence of many degenerative diseases and some cancers has led to the speculation that these compounds, or synthetic analogs, may be of therapeutic value. This article reviews the evidence supporting this hypothesis and provides some examples of attempts to develop new therapeutics based on dietary isoflavones or novel isoflavonoid structures in maintaining prostate health and in cancer treatment and management. One of these compounds, phenoxodiol, is now in human clinical trials and has shown promise in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer where the cancer is refractory or resistant to standard chemotherapy, and in patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer.     

Experimental evidence that flavonoid metal complexes may act as mimics of superoxide dismutase

Radical scavenging activities of flavonoids rutin, taxifolin, (-)-epicatechin, luteolin, and their complexes with transition metal (Fe2+, Fe3+, and Cu2+) towards superoxide were determined using illumination of riboflavin as source and NBT as detector of O*2-. The scavenger potencies of flavonoid metal complexes were significantly higher than those of the parent flavonoids. To elucidate the mechanism of this phenomenon, the rates of superoxide-dependent oxidation of flavonoids and their metal complexes in photochemical system with riboflavin were examined. It was found for the first time that flavonoids bound to metal ions were much less subjected to oxidation compared with those of free compounds. The findings directly demonstrate superoxide scavenging activity of metal ions in complexes with flavonoids and support earlier suggestions that flavonoid metal complexes may exhibit superoxide dismuting activity.     

一种快速提取肠道微生物总DNA的方法

采集的兔肠道内容物及其粪便样品,通过分散浸泡、震荡洗涤、分级离心、滤器过滤、DNA提取试剂盒提取纯化,可以获得纯度很高的DNA样品。经0.8%琼脂糖凝胶电泳检测和紫外分光光度计测定,样品A260/A280的比值为1.72±0.02。分别以提取的DNA样品为模板,通过设计的细菌特异引物,对其16S rDNA基因进行PCR扩增,获得了1.6 kb大小特异性很好的预期条带。这为肠道微生物群落的分子生态学研究提供了一种简便、可靠的DNA提取方法。     

黄酮类化合物促进癌细胞凋亡的分子机理研究进展

黄酮类化合物是一类低分子天然植物成分,这类化合物具有共同的母核C6-C3-C6。黄酮类化合物具有抗炎、抗氧化、抗肿瘤、改善心血管功能等生物活性。国内、外的大量研究表明,促进肿瘤细胞的凋亡是其抗肿瘤的机理之一。随着分子生物学技术的发展,黄酮类化合物诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡的分子机理也逐渐被阐明。本文简要综述国内外黄酮类化合物诱导癌细胞凋亡的分子机理研究进展。     

Structure prediction of dihydroflavonol 4- reductase and anthocyanidin synthase from spinach

Spinach is an important dietary vegetable associated with beneficial health effects. Flavonoids have various biological activities such as antioxidant, antibacterial, and anticancer effect Flavonoid including anthocyanin provides brilliant and colored pigments in different plant tissues. Anthocyanidin synthase and dihydroflavonol 4-reductase are responsible for anthocyanin biosynthesis. They contributed in plant protection against UV-B radiation, microbial and herbivore pathogens. A 3D structures of anthocyanidin synthase and dihydroflavonol 4-reductase from spinach are constructed in this study through homology modeling. The homology modeling is done by using the MODELLER 9v7 software. The energy of models was minimized by applying molecular mechanics method. The root mean square deviation (RMSD) for C atoms between the template and the homology-modeled structures was estimated by CE program. The final models were assessed by PROCHECK and WHATCHECK which showed that the final refined models are reliable.