Interspecies Gene Name Extrapolation—A New Approach

The use of animal models has facilitated numerous scientific developments, especially when employing “omics” technologies to study the effects of various environmental factors on humans. Our study presents a new bioinformatics pipeline suitable when the generated microarray data from animal models does not contain the necessary human gene name annotation. We conducted single color gene expression microarray on duodenum and spleen tissue obtained from pigs which have been exposed to zearalenone and Escherichia coli contamination, either alone or combined. By performing a combination of file format modifications and data alignments using various online tools as well as a command line environment, we performed the pig to human gene name extrapolation with an average yield of 58.34%, compared to 3.64% when applying more simple methods. In conclusion, while online data analysis portals on their own are of great importance in data management and assessment, our new pipeline provided a more effective approach for a situation which can be frequently encountered by researchers in the “omics” era.     

Phthaloyl Strategy—A New Approach Towards Oligodeoxyribonucleotide Synthesis

Abstract

A new rapid strategy for machine-aided oligodeoxyribonucleotide synthesis has been established utilizing phthaloyl groups for protection of the heterocyclic amino functions within the phosphoramidite approach. A large number of DNA-sequences has been synthesized. Due to high purity and speed of performance this strategy offers an excellent alternative to the common used acyl approach.     

Sustainable Production of Bioactive Compounds by Sponges—Cell Culture and Gene Cluster Approach: A Review

Sponges (phylum Porifera) are sessile marine filter feeders that have developed efficient defense mechanisms against foreign attackers such as viruses, bacteria, or eukaryotic organisms. Protected by a highly complex immune system, as well as by the capacity to produce efficient antiviral compounds (e.g., nucleoside analogues), antimicrobial compounds (e.g., polyketides), and cytostatic compounds (e.g., avarol), they have not become extinct during the last 600 million years. It can be assumed that during this long period of time, bacteria and microorganisms coevolved with sponges, and thus acquired a complex common metabolism. It is suggested that (at least) some of the bioactive secondary metabolites isolated from sponges are produced by functional enzyme clusters, which originated from the sponges and their associated microorganisms. As a consequence, both the host cells and the microorganisms lost the ability to grow independently from each other. Therefore, it was—until recently—impossible to culture sponge cells in vitro. Also the predominant number of symbiotic bacteria proved to be nonculturable. In order to exploit the bioactive potential of both the sponge and the symbionts, a 3D-aggregate primmorph culture system was established; also it was proved that one bioactive compound, avarol/avarone, is produced by the sponge Dysidea avara. Another promising way to utilize the bioactive potential of the microorganisms is the cloning and heterologous expression of enzymes involved in secondary metabolism, such as the polyketide synthases. From the consortium German Center of Excellence [BiotecMarin]. Dedicated to Dr. Paul J. Scheuer (University of Hawaii) who created the basis for the progress in the biomedical application of the bioactive potential of the marine environment.     

A New Synthesis of (—)-exo-Brevicomin

Rubusoside derivatives by transgalactosylation of various β-galactosidases were isolated and their structures were analyzed. Escherichia coli β-galactosidase produced mainly 13-O-β-d-glucosyl-19-O-[β-d-galactosyl-(1→6)-β-d-glucosyl]-steviol (RGal-2). Bacillus circulans β-galactosidase produced mainly 13-O-β-d-glucosyl-19-O-[β-d-galactosyl-(1→4)-β-d-glucosyl]-steviol (RGal-1a) in the early stage of the reaction and then produced 13-O-[β-d-galactosyl-(1→4)-β-d-glucosyl]-19-O-β-d-glucosyl-steviol (RGal-1b). With decreasing the amount of these products (RGal-1a and RGal-1b), RGal-2 was produced.     

Average Information Content Maximization—A New Approach for Fingerprint Hybridization and Reduction

Fingerprints, bit representations of compound chemical structure, have been widely used in cheminformatics for many years. Although fingerprints with the highest resolution display satisfactory performance in virtual screening campaigns, the presence of a relatively high number of irrelevant bits introduces noise into data and makes their application more time-consuming. In this study, we present a new method of hybrid reduced fingerprint construction, the Average Information Content Maximization algorithm (AIC-Max algorithm), which selects the most informative bits from a collection of fingerprints. This methodology, applied to the ligands of five cognate serotonin receptors (5-HT_2A, 5-HT_2B, 5-HT_2C, 5-HT_5A, 5-HT₆), proved that 100 bits selected from four non-hashed fingerprints reflect almost all structural information required for a successful in silico discrimination test. A classification experiment indicated that a reduced representation is able to achieve even slightly better performance than the state-of-the-art 10-times-longer fingerprints and in a significantly shorter time.     

Production of Biodiesel Using Immobilized Lipase—A Critical Review

Increase in volume of biodiesel production in the world scenario proves that biodiesel is accepted as an alternative to conventional fuel. Production of biodiesel using alkaline catalyst has been commercially implemented due to its high conversion and low production time. For the product and process development of biodiesel, enzymatic transesterification has been suggested to produce a high purity product with an economic, environment friendly process at mild reaction conditions. The enzyme cost being the main hurdle can be overcome by immobilization. Immobilized enzyme, which has been successfully used in various fields over the soluble counterpart, could be employed in biodiesel production with the aim of reducing the production cost by reusing the enzyme. This review attempts to provide an updated compilation of the studies reported on biodiesel production by using lipase immobilized through various techniques and the parameters, which affect their functionality.     

Advanced-level Biology—A Possible Approach

Teachers' conscious priorities in selecting topics for teaching rarely include the ‘biology/social science interfaces’; neither are many usually aware of the existence and implications of ‘hidden ideologies’ in the curriculum. This paper gives several examples of such interfaces, and stresses the point that only by redirecting the education of teachers can their awareness and priorities be suitably altered.     

Bionics and Structural Biology： A Novel Approach for Bio-energy Production

Cellular metabolism is a very complex process. The biochemical pathways are fundamental structures of biology. These pathways possess a number of regeneration steps which facilitate energy shuttling on a massive scale. This facilitates the biochemical pathways to sustain the energy currency of the cells. This concept has been mimicked using electronic circuit components and it has been used to increase the efficiency of bio-energy generation. Six of the carbohydrate biochemical pathways have been chosen in which glycolysis is the principle pathway. All the six pathways are interrelated and coordinated in a complex manner. Mimic circuits have been designed for all the six biochemical pathways. The components of the metabolic pathways such as enzymes, cofactors etc., are substituted by appropriate electronic circuit components. Enzymes are related to the gain of transistors by the bond dissociation energies of enzyme-substrate molecules under consideration. Cofactors and coenzymes are represented by switches and capacitors respectively. Resistors are used for proper orientation of the circuits. The energy obtained from the current methods employed for the decomposition of organic matter is used to trigger the mimic circuits. A similar energy shuttle is observed in the mimic circuits and the percentage rise for each cycle of circuit functioning is found to be 78.90. The theoretical calculations have been made using a sample of domestic waste weighing 1.182 kg. The calculations arrived at finally speak of the efficiency of the novel methodology employed.     

Archakebia—A New Genus of Lardizabalaceae from China

The monotypic genus Archakebia from China is described as new．The genus shares many characters with members of the genus Akebia,except sepals 6,lanceolate or linear,which are common in members of the genus Stauntonia．     

Computational Cardiology—A New Discipline of Translational Research

正Over the past two decades,improved diagnosis,pharmaceutical therapies,and interventional strategies have impressively improved the armamentarium of modern cardiologists in the?ght against the most incident and lethal diseases:heart failure,ischemic heart disease,and arrhythmia.The innovations     

A New Subspecies of Garrulax canorus——Garrulax canorus mengliensis

In our recent studies, a new subspecies of Garrulax canorus has been found in the southwestern and western part of Yunnan Province. Garrulax canorus mengliensis, subsp. nov. Holotype Adult male(Field number 620672); type locality: Menglian, Yunnan, alt. 940 m., Dec. 11, 1962. Allotype Adult female (Field number 587); type locality: Mengla, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, alt. 900 m., Jan. 17, 1960. Type specimens are kept in the Laboratory of the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica, Kunming. Diagnosis Season to season, sex to sex, mengliersis differs from G. c. canorus in having the crown, neck, upper parts and the surface of wing olive, not stained with rufous as the latter, marked; ear-coverts olive-brown, not rufous—brown; sides of the neck, chin, throat, upper breast, flanks and crissum light buff, not rufous—yellow; the stripes on the crown and neck being narrower, the black streaks on the throat and breast even narrower and     

Mixed Feedstock Approach to Lignocellulosic Ethanol Production—Prospects and Limitations

Lignocellulosic ethanol is a promising alternative to fossil-derived fuels because lignocellulosic biomass is abundant, cheap and its use is environmentally friendly. However, the high costs of feedstock supply and the expensive processing requirements of lignocellulosic biomass hinder the development of the lignocellulosic biorefinery. Lignocellulosic ethanol production so far, has been based mainly on single feedstocks while the use of mixed feedstocks has been poorly explored. Previous studies from alternative applications of mixed lignocellulosic biomass (MLB) have shown that their use can bring about significant cost savings when compared to single feedstocks. Although laboratory-scale evaluations have demonstrated that mixed feedstocks give comparable or even higher ethanol yields compared to single feedstocks, more empirical studies are needed to establish the possibility of achieving significant cost savings in terms of pre-biorefinery logistics. In this review, some potential benefits of the use of MLB for ethanol production are highlighted. Some anticipated limitations of this approach have been identified and ways to surmount them have been suggested. The outlook for ethanol production from MLB is promising provided that revolutionary measures are taken to ensure the sustainability of the industry.     

Bicyclic Nucleoside Synthesis—A Photochemical Approach

The synthesis of a series of bicyclic nucleosides using photolytic ring-expansion of cyclobutanones is reported. The cyclobutanone precursors were prepared by [2+2] cycloaddition of a series of cyclic alkenes with chlorinated ketenes, derived from dichloro- and trichloroacetyl chloride. The synthesis of the nucleosides was achieved through photolysis of cyclobutanone precursors with 6-chloropurine by UV irradiation. The generality of this method was investigated and the absolute stereochemistry was assigned by NMR spectroscopy. The photoproducts demonstrated a marked preference for the 2′-exo conformation.     

PRENATAL CARE—A Group Psychotherapeutic Approach

It has been well established that “normal” pregnancy gives rise to much anxiety whose source is variable. When not adequately dealt with, the anxiety may masquerade in the guise of physical symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, or, more often, as disquieting emotional counterparts, like irritability and depression.A study was undertaken in the outpatient obstetrical department at U.C.L.A. utilizing a group psychotherapeutic approach. The results helped the patients and offered training to staff in dealing with emotional problems of pregnancy. Patients were seen in groups of seven, twice a month for one-hour sessions. Participating in each group were an obstetrical resident, a psychiatric resident and a nurse. The subject material was not selected beforehand. Groups were similar in that the expected time of delivery of the patients was approximately the same. Results of the study suggested that the much needed emotional support may be supplied in this way with little to no additional time expenditure on the part of the physician or nurse.