Next issue: Mitochondria and ageing

The June 2008 issue of BTJ is devoted to Mitochondria and ageing. Featuring articles on: – Dietary restriction genes involved in energy metabolism – Structural implications of mitochondrial dynamics – Mitochondrial protein quality control: Implications in ageing – Age-related mitochondrial degenerative diseases in humans – The impact of mitochondrial DNA on human life span – Insulin-like growth factor induced signals activate mitochondrial respiration – Senescence factors in Podospora anserina independent of intrinsic senescence – Native-DIGE: A new look at the mitochondrial membrane proteome – Fusion and fission genes and the regulation of mitochondrial dynamics Many of these exciting articles are already available online under “Early View”! A sneak preview of other content can be found under “News”.     

BTJ future topical issues

Next issue: Biotech in Korea The May 2008 issue of BTJ is devoted to Biotech in Korea. Featuring articles on: – Recent progress in microbial genome projects of Korea – Bio-Vision 2016: the 2nd Base Plan for biotechnology promotion in Korea – Strategies for systems-level metabolic engineering – Cell engineering strategies for improved therapeutic protein production in CHO cells – Development of bioadhesives from marine mussels – Dynamical analysis of the calcium signaling pathway in cardiac myocytes – Systems biology of heart and calcium signaling networks – Non-labeled detection of waterborne pathogen Cryptosporidium parvum – Injectable and sustained delivery of human growth hormone: A new method – Exploring sequence space: Screening for ω-aminotransferases Many of these exciting articles are already available online under "Early View"! A sneak preview of other content can be found under “News”. http://www.biotechnology-journal.com     

Next issue (January 2008): Methods and Advances in Biotech

Edited by Dr. Barbara Janssens, Managing Editor – Recombinant therapeutic proteins – Technical aspects of biocatalysis – Advances in safe and efficient DNA therapy – SeSaM-Tv: A random mutagenesis method – Bioinformatics: Identifying interacting residues using boolean learning and support vector machines – 3D imaging flow cytometry – Flow cytometry technology responding to HIV-tuberculosis coinfections – Stem cell cultures: Technical aspects Many of these exciting articles are already available online under “Early View”! A sneak preview of other content can be found under “News”.     

Upcoming articles in BTJ

Next issue: RNA-assisted Protein Folding The July 2008 issue of BTJ is devoted to RNA-assisted Protein Folding, edited by Professor Marc Blondel (Brest, France). BTJ will be featuring articles on: – Role of ribosomes in protein folding – Tools for the study of Ribosome-borne Protein Folding Activity (RPFA) – RNA-driven cyclin-dependent kinase regulation – The presence of rRNA sequences in polyadenylated RNAs and its potential functions – Non-coding RNAs in neurodegeneration and stress response – Folding at the rhythm of the rare codon beat Many of these exciting articles are already available online under “Early View”! A sneak preview of other content can be found under “News”. http://www.biotechnology-journal.com     

Cover Picture: Biotechnology Journal 11/2012

This “regular” issue of Biotechnology Journal gathers the state‐of‐the‐art in biotechnology, with articles on bioenergy, biofuels, medical biotechnology, biomaterials, etc. Image: © Sergej Khackimullin – Fotolia.com.     

Next issue (February 2008): Focus on Protein Production

Edited by Dr. Alois Jungbauer, Vienna, Austria – Special Articles on Protein Synthesis Pharmacological agents against protein aggregation Amaranth seed protein expression Direct infusion LC-MS for macrotetrolide biosynthesis Silk protein based matrix for the enzymatic conversion of tyrosine to L-DOPA Spectroscopy analysis of inclusion bodies – Regular Articles Antioxidant and free radical scavenging Procyanidins in apple juice – Methods and Advances in Biotech Dielectric measurement of short DNA Enhancement of immunity in mice Use of proteomics in biotechnology Many of these exciting articles are already available online under “Early View”! A sneak preview of other content can be found under “News”.     

A review of the West Palaearctic aphidiines (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) parasitic on Uroleucon spp., with the description of a new species

A review of aphidiine wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) parasitizing the Uroleucon species in the West Palaearctic is presented. Eleven species are keyed and illustrated. In addition, a new hymenopteran parasitoid species: Praon nonveilleri n. sp. from Uroleucon inulicola (Hille Ris Lambers) infesting Inula ensifolia L., is described. The new species is diagnosed and illustrated. It belongs to the “dorsale-yomenaé” species group and was collected from the Djetinja canyon in Serbia and Montenegro. The aphidiines presented in this work were identified from 97 aphid taxons occurring on 236 plant taxons. Furthermore, 361 original parasitoid – host aphid – host plant associations of the species mentioned in the key are presented. Finally, phylogenetic relationships inside the “dorsale-yomenae” species group and related species were reconstructed using cladistic distance methods.     

Flow‐mediated plasticity in the expression of stickleback nesting glue genes

Nest construction is an essential component of the reproductive behavior of many species, and attributes of nests – including their location and structure – have implications for both their functional capacity as incubators for developing offspring, and their attractiveness to potential mates. To maximize reproductive success, nests must therefore be suited to local environmental conditions. Male three‐spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) build nests from collected materials and use an endogenous, glue‐like multimeric protein – “spiggin” – as an adhesive. Spiggin is encoded by a multigene family, and differential expression of spiggin genes potentially allows plasticity in nest construction in response to variable environments. Here, we show that the expression of spiggin genes is affected significantly by both the flow regime experienced by a fish and its nesting status. Further, we show the effects of flow on expression patterns are gene‐specific. Nest‐building fish exhibited consistently higher expression levels of the three genes under investigation (Spg‐a, Spg‐1, and Spg‐2) than non‐nesting controls, irrespective of rearing flow treatment. Fish reared under flowing‐water conditions showed significantly increased levels of spiggin gene expression compared to those reared in still water, but this effect was far stronger for Spg‐a than for Spg‐1 or Spg‐2. The strong effect of flowing water on Spg‐a expression, even among non‐nesters, suggests that the increased production of spiggin – or of spiggin rich in the component contributed by Spg‐a – may allow more rapid and/or effective nest construction under challenging high flow conditions.     

Next issue (April 2008): Novel Approaches to Drug Discovery in Signal Transduction

Edited by Lodewijk Dekker, Nottingham, UK – Computational chemistry approaches – Cell-based assays for G-Protein-coupled Receptors – Cell-based label-free technologies Methods and Advances in Biotech – Application of proteomics in biotechnology – Mining marine biological wastes for bioactive molecules – PCR-based strategy to express endogenous protein levels in yeast – Method for tracking nanogel particles – Gene expression studies on bio-electrosprayed primary cardiac myocytes Many of these exciting articles are already available online under “Early View”! A sneak preview of other content can be found under “News”. http://www.biotechnology-journal.com     

Introduction: The Politics of Order in Contemporary Papua New Guinea

ABSTRACT

This collection of articles seeks to demonstrate that the concept of order – the intensive and extensive coordination of human action across space and time – is useful for answering some of the most pressing theoretical and practical questions in contemporary Papua New Guinea (PNG) today. Building on existing work in this field [Benda-Beckmann, K., and F. Pirie. 2007. “Introduction.” In Order and Disorder: Anthropological Perspectives, 1–15. New York: Berghahn Books] in this special issue we ask: How do people create enduring, stable, and routinised life in contemporary Melanesia today? We position our work as the next step in a growing movement to study contemporary institutions in PNG as order-making projects, rather than attempting to divide them into legitimate projects like ‘government’ and false or ineffective ones like ‘cargo cults’.     

Helicobacter pylori outer inflammatory protein A (OipA) suppresses apoptosis of AGS gastric cells in vitro

Outer inflammatory protein A (OipA) is an important virulence factor associated with gastric cancer and ulcer development; however, the results have not been well established and turned out to be controversial. This study aims to elucidate the role of OipA in Helicobacter pylori infection using clinical strains harbouring oipA “on” and “off” motifs. Proteomics analysis was performed on AGS cell pre‐infection and postinfection with H. pylori oipA “on” and “off” strains, using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. AGS apoptosis and cell cycle assays were performed. Moreover, expression of vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA) was screened using Western blotting. AGS proteins that have been suggested previously to play a role or associated with gastric disease were down‐regulated postinfection with oipA “off” strains comparing to oipA “on” strains. Furthermore, oipA “off” and ΔoipA cause higher level of AGS cells apoptosis and G0/G1 cell‐cycle arrest than oipA “on” strains. Interestingly, deletion of oipA increased bacterial VacA production. The capability of H. pylori to induce apoptosis and suppress expression of proteins having roles in human disease in the absence of oipA suggests that strains not expressing OipA may be less virulent or may even be protective against carcinogenesis compared those expressing OipA. This potentially explains the higher incidence of gastric cancer in East Asia where oipA “on” strains predominates.     

Next issue (June 2007): Molecular Recognition Technologies

Edited by Professor Alois Jungbauer, Vienna, Austria Highlight articles: – High-throughput protein purification under denaturating conditions – Efficient solubilization of inclusion bodies – Affinity precipitation an option for early capture in bioprocessing – IgG-Fc ligands derived from a soluble peptide library – Recombinant glycerol dehydratase from Klebsiella pneumoniae – In vivo glyco-engineered antibody with improved lytic potential – Plasmid adsorption to anion-exchange matrices – Biotransformation and chromatography ... and much more: Read the next issue of BTJ!     

Toward the Development of Metal‐Free Synthetic Nucleases: Cleavage of a Model Substrates by 1,4‐Diazabicyclo[2.2.2]Octane Derivatives

Artificial ribonucleases of A_nBCL series were synthesized by solid‐phase method. They consist of a hydrophobic alkyl radical A (n = 3–12 carbon atoms), an “RNA‐binding domain” B (bisquaternary salt of 1,4‐diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane), a “catalytic domain” C (histidine residue) and a “linker” L that joins the domains B and C. The effect of the alkyl radical on the catalytic properties of the chemical catalyst was studied using three activated phosphate ester substrates: p‐nitrophenyl phosphate, bis‐p‐nitrophenyl phosphate, and thymidine‐3′‐p‐nitrophenyl phosphate.     

Next issue (April 2007): Milk Processing

Edited by Prof. Knut Heller, Karlsruhe, Germany. Highlight articles: – Bacteriophages in dairy products: Pros and cons – Liberation of bioactive peptides from milk proteins – Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus for yoghurt with mild taste – Prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides production using Lactobacillus reuteri – Lactobacillus kefiri biotransformation of pentoxifylline – Modification of milk proteins by microbial transglutaminase ... and much more: Read the next issue of BTJ!     

Seasonal Development of Phytoplankton in Fish Ponds

At the fish ponds under study the authors defined several types of plankton which have been frequently found during the season (April – October). These types are: Early-spring maximum of phytoplankton, Depression of phytoplankton, Bloom of Aphanizomenon, Maximum of Chlorococcales. The periods of “depression” seem to be typical for the managed carp ponds in the spring. They are characterized by the low density of rapidly reproducing algal populations (e. g. Cryptomonas) and by the dense populations of large cladocerans of the genus Daphnia. Chlorophyll in phytoplankton is less than 5μg/l, transparency is higher than 2 meters. Periods of the spring depression may be followed by the maxima of either Aphanizomenon or Chlorococcales, with concentrations of chlorophyll increasing to 100 μg/l and more. The change from the phase of “depression” to the “maximum of Chlorococcales” is accompanied by decrease in numbers of Daphnia and increase in numbers of the small cladoceran species, but all the mechanisms responsible for the transition are not yet fully understood.     

Characterizing the multivariate physiogenomic response to environmental change

Global change is altering the climate that species have historically adapted to – in some cases at a pace not recently experienced in their evolutionary history – with cascading effects on all taxa. A central aim in global change biology is to understand how specific populations may be “primed” for global change, either through acclimation or adaptive standing genetic variation. It is therefore an important goal to link physiological measurements to the degree of stress a population experiences (Annual Review of Marine Science, 2012, 4, 39). Although “omic” approaches such as gene expression are often used as a proxy for the amount of stress experienced, we still have a poor understanding of how gene expression affects ecologically and physiologically relevant traits in non‐model organisms. In a From the Cover paper in this issue of Molecular Ecology, Griffiths, Pan and Kelley (Molecular Ecology, 2019, 28) link gene expression to physiological traits in a temperate marine coral. They discover population‐specific responses to ocean acidification for two populations that originated from locations with different histories of exposure to acidification. By integrating physiological and gene expression data, they were able to elucidate the mechanisms that explain these population‐specific responses. Their results give insight into the physiogenomic feedbacks that may prime organisms or make them unfit for ocean global change.     

The biological effects upon the cardiovascular system consequent to exposure to particulates of less than 500 nm in size

Context: Ultrafine particulate matter contribution to cardiovascular disease is not known and not regulated. PM up to 500?nm are abundant in urban air and alveolar deposition is significant.

Objective: Effects beyond the alveolar barrier within the body or in vitro tissues exposed to particles?<500?nm.

Methods and results: Databases: MEDLINE; Ovid-MEDLINE PREM; Web of Science; PubMed (SciGlobe). 127 articles. Results in tables: “subject type exposed”, “exposure type”, “technique”.

Conclusion: Heart rate, vasoactivity, atherosclerotic advancement, oxidative stress, coagulability, inflammatory changes are affected. Production of reactive oxygen species is a useful target to limit outcomes associated with UFP exposure.     

Bibliometric analysis of Helicobacter pylori resistance—from 2002 to 2022

Background

Drug resistance in Helicobacter pylori severely affects the efficacy of eradication therapy, and a number of studies have been conducted on this issue. The aim of this study was to assess the progress in this field using a bibliometric approach.

Materials and Methods

Publications related to H. pylori resistance from 2002 to 2022 were retrieved from the Web of Science database. Relevant information including titles, authors, countries, and keywords was extracted, and the data were processed using Excel, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace software for co-authorship, co-citation, and co-occurrence analysis.

Results

From 2002 to 2022 (as of 09/24/2022), the field of H. pylori–resistance research produced a total of 2677 publications with a total of 75217 citations, with an overall upward trend in the annual number of articles published, reaching a peak of 204 in 2019. Articles were mainly published in Q1 or Q2 journals, with Helicobacter (TP = 261) publishing the most literature, Baylor College of Medicine (TP = 68) and Deng-chyang wu (TP = 38) being the most prolific institutions and authors, respectively. China and the United States were the locations of most of the articles, accounting for 35.08% of the global publication volume. Keyword co-occurrence analysis divided H. pylori-resistance research into four clusters: “Therapeutic Strategies,” “Diseases,” “Mechanism Research and Epidemiology,” and “Drug Research.” “Drug research” and burst detection indicate that the current research hotspot involves the selection and analysis of treatment strategies.

Conclusions

H. pylori–resistance research has become a popular research field, and although there are significant contributions from Europe, the United States, and East Asia, there are significant imbalances between regions that cannot be ignored. In addition, the exploration of treatment strategies remains a key issue for research at the current stage.