Microbial transformations of galanthamin-precursors

Summary Galanthamin is a medical important alkaloid. Its chemical synthesis gives a racemic product in low yields. Starting with a belladinderivative an enzymatic ring closure should lead exclusively to a chiral product possibly with the native structure. Although this reactions type is unknown in preparative biotransformations a large number of microorganisms were tested, unfortunately without success. On the other hand in the screen transformation products were found resulting from specific dealkylations of the subtrate. The type of metabolite formed was dependent on the fungi utilized for the transformation. Additionally two N-oxides were formed by Septomyxa affinis, one in good yield. It is possible that the chirality of this compound can direct the ring closure preferentially or exclusively to the desired stereoisomer of narwedine.     

Cardiomyopathy is associated with ribosomal protein gene haplo-insufficiency in Drosophila melanogaster

The Minute syndrome in Drosophila melanogaster is characterized by delayed development, poor fertility, and short slender bristles. Many Minute loci correspond to disruptions of genes for cytoplasmic ribosomal proteins, and therefore the phenotype has been attributed to alterations in translational processes. Although protein translation is crucial for all cells in an organism, it is unclear why Minute mutations cause effects in specific tissues. To determine whether the heart is sensitive to haplo-insufficiency of genes encoding ribosomal proteins, we measured heart function of Minute mutants using optical coherence tomography. We found that cardiomyopathy is associated with the Minute syndrome caused by haplo-insufficiency of genes encoding cytoplasmic ribosomal proteins. While mutations of genes encoding non-Minute cytoplasmic ribosomal proteins are homozygous lethal, heterozygous deficiencies spanning these non-Minute genes did not cause a change in cardiac function. Deficiencies of genes for non-Minute mitochondrial ribosomal proteins also did not show abnormal cardiac function, with the exception of a heterozygous disruption of mRpS33. We demonstrate that cardiomyopathy is a common trait of the Minute syndrome caused by haplo-insufficiency of genes encoding cytoplasmic ribosomal proteins. In contrast, most cases of heterozygous deficiencies of genes encoding non-Minute ribosomal proteins have normal heart function in adult Drosophila.     

Feasibility of Tomotherapy-Based Image-Guided Radiotherapy to Reduce Aspiration Risk in Patients with Non-Laryngeal and Non-Pharyngeal Head and Neck Cancer

Purpose

The study aims to assess the feasibility of Tomotherapy-based image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) to reduce the aspiration risk in patients with non-laryngeal and non-hypopharyngeal cancer. A retrospective review of 48 patients undergoing radiation for non-laryngeal and non-hypopharyngeal head and neck cancers was conducted. All patients had a modified barium swallow (MBS) prior to treatment, which was repeated one month following radiotherapy. Mean middle and inferior pharyngeal dose was recorded and correlated with the MBS results to determine aspiration risk.

Results

Mean pharyngeal dose was 23.2 Gy for the whole group. Two patients (4.2%) developed trace aspiration following radiotherapy which resolved with swallowing therapy. At a median follow-up of 19 months (1–48 months), all patients were able to resume normal oral feeding without aspiration.

Conclusion and Clinical Relevance

IGRT may reduce the aspiration risk by decreasing the mean pharyngeal dose in the presence of large cervical lymph nodes. Further prospective studies with IGRT should be performed in patients with non-laryngeal and non-hypopharyngeal head and neck cancers to verify this hypothesis.     

Thromboxane and Prostacyclin Levels in Fetal Rabbit Brain and Placenta After Intrauterine Partial Ischemic Episodes

The appearance of arachidonic acid (AA) oxidation products in fetal rabbit brain and placenta under normal or partial short-term ischemic episodes induced by placental blood vessel restriction was examined. Intracerebral administration of [3H]AA into close-to-term rabbit fetuses gave rise to radioactively labeled prostaglandin (PG) E2, thromboxane B2, and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha metabolites as detected by HPLC analysis. A significant increase of 20-30% of [3H]AA precursor into eicosanoids was detected in brain of fetuses after 2-h restriction. The thromboxane B2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha levels were determined by radioimmunoassay technique over a period of 48 h following ischemic episodes. Thromboxane B2 content in affected animals was higher by five- and twofold at 3 h over control fetal brain and placental tissue values, respectively, and remained significantly higher for 24 h. 6-Keto-PGF1 alpha levels reached a peak value that was greater by 2.5- and 1.5-fold at 6 h for the ischemic brain and placental tissue, respectively, compared with control fetuses. PGE2 levels were less affected, attaining a maximum of 1.9- and 1.1-fold in brain and placenta correspondingly. The thromboxane/prostacyclin ratio reached a maximum in the brain after approximately 3 h, while that in the placenta continued to rise even after 20 h. Persisting high levels of thromboxane are indicative of cerebral vasoconstriction and may suggest possible damaging effects.     

Spatial modeling of techno‐economic potential of biojet fuel production in Brazil

It is expected that Brazil could play an important role in biojet fuel (BJF) production in the future due to the long experience in biofuel production and the good agro‐ecological conditions. However, it is difficult to quantify the techno‐economic potential of BJF because of the high spatiotemporal variability of available land, biomass yield, and infrastructure as well as the technological developments in BJF production pathways. The objective of this research is to assess the recent and future techno‐economic potential of BJF production in Brazil and to identify location‐specific optimal combinations of biomass crops and technological conversion pathways. In total, 13 production routes (supply chains) are assessed through the combination of various biomass crops and BJF technologies. We consider temporal land use data to identify potential land availability for biomass production. With the spatial distribution of the land availability and potential yield of biomass crops, biomass production potential and costs are calculated. The BJF production cost is calculated by taking into account the development in the technological pathways and in plant scales. We estimate the techno‐economic potential by determining the minimum BJF total costs and comparing this with the range of fossil jet fuel prices. The techno‐economic potential of BJF production ranges from 0 to 6.4 EJ in 2015 and between 1.2 and 7.8 EJ in 2030, depending on the reference fossil jet fuel price, which varies from 19 to 65 US$/GJ across the airports. The techno‐economic potential consists of a diverse set of production routes. The Northeast and Southeast region of Brazil present the highest potentials with several viable production routes, whereas the remaining regions only have a few promising production routes. The maximum techno‐economic potential of BJF in Brazil could meet almost half of the projected global jet fuel demand toward 2030.     

The Impact of Sustainability Information on Consumer Decision Making

This article presents an empirical analysis of the impact of sustainability information on consumer purchase intentions and how this influence varies by issue (health, environment, and social responsibility), product category, type of consumer, and type of information. We assess over 40,000 online purchase interactions on the website GoodGuide.com and find a significant impact of certain types of sustainability information on purchase intentions, varying across different types of consumers, issues, and product categories. Health ratings in particular showed the strongest effects. Direct users—those who intentionally sought out sustainability information—were most strongly influenced by sustainability information, with an average purchase intention rate increase of 1.15 percentage points for each point increase in overall product score, reported on a zero to ten scale. However, sustainability information had, on average, no impact on nondirect users, demonstrating that simply providing more or better information on sustainability issues will likely have limited impact on changing mainstream consumer behavior unless it is designed to connect into existing decision‐making processes.     

Immunity to Onchocerca spp. in animal hosts

This review summarizes research using Onchocerca spp. in chimpanzees, cattle and mice to gain insight into the protective immune response to the filarial worm Onchocerca volvulus in humans. In addition, Acanthocheilonema viteae has been evaluated as a surrogate filarial worm for studying immunity to the infection. Immune mechanisms controlling these infections are described and initial success using recombinant antigen vaccines in these models is reviewed.     

Quantitative EMG analysis to investigate synergistic coactivation of ankle and knee muscles during isokinetic ankle movement. Part 1: time amplitude analysis.

Synergy generally refers to the coordinated action of several motor elements to produce a specific motor task, either intentionally or automatically. One example is motor irradiation, a sudden spread of synergistic muscular coactivation resulting from a forceful single joint movement. To investigate this type of synergy pattern, a quantitative EMG approach was employed to characterize explicit neuromuscular synergy in the ankle-knee complex during maximal ankle isokinetic contraction. In the present study, isokinetic ankle contractions, both dorsiflexion and plantarflexion, at four different speeds (30, 60, 120, and 240 degrees/s) were studied in a normal adult population (N=11) to assess synergistic coactivation of the prime movers (tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius) and irradiated muscles (ipsilateral and contralateral rectus femoris and biceps femoris) of the ankle-knee complex. Electromyographic signals were collected with surface EMG electrodes and processed with traditional time-amplitude analysis to examine specific neural control strategies. The data generally supported several empirical assumptions common to neurological facilitation techniques. (1) Motor irradiation to the knee muscles due to ankle muscle isokinetic contraction was strongly directionally dependent. (2) Motor irradiation to the ipsilateral knee muscles due to ankle isokinetic contraction was speed dependent. (3) The prime movers demonstrated a similar control strategy, irrespective of different contraction speeds.