Fermented soybean meal extract improves oxidative stress factors in the lung of inflammation/infection animal model

Context

Fermented soybean products have been used in various ways, and more research is being conducted on them to reveal their benefit.

Objective

The objective of this study was to evaluate the antioxidative activity of fermented soybean meal extract by Lactobacillus plantarum in vitro and in vivo tests.

Materials and methods

A Lactobacillus plantarum strain RM10 was selected through plate and fermentation experiment, which increased the degree of protein hydrolysis (1.015 μg/mL) and antioxidant activity in soybean meal fermented by selected bacteria (FSBM). In vivo study was done on septic rats as an inflammation/infection model, and then the trial groups were treated with different concentrations of fermented soybean meal extracts (FSBM, 5, 10, and 20%).

Results

DPPH radical-scavenging and ferrozine ion-chelating activity enhanced (P < 0.05) after fermentation of soybean meal compared to control group. Reduced (P < 0.05) expression of inflammatory genes and enzymes was detected in the lungs of rats treated with fermented soybean meal extract.

Discussion and conclusions

These results demonstrated that a diet containing fermented soybean meal extract improved extreme inflammatory response in an infectious disease like sepsis by reducing inflammatory factors.

     

Evaluation of HYDRUS-1D and modified PRZM-3 models for tribenuron methyl herbicide transport in soil profile under vetiver cultivation

Abstract

Tribenuron methyl (TBM) is widely used in weed control. Due to its phytotoxicity, concerns on TBM pollution to soil have been raised. In this research, TBM concentration in the soil profile and vetiver grass were measured and simulated using HYDRUS-1D and modified PRZM-3 models. The treatments were two herbicide concentrations to soil with vetiver (C₁V and C₂V) and without vetiver (C₁S and C₂S). In control treatment (C_o) no herbicide was applied to the soil. In general, according to the measured data, TBM soil residues in C₁V and C₂V treatments were 39.8% and 30.1% lower than that obtained in C₁S and C₂S treatments, respectively. The TBM was leached to 90?cm soil depth and it was limited to about 50?cm in the treatments with vetiver grass. The simulated herbicide residue in the soil profile in modified PRZM-3 model was more accurate than the HYDRUS-1D model. The dissipation processes of herbicides in soil and solving method of water movement in soil, considered in the modified PRZM-3 model, are more precise than that obtained in the HYDRUS-1D model. However, the prediction of TBM uptake by vetiver in the HYDRUS-1D model was closer to the measured values than that obtained in the modified PRZM-3 model.     

Classification of activity engagement in individuals with severe physical disabilities using signals of the peripheral nervous system

Communication barriers often result in exclusion of children and youth with disabilities from activities and social settings that are essential to their psychosocial development. In particular, difficulties in describing their experiences of activities and social settings hinder our understanding of the factors that promote inclusion and participation of this group of individuals. To address this specific communication challenge, we examined the feasibility of developing a language-free measure of experience in youth with severe physical disabilities. To do this, we used the activity of the peripheral nervous system to detect patterns of psychological arousal associated with activities requiring different patterns of cognitive/affective and interpersonal involvement (activity engagement). We demonstrated that these signals can differentiate among patterns of arousal associated with these activities with high accuracy (two levels: 81%, three levels: 74%). These results demonstrate the potential for development of a real-time, motor- and language-free measure for describing the experiences of children and youth with disabilities.     

Method to assemble and integrate biochemical pathways into the chloroplast genome of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Recombinant protein expression in the chloroplasts of green algae has recently become more routine; however, the heterologous expression of multiple proteins or complete biosynthetic pathways remains a significant challenge. Here, we show that a modified DNA Assembler approach can be used to rapidly assemble multiple‐gene biosynthetic pathways in yeast and then integrate these assembled pathways at a site‐specific location in the chloroplast genome of the microalgal species Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. As a proof of concept, this method was used to successfully integrate and functionally express up to three reporter proteins (AphA6, AadA, and GFP) in the chloroplast of C. reinhardtii. An analysis of the relative gene expression of the engineered strains showed significant differences in the mRNA expression levels of the reporter genes and thus highlights the importance of proper promoter/untranslated region selection when constructing a target pathway. This new method represents a useful genetic tool in the construction and integration of complex biochemical pathways into the chloroplast genome of microalgae and should aid current efforts to engineer algae for biofuels production and other desirable natural products. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2012; 109: 2896–2903. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Density functional theory studies of oxygen and carbonate binding to a dicopper patellamide complex

In this work we present results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations on dicopper patellamides and their affinity for molecular oxygen and carbonate. Patellamides are cyclic octapeptides that are produced by a cyanobacterium, and may show promise as therapeutics. Thus, carbonate binding to a dicopper patellamide center gives a stable cyclic octapeptide with a twist of almost 90°. The system exists in close-lying open-shell singlet and triplet spin states with two unpaired electrons in orthogonal σ^∗ orbitals on each metal center. Subsequently, we replaced carbonate with dioxygen and found a stable Cu₂(μ-O)₂ diamond shaped patellamide core. In this structure the original dioxygen bond is significantly weakened to essentially a single bond, which should enable the system to transfer these oxygen atoms to substrates. We predicted the IR and Raman spectra of the Cu₂(μ-O)₂ diamond shaped patellamide structure using density functional theory and found a considerable isotope effect on the O-O stretch vibration for ¹⁶O₂ versus ¹⁸O₂ bound structures. Our studies reveal that carbonate forms an extremely stable complex with dicopper patellamide, but that additional molecular oxygen to this system does not give a potential oxidant. Therefore, it is more likely that carbonate prepares the system for dioxygen binding by folding it into the correct configuration followed in the proposed catalytic cycle by a protonation event preceding dioxygen binding to enable the system to reorganize to form a stable Cu₂(μ-O)₂-patellamide cluster. Alternatively, carbonate may act as an inhibitor that blocks the catalytic activity of the system. It is anticipated that the Cu₂(μ-O)₂-patellamide structure is a potential active oxidant of the dicopper patellamide complex.