A Clean Kill: Tracking the Socio-technological Aspects of Slaughtering Animals in Iran

The slaughterhouse, whether it is seen as an institution, as an industry, or as a unique technological system, is arguably right at the heart of modernism. Human–animal relationships and more generally human–nature relationships bring about issues of rationalization, alienation, and commodity fetishism, while raising philosophical concerns of the human worldview. Current practices of animal slaughter in Iran challenge the core values of Islamic teachings. Slaughterhouses are hidden from the public, segregated into various sections, and follow the exact same models of industrial production as in other parts of the world. Since they must abide by Islamic ways of slaughter and therefore become Halal, these slaughterhouses are slightly modified accordingly. When meat, or what is recently referred to as protein, shows up in the market, it conceals any sign of its true origin—it is neatly packaged with layers of plastic and modern colorful labels showing animals happily grazing on open, green pasture. The findings of this research point to the subtle imbalance and alienation created between humans and animals in Iran.     

Functional response of Nesidiocoris tenuis (Hemiptera: Miridae) to the two-spotted spider mite,Tetranychus urticae

We examined the functional response of Nesidiocoris tenuis to varying densities of the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae and found that the data fit a Type II response, with the attack rate (a) increasing with increased predator size. N. tenuis can be considered as a potential biological control agent of this pest in tomato.     

Forced degradation of recombinant monoclonal antibodies: A practical guide

Forced degradation studies have become integral to the development of recombinant monoclonal antibody therapeutics by serving a variety of objectives from early stage manufacturability evaluation to supporting comparability assessments both pre- and post- marketing approval. This review summarizes the regulatory guidance scattered throughout different documents to highlight the expectations from various agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency. The various purposes for forced degradation studies, commonly used conditions and the major degradation pathways under each condition are also discussed.     

Oxidative status and reduced glutathione levels in premature coronary artery disease and coronary artery disease

Identifying patients at risk of developing premature coronary artery disease (PCAD) which occurs at age below 45 years old and constitutes approximately 7–10% of coronary artery disease (CAD) worldwide remains a problem. Oxidative stress has been proposed as a crucial step in the early development of PCAD. This study was conducted to determine the oxidative status of PCAD in comparison to CAD patients. PCAD (<45 years old) and CAD (>60 years old) patients were recruited with age-matched controls (n?=?30, each group). DNA damage score, plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein carbonyl content were measured for oxidative damage markers. Antioxidants such as erythrocyte glutathione (GSH), oxidised glutathione (GSSG), and glutathione peroxidase activity (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were also determined. DNA damage score and protein carbonyl content were significantly higher in both PCAD and CAD when compared to age-matched controls while MDA level was increased only in PCAD (p<.05). In contrast, GSH, GSH/GSSG ratio, α-tocotrienol isomer, and GPx activity were significantly decreased, but only in PCAD when compared to age-matched controls. The decrease in GSH was associated with PCAD (OR?=?0.569 95%CI [0.375???0.864], p?=?.008) and cut-off values of 6.69?μM with areas under the ROC curves (AUROC) 95%CI: 0.88 [0.80–0.96] (sensitivity of 83.3%; specificity of 80%). However, there were no significant differences in SOD and CAT activities in all groups. A higher level of oxidative stress indicated by elevated MDA levels and low levels of GSH, α-tocotrienol and GPx activity in patients below 45 years old may play a role in the development of PCAD and has potential as biomarkers for PCAD.     

Vital roles of stem cells and biomaterials in skin tissue engineering

Tissue engineering essentially refers to technology for growing new human tissue and is distinct from regenerative medicine. Currently, pieces of skin are already being fabricated for clinical use and many other tissue types may be fabricated in the future.Tissue engineering was first defined in 1987 by the United States National Science Foundation which critically discussed the future targets of bioengineering research and its consequences. The principles of tissue engineering are to initiate cell cultures in vitro, grow them on scaffolds in situ and transplant the composite into a recipient in vivo. From the beginning, scaffolds have been necessary in tissue engineering applications. Regardless, the latest technology has redirected established approaches by omitting scaffolds. Currently, scientists from diverse research institutes are engineering skin without scaffolds. Due to their advantageous properties, stem cells have robustly transformed the tissue engineering field as part of an engineered bilayered skin substitute that will later be discussed in detail. Additionally, utilizing biomaterials or skin replacement products in skin tissue engineering as strategy to successfully direct cell proliferation and differentiation as well as to optimize the safety of handling during grafting is beneficial. This approach has also led to the cells’ application in developing the novel skin substitute that will be briefly explained in this review.     

The transmembrane segment of ryanodine receptor contains an intracellular membrane retention signal for Ca(2+) release channel.

The ryanodine receptor (RyR) is a large homotetrameric protein with a hydrophobic domain at the C-terminal end that resides in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane and forms the conduction pore of a Ca(2+) release channel. Our previous studies showed that RyR expressed in heterologous cells localized to the ER membrane. Confocal microscopic imaging indicated that the ER retention signal is likely present within the C-terminal portion of RyR, a region that contains four putative transmembrane segments. To identify the amino acid sequence responsible for ER retention of RyR, we expressed fusion proteins containing intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM), various fragments of RyR, and green fluorescent protein (GFP) in Chinese hamster ovary and COS-7 cells. ICAM is a plasma membrane-resident glycoprotein and serves as a reporter for protein trafficking to the cell surface membrane. Imaging analyses indicated that ICAM-GFP fusion proteins with RyR sequence preceding the four transmembrane segments, ICAM-RyR-(3661-3993)-GFP, and with RyR sequence corresponding to transmembrane segments 1, 2, and 3, ICAM-RyR-(4558-4671)-GFP and ICAM-RyR-(4830-4919)-GFP, were localized to the plasma membrane; fusion proteins containing the fourth transmembrane segment of RyR, ICAM-RyR-(4913-4943)-GFP, were retained in the ER. Biochemical assay showed that ICAM-RyR-GFP fusion proteins that target to the plasma membrane are fully glycosylated, and those retained in the intracellular membrane are core-glycosylated. Together our data indicate that amino acids 4918-4943 of RyR contain the signal sequence for ER retention of the Ca(2+) release channel.     

Scavenging of peroxynitrite by phycocyanin and phycocyanobilin from Spirulina platensis: protection against oxidative damage to DNA.

Peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) is known to inactivate important cellular targets and also mediate oxidative damage in DNA. The present study has demonstrated that phycocyanin, a biliprotein from spirulina platensis and its chromophore, phycocyanobilin (PCB), efficiently scavenge ONOO(-), a potent physiological inorganic toxin. Scavenging of ONOO(-) by phycocyanin and PCB was established by studying their interaction with ONOO(-) and quantified by using competition kinetics of pyrogallol red bleaching assay. The relative antioxidant ratio and IC(50) value clearly indicate that phycocyanin is a more efficient ONOO(-) scavenger than PCB. The present study has also shown that PCB significantly inhibits the ONOO(-)-mediated single-strand breaks in supercoiled plasmid DNA in a dose-dependent manner with an IC(50) value of 2.9 +/- 0.6 microM. These results suggest that phycocyanin, has the ability to inhibit the ONOO(-)-mediated deleterious biological effects and hence has the potential to be used as a therapeutic agent.