New approaches for high-yield purification of Müllerian inhibiting substance improve its bioactivity

We have established a new method to purify Müllerian inhibiting substance (MIS) with higher purity and recovery over existing procedures. Recombinant human MIS was expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells and secreted into chemically defined serum-free media. The secreted products were concentrated by either precipitation with ammonium sulfate or lectin-affinity chromatography, each of which was followed by anion-exchange chromatography. Further separation of the active carboxy-terminal domain of MIS was achieved after cleavage by plasmin followed by lectin-affinity chromatography. This method may be applicable to other members of the transforming growth factor beta family with which MIS shares sequence homology.     

Evaluation of the 2013 Southeast Asian Haze on Solar Generation Performance

Pollution in Southeast Asia is a major public energy problem and the cause of energy losses. A significant problem with respect to this type of pollution is that it decreases energy yield. In this study, two types of photovoltaic (PV) solar arrays were used to evaluate the effect of air pollution. The performance of two types of solar arrays were analysed in this research, namely, two units of a 1 kWp tracking flat photovoltaic (TFP) and two units of a 1 kWp fixed flat photovoltaic arrays (FFP). Data analysis was conducted on 2,190 samples at 30 min intervals from 01^st June 2013, when both arrays were washed, until 30^th June 2013. The performance was evaluated by using environmental data (irradiation, temperature, dust thickness, and air pollution index), power output, and energy yield. Multiple regression models were predicted in view of the environmental data and PV array output. Results showed that the fixed flat system was more affected by air pollution than the tracking flat plate. The contribution of this work is that it considers two types of photovoltaic arrays under the Southeast Asian pollution 2013.     

Proinflammatory cytokine gene polymorphisms in Behçet's disease

Beh?et's disease (BD) is a chronic, systemic disease, characterized by oral and genital lesions, and ocular inflammation. There is evidence indicating altered levels of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in patients with BD. This study involved 150 patients with BD and 140 healthy controls, and investigated the role of proinflammatory cytokine gene polymorphisms in the disease. The frequency of the TNF-α (-238) G/G genotype was significantly higher in the patient group, compared to the controls (p < 0.001), whilst the G/A genotype was significantly lower in the patients with BD (p < 0.001). Patients with BD showed a significant increase in the TNF-α (- 308, - 238) GG haplotype (p < 0.001), whilst there was a significant decrease in the GA haplotype (p < 0.001). The heterozygous, IL-6 (- 174) C/G genotype (p = 0.005), and the IL-6 (- 174, nt565) haplotype CG (p < 0.001), were significantly decreased in the patient group. The increased production of proinflammatory cytokines in BD could be a consequence of specific, cytokine gene polymorphisms. Particular genotypes and haplotypes in TNF-α were over-represented in BD, which may, in turn, predispose individuals to this disease.     

Comparative power spectral analysis of simultaneous elecroencephalographic and magnetoencephalographic recordings in humans suggests non-resistive extracellular media

The resistive or non-resistive nature of the extracellular space in the brain is still debated, and is an important issue for correctly modeling extracellular potentials. Here, we first show theoretically that if the medium is resistive, the frequency scaling should be the same for electroencephalogram (EEG) and magnetoencephalogram (MEG) signals at low frequencies (<10 Hz). To test this prediction, we analyzed the spectrum of simultaneous EEG and MEG measurements in four human subjects. The frequency scaling of EEG displays coherent variations across the brain, in general between 1/f and 1/f ², and tends to be smaller in parietal/temporal regions. In a given region, although the variability of the frequency scaling exponent was higher for MEG compared to EEG, both signals consistently scale with a different exponent. In some cases, the scaling was similar, but only when the signal-to-noise ratio of the MEG was low. Several methods of noise correction for environmental and instrumental noise were tested, and they all increased the difference between EEG and MEG scaling. In conclusion, there is a significant difference in frequency scaling between EEG and MEG, which can be explained if the extracellular medium (including other layers such as dura matter and skull) is globally non-resistive.     

Identification of novel small RNAs in tomato (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Solanum lycopersicum</Emphasis>)

To date, the majority of plant small RNAs (sRNA) have been identified in rice, poplar and Arabidopsis. To identify novel tomato sRNAs potentially involved in tomato specific processes such as fruit development and/or ripening, we cloned 4,018 sRNAs from tomato fruit tissue at the mature green stage. From this pool of sRNAs, we detected tomato homologues of nine known miRNAs, including miR482; a poplar miRNA not conserved in Arabidopsis or rice. We identified three novel putative miRNAs with flanking sequence that could be folded into a stem-loop precursor structure and which accumulated as 19-24nt RNA. One of these putative miRNAs (Put-miRNA3) exhibited significantly higher expression in fruit compared with leaf tissues, indicating a specific role in fruit development processes. We also identified nine sRNAs that accumulated as 19–24nt RNA species in tomato but genome sequence was not available for these loci. None of the nine sRNAs or three putative miRNAs possessed a homologue in Arabidopsis that had a precursor with a predicted stem-loop structure or that accumulated as a sRNA species, suggesting that the 12 sRNAs we have identified in tomato may have a species specific role in this model fruit species. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Noncanonical regulation of alkylation damage resistance by the OTUD4 deubiquitinase

Repair of DNA alkylation damage is critical for genomic stability and involves multiple conserved enzymatic pathways. Alkylation damage resistance, which is critical in cancer chemotherapy, depends on the overexpression of alkylation repair proteins. However, the mechanisms responsible for this upregulation are unknown. Here, we show that an OTU domain deubiquitinase, OTUD4, is a positive regulator of ALKBH2 and ALKBH3, two DNA demethylases critical for alkylation repair. Remarkably, we find that OTUD4 catalytic activity is completely dispensable for this function. Rather, OTUD4 is a scaffold for USP7 and USP9X, two deubiquitinases that act directly on the AlkB proteins. Moreover, we show that loss of OTUD4, USP7, or USP9X in tumor cells makes them significantly more sensitive to alkylating agents. Taken together, this work reveals a novel, noncanonical mechanism by which an OTU family deubiquitinase regulates its substrates, and provides multiple new targets for alkylation chemotherapy sensitization of tumors.     

First Report of Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens Causing Cowpea Bacterial Wilt in Iran

During surveys in cowpea fields of Marand County, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, in the summer of 2013, a suspected bacterial disease was observed on cowpea leaves as tan spots and interveinal necrotic lesions surrounded by chlorotic margins. The disease was of high incidence where some fields had been fully destroyed and severity of the disease in some fields had reached up to 70%. Gram‐positive, yellow‐pigmented, coryneform bacteria were isolated from infected leaves. Pathogenicity of isolates was confirmed on 20‐day‐old cowpea (cv. Khoy) plants, and they were identified as Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens based on biochemical test results confirmed using specific PCR primers. This is the first report of C. flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens, the causal agent of cowpea bacterial wilt in Iran.     

An efficient in vitro shoot regeneration from leaf petiolar explants and ex vitro rooting of Bixa orellana L.- A dye yielding plant

Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants - Bixa orellana L. (Bixaceae) is a multipurpose tree grown for the production of commercially important dyes. In the present study, an efficient,...     

Pre-ejection period by radial artery tonometry supplements echo doppler findings during biventricular pacemaker optimization

Background

Biventricular (Biv) pacemaker echo optimization has been shown to improve cardiac output however is not routinely used due to its complexity. We investigated the role of a simple method involving computerized pre-ejection time (PEP) assessment by radial artery tonometry in guiding Biv pacemaker optimization.

Methods

Blinded echo and radial artery tonometry were performed simultaneously in 37 patients, age 69.1 ± 12.8 years, left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) 33 ± 10%, during Biv pacemaker optimization. Effect of optimization on echo derived velocity time integral (VTI), ejection time (ET), myocardial performance index (MPI), radial artery tonometry derived PEP and echo-radial artery tonometry derived PEP/VTI and PEP/ET indices was evaluated.

Results

Significant improvement post optimization was achieved in LV ET (286.9 ± 37.3 to 299 ± 34.6 ms, p < 0.001), LV VTI (15.9 ± 4.8 cm to 18.4 ± 5.1 cm, p < 0.001) and MPI (0.57 ± 0.2 to 0.45 ± 0.13, p < 0.001) and in PEP (246.7 ± 36.1 ms to 234.7 ± 35.5 ms, p = 0.003), PEP/ET (0.88 ± 0.21 to 0.79 ± 0.17, p < 0.001), and PEP/VTI (17.3 ± 7 to 13.78 ± 4.7, p < 0.001). The correlation between comprehensive echo Doppler and radial artery tonometry-PEP guided optimal atrioventricular delay (AVD) and optimal interventricular delay (VVD) was 0.75 (p < 0.001) and 0.69 (p < 0.001) respectively. In 29 patients with follow up assessment, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class reduced from 2.5 ± 0.8 to 2.0 ± 0.9 (p = 0.004) at 1.8 ± 1.4 months.

Conclusion

An acute shortening of PEP by radial artery tonometry occurs post Biv pacemaker optimization and correlates with improvement in hemodynamics by echo Doppler and may provide a cost-efficient approach to assist with Biv pacemaker echo optimization.