Purine salvage as metabolite and energy saving mechanism in Camelus dromedarius: the recovery of guanine

The preservation of purine ring as purine bases appears to be a common feature of camel liver. Hepatic guanine appears to be actively converted into GMP in the camel rather than further degraded. The limiting step of guanine degradation appears to be the lack of hepatic guanase activity. Higher purine bases over uric acid ratios were found in camel urine with respect to those of zebu.     

Creating a Fit Between BPR and IT Infrastructure: A Proposed Framework for Effective Implementation

As business imperatives change and new high-capability information technologies (IT) appear, organizations recognize the need to remain at the forefront of change by reengineering their business processes and implementing enabling responsive IT infrastructures. However, experience in this context indicates a lack of comprehension of essential elements and their mutual relationships that can contribute to the success of business-process change-implementation efforts. This article proposes a framework for managing IT for effective business-process redesign (BPR) implementation. After establishing BPR principles, components, and the relationship of BPR to some organizational and technological approaches, it presents the role and benefits of IT in BPR. The article then discusses in detail the core elements of the framework. Its theme is that an IT infrastructure that covers issues of BPR strategy development, IT strategic alignment, IT infrastructure development, IT sourcing, legacy systems reengineering, IS integration, and IS function competence is essential and critical for effective implementation.     

Sex ratios and sex-biased infection behaviour in the entomopathogenic nematode genus Steinernema

In experimentally infected insects, the sex ratio of first generation nematodes of five species of Steinernema was female-biased (male proportion 0.35-0.47). There was a similar female bias when the worms developed in vitro (0.37-0.44), indicating that the bias in these species is not due to a lower rate of infection by male infective juveniles (IJs). Experimental conditions influenced the proportion of males establishing in insects, indicating that male and female IJs differ in their behaviour. However, there was no evidence that males are the colonising sex in any species, contrary to what has previously been proposed. Time of emergence from the host in which the nematodes had developed influenced sex ratios in experimental infections. In three species (Steinernema longicaudum, Steinernema glaseri and Steinernema kraussei), early emerged nematodes had a higher proportion of males than those that emerged later, with the reverse trend for Steinernema carpocapsae and Steinernema feltiae. In a more detailed in vitro study of S. longicaudum, the proportion of males was similar whether or not the nematodes passed through the developmentally arrested IJ stage, indicating that the female bias is not due to failure of males to exit this stage. The sex ratio in vitro was independent of survival rate from juvenile to adult, and was female-biased even when all juveniles developed, indicating that the bias is not explained by failure of males to develop to adults. The female-biased sex ratio characteristic of Steinernema populations appears to be present from at least the early juvenile stage. We hypothesise that the observed female bias is the population optimal sex ratio, a response to cycles of local mate competition experienced by nematodes reproducing within insect hosts interspersed with periods of outbreeding with less closely related worms following dispersal.     

A Neuro-Comparative Study between Single/Successive Thorium Dose Intoxication and Alginate Treatment

The adult male albino rats were grouped into five groups (control group and four variably treated groups with thorium (Th) in single or successive with or without alginate treatment). The IP administration of thorium nitrate (13.6 mg/kg b.wt.) induced a regional distribution and accumulation ordered as cerebellum > cerebral cortex > brain stem > hippocampus > hypothalamus > striatum. Also, it induces a significant increase in Na⁺, Ca²⁺, and Fe³⁺ ion content and malondialdehyde (MDA) level while K⁺ ions and glutathione (GSH) level were significantly decreased. On the other hand, the daily oral administration of 5% alginate showed a significant decreasing in the accumulation of thorium in the different brain areas and mitigated its hazardous effects. By the alginate treatment, Na⁺, Ca²⁺, Fe³⁺, and level of MDA were declined while K⁺ ions and GSH level showed a significant increase. The improvement of the investigated parameters was attributed to the specific chelating, regeneration, and antioxidant properties of the alginate. So, alginate administration could ameliorate the hazardous effects of thorium nitrate.     

Potential lactoferrin activity against pathogenic viruses

Lactoferrin (LF) is an 80-kDa globular glycoprotein with high affinity for metal ions, particularly for iron. This protein possesses many biological functions, including the binding and release of iron and serves as one of the important components of the innate immune system, where it acts as a potent inhibitor of several pathogens. LF has efficacious antibacterial and antiviral activities against a wide range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and against both naked and enveloped DNA and RNA viruses. In its antiviral pursuit, LF acts predominantly at the acute phase of the viral infection or even at the intracellular stage, as in hepatitis C virus infection. LF inhibits the entry of viral particles into host cells, either by direct attachment to the viral particles or by blocking their cellular receptors. This wide range of activities may be attributed to the capacity of LF to bind iron and its ability to interfere with the cellular receptors of both hosts and pathogenic microbes.     

An innovative lattice Boltzmann model for simulating Michaelis–Menten-based diffusion–advection kinetics and its application within a cartilage cell bioreactor

Lattice Boltzmann models (LBM) are rapidly showing their ability to simulate a lot of fluid dynamics problems that previously required very complex approaches. This study presents a LBM for simulating diffusion–advection transport of substrate in a 2-D laminar flow. The model considers the substrate influx into a set of active cells placed inside the flow field. A new innovative method was used to simulate the cells activity using the LBM by means of Michaelis–Menten kinetics. The model is validated with some numerical benchmark problems and proved highly accurate results. After validation the model was used to simulate the transport of oxygen substrates that diffuse in water to feed a set of active cartilage cells inside a new designed bioreactor.     

The polysaccharides of mango seeds (mangifera indica,var. bullock's heart)

Mangoes (Mangifera indica) are grown in many warm regions of the world; for example, in Australia, Brazil, India, South America, and the United States (California and Florida), and along the shores of the Mediterranean sea (Egypt, Italy, and Spain). In Egypt, many varieties yielding delicious fruits are grown in large quantities (50,000 tons annually). Mango kernels are used for feeding mammals and chickens. Starch has been isolated from mango and its physical properties studied.The aim of the present work was to study the polysaccharides present in mango kernels.     

A novel regulatory role of TRAPPC9 in L-plastin-mediated osteoclast actin ring formation

Trafficking protein particle complex 9 (TRAPPC9) is a major subunit of the TRAPPII complex. TRAPPC9 has been reported to bind nuclear factor κB kinase subunit β (IKKβ) and NF-kB-inducing kinase (NIK) where it plays a role in the canonical and noncanonical of nuclear factor-κB (NF-kB) signaling pathways, receptively. The role of TRAPPC9 in protein trafficking and cytoskeleton organization in osteoclast (OC) has not been studied yet. In this study, we examined the mRNA expression of TRAPPC9 during OC differentiation. Next, we examined the colocalization of TRAPPC9 with cathepsin-K, known to mediate OC resorption suggesting that TRAPPC9 mediates the trafficking pathway within OC. To identify TRAPPC9 protein partners important for OC-mediated cytoskeleton re-organization, we conducted immunoprecipitation of TRAPPC9 in mature OCs followed by mass spectrometry analysis. Our data showed that TRAPPC9 binds various protein partners. One protein with high recovery rate is L-plastin (LPL). LPL localizes at the podosomes and reported to play a crucial role in actin aggregation thereby actin ring formation and OC function. Although the role of LPL in OC-mediated bone resorption has not fully reported in detail. Here, first, we confirmed the binding of LPL to TRAPPC9 and, then, we investigated the potential regulatory role of TRAPPC9 in LPL-mediated OC cytoskeleton reorganization. We assessed the localization of TRAPPC9 and LPL in OC and found that TRAPPC9 is colocalized with LPL at the periphery of OC. Next, we determined the effect of TRAPPC9 overexpression on LPL recruitment to the actin ring using a viral system. Interestingly, our data showed that TRAPPC9 overexpression promotes the recruitment of LPL to the actin ring when compared with control cultures. In addition, we observed that TRAPPC9 overexpression reorganizes actin clusters/aggregates and regulates vinculin recruitment into the OC periphery to initiate podosome formation.