ALBERT

Description: The objective of the present study was to investigate the association of low bone mass with the risk of stroke and death in community residents of China. This study was based on the follow-up data acquired from 5,136 postmenopausal women aged 50 years or older between July 2006 and June 2011. Baseline and the follow-up bone mineral density (BMD) in these patients were measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry scanning. The association of BMD and risk of stroke and death was further evaluated by Cox proportional hazard analysis. During the follow-up, 148 subjects (2.9 %) sustained prospective stroke, and 261 subjects (5.1 %) died. After adjustments for age and BMI, our results indicated that neck BMD and osteoporosis were independent predictors of stroke (HR for neck BMD = 1.35, 95 % CI = 1.21–1.62; HR for osteoporosis = 2.24, 95 % CI = 1.47–3.58) and were also associated with increased risk of death (HR for neck BMD = 1.39, 95 % CI = 1.24–1.71; HR for osteoporosis = 1.97, 95 % CI = 1.21–2.97). Our results also suggest that low neck BMD and osteoporosis are associated with significantly elevated risk of stroke and death in Chinese postmenopausal women.

Description: A disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs 5 (ADAMTS5) is considered to be an important anti-angiogenic protein, in which the first TSR domain is crucial for its anti-angiogenic activity. Previous study showed that ADAMTS5 plays a role in suppression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression through its anti-angiogenic activity. The rs2380585 G〉A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is a missense mutation, located in the ADAMTS5 first TSR domain coding sequence (CDS). In this study, we investigated the impacts of ADAMTS5 rs2380585 polymorphism on the risk and progress of hepatocellular carcinoma. A total of 220 HCC patients and 220 controls in a Chinese Han population were enrolled and genotyped. The associations between SNPs and HCC incidence and progression were analyzed with logistic regression model. We found that individuals with the ADAMTS5 rs2380585 A allele was significantly associated with decreased HCC risk (OR = 0.348, 95 % CI 0.236–0.512; p  = 0.000). Individuals having the ADAMTS5 rs2380585 polymorphic genotype (GA+AA) had an OR of 0.348 (95 % CI 0.201–0.600; p  = 0.000) for developing HCC, compared with individuals having the ADAMTS5 rs2380585 ancestral genotype. However, stratified analyses did not find any evident gene–covariates interaction. The SNP of rs2380585 was irrelevant to the frequencies of clinicopathological characteristics. Our results for the first time indicate that ADAMTS5 rs2380585 polymorphism contributes to HCC susceptibility.

Description: This study investigates peripheral cytopenias in patients with splenomegaly caused by nonalcoholic cirrhotic portal hypertension. Data from 330 splenomegaly cases caused by nonalcoholic cirrhotic portal hypertension were collected and analyzed using univariate and multivariate analysis. The cytopenias were scored and graded according to the F value of the multiple linear regression equation. Based on the severity of thrombocytopenia, cytopenia was graded as mild, moderate, or severe, and determined by a score of 〈2 points, 2–3 points, and 〉3 points. 30 % of the patients had monolineage cytopenias, 35.8 % had bilineage cytopenias, and 34.2 % had trilineage cytopenias. All patients were treated surgically. In the univariate analysis, the severity of erythropenia was different in the surgical outcome when compared to the intra-group ( P  〈 0.05). In the multivariate analysis, thrombocytopenia was different in the surgical outcomes when compared with leukopenia and erythropenia ( P  〈 0.05). There was a significant difference in surgical outcomes between the three grades (mild, moderate, and severe) of cytopenia ( P  〈 0.05). Peripheral cytopenias have a significant impact on the clinical outcomes. The more severe the cytopenias, the worse the surgical outcomes are. Thrombocytopenia is a major factor influencing surgical outcomes. The thrombocytopenia-based three-level grading of cytopenias provides a basis for analyzing individual cases, planning treatment, and assessing prognosis in clinical practice.

Description: We conducted a meta-analysis of positron emission tomography (PET) findings in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to clarify the changes underpinning these conditions. All studies that utilised the PET tracers Pittsburgh Compound-B (PIB) or 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy- d -glucose (FDG) to investigate patients with MCI or AD, were considered for the meta-analysis. Meta-analyses of PIB-PET and FDG-PET changes between patients and controls were undertaken with the effect-size signed differential mapping (ES-SDM) voxel-based meta-analytic method. A total of 24 studies were included involving 728 AD patients, 211 MCI patients and 658 healthy controls. Individuals with AD showed a significant PIB retention in bilateral precuneus and temporal, supramarginal, cingulate and fusiform gyri, as well as right insula and putamen. In addition, AD patients showed significant glucose hypometabolism in bilateral precuneus and temporal, supramarginal, cingulate, fusiform, angular, inferior parietal and middle frontal gyri, as well as left precentral and parahippocampal gyri and right superior frontal gyrus and thalamus. An exploratory meta-analysis of the few studies on MCI showed mildly decreased glucose metabolism with a similar regional distribution than in patients with AD. We suggest that our results can be used for further region-of-interest studies of AD and MCI patients.

Description: This study was set to explore a new strategy for repairing skin wounds, co-transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells from Wharton’s Jelly of the human umbilical cord (hUC-Wharton’s jelly-MSCs) and microparticles. A mixture of hUC-Wharton’s jelly-MSCs and microparticles was co-transplanted to 10-mm diameter, full-thickness, mid-dorsal, excisional skin wounds of mice. After 7, 14, and 21 days, the tissue sections were sampled for reconstruction analysis and histological examination. Our results showed that hUC-Wharton’s jelly-MSCs possess the potentials for multi-directional differentiation. After co-transplantation, there was remarkable development of newborn skin and its appendages. Newly generated layers of epidermis, sebaceous glands, hair follicle, and sweat glands were observed. This promising innovative strategy could significantly increase the quality of repair and regeneration of skin after injuries.

Description: Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has been identified as a promising anti-tumor agent against in a variety of cancers. However, gastric cancer cells are less sensitive than other cancer cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Here, we combined TRAIL with kurarinone, a natural compound, to induce apoptosis in gastric cancer cell lines SGC7901. After the cells were treated with TRAIL and/or kurarinone, the cell viability and apoptosis were examined by MTT and flow cytometry, respectively. The expression of apoptosis-associated proteins was determined by western blot and q-RT-PCR. Kurarinone at low concentration significantly potentiated the cytotoxic effect of TRAIL by enhancing apoptosis as well as cell cycle arrest at G2/Mphase. The enhancement of apoptosis TRAIL induced by kurarinone involved downregulation of anti-apoptotic proteins Mcl-1 and c-FLIP as well as inhibition of STAT3 signaling. Moreover, we found that STAT3 inhibitor could synergistically enhanced TRAIL-induced apoptosis, similar to kurarinone. Kurarinone synergizes TRAIL-induced apoptosis in human gastric cancer cells. The synergistic effect between these two drugs is associated with downregulation of Mcl-1 and c-FLIP via inhibiting STAT3 signaling. The combination of TRAIL and kurarinone might be an effective regimen for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer.

Description: Earlier findings on the nutritional benefits of diacylglycerols (DAGs) have attracted much attention on the synthesis of DAGs. In this study, we reported an improved method for the lipase-catalyzed synthesis of 1,3-diolein by the irreversible glycerolysis of vinyl oleate with glycerol. The effects of reaction system, lipase loading, molar ratio of vinyl oleate to glycerol, reaction temperature and time on 1,3-diolein content in crude reaction mixture were investigated. When the reaction was conducted in a solvent-free system at 30 °C for 8 h by reacting 2 mmol vinyl oleate with 1 mmol glycerol with 8 % (w/w, relative to total reactants) Lipozyme RM IM (Novozymes, Beijing, China) as catalyst, there were 90.5 ± 2.9 % (area/area) 1,3-diolein and (3.3 ± 0.3) % 1,2-diolein produced. After purification, 1,3-diolein was obtained at 81.4 % yield with 98.2 % purity. The lipase-catalyzed synthesis of 1,3-diolein using vinyl oleate as acyl donor by glycerolysis was also conducted using a medium with 50 mmol of glycerol and 100 mmol vinyl oleate. Compared to enzymatic esterification in a solvent, enzymatic glycerolysis for the synthesis 1,3-diolein is more effective due to the irreversible reaction, mild due to the low reaction temperature, and environmentally benign due to the use of solvent-free reaction system.

Description: Canolol-enriched extracts obtained from the extraction of fluidized bed treated canola meal with supercritical carbon dioxide were added to high-oleic canola oil in different concentrations (200, 500 and 750 mg/kg). After 30 h of deep-fat frying, oils fortified with canolol-enriched extracts showed a two to three times better frying performance in comparison to the commonly used antioxidants (TBHQ, 200 mg/kg; rosemary extract, 40 and 200 mg/kg) and a control without antioxidants with regards to the formation of di- and polymer triacylglycerols, total polar compounds, secondary degradation products (anisidine value) and the iodine value. The canolol-enriched extracts were also able to slow down the degradation of α- and γ-tocopherol during frying resulting in significant amounts of tocopherols after 30 h of frying in comparison to the other oils. The influence of the canolol-enriched extracts indicated strongly concentration-dependent performance. With increasing concentration of the extract, the thermal stability of the fortified oil was improved. The only disadvantage of the addition of the extracts was an increase in the initial acid value, but within the frying time, only oil fortified with 750 mg canolol-enriched extract/kg reached the limit given in different countries.

Description: Horner syndrome (HS) results from the interruption of sympathic pathway, and the patients have a group of signs including miosis, ptosis, enophthalmos, and anhydrosis. While HS is mainly caused by cervical sympathetic nerve injury such as sympathetic chain tumor, we report here a HS case caused by a thoracolumbar arachnoid cyst. Imageological examination showed the cyst existed in spinal canal from the T11 to L3 level, which was further confirmed by operation. The tumor attacked the lateral margin of intervertebral foramen at certain stages. In MRI scan, no abnormality was found in the patient’s crania, cervical vertebra, thoracic vertebra, or the other parts. After removal of the cyst with operation, the patient’s HS symptoms and weakness of lower limbs were relieved apparently. Although the sympathetic center origins from the cornu laterale medullae spinalis of T1 to L3, there are many reports about HS caused by lumbar anesthesia and epidural anesthesia according to our literature review, and there is no report about HS results from intraspinal space-occupying lesion below T11 level. Our finding suggests that when the sympathetic center below the level of T11 emits nerve to dominate abdominal viscera, it can also control the sweat glands from face to feet, including pupils and eyelids. When physicians encounter patients with HS and one side of the body and abdominal viscera sympathetic syndromes, the pathological changes in lower thoracic vertebra or lumbar vertebra should be taken in consideration.

Description: Peyronie’s disease (PD) is marked by severe penile curved deformity and/or abnormal sexual function. The study aim was to determine the clinical efficacy of a new surgical procedure for PD, aimed at restoration of normal erection and improvement of the coital function. For this purpose, 5 cases of PD with erectile pain and curved deformity, aged 26–49 (median: 37.2) years, who previously underwent penile induration resection and autologous testicular tunica vaginalis patch grafting were retrospectively analyzed to determine the clinical efficacy of the treatment and impact on the postoperative sexual function. After follow-up for more than 12 months, all patients experienced normal penile erection without the erectile pain, and they were all fully satisfied with their sexual performance. No testicular atrophy, torsion, or necrosis of the operative side was observed. The curved deformity while penile erection was satisfactorily corrected, and the 4 out of 5 (80 %) cases displayed completely normal appearance of the penile erection. However, the remaining one case experienced local slake and bulging of the repair site while penile erection. We, therefore, concluded that the testicular tunica vaginalis patch grafting was a safe, convenient, economical, and effective procedure for the treatment of PD.

Description: This study aimed to compare the changes and determine the clinical significance of carbohydrate antigens CA242, CA199, CA125, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and tumor-specific growth factor (TSGF) before and after cryoablation by Cryocare system. Thirty-one pancreatic cancer patients were selected to receive cryoablation by Cryocare system. The serum expression levels of CA242, CA199, CA125, CEA, and TSGF before and 1 month after treatment were determined. Meanwhile, the serum level of these factors was also determined in 31 healthy volunteers. The parameter changes were analyzed with the clinical pathological data. The serum levels of CA242, CA199, CA125, CEA, and TSGF in the pancreatic cancer group were significantly higher than those of the control group both before and after the cryoablation treatment ( P  〈 0.05). The serum CA199, CEA, and TSGF dramatically decreased 1 month after the treatment, which were statistically different ( P  〈 0.05). The positive rates of serum CA242, CA199, CA125, and CEA in the pancreatic cancer group were much higher than those in the control group both before and after treatment ( P  〈 0.05), and the positive rate of TSGF was significantly higher than that of the control group before the treatment ( P  〈 0.05). The positive rate of CA199, CEA, and TSGF after the treatment was significantly lower than that before the treatment ( P  〈 0.05). Serum level of CA242 was correlated with the tumor diameter, clinical staging, tumor differentiation, lymph node, and liver metastasis ( P  〈 0.05). Except gender, CA199 was correlated with all the other clinical pathological parameters ( P  〈 0.05). The serum levels of CA125 and CEA were correlated with all the other clinical pathological parameters ( P  〈 0.05). The serum level of TSGF was only correlated with tumor differentiation ( P  〈 0.05). Cryoablation treatment by Cryocare system can decrease the serum levels of CA199, CEA, TSGF, and the positive rate. Serum CA199, CEA, and TSGF can be important index for pancreatic cancer treatment assessment. Serum levels of CA242, CA199, CA125, and CEA are of great clinical value for metastasis assessment and prognosis in pancreatic cancer patients.

Description: Cottonseed meal (CSM), a common agricultural by-product, was used as a nutrient source for the production of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) by Pythium irregulare . CSM can support good cell growth performance, as can yeast extract (YE). In terms of the maximum EPA content and EPA yield, CSM is superior to YE. Low concentrations of CSM are beneficial to lipid synthesis, and high concentrations favor the EPA content. Utilizing response surface methodology (RSM) analysis, the optimum contents of glucose and CSM in the fermentation medium were determined to be 40.2 and 16.1 g/l, respectively. After 6 days of fermentation at 25 °C and optimal conditions, the EPA yield and productivity were 245.3 and 40.9 mg/l day, respectively. Particle size of CSM was found to affect the EPA production, and a finely ground CSM (100 mesh) was determined to be best for EPA production. The variation in the fatty acid content of total fatty acid (TFA) indicates that EPA was synthesized through the n-6 route in P. irregulare and Δ12 desaturase was the key enzyme for EPA biosynthesis. Sodium carbonate was determined to be notably good at removing free gossypol attached to biomass. After fungal biomass from each flask had been harvested from Na 2 CO 3 -supplemented medium, 1 % (w/v) Na 2 CO 3 solution was used to wash the mycelia three times; free gossypol (FG) was not detected (detection limit 0.0018 %). This work provides a new approach using cottonseed meal to produce EPA through fungal fermentation.

Description: Steryl glucosides (SG) are common contaminants in biodiesel that form precipitates, which form and cause problems due to fouling during transport and storage. Therefore, their quantification is necessary to assess the quality of this fuel. The methods currently available for SG analysis require expensive instrumentation, need a previous concentration step by solid-phase extraction (SPE) or are of limited use for the quantitative assessment. We developed an enzymatic method for SG quantification in biodiesel samples based on the hydrolysis of the glucoside catalyzed by a broadly specific beta glucosidase and the subsequent determination of the glucose released by the reaction. The method is non-expensive, sensitive and was adapted to 96-well format fluorescence plate reader, making it useful for the parallel assay of multiple samples. The enzymatic assay presented here represent a valuable tool for both quality control and the development of improved biodiesel production and purification procedures.

Description: Di-hydroxylated soybean oil (DSO), a biobased polyol synthesized from epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) could be used to formulate resins for adhesives; however, current DSO synthesis requires harsh reaction conditions that significantly increase both cost and waste generation. In this paper, we investigate the kinetics of oxirane cleavage in ESO to DSO by water and elucidate the role of different process parameters in the reaction rate and optimization of reaction conditions. Our kinetic study showed that ESO oxirane cleavage was a first-order reaction and that the ESO oxirane cleavage rate was greatly influenced by tetrahydrofuran (THF)/ESO ratio, H 2 O/ESO ratio, catalyst content, and temperature. Optimized reaction parameters were THF/ESO of 0.5, H 2 O/ESO of 0.25, catalyst content of 1.5 %, and reaction time of 3 h at 25 °C. DSO with hydroxyl value of 242 mg KOH/g was obtained under these conditions. We also characterized the structure, thermal properties, adhesion performance, and viscoelasticity of UV-polymerized resins based on this DSO. The resin tape exhibited peel adhesion strength of 3.6 N/in., which is comparable to some commercial tapes measured under similar conditions.

Description:    The objective of this work was to synthesize a structured lipid (SL) enriched in stearidonic acid (SDA, C18:4 ω-3), from modified soybean oil (MSO) originally containing ~25% SDA. Low temperature crystallization (LTC) of MSO triacylglycerols (TAG) and free fatty acids (FFA) was performed. The TAG and FFA crystallization products (LTC-TAG and LTC-FFA, respectively) had SDA contents of 48.72 and 60.78%, respectively. Enzymatic acidolysis between MSO and LTC-FFA was studied utilizing Novozym 435 and Lipozyme TL IM as biocatalysts. Substrate molar ratio, incubation time, solvent, and enzyme load were explored. Equilibrium was reached at 96 and 48 h for Novozym 435 and Lipozyme TL IM-catalyzed reactions, respectively. The best conditions from these studies were also applied to the acidolysis of LTC-TAG and LTC-FFA. Utilizing Lipozyme TL IM and solvent free conditions, SLs with SDA contents of 37.61 ± 1.00% (20.86 ± 6.48% at sn -2 position) and 53.46 ± 1.85% SDA (36.37 ± 3.14% at sn -2 position) were obtained from the acidolysis reaction between MSO and LTC-FFA, and LTC-TAG and LTC-FFA, respectively. Compared to the original SDA content of MSO, this process leads to a 52 and 116% increase in SDA content, respectively. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-9 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2022-1 Authors Leslie Kleiner, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-2610, USA Luis Vázquez, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-2610, USA Casimir C. Akoh, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-2610, USA Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Increasing oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid, is reported to strike the best balance between cold flow properties and oxidative stability in soybean seed oil to enhance biodiesel and produce a better burning fuel. In addition, it is important that elevated oleic acid soybeans have the agronomic traits of local cultivars and maintain oleic acid stability across environments. Research was conducted in 2007–2008 to evaluate six Roundup Ready ® soybean recombinant inbred lines exhibiting enhanced levels of oleic acid. The six elevated oleic lines averaged a 55% increase in oleic acid and a 43% decrease in linolenic acid over the two commercial cultivars (AG3906 and AG4103). Some elevated oleic acid genotypes fulfilled the linear regression definition of a stable genotype. TN03-93RR was the best genotype because of its oleic acid content (397 g kg −1 ) and desirable regression estimates for stability. Iodine value (IV), peroxide value (PV), and induction period (IP) were used to evaluate the fuel properties of the two lines with the highest oleic acid content and the two commercial cultivars. The elevated oleic acid lines had significantly better IP, PV and IV for better biodiesel properties and oxidative stability than the two commercial cultivars. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-11 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2026-x Authors Benjamin D. Fallen, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee, 2431 Joe Johnson Dr., Knoxville, TN 37996, USA Katy Rainey, Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, 915 W. State St., West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA Carl E. Sams, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee, 2431 Joe Johnson Dr., Knoxville, TN 37996, USA Dean A. Kopsell, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee, 2431 Joe Johnson Dr., Knoxville, TN 37996, USA Vincent R. Pantalone, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee, 2431 Joe Johnson Dr., Knoxville, TN 37996, USA Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    The aim of this study is to describe the physicochemical properties of Iranian virgin olive oil (Zard, Mari and Phishomi) cultivated in Roodbar, Gilan. There were statistically significant differences for most of the parameters ( P  〈 0.05). The acidity and peroxide value were in the limit established for classification as extra virgin olive oil. The oil of Zard had the highest amount of monounsaturated fatty acids followed by Mari and Phishomi oils. Mari oil proved to have the minimum value of polyunsaturated fatty acids, and the highest amount of phenolic compounds and oxidative stability. The oil of Phishomi had the maximum amount of chlorophylls and carotenoids and therefore it had the highest color index. There were no significant differences between the cultivars regarding the refractive index (1.469 at 20 °C for all three cultivars). According to the high content of monounsaturated fatty acids, the lowest amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids and the highest amounts of phenolic compounds as well as the results of a Rancimat assay, it seems that the quality of the oil of Mari cultivar is better than Zard and Phishomi oils and is also more stable against oxidation. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-7 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2021-2 Authors Sepideh Haghighat Kharazi, Food Science and Technology Department, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, P.O. Box 578, Mazandaran, Iran Reza Esmaeilzadeh Kenari, Food Science and Technology Department, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, P.O. Box 578, Mazandaran, Iran Zeinab Raftani Amiri, Food Science and Technology Department, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, P.O. Box 578, Mazandaran, Iran Maryam Azizkhani, Department of Food Science and Technology, Khazar University, Mahmoudabad, Iran Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description: Erratum to: Quality Characteristics and Antioxidants of Mavrolia cv. Virgin Olive Oil Content Type Journal Article Category Erratum Pages 1-1 DOI 10.1007/s11746-011-1991-9 Authors Efstathios Anastasopoulos, Laboratory of Chemistry-Biochemistry-Physical Chemistry of Foods, Department of Science of Nutrition–Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece Nick Kalogeropoulos, Laboratory of Chemistry-Biochemistry-Physical Chemistry of Foods, Department of Science of Nutrition–Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece Andriana C. Kaliora, Laboratory of Chemistry-Biochemistry-Physical Chemistry of Foods, Department of Science of Nutrition–Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece Ageliki Falirea, Laboratory of Chemistry-Biochemistry-Physical Chemistry of Foods, Department of Science of Nutrition–Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece Vassilis N. Kamvissis, Analytical Laboratory Department, Minerva S.A. Edible Oils Enterprises, 165 Tatoiou and Odisseos Str, 14452, Metamorfosis Attica, Factory, 32009 Schimatari Viotias, Greece Nikolaos K. Andrikopoulos, Laboratory of Chemistry-Biochemistry-Physical Chemistry of Foods, Department of Science of Nutrition–Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    The aim of this study was to examine Peruvian anchovy oil fatty acid (FA) compositions, and to test the possibility of using the FA data to classify the oils according to geographical origin along the Peruvian coast. The levels of contaminants in a representative set of samples were determined to examine the general levels and investigate if such measurements could aid in future discrimination between oils. The FA results showed that the two known stocks of Peruvian anchovy displayed different levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) (southern stock; 14.4 ± 0.8% versus central-northern stock; 9.9 ± 1.2%). However, principal component analysis (PCA) of the FA data indicated clusters according to three regions; North, Center and South. Using a data set of 57 anchovy samples and 21 FA as input, a probabilistic neural network (PNN) was constructed. For the validation data sets, “North” oils was predicted accurately 100% of the time, “Center” oils 100% and “South” oils 83% of the time. The levels of contaminants in the oils determined were low in all but one sample. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-10 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2031-0 Authors Inger B. Standal, SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture, 7465 Trondheim, Norway José Rainuzzo, SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture, 7465 Trondheim, Norway David E. Axelson, MRi_Consulting, 8 Wilmot Street, Kingston, ON K7L 4V1, Canada Stig Valdersnes, National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES), P.O. Box 2029, Nordnes, 5817 Bergen, Norway Kåre Julshamn, National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES), P.O. Box 2029, Nordnes, 5817 Bergen, Norway Marit Aursand, MRi_Consulting, 8 Wilmot Street, Kingston, ON K7L 4V1, Canada Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    In this work, rapid and non-destructive methodology is proposed for screening of biodiesel/diesel blends with respect to the base oil, using near infrared spectroscopy and multivariate data analysis, since for both pure biodiesel and blends, the biodiesel/diesel are targets for tampering. Blends of diesel with cotton, sunflower and soybean oils were employed in this study. Two approaches were evaluated in the building of the classification model, using full-spectrum Soft Independent Modelling of Class Analogy (SIMCA), and Principal Component Analysis–Linear Discriminant Analysis (PCA–LDA). The other approaches were the use of variable selection employing Genetic Algorithm (GA), Successive Projection Algorithm (SPA) and Stepwise all coupled with the LDA model. The results showed which preprocessed NIR spectra and chemometrics are a viable alternative the conventional methods that involve the consumption of large volumes of reagents. Multivariate data analysis methods using selected variables showed a better performance than the methods using a full spectrum. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-7 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2028-8 Authors Gildo W. B. Silva, Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Campina Grande, PB 58429-500, Brazil Adriano A. Gomes, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, 58051-970 Brazil Priscila da Silva, Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Campina Grande, PB 58429-500, Brazil Gean B. Costa, Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Campina Grande, PB 58429-500, Brazil David Douglas Sousa Fernandes, Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Campina Grande, PB 58429-500, Brazil Marcelo M. Fontes, Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Campina Grande, PB 58429-500, Brazil Germano Veras, Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Campina Grande, PB 58429-500, Brazil Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    An efficient solvent-free synthesis of a variety of highly pure 1,3- sn -diglycerides (1,3- sn -diacylglycerols) in a two-step one pot process is described. Heating glycerol carbonate (4-hydroxymethyl-1,3-dioxolan-2-one) with fatty acid anhydrides 2a–d affords 1:1 mixtures of glycerol carbonate fatty esters 3a–3d and the corresponding fatty acids. Further heating the reaction mixtures in the presence of catalytic amounts of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) at 195–200 °C yields highly pure 1,3- sn -diglycerides 4a–4d . Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2165-0 Authors Mojgan Kargar, Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences, Alzahra University, Vanak, Tehran, Iran Rahim Hekmatshoar, Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences, Alzahra University, Vanak, Tehran, Iran Mehdi Ghandi, School of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran AbdolJalil Mostashari, Industrial Chemical R&D Organization, Tehran, Iran Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Pistacia terebinthus L. is an indigenous plant growing wild in the southern regions of Turkey. Its fruits are used in foods, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics due to its high oil content (ca. 45 g/100 g). In the present study, it was found out that the kernel and the skin parts of the fruit differ significantly ( p  〈 0.05) both in terms of oil content and composition. Regardless of the geographical origin, the most abundant fatty acid was found to be monounsaturated oleic acid, 18:1n-9 whose content was in the range of 51.2–67.5 g/100 g. β-sitosterol is the predominant sterol in kernel and skin of the terebinthus fruits whose content was varying between 97.4 and 219.8 mg/100 g. Concerning different tocols (tocopherols and tocotrienols) detected in the kernel and skin, γ-T was the one with highest concentration (437.2 mg/kg) in kernels, while the most abundant one in skin parts was found to be α-T (348.7 mg/kg). In general the kernel of terebinthus fruits was more concentrated in PUFA, total sterol and tocopherols than skin, however, total tocotrienol content was higher in skin than kernel. On the basis of these findings it can be concluded that both kernel and skin are highly valuable in terms of bioactive compounds, whereas skin with a high amount saturated fatty acids is more suited to applications in cosmetic industry. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2168-x Authors Erdal Ertas, TUBITAK Marmara Research Center, Food Institute, P.O. Box 21, 41470 Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey Somer Bekiroglu, TUBITAK Marmara Research Center, Food Institute, P.O. Box 21, 41470 Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey Ibrahim Ozdemir, TUBITAK Marmara Research Center, Food Institute, P.O. Box 21, 41470 Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey Ilknur Demirtas, TUBITAK Marmara Research Center, Food Institute, P.O. Box 21, 41470 Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Effects of the alkyl chain length of rosmarinate alkyl esters on the oxidative stability in photosensitized oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions were determined by lipid hydroperoxides and headspace volatile analyses. Antioxidant capacities of 20 μM rosmarinate esters with alkyl chain length of 0, 4, 8, 12, 18, and 20 were tested in O/W emulsion containing stripped soybean oil, Tween 20 as an emulsifier, and riboflavin as a photosensitizer. Synergistic or antagonistic effects of 20 μM α-tocopherol in the presence of rosmarinate alkyl esters were also determined. Samples containing rosmarinate with 4 and 8 alkyl esters showed lower lipid hydroperoxides and headspace volatiles than those without rosmarinate and those with 0, 12, 18, and 20 alkyl esters, which indicates that phenolic free radical scavengers showed antioxidant capacities non-linearly in riboflavin photosensitized O/W emulsions. Antagonistic rather than synergistic effects were observed in all rosmarinate alkyl esters with α-tocopherol in current conditions although rosmarinates with 4, 8, and 12 alkyl esters showed better antioxidant capacities than those with other alkyl chain length. The results of this study clearly showed that rosmarinates need the proper length of non-polar groups to show optimum antioxidant capacities in O/W emulsions with Tween 20 as an emulsifier under riboflavin photosensitization. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-8 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2163-2 Authors Jae Hwan Lee, Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea Atikorn Panya, Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01002, USA Mickaël Laguerre, CIRAD, UMR IATE, Montpellier, 34398 France Christelle Bayrasy, CIRAD, UMR IATE, Montpellier, 34398 France Jérôme Lecomte, CIRAD, UMR IATE, Montpellier, 34398 France Pierre Villeneuve, CIRAD, UMR IATE, Montpellier, 34398 France Eric A. Decker, Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01002, USA Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Previous studies have shown that A. lumbricoides extracts capture sialic acid (SA) from human red blood cells (RBC). The aim of this work was to study hemorheological alterations in vitro caused by parasite larvae. The biorheological action of three larva concentrates of first and second larval stage on group O erythrocytes was analyzed by incubating the erythrocyte packed together with an equal volume of larvae (treated RBC) and PBS (control RBC). Distribution and parameters of aggregation (digital image analysis), aggregation kinetics (erythroaggregameter), and viscoelasticity (erythrodeformeter) were measured. The digital image analysis showed that all the larvae diminished the isolated cells percentage and increased the size of the formed aggregates. The aggregate formation velocity was lower in the treated than in the control. The deformability index (ID) values of treated RBC did not present variations with respect to those of the control, but a decrease in the erythrocyte elastic modulus (μ m ) and membrane surface viscosity (η m ) values was observed, indicating that the larvae not only induced a diminution in the membrane surface viscosity of RBC but also altered the dynamic viscoelasticity of the membrane. Experiments carried out in vitro support the conclusion that the contact between larvae and RBC produces hemorheological alterations. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9425-3 Authors Patricia Ponce de León, Área Parasitología. Fac. Cs. Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas, UNR, Rosario, Argentina Gonzalo Del Balzo, Área Química Clínica Analítica, Fac. Cs. Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas, UNR, Rosario, Argentina Bibiana Riquelme, Grupo de Óptica Aplicada a la Biología, Instituto de Física de Rosario, CONICET-UNR, Rosario, Argentina Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    In order to investigate the prognostic value of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC), the blood cells from 98 MBC patients and 60 controls were evaluated by RT-PCR to detect the presence of markers EpCAM , CK19 , and hMAM . Peripheral blood was obtained from all patients with MBC before any systemic therapy. Immunofluorescence staining experiment was conducted on CTCs samples from 10 patients to investigate the coexpression of EpCAM, CK19, and hMAM. In addition, analyses were carried out for their correlation with patients’ clinicopathologic features. EpCAM +, CK19 +, and hMAM + cells were detected in 50 (51.0 %), 43 (43.9 %), and 68 (69.4 %) of the 98 patients, respectively. Triple-marker-positive CTCs were detected in 86 of 98 (87.8 %) patients with a significantly higher rate than the control group. Among the 98 patients, 12 (12.2 %) patients were negative for three genes, 34 (34.7 %) positive for one gene, 29 (29.6 %) positive for any two genes, and 23 (23.5 %) positive for all three genes. Compared to single-marker detection, the triple combined marker detection exhibited significantly higher rate. Furthermore, the specificity of triple combined markers of serial test was 100 %. The expression of three genes was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, high histological grade, and high levels of serum CA153 and CEA. Double-immunofluorescence labeling confirmed the presence of following CTCs phenotypes: CK19+/hMAM+, CK19+/hMAM−, CK19−/hMAM+, CK19+/EpCAM+, CK19−/EpCAM+, CK19+/EpCAM−, hMAM+/EpCAM+, and hMAM+/EpCAM−. After 2 years of follow-up, the presence of CTCs with triple-marker positive in peripheral blood was an independent risk factor for reduced progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), and the presence of CTCs before any chemotherapy predicts poor OS and PFS in patients with MBC. Content Type Journal Article Category Translational Biomedical Research Pages 1-11 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9426-2 Authors Shu Zhao, Department of Medical Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Haping Road 150 of Nangang District, Harbin, 150081 Heilongjiang Province, China Huike Yang, Department of Anatomy, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081 China Minghui Zhang, Department of Medical Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Haping Road 150 of Nangang District, Harbin, 150081 Heilongjiang Province, China Dekai Zhang, Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases at the Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA Yupeng Liu, Department of Epidemiology, Public Health College of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150040 China Yan Liu, Department of Medical Oncology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150001 China Ying Song, Department of Medical Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Haping Road 150 of Nangang District, Harbin, 150081 Heilongjiang Province, China Xiaosan Zhang, Department of Medical Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Haping Road 150 of Nangang District, Harbin, 150081 Heilongjiang Province, China Hongbin Li, Department of Medical Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Haping Road 150 of Nangang District, Harbin, 150081 Heilongjiang Province, China Wenjie Ma, Department of Medical Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Haping Road 150 of Nangang District, Harbin, 150081 Heilongjiang Province, China Qingyuan Zhang, Department of Medical Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Haping Road 150 of Nangang District, Harbin, 150081 Heilongjiang Province, China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Castor oil can be used in industry. The molecular species of triacylglycerols containing hydroxy fatty acids (FA) in castor oil have been identified. We report here the identification of twelve diacylglycerols (DAG) containing hydroxy FA in castor oil using positive ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry of the lithium adducts. They were RR (diricinolein, R is ricinoleate), RL, RS, R-diOH18:0, R-diOH18:1, R-diOH18:2, R-triOH18:0, R-triOH18:1, R-triOH18:2, diOH18:0-diOH18:1, diOH18:1-diOH18:1 and diOH18:1-diOH18:2. The MS 2 fragment ions, [M + Li − FA] + and [FA + Li] + , from the lithium adducts of DAG containing hydroxy FA (one or two hydroxy FA), were used for the identification. The additional fragment ions from the neutral losses of FA lithium salts [M + Li − FALi] + were used for the identification of eleven DAG containing two normal FA in a soybean oil bioconversion product. The MS 2 fragment ions from the neutral losses of FA lithium salts [M + Li − FALi] + were not detected from the DAG containing hydroxy FA. The DAG containing FA with more hydroxyl groups than the other FA on the same DAG molecule tended to have a prominent fragment ion [FA + Li] + and an undetectable fragment ion [M + Li − FA] + while the FA was the more hydroxylated FA. Also the less hydroxylated FA of a DAG tended to have a prominent fragment ion [M + Li − FA] + and an undetectable fragment ion [FA + Li] + while the FA was the less hydroxylated FA. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2136-5 Authors Jiann-Tsyh Lin, Agricultural Research Service, Western Regional Research Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA 94710, USA Grace Q. Chen, Agricultural Research Service, Western Regional Research Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA 94710, USA Ching T. Hou, Agricultural Research Service, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Peoria, IL 61604, USA Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Quality characteristics of extra-virgin olive oils depend on several factors. In order to study the effects of genotype and growing location on olive oil quality, olives from cv. Coratina, Nocellara, Ogliarola, and Peranzana, picked in four locations of the Apulia region (Italy), were crushed by a three-phase system to produce mono-cultivar extra virgin olive oils that were analyzed for acidity, peroxide value, spectrophotometric indices, total phenolic content, phenolic profile and antioxidant activity. The experimental data concerning peroxide value, spectrophotometric indices, phenolic content and profile and antioxidant activity showed great variability among the cultivars grown in the same location and also among the oils produced with olives of the same cultivar but grown in different locations. For each cultivar, no significant differences were found among locations in terms of acidity and ΔK whereas peroxide value, K 232 , and K 270 differ significantly among locations for both Ogliarola and Peranzana cv. Concerning the phenolic content of Ogliarola cv., no differences were highlighted between the locations whereas the phenolic contents of Peranzana significantly changed as a function of the place of growing. On the basis of these results, the statistical multivariate analysis did not allow the classification into homogeneous groups neither of the oils belonging to the same cultivar nor of those obtained from olives picked in the same location. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-9 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2141-8 Authors Antonietta Baiano, Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, degli Alimenti e dell’Ambiente, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy Carmela Terracone, Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, degli Alimenti e dell’Ambiente, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy Ilaria Viggiani, Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, degli Alimenti e dell’Ambiente, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy Matteo Alessandro Del Nobile, Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, degli Alimenti e dell’Ambiente, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Despite the advances of adjuvant chemotherapy and significant improvement of survival, the prognosis for patients with osteosarcoma is generally poor. The search for more effective anti-osteosarcoma agents is necessary and urgent. Here we report that perifosine induces cell apoptosis and growth inhibition in cultured human osteosarcoma cells. Perifosine blocks Akt/mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling, while promoting caspase-3, c -Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK), and p53 activation. Further, perifosine inhibits survivin expression probably by disrupting its association with heat shock protein-90 (HSP-90). These signaling changes together were responsible for a marked increase of osteosarcoma cell apoptosis and growth inhibition. Finally, we found that a low dose of perifosine enhanced etoposide- or doxorubicin-induced anti-OS cells activity. The results together suggest that perifosine might be used as a novel and effective anti-osteosarcoma agent. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-11 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9423-5 Authors Chen Yao, Department of Orthopedics, BenQ Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210019 Jiangsu, China Jian-jun Wei, Department of Orthopedics, BenQ Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210019 Jiangsu, China Zu-yu Wang, Department of Orthopedics, BenQ Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210019 Jiangsu, China Hui-min ding, Department of Orthopedics, BenQ Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210019 Jiangsu, China Dong Li, Department of Orthopedics, BenQ Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210019 Jiangsu, China Shi-chang Yan, Department of Orthopedics, BenQ Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210019 Jiangsu, China Yong-jiang Yang, Department of Orthopedics, BenQ Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210019 Jiangsu, China Zhang-ping Gu, Department of Orthopedics, BenQ Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210019 Jiangsu, China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    This work evaluated the use of allyl fatty acid esters derived from vegetable oil (palmitic acid, soybean and sunflower oils) as reactive coalescing agents in a waterborne latex system. Allyl fatty acid derivatives (AFAD) from vegetable oils were synthesized by two different processes. The synthesis was monitored by IR-spectroscopy and the final product characterized by FT-IR, GC–MS, 1 H and 13 C NMR. The presence of conjugated double bonds in the aliphatic chain was confirmed, which is a determinant for the proposed autoxidative latexes drying mechanism. Each of the AFAD were subsequently added to a standard acrylic emulsion, in order to study its potential as reactive coalescing agent. The minimum film-forming temperature (MFT), glass transition temperature ( T g ), drying time and rubbing resistance to solvents were evaluated. The results showed that, when added to water-borne acrylic resins, an AFAD acts as a non-volatile plasticizer capable of autoxidative crosslinking with itself. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-12 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2114-y Authors Joana V. Barbosa, LEPAE, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal Fernanda Oliveira, CIN, Corporação Industrial do Norte, S.A., Estrada Nacional 13 (km 6), Apartado 1008, 4471-909 Maia, Portugal Jorge Moniz, Resiquímica, Resinas Químicas, S.A., Rua Francisco Lyon de Castro, 28, 2725-397 Mem Martins, Lisbon, Portugal Fernão D. Magalhães, LEPAE, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal Margarida M. S. M. Bastos, LEPAE, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    A selection of plant oils was catalytically transferred into 1,19-nonadecanedioate by a direct transesterification, isomerization and methoxycarbonylation under mild conditions using Pd/ o -C 6 H 4 (CH 2 P t Bu 2 ) 2 . Additionally, sulfuric acid was demonstrated as being able to substitute methane sulfonic acid as co-catalyst without any significant loss of activity and selectivity. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-5 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2143-6 Authors Guido Walther, Leibniz Institute for Catalysis at the University of Rostock (LIKAT), Albert-Einstein-Str. 29A, 18059 Rostock, Germany Andreas Martin, Leibniz Institute for Catalysis at the University of Rostock (LIKAT), Albert-Einstein-Str. 29A, 18059 Rostock, Germany Angela Köckritz, Leibniz Institute for Catalysis at the University of Rostock (LIKAT), Albert-Einstein-Str. 29A, 18059 Rostock, Germany Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Triolein was used as a model material to investigate the effect of concentration on self metathesis of vegetable oils. The metathesis reaction using Grubbs' second generation catalyst (used at a level of 2.5 mol % of triolein) was carried out at 38 °C using dichloromethane as the solvent. The products from three reaction concentrations were investigated: neat, 10 and 20 mmol/L. The products from the reactions were separated by column chromatography and the fractions were characterized by 1 H-NMR, 13 C-NMR, MS and FTIR. Mono-cyclic and multi-cyclic triacylglycerol-based compounds and different level aliphatic triacylglycerol-like oligomers were produced, but the compositions of the products were found to be significantly controlled by the reaction concentrations. Cyclic compounds were favorably produced at lower reaction concentrations, whereas, linear oligomers were favorably produced at higher reaction concentrations. Cyclic compounds were formed mainly from adjacent fatty acid chains on the glycerol backbone. In the neat reactions, only linear oligomers were produced. The trans / cis ratios increased as concentration was increased. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-13 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2106-y Authors Shaojun Li, Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Chemistry, Trent Centre for Biomaterials Research, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8, Canada Leila Hojabri, Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Chemistry, Trent Centre for Biomaterials Research, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8, Canada Suresh S. Narine, Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Chemistry, Trent Centre for Biomaterials Research, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8, Canada Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Omega-3 fatty acids, namely docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid, have been linked to several beneficial health effects (i.e. mitigation effects of hypertension, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression, schizophrenia, asthma, macular degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.). The main source of omega-3 fatty acids is fish oil; lately however, fish oil market prices have increased significantly. This has prompted a significant amount of research on the use of single-cell oils as a source of omega-3 fatty acids. Some of the microbes reported to produce edible oil that contains omega-3 fatty acids are from the genus Schizochytrium , Thraustochytrium and Ulkenia. An advantage of a single cell oil is that it usually contains a significant amount of natural antioxidants (i.e. carotenoids and tocopherols), which can protect omega-3 fatty acids from oxidation, hence making this oil less prone to oxidation than oils derived from plants and marine animals. Production yields of single cell oils and of omega-3 fatty acids vary with the microbe used, with the fermentative growing conditions, and extractive procedures employed to recover the oil. This paper presents an overview of recent advances, reported within the last 10 years, in the production of single cell oils rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Content Type Journal Article Category Review Article Pages 1-16 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2154-3 Authors Roberto E. Armenta, Fermentation and Metabolic Engineering Group, Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited, 101 Research Drive, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 4T6, Canada Mercia C. Valentine, Fermentation and Metabolic Engineering Group, Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited, 101 Research Drive, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 4T6, Canada Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Effects of electromagnetic radiation produced by mobile phone on blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, hemolysis, Osmotic fragility, and blood components of rats have been investigated. Experimental results show that there are significant change on blood components and its viscosity which affects on a blood circulation due to many body problems. Red blood cells, White blood cells, and Platelets are broken after exposure to electromagnetic radiation produced by mobile phone. Also blood viscosity and plasma viscosity values are increased but Osmotic fragility value decreased after exposure to electromagnetic radiation produced by mobile phone. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-4 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9432-4 Authors Abu Bakr El-Bediwi, Metal Physics laboratory, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt Mohamed Saad, Metal Physics laboratory, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt Attall F. El-kott, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Fayoum University, Fayoum, Egypt Eman Eid, Metal Physics laboratory, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    This study examined the use of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO 2 ) in the extraction of triglycerides from de-shelled Aquilaria crassna seeds. A central composite response surface methodology was employed to evaluate the effects of pressure, temperature and solvent-to-solid ratio (SSR) on total yield (TY), concentration of triglycerides ( C TG ) and recovery of triglycerides ( R TG ). For this experimental design, pressures that ranged from 250 to 350 bar, temperatures that ranged from 313 to 333 K and SSR that ranged from 80 to 120 were investigated for the SC-CO 2 extractions of 15 g of powdered de-shelled A. crassna seeds at a CO 2 flow rate of 25 mL/min under the supercritical phase. The values of TY, C TG and R TG achieved were 36.89 %, 709.5 mg/g and 95.4 %, respectively, under the conditions of a pressure of 340 bar, a temperature of 333 K and an SSR of 115 obtained from the quadratic fitting models. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-8 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2147-2 Authors Chao-Rui Chen, Department of Chemical Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, No. 250, Kuokuang Road, Taichung, 40227 Taiwan, ROC Yang-Jung Cheng, Department of Chemical Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, No. 250, Kuokuang Road, Taichung, 40227 Taiwan, ROC Chwen-Jen Shieh, Biotechnology Center, National Chung Hsing University, No. 250, Kuokuang Road, Taichung, 40227 Taiwan, ROC Daina Hsiang, Department of Information Management, Taoyuan Innovation Institute of Technology, No. 414, Sec. 3, Jhongshan E. Road, Jhongli, 32091 Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC Chieh-Ming J. Chang, Department of Chemical Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, No. 250, Kuokuang Road, Taichung, 40227 Taiwan, ROC Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Early and rapid detection of the causative organism is necessary in tuberculosis. We present here an integrated and dedicated molecular biology system for tuberculosis diagnosis. One hundred and eighty-nine (189) biologic specimens from patients strongly suspected by clinical parameters of tuberculosis were studied by Ziehl–Neelsen staining, cultivation on a solid medium, and by a balanced heminested fluorometric PCR system (Orange G3TB) that preserves worker safety and produces a rather pure material free of potential inhibitors. DNA amplification was carried out in a low cost using a tuberculosis thermocycler-fluorometer. The double stranded DNA produced is fluorometrically detected. The whole reaction is carried out in one single tube which is never opened after adding the processed sample, thus minimizing the risk of cross contamination with amplicons. The assay is able to detect 30 bacilli/ml of sample having a 99.8 % inter-assay coefficient of variation. PCR was positive in 36 (18.9 %) tested samples (33 of them were smear-negative). In our study, it yields a preliminary overall sensitivity of 97.4 %. In addition, its overall specificity is 98.7 %. The total run time of the test is 4 h with two and a half real working hours. All PCR-positive samples also had a positive result by microbiological culture and clinical criteria. The results obtained showed that it could be a very useful tool to increase efficiency in detecting the tuberculosis disease in low bacillus inoculum samples. Furthermore, its low cost and friendly usage make it feasible to be used in regions with poor development. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-7 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9413-7 Authors Juan Garberi, Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Pathology, School of Medicine, Buenos Aires University, Buenos Aires, Argentina Jorge Labrador, Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Pathology, School of Medicine, Buenos Aires University, Buenos Aires, Argentina Federico Garberi, Orange Solutions, School of Medicine, Buenos Aires University, Buenos Aires, Argentina Juan Ezequiel Garberi, Orange Solutions, School of Medicine, Buenos Aires University, Buenos Aires, Argentina Julián Peneipil, Orange Solutions, School of Medicine, Buenos Aires University, Buenos Aires, Argentina Miguel Garberi, Orange Solutions, School of Medicine, Buenos Aires University, Buenos Aires, Argentina Luis Scigliano, Orange Solutions, School of Medicine, Buenos Aires University, Buenos Aires, Argentina Alcides Troncoso, Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Buenos Aires University, Buenos Aires, Argentina Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    To assess the suitability of microalgal strains for biodiesel production the lipid content and composition, especially individual triacylglycerols (TAG) and free fatty acids (FFA) must be determined. In this study, the compositions and concentrations of TAG and FFA were analysed in four halophytic algal species, Dunaliella salina , D. tertiolecta , D. bardawil , and D. granulata . These species were selected as part of a larger screen to identify species suitable for biofuel feedstocks. An accelerated solvent extraction instrument was used for lipids and fatty acid extraction using a dichloromethane–hexane solvent system. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) detection was optimized and applied to the quantitative analysis of TAG and FFA in the different algal extracts. Individual TAG were characterized structurally using direct electrospray ionization (ESI) MS and MS/MS techniques. Cationic adducts (NH 4 + ) of TAG were detected and quantified in the positive ESI MS and MS/MS modes, while the negative ESI mode was used for FFA analysis. Over 20 TAG were identified and quantified in the four Dunaliella strains. Analysis of FFA compositions demonstrated that the most abundant FFA in these four algal species were palmitic, linolenic, linoleic, and oleic acids. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-12 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2138-3 Authors Vera Samburova, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512-1095, USA Mark S. Lemos, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-5294, USA Sage Hiibel, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557-0330, USA S. Kent Hoekman, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512-1095, USA John C. Cushman, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557-0330, USA Barbara Zielinska, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512-1095, USA Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    This communication entails development of a facile continuous flow lipase immobilized poly(glycidyl methacrylate- co -ethylene dimethacrylate (poly(GMA- co -EDMA)) monolith microreactor for application in lipid transformations. Candida antarctica lipase B was covalently immobilized on poly(GMA- co -EDMA) monolith prepared in a 700-μm (internal diameter) silica capillary. The specific activity of the immobilized lipase was calculated to be 30 ± 0.03 U/mg, where U refers to μg p -nitrophenol generated/min from 3.5 mM p -nitrophenyl butyrate solution. The microreactor performance was further tested for synthesis of lauryl laurate via esterification. Conversions of up to 97 % were realized at a flow rate of 10 μL/min of a mixture of 0.1 M in both lauric acid and lauryl alcohol. These microreactors could be reused at least 15 times over a 1 month time period, stored at room temperature, with minimal to no reduction in the activity of the enzyme. We have also demonstrated microreactors to be useful for facile transesterification of castor oil triglycerides with online ESI–MS analytics key in lipidomics applications. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-8 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2139-2 Authors Samuel M. Mugo, Department of Physical Sciences-Chemistry, Grant MacEwan University, Edmonton, AB T5J 4S2, Canada Karl Ayton, Department of Physical Sciences-Chemistry, Grant MacEwan University, Edmonton, AB T5J 4S2, Canada Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Three different analytical techniques, namely NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and dynamic light scattering, were used to unravel the structure and morphology of polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR). This material is used as an emulsifier in the preparation of chocolate and other confectionary products. The use of 1D and 2D NMR techniques led to the distinction of two separate entities in commercial ricinoleic acid (RA) and PGPR samples, namely the monomeric and oligomeric RA (estolides). 1 H and 13 C spectra of PGPR confirmed the presence of polyglycerol moieties of various lengths being esterified by RA and estolides and to a lesser extent by oleic and linoleic acids. 13 C-NMR DOSY experiments demonstrated the occurrence of several species in PGPR. Electrospray Ionization and tandem Mass Spectrometry succeeded in identifying the presence of over 30 glycerol/polyglycerol species containing n glycerol moieties with n  = 1–6 esterified by monomeric and oligomeric RA molecules. Dynamic light scattering contributed to the characterization of PGPR morphology. The PGPR mixture contains relatively small-sized entities (monomers, dimmers, trimmers) and larger aggregates resulted from chain association. The percentage of larger aggregates is minimal compared to small-sized species. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-13 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2137-4 Authors Andreas Orfanakis, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, P.O. Box 2208, Voutes Campus, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece Emmanuel Hatzakis, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, P.O. Box 2208, Voutes Campus, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece Katerina Kanaki, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, P.O. Box 2208, Voutes Campus, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece Spiros A. Pergantis, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, P.O. Box 2208, Voutes Campus, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece Apostolos Rizos, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, P.O. Box 2208, Voutes Campus, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece Photis Dais, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, P.O. Box 2208, Voutes Campus, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Proteases are of particular interest because of their action on insoluble keratin substrates and generally on a broad range of protein substrates. Proteases are one of the most important groups of industrial enzymes used in detergent, protein, brewing, meat, photographic, leather, dairy, pharmaceutical and food industry. In the present study, the organism isolated from the protein rich soil sample was identified by biochemical and molecular characterisation as Bacillus thuringiensis and further optimum conditions for alkaline protease synthesis were determined. The growth conditions for B. thuringiensis was optimised by inoculating into yeast extract casein medium at different pH and incubating at different temperatures. The maximum protease production occurred at pH 8 and at 37 °C. B. thuringiensis showed proteolytic activity at various culture conditions. Optimum conditions for the protease activity were found to be 47 °C and pH 8. In the later stage, the blood removing action of crude and partially purified protease was found to be effective within 25 min in the presence of commercial detergents indicating the possible use of this enzyme in detergent industry. Enzyme also showed good activity against hair substrate keratin and can be used for dehairing. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-7 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9396-4 Authors Annapurna S. Agasthya, Department of Biotechnology, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India Naresh Sharma, Department of Biotechnology, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India Anand Mohan, Department of Biotechnology, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India Prabhpreet Mahal, Department of Biotechnology, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) are of great interest for regenerative purposes since they are believed to aid axonal growth. With the view set on the strategies to achieve reconnection between neuronal structures, it is of great importance to characterize the behaviour of these cells on long thread-like structures that may efficiently guide cell spread in a targeted way. Here, rat OECs were studied on polycaprolactone (PCL) long monofilaments, on long bars and on discs. PCL turns out to be an excellent substrate for OECs. The cells cover long distances along the monofilaments and colonize completely these structures. With the help of a one-dimensional (1D) analytical model, a migration coefficient, a net proliferation rate constant and the fraction of all cells which undergo migration were obtained. The separate effect of the three phenomena summarized by these parameters on the colonization patterns of the 1D path was qualitatively discussed. Other features of interest were also determined, such as the speed of the advance front of colonization and the order of the kinetics of net cell proliferation. Characterizing migration by means of these quantities may be useful for comparing and predicting features of the colonization process (such as times, patterns, advance fronts and proportion of motile cells) of different cell–substrate combinations. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-16 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9399-1 Authors Manuel Pérez-Garnés, Centro de Biomateriales e Ingeniería Tisular, Universitat Politècnica de València, Cno. de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain Cristina Martínez-Ramos, Centro de Biomateriales e Ingeniería Tisular, Universitat Politècnica de València, Cno. de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain Juan A. Barcia, Servicio de Neurocirugía, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, c/Profesor Martín Lagos, s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain Jorge L. Escobar Ivirico, Centro de Biomateriales e Ingeniería Tisular, Universitat Politècnica de València, Cno. de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain Ulises Gómez-Pinedo, Instituto de Neurociencias, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, c/Profesor Martín Lagos, s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain Ana Vallés-Lluch, Centro de Biomateriales e Ingeniería Tisular, Universitat Politècnica de València, Cno. de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain Manuel Monleón Pradas, Centro de Biomateriales e Ingeniería Tisular, Universitat Politècnica de València, Cno. de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    T helper (Th) 17 cells are difficult to isolate which hinders experimental studies with these cells. Here, we report a novel method to obtain sortable, engineered mouse Th17 cells. First, we developed lentiviral vector (XZ12) containing RORγt gene and mouse ΔNGFR gene complemented with IL17A promoter (pXZ12-RORγt). As control, we used vector pXZ12 containing mouse ΔNGFR gene complemented with IL17A promoter. Μouse CD4 + CD25 − T cells were transduced with pXZ12-RORγt or pXZ12 vectors and cultured in the presence of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β or interleukin (IL)-6. Then, we isolated Th17 cells using anti-ΔNGFR magnetic beads. The cytokine production profiles of isolated Th17 cells were assessed by qPCR, while cell functional capabilities tested in an experimental model of mouse autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). We observed that overexpression of RORγt in the presence of TGF-β and IL-6 is highly efficient to produce Th17 cells. After sorting, the purity of IL-17A + population was over 90 %. The phenotype of pXZ12-RORγt transduced cells in the presence of TGF-β and IL-6 was similar to natural Th17 cells, in contrast to cells overexpressing RORγt alone which were deficient for IL-21. The engineered Th17 cells intensified EAE in C57BL6 mice indicating that these cells were phenotypically and functionally similar to natural Th17 cells. In conclusion, the engineered Th17 cells described here can be a useful tool to advance studies on Th17 cells. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-8 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9389-3 Authors Chong Chen, Department of Hematology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, No. 99 West Huaihai Road, Xuzhou, 221002 Jiangsu, China Huanxin Zhang, Laboratory of Transplantation and Immunology, Xuzhou Medical College, No. 99 West Huaihai Road, Xuzhou, 221002 Jiangsu, China Zhengxiang Han, Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China Jiang Cao, Department of Hematology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, No. 99 West Huaihai Road, Xuzhou, 221002 Jiangsu, China Jianjun Zhang, Laboratory of Transplantation and Immunology, Xuzhou Medical College, No. 99 West Huaihai Road, Xuzhou, 221002 Jiangsu, China Wei Chen, Department of Hematology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, No. 99 West Huaihai Road, Xuzhou, 221002 Jiangsu, China Lingyu Zeng, Laboratory of Transplantation and Immunology, Xuzhou Medical College, No. 99 West Huaihai Road, Xuzhou, 221002 Jiangsu, China Kailin Xu, Department of Hematology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, No. 99 West Huaihai Road, Xuzhou, 221002 Jiangsu, China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    This study was conducted to investigate the possible formation of trans fatty acids due to gamma-irradiation of ground beef and liquid egg via a radical path. The effects of irradiation on trans fatty acids in ground beef and liquid egg were evaluated by GC analysis. The control sample of ground beef had higher concentrations of total trans fatty acids than the liquid egg. C18:1-11t was the major trans fatty acid detected in non-irradiated ground beef. The results showed that irradiation led to a significant increase of total trans fatty acid content in both of the two food items with an absorbed dose range between 6.743 and 11.472 kGy ( P  〈 0.05). The change in C18:1-9t content was the most significant compared with other trans fatty acids. Additionally, gamma-irradiation caused a higher rate of trans fatty acid formation in liquid egg compared with ground beef. However, a slight decrease in the total trans fatty acid amount was observed in ground beef with an absorbed dose at 21.113 kGy. The increase in trans fatty acid content was negligible in liquid egg under the same absorbed dose. This result may be due to the oxidation of unsaturated configurations of both cis and trans fatty acids. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-7 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2125-8 Authors An Li, Institute of Agro-products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193 People’s Republic of China Feng Wang, Institute of Agro-products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193 People’s Republic of China Bei Fan, Institute of Agro-products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193 People’s Republic of China Weiming Li, Institute of Agro-products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193 People’s Republic of China Qingpeng Li, Institute of Agro-products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193 People’s Republic of China Hongjie Zhou, Institute of Agro-products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193 People’s Republic of China Yiming Ha, Institute of Agro-products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193 People’s Republic of China Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    The objective of the study was to explore the prevalence and characteristics of myocardial bridging in patients who underwent coronary angiography and to also evaluate the correlation between bridged coronary segments and atherosclerosis. For this purpose, clinical materials of 1,500 patients who had received coronary angiography were retrospectively analyzed. The location and length of the myocardial bridge were recorded as well as the extent and location of coronary artery stenosis was described. Segments proximal and distal to the bridging were evaluated for coronary arteriosclerosis as were the remaining coronary segments. We found that myocardial bridging was present in 179 (11.9 %) patients. Bridges were frequently (84.9 %) localized in the mid-distal segment of the left anterior descending (LAD) artery. Myocardial bridging was not considered a significant risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis (odds ratio 0.58) compared with traditional cardiovascular risk factors. The incidence of coronary arteriosclerosis in the distal segments was significantly less affected than the proximal segments ( P  〈 0.01). It was, therefore, concluded that myocardial bridging frequently localized in the mid-distal segment of the LAD artery. The presence of myocardial bridging promotes proximal atherosclerosis but it is not an additional risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis. Content Type Journal Article Category Translational Biomedical Research Pages 1-5 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9438-y Authors Jian Ling Sun, Department of Cardiology, Aviation General Hospital, An Ding Men Wai Bei Yuan Road 3, Beijing, 100012 China Wei Min Huang, The Second Department of Spine Surgery, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Wu Lu Mu Qi Wu Xing Nan Road 39, Wulumuqi, 830002 China Ji Hong Guo, Electrophysiology Group, Department of Cardiology, People’s Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China Xiao Ying Li, Department of Geriatric Cardiology, The Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, China Xian Lin Ma, Department of Cardiology, Beijing Jian Gong Hospital, Beijing, China Chong Yu Wang, Department of Cardiology, Aviation General Hospital, An Ding Men Wai Bei Yuan Road 3, Beijing, 100012 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Aim of the current study was to investigate the ability of deltamethrin to induce testicular injury in rats and its possible attenuation with lycopene. Rats were divided into three groups: Group I (DEL) received deltamethrin, 5 mg/kg b.w./day orally, in corn oil. Group II (DEL + Lyc) received oral dose of lycopene (4 mg/kg b.w./day) in corn oil concurrently with deltamethrin following the same regimen as in group I. Group III (Control) received appropriate volume of corn oil. After 4 weeks, deltamethrin-treated rats showed decreased body weight, serum testosterone, luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone levels. Testicular total oxidant capacity (TOC), nitrite/nitrate (NOx), poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), and DNA damage were significantly increased. RT-PCR demonstrated significant up-regulation in testicular mRNA for glutathione- S -transferase and heat-shock protein-70 (HSP-70), whereas steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein was down-regulated after deltamethrin exposure. Lycopene was able to restore body weight, serum testosterone, StAR mRNA, TOC, NOx levels, and PARP activity with significant decrease in HSP-70 mRNA, and DNA damage. In conclusion, lycopene was able to counteract the deleterious effect of deltamethrin. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-8 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9446-y Authors Manal F. Ismail, Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Kasr El-Eini Street, Cairo, 11562 Egypt Hanaa M. Mohamed, Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Beni Suef University, Beni Suef, Egypt Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    The objective was to evaluate the clinical value of preventative ileostomy following ultralow anterior rectal resection in decreasing the incidence of anastomotic leakage. For this purpose, 62 cases that had undergone ultralow anterior rectal resection during the period from June 2007 to June 2008 were included in this study. Preventative ileostomy was performed in 36 cases (group A) and 26 cases with no preventative ileostomy performed were included as controls (group B). The incidence rate of anastomotic leakage in both groups was compared. The results show that five cases in group A reported anastomotic leakage while no anastomotic leakage was reported in group B. Therefore, it was concluded that preventative ileostomy could effectively decrease the incidence of anastomotic leakage. Content Type Journal Article Category Translational Biomedical Research Pages 1-3 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9445-z Authors Hai Gong, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Jiangyin People’s Hospital of Southeast University, 163# Shoushan Road, Jiangyin, 214400 Jiangsu Province, China Yifeng Yu, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Jiangyin People’s Hospital of Southeast University, 163# Shoushan Road, Jiangyin, 214400 Jiangsu Province, China Yong Yao, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Jiangyin People’s Hospital of Southeast University, 163# Shoushan Road, Jiangyin, 214400 Jiangsu Province, China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Water is the major constituent of environmental medium and biological systems. The effects occurring in water as a result of low-intensity electromagnetic irradiation (EMI) in extremely high frequencies are supposed to be the primary mechanism to create conditions for biological responses. The EMI effects on Escherichia coli , after irradiation of their suspension, are most probably water-mediated. Indirect effects of EMI at 51.8, 53, 70.6, and 73 GHz frequencies on bacteria, through water, assay buffer (Tris–phosphate buffer with inorganic salts at low or moderate concentrations), or peptone growth medium were studied. The mediated effects of 70.6 and 73 GHz irradiated water, assay buffer, and growth medium on E. coli growth characteristics were insignificant. But the results were different for 51.8 and 53 GHz. EMI mediated effects on bacterial growth were clearly demonstrated. The effects were more strongly expressed with 53 GHz. Moreover, it was shown that 70.6 and 73 GHz similarly suppressed the cell growth after direct irradiation of E. coli in water or on solid medium. Interestingly, for 51.8 and 53 GHz the bacterial growth decreases after suspension irradiation was less, compared to the direct irradiation of bacteria on solid medium. Especially, it was also more expressed in case of 53 GHz. Also with electron microscopy, EMI-induced bacterial cell sizes and structure different changes were detected. In addition, the distinguished changes in surface tension, oxidation–reduction potential and pH of water, assay buffer, growth medium, and bacterial suspension were determined. They depended on EMI frequency used. The differences could be associated with the partial absorbance of EMI energy by the surrounding medium, which depends on a specific frequency. The results are crucial to understand biophysical mechanisms of EMI effects on bacteria. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-10 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9448-9 Authors Heghine Torgomyan, Department of Biophysics of Biology Faculty, Yerevan State University, 0025 Yerevan, Armenia Karlen Hovnanyan, Institute of Molecular Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, 0014 Yerevan, Armenia Armen Trchounian, Department of Biophysics of Biology Faculty, Yerevan State University, 0025 Yerevan, Armenia Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Sleep adaptation in an unfamiliar environment, the so-called “first-night effect”, is known to occur in healthy individuals. To avoid the confounding effects of the “first-night effect”, the first-night sleep data are not used in most of sleep studies. In the present study, we examined changes of sleep adaptation in hospitalized patients with depression. Polysomnographic recordings were obtained for two consecutive nights from 14 patients, and sleep parameters were compared between both nights. Total sleep time, sleep latency, awakening times, movement awakening time, sleep efficiency, sleep architecture, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep latency, REM intensity, REM density, REM time, REM cycles, and other indicators showed no significant difference ( p  〉 0.05) between the first and second nights. To conclude, hospitalized patients with depression have relatively less change in sleep adaptation, thus, the data from their first night do not need to be discarded. Content Type Journal Article Category Translational Biomedical Research Pages 1-4 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9454-y Authors Shasha Song, Department of Neurology, The Sixth People’s Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiaotong University, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233 People’s Republic of China Zhi Geng, Department of Neurology, The Sixth People’s Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiaotong University, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233 People’s Republic of China Shutao Zhai, Department of Neurophysiology, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029 People’s Republic of China Jie Xu, Department of Neurophysiology, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029 People’s Republic of China Gang Hou, Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029 People’s Republic of China Xinbao Zhang, Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029 People’s Republic of China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description: A bstract   The mechanisms of MHC allele associations with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and its aplastic anemia subtype (AA/PNH) remain unclear. It might be dependent on MHC molecule functional properties, such as a scope and frequency of antigen sampling and presentation. For documented PNH-associated MHC alleles we analyzed current reference databases on MHC molecule-eluted peptide presentation repertoires and searched for a range of presented peptides. MHC class II expression was measured on CD34+ cells and appeared to be increased in PNH patients. Two class I alleles (HLA -A*24:02 and B*18:01 ) have been previously confirmed to associate with protection and increased risk of AA/PNH, respectively. Their product molecules presented immunodominant epitopes derived from proapoptotic (serine/threonine–protein phosphatase) and antiapoptotic (phospholipase D), respectively, intracellular enzymes dependent on phosphoinositide (PI) content. For total PNH and non-aplastic PNH (n/PNH) subtype-associated DRB1*15:01 and DRB1*04:01 class II molecules presentation of exceptionally broad arrays of their own peptide fragments has been found. We conclude that self antigen peptides presented with high frequency in the context of MHC molecules of increased expression may be involved in the immune recognition and the regulation of HSC in the periphery. The block in the normal plasma membrane PI production due to the PIG - A mutation can help explain the differences in the activation of intracellular regulatory pathways observed between PNH and normal HSC. This is evident in the variation in MHC association patterns and peptide presentation repertoires between these two groups of patients. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-13 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9435-1 Authors Jacek Nowak, Department of Immunogenetics Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, 14 Indira Gandhi Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland Jolanta Wozniak, Laboratory of Immunophenotyping Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, Warsaw, Poland Ewa Mendek-Czajkowska, Department of Hematology Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, Warsaw, Poland Agnieszka Dlugokecka, Department of Immunogenetics Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, 14 Indira Gandhi Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland Renata Mika-Witkowska, Department of Immunogenetics Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, 14 Indira Gandhi Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland Marta Rogatko-Koros, Department of Immunogenetics Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, 14 Indira Gandhi Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland Elzbieta Graczyk-Pol, Department of Immunogenetics Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, 14 Indira Gandhi Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland Anna Marosz-Rudnicka, Department of Immunogenetics Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, 14 Indira Gandhi Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland Joanna Dziopa, Department of Immunogenetics Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, 14 Indira Gandhi Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland Agnieszka Golec, Department of Immunogenetics Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, 14 Indira Gandhi Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland Joanna Kopec-Szlezak, Laboratory of Immunophenotyping Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, Warsaw, Poland Krzysztof Warzocha, Department of Hematology Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, Warsaw, Poland Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    We evaluated the neuroprotective effects of atorvastatin (2, 5, and 10 mg/kg) on experimentally induced intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in adult rats; controls were administered PBS. Plasma TNF-α and IL-10 levels before and after ICH were analyzed at various time points by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and neurological behavior of rats was assessed by climbing scores. At 3-days postoperatively, brain water contents and TNF-α/IL-10 expression in brain tissue were determined. Histopathological changes and microglial cells in the brain tissue were evaluated by light-microscopy. Post-ICH neurological deficits differed significantly between sham-operated group A and experimental-ICH group B ( P  〈 0.05). Brain water contents were significantly less in group A than in group B ( P  〈 0.05). Significant differences ( P  〈 0.05) between two groups were observed regarding activated microglia, TNF-α and IL-10 levels. Compared with group B, neurological deficits, brain water contents, pathological changes, and activated microglia were reduced ( P  〈 0.05) in groups C (Experimental-ICH + atorvastatin 2 mg/kg), D (Experimental-ICH + atorvastatin 5 mg/kg) and E (Experimental-ICH + atorvastatin 10 mg/kg). Atorvastatin-induced a dose-dependent reduction of TNF-α and increase of IL-10 levels ( P  〈 0.05). Therefore, it was concluded that atorvastatin improved neurofunctional rehabilitation in rats through the suppression of cytokines-mediated inflammatory response and attenuation of brain damage following intracerebral hemorrhage. Content Type Journal Article Category Translational Biomedical Research Pages 1-10 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9453-z Authors Tu Ewen, Department of Neurology, The Brains Hospital of Hunan Province, Changsha, 410007 Hunan Province, China Liu Qiuting, Department of Neurology, The Brains Hospital of Hunan Province, Changsha, 410007 Hunan Province, China Tang Chaogang, Department of Neurology, The Brains Hospital of Hunan Province, Changsha, 410007 Hunan Province, China Tang Tao, Department of Neurology, The Brains Hospital of Hunan Province, Changsha, 410007 Hunan Province, China Wu Jun, Department of Neurology, The Brains Hospital of Hunan Province, Changsha, 410007 Hunan Province, China Tan Liming, Department of Neurology, The Brains Hospital of Hunan Province, Changsha, 410007 Hunan Province, China Xiang Guanghong, Department of Neurology, The Brains Hospital of Hunan Province, Changsha, 410007 Hunan Province, China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    In the present study, we evaluated whether stem cell-to-tenocyte differentiation could be evaluated via measurement of the mechanical properties of the cell. We used mechanical uniaxial cyclic stretching to induce the differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells into tenocytes. The cells were subjected to cyclic elongation of 10 or 15 % at a cyclic frequency of 1 Hz for 24 or 48 h, and differentiation was assessed by real-time PCR (rtPCR) determination of messenger RNA expression levels for four commonly used markers of stem cell-to-tenocyte differentiation: type I collagen, type III collagen, tenascin-C, and scleraxis. The rtPCR results showed that cells subjected to 10 % cyclic elongation for 24 or 48 h differentiated into tenocytes. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was then used to measure the force curves around the cell nuclei, and the AFM data were used to calculate the elastic moduli of the cell surfaces. The elastic modulus values of the control (non-stretched) cells differed significantly from those of cells stretched at 10 % for 24 or 48 h ( P  〈 0.01). Confocal fluorescence microscopic observations of actin stress fibers suggested that the change in elastic modulus was ascribable to the development of the cellular cytoskeleton during the differentiation process. Therefore, we conclude that the atomic force microscopic measurement of the elastic modulus of the cell surface can be used to evaluate stem cell-to-tenocyte differentiation. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-8 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9455-x Authors Yasuyuki Morita, Department of Mechanical Science & Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603 Japan Taichi Mukai, Department of Mechanical Science & Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603 Japan Yang Ju, Department of Mechanical Science & Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603 Japan Sachi Watanabe, Department of Mechanical Science & Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603 Japan Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    We sought to analyze the dynamic properties of brain electrical activity from healthy volunteers and epilepsy patients using recurrence networks. Phase-space trajectories of synchronous electroencephalogram signals were obtained through embedding dimension in phase-space reconstruction based on the distance set of space points. The recurrence matrix calculated from phase-space trajectories was identified with the adjacency matrix of a complex network. Then, we applied measures to characterize the complex network to this recurrence network. A detailed analysis revealed the following: (1) The recurrence networks of normal brains exhibited a sparser connectivity and smaller clustering coefficient compared with that of epileptic brains; (2) the small-world property existed in both normal and epileptic brains consistent with the previous empirical studies of structural and functional brain networks; and (3) the assortative property of the recurrence network was found by computing the assortative coefficients; their values increased from normal to epileptic brain which accurately suggested the difference of the states. These universal and non-universal characteristics of recurrence networks might help clearly understand the underlying neurodynamics of the brain and provide an efficient tool for clinical diagnosis. Content Type Journal Article Category Translational Biomedical Research Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9452-0 Authors Peng Lang, Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Jiangyin Hospital of Southeast University of Medical College, Jiangyin, 214400 Jiangsu, China Dong-Bai Liu, Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Jiangyin Hospital of Southeast University of Medical College, Jiangyin, 214400 Jiangsu, China Shi-Min Cai, Department of Electronic Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 Anhui, China Lei Hong, Department of Electronic Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 Anhui, China Pei-Ling Zhou, Department of Electronic Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 Anhui, China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Escherichia coli has four hydrogenases (Hyd), three genes of which are encoded by the hya, hyb , and hyc operons. The proton-reducing and hydrogen-oxidizing activities of Hyd-2 ( hyb ) were analyzed in whole cells grown to stationary phase and cell extracts, respectively, during glycerol fermentation using novel double mutants. H 2 production rate at pH 7.5 was decreased by ~3.5- and ~7-fold in hya and hyc (HDK 103) or hyb and hyc (HDK 203) operon double mutants, respectively, compared with the wild type. At pH 6.5, H 2 production decreased by ~2- and ~5-fold in HDK103 and HDK203, respectively, compared with the wild type. At pH 5.5, H 2 production was reduced by ~4.5-fold in the mutants compared with the wild type. The total hydrogen-oxidizing activity was shown to depend on the pH of the growth medium in agreement with previous findings and was significantly reduced in the HDK103 or HDK203 mutants. At pH 7.5, Hyd-2 activity was 0.26 U (mg protein) −1 and Hyd-1 activity was 0.1 U (mg protein) −1 . As the pH of the growth medium decreased to 6.5, Hyd-2 activity was 0.16 U (mg protein) −1 , and Hyd-1 was absent. Surprisingly, at pH 5.5, there was an increase in Hyd-2 activity (0.33 U mg protein) −1 but not in that of Hyd-1. These findings show a major contribution of Hyd-2 to H 2 production during glycerol fermentation that resulted from altered metabolism which surprisingly influenced proton reduction. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9458-7 Authors Karen Trchounian, Department of Biophysics, Yerevan State University, 1 A. Manoukian Str., 0025 Yerevan, Armenia Basem Soboh, Institute of Microbiology, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany R. Gary Sawers, Institute of Microbiology, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany Armen Trchounian, Department of Biophysics, Yerevan State University, 1 A. Manoukian Str., 0025 Yerevan, Armenia Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Five novel macrocyclic monoterpene O -glycosides, parkinsenes A–E ( 1 – 5 ), and eleven known phenolic metabolites including three 3- O -glycosylflavonols ( 6 – 8 ), five C -glycosylflavones ( 9 – 13 ), p -hydroxybenzoic acid ( 14 ), esculetin ( 15 ), and diosmetin ( 16 ) were isolated from the leaves and small twigs of Parkinsonia aculeata L. (Fabaceae). Their structures were established by chemical and spectroscopic analyses (UV, ESI–MS, and 1D/2D NMR). The investigated 80 % aqueous methanol extract (AME) showed significant analgesic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, hypoglycemic, hypocholesterolemic, and antioxidant activities in a dose-dependent manner using two different doses 250 and 500 mg/kg b. wt. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-13 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9433-3 Authors M. S. Marzouk, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2457, Riyadh, 11451 Saudi Arabia F. A. Moharram, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Clinical Pharmacy (Girls), King Faisal University, P. O. Box 400, Hofuf, 31982 Saudi Arabia R. A. El Dib, Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy (Girls), King Saud University, P. O. Box 2457, Riyadh, 11451 Saudi Arabia D. G. El-Hossary, Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Helwan University, Helwan, Egypt Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Redox balance plays an important role in the maintenance of cell growth and survival. Disturbance of this equilibrium can alter normal cellular processes. Excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) are often found in cancer cells. However, cancer cells have an efficient antioxidant system to counteract the increased generation of ROS. This high antioxidant capacity also favors resistance to drugs and radiation. Here, we show that isoliquiritigenin (ISL), a natural antioxidant, effectively decreased ROS in HepG2 cells in a time-dependant manner at 0.5, 1, and 2 h of treatment. The decreased ROS caused redox imbalance and reductive stress. To adapt to this state, nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2, which regulates the antioxidant enzyme system, was significantly decreased. Antioxidant enzymes reached their lowest level at 6 h after ISL treatment. Endogenous ROS were still being generated so after 6 h of ISL treatment, ROS were clearly higher than before ISL treatment, causing redox imbalance in the HepG2 cells which changed from reductive to oxidative stress. At this stage, cells were irradiated with X-rays. The excess ROS induced serious oxidative stress, resulting in radiosensitization. Therefore, we concluded that ISL induced oxidative stress by disturbing the redox status and ultimately enhancing the radiosensitivity of HepG2 cells. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-12 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9447-x Authors Chao Sun, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000 People’s Republic of China Hong Zhang, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000 People’s Republic of China Xiao-fei Ma, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000 People’s Republic of China Xin Zhou, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000 People’s Republic of China Lu Gan, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000 People’s Republic of China Yuan-yuan Liu, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000 People’s Republic of China Zhen-hua Wang, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000 People’s Republic of China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Hemodynamic instability is a common condition during extra-cranial carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS). We evaluated the safety and efficacy of prophylactic placement of temporary cardiac pacemaker during extra-cranial CAS for the prevention of hemodynamic instability. For this, forty-seven carotid artery stents were deployed in 41 high-risk patients. Temporary transvenous cardiac pacemakers were inserted before CAS procedure. The pacers were set to capture a heart rate 〈60 bpm. Clinical symptoms, blood pressure, heart rate, and pacing activation were monitored and data were collected. We found that pacing occurred in 25 carotid lesions during balloon predilatation; pacemakers were activated transiently in 25 patients. The longest pacing continued for 1 day. Among cases with pacemaker activation, 1 patient developed post-procedural symptomatic hypotension that lasted for 4 days. No related complications were observed. It was, therefore, concluded that pacing was technically effective in producing electrical ventricular responses and was hemodynamically effective in 25 carotid lesions which underwent balloon predilatation. The prophylactic use of a temporary transvenous cardiac pacemaker during CAS was rapid and effective in controlling peri-operative hemodynamic instability and preventing stroke and other complications. The prophylactic use of temporary pacemaker is particularly recommended for patients at high risk for developing hemodynamic instability. Content Type Journal Article Category Translational Biomedical Research Pages 1-5 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9429-z Authors Juan Liu, Department of Neurology, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China Guo-en Yao, Department of Neurology, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China Hua-dong Zhou, Department of Neurology, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China Xiao-jiang Jiang, Department of Neurology, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China Qiao Chen, Department of Cardiology, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Th17 cells are newly identified effector CD4 + T cells, which play an active role in inflammation and autoimmune diseases and may be relevant for anti-tumor defenses. In the present study, we examined expression of Th17 cells in specimens of breast cancer tissue and its association with clinical, pathology, and immunological parameters. Expression rates of Th17 and T regulatory (Treg) cells in breast cancer and normal (i.e. non-cancerous) tissue were evaluated using flow cytometry in 30 patients with breast carcinoma. Further, expression of interleukin-17 (IL-17), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in breast cancer tissue was evaluated by immunohistochemical staining. Associations between Th17 expression and other parameters were analyzed by multiple linear regression analysis. We observed that expression of Th17 cells was significantly higher in breast cancer compared to normal breast tissue. Further, expressions of IL-17, IL-1β, and IL-6 in cancer tissue positively correlated with expression of Th17 cells. In addition, there was a negative association between the numbers of Th17 cells and TNM stage, blood vessel invasion, and increased numbers of metastatic lymph nodes. Finally, expression of Th17 was not associated with expression of Treg. In conclusion, Th17 cells appear to be involved in anti-tumor immune responses and are associated with a more favorable prognosis. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 153-159 DOI 10.1007/s12013-011-9276-3 Authors LiJuan Yang, Research Center, Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050011 China YiXin Qi, Department of Surgery, Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050011 China Jie Hu, Department of Immunology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050017 China Longmei Tang, School of Public Health, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050017 China Sha Zhao, Research Center, Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050011 China BaoEn Shan, Research Center, Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050011 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195 Journal Volume Volume 62 Journal Issue Volume 62, Number 1

Description:    Microcirculatory disturbance of inner ear is probably one of the important etiological factors of sudden deafness. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of retreatment on the end-stage sudden deafness. For this purpose, the patients who met with the criteria for sudden deafness and showed poor response to conventional therapy over 2 months were assigned randomly to the retreatment group. Pure tone audiometry was conducted before and after retreatment among the 103 patients (112 ears). Sodium bicarbonate and dexamethasone were injected by intravenous drip for 2 days and batroxobin 5BU for 6 days. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and t test to determine the efficacy of retreatment. These data show that the efficacy rate in retreatment group was 46.43% and the difference between before and after retreatment was significant ( P  〈 0.01). It was, therefore, concluded that retreatment of the end-stage sudden deafness could improve the audition of the patients and should be valuable in clinics. In this regard, the combination of sodium bicarbonate and dexamethasone proved a rational therapeutic regimen for the end-stage sudden deafness. However, further large-size multicenter studies will be required for independent validation of these findings. Content Type Journal Article Category Translational Biomedical Research Pages 403-406 DOI 10.1007/s12013-011-9314-1 Authors Zhai Suoqiang, Hospital of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Institute of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853 China Yu Ning, Hospital of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Institute of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853 China Zheng Guiliang, Hospital of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Institute of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853 China Zhu Yuhua, Hospital of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Institute of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853 China Qin He, Hospital of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Institute of Otorhinolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195 Journal Volume Volume 62 Journal Issue Volume 62, Number 2

Description:    We sought to compare the preventive effects of mitomycin-C(MMC) and chitosan on intraarticular adhesion after knee surgery in rabbits. For this purpose, 48 New-Zealand rabbits were randomly and equally divided into MMC, chitosan, and control groups. Approximately 10 × 10 mm 2 of the cortical bone was removed from both sides of left femoral condyle and the cancellous bone underneath was exposed. The decorticated areas were topically treated with MMC and chitosan while control group was treated with physiological saline. The lower left limb was fixed in flexed position with Kirschner-wire for 4 weeks postoperatively. After 4 weeks, gross and histopathological examination, biochemical analysis, and fibroblast counts were performed on knee intraarticular adhesion in each group. The data show mild membrane-like fibrous intraarticular adhesion, presented in loose, in MMC group. There was moderate intraarticular adhesion in chitosan group while in controls; there was large-size compact fibrous tissue adhesion. Hydroxyproline contents and fibroblast quantity of MMC and chitosan groups were lower ( P  〈 0.05) than that of control group. We, therefore, concluded that MMC and chitosan could prevent intraarticular adhesion of the knee in rabbits by inhibiting fibroblast proliferation and reducing collagenous fiber formation while MMC had a better preventive effect than that of chitosan. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 101-105 DOI 10.1007/s12013-011-9266-5 Authors Wang Jingcheng, Department of Cadiothoracic, The Second Xiangya Hospital Affiliated with Central-South University, No. 139A, The Middle Renmin Road Changsha, Hunan, 410011 China Yan Lianqi, Department of Orthopedics, Subei People’s Hospital, Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Nantong West Road 98, Yangzhou, 225001 China Sun Yu, Department of Orthopedics, Subei People’s Hospital, Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Nantong West Road 98, Yangzhou, 225001 China Wang Daxin, Department of Orthopedics, Subei People’s Hospital, Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Nantong West Road 98, Yangzhou, 225001 China Dai Shanhe, Department of Orthopedics, Subei People’s Hospital, Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Nantong West Road 98, Yangzhou, 225001 China Yu Tangyun, Department of Orthopedics, Subei People’s Hospital, Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Nantong West Road 98, Yangzhou, 225001 China Gu Jiaxiang, Department of Orthopedics, Subei People’s Hospital, Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Nantong West Road 98, Yangzhou, 225001 China Jiang Baichuan, Department of Orthopedics, Subei People’s Hospital, Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Nantong West Road 98, Yangzhou, 225001 China Feng Xinmin, Department of Orthopedics, Subei People’s Hospital, Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Nantong West Road 98, Yangzhou, 225001 China Hu Hansheng, Department of Orthopedics, Subei People’s Hospital, Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Nantong West Road 98, Yangzhou, 225001 China Wang Qiang, Department of Orthopedics, Subei People’s Hospital, Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University, Nantong West Road 98, Yangzhou, 225001 China Yin Bangliang, Department of Cadiothoracic, The Second Xiangya Hospital Affiliated with Central-South University, No. 139A, The Middle Renmin Road Changsha, Hunan, 410011 China Lv Guohua, Department of Cadiothoracic, The Second Xiangya Hospital Affiliated with Central-South University, No. 139A, The Middle Renmin Road Changsha, Hunan, 410011 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195 Journal Volume Volume 62 Journal Issue Volume 62, Number 1

Description:    Gliosarcoma is a rare brain tumor consisting of both glial and mesenchymal components. Metastatic gliosarcoma is rare; however, here we report a 31-year-old Chinese woman with cranial gliosarcoma metastatic to the liver, lymph nodes and the spinal cord. Initially, the patient presented with dizziness, headache and vomiting and after surgery and histological examination, was diagnosed with cranial gliosarcoma. The patient was treated with surgical resection followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Three years after completing treatment, the patient again presented with similar symptoms with the addition of a seizure. Test revealed recurrence of the gliosarcoma, and the same treatment was prescribed. Three years after treatment completion, the patient again presented with dizziness and headache. Masses at the right temple and in the right side of the neck were found. Tumors were surgically removed from the brain, skull, scalp and neck, the latter three diagnosed as metastatic gliosarcomas. The patient received both chemotherapy and radiotherapy following resection. One month after treatment, bone scans revealed possible metastasis in the right skull, lumbar and left ileum, soft neck tissue, lungs, collarbone, humeri, vertebrae, liver and abdominal lymph nodes. No further therapy was recommended due to the poor condition of the patient. The patient died 5 months later. Content Type Journal Article Category Translational Biomedical Research Pages 391-395 DOI 10.1007/s12013-011-9312-3 Authors LiZhao Chen, Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, 10#, Changjiang Branch, Daping, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400042 People’s Republic of China HuaLiang Xiao, Department of Pathology, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, 10#, Changjiang Branch, Daping, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400042 People’s Republic of China Lunshan Xu, Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, 10#, Changjiang Branch, Daping, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400042 People’s Republic of China YongWen Zou, Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, 10#, Changjiang Branch, Daping, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400042 People’s Republic of China YunDong Zhang, Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, 10#, Changjiang Branch, Daping, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400042 People’s Republic of China MinHui Xu, Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, 10#, Changjiang Branch, Daping, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400042 People’s Republic of China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195 Journal Volume Volume 62 Journal Issue Volume 62, Number 2

Description:    We sought to evaluate the significance of Doppler tissue energy (DTE) and stressed echocardiography for diagnosing myocardial contusion (MC) in canines. Ten adult healthy dogs were anesthetized (3% pentobarbital sodium/i.v.) and impacted by BIM-II biological impact machine to induce MC. Conventional and stressed echocardiographies were used for segmental abnormal ventricular wall motions; DTE was also used to detect the abnormal ventricular wall motions and areas of injured myocardial fibers after MC, and the results were compared with those of triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. The data show that both conventional and stressed echocardiographies identified ventricular wall segmental abnormal motions or even aneurysms. These segments were mainly distributed over the front and middle interventricular walls and anterolateral ventricular wall. The ventricular wall motion scoring and wall motion segment index (WMSI) increased remarkably after MC induction. Compared with TTC staining, the conventional echocardiography showed 100% sensitivity and 66.67% specificity, whereas the stressed echocardiography displayed 100% sensitivity and 88.89% specificity. DTE showed both the sensitivity and specificity of 100% for MC diagnosis. Thus, DTE has higher specificity than conventional and stressed echocardiographies. In conclusion, both DTE and stress echocardiography have higher clinical value for MC diagnosis in canines. Content Type Journal Article Category Translational Biomedical Research Pages 383-389 DOI 10.1007/s12013-011-9311-4 Authors Du Wenhua, Department of Ultrasound, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 40042 China Xiong Xiuqin, Department of Ultrasound, Daping Hospital and Research Institute of Surgery, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 40042 China Zhang Weimin, Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Fourth People’s Hospital of Chongqing, Chongqing, 400042 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195 Journal Volume Volume 62 Journal Issue Volume 62, Number 2

Description:    In this study, based on the resonator model and exciplex model of electromagnetic radiation within the human body, mathematical model of biological order state, also referred to as syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine, was established and expressed as: “ \text Sy = n /ln(6 I + 1) ”. This model provides the theoretical foundation for experimental research addressing the order state of living system, especially the quantitative research syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine. Content Type Journal Article Category Translational Biomedical Research Pages 377-381 DOI 10.1007/s12013-011-9309-y Authors Jinxiang Han, Shandong Academy of Medicinal Sciences, 18877 Jingshi Road, Jinan, 250062 Shandong Province, China Jinzhao Huang, School of Physics, University of Jinan, Jinan, 250022 Shandong Province, China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195 Journal Volume Volume 62 Journal Issue Volume 62, Number 2

Description:    The objective of the study was to evaluate the expression of survivin, cell proliferation, and apoptosis in survivin-specific siRNA-transfected human gastric cancer cell line MGC-803. For this purpose, the target gene fragments were cloned into pSilencer3.1-Hl neo vector. Recombinant eukaryotic expression vector, pSilencer3.1-SVV was successfully constructed and then the recombinant vector was transfected into gastric cancer MGC-803 cells. The mRNA expression of survivin was determined by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Survivin protein expression was detected by Western blot. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were determined by flow cytometry. Our data regarding RT-PCR and Western blot showed that pSilencer3.1-SVV vector could knockdown the expression of survivin mRNA and protein. In contrast with the control group, the apoptotic index of MGC-803 cells increased remarkably. Survivin-specific siRNA caused cells accumulation in the G2/M phase and the number of cells in the G0/G1 phase decreased after transfection. It was, therefore, concluded that the siRNA targeting survivin gene could inhibit the proliferation of gastric cancer cells and induce apoptosis. The use of survivin siRNA may provide a novel approach for gene therapy of gastric cancer. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 337-341 DOI 10.1007/s12013-011-9315-0 Authors Zhao Wenying, Department of Medical Oncology, Yijishan Hospital Wannan Medical College, Anhui Wuhu, 241000 China Ji Zhaoning, Department of Medical Oncology, Yijishan Hospital Wannan Medical College, Anhui Wuhu, 241000 China Yang Zhimin, Department of Medical Oncology, Yijishan Hospital Wannan Medical College, Anhui Wuhu, 241000 China Chen Dongyun, Department of Medical Oncology, Yijishan Hospital Wannan Medical College, Anhui Wuhu, 241000 China Sheng Lili, Department of Medical Oncology, Yijishan Hospital Wannan Medical College, Anhui Wuhu, 241000 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195 Journal Volume Volume 62 Journal Issue Volume 62, Number 2

Description:    The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and clinical effect of repairing scalp defect after the excision of cutis verticis gyrata using expanded scalp skin flaps. For this purpose, 8 patients with cutis verticis gyrata were subjected to scalp skin expander implantation under the skin. After saline injection and scalp expansion for 2–3 months, the cutis verticis gyrata was excised and the expanded scalp flaps were applied to recover the skin defect. As a result, the flaps and hair grew well without contractures and significant scarring, suggesting that this method is useful for surgical correction of cutis verticis gyrata. Content Type Journal Article Category Translational Biomedical Research Pages 373-376 DOI 10.1007/s12013-011-9308-z Authors Donghong Zhao, Department of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery, General Hospital of Jinan Military Region, Jinan, 250031 China Jiang Li, Department of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery, General Hospital of Jinan Military Region, Jinan, 250031 China Kehua Wang, Department of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery, General Hospital of Jinan Military Region, Jinan, 250031 China Xiaoping Guo, Department of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery, General Hospital of Jinan Military Region, Jinan, 250031 China Yuhong Lang, Department of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery, General Hospital of Jinan Military Region, Jinan, 250031 China Lijun Peng, Department of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery, General Hospital of Jinan Military Region, Jinan, 250031 China Qin Wang, Department of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery, General Hospital of Jinan Military Region, Jinan, 250031 China Yamin Li, Department of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery, General Hospital of Jinan Military Region, Jinan, 250031 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195 Journal Volume Volume 62 Journal Issue Volume 62, Number 2

Description:    Resveratrol (RES) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine having anti-inflammatory properties. We sought to explore the role of RES in intestinal injury during severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) in a rat model study. For this purpose, RES-treated and sham-operated (SO) SAP rat models were established, and SAP was induced in rats by injecting 4% sodium taurocholate into the biliary-pancreatic duct. In the RES group, RES was infused intravenously immediately after the SAP induction in rats; SO group served as controls. Histopathological analysis, determination of tissue levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) and serum levels of TNF-α as well as ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expression were carried out at 3, 6, and 12 h following SAP induction. The data show that following SAP induction, SOD levels decreased and MDA levels increased along with ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expression in the intestine. Serum TNF-α levels increased in the SAP group. Importantly, RES treatment significantly reversed all the pathological changes. In conclusion, this study confirmed the anti-inflammatory properties of RES and demonstrated the prevention of injury to the intestinal barrier in the rat SAP model. Content Type Journal Article Category Translational Biomedical Research Pages 397-402 DOI 10.1007/s12013-011-9313-2 Authors Rajiv K. Jha, Department of Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, 277 Yanta West Road, Xi’an, 710061 China Qingyong Ma, Department of Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, 277 Yanta West Road, Xi’an, 710061 China Zhang Lei, Department of Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, 277 Yanta West Road, Xi’an, 710061 China Huanchen Sha, Department of Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, 277 Yanta West Road, Xi’an, 710061 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195 Journal Volume Volume 62 Journal Issue Volume 62, Number 2

Description:    whi genes, named after the mutations turning Streptomyces coelicolor colonies into white, exist largely in Actinomyces and Mycobacterium. whiB genes, a subclass of whi , involve in wide range of events, such as cell division, spore formation, nutrient starvation, pathogenesis, antibiotic resistance, and stress sense. To better understand the role of this family in physiology and pathology in the important pathogen— Mycobacterium tuberculosis, WhiB and WhiB-like proteins function and structures of were bioinformatically dissected. Seven WhiB proteins can be found in M. tuberculosis genome, most are highly conserved. Based on the data mining of published microarray profiling of wild type and mutants transcriptome response to diverse treatments, a regulatory network of whiB is established. Some findings from this network are obvious. WhiB2 and WhiB7 might be key nodes in drug resistance, WhiB3 might involve in the maintenance of redox homeostasis. These works provide new Mycobacterium persistence and virulence hypothesis for future experimental validation. Content Type Journal Article Category Review Paper Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9348-z Authors Fei Zheng, Institute of Modern Biopharmaceiticals, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Eco-Enviroment and Bio-Resource of the Three Gorges Area, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing, 400715 China Quanxin Long, Institute of Modern Biopharmaceiticals, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Eco-Enviroment and Bio-Resource of the Three Gorges Area, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing, 400715 China Jianping Xie, Institute of Modern Biopharmaceiticals, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Eco-Enviroment and Bio-Resource of the Three Gorges Area, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing, 400715 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Previous research has reported that IGFBP7 functions as a tumor suppressor gene in different tumors, but its role in the trophoblast has not been elucidated. In this research, we studied the regulation mechanism of IGFBP7 in trophoblast proliferation and invasion in HTR-8 and JEG-3 cell lines. We found that IGFBP7 was abundantly expressed in normal human syncytiotrophoblast tissue samples but that this was lacking in hydatidiform moles. The proliferation and invasion capacities of HTR-8 and JEG-3 cells were significantly inhibited by recombinant IGFBP7. Estrogen (E2) stimulated the expression of IGFBP7 at a concentration of 5–10 ng/mL. This stimulation was inhibited by the estrogen receptor antagonist Fulvestrant (ICI182.780) and a TGFβ-neutralizing antibody. In conclusion, our data reveals that estrogen stimulates the expression of IGFBP7 through estrogen receptors and TGFβ. The expression of IGFBP7 could be stimulated by TGFβ in a dose-dependent manner and inhibited by IFNγ in HTR-8 and JEG-3 cells. IGFBP7 could also inhibit the phosphorylation of ERK and the expression of PCNA, MMP2 and MMP9 in HTR-8 and JEG-3 cells. These findings suggest that IGFBP7 is a key regulator of E2-induced trophoblast proliferation and invasion. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-12 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9342-5 Authors Zhen-Kun Liu, State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101 People’s Republic of China Hai-Yan Liu, State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101 People’s Republic of China Wen-Ning Fang, State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101 People’s Republic of China Ying Yang, State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101 People’s Republic of China Hong-Mei Wang, State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101 People’s Republic of China Jing-Pian Peng, State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101 People’s Republic of China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    We investigated the role of homeobox B4 (HOXB4) mRNA/protein expression induced by human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and/or all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) in proliferation and committed differentiation of human cord blood hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) into colony-forming-units of T-lymphocyte (CFU-TL) and erythroid (CFU-E) progenitors in vitro. Twelve cord blood samples were collected from the fetal placenta umbilical vein and cultured in vitro. The proliferation and differentiation of cord blood HSCs into CFU-TL and CFU-E were continuously disrupted with HCMV-AD169 and/or 6 × 10 −8 mol/l of ATRA. HOXB4 mRNA/protein expression in CFU-TL and CFU-E was detected in control, ATRA, HCMV and ATRA + HCMV groups on days 3, 7, and 12 of culture by fluorescent qRT-PCR/western blot. We found that HOXB4 mRNA/protein expression was detectable on day 3, increased on day 7 and was highest on day 12. HOXB4 mRNA/protein expression in HCMV group was downregulated compared with control group ( P  〈 0.05). However, the levels were significantly upregulated in HCMV + ATRA group compared with HCMV group ( P  〈 0.05). We concluded that the abnormal HOXB4 mRNA/protein expression induced by HCMV could play a role in hematopoietic damage. ATRA, at the concentration used, significantly up-regulated HOXB4 mRNA/protein expression in normal lymphocyte and erythrocyte progenitor cells as well as in HCMV-infected cells. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-9 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9349-y Authors Liu Wen-jun, Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Luzhou Medical College, Luzhou, 646000 Sichuan Province, China Guo qu-lian, Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Luzhou Medical College, Luzhou, 646000 Sichuan Province, China Chen Hong-ying, Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Luzhou Medical College, Luzhou, 646000 Sichuan Province, China Zou Yan, Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Luzhou Medical College, Luzhou, 646000 Sichuan Province, China Huang Mei-xian, Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Luzhou Medical College, Luzhou, 646000 Sichuan Province, China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of real-time contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in the differential diagnosis of breast tumor. Fifty-seven breast tumor patients with 63 lesions were studied. Among the lesions, 34 are malignant and 29 are benign. A Philips iU-22 ultrasound scanner with L12-5 probe was used. Bolus SonoVue was injected via antecubital vein. Dynamic imaging was stored and analyzed with QLAB software. Parameters including initial time of perfusion (ITP), time to peak (TTP), peak intensity (PI), the enhancement pattern and the wash out pattern (WP) of contrast agent were observed. Results showed that about 85.3% of the malignant lesions showed heterogeneous enhancement and 79.3% of the benign ones showed homogeneous enhancement. The persistence time of the contrast agents was clearly longer inside the malignant lesion than inside the benign ones. Nevertheless, there were no significant differences in the value as ITP and TTP between the malignant and the benign lesions, while the PI value of the malignant lesions was significantly higher than the benign lesions. This study suggested that real-time contrast-enhanced ultrasonography is helpful to the differential diagnosis of breast tumors; however, the WP of the contrast agent inside the lesion also seems to be an important factor. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-4 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9346-1 Authors Du Wenhua, Department of Ultrasound, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400042 China Liu Lijia, Department of Ultrasound, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400042 China Wang Hui, Department of Ultrasound, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400042 China You Wei, Department of Ultrasound, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400042 China Tao Li, Department of Ultrasound, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400042 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Present study concerns with various biochemical changes in the developing rat brain exposed to 9.9 GHz (square wave modulated, 1 kHz) at power density 0.125 mW/cm 2 (specific absorption rate 1.0 W/kg) for 2 h/day for 35 days. Thirty days old male wistar rats were used for this present study. Each group consists of eight animals. After the exposure, biochemical assays such as calcium ion efflux, calcium-dependent protein kinase (PKC), and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) were performed on the brain tissue. Results of this study reveal that chronic exposure of rat to microwave radiation alter the activity of certain enzymes. There was a significant increase in calcium ion efflux and the activity of ODC. On the other hand, there is a significant decrease in PKC activity. Since these enzymes are related to growth, any alteration may lead to affect functioning of the brain and its development. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9344-3 Authors R. Paulraj, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110 067 India J. Behari, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110 067 India Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    We assessed the safety and efficacy of sorafenib with cryotherapy (cryoRx) in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). One hundred four HCC patients were enrolled, who met the following criteria: (i) Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage C; (ii) HCC without distant metastasis; (iii) the presence of portal vein thrombosis (PVT); (iv) Child-Pugh class A or B; and (v) life expectancy of at least 12 weeks. The patients were randomly divided into sorafenib-cryoRx and sorafenib (control) groups. Primary endpoint was time to progression (TTP); secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS) and tolerability. Microvessel density (MVD) was assessed by CD34-immunostaining. After a median 10.5 (4–26) months follow-up, the data showed that median TTP was 9.5 (8.4–13.5) months in combinatorial therapy group vs. 5.3 (3.8–6.9) months in sorafenib group ( P  = 0.02). The median OS was 12.5 (95 % CI 10.6–16.4) months in combination therapy group vs. 8.6 (7.3–10.4) months in sorafenib group ( P  = 0.01). Low MVD patients in combination therapy exhibited significantly longer median TTP and OS than controls. High MVD was predictive of poor responses to sorafenib. CryoRx did not increase frequency/degree of sorafenib-related adverse events. Therefore, it was concluded that the addition of cryoRx significantly improved clinical outcomes of Sorafenib therapy in advanced HCC with acceptable tolerance and similar safety profiles as previously reported. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-11 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9353-2 Authors Yongping Yang, Center of Therapeutic Research for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Beijing the 302nd Hospital, 100 Xisihuan Middle Road, Beijing, 100039 China Yinying Lu, Center of Therapeutic Research for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Beijing the 302nd Hospital, 100 Xisihuan Middle Road, Beijing, 100039 China Chunping Wang, Center of Therapeutic Research for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Beijing the 302nd Hospital, 100 Xisihuan Middle Road, Beijing, 100039 China Wenlin Bai, Center of Therapeutic Research for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Beijing the 302nd Hospital, 100 Xisihuan Middle Road, Beijing, 100039 China Jianhui Qu, Center of Therapeutic Research for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Beijing the 302nd Hospital, 100 Xisihuan Middle Road, Beijing, 100039 China Yan Chen, Center of Therapeutic Research for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Beijing the 302nd Hospital, 100 Xisihuan Middle Road, Beijing, 100039 China Xiujuan Chang, Center of Therapeutic Research for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Beijing the 302nd Hospital, 100 Xisihuan Middle Road, Beijing, 100039 China Linjing An, Center of Therapeutic Research for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Beijing the 302nd Hospital, 100 Xisihuan Middle Road, Beijing, 100039 China Lin Zhou, Center of Therapeutic Research for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Beijing the 302nd Hospital, 100 Xisihuan Middle Road, Beijing, 100039 China Zhen Zeng, Center of Therapeutic Research for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Beijing the 302nd Hospital, 100 Xisihuan Middle Road, Beijing, 100039 China Min Lou, Center of Therapeutic Research for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Beijing the 302nd Hospital, 100 Xisihuan Middle Road, Beijing, 100039 China Jiyun Lv, Center of Therapeutic Research for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Beijing the 302nd Hospital, 100 Xisihuan Middle Road, Beijing, 100039 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    The aim of the present study was to upgrade the bonding quality and water resistance of medium-density particleboards based on rice husks (RH) as a wood substitute and soybean protein concentrate (SPC) as the binder via chemical modification of SPC. Alkali (A), citric acid (CA) and boric acid (BA) were used to modify proteins and the carbohydrate complex in SPC. The effect of chemical treatment performed on SPC was followed by Fourier transform infrared, differential scanning calorimetry, thermo-gravimetric analysis and initial apparent viscosity measurements. Board properties were evaluated in terms of internal bond (IB) and physical properties. Results revealed that boards bonded with SPC treated with boric acid, exhibited the highest IB and the lowest water absorption and thickness swelling at 2 and 24 h, due to cross-linking reactions with exposed OH-groups in the amorphous region of cellulose of RH. Results demonstrate that boric acid-modified–SPC-bonded boards met the requirements of IB recommended by the US Standard ANSI A208.1-2009 for M1, MS, M2 and M3-grade medium-density particleboards but failed to pass the thickness swelling required. This issue of BSPC-RH boards is compensated for by the benefit of being formaldehyde-free which makes them suitable for indoor applications. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-9 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2058-2 Authors E. M. Ciannamea, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales (INTEMA), Av. J. B. Justo 4302 (7600), Mar del Plata, Argentina J. F. Martucci, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales (INTEMA), Av. J. B. Justo 4302 (7600), Mar del Plata, Argentina P. M. Stefani, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales (INTEMA), Av. J. B. Justo 4302 (7600), Mar del Plata, Argentina R. A. Ruseckaite, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales (INTEMA), Av. J. B. Justo 4302 (7600), Mar del Plata, Argentina Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Intensive treatment for newborns with trisomy 13 is controversial because of their lethal prognosis. We report the better life prognosis of patients with trisomy 13 who received intensive treatment. At our hospital, we provided an intensive management to such patients including resuscitation and surgical procedures as required. Herein, we present the results of a retrospective study (1989–2010) of 16 trisomy 13 cases who received an intensive treatment. None was diagnosed to have trisomy 13 before birth; 9 were delivered by C-section and oxygen was administered to all patients during postpartum resuscitation. Mechanical ventilation was used in 9 patients after tracheal intubation and tracheotomy was performed in 2 patients when withdrawing of extubation was difficult. Regarding prognosis, 9 patients died, 3 were referred to another hospital, and 4 were discharged from the hospital. Four and 7 patients died within 7 and 30 days after birth, respectively. Nine patients survived for 〉1 month, 7 for 〉180 days, and 5 for 〉3 years. Median survival for 16 patients was 733 days. The patients who received intensive treatments survived longer compared to the previous data. This study provides useful information concerning genetic counseling, especially from an ethical point of view, before providing intensive management to newborns with trisomy 13. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-8 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9355-0 Authors Keiko Tsukada, Department of Pediatrics, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, Kitakobayashi 880, Mibu, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan George Imataka, Department of Pediatrics, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, Kitakobayashi 880, Mibu, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan Hiroshi Suzumura, Department of Pediatrics, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, Kitakobayashi 880, Mibu, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan Osamu Arisaka, Department of Pediatrics, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, Kitakobayashi 880, Mibu, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    A reversed-phase gradient ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatographic method with a water–acetonitrile mobile phase and UV detection has been developed to rapidly determine the concentration of the major tocopherol components in B100. The described method requires minimal sample preparation and provides short analysis times compatible with the needs of small to mid-size laboratories involved in B100 analyses. The objectives of this work were twofold. We wished to develop an analytical method both to rapidly screen B100 samples for their tocopherol content and to provide additional information on the source (from the distribution of tocopherols) and the nature of the processing of the B100 (absence of tocopherols would suggest distillation). Information on the tocopherol content of the B100 can be used to assess the inherent antioxidant content of the B100 and the extent to which additional stabilizers are required. The method determines the concentration of alpha, gamma and delta tocopherols and has a chromatographic run time of 4.5 min with minimal sample preparation. Calibration curves were linear over the range of 5–350 μg/mL and had correlation coefficients exceeding 0.999. The short term precision of the method was evaluated, and relative standard deviations were typically 2 % or less. Recovery of spiked tocopherols averaged 97 %. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-8 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2061-7 Authors R. E. Pauls, Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description: Erratum to: Hyperhomocysteinemia and Related Genetic Polymorphisms Correlate with Ulcerative Colitis in Chinese Han population in Central China Content Type Journal Article Category Erratum Pages 407-407 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9337-2 Authors Yi Jiang, Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University School of Medicine, Wuhan, 430071 People’s Republic of China Xuanping Xia, Department of Gastroenterology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, 325000 People’s Republic of China Wenxing Wang, Department of Gastroenterology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, 325000 People’s Republic of China Limiao Lin, Department of Gastroenterology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, 325000 People’s Republic of China Changlong Xu, Department of Gastroenterology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, 325000 People’s Republic of China Zhenzai Cai, Department of Gastroenterology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, 325000 People’s Republic of China Bo Zheng, Department of Gastroenterology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, 325000 People’s Republic of China Jihua Pei, Department of Gastroenterology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, 325000 People’s Republic of China Sujian Shen, Department of Gastroenterology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, 325000 People’s Republic of China Bing Xia, Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University School of Medicine, Wuhan, 430071 People’s Republic of China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195 Journal Volume Volume 62 Journal Issue Volume 62, Number 2

Description:    Pathophysiological characteristics of hemorrhagic shock at high altitude are different from that at plain which involve severe injury, high mortality, difficult treatment and compromised liquid tolerance. High-altitude pulmonary/cerebral edema and multiple-organ dysfunction render the conventional treatment ineffective. Herein, we evaluated the resuscitation effects of hyperoxia solution on high-altitude hemorrhagic shock in rats. For this purpose, a rat model of high-altitude (3,658 m) hemorrhagic shock was established on the plateau and hyperoxia solution (4 ml/kg) was infused through external jugular vein for resuscitation at 60 min post-hemorrhage. Blood pressure, blood gas, left and right ventricular pressure, lung and brain water content, survival time, survival rate at 2 h, levels of inflammatory cytokines and free oxygen radicals in blood and tissue were determined. After resuscitation with hyperoxia solution, blood pressure, arterial oxygen partial pressure, left and right ventricular systolic pressure, ±d p /d t max, survival time and rate were significantly increased. Lung and brain water content were unchanged, malondialdehyde activity in lung, brain and plasma and levels of TNF-α, IL-1, IL-6, and endothelin were significantly decreased. Besides, CGRP was elevated with reduced injury and improved lung and kidney functions. Concludingly, resuscitation with hyperoxia solution is feasible and more effective than other classical liquids, making it the first choice of treatment for high-altitude hemorrhagic shock. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 343-352 DOI 10.1007/s12013-011-9316-z Authors Qiquan Zhou, Department of High Altitude Diseases, College of High Altitude Military Medicine, 3rd Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038 China Yongjun Luo, Department of High Altitude Diseases, College of High Altitude Military Medicine, 3rd Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038 China Fuyu Liu, Key Laboratory of High Altitude Medicine, 3rd Military Medical University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400038 China Yuqi Gao, Key Laboratory of High Altitude Medicine, 3rd Military Medical University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400038 China Yi He, Research Center of Mountain Sickness, General Hospital of Tibetan Military Area, Lhasa, 850007 China Bihai Zheng, Research Center of Mountain Sickness, General Hospital of Tibetan Military Area, Lhasa, 850007 China Dingzhou Yang, Research Center of Mountain Sickness, General Hospital of Tibetan Military Area, Lhasa, 850007 China Suzhi Li, Research Center of Mountain Sickness, General Hospital of Tibetan Military Area, Lhasa, 850007 China Liangming Liu, Department-2 Research, Institute of Field Battle Surgery Research, 3rd Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400042 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195 Journal Volume Volume 62 Journal Issue Volume 62, Number 2

Description:    Muscle damage is a common form of injury. The incidence of muscle damage accounts for up to half of the sports injuries. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of pulsed ultrasound on the healing process in an animal contusion injury model. SD rats (62) were randomly divided into control group (CG, 14 rats) and treatment group (48). According to the intensities of Ultrasound therapy, the treatment group was divided into 4 subgroups of 12 rats, each: A (0.25 W/cm 2 , US 1 ), B (0.5 W/cm 2 , US 2 ), C (0.75 W/cm 2 , US 3 ) and D (0.25 W/cm 2 ). The effectiveness of ultrasound treatment on muscle injuries was evaluated, and the optimal intensity of ultrasound in treating muscle injuries was explored. The results obtained provide experimental and theoretical evidence for the clinical effectiveness of Ultrasound therapy in treating muscle injuries. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 329-336 DOI 10.1007/s12013-011-9310-5 Authors Bin Shu, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Third Affiliated Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400042 China Zhijin Yang, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Third Affiliated Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400042 China Xiangping Li, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Third Affiliated Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400042 China Li-qun Zhang, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195 Journal Volume Volume 62 Journal Issue Volume 62, Number 2

Description:    Either the role of the adaptive immune system or the interaction between innate and adaptive immune systems in familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is not clear so far. So, we planned to search for the interaction between the innate and adaptive immune systems in the pathogenesis of FMF by investigating polymorphism for CTLA - 4 gene, which plays a role in controlling antigen presentation to T cells. We also aimed to investigate whether there is an association between −318C/T and + 49A/G polymorphisms in the CTLA - 4 gene and the main clinical features of the disease. 75 FMF patients and 179 controls were studied. Polymorphism was detected by the PCR-RFLP technique. The CT genotype and T allele frequencies of the −318C/T polymorphism and the haplotype frequency for the −318T/ + 49A in the CTLA - 4 gene were higher in the FMF (21.3, 21.3, and 10.7 %) when compared with the controls (10.6, 10.6, and 5.3 %; P  = 0.029, 0.044, and 0.029). However, these differences did not reach a statistically significant level after the Bonferroni correction. A significant linkage disequilibrium was found between the −318C/T and +49A/G polymorphisms in the CTLA-4 gene (D′ = 0.997, r 2  = 0.027, P  = 0.0002). Genotype and carrier frequencies of the CTLA - 4 gene + 49A/G polymorphism were not significantly different between FMF patients and healthy controls. No association was found between the studied polymorphisms and the main clinical features of the disease. Our findings suggest that although not statistically significant, higher frequencies of CTLA - 4 gene −318CT genotype, T allele, and −318T/ + 49A haplotype in FMF patients may be related to the non-autoimmune pathogenesis of FMF. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9416-4 Authors Ramazan Gunesacar, Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, Kahramanmaras, Turkey Eren Erken, Department of Rheumatology-Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey Suzan Dinkci, Department of Rheumatology-Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    In this study, the stability of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions prepared with structured lipid (SL) were evaluated in which the SL was produced through lipase-catalyzed interesterification between soybean oil and rice bran oil. After interesterification, the major TAG species in the SL were PLP (22.5 %), PLL/OOLn (21.8 %), LPL (16.1 %), and LLS/PLO (16.1 %), and the total amount of tocopherol and tocotrienol was 20.9 mg/100 g of SL. Sophorolipid was used as an emulsifier for preparing SL-based O/W emulsions, and the effect of pH (pH 5.8, 7 and 7.2) on stability was studied by analyzing the fat globule size. From the results, SL-based O/W emulsions showed similar stabilities to those prepared with Tween 20 at the neutral environment. In the oxidation study, any antioxidant addition of propyl gallate (PG), ascorbic acid 6-palmitate (AP) or quercetin hydrate (Que) distinctively prevented peroxide formation on the SL-based O/W emulsion throughout the 23 days of storage while AP was less effective to lower TBARS values than PG and Que. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-10 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2133-8 Authors Cheng-Lian Xue, Department of Food Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 305-764 South Korea Daniel K. Y. Solaiman, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 East Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA 19038, USA Richard D. Ashby, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 East Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA 19038, USA Jonathan Zerkowski, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 East Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA 19038, USA Jeung Hee Lee, Department of Food and Nutrition, Daegu University, Jillyang, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk 712-714, South Korea Soon-Taek Hong, Department of Food Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 305-764 South Korea Dan Yang, Department of Food Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 305-764 South Korea Jung-Ah Shin, Department of Food Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 305-764 South Korea Chen-Ming Ji, Department of Food Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 305-764 South Korea Ki-Teak Lee, Department of Food Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 305-764 South Korea Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Oleic acid (OA) is a renewable monounsaturated fatty acid obtained from high oleic sunflower oil. This work was focused on the oxidative scission of OA, which yields a mono-acid (pelargonic acid, PA) and a di-acid (azelaic acid, AA) through an emulsifying system. The conventional method for producing AA and PA consists of the ozonolysis of oleic acid, a process which presents numerous drawbacks. Therefore, we proposed to study a new alternative process using a green oxidant and a solvent-free system. OA was oxidized in a batch reactor with a biphasic organic-aqueous system consisting of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 , 30 %) as an oxidant and a peroxo–tungsten complex Q 3 {PO 4 [WO(O 2 ) 2 ] 4 } as a phase-transfer catalyst/co-oxidant. Several phase-transfer catalysts were prepared in situ from tungstophosphoric acid, H 2 O 2 and different quaternary ammonium salts (Q + , Cl – ). The catalyst [C 5 H 5 N( n -C 16 H 33 )] 3 {PO 4 [WO(O 2 ) 2 ] 4 } was found to give the best results and was chosen for the optimization of the other parameters of the process. This optimization led to a complete conversion of OA into AA and PA with high yields (〉80 %) using the system OA/H 2 O 2 /[C 5 H 5 N( n -C 16 H 33 )] 3 {PO 4 [WO(O 2 ) 2 ] 4 } (1/5/0.02 molar ratio) at 85 °C for 5 h. In addition, a new treatment was developed in order to recover the catalyst. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-8 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2134-7 Authors Anaïs Godard, Université de Toulouse, INPT-ENSIACET, LCA (Laboratoire de Chimie Agro-Industrielle), ENSIACET, 4 Allée Emile Monso, 31030 Toulouse, France Pascale De Caro, Université de Toulouse, INPT-ENSIACET, LCA (Laboratoire de Chimie Agro-Industrielle), ENSIACET, 4 Allée Emile Monso, 31030 Toulouse, France Sophie Thiebaud-Roux, Université de Toulouse, INPT-ENSIACET, LCA (Laboratoire de Chimie Agro-Industrielle), ENSIACET, 4 Allée Emile Monso, 31030 Toulouse, France Emeline Vedrenne, Université de Toulouse, INPT-ENSIACET, LCA (Laboratoire de Chimie Agro-Industrielle), ENSIACET, 4 Allée Emile Monso, 31030 Toulouse, France Zéphirin Mouloungui, Université de Toulouse, INPT-ENSIACET, LCA (Laboratoire de Chimie Agro-Industrielle), ENSIACET, 4 Allée Emile Monso, 31030 Toulouse, France Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    The availability of a reliable methodology for the quantification of fatty acid esters of monochloropropropanediol (MCPD) and glycidol is essential for understanding the mechanism of formation of these process contaminants and for developing effective mitigation strategies. While several analytical methods for the determination of MCPD esters have already been developed and evaluated, only very few procedures are currently available for the analysis of glycidyl esters. This work presents a new indirect method for the simultaneous quantification of fatty acid esters of 2-MCPD, 3-MCPD and glycidol. The method is based on the acid-catalyzed conversion of glycidyl esters into 3-monobromopropanediol (3-MBPD) monoesters which, owing to the structural similarity to MCPD esters, are quantified by using the procedure we previously optimized for the analysis of MCPD esters. The critical step of the method, which is the conversion of glycidyl esters, was optimized by testing different reagent concentrations and varying other condition settings. The novel method showed good repeatability (RSD 〈2.5 %) and between-day reproducibility (RSD ≤5 %). The limit of detection was 0.04 mg/kg for bound 2-MCPD and 3-MCPD and 0.06 mg/kg for bound glycidol. The trueness of the method was evaluated by the analysis of spiked samples and by interlaboratory comparison. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-8 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2132-9 Authors A. Ermacora, Department of Fat Technology, Unilever R&D Vlaardingen, Olivier van Noortlaan 120, 3133 AT Vlaardingen, The Netherlands K. Hrncirik, Department of Fat Technology, Unilever R&D Vlaardingen, Olivier van Noortlaan 120, 3133 AT Vlaardingen, The Netherlands Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Cell–cell interactions play an important role in spatial organization (pattern formation) during the development of multicellular organisms. An understanding of these biological roles requires identifying cell phenotypes that are regulated by cell–cell interactions and characterizing the spatial organizations of the phenotypes. However, conventional methods for assaying cell–cell interactions are mainly applicable at a cell population level. These measures are incapable of elucidating the spatial organizations of the phenotypes, resulting in an incomplete view of cell–cell interactions. To overcome this issue, we developed an automated image-based method to investigate cell–cell interactions based on spatial localizations of cells. We demonstrated this method in cultured cells using cell density-dependent nucleocytoplasmic distribution of β-catenin and aryl hydrocarbon receptor as the phenotype. This novel method was validated by comparing with a conventional population-based method, and proved to be more sensitive and reliable. The application of the method characterized how the phenotypes were spatially organized in a population of cultured cells. We further showed that the spatial organization was governed by cell density and was protein-specific. This automated method is very simple, and will be applicable to study cell–cell interactions in different systems from prokaryotic colonies to multicellular organisms. We envision that the ability to extract and interpret how cell–cell interactions determine the spatial organization of a cell phenotype will provide new insights into biology that may be missed by traditional population-averaged studies. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-10 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9412-8 Authors Fujun Han, Cancer Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021 People’s Republic of China Biliang Zhang, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Guangzhou, Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Guangzhou, 510182 People’s Republic of China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    In clinical trials, methadone, but not morphine, appeared to prevent beneficial effects of lubiprostone, a ClC-2 Cl − channel activator, on opioid-induced constipation. Effects of methadone and morphine on lubiprostone-stimulated Cl − currents were measured by short circuit current (Isc) across T84 cells. Whole cell patch clamp of human ClC-2 (hClC-2) stably expressed in HEK293 cells and in a high expression cell line (HEK293EBNA) as well as human CFTR (hCFTR) stably expressed in HEK293 cells was used to study methadone and morphine effects on recombinant hClC-2 and hCFTR Cl − currents. Methadone but not morphine inhibited lubiprostone-stimulated Isc in T84 cells with half-maximal inhibition at 100 nM. Naloxone did not affect lubiprostone stimulation or methadone inhibition of Isc. Lubiprostone-stimulated Cl − currents in hClC-2/HEK293 cells, but not forskolin/IBMX-stimulated Cl − currents in hCFTR/HEK293 cells, were inhibited by methadone, but not morphine. HEK293EBNA cells expressing hClC-2 showed time-dependent, voltage-activated, CdCl 2 -inhibited Cl − currents in the absence (control) and the presence of lubiprostone. Methadone, but not morphine, inhibited control and lubiprostone-stimulated hClC-2 Cl − currents with half-maximal inhibition at 100 and 200–230 nM, respectively. Forskolin/IBMX-stimulated hClC-2 Cl − currents were also inhibited by methadone. Myristoylated protein kinase inhibitor (a specific PKA inhibitor) inhibited forskolin/IBMX- but not lubiprostone-stimulated hClC-2 Cl − currents. Methadone caused greater inhibition of lubiprostone-stimulated currents added before patching (66.1 %) compared with after patching (28.7 %). Methadone caused inhibition of lubiprostone-stimulated Cl − currents in T84 cells and control; lubiprostone- and forskolin/IBMX-stimulated recombinant hClC-2 Cl − currents may be the basis for reduced efficacy of lubiprostone in methadone-treated patients. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-11 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9406-6 Authors John Cuppoletti, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0576, USA Jayati Chakrabarti, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0576, USA Kirti Tewari, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0576, USA Danuta H. Malinowska, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0576, USA Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Parietal endoderm-secreted S100A4 promotes early cardiomyogenesis in embryoid bodies [ 1 ]. After an acute ischemic event, S100A4 protein appears in cardiac myocytes only in the border zone in rat and human hearts [ 2 ]. In wound research, a large outward current of 4 μA/cm 2 was always measured at the wound edges of rat cornea and human skin [ 3 ]. We hypothesize that a special electrical circumstance at the border zone may contribute to the phenomenon. An electric stimulation system was designed to give the cells electric pulse current stimulation (EPCS), the feature of the signal is pulse polarity altered one after another, rectangular 2 ms, 2 Hz, 40 μA. This intensity of stimulation is proved to be safe to cardiac myocytes (both in structure and beating behavior compared with the cardiac myocytes which do not receive stimulation) and MSCs (in cell vitality, proliferation, cell cycle, and gap junction generation potential) through our previous work. Canine MSCs are capable of generating voltage-sensitive Ca 2+ channel and Na + channels and generating the Ca 2+ handling system during differentiation. We found that CD44 was reduced in the MSCs monolayer treated with EPCS, compared with non-stimulated MSCs; and EPCS MSCs (3 h/day, 6 h/day, 5 days) showed an 14.04 ± 3.44 and 14.55 ± 3.97 % reduction in CD44, compared with the cotemporary MSCs; these reveal that CD44 reduction amplitude is not correlated with time for EPCS disposure and CD29 (integrin β1) expression is not affected by EPCS exposure. EPCS was given to the MSCs and cardiac myocytes coculture monolayer (ratio 3:1) for different time (1, 3, and 6 h/day) for 4 days to see the biological effects. Gap junction protein and troponin T show an increase after EPCS. We found that the gap junction protein Cx43 increased with treating time—in the EPCS group, it exhibited 1.5 and 1.7 fold in the 3 h/day group and 6 h/day group ( P  〈 0.01), and troponin T exhibited to about 3.6 and 4.4 fold in the 3 h/day group ( P  〈 0.01) and 6 h/day group ( P  〈 0.05). Since coculture was used as stimuli, immunofluorescence was used to visualize the changes during EPCS for the purpose of elucidating the impact of EPCS on cardiac myocytes and MSCs. We found that after 5 days exposure, EPCS can enhance the expression of S100A4, which is 2.33 fold in cardiac myocytes ( P  〈 0.01) and 1.99 fold in MSCs ( P  〈 0.01) in gray value. A significant increasing expression of the myocyte enhancer factor (MEF) and GATA4 is detected in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes ( P  〈 0.01) compared with cotemporary coculture monolayer in the control group. Also, EPCS can trigger the assembly of MEF2c in the nuclei. In addition, more cardiac myocytes were found to have two nuclei. But MSCs fail to active MEF2C transcriptional factor like that in cardiac myocytes after EPCS exposure. The elevation of MEF2 in both cytoplasm and nuclei of cardiac myocytes can always make a clear distinction of the cardiac myocytes and MSCs in coculture. Some factors show strong upregulation tendency with EPCS in both cardiac myocytes and MSCs—these include the troponin T ( P  〈 0.01) and Cx43 ( P  〈 0.05) in cardiac myocytes, and troponin T ( P  〈 0.01) and Cx43 ( P  〈 0.01) in MSCs. Collagen I expression is not affected with EPCS. In conclusion, mild EPCS can upregulate the secretion of S100A4 in both cardiac myocytes and MSCs, which is a factor supporting the cardiomyogenesis and angiogenesis; it further triggers the development of neonatal rat cardiac myocytes through upregulation of MEF2C and GATA4, the number of cardiac myocytes with two nuclei increases with EPCS, but this phenomenon does not appear in MSCs. Despite this, Cx43 and troponin T in both cardiac myocytes and MSCs are very sensitive to EPCS. EPCS can act as an effective and multi-targeted physical intervention method in cardiomyogenesis. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-13 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9402-x Authors Lei Wen, Department of Cardiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China Changhai Zhang, Department of Cardiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China Yaoming Nong, Department of Cardiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China Qing Yao, Department of Cardiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China Zhiyuan Song, Department of Cardiology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    There are possible hazardous health effects of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic radiations emitted from mobile phone on the human reproductive pattern. It is more effective while keeping mobile phones in pocket or near testicular organs. Present review examines the possible concern on radio frequency radiation interaction and biological effects such as enzyme induction, and toxicological effects, including genotoxicity and carcinogenicity, testicular cancer, and reproductive outcomes. Testicular infertility or testicular cancer due to mobile phone or microwave radiations suggests an increased level of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Though generation of ROS in testis has been responsible for possible toxic effects on physiology of reproduction, the reviews of last few decades have well established that these radiations are very harmful and cause mutagenic changes in reproductive pattern and leads to infertility. The debate will be focused on bio-interaction mechanism between mobile phone and testicular cancer due to ROS formation. This causes the biological damage and leads to several changes like decreased sperm count, enzymatic and hormonal changes, DNA damage, and apoptosis formation. In the present review, physics of mobile phone including future research on various aspects has been discussed. Content Type Journal Article Category Review Paper Pages 1-12 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9414-6 Authors Kavindra Kumar Kesari, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Sanjay Kumar, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Jayprakash Nirala, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Mohd. Haris Siddiqui, Department of Biotechnology, Integral University, Lucknow, India Jitendra Behari, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    FtsZ is a widely distributed major cytoskeletal protein involved in the archaea and bacteria cell division. It is the most critical component in the division machinery and similar to tubulin in structure and function. Four major roles of FtsZ have been characterized: cell elongation, GTPase, cell division, and bacterial cytoskeleton. FtsZ subunits can be assembled into protofilaments. Mycobacteria consist of a large family of medical and environmental important bacteria, such as M. leprae, M. tuberculosis , the pathogen of leprosy, and tuberculosis. Structure, function, and regulation of mycobacteria FtsZ are summarized here, together with the implication of FtsZ as potential novel drug target for anti-tuberculosis therapeutics. Content Type Journal Article Category Review Paper Pages 1-9 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9415-5 Authors Weiling Hong, Institute of Modern Biopharmaceuticals, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Eco-Environment and Bio-Resource of the Three Gorges Area, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing, 400715 China Wanyan Deng, Institute of Modern Biopharmaceuticals, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Eco-Environment and Bio-Resource of the Three Gorges Area, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing, 400715 China Jianping Xie, Institute of Modern Biopharmaceuticals, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Eco-Environment and Bio-Resource of the Three Gorges Area, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing, 400715 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    In this study, two different groups of fat samples were prepared in a way that samples of each group had different trans fatty acid (TFA) composition but similar solid fat content (SFC). Samples of the first group (named group A) had TFA between 0.0 and 56.23 %, while the samples of the second group (group B) contained trans isomers ranging from 0.0 to 44.4 %. A polarized microscope was used to monitor the differences between the samples in terms of crystal size and crystal number during isothermal crystallization. In general, increasing TFA resulted in formation of larger crystals in a shorter time. Similar findings were also observed when small deformation time and frequency sweep experiments were conducted. A higher TFA content led to higher complex modulus values during isothermal crystallization. On the other hand, when the samples were stored at 4 °C for 48 h, the samples with the lower trans isomer had higher hardness values. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-10 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2131-x Authors Behic Mert, Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey Hakan Erinc, Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat, Turkey Kubra Sahin, Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Ankara, Diskapi, 06110 Ankara, Turkey Aziz Tekin, Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Ankara, Diskapi, 06110 Ankara, Turkey Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    The physicochemical properties and chemical composition of oils extracted from two varieties of mature seeds of Allanblackia gabonensis and A. stanerana were assessed. The physicochemical properties of oils from Allanblackia gabonensis and A. stanerana were respectively 5.35 and 22.023 % for the water content; 68.15 and 69.87 % for the extraction yield on a dry basis; 0.35 and 0.30 mg KOH/g oil for the acid index; 35.57 and 29.75 g of I 2 /100 g oil for the iodine index; 1.3740 and 1.4150 for the refractive index. The fatty acid profile of those oils showed respectively four saturated fatty acids 60.61 and 70.94 %, two monounsaturated fatty acids 37.46 and 28.22 %, two polyunsaturated fatty acids 0.82 and 0.81 % for Allanblackia gabonensis and A. stanerana oils respectively. In both cases, fatty acids C18:0 and C18:1 were dominant. Most of the physicochemical properties showed significant variation ( P  〈 0.05) from one oil to other, the difference being insignificant ( P  〉 0.05) between the two chemical compositions. The analysis of these characteristics showed interesting application features for these oils. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2130-y Authors Martin Pengou, Department of Chemistry, Higher Teachers’ Training College, University of Maroua, Maroua, Cameroon Guy Bertrand Noumi, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Ngaoundere, Ngaoundere, Cameroon Emmanuel Ngameni, Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde, Yaounde, Cameroon Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    The thesis as a book on formation and cooperative behavior of protein complexes on the cell membrane highlights three major sections on protein oligomerization on cell surface, review approaches on membrane protein oligomerization and validation of oligomer formation process mainly using pure physical/theoretical models. These chapters cover an existing knowledge on membrane protein oligomer formation, experimental approaches with focus on mechanosensitive channels, interactions in oligomer assembly/stability, protein fragmentation, and pore formation in Tat complex system. In almost every chapter, physical/theoretical models have been integrated. A merger of protein oligomerization phenomena and theoretical physics is not quite intriguing for biologists/biochemists lacking adequate knowledge in physical modeling and its theoretical applications, and vice versa. Content Type Journal Article Category Book Review Pages 1-3 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9420-8 Authors Mobeen Raja, School of Molecular and Systems Medicine, Alberta Diabetes Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Daidzein belongs to the group of isoflavones, found in a wide variety of plant-derived foods, especially in soybeans and soy-based foods. In this study, the effect of daidzein on human gastric carcinoma cells (BGC-823) and its mechanism were investigated. MTT assay was applied in the detection of the inhibitory effects of daidzein on cell proliferation. Hoechst–propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry were used to examine the apoptosis as well as the mitochondrial transmembrane potential. Western blotting was performed to detect the expression of apoptosis-associated proteins: cleaved PARP, cleaved caspase-9, cleaved caspase-3, Bcl-2, and Bax. Daidzein significantly inhibited the growth and proliferation of human gastric carcinoma cells (BGC-823) in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Furthermore, it was found that an insult of daidzein to BGC-823 cells caused them to die by disruption of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, demonstrated not only by staining dead cells for phosphatidylserine but also by the up-regulation (cleaved PARP, cleaved caspase-9, cleaved caspase-3, Bax) and down-regulation (Bcl-2) of proteins associated with apoptosis and survival; whereas, the pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk could partially rescue cells against damage of daidzein. Taken together, the results of this study demonstrate that daidzein significantly induces apoptosis via a mitochondrial pathway. Specifically, daidzein induced a change in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratios and activation of caspases-3 and -9 and the cleavage of PARP. Therefore, daidzein has the potential for use as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of gastric carcinoma. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9418-2 Authors Shuyao Tang, Department of Emergency Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, No. 23 Youzheng Street, Nangang District, Harbin, 150001 Heilongjiang, China Jing Hu, Department of Medicine, Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China Qingfeng Meng, Department of Ophthalmology, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China Xuesong Dong, Department of Emergency Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, No. 23 Youzheng Street, Nangang District, Harbin, 150001 Heilongjiang, China Kaifu Wang, Department of Emergency Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, No. 23 Youzheng Street, Nangang District, Harbin, 150001 Heilongjiang, China Yuebin Qi, Department of Emergency Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, No. 23 Youzheng Street, Nangang District, Harbin, 150001 Heilongjiang, China Chao Chu, Department of Emergency Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, No. 23 Youzheng Street, Nangang District, Harbin, 150001 Heilongjiang, China Xiaochuan Zhang, Department of Emergency Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, No. 23 Youzheng Street, Nangang District, Harbin, 150001 Heilongjiang, China Limin Hou, Department of Emergency Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, No. 23 Youzheng Street, Nangang District, Harbin, 150001 Heilongjiang, China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    The oil-in-water emulsion formed during an aqueous extraction of yellow mustard seed flour was destabilized using isopropyl alcohol (IPA) in a four stage extraction process, with concurrent recovery of oil and water in separate phases. The emulsion was extracted using two different approaches: phase separation extraction (PSE) that used fresh IPA as the extraction solvent at each stage, and phase separation extraction with recycle (PSER) that reused the extracted water-rich phase, containing IPA, as the extraction solvent. Extraction processes by both approaches were modeled by the ternary liquid phase diagram of IPA, canola oil and water to characterize the extraction progress. PSER resulted in improved oil–water separation and IPA usage efficiency than PSE, but achieved only 84.0 % oil recovery, compared to 92.3 % by PSE. The ternary diagram of IPA, canola oil and water offered good approximation of the oil and water separation behavior of PSE and PSER by closely predicting the compositions of the separated phases; however, the weight ratio of the separated phases were not as closely predicted. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-8 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2127-6 Authors Youngmee Tiffany Jung, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E5, Canada Levente L. Diosady, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E5, Canada Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Oil content, fatty acid composition and karanjin content were studied in developing pongamia seeds, at intervals of 3 weeks from 30 weeks after flowering up to 42 weeks. Three marked stages in seed development were observed at the early green pod stage, the middle half brown stage and the late dark brown stage. Significant variation in seed biomass, pod and seed characteristics were observed. A significant ( P  〈 0.01) decrease in the moisture content of the seeds was observed during seed development. The oil content gradually increased from 32.06 to 36.53 % as the seed matured. A significant variation in fatty acid composition was detected across all stages of seed development. Palmitic acid (16:0) content marginally decreased from 11.81 to 10.18 %, while stearic acid (18:0) and linolenic acid (18:3) remained constant at all stages of seed maturity. A steady increase in oleic acid (18:1) content from 38.11 to 49.11 % was observed, while the linoleic acid (18:2) content decreased from 30.14 to 18.85 %. The iodine value increased, while the saponification number of oil decreased during seed development. The increase in karanjin content was steady. Seeds harvested after 42 week after flowering yielded the maximum oil with high oleic acid content which could be suitable for biodiesel production. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-8 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2126-7 Authors H. R. Pavithra, Biofuel Park, Department of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru, 560065 Karnataka, India Balakrishna Gowda, Biofuel Park, Department of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru, 560065 Karnataka, India K. Rajesh Kumar, Biofuel Park, Department of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru, 560065 Karnataka, India K. T. Prasanna, Biofuel Park, Department of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru, 560065 Karnataka, India M. B. Shivanna, Department of Applied Botany, Kuvempu University, Shankaraghatta, Jnana Sahyadri, Shimoga, 577451 Karnataka, India Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Many known prokaryotic organisms depend on a single bifunctional enzyme, encoded by the RibC of RibF gene and named FAD synthetase (FADS), to convert Riboflavin (RF), first into FMN and then into FAD. The reaction occurs through the sequential action of two activities present on a single polypeptide chain where the N-terminus is responsible for the ATP:FMN adenylyltransferase (FMNAT) activity and the C-terminus for the ATP: riboflavin kinase (RFK) activity. Sequence and structural analysis suggest that T208, N210 and E268 at the C-terminus RFK module of Corynebacterium ammoniagenes FADS ( Ca FADS) might be key during RF phosphorylation. The effect of site-directed mutagenesis on the RFK activity, as well as on substrates and products binding, indicates that T208 and N210 provide the RFK active-site geometry for binding and catalysis, while E268 might be involved in the catalytic step as catalytic base. These data additionally suggest concerted conformational changes at the RFK module of Ca FADS during its activity. Mutations at the RFK site also modulate the binding parameters at the FMNAT active site of Ca FADS, altering the catalytic efficiency in the transformation of FMN into FAD. This observation supports the hypothesis that the hexameric assembly previously revealed by the crystal structure of Ca FADS might play a functional role during catalysis. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-12 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9403-9 Authors Ana Serrano, Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009 Saragossa, Spain Susana Frago, Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009 Saragossa, Spain Beatriz Herguedas, Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009 Saragossa, Spain Marta Martínez-Júlvez, Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009 Saragossa, Spain Adrián Velázquez-Campoy, Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009 Saragossa, Spain Milagros Medina, Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009 Saragossa, Spain Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    The study objective was to evaluate the antioxidant effect of aguaribay and cedron essential oils on oil-roasted and salted peanuts. Fried-salted peanuts (FP), fried-salted peanuts with addition of BHT (FP-BHT) aguaribay (FP-A) and cedron (FP-C) essential oils were prepared. Peroxide (PV) and p -anisidine (AV) values, conjugated dienes (CD) and sensory descriptive attributes were analyzed on the products during storage. The major compounds detected were 25.6 % spathulenol and 24.4 % geranial and 27.3 % neral in cedron essential oils and 12.7 % elemol, 11.7 % α-pinene, 9.3 % β-pinene, 8.3 % limonene and 8.2 % α-phellandrene in aguaribay essential oil. PV, AV and CD were lower in FP-BHT during storage. At storage day 112, PVs were 94.86, 82.74, 76.29, and 63.89 mequiv O 2 kg −1 in FP, FP-A, FP-C and FP-BHT, respectively. FP-C and FP-A had lipid oxidation values between FP and FP-BHT. The intensity ratings of oxidized and cardboard flavors increased more in the control sample (FP) than the other samples. At storage day 112, FP-A, FP-BHT and FP-C exhibited oxidized intensity ratings of 24.13, 24.9 and 26.1, respectively, lower than FP (35.83). Aguaribay and cedron essential oils showed protective effect against lipid oxidation in fried-salted peanuts. However, these essential oils could affect the sensory profile and consumer acceptance of this product. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-11 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2129-4 Authors Rubén H. Olmedo, Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias (UNC), IMBIV-CONICET, CC 509, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina Valeria Nepote, Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales (UNC), IMBIV-CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina Nelson R. Grosso, Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias (UNC), IMBIV-CONICET, CC 509, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X

Description:    Molecular imaging employing 18 [F]FDG-PET/CT enables in-vivo visualization, characterisation and measurement of biological process in tumour at the molecular and cellular level. In oncology, this approach can be directly applied as translational biomarkers of disease progression. In this article, the improved roles of FDG as an in-vivo glycolytic marker which reflect biological changes across in-vitro cellular environment are discussed. New understanding in how altered metabolism via glycolytic downstream drivers of malignant transformation as reviewed below offers unique promise as to monitor tumour aggressiveness and hence optimize the therapeutic management. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-7 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9395-5 Authors F. Fathinul, Centre for Diagnostic Nuclear Imaging, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia A. J. Nordin, Centre for Diagnostic Nuclear Imaging, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia W. F. E. Lau, Department of Radiology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Recently we observed increased adipose tissue (AT) expression of CD40-related signaling proteins but no activation of tumor necrosis factor-α or CD68 in patients with chronic sustained hypoxia resulting from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Transcription factor nuclear factor-κB (NFκB) is involved in cellular responses to hypoxia and activates the proinflammatory gene expression with concomitant upregulation of its own repressors—inhibitors of κB (IκB) in an auto feedback loop. Inhibitor of kappaB kinase (IKK)-γ and inhibitor of kappaB kinase complex-associated protein (IKAP) are further regulatory proteins involved in NFκB signaling. In this study, we hypothesized that chronic sustained hypoxia significantly relates to IκBα, IKKγ and IKAP within the AT in COPD patients. In 20 patients with stable disease, samples of subcutaneous AT were analyzed using real-time PCR. Although no significant differences were observed between two groups categorized by median PaO 2 in NFκB ( p  = 0.065), gene expressions of IκBα, IKKγ and IKAP were all higher in hypoxemic patients ( p  = 0.033; p  = 0.050; p  = 0.010, respectively). In multivariate analyses, PaO 2 independently predicted AT IκBα, IKKγ and IKAP ( R 2  = 0.490, p  = 0.012; R 2  = 0.586, p  = 0.002; R 2  = 0.504, p  = 0.009, respectively). In conclusion, our data suggest significant AT upregulation of IκBα, IKKγ and IKAP by chronic sustained hypoxia in COPD patients. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9391-9 Authors R. Tkacova, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University and L. Pasteur Teaching Hospital, Rastislavova 43, Kosice, 041 90 Slovakia J. Ukropec, Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia P. Skyba, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University and L. Pasteur Teaching Hospital, Rastislavova 43, Kosice, 041 90 Slovakia B. Ukropcova, Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia P. Pobeha, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University and L. Pasteur Teaching Hospital, Rastislavova 43, Kosice, 041 90 Slovakia T. Kurdiova, Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia P. Joppa, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University and L. Pasteur Teaching Hospital, Rastislavova 43, Kosice, 041 90 Slovakia I. Klimes, Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia I. Tkac, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University and L. Pasteur Teaching Hospital, Rastislavova 43, Kosice, 041 90 Slovakia D. Gasperikova, Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Acute myeloblastic leukaemia is characterised by the extreme clonal proliferation of haematopoietic precursor cells with abnormal or arrested differentiation. Chemotherapy of acute leukaemia is channelled towards the reduction and eradication of leukaemic cells. However, relapse is generally assumed to occur in residual host cells, which are refractory to or elude therapy. The cancer stem cell hypothesis has gained considerable importance in recent years and could interpret this behaviour. This persuasive theory states that cells within a tumour are organised in a hierarchy similar to that of normal tissues and are maintained by a small subset of cells responsible for tumour dormancy. These cells, defined as ‘tumour initiating cells’ (TICs), possess several properties of normal tissue stem cells. Recently, the TICs associated with AML have been shown to comprise distinct, hierarchically arranged classes similar to those observed for haematopoietic stem cells. We know now that the growth and survival of blasts in AML are driven by the same growth factors that stimulate normal cells. Furthermore, direct evidence of the role of membrane stem cell factor and its receptor c-Kit in cell–cell interactions and cell survival in primary AML blasts have been provided, defining the importance of juxtacrine stimulation. Inhibition of c-Kit signalling induces combinations of cell death: autophagy (compensatory mechanism towards survival) and apoptosis. While recent work confirmed that c-Kit inhibitors reduce cancer cell proliferation, it also demonstrated that future inappropriate prescriptions could cause normal tissue deterioration. The purpose of this paper was to review some of the salient features of leukaemic blasts in support of the proposal that research into neoplasia be increased. Rather than presenting the details of various studies, I have attempted to indicate general areas in which work has been done or is in progress. It is hoped that this survey of the subject will demonstrate a variety of opportunities for additional research in human neoplasia. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-10 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9392-8 Authors Julio Roberto Cáceres-Cortés, Laboratory of Cancer and Hematopoiesis, Superior School of Medicine, National Polytechnic Institute, Plan de San Luis y Díaz Mirón s/n, Col. Casco de Santo Tomas, Delegación Miguel Hidalgo, 11340 Mexico, D.F., Mexico Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    The purpose of this study was to develop a new apparatus for in vitro studies applying low frequency electrical fields to cells without interfering side effects like biochemical reactions or magnetic fields which occur in currently available systems. We developed a non-invasive method by means of the principle of transformer-like coupling where the magnetic field is concentrated in a toroid and, therefore, does not affect the cell culture. Next to an extensive characterization of the electrical field parameters, initial cell culture studies have focused on examining the response of bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to pulsed electrical fields. While no significant differences in the proliferation of human MSCs could be detected, significant increases in ALP activity as well as in gene expression of other osteogenic markers were observed. The results indicate that transformer-like coupled electrical fields can be used to influence osteogenic differentiation of human MSCs in vitro and can pose a useful tool in understanding the influence of electrical fields on the cellular and molecular level. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-10 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9388-4 Authors R. Hess, Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials, TU Dresden, Budapester Str. 27, 01069 Dresden, Germany H. Neubert, Institute of Electromechanical and Electronic Design, TU Dresden, Helmholtzstr. 10, 01069 Dresden, Germany A. Seifert, Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials, TU Dresden, Budapester Str. 27, 01069 Dresden, Germany S. Bierbaum, Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials, TU Dresden, Budapester Str. 27, 01069 Dresden, Germany D. A. Hart, McCaig Institute of Bone and Joint Health, University of Calgary, 3280 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada D. Scharnweber, Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials, TU Dresden, Budapester Str. 27, 01069 Dresden, Germany Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    We investigated clinical features, therapy, and outcomes of patients hospitalized for drug-induced liver injury (DILI). DILI resolution was defined as liver biochemistry values back to normal or lower than CIOMS laboratory criteria; Chronicity was defined as persistent biochemical abnormality for 〉6 months after drugs’ withdrawal. Three-hundred cases were reviewed retrospectively; mean age 51 (13–86) years, and 204 (68 %) were females. It included 267 (89 %) hepatocellular injury, 16 (5.3 %) cholestatic injury, and 17 (5.7 %) mixed injury cases. In hepatocellular injury group, 197 (73.8 %) patients with TBIL 〈 10× ULN included 142 (72.1 %) females and 70 (26.2 %) patients with TBIL ≥ 10× ULN included 39 (55.7 %) females ( P  = 0.012). Of 70 patients (TBIL ≥ 10× ULN), 20 were treated with steroid step-down therapy (79 ± 26 days) and others with non-steroid therapy. The steroid therapy group showed higher DILI resolution rate ( P  = 0.029) and shorter recovery time ( P  = 0.012). Notably, 274/300 (91.3 %) patients resolved, 18/300 (6 %) developed chronic liver injury, 7/300 (2.3 %) died, and one patient received liver transplantation. In death group, TBIL, ALB, PT, and PTA revealed more severe abnormality than in recovery group. In 121/300 (40.3 %) patients, use of herbal medicines was the leading cause of liver injury, followed by antibiotics, cardiovascular drugs, and endocrine drugs. We concluded that step-down steroid therapy for DILI improved curative effect, shortened disease course, and was safe. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-7 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9373-y Authors Feng-Qin Hou, Department of Infectious Diseases and Center for Liver Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, No. 8, XiShiKu Street, XiCheng District, Beijing, 100034 China Zheng Zeng, Department of Infectious Diseases and Center for Liver Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, No. 8, XiShiKu Street, XiCheng District, Beijing, 100034 China Gui-Qiang Wang, Department of Infectious Diseases and Center for Liver Diseases, Peking University First Hospital, No. 8, XiShiKu Street, XiCheng District, Beijing, 100034 China Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Molecular motors are responsible of transporting a wide variety of cargos in the cytoplasm. Current efforts are oriented to characterize the biophysical properties of motors in cells with the aim of elucidating the mechanisms of these nanomachines in the complex cellular environment. In this study, we present an algorithm designed to extract motor step sizes and dwell times between steps from trajectories of motors or cargoes driven by motors in cells. The algorithm is based on finding patterns in the trajectory compatible with the behavior expected for a motor step, i.e., a region of confined motion followed by a jump in the position to another region of confined motion with similar characteristics to the previous one. We show that this algorithm allows the analysis of 2D trajectories even if they present complex motion patterns such as active transport interspersed with diffusion and does not require the assumption of a given step size or dwell period. The confidence on the step detection can be easily obtained and allows the evaluation of the confidence of the dwell and step size distributions. To illustrate the possible applications of this algorithm, we analyzed trajectories of myosin-V driven organelles in living cells. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-11 DOI 10.1007/s12013-012-9397-3 Authors Augusto Bruno, Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 1, Ciudad Universitaria, CP 1428 Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina Luciana Bruno, Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 1, Ciudad Universitaria, CP 1428 Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina Valeria Levi, Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, CP 1428 Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina Journal Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Online ISSN 1559-0283 Print ISSN 1085-9195

Description:    Fatty acids in each neutral lipid (NL) class from non-starch (NSL) and starch lipids (SL) were quantified in maize and rye flours, and sourdough—to ascertain the effect of mixing, and between sourdough and broa (a traditional Portuguese sourdough bread)—to assess the effect of fermentation. Maize and rye flour lipid extracts showed distinct fatty acid profiles. Maize flour exhibited a higher amount of most fatty acid species and of total NL—where triacylglycerols (TAG) and free fatty acids (FA) represented the dominant NL. The fatty acid profiles varied throughout breadmaking (i.e. from the mixture of flours with water, through fermentation until baking): in NSL, the highest concentrations were found in the flour mixture (i.e. 59 % of maize and 41 % of rye flour) or sourdough, whereas in SL they were found in broa ; additionally, SL levels increased, and NSL levels decreased during dough preparation and baking. Palmitic (C16:0), oleic (C18:1) and linoleic (C18:2) acids were the major fatty acids in all food items. Cumulative percentages of C16:0, C18:1 and C18:2 in NSL and SL were over 81 and 75 %, respectively, in the flour mixture, 86 and 66 % in sourdough, and 83 and 82 % in broa . In particular, C18:2 accounted for 52 % of the total fatty acids. The content of sterol esters remained essentially constant throughout fermentation and baking; those of TAG decreased from flours to fermentation, while diacylglycerol and monoacylglycerol increased; the NL fractions were essentially unaffected by baking, yet their FA contents increased. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-21 DOI 10.1007/s11746-012-2110-2 Authors João M. Rocha, CBQF/Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal Paavo J. Kalo, Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P. O. Box 27, Latokartanonkaari 11, 00014 Helsinki, Finland F. Xavier Malcata, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal Journal Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society Online ISSN 1558-9331 Print ISSN 0003-021X