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Palm oil is an incredibly efficient crop, but our dependence on this crop as a primary biodiesel feedstock has threatened food insecurity as it is still perceived as the main source for vegetable oil throughout the world rather than being utilized for fuel. Therefore, the idea of utilizing non-edible food crops and waste vegetable oils could help to overcome the major problems faced by the first generation of biodiesel feedstock. In this study, a ternary oil mixture comprises 50 vol% of waste cooking oil, 15 vol% of Jatropha curcas oil and 35 vol% of palm oil were premixed and developed into biodiesel via esterification and microwave irradiation-assisted transesterification using a modified household microwave in the presence of methanol and potassium hydroxide catalyst. The parameters affecting biodiesel yield were optimized via response surface methodology based on central composite design. The operating parameters were optimized at 0.78 wt% of catalyst concentration, 9.86:1 of methanol/oil molar ratio, 10.5 min of reaction time and 478 rpm of stirring speed with the predicted and experimental yields are at 96.81 and 96.91 %, respectively. The results indicate that the synergistic mixture of ternary oil in WJP biodiesel gives better cold flow properties as well as improves oxidation stability and cetane number.

IntroductionPlants and their insect herbivores represent a large fraction of the species in Amazonian forests and are often directly implicated in the origin and maintenance of biodiversity at local and regional scales. How these interactions may change over geographic distance is unknown because very few studies have investigated the herbivore fauna and defense chemicals of any host plant species at multiple sites in tropical forests. One hypothesis, the Geographic Mosaic Theory of Coevolution, predicts that if herbivore assemblages turn over in different parts of a plant’s range, then plant defense chemicals should also change, reflecting local selection pressures.MethodsWe tested this theory by studying 12 species of Protium (Burseraceae) trees that occur in both Iquitos, Peru, and Manaus, Brazil, in rainforests separated by 1500 km. We surveyed all insects observed directly feeding on the plants in both locations for 48 weeks in Manaus and 64 weeks in Iquitos. We analyzed the secondary metabolites in the leaves of all species in both locations using GC/MS and HPLC.Results and DiscussionAlthough in both locations we found that Protium herbivores were dominated by insects from the orders Hemiptera, Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, we found almost complete turnover in the herbivore species composition in the two sites, and each host plant species had a different assemblage of herbivores in each location. Comparing the phylogenetic beta-diversity, we found low similarity in herbivore phylogenetic relatedness between host plant species in the two locations. However, the secondary metabolites found within a Protium species were similar across the two locations. We found no strong evidence that individuals from a host plant species in Iquitos or Manaus expressed locally-adapted defense chemicals, as individuals from geographic locations did not form clusters when looking at patterns of chemical similarity. These results are not consistent with the Geographic Mosaic Theory of Coevolution. The most intriguing pattern we found was a strong correlation between the diversity of herbivores per host plant species in both locations. We also found that plants with high chemical richness had lower numbers of herbivore species and numbers of total herbivores in both locations. We conclude that high chemical diversity is the most effective strategy for Protium trees to reduce insect herbivore attacks. We speculate that each secondary metabolite is effective at repelling only a few insect herbivores, and that different chemicals are likely effective in different parts of a plants’ geographic range. Future studies should investigate additional locations and additional natural enemies (i.e., fungal pathogens) to test the hypothesis that chemical diversity reduces attack from natural enemies and may explain the ecological and evolutionary success of rainforest trees over time and space.

Digital subscriber line (DSL) is a technology that are widely used for bringing high-speed Internet access to the users’ premises. Unfortunately, the use of the DSL over existing copper telecommunication networks can result in radiation that can cause interference to radio systems operating in the same frequency range. To restrict such radio disturbances various radiation limits for wire-line telecommunication networks have been proposed. However, radiation limits differ significantly from each other which makes it difficult to adopt common protection criteria. In this paper, the comparison between defined radiation limits and measurements of the E-field radiation from the copper telecommunication cable is performed based on the measurement methodology described in the ITU-T K.60 Recommendation. The aim of the measurement was to assess whether the radiation from the aerial copper telecommunication cable (type: TK59U-xDSL) when VDSL2 profile 17a technology is used, meets radiation limits mostly used in the European Union. Measurement results have shown that the radiation from the cable is approximately 6 dB above limits proposed by the ECC/REC(05)04 Recommendation, which could cause intolerable errors in radio signal reception, thus disabling radio service to operate as intended. The obtained results show that the power spectral density (PSD) should be reduced by 10 dB in order to assure an adequate protection of radio services.

Preparation of Gluten-free bread using gluten-free cereals appears to be necessary for people with Celiac disease in which the patients suffers from gluten sensitivity. For this purpose, blends of corn and chickpea at concentrations of 80.20, 60.40, 40.60 and 20.80 with 3% HPMC gums to provide this type of bread was studied. For quality evaluation of breads, some factors such as; specific volume, density, oven spring, shape index (height/width ratio), porosity, texture analysis and microstructure were studied. The texture and microstructure of samples were investigated within first& second days and 24 hours after cooking, respectively. Overall, by making gluten-like network in the bread crumb, chickpea flour was able to increase the specific volume, oven spring, shape index and porosity, and decreased the gluten-free bread density accordingly. Chickpea flour increases moisture content of the gluten-free bread and decreases hardness of the bread crumb as the result. According to all performed tests, it was shown that a formulation of 20% maize flour with +80% chickpea flour has greatest effect on improving the quality.

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a serum protein that activates the complement and mediates phagocytosis. MBL levels and MBL2 genotype may impact upon host susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) disease but evidence to date has been conflicting. MBL2 exon 1 and promoter genotyping and serum MBL concentrations were determined in 79 patients with active tuberculosis (58 pulmonary TB and 21 extrapulmonary or miliary TB) and 120 household healthy contacts (HHC) from a Mediterranean area (Majorca Island, Spain). Significantly higher serum MBL levels were found in patients with active tuberculosis than in HHC [median MBL concentrations 3430 ng mL(-1) (10-28 415) and 2600 ng mL(-1) (5-20 000) respectively, P = 0.002]. These higher MBL levels were mainly related to the most prevalent YA/YA wild-type diplotype. There was a strong correlation between MBL2 exon 1 and promoter genotype and MBL levels. The diplotype LYQA/HYPA was present in 12 out of 57 of the pulmonary TB cases but in none of the extrapulmonary TB patients. Diplotype LXPA/HYPA, producer of high levels of MBL, was significantly more frequent in HHC than in patients (16.8% vs. 6.4%, P = 0.031) suggesting a protective role against the development of TB disease that has not been previously found., (© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Several studies have demonstrated that different genetic profiles contribute to melanoma development and progression., Materials and Methods: To evaluate the existence of different molecular aberration patterns in melanoma associated with v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1 (BRAF) or 9p21 locus alterations, eleven patient-derived melanoma cell lines were characterized. Multiplex ligation probe amplification (MLPA) was used to detect chromosomal alterations. Single- strand conformation analysis and sequencing were performed to study BRAF, neuroblastoma RAS viral (v-ras) oncogene homolog (NRAS), v-kit Hardy-Zuckerman 4 feline sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (c-KIT), melanocortin 1 receptor (alpha melanocyte stimulating hormone receptor) (MC1R), cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A) and cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) genes., Results: BRAFV600E mutation was detected in 54% of cell lines. NRAS was mutated in one cell line also carrying multiple copies of NRAS. All cell lines with MC1R variants harboured BRAFV600E. Concurrent loss of MUTYH (1p33), gains of c-MYC (8q24) and of CDK6 (7q21) were found to be significantly associated in cell lines (45%) that harboured biallelic 9p21 deletions including CDKN2B-CDKN2A-MTAP., Conclusion: These data suggest the existence of a specific pattern of somatic alterations in genes that are involved in DNA repair (MUTYH) and in cell cycle regulation (c-MYC, CDK6, CDKN2A and CDKN2B). Interestingly, all MC1R variants were associated with BRAFV600E and all cell lines from visceral metastases harboured BRAFV600E.

Two thousand and fifty cases (n = 2050) of primary immunodeficiencies (PID) were registered up to February 2001. The Spanish Register for Primary Immunodeficiencies (REDIP) began in 1993. PID nomenclature and diagnostic criteria were made according to the report of the World Health Organization Scientific Group (1999). The most frequent disorders were IgA deficiency (797 registers) and common variable immunodeficiency (CVI) (389), followed by severe combined immunodeficiency and predominantly T cell defects (268), complement deficiencies (207 registers), X-linked agammaglobulinemia (87), IgG subclass deficiency (71), chronic granulomatous disease (64). Gammaglobulin replacement was the therapy in 638 patients (76%) belonging to antibody deficient group. 61 bone marrow transplants were done, 46 severe combined immunodeficiencies, 6 phagocytic disorders and 1 unclassified. Important differences in the number of cases submitted from different country areas were found.

Three female patients, 46, 34, and 19 years old, diagnosed of hyper-IgE syndrome are reported. The most relevant clinical findings are recurrent sinopulmonary tract infections, cold staphylococcal abscesses and chronic dermatitis. All patients presented elevated serum IgE levels (> 3,000 U/ml) and blood eosinophilia (> 0.6 x 10(9) cel/l). Two patients presented impaired antibody forming capacity to tetanus and pneumococcal antigens; one of these patients also had low serum IgG2 levels. After initiation of the intravenous gammaglobulin therapy, a marked improvement of infectious problems was observed. The controversial pathophysiology of this syndrome, the antibody deficiency present in some patients and the rationale for intravenous gammaglobulin therapy are discussed.

We have generated seven monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that recognize the T200 molecule. These mAb have been classified by competitive binding assay in flow cytometry into three groups each reacting with a different epitope of the T200 molecule: (a) 136-4B5, that shows a sialic acid nature, (b) 135-4H9, 135-4C5, 144-2, 155-2 and (c) 72-5D3, 124-2H12b. A heterogeneous effect was observed when they were tested on an anti-immunoglobulin-induced B cell proliferation. Whereas 72-5D3 and 135-4H9 mAb inhibited the proliferative response of B cells, 136-4B5 mAb greatly enhanced it, both effects being dose dependent. We can conclude that anti-CD45 mAb have a different and contrary functional behavior on anti-Ig-induced B cell proliferation, depending on the epitope recognized. The basis for such a difference could reside in the glucidic nature of the epitope recognized by the 136-4B5 mAb.