SubcriticalWater – a Perspective ReactionMedia for Biomass Processing to Chemicals: Study on Cellulose Conversion as aModel for Biomass

Biomass and water are recognized as a key renewable feedstock in sustainable production of chemicals, fuels and energy. Subcritical water (SubCW), or commonly referred as hot compressed water (HCW), is the water above boiling and below critical point (CP; 374 °C, 22.1 MPa). It has gained great attention in the last few decades as a green, cheap, and nontoxic reagent for conversion of biomass into valuable chemicals. In this paper, hydrothermal reactions of cellulose, as the model biomass substance, with subcritical water at mild temperature and pressure regimes have been studied. The experiments were done in a batch reactor in the temperature range of 220 ° – 300 °C. The main products distributed in liquid, gaseous and solid phase were separated and quantified. The conversions to each group of products were found strongly dependent on the temperature and residence time

Integrated Process to Obtain Anthocyanin Enriched Palm-Fat Particles from Elderberry Juice

Two novel technologies were applied in order to investigate concentration and formulation of anthocyanins for potential use in food industry. Integrated membrane process technology was applied for concentrating elderberry juice. In the first step, the juice was clarified by microfiltration, followed by a pre-concentration step with reverse osmosis. Finally, the juice was concentrated to the end concentration of 56 °Brix by osmotic distillation. The elderberry juice concentrate was formulated in a powderous form by a high-pressure process — Particles from Gas Saturated Solution (PGSS™) — using supercritical CO2. The applied carrier material was palm fat. The products with different anthocyanin-carrier ratios were measured for their colour properties (lightness, hue angle, and saturation). Colour stability was monitored for prolonged storage at different conditions (light/dark and ambient temperature/ refrigerator). The obtained powderous anthocyanin-palm fat products showed good colour stability, which gives good bases for potential applications in the future

Mobilization with cyclophosphamide reduces the number of lymphocyte subpopulations in the leukapheresis product and delays their reconstitution after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with multiple myeloma

Abstract Background Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is considered the standard of care for younger patients with multiple myeloma. Several mobilization regimens are currently used, most commonly growth factors alone or in combination with chemotherapy. The aim of our study was to investigate the differences in lymphocyte subpopulation counts between three different mobilization regimens on collection day, in the leukapheresis product and on day 15 after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Patients and methods In total 48 patients were prospectively enrolled in three different mobilization regimens; (i) filgrastim (20), (ii) pegfilgrastim (19) and (iii) cyclophosphamide + filgrastim (9). Lymphocytes, CD16+/56+ natural killer and CD4+/CD25high T regulatory cells were determined by flow cytometry. Results We found a statistically significant difference between the mobilization regimens. Cyclophosphamide reduced lymphocyte and natural killer (NK) cell counts on collection day (lymphocytes 1.08 × 109/L; NK cells 0.07 × 109/L) compared to filgrastim (lymphocytes 3.08 × 109/L; NK cells 0.52 × 109/L) and pegfilgrastim (lymphocytes 3 × 109/L; NK cells 0.42 × 109/L). As a consequence lymphocyte and NK cell counts were also lower in the leukapheresis products following cyclophosphamide mobilization regimen (lymphocytes 50.1 × 109/L; NK cells 4.18 × 109/L) compared to filgrastim (lymphocytes 112 × 109/L; NK cells 17.5 × 109/L) and pegfilgrastim (lymphocytes 112 × 109/L; NK cells 14.3 × 109/L). In all mobilization regimens T regulatory cells increased 2-fold on collection day, regarding the base line value before mobilization. There was no difference in T regulatory cell counts between the regimens. Conclusions Mobilization with cyclophophamide reduces the number of mobilized and collected lymphocytes and NK cells as compared to mobilization with growth factors only and results in their delayed reconstitution following autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. We found no difference between filgrastim and pegfilgrastim mobilization. </jats:sec

Poroke med krvnimi sorodniki: genetske in / ali pravne ovire

Zakonske zveze in posledično krvna razmerja med sorodniki lahko predstavljajo poseben problem pri genetskem svetovanju in pojasnjevanju prisotnega genetskega defekta. Pri obstoju določene genetske motnje v družini, kjer obstaja tovrstna povezava, se lahko pri potomcih kar nekajkrat poveča tveganje za pojav določene genetske bolezni. Predvidevajo, da je v svetu pri skoraj tretjini hudo telesno in duševno prizadetih otrok, njihovo stanje posledica krvne zveze med sorodniki. V Sloveniji niso dovoljene zakonske zveze med sorodniki 1. stopnje, pri sorodnikih druge stopnje, med katerimi obstaja četrtina enakih genov, je zakonska zveza v Sloveniji pogojno dovoljena. V zahodnem svetu so zveze 2. stopnje zakonsko prepovedane, vzhodne dežele pa tovrstne zveze mnogokrat dovoljujejo. Predstavljamo problematiko pri pojasnjevanju prisotnosti določenih t.i. “slabih“ oz. „škodljivih“ genov v družinah. V praksi namreč opažamo, da postane glavni problem med partnerjema potem, ko je odkrita kakršnakoli dedna genetska motnja v družini, kdo je njen nosilec. Po pregledu in izrisu rodovnika za vsakega posameznika, lahko to izvemo že iz anamnestičnega pogovora, kar bomo predstavili na določenih konkretnih primerih. V prispevku želimo osvetliti biološki oz. genetski vidik tovrstne problematike, ki ga bomo dopolnili tudi z nekaj matematičnimi - statističnimi pojasnili ter pravnimi določili v Sloveniji

Antioxidant, Radical Scavenging and Antimicrobial Activities of Red Onion (Allium cepa L) Skin and Edible Part Extracts

The antioxidant, radical scavenging and antimicrobial activities of extracts from skin and edible part of red onion have been investigated. Crude extracts of red onion were obtained separately with acetone, ethanol and mixtures of solvents with water. The amounts of isolated phenolic compounds and quercetin from onion skin were approximately 3 to 5 times higher as from the onion edible part. Antioxidant and radical scavenging activities of onion skin extracts were generally high, results were comparable to that of BHT. Extracts from onion edible part showed somewhat lower activity. Furthermore, high activity of skin extracts against bacteria Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus cereus and fungi Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma viride and Penicillium cyclopium was observed. Antimicrobial activity of edible part extracts against tested microorganisms is generally lower, while for Escherichia coli no growth inhibition was observed

Neinvazivna prenatalna genetska diagnostika – prednosti, pasti in priložnosti sodobne tehnologije

Prenatalna ali predrojstvena genetska diagnostika (PGD) je pred kratkim predvsem na račun sodobne tehnologije doprinesla številne prednosti in olajšave pri odkrivanju določenih genetskih napak. Tako je dandanes na prostem trgu že vsakemu potrošniku dostopna novejša, popolnoma validirana genetska tehnologija, ki omogoča analizo genoma nerojenega otroka iz materine krvi (neinvazivna prenatalna genetska diagnostika - NPGD). Tehnologija je osnovana na sekveniranju t.i. cell-free DNA (zunajcelične DNA) fetusa, ki v času nosečnosti kroži v materinem krvnem obtoku. NPGD je bila razvita z namenom čim zgodnejšega odkrivanja najpogostejših številčnih kromosomskih sprememb (trisomija kromosomov 13, 18, in 21 ter spolnih kromosomov X in Y) pri fetusu. V primeru potrjene kromosomske anomalije je nosečnici zagotovljen dovolj zgodnji in zanjo čim manj medicinsko obremenjujoč ter etično sprejemljiv biomedicinski poseg. Implementacija naprednih genetskih diagnostičnih metod pa poleg izboljšanja v smislu genetske preventive lahko vodi tudi k nekaterim nepredvidenim spremembam v demografski strukturi, ki so lahko potencialno škodljive in kot take vzbujajo etične pomisleke. V prispevku želim predstaviti poleg koristnih, preventivnih lastnosti novejše tehnologije, tudi možni vpliv PGD na t.i. „reproduktivno svobodo“ ter posledično opozoriti na možni vpliv na demografske razmere

Kvalitetno delo v genetskem diagnostičnem laboratoriju

V genetskem diagnostičnem laboratoriju UKC Maribor se zavedamo, da je kakovost preiskav, ki se v laboratoriju izvajajo, pomemben člen in pomoč zdravnikom pri postavljanju diagnoz, spremljanju in zdravljenju bolezni naših pacientov. Zato uporabnikom nudimo storitve, ki izpolnjujejo cilj našega sistema kakovosti v skladu s Pravilnikom o pogojih, ki jih morajo izpolnjevati laboratoriji za izvajanje preiskav na področju laboratorijske medicine izdanim v UL. Št. 64, 11. 6. 2004. Laboratorij za medicinsko genetiko UKC Maribor je pridobil dovoljenje za delo, za izvajanje preiskav na področju laboratorijske medicinske genetike. Kakovost preiskav zagotavljamo z vsakodnevnim in sprotnim izvajanjem notranje kontrole kakovosti posameznih postopkov in analizatorjev. Sodelujemo v obvezni mreži zunanjih evropskih kontrol kakovosti EMQN, EQA, CEQAS, GENQA. Z uvajanjem in preverjanjem novih metod med laboratorijsko kontrolo zagotavljamo primerljivost rezultatov analiz v procesih validacije in verifikacije. Udeleženi smo tudi pri izvajanju in obnavljanju ISO standarda ISO9001: 2015. Od leta 2019 UKC Maribor sodeluje v shemi Sistem International Accreditation Standards AACI Vers.5.0. Delo s pacientovim biološkim materialom, ravnanje z izvidi, spremljanje zdravstvenih stanj naših bolnikov, kot tudi raziskovalno delo na pacientovem materialu, zahteva specifično deontološko znanje, ki ga vršimo s spoštovanjem Kodeksa deontologije v laboratorijski medicini

KROMOSOM Y V ČLOVEŠKEM GENOMU: struktura, funkcija in medicinsko-diagnostični pomen

Kromosom Y spada po velikosti med najmanjše človeške kromosome, a njegova vloga in pomen v humanem genomu nista povsem v korelaciji z njegovo velikostjo. Kot predstavnik enega od dveh spolnih kromosomov pri človeku v svojem „normalnem“ stanju poleg drugih genov vsebuje najbolj znani in po biološki definiciji spola za moški spol specifični gen, t. i. SRY gen. Kljub skupnemu izvoru obeh človeških spolnih kromosomov pred 180 milijoni let sta danes oba spolna kromosoma X in Y morfološko in fiziološko zelo različna: po velikosti je kromosom Y za 2/3 manjši od kromosoma X. Poleg genov za določitev spola (SRY, AMHY, PAR regije), ki vplivajo na razvoj in diferenciacijo spolnih organov osebka in/ali na njegovo nadaljnjo reprodukcijo, so bile opažene še druge fenotipske značilnosti oz. bolezni, ki se povezujejo z geni na kromosomu Y: družinsko pogojena hipertenzija, ki se pojavlja pri moških predstavnikih, koronarna arterijska bolezen ter avtoimunske bolezni na nivoju vnetnega odziva. V Laboratoriju za medicinsko genetiko UKC Maribor opravljamo preiskovanje kromosoma Y na različnih nivojih vpogleda v njegovo strukturo, odvisno od napotne diagnoze preiskovanca. S klasično citogenetsko analizo preiskujemo kromosom na nivoju ločljivosti do 8 Mbp velikih sprememb; molekularno citigenetska analiza na osnovi FISH tehnike omogoča natančnejši, a vnaprej definiran in s tem lokaliziran vpogled v strukturo kromosoma