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Ex vivo Analysis of DNA Repair Capacity of Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells by a Modified Host Cell Reactivation Assay
No full textThe ability of humans to repair DNA damages decreases with increasing age. In order to be able to repair daily occurring DNA damages, it becomes more and more important to preserve repair capability of cells with aging. The preservation of DNA repair processes contributes to preventing DNA mutations and subsequently the onset of age-related diseases such as cancer. For the determination of DNA repair of human cells, mostly in vitro cell cultures are used. However, an ex vivo approach can provide a more accurate result compared with in vitro cell cultures, since the DNA repair ability is measured directly without the influence of prolonged culture time. Published protocols use in vitro cultured cells with a single reporter plasmid or a luciferase reporter. Our modified host cell reactivation assay enables the measurement of DNA repair capacity (nucleotide excision repair) of ex vivo isolated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). For this purpose, PBMCs are isolated out of human anticoagulated blood by density gradient centrifugation. Directly after isolation, the PBMCs are co-transfected with two plasmids, one being previously damaged by UVC irradiation and one remaining undamaged. PBMCs are incubated for 24 h and subsequently analyzed by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). The ability of cells to repair the DNA damages leads to a functional reactivation of the reporter gene. The assay presented here provides a solution to determine human DNA repair capacity ex vivo directly out of the human body. Furthermore, it can be used to research the ex vivo influence of different substances on DNA repair capacity of humans
The Development of a Uniform Alginate-Based Coating for Cantaloupe and Strawberries and the Characterization of Water Barrier Properties
Get PDFWater loss, gain or transfer results in a decline in the overall quality of food. The aim of this study was to form a uniform layer of sodium alginate-based edible coating (1.25% sodium alginate, 2% glycerol, 0.2% sunflower oil, 1% span 80, 0.2% tween 80, (w/w)) and investigate the effects on the water barrier characteristics of fresh-cut cantaloupe and strawberries. To this end, a uniform and continuous edible film formation was achieved (0.187 ± 0.076 mm and 0.235 ± 0.077 mm for cantaloupe and strawberries, respectively) with an additional immersion step into a calcium solution at the very beginning of the coating process. The coating application was effective in significantly reducing the water loss (%) of the cantaloupe pieces. However, no significant effect was observed in water vapor resistance results and weight change measurements in a climate chamber (80%→60% relative humidity (RH) at 10 °C). External packaging conditions (i.e., closed, perforated, and open) were not significantly effective on water activity (aw) values of cantaloupe, but were effective for strawberry values. In general, the coating application promoted the water loss of strawberry samples. Additionally, the water vapor transmission rate of stand-alone films was determined (2131 g·100 µm/(m2·d·bar) under constant environmental conditions (23 °C, 100%→50% RH) due to the ability to also evaluate the efficacy in ideal conditions
Kapazitätsabgleich
No full textGegenstand des Kapazitätsabgleichs ist die Beseitigung des Auseinanderfallens von Kapazitätsangebot und -nachfrage. Die in diesem Zusammenhang zur Verfügung stehenden Maßnahmen werden in diesem Beitrag beschrieben
Das können die Alternativen - Neue Ansätze für nachhaltigere Verpackungskonzepte für Fleisch- und Wurstwaren
No full textNatural Polymers from Biomass Resources as Feedstocks for Thermoplastic Materials
No full textWith the objective of a more sustainable circular economy, one long-term goal is the utilization of renewable resources as feedstock for the production of polymer-based materials. In order to successfully process such materials using existing industrial-scale technologies or even recycling processes, the natural polymers must have thermoplastic properties. With only a few exceptions, natural polymers are not thermoplastic. However, chemical and physical modification techniques are able to induce thermoplasticity in natural polymers from biomass resources such as cellulose, lignin, and chitin. Modification techniques focus on masking the hydroxyl groups to disrupt dense hydrogen bonding and so enable polymer chain mobility upon heating. The introduction of long alkyl chains into the polymer backbone effectively improves the thermoplastic processing of natural polymers. With regard to polymer blending, chemical grafting and graft copolymerization are powerful tools for enhancing compatibility. For both chemical and physical modification, solvents such as ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents are currently being explored for biomass and fiber processing and show promise for the future development of thermoplastic biopolymers. This review describes possible modifications, potential processing difficulties, and gives a summary of relevant studies described in the scientific literature
Bidirectional Associative Memory with Block Coding: A Comparison of Iterative Retrieval Methods
No full textRecently, Gripon and Berrou (2011) have investigated a recurrently connected Willshaw-type auto-associative memory with block coding, a particular sparse coding method, reporting a significant increase in storage capacity compared to earlier approaches. In this study we verify and generalize their results by implementing bidirectional hetero-associative networks and comparing the performance of various retrieval methods both with block coding and without block coding. For iterative retrieval in networks of size our data confirms that block-coding with the so-called “sum-of-max” strategy performs best in terms of output noise (which is the normalized Hamming distance between stored and retrieved patterns), whereas the information storage capacity of the classical models cannot be exceeded because of the reduced Shannon information of block patterns. Our simulation experiments also provide accurate estimates of the maximum pattern number that can be stored at a tolerated noise level of 1%. It is revealed that block coding is most beneficial for sparse activity where each pattern has only active units
Process for the in vivo production of rna in a host cell
No full textThe present invention is directed to processes for the in vivo production of a target RNA in host cells. The present invention is also directed to vectors comprising a DNA sequence encoding a target RNA and a DNA sequence encoding an RNase inhibitor, and host cells comprising the vectors. The present invention is further directed to the use of host cells and vectors for the in vivo transcription of a DNA sequence in processes for the production of the target RNA
Innovationen für nachhaltige Verpackungskonzepte - Was gibt es heute, was bringt die Zukunft?
No full textBioactive Compounds of Strawberry and Blueberry and Their Potential Health Effects Based on Human Intervention Studies: A Brief Overview
Get PDFStrawberries and blueberries are two of the most commonly consumed berries. Berries, in general, are characterized by their highly nutritive compounds, including minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, and dietary fiber, as well as their high content and wide diversity of bioactive compounds, such as phenolic compounds and organic acids. These bioactive compounds have been associated with protective effects against chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s and other disorders. In this paper 16 human intervention studies investigating the beneficial health effects of dietary strawberry or blueberry consumption on inflammation, cardiovascular disease or cognitive function and mental health are reviewed
Lebensmittelherstellung und -ausgabe im Foodtruck: Rechtliche Grundlagen und Hygieneanforderungen
No full textFoodtrucks etablieren sich derzeit als fester Bestandteil in der Außer-Haus-Verpflegung und werden häufig von Personen ohne spezifische gastronomische Fachkenntnisse geleitet. Vor dem Hintergrund des limitierten Platzangebots ist es dabei eine besondere Herausforderung, den Anforderungen der Lebensmittelhygiene und guten Herstellungspraxis gerecht zu werden. Der vorliegende anwendungsorientierte „Best Practice“-Leitfaden zeigt beispielhaft eine praxisorientierte Umsetzung der Lebensmittelhygiene in Foodtrucks, unter Berücksichtigung von Ausstattung und sinnvoller Anordnung der einzelnen Ver- und Bearbeitungsbereiche