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“A novel patented solid-state bioreactor (251 L) with honeycomb loading device was designed and its performance was tested. First, this apparatus gave a 66.87 % of calculated loading coefficient (volume ratio), which was almost twofold compared with conventional fermenters. Next, considering the crucial effect of heat transfer on bed loading and microbial growth, the performance was validated by temperature variance during fermentation and spore viability of Bacillus cereus DM423. Air pressure pulsation or external water jacket was used to control temperature; the maximal temperature variation was 7.7 versus

19.8 A degrees C, respectively during fermentation. The difference was mainly due to the continuous gas phase

characterized by solid-state fermentation (SSF). The average living spores of (1.50 +/- A 0.07) x 10(11) cfu/g at 40 ABT-737 NSC-23766 h obtained from the device was higher than (0.70 +/- A 0.03) x 10(11) cfu/g from flask at 48 h. The results indicated that this new loading bioreactor with air pressure pulsation could be a good prospect for industrialization of SSF employing bacterial cultures.”
“Multiple endocrine neoplasias are autosomal dominant disorders characterized by the occurrence of tumors in at least two endocrine glands. Two MEN syndromes have long been known and are well characterized: the MEN type 1 (MEN1) and type 2 (MEN2). These syndromes are caused by germline mutations in the MEN1 and RET genes, respectively, and have a different tumor spectrum. Recently, a variant of the MEN syndromes arose spontaneously

in a rat colony and was named MENX. Affected animals consistently develop multiple endocrine tumors, with a spectrum that selleck shares features with both MEN1 and MEN2 human syndromes. Genetic studies identified a germline mutation in the Cdkn1b gene, encoding the p27 cell cycle inhibitor, as the causative mutation for MENX. Capitalizing on these findings, heterozygous germline mutations in the human homologue, CDKN1B, were searched for and identified in patients with multiple endocrine tumors. As a consequence of this discovery, a novel human MEN syndrome, named MEN4, was recognized, which is caused by mutations in p27. Altogether, these studies identified Cdkn1b/CDKN1B as a novel tumor susceptibility gene for multiple endocrine tumors in both rats and humans. Here we review the characteristics of the MENX and MEN4 syndromes and we briefly address the main function of p27 and how they are affected by MENX/4-associated mutations.”
“Objective. This investigation tested the hypothesis that systemic inflammatory responses would be attenuated by minimizing the oral microbial burden in patients with moderate to severe periodontitis.

Study Design. Patients (n = 73) scheduled for full-mouth extractions were categorized as case type I/II (gingivitis/mild periodontitis) or case type III/IV (moderate/severe periodontitis).