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Autophagic process is one of the best examples of a conserved mechanism of survival in eukaryotes. At the molecular level there are impressive similarities between unicellular and multicellular organisms, but there is increasing evidence that the same process may be used for different ends, i.e., survival or death, at least at cellular levels. Arthropods encompass a wide variety of invertebrates such as insects, crustaceans and spiders, and thus represent the taxon in which most of the investigations on autophagy in non-mammalian models are performed. The present review is focused on the genetic basis and the physiological meaning of the autophagic process on key models of arthropods. The involvement of autophagy in programmed cell death, especially during oogenesis and development, is also discussed.

Soft tissue tumors represent a group of neoplasia with different histologic and biological presentations varying from benign, locally confined to very aggressive and metastatic tumors. The molecular mechanisms responsible for such differences are still unknown. The understanding of these molecular alterations mechanism will be critical to discriminate patients who need systemic treatment from those that can be treated only locally and could also guide the development of new drugs' against this tumors. Using 102 tumor samples representing a large spectrum of these tumors, we performed expression profiling and defined differentially expression genes that are likely to be involved in tumors that are locally aggressive and in tumors with metastatic potential. We described a set of 12 genes (SNRPD3, MEGF9, SPTAN-1, AFAP1L2, ENDOD1, SERPIN5, ZWINTAS, TOP2A, UBE2C, ABCF1, MCM2, and ARL6IP5) showing opposite expression when these two conditions were compared. These genes are mainly related to cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions and cell proliferation and might represent helpful tools for a more precise classification and diagnosis as well as potential drug targets.

Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a member of the intermediary filament protein family. It is an important component of astrocytes and a known diagnostic marker of glial differentiation. GFAP is expressed in other neural tumors and pleomorphic adenoma and, less frequently, in cartilage tumors, chordomas, and soft tissue myoepitheliomas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of GFAP and its reliability in nonglial tumors as an immunohistochemical marker. We evaluated GFAP gene and protein expression using Q-PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively, in 81 and 387 cases of soft tissue, bone tumors, and salivary pleomorphic adenomas. Immunohistochemistry staining for GFAP was observed in all osteosarcomas (8 cases), all pleomorphic adenomas (7 cases), in 5 of 6 soft tissue myoepitheliomas, and in 21 of 76 chondrosarcomas. By Q-PCR, GFAP was highly expressed in pleomorphic adenomas and, to a lesser extent, chondrosarcomas, soft tissue myoepitheliomas, and chondroblastic osteosarcomas. The results that we obtained by immunohistochemistry and Q-PCR were well correlated. GFAP is a potential marker for tumors with cartilaginous differentiation, supported by evidence that GFAP is expressed in certain cases of myoepithelial tumors by immunohistochemistry, including soft tissue myoepitheliomas, which are related to cartilaginous differentiation. These findings contribute significantly to the diagnosis of soft tissue myoepitheliomas with cartilaginous differentiation and chondroblastic osteosarcoma in mesenchymal tumors.

ObjectiveDigital ulcerations are one of the most frequent manifestations of microangiopathy in patients with systemic sclerosis SSc; scleroderma. The early detection of SSc patients who are at high risk to develop digital ulcers could allow a preventive treatment of these complications with reduction of morbidity and social costs. The aim of our study was to develop a capillaroscopic skin ulcer risk index CSURI that can predict the onset of new digital ulcers by using nailfold videocapillaroscopy NVC in patients with SSc.MethodsWe performed NVC in 120 consecutive unselected patients with SSc 13 men, 107 women, mean ± SD age 56.1 ± 13.4 years, mean ± SD SSc duration 44.7 ± 60.7 months to assess the total number of capillaries in the distal row N, maximum loop diameter D, number of megacapillaries M, and the M:N ratio.ResultsWithin 3 months since NVC examination, 35 of 120 patients experienced digital ulcers. A significant association between ischemic lesions and the M:N ratio, N, and D was observed; the combination of these parameters allowed us to develop the CSURI, which is characterized by the formula D × M:N2. A receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed an area under the curve of 0.926 for ulcer appearance, with specificity and sensitivity of 85.9 and 94.3, respectively, at the cutoff value of 2.94. Interestingly, 33 of 35 patients with new skin ulcers had a CSURI >2.94, but only 2 of 35 had a CSURI ≤2.94.ConclusionThe proposed CSURI may represent a novel tool with the ability to predict the development of digital ulcers in patients with scleroderma.

A pot experiment was conducted with two Prunusgenotypes GF 677 and Mr.S.25, commercial rootstocks for peach, which are widely used in Italy and other European countries. Selenium Se was added as sodium selenate to 3monthold micropropagated plants at a rate of 0 control, 1.0, 2.5, and 5.0 mg Se kg soil–1. Plant growth, gas exchange, and Se accumulation were studied. Selenium added at a rate of 2.5 and 5.0 mg Se kg–1appeared to be highly toxic for the two young peach rootstocks. Thirtythree days after the treatment, the plants showed a high mortality rate. The fast growing rootstock, GF 677, appeared to be more sensitive to Se toxicity, the mortality rate reaching 52. The higher the Se concentration in the soil, the higher it also was in the plant. In general, both genotypes were able to take up Se and to translocate high amounts from root to leaf. After selenate addition to the soil, both GF 677 and Mr.S.25 plants showed reduced plant growth with the highest Se treatments. Furthermore, Se induced a partial stomatal closure, as evidenced by the values of stomatal conductance, resulting in a reduction in net assimilation, and thus a decrease in drymatter production. Selenate applied at a low rate 1 mg Se kg–1 stimulated plant growth in GF 677. One year after the Se treatment, a remobilization of Se from the storage organs to the young shoots was detected. This study demonstrates genotypic variation in Se uptake and accumulation in peach rootstocks.

Aims and background Hospital-referred subjects are widely used as controls in studies on the relation between diet and cancer risk. However, concern has been raised about the potential for bias of such type of referents, and few studies seem to have examined their reliability in estimating dietary habits of the underlying general population.Methods In a northern Italian setting, the differences in dietary patterns between 41 individuals referred for non-neoplastic lesions to hospital surgical outpatient units and age- and sex-matched subjects drawn from the general population were examined. The effects of such differences when carrying out a case-control study on a neoplastic disease, cutaneous melanoma, were also analyzed. Dietary intake was assessed using the EPIC food frequency questionnaire.Results Population controls showed higher intakes of energy, animal proteins and animal fats compared with sex- and age-matched hospital controls, whereas intake of carbohydrates and fiber was comparable. An excess melanoma risk associated with intake of animal proteins and fats emerged when hospital controls were used as the referent group, whereas no such relation was detected when cases were compared to population controls.Conclusions The results suggest that hospital-referred subjects may not reflect dietary habits of the underlying general population and may be unsuitable for case-control studies concerning the relation between diet and cancer risk.

The present review summarizes findings on stress-induced cell death in the IPLB-LdFB insect cell line derived from the larval fat body of the lepidopteron Lymantria dispar. Apoptotic, oncotic and autophagic cell death have been described in these cells as a consequence of oxidative stress or ATP deprivation, and similarities between IPLB-LdFB and mammalian apoptotic pathways have been highlighted. Furthermore, starting from observations in the IPLB-LdFB cells, a link has been surmised between relevance of autophagic cell death and developmental processes in the metazoan taxa.

In spite of the relatively short time dedicated to the development of MgB2 conductors since its discovery in 2001, a remarkable progress has been already achieved in terms of critical current density, homogeneity of the conductors and reproducibility of the results over long lengths. Unlike other HTS and LTS materials, MgB2 conductor processing is more open to a number of improvements and modifications that help in making it more attractive for several DC and AC applications. Up to now our work has been focused on the improvement of the production capacity in order to allow for the assembly of large prototype magnets to test the capability of MgB2 to maintain the present level of performance over very long lengths. Long MgB2 tapes of about 1600 m with superconducting and mechanical properties suitable for making low field magnets are already available. Presently we are focusing on the enhancement of the irreversibility field. This would open the possibility of using MgB2 also for high field applications.

Growth factors and cytokines control and coordinate a broad spectrum of fundamental cellular functions, and are evolutionarily conserved both in vertebrates and invertebrates. In this review, we focus our attention on the functional phylogenetic aspects of growth factors/cytokines like the Transforming Growth Factor- (TGF-), the Connective Tissue Growth Factor (CTGF), and the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF). We will also delve into the activites of two chemokine families, interleukin (IL)-8 (or CXCL8) and CC chemokine ligand 2/monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (CCL2). These molecules have been selected for their involvement in immune responses and wound healing processes, where they mediate and finely regulate various regeneration processes like angiogenesis or fibroplasia, not only in vertebrates, but also in invertebrates.

The review outlines the presence and function of TGF-β and PDGF family members in invertebrates. TGF-β and PDGF play an important role in development, in immune and neuroendocrine responses and in the wound repair by activating the classical transduction pathways. Generally speaking, these cytokines appear very early in evolution and conserve their functions.

The review outlines the presence and function of TGF- and PDGF family members in invertebrates. TGF- and PDGF play an important role in development, in immune and neuroendocrine responses and in the wound repair by activating the classical transduction pathways. Generally speaking, these cytokines appear very early in evolution and conserve their functions.

Recent results from Preuss et al. (J Comput Chem 2004, 25, 112) on DNA base molecules, obtained by plane wave density functional calculations using ultrasoft pseudopotentials, are compared with calculations using Gaussian basis sets. Bond lengths and angles agree closely, but dihedral angles and vibrational frequencies show significant differences. The Gaussian basis calculations are at least an order of magnitude more efficient than the plane wave/ultrasoft pseudopotential calculations at a similar level of accuracy; the advantage is even larger if the Fourier Transform Coulomb method is used. To obtain definite benchmark values, the geometries of the four DNA bases were optimized at the MP2 level with large basis sets, up to cc‐pVQZ and aug‐cc‐pVTZ. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 26: 599–605, 2005

2,7‐Bis(p‐methoxyphenyl‐m′‐tolylamino)‐9,9‐dimethylfluorene (1′), 2,7‐bis(phenyl‐m′‐tolylamino)‐9,9‐dimethylfluorene (2′) and 2,7‐bis(p‐fluorophenyl‐m′‐tolylamino)‐9,9‐dimethylfluorene (3′) have been synthesized using the palladium‐catalyzed reaction of the appropriate diarylamines with 2,7‐dibromo‐9,9‐dimethylfluorene. These molecules have glass‐transition temperatures 15–20 °C higher than those for their biphenyl‐bridged analogues, and are 0.11–0.14 V more readily oxidized. Fluorescence spectra and fluorescence quantum yields for dimethylfluorene‐bridged and biphenyl‐bridged species are similar, but the peaks of the absorption spectra of 1′–3′are considerably red‐shifted relative to those of their biphenyl‐bridged analogues. Time‐of‐flight hole mobilities of 1′–3′/polystyrene blends are in a similar range to those of the biphenyl‐bridged analogues. Analysis according to the disorder formalism yields parameters rather similar to those for the biphenyl species, but with somewhat lower zero‐field mobility values. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that the enforced planarization of the fluorene bridge leads to a slightly larger reorganization energy for the neutral/cation electron‐exchange reaction than in the biphenyl‐bridged system. Organic light‐emitting diodes have been fabricated using 1′–3′/polystyrene blends as the hole‐transport layer and tris(8‐hydroxy quinoline)aluminium as the electron‐transport layer and lumophore. Device performance shows a correlation with the ionization potential of the amine materials paralleling that seen in biphenyl‐based systems, and fluorene species show similar performance to biphenyl species with comparable ionization potential.

The effect of substitution on hole mobility in N,N‘-bis(m-tolyl)-N,N‘-diphenyl-1,1‘-biphenyl-4,4‘-diamine (TPD) derivatives doped in polystyrene was studied using the time-of-flight technique. Mobility data were collected as a function of electric field and temperature to yield the energetic and positional disorder parameters defined in the disorder formalism. Substituted derivatives exhibit lower mobilities than regular TPD. This decrease is influenced by the change in dipole moment upon substitution of the molecule. However, the dipolar disorder contribution is found to account only partially for the large differences in mobility.

For this study we consulted the Bone Marrow Donors' Registry of Lombardy (Italy) and analyzed 43937 HLA-A,B phenotypes and 13922 HLA-A,B,DR phenotypes. We estimated the HLA-A,B and HLA-A,B,DR haplotype frequencies via the maximum-likelihood method. We analyzed the genetic structure of the 11 provinces of Lombardy by means of Principal Component Analysis and Correspondence Analysis, and estimated the variety of the different haplotypes at provincial level and the percentage of unique phenotypes at village level. We found 11189 different HLA-A,B phenotypes, 661 different HLA-A,B haplotypes and more than 4000 different HLA-A,B,DR haplotypes. We identified 20 villages, in Western Lombardy, very rich in unique/rare phenotypes. Here we report a formula which allows the identification of a putative donor matched for two haplotypes with a recipient. This result may be of great importance for the genetic study of the population of Lombardy and, even more, for bone marrow transplantation programs.

We investigate by means of gas-phase ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy complemented by quantum-chemical calculations how the frontier levels of the 4,4‘-bis(N-m-7tolyl-N-phenylamino)biphenyl (TPD) molecule are affected upon substitution of the terminal aryl rings with methoxy groups or fluorine atoms. These results provide strategies to modulate energy barriers at metal/organic or organic/organic interfaces involving TPD and its derivatives; it is shown that the change in the energy of the HOMO level of TPD upon derivatization is strongly affected by inductive effects taking place in the σ skeleton.

Activation of phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase, protein kinase A (PKA) and protein kinase C (PKC) is associated with the survival effect elicited by PDGF-AB and TGF-β1 against the apoptotic inducer 2-deoxy-D-ribose (dRib) in the fat body cell line, IPLB-LdFB, from the insect Lymantria dispar. dRib induces apoptosis and provokes mitochondrial membrane depolarization (MMD). The antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine annuls only the first effect. These findings suggest that apoptosis and MMD are provoked by two different mechanisms, and that dRib induces apoptosis by oxidative stress.

The antiviral and antiproliferative activity of new compounds having n-benzenesulphony 1–2 (2 or 3-pyridylethyl) benzimidazole as a base structure were studied in vitro. Their antitumour activity against human chronic myeloid leukaemia cells was evaluated and compared with that of equimolar doses of daunorubicin. Only compound 7a, with the presence of both the pyridyl moiety bound at the ethylenic bridge in C-2 of benzimidazole and the nitro-group in the benzene ring, displays a selective antiproliferative effect against certain leukaemia cells and a good antiviral activity especially towards the Coxsackie B5 virus. However, it should be noted that, in the case of hydroxybenzyl-benzimidazole, resistance also builds up to compound 7a, the Coxsackie B5 virus developing resistance to it after about ten runs. Cytotoxicity tests show that many of these substances are well tolerated by the VERO cells. The mechanism of action is still unclear.

Sulphimidazole (1-methyl-2((4-aminophenyl)-sulphonyl)-amino-5-nitroimidazole) is a new compound in which a p-aminobenzenesulphonamide radical has been attached at position 2 of the 5-nitroimidazole ring. It possesses a useful spectrum of activity in vitro against various anaerobic microorganisms and its action against aerobic and facultative bacteria is synergically enhanced in association with trimethoprim. In the present study, we determined the cytotoxicity in vitro of sulphimidazole and trimethoprim, both alone and in combination, and analysed the viability of Vero cells and the protein content of their cell lysate in the presence of increasing concentrations of these drugs. Also, in order to verify the hypothesis that the action of sulphimidazole against aerobic and facultative bacteria is mediated by the sulphonamide component of the molecule, while that against anaerobic bacteria depends on the action of the nitro group of the 5-nitroimidazole ring, we studied the mechanism of action of the new compound both indirectly, by means of microbiological techniques, and directly, by determining its oxidoreduction potential with respect to that of metronidazole. The results show that sulphimidazole is only slightly toxic in vitro for Vero cells, either alone or in association with trimethoprim, and that the combination of the two functional groups in a single molecule not only maintains its structure-activity relationship intact but also broadens its antibacterial spectrum.

The concept of a molecule in a material is discussed. The properties of such entities differ from those of the free molecules. These differences are explored with particular reference to non-linear optical response. Molecular distortion induces changes exemplified by a non-zero static first hyperpolarizability βfor the S8molecules in the crystalline complex CHI3·3S8, which dominates the net response. Strong permanent electric fields modify the response, but for urea can be calculated accurately enough to reproduce the refractive indices and quadratic susceptibility reasonably accurately. Non-uniform fields also have significant effects especially in combination with non-uniform response, as shown by calculations on model Langmuir–Blodgett films and on surface-induced second-harmonic generation (SHG). Orbital confinement tends to suppress response but may be less important in large molecules. In general, good quantitative theories of these factors are now available.

The increase in the consumption of poultry meat intensified production, which allowed the emergence of myopathies associated with broiler and turkey meat. The aim to examine possible quality alterations in the 240 Pectoralis majormuscle (breast fillets) from carcasses of turkey breeder hens. Regarding DPM, 120 samples of breast fillets from turkey of the Nicholas strain with Pectoralis minormuscle together were selected according to the occurrence of the myopathy in the Pectoralis minormuscle (tender), as follows: DPM score 2 (n = 40), DPM score 3 (n = 40), and a control group unaffected by DPM, score 0 (n = 40). Then, different 120 samples, from the same flock of birds, were selected according to White Striping (WS) anomaly in the Pectoralis majormuscle (breast fillets), considering the degree of severity of the striations apparent in the muscle, as follows: moderate (n = 40), severe (n = 40) and a control group (normal) without the presence of WS anomaly (n = 40), with set up as a completely randomized design with 3 treatments for DPM and WS. We evaluated in meat of turkey breeder hens color, water-holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss (CL), shear force (SF), sarcomere length (SL) and total, soluble and insoluble collagen contents. The color parameters lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*) of turkey breeder hens breast fillets were altered by the occurrence of DPM and WS and as except CL, there were a difference for WHC and SF (P< 0.05). Significant differences were observed for sarcomere length (P< 0.05) between fillets without myopathies and with DPM Score 2 and 3 too. Higher values of total collagen (%) were observed for the most severe category of involvement for both myopathies. The DPM and WS affect the color and in a partial reduction texture of the breast fillets meat of turkey breeder hens and this may have a negative economic impact on the meat industry, because these are the main points evaluated by the consumer, in the most value commercial cut.

To better understand the peculiar functional behavior of engrafted maternal T cells in a severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) patient, we characterized, at the molecular level, the T-cell repertoire of a SCID child with a high number of engrafted, mature, activated lymphocytes. We found that, although these transplacentally acquired T cells express a random set of T-cell receptor variable beta (TCRBV) segments, the TCRBV transcripts are characterized by an extremely restricted V-D-J junctional diversity. Only a few cDNA clones were dominant among the TCRBV4+, TCRBV6+, and TCRBV20+ populations in engrafted cells, whereas the same TCRBV chains expressed by the mother's lymphocytes had the expected junctional hetero-geneity. Highly diverse and polyclonal junctions were also expressed by maternal cells activated in mixed lymphocyte reaction by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)- transformed B lymphocytes from the patient, indicating that the strong clonal selection that characterizes the engrafted cells repertoire is probably not due to allorecognition. Furthermore, we report that the repertoire of the transplacentally acquired lymphocytes is dynamic over time and is characterized by waves of expression and contraction of selected clones, expressing different TCRBV segments. These results help to explain some of the abnormal functional behaviors of engrafted maternal cells and raise new questions regarding the mechanisms responsible for the restricted clonal diversity.

The synthesis of a series of new sulfur-containing polymethine dyes is reported. The linear optical properties of these bis(1,3-dithiole) (mono-, tri-, penta-, and hepta-)methine dyes show intense and narrow optical absorptions typical of cyanine dyes. The absorption maximum is increasingly red-shifted from 489 nm for the monomethine dye to 911 nm for the heptamethine compound. Based on third-harmonic generation measurements at fundamental wavelength between 1064 nm and 1907 nm, γ values were evaluated to lie in the range between 1·10^–33 e.s.u. and 14·10^–33 e.s.u. showing that the nonlinear response of the bis(1,3-dithiole) polymethine dyes compare well with other organic π-electron systems of similar size. Comparisons of the experimental values of γ to calculated static values obtained by ab initio and semiempirical calculations (AM1, PM3) have been made as well as comparisons to dynamic values estimated from a free-electron model. The computed dynamic values can be described by a power law; γ ≈ L⁵ where L denotes the length of the molecules. Our studies confirm the stabilizing effect of a carbocyclic ring in the cyanine backbone making the heptamethine dye an unusually stable and highly nonlinear polymethine chromophore possessing a strong NIR optical transition and very good transparency in the visible region.

An assessment of the effect upon 3JHH of individual substituents with second row α-atoms has been carried out both theoretically, at ab initio and semi-empirical levels of approximation, and empirically, by parametrization of Karplus type equations. The Fermi-contact contributions calculated with a 6-31G** basis set to determine substituent effects ΔJx in monosubstituted ethanes CH3CH2X (X=CH3, NH2, OH and F), show a decay with the relative electronegativity of substituent ΔχX towards a constant value like that presented by the experimental data. Similar quadratic or exponential decays are calculated with the same basis set for the two largest parameters in the Karplus equation, i.e. for the angle independent term C0 and for the coefficient C2 of cos 2ϕ. By contrast, for the coefficient S2 of sin 2ϕ a proportional dependence on ΔχX is calculated. These calculated dependences upon ΔχX for C0, C2 and S2 have been confirmed by empirical parametrization of the corresponding Karplus type equations using an appropriate dataset of experimental 3JHH couplings.

Programmed cell death (or apoptosis) is a physiological process essential to the normal development and homeostatic maintenance of the immune system. The Fas/Apo-1 receptor plays a crucial role in the regulation of apoptosis, as demonstrated by lymphoproliferation in MRL-lpr/lpr mice and by the recently described autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) in humans, both of which are due to mutations in the Fas gene. We describe a novel family with ALPS in which three affected siblings carry two distinct missense mutations on both the Fas gene alleles and show lack of Fas-induced apoptosis. The children share common clinical features including splenomegaly and lymphadenopathy, but only one developed severe autoimmune manifestations. In all three siblings, we demonstrated the presence of anergic CD3+CD4−CD8− (double negative, [DN]) T cells; moreover, a chronic lymphocyte activation was found, as demonstrated by the presence of high levels of HLA-DR expression on peripheral CD3+ cells and by the presence of high levels of serum activation markers such as soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) and soluble CD30 (sCD30).

The increase in grain yield of current maize cultivars has been conditioned by the abundant supply of fertilizers, potentially involving energy waste and environment pollution. The shift from frugality to luxury consumption has been attributed to the scarce or zero selection pressure for improved nutrient recovery, due to the high fertility of soils usually adopted in breeding programs. Seven cycles of recurrent selection, starting from the same maize population and carried out on the same soil in conditions of either large (HF) or limited supply (LF) of macronutrients, have demonstrated the effectiveness of the selection pressure by reduced fertilizer application. Physiological parameters determined in seedlings growing in nutrient solution evidenced, in the LF population, a connection with both grain yield and efficiency of nitrate and sulfate recovery. Influx and efflux at steady supply or after deprivation, translocation to shoot, internal pool of both anions, and ATPase-dependent H+ transport in plasmalemma vesicles were particularly significant.

The aim of this study was to characterize the breast meat of turkeys affected by different degrees of severity (normal [NORM], moderate [MOD], and severe [SEV]) of the white striping (WS) myopathy, as well as to evaluate the influence of this myopathy on meat quality. Twenty-nine samples of the pectoralis major muscles of each treatment were obtained from Nicholas breed male and female turkeys, reared and slaughtered in the center-west region of Brazil. The whole breasts of the turkeys were used for macroscopic classification, weight evaluation, and morphometric measurements. Then, the pectoralis major muscle was separated for histological evaluation and qualitative physicochemical analyses, namely ventral and dorsal color (L∗, a∗, and b∗), pH value, water holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss (CL), shear force (SF) (Meullenet-Owens Razor Shear [MORS] and Warner-Bratzler), sarcomere length, total, soluble, and insoluble collagen contents, proximate composition (protein, lipids, moisture, and ash), cholesterol content, and fatty acid profile. The results showed that muscles affected by myopathy, both MOD and SEV, exhibited larger weights (around 2.8 kg) compared to NORM muscles (1.3 kg) and a significant increase (P < 0.05) in the diameter of the fibers. The increase in the degree of severity of the myopathy increased (P < 0.05) the value of L∗ of the dorsal part and ventral part of the muscle. No differences (P > 0.05) were observed in the pH, CL, and WHC values of the muscles, whereas the MORS and Warner-Bratzler SF of the SEV fillets resulted in significantly lower shear values (P < 0.05) compared to the NORM fillets. In addition, the MOD and SEV fillets presented lower values of protein (P < 0.05) than NORM fillets. No significant differences (P > 0.05) were observed for moisture and lipid and cholesterol contents. Meat with MOD and SEV severity of WS myopathy had higher (P < 0.05) concentrations of total and insoluble collagen. Thus, the presence of WS myopathy in MOD and SEV degrees affected a large part of the histological and quality characteristics evaluated.

The authors describe the results on EGFR molecular alterations of 29 Brazilian patients with penile carcinoma (PC). DNA extracted from frozen tumor tissue of all patients was submitted to direct sequencing of the four exons (18 – 21) responsible for the EGFR tyrosine-kinase activity. Corroborating the data by Di Lorenzo et al.published in Expert Opin Ther Targets,none of the sequenced tumor samples showed relevant alterations in the four studied exons of the EGFR gene.

One of the current myopathies affecting the chicken meat industry is deep pectoral myopathy (DPM), also known as green muscle disease or Oregon disease, the condition is considered a major problem in poultry processing lines. Thus, the present study proposes to examine the meat quality of the Pectoralis majormuscle (breast fillet) from carcasses of broilers affected by DPM in Pectoralis minormuscle (tender) and from a control group. Breast fillets samples were harvested from Ross AP95 broilers that were slaughtered at 42 days of age and were selected to the occurrence of the myopathy (score 2 and score 3) and from a control group without (score 0) the presence of myopathy. Chemical composition, cholesterol, fatty acid profile, pH, color, water-holding capacity, cooking loss, shear force, sarcomere length, and collagen were analyzed in the breast fillet. And with the results it was observed the samples classified as DPM score 2 had a higher moisture and a lower protein percentage. The higher values lipid was found in the samples from broilers affected by DPM. There was no difference (P> 0.05) fatty acid profile only to C10:0, C15:0, C17:0, C20:0 and C18:2c9,t11. Differences were detected (P< 0.05) for the pH, WHC, SF, and sarcomere length of the samples from broilers affected by DPM. The higher pH observed in the samples from birds classified as DPM score 2 and the higher WHC values were observed in the samples affected by DPM (score 2 and 3). The SF (P< 0.05) among samples, with the most tender samples (lower SF values) being those unaffected by the condition DPM (score 0). The dorsal side surface, where the Pectoralis majormuscle is in contact with the Pectoralis minormuscle, higher L* values were found in the meat affected by the myopathy. Although deep pectoral myopathy affects the Pectoralis minormuscle of broilers, it can also alter the qualitative characteristics and chemical composition of the breast fillets (Pectoralis majormuscle).