Akt is a protein that is associated with cell proliferation and is expressed at high levels in cancer cells. Some research indicates it may play a role in increasing the resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapy treatment. P53 is a tumor suppressor protein that influences the cell cycle and apoptosis. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the expression of Akt and p53 in cancerous tissue before chemoradiation treatment, and the clinical response to treatment of cervical cancer patients. Twenty microscopic tissue samples were taken from cervical cancer biopsies obtained from patients before cancer treatment. The tissue samples were stained with p53 and Akt antibodies via immunohistochemistry technique, to measure expression of both proteins. After completion of chemoradiotherapy, patients’ clinical response to treatment was determined using the pelvic control method. Our results revealed no correlation between expression of Akt and p53 index (P = 0.74) as well as between p53 Index and chemoradiotherapy clinical response (P=0.29). There was significant correlation between expression of Akt and cervical cancer chemoradiotherapy response (P = 0.03). There was no correlation found between p53 index and chemoradiotherapy clinical response (P = 0.29). High expression of Akt may related with high cell proliferation and resistance to chemoradiotherapy.

The genus Macaca, member of sub-family Cercopithecinae, is the most widely distributed non-human primates in Asian countries. The habitats are strongly influence the dietary variation of the populations. The dietary variation of the macaques reflect ecological plasticity in coping with differences both in availability and abundance of food. The macaques are plastic in taking any kind of food that available in their home range and adjust their behaviour according to its abundance. Here, we present the dietary variation of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in the high altitude rain forest of Telaga Warna, West Java, Indonesia. The proportion of their food from natural sources is greater than those from visitors. The natural food consisted of plants, small animals (insects and earthworm), fungi and water from lake. The plant food comprised of 29 species plus a few mosses. The frequency of eating artificial food was influenced by visitors who come for picnic. In this site, the macaques learned that the visiting of tourists is identical with food.

Post-translational protein import into organelles is an important process to maintain cellular functions. During preprotein transport in the cytosol, chaperones, such as heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) and heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), are functioning to prevent aggregation and to maintain the correct protein folding of preproteins. This research was conducted in order to understand the chaperone-mediated, post-translational import of preproteins into the endoplasmic reticulum of Arabidopsis thaliana. AtTPR7 (Arabidopsis thaliana Tetratrico Peptide Repeat 7) is found in the endoplasmic reticulum and contains TPR domain, which mediates protein interaction with cytosolic Hsp70 and Hsp90. In this study, recombinant AtTPR7 was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3)-RIPL cells and purified using an N-terminal His-tag. In order to study the interactions of the protein with the chaperones, we used pulldown and Western blot assays. We could thereby show that the N-terminally His-tagged AtTPR7 protein interacted with Hsp70 and Hsp90.

Endophytic fungi is a rich source of novel organic compounds with interesting biological activities and a high level of structural diversity. As a part of our systematic search for new bioactive lead structures and specific profiles from endophytic fungi, an endophytic fungus was isolated from roots of brotowali (Tinaspora crispa), an important medicinal plant. Colonial morphological trait and microscopic observation revealed that the endophytic fungus was Trichoderma sp. The pure fungal strain was cultivated on 7 L Potatos Dextose Broth (PDB) medium under room temperature (no shaking) for 8 weeks. The ethyl acetate were added to cultur medium and left overnight to stop cell growth. The culture filtrates were collected and extracted with EtOAc and then taken to evaporation. Two new lactone derivatives, 5-hydroxy-4-hydroxymethyl-2H-pyran-2-one (1) and (5-hydroxy-2-oxo-2H pyran-4-yl) methyl acetate (2) were obtained from the EtOAc extracts of Trichoderma sp. Their structures were determined on the basic of spectroscopic methods including UV, IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, HMQC, and HMBC.

The Ariake Sea located in the west parts of Kyushu Island is a semi-closed and macro-tidal shallow sea, and has the largest tidal flat in Japan. A large mud tidal flat with a productive ecosystem found along the western shoreline of the sea makes this area ideal as a major production site of nori (Porphyra yezoensis) in Japan. We determined the independent effect of temperature, salinity, ammonium concentration and pH on nitrification rates (NR) in the Ariake seawater above the mud sediment. The NR was determined by measuring accumulation of NO2-N production after adding sodium chlorate, an inhibitor of NO2-N to NO3-N oxidation. NRs were relatively high at 20-35 °C (optimum at 29.5 °C), but the rates were very low at 5, 10, and 40 °C. NRs increased sharply when increasing the salinity from 13 to 20 ppt, but it decreased drastically at salinity levels more than 35 ppt (optimum at 19 ppt). The relationship between ammonium concentration and NR showed a typical kinetic curve of enzymatic reaction with the maximum NR (Vmax) of 0.029 µM N.h−1 at 200 µM NH4-N (the half saturation constant (Ks) = 35 µM NH4-N). High NRs were determined at pH 7.5-8.0 (optimum pH 7.8). This is the first report on the independent effects of temperature, pH, salinity and NH4-N concentration on the NR of seawater, specifically the Ariake seawater.

This study evaluated the effects on viral immune responses and bacterial co-infection, of different feeding frequencies of a synbiotic supplemented diet given to Pacific white shrimp (L. vannamei). A synbiotic-supplemented diet was formulated from probiotic Vibrio alginolitycus SKT-bR and prebiotics from sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) oligosaccharide. Pacific white shrimp were fed with synbiotic diet at different frequencies, i.e. daily (P1), twice a week (P2), and once a week (P3) for a 30 day pre-challenge test. After the 30 day feeding period, the shrimps were challenged by intramuscular injection of Infectious Myonecrosis Virus (IMNV) and Vibrio harveyi. The results showed that shrimp treated with a synbiotic-supplemented diet showed significantly higher growth performance than control groups (P<0.05). Shrimp treated under regime P1 showed the highest values for phenoloxidase (PO) and respiratory burst (RB) parameters compared to shrimp given with other treatments. Following the challenge test, higher survival rate were seen in the P1 treatment group, in comparison to the positive control, and the P1 treatment group showed the highest values in total haemocyte count (THC), PO, and RB.

Heat stress is a major environmental factor limiting wheat productivity in tropical regions such as Indonesia. The objective of this study was to investigate the adaptability of introduced wheat genotypes in tropical agro-ecosystems. Sixteen spring wheat genotypes were grown at two different altitudes i.e. low altitude (176 m asl) with an average temperature of 29.8 °C located at Leuwikopo Field Experimental Station, Bogor Agricultural University, Darmaga Bogor and high altitude (1100 m asl) with an average temperature of 20.6 °C at Cipanas Field Experimental Station (Ornamental Crop Research Station), Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia from July to November 2012. Plant height, number of tillers, flag leaf area, leaf angle, days to flowering, spike number per plant, empty spikelet number, grain weight per plant and 100 grain weight were observed following the standard methods. Heat susceptibility index was calculated based on grain weight per plant. The results showed that cultivation at a low altitude, hotter environment remarkably affected wheat growth and yield, as reflected in overall reduction of plant height, reduced number of tillers and leaf area, and ultimately reduced yield and yield components for most genotypes compared to the same measures taken at high altitude in lower temperatures. Plant growth before heading was similar in both locations, but the days to flowering was longer in high altitude than that in low altitude. High temperature stress in low altitude reduced the spike number/plant, grain weight/plant, 100 grain weight and increase number of empty spikelet/spike. Based on our results for heat susceptibility index, six genotypes, namely Sbr, Ymh, Astreb/Cbrd, Astreb/Ningma, H-20 and Nias, were characterized as heat tolerant genotypes.

Captive breeding of endangered species is often difficult, and may be hampered by many factors. Sexual monomorphism, in which males and females are not easily distinguishable, is one such factor and is a common problem in captive breeding of many avian and reptile species. Species-specific nuclear DNA markers, recently developed to identify portions of sex chromosomes, were employed in this study for sex determination of Komodo dragons (Varanus Komodoensis). Each animal was uniquely tagged using a passive integrated micro-transponder (TROVAN 100A type transponders of 13 mm in length and 2 mm in diameter). The sex of a total of 81 individual Komodo dragons (44 samples from Ragunan zoo, 26 samples from Surabaya zoo, and 11 samples from Gembira Loka zoo) were determined using primers Ksex 1for and Ksex 3rev. A series of preliminary PCR amplifications were conducted using DNA from individuals of known sex. During these preliminary tests, researchers varied the annealing temperatures, number of cycles, and concentrations of reagents, in order to identify the best protocol for sex determination using our sample set. We thus developed our own PCR protocol for this study, which resulted in the amplification of band A in females and band C in males. Results from band B, however, turned out to be non-determinative in our study because, for females, band B was not always visible, and for males sometimes a similar, but lighter band was also amplified, making interpretation difficult. In this study, sex determination was based mainly on the difference in size between the female-specific 812 bp fragment and the homologous, longer fragment amplified for males.

Native Papuans are relied on hunting for subsistence purposes and significantly contributed to traditional cultures. However, in Papua information on hunting is limited and largely restricted to anthropological setting with most observations were done on the forest sites in lowland and highland landscapes. This study focuses on the contribution of hunting on food security along the coastal forests at the Bird's Head Peninsula. Do people live near coastal sites mostly rely on marine resources as protein source? We gathered data on hunting by the majority of Karon ethnic group in the Abun district of Tambrauw Regency at the Bird's Head Peninsula of Papua, Indonesia. We used information from in-depth interviews with hunters and households meal survey at four villages of Abun: Waibem, Wau, Warmandi and Saubeba. Reasons for hunting were varies among respondents but mostly conducted for trade. Six species of mammals and three birds were commonly hunted by using six different hunting techniques. Wild pig and rusa deer were the major targets in hunting to meet the demand of meat for both trading and household consumption. Meals containing wildmeat was the most consumed meal, greater than meals containing fish, animal products and vegetables, and noodles.

Propagation of mangosteen is challenging for many reasons, including limited seed set, slow rate of seedling growth, and difficulty with root formations. The objective of this research was to find the best combination of medium and plant growth regulator for in vitro growth and rooting of mangosteeen seed. Various types of explant (a whole seed; seed divided into 2, 3, and 4 cross sections; seed divided into 2, 3, and 4 longitudinal sections) were treated with five concentrations of benzyl amino purine (BAP; 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 mg/L) for shoot induction in ½ Nitrogen (N) Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium. The shoots were rooted on MS and woody plant medium (WPM) media with several combinations of indole butyric acid (IBA) and naphtalene acetic acid (NAA). Treatments for root induction were applied as follows: (i) low dose, given during induction of rooting, (ii) soaking the base of the shoots in medium treated with a high dose of auxin for 5 days, and then growing the shoots in MS ½ N with 1 mg/L NAA + 1 mg/L BAP medium. Our result show that BAP positively affected mangosteen bud growth. The best medium for mangosteen shoot regeneration was found to be MS ½ N + 5 mg/L BAP. This medium induced the highest number of shoots from the seed explant cut into four cross sections. We found the best medium to induce in vitro rooting of mangosteen shoot was MS ½ N + 3 mg/L indole butiric acid (IBA) + 4 mg/L NAA medium. Some treatment negatively affected growth. Soaking the mangosteen shoot base in a medium with an overly high dose of auxin seemed to disrupt and inhibit growth of the mangosteen shoot.