Molecular Detection and Phylogenetic Analysis of Endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae) Isolated from Dirofilaria immitis in Northwest of Iran

Background: The purpose of this study was molecular detection and phylogenetic analysis of Wolbachia species of Dirofilaria immitis. Methods: Adult filarial nematodes were collected from the cardiovascular and pulmonary arterial systems of naturally infected dogs, which caught in different geographical areas of Meshkin Shahr in Ardabil Province, Iran, during 2017. Dirofilaria immitis genomic DNA were extracted. Phylogenetic analysis for proofing of D. immitis was carried out using cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene. Afterward, the purified DNA was used to determine the molecular pattern of the Wolbachia surface protein (WSP) gene sequence by PCR. Results: Phylogeny and homology studies showed high consistency of the COI gene with the previously-registered sequences for D. immitis. Comparison of DNA sequences revealed no nucleotide variation between them. PCR showed that all of the collected parasites were infected with W. pipientis. The sequence of the WSP gene in Wolbachia species from D. immitis was significantly different from other species of Dirofilaria as well as other filarial species. The maximum homology was observed with the Wolbachia isolated from D. immitis. The greatest distance between WSP nucleotides of Wolbachia species found between D. immitis and those isolated from Onchocerca lupi. Conclusion: PCR could be a simple but suitable method for detection of Wolbachia species. There is a pattern of host specificity between Wolbachia and Dirofilaria that can be related to ancestral evolutions. The results of this phylogenetic analysis and molecular characterization may help us for better identification of Wolbachia species and understanding of their coevolution. © 2019 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Closed-Loop Recycling of Copper from Waste Printed Circuit Boards Using Bioleaching and Electrowinning Processes

International audienceIn the present study, a model of closed-loop recycling of copper from PCBs is demonstrated, which involves the sequential application of bioleaching and electrowinning to selectively extract copper. This approach is proposed as part of the solution to resolve the challenging ever-increasing accumulation of electronic waste, e-waste, in the environment. This work is targeting copper, the most abundant metal in e-waste that represents up to 20% by weight of printed circuit boards (PCBs). In the first stage, bioleaching was tested for different pulp densities (0.25–1.00% w/v) and successfully used to extract multiple metals from PCBs using the acidophilic bacterium, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. In the second stage, the method focused on the recovery of copper from the bioleachate by electrowinning. Metallic copper foils were formed, and the results demonstrated that 75.8% of copper available in PCBs had been recovered as a high quality copper foil, with 99 + % purity, as determined by energy dispersive X-ray analysis and Inductively-Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry. This model of copper extraction, combining bioleaching and electrowinning, demonstrates a closed-loop method of recycling that illustrates the application of bioleaching in the circular economy. The copper foils have the potential to be reused, to form new, high value copper clad laminate for the production of complex printed circuit boards for the electronics manufacturing industry. Graphic Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2020, The Author(s)

ANMM4CBR: a case-based reasoning method for gene expression data classification

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Accurate classification of microarray data is critical for successful clinical diagnosis and treatment. The "curse of dimensionality" problem and noise in the data, however, undermines the performance of many algorithms.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>In order to obtain a robust classifier, a novel Additive Nonparametric Margin Maximum for Case-Based Reasoning (ANMM4CBR) method is proposed in this article. ANMM4CBR employs a case-based reasoning (CBR) method for classification. CBR is a suitable paradigm for microarray analysis, where the rules that define the domain knowledge are difficult to obtain because usually only a small number of training samples are available. Moreover, in order to select the most informative genes, we propose to perform feature selection via additively optimizing a nonparametric margin maximum criterion, which is defined based on gene pre-selection and sample clustering. Our feature selection method is very robust to noise in the data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The effectiveness of our method is demonstrated on both simulated and real data sets. We show that the ANMM4CBR method performs better than some state-of-the-art methods such as support vector machine (SVM) and <it>k </it>nearest neighbor (<it>k</it>NN), especially when the data contains a high level of noise.</p> <p>Availability</p> <p>The source code is attached as an additional file of this paper.</p

Effect of Conservation Tillage on Irrigation Scheduling and

To study the effect of conservation tillage on irrigation scheduling and quantitative and qualitative characteristics of spring rapeseed (RGS 003), a split-plot experiment based on randomized complete block design with 3 replications was conducted in sandy-clay-loam soil of East Azerbaijan region. The tillage treatments were: T1: conventional tillage, T2: reduce tillage, T3: no-tillage. The irrigation treatments were irrigation after 25(I1), 50(I2) and 75(I3) percent of moisture depletion in root zone. The water consumption was calculated by measuring soil moisture content in the root zone. Results indicated that, tillage and irrigation treatments had significant effects on grain and oil yield (

Extractive profiles of different lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) fractions grown under a direct seeding-based silvicultural regime

The aim of this study was to identify and quantify the chemical compounds in the aboveground fractions of lodgepole pine trees (stem top, stem base, bark, branches, needles and cones) grown under a direct seeding-based silvicultural regime, including per hectare-outputs and industrial applications. Plant metabolites were extracted from trees of two sizes from two areas of central-northern Sweden with different climates and analysed by GC-MS. The stands were 30 years old and had undergone pre-commercial thinning. The extractive yields for the fractions differed significantly, with the bark having the highest yields (13-20%) and the stem the lowest (0.5-3.5%). Multivariate analysis showed that the extractive profiles of the needles deviated strongly from those of the other fractions, with the needles being particularly rich in wax esters and fatty alcohols. The stemwood mainly contained ketones, terpenes and acids. The cones had a prominent pine scent and were rich in aromatics. The stands examined in this study could produce large quantities of biomass suitable for use in biorefineries without any change in their current management regimes, yielding 2-3. tonnes of crude extractives per hectare. The precise extractive yield depends on the site fertility, tree partitioning and tree size. The extractives obtained can be used for production of, e.g. biodiesel, glue, bioactive food additives, cosmetics, and polymer precursors. Lodgepole pine can be cultivated cost-effectively by direct seeding in dense stands, and advantageously harvested to produce biomass and extractives. It is therefore an appropriate species for the production of biorefinery feedstocks in the boreal region

Application of Dirofilaria immitis immunoreactive proteins in serodiagnosis

Dirofilariasis is a zoonotic global vector-borne disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis. The present study focuses on the somatic and excretory/secretory (E/S) proteins released from adult D. immitis. We aimed to fractionate and identify adult D. immitis immunoreactive proteins. Somatic and E/S extracts were immunoblotted to identify the immunoreactive proteins. In the current study, we used matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) to characterize the immunogenic proteins. Additionally, we used fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) to fractionate and evaluate the immunogenicity of the D. immitis secretome. The most immunoreactive proteins were between 10 and 48 kDa. Six proteins including polyprotein antigen, P22u, pepsin inhibitor Dit33, neutrophil chemotactic factor (DiNCF) precursor, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) were found in both somatic and E/S extracts. Eluting the FPLC column with NaCl resolved two peaks in which the immunoreactivities of the purified proteins were conserved. Characterization of these proteins could provide a novel perspective for understanding the pathogenesis and diagnosing of this disease