Fouling communities of microscopic fungi on various substrates of the Black Sea

Fungi are the most active biodeteriorators of natural and man-made materials. The article presents generalizations of the studies (2001–2019) of communities of microscopic fungi within biofilms on various substrates: shells of live Mytilus (Mytilus galloprovincialis, 670 specimens) and Ostreidae (Crassostrea gigas, 90 specimens), fragments of driftwood (over 7,000), stones (40), concrete of hydrotechnical constructions along the shoreline (80) and wood between concrete blocks in constructions on the shores (80). The studies were carried out in Odessa Oblast, the coastal zone of Sevastopol and open area of the Black Sea. There were identified 123 species of micromycetes, belonging to 65 genera, 33 families, 21 orders, 10 classes, 4 divisions, 2 kingdoms: Fungi and Chromista (fungi-like organisms). The Chromista kingdom was represented by 1 species – Ostracoblabe implexa, on shells of C. gigas. The number of species of micromycetes on various substrates varied 23 (wood between concrete blocks of hydrotechnical constructions) to 74 (shells of M. galloprovincialis at the depths of 3 and 6 m). On all the substrates, the following species were found; Alternaria alternata, Botryotrichum murorum. The communities were found to contain pathogenic fungi Aspergillus fumigatus (shells of mollusks, stones, concrete), A. terreus (concrete), Fusarium oxysporum, Pseudallescheria boydii (shells of mollusks). The best representation was seen for the Pleosporales order – from 12.9% (shells of M. galloprovincialis, 0.3 m depth) to 33.3% (shells of C. gigas) of the species composition. Toxin-producing species of Microascales in mycological communities accounted for 1.6% (driftwood) to 40.0% (concrete), and were also observed on shells of Bivalvia – 11.1–32.3%. Similarity of species composition of mycological communities according to Bray-Curtis coefficient varied 21.1% (driftwood and concrete, 10 shared species) to 72.7% (shells of M. galloprovincialis, the depths of 3 and 7 m and shells of C. gigas, 45 shared species). Using graphs of indices of mean taxonomic distinctness (AvTD, Δ+) and variation (Variation in Taxonomic Distinctness index, VarTD, Λ+), we determined deviations of taxonomic structure of the studied mycological communities from the level of mean expected values, calculated based on the list of species, taking into account their systematic positions. The lowest values of index Δ+ were determined for communities on shells of M. galloprovincialis, 0.3 m depth, driftwood, stones and concrete. These communities had uneven distribution of species according to higher taxonomic ranks and minimum number of the highest taxa: 4–6 classes, 1–2 divisions, Fungi kingdom. Disproportion in species composition with decrease in the number of the highest taxa occurred in extreme environmental conditions. Using index Λ+, we found that the most complex taxonomic structure of fungi communities has developed on concrete and shells of C. gigas. In mycological communities on those substrates, the number of species was low (25 and 46), but they belonged to 4–7 classes, 2–3 divisions, 1–2 kingdoms. To compare the structures of mycological communities that have developed in such substrates in biotopes sea, sea-land-air, land-air, we compiled a list of fungi based on the literature data, which, taking into account our data, comprised 445 species of 240 genera, 103 families, 51 orders, 15 classes, 5 divisions, 2 kingdoms. The analysis revealed that on substrates with similar chemical composition, in all the biotopes, the species of the same divisions dominated (genus and family may vary). Therefore, in the biotope land-air – Hypocreales, Pleosporales, Eurotiales (genera Acremonium, Fusarium, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Penicillium); sea – Pleosporales, Eurotiales, Microascales (Alternaria, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Corollospora); sea-land-air – Pleosporales, Microascales (Alternaria, Leptosphaeria, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Corollospora, Halosarpheia). Monitoring of species composition of myxomycetes is needed in farms that cultivate industrial objects, recreation sites, various buildings for prevention of mycotoxin intoxication and infestation by mycodermatoses and other diseases caused by opportunistic and pathogenic fungi

Anti-de Sitter massless scalar field spacetimes in arbitrary dimensions

We consider $d$-dimensional static spacetimes in Einstein gravity with a cosmological constant in the presence of a minimally coupled massless scalar field. The spacetimes have a $(d-2)$-dimensional base manifold given by an Einstein space and the massless scalar field depends only on the radial coordinate. The field equations are decoupled in the general case, and can be solved exactly for the cases when either the cosmological constant vanishes or the base manifold is Ricci flat. We focus on the case of a negative cosmological constant and a Ricci-flat base manifold. The solution has a curvature singularity located at the origin, where also the scalar field diverges. Since there is no event horizon surrounding this singularity, the solution describes a naked singularity dressed with a nontrivial scalar field. This spacetime is an asymptotically locally anti-de Sitter one when the Ricci-flat base manifold is locally flat. The asymptotic solution for an arbitrary Einstein base manifold is found and the corresponding mass, calculated through the canonical generator of the time-translation invariance, is shown to be finite. The contribution to the mass from the scalar field at infinity is also discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure. Typos correcte

The contribution of CYP2C gene subfamily involved in epoxygenase pathway of arachidonic acids metabolism to hypertension susceptibility in Russian population

The present study was designed to investigate whether common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of CYP2C gene subfamily such as CYP2C8 (rs7909236 and rs1934953), CYP2C9 (rs9332242), and CYP2C19 (rs4244285) are associated with susceptibility to EH in Russian populatio

Dressing a black hole with non-minimally coupled scalar field hair

We investigate the possibility of dressing a four-dimensional black hole with classical scalar field hair which is non-minimally coupled to the space-time curvature. Our model includes a cosmological constant but no self-interaction potential for the scalar field. We are able to rule out black hole hair except when the cosmological constant is negative and the constant governing the coupling to the Ricci scalar curvature is positive. In this case, non-trivial hairy black hole solutions exist, at least some of which are linearly stable. However, when the coupling constant becomes too large, the black hole hair becomes unstable.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, uses iopart.cls. Minor changes, accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit

The impact of genetic polymorphisms in glutamate-cysteine ligase, a key enzyme of glutathione biosynthesis, on Ischemic stroke risk and brain infarct size

The purpose of this pilot study was to explore whether polymorphisms in genes encoding the catalytic (GCLC) and modifier (GCLM) subunits of glutamate-cysteine ligase, a rate-limiting enzyme in glutathione synthesis, play a role in the development of ischemic stroke (IS) and the extent of brain damag

Lysosomal acid lipase deficiency – an underestimated cause of hypercholesterolemia in children

Lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LAL-D) is a rare, progressive, autosomal recessive disease, which develops due to impaired degradation and subsequent intra-lysosomal accumulation of triglycerides and cholesterol esters causing dyslipidemia. The clinical manifestations of the disease presumably depend on the residual activity of the enzyme, lysosomal acid lipase. A profound deficiency of the enzyme known as Wolman’s disease has an onset in the first 6 months of life. The disease reveals itself by dyspeptic disorders in the form of vomiting and diarrhea, lack of weight gain, hepatosplenomegaly, and adrenal calcification. If the Wolman’s disease is not treated, children die within the first 6 months as a result of exhaustion caused by malabsorption syndrome combined with progressive deterioration of liver and adrenal glands. Partial deficiency of lysosomal acid lipase manifests itself at a later age and is called cholesterol ester storage disease. Its clinical presentations include hepatosplenomegaly, elevated transaminases, hypercholesterolemia, and, in some cases, hypertriglyceridemia. Liver failure is the main cause of death in the natural course of cholesterol ester storage disease. Delayed diagnosis of the disease leads to its progression causing irreversible liver damage. The implementation of mass screening programs with the determination of cholesterol levels in childhood is critical to identifying asymptomatic patients.The article presents a clinical case of a patient aged 3 years. The molecular genetic testing showed a mutation in exon 8 of the LIPA gene: NM_000235.3:c.894G>A synonymous variant in the homozygous state. It was also found that both parents of the girl had this type of mutation in the heterozygous state. The patient was prescribed sebelipase alfa in a dose of 1 mg/kg once every 14 days. The treatment was well tolerated. Due to the early verification of the diagnosis and timely pathogenetic therapy, the prognosis of the course of LAL-D, the duration and quality of life of the child were considered to be favourable.Raising the awareness of doctors along with the introduction of effective screening programs for the timely detection of dyslipidemia in children contributes to timely diagnosis and early initiation of pathogenetic therapy, which can increase the life expectancy of patients with lysosomal acid lipase deficiency and improve their quality of life

Distance Properties of Short LDPC Codes and their Impact on the BP, ML and Near-ML Decoding Performance

Parameters of LDPC codes, such as minimum distance, stopping distance, stopping redundancy, girth of the Tanner graph, and their influence on the frame error rate performance of the BP, ML and near-ML decoding over a BEC and an AWGN channel are studied. Both random and structured LDPC codes are considered. In particular, the BP decoding is applied to the code parity-check matrices with an increasing number of redundant rows, and the convergence of the performance to that of the ML decoding is analyzed. A comparison of the simulated BP, ML, and near-ML performance with the improved theoretical bounds on the error probability based on the exact weight spectrum coefficients and the exact stopping size spectrum coefficients is presented. It is observed that decoding performance very close to the ML decoding performance can be achieved with a relatively small number of redundant rows for some codes, for both the BEC and the AWGN channels

Quasi-normal Modes of Electromagnetic Perturbations of Four-Dimensional Topological Black Holes with Scalar Hair

We study the perturbative behaviour of topological black holes with scalar hair. We calculate both analytically and numerically the quasi-normal modes of the electromagnetic perturbations. In the case of small black holes we find evidence of a second-order phase transition of a topological black hole to a hairy configuration.Comment: v2: 19 pages, 2 figures, added references, improved discussion, to appear in JHE

Field-free orientation of CO molecules by femtosecond two-color laser fields

We report the first experimental observation of non-adiabatic field-free orientation of a heteronuclear diatomic molecule (CO) induced by an intense two-color (800 and 400 nm) femtosecond laser field. We monitor orientation by measuring fragment ion angular distributions after Coulomb explosion with an 800 nm pulse. The orientation of the molecules is controlled by the relative phase of the two-color field. The results are compared to quantum mechanical rigid rotor calculations. The demonstrated method can be applied to study molecular frame dynamics under field-free conditions in conjunction with a variety of spectroscopy methods, such as high-harmonic generation, electron diffraction and molecular frame photoemission