Characterization of Chlorella sorokiniana, UTEX 1230

This paper characterizes the strain Chlorella sorokiniana UTEX 1230 within a laboratory setting using a 1 L bubble column. The findings show that productivity can be trebled under mixotrophic conditions (from 0.2 g·L−1·d−1 to 0.66 g·L−1·d−1) with the addition of sodium acetate. The results also indicate that both the growth rate and final yield increase with the cultivation temperature, with most parameters showing an optimum in the range of 30–35 °C. The maximum specific growth rate was found to be in the region of 0.12 h−1 at a surface irradiance between 100–500 µE·m−2·s−1. This high growth rate makes the strain particularly suited to the rapid production of biomass, suitable for either whole cell bioprocessing or bioremediation. However, the relatively low lipid productivity (9.2 mg·L−1·d−1) confirms previous findings which would indicate poor applicability for biodiesel production. The strain shows greater promise in wastewater treatment applications with removal rates of nitrogen and phosphorus in the region of 37 and 30 mg·L−1·d−1 respectively. Furthermore, the findings show that a fed-batch strategy to inorganic nutrient loading can increase the final yield by around 50% compared to a conventional batch run. This is particularly interesting as fed-batch production techniques are rarely used within microalgal cultivation, so provide an interesting avenue for further investigation. Overall, the findings show that C. sorokiniana UTEX 1230 is a robust and fast-growing microalgal strain suitable both for the laboratory and scale-up

Functional characterization of 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase of Trypanosoma cruzi

The oxidative lesion 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) is removed during base excision repair by the 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1 (Ogg1). This lesion can erroneously pair with adenine, and the excision of this damaged base by Ogg1 enables the insertion of a guanine and prevents DNA mutation. In this report, we identified and characterized Ogg1 from the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (TcOgg1), the causative agent of Chagas disease. Like most living organisms, T. cruzi is susceptible to oxidative stress, hence DNA repair is essential for its survival and improvement of infection. We verified that the TcOGG1 gene encodes an 8-oxoG DNA glycosylase by complementing an Ogg1-defective Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain. Heterologous expression of TcOGG1 reestablished the mutation frequency of the yeast mutant ogg1-/- (CD138) to wild type levels. We also demonstrate that the overexpression of TcOGG1 increases T. cruzi sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Analysis of DNA lesions using quantitative PCR suggests that the increased susceptibility to H2O2 of TcOGG1-overexpressor could be a consequence of uncoupled BER in abasic sites and/or strand breaks generated after TcOgg1 removes 8-oxoG, which are not rapidly repaired by the subsequent BER enzymes. This hypothesis is supported by the observation that TcOGG1-overexpressors have reduced levels of 8-oxoG both in the nucleus and in the parasite mitochondrion. The localization of TcOgg1 was examined in parasite transfected with a TcOgg1-GFP fusion, which confirmed that this enzyme is in both organelles. Taken together, our data indicate that T. cruzi has a functional Ogg1 ortholog that participates in nuclear and mitochondrial BER. © 2012 Furtado et al

Isolated Taylor Bubbles in Co-Current with Shear Thinning CMC Solutions in Microchannels—A Numerical Study

Slug flow is a multiphase flow pattern characterized by the occurrence of long gas bubbles (Taylor bubbles) separated by liquid slugs. This multiphase flow regime is present in many and diversified natural and industrial processes, at macro and microscales, such as in eruption of volcanic magmas, oil recovery from pre-salt regions, micro heat exchangers, and small-sized refrigerating systems. Previous studies in the literature have been mostly focused on tubular gas bubbles flowing in Newtonian liquids. In this work, results from several numerical simulations of tubular gas bubbles flowing in a shear thinning liquid in microchannels are reported. To simulate the shear thinning behavior, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) solutions with different concentrations were considered. The results are compared with data from bubbles flowing in Newtonian liquids in identical geometric and dynamic conditions. The numerical work was carried out in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package Ansys Fluent (release 16.2.0) employing the volume of fluid (VOF) methodology to track the volume fraction of each phase and the continuum surface force (CSF) model to insert the surface tension effects. The flow patterns, the viscosity distribution in the liquid, the liquid film thickness between the bubble and the wall, and the bubbles shape are analyzed for a wide range of shear rates. In general, the flow patterns are similar to those in Newtonian liquids, but in the film, where a high viscosity region is observed, the thickness is smaller. Bubble velocities are smaller for the non-Newtonian cases.</jats:p

p21(Cip1) plays a critical role in the physiological adaptation to fasting through activation of PPARα.

Fasting is a physiological stress that elicits well-known metabolic adaptations, however, little is known about the role of stress-responsive tumor suppressors in fasting. Here, we have examined the expression of several tumor suppressors upon fasting in mice. Interestingly, p21 mRNA is uniquely induced in all the tissues tested, particularly in liver and muscle (>10 fold), and this upregulation is independent of p53. Remarkably, in contrast to wild-type mice, p21-null mice become severely morbid after prolonged fasting. The defective adaptation to fasting of p21-null mice is associated to elevated energy expenditure, accelerated depletion of fat stores, and premature activation of protein catabolism in the muscle. Analysis of the liver transcriptome and cell-based assays revealed that the absence of p21 partially impairs the transcriptional program of PPARα, a key regulator of fasting metabolism. Finally, treatment of p21-null mice with a PPARα agonist substantially protects them from their accelerated loss of fat upon fasting. We conclude that p21 plays a relevant role in fasting adaptation through the positive regulation of PPARα

In-situ fluorescence spectroscopy is a more rapid and resilient indicator of faecal contamination risk in drinking water than faecal indicator organisms

Faecal indicator organisms (FIOs) are limited in their ability to protect public health from the microbial contamination of drinking water because of their transience and time required to deliver a result. We evaluated alternative rapid, and potentially more resilient, approaches against a benchmark FIO of thermotolerant coliforms (TTCs) to characterise faecal contamination over 14 months at 40 groundwater sources in a Ugandan town. Rapid approaches included: in-situ tryptophan-like fluorescence (TLF), humic-like fluorescence (HLF), turbidity; sanitary inspections; and total bacterial cells by flow cytometry. TTCs varied widely in six sampling visits: a third of sources tested both positive and negative, 50% of sources had a range of at least 720 cfu/100 mL, and a two-day heavy rainfall event increased median TTCs five-fold. Using source medians, TLF was the best predictor in logistic regression models of TTCs ≥10 cfu/100 mL (AUC 0.88) and best correlated to TTC enumeration (ρs 0.81), with HLF performing similarly. Relationships between TLF or HLF and TTCs were stronger in the wet season than the dry season, when TLF and HLF were instead more associated with total bacterial cells. Source rank-order between sampling rounds was considerably more consistent, according to cross-correlations, using TLF or HLF (min ρs 0.81) than TTCs (min ρs 0.34). Furthermore, dry season TLF and HLF cross-correlated more strongly (ρs 0.68) than dry season TTCs (ρs 0.50) with wet season TTCs, when TTCs were elevated. In-situ TLF or HLF are more rapid and resilient indicators of faecal contamination risk than TTCs

Synthesis and Anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis Activity of Imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]oxazine Derivatives against Multidrug-Resistant Strains

The emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis has raised concerns due to the greater difficulties in patient treatment and higher mortality rates. Herein, we revisited the 2-nitro-6,7-dihydro-5H-imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]oxazine scaffold and identified potent new carbamate derivatives having MIC90 values of 0.18–1.63 μM against Mtb H37Rv. Compounds 47–49, 51–53, and 55 exhibited remarkable activity against a panel of clinical isolates, displaying MIC90 values below 0.5 μM. In Mtb-infected macrophages, several compounds demonstrated a 1-log greater reduction in mycobacterial burden than rifampicin and pretomanid. The compounds tested did not exhibit significant cytotoxicity against three cell lines or any toxicity to Galleria mellonella. Furthermore, the imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]oxazine derivatives did not show substantial activity against other bacteria or fungi. Finally, molecular docking studies revealed that the new compounds could interact with the deazaflavin-dependent nitroreductase (Ddn) in a similar manner to pretomanid. Collectively, our findings highlight the chemical universe of imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]oxazines and their promising potential against MDR-TB

A Review of CAM for Procedural Pain in Infancy: Part I. Sucrose and Non-nutritive Sucking

There is increasing concern regarding the number of painful medical procedures that infants must undergo and the potential risks of alleviating infant pain with conventional pharmacologic agents. This article is Part I of a two-part series that aims to provide an overview of the literature on complementary and alternative (CAM) approaches for pain and distress related to medical procedures among infants up to six weeks of age. The focus of this article is a review of the empirical literature on sucrose with or without non-nutritive sucking (NNS) for procedural pain in infancy. Computerized databases were searched for relevant studies including prior reviews and primary trials. The most robust evidence was found for the analgesic effects of sucrose with or without NNS on minor procedural pain in healthy full-term infants. Despite some methodological weaknesses, the literature to date supports the use of sucrose, NNS and other sweetened solutions for the management of procedural pain in infancy