Solid-state cultures of Fusarium oxysporum transform aromatic components of olive-mill dry residue and reduce its phytotoxicity

The present study mainly investigated the ability of solid-state cultures of the non-pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum strain BAFC 738 to transform aromatic components to reduce the phytotoxicity in olive-mill dry residue (DOR), the waste from the two-phase manufacturing process. Lignin, hemicellulose, fats and water-soluble extractives contents of DOR colonized by the fungus for 20 weeks were reduced by 16%, 25%, 71% and 13%, respectively, while the cellulose content increased by 25%. In addition, the ethyl acetate-extractable phenolic fraction of the waste was reduced by 65%. However, mass-balance ultra-Wltration and size-exclusion chromatography experiments suggested that the apparent removal of that fraction, mainly including 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethyl alcohol and 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl) ethyl alcohol, was due to polymerization. Mn-peroxidase and Mn-independent peroxidase activities were found in F. oxysporum solid-state cultures, while laccase and aryl alcohol oxidase activities were not detected. Tests performed with seedlings of tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum L.), soybean (Glycine maximum Merr.), and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) grown on soils containing 6% (w/w) of bioconverted DOR (kg soil)¡1 showed that the waste’s phytotoxicity was removed by 20 weeks-old fungal cultures. By contrast, the same material exhibited a high residual toxicity towards lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.).L'articolo é disponibile sul sito dell'editore: http://www.sciencedirect.co

Перспективи розвитку експортоорієнтованої стратегії підприємств

Рассмотрен вопрос стратегического развития экспортноориентрованной политики предприятий. Раскрыты перспективы развития международных торговых отношений Украины.Розглянуто питання стратегічного розвитку експортноорієнтовної політики підприємств. Розкрито перспективи розвитку міжнародних торгівельних відносин України

Design and evaluation of artificial controllers assisting voluntary balance performance in paraplegia and in stroke

The mobility impairment caused by a paralysis like a spinal cord injury or a stroke has, beside many other impacts, an influence on the transfer of signals between the muscles of the lower extremities and the brain. In a paraplegic person, this means that she or he can not stand without holding onto a support or standing in a standing frame while the impact on the ability to balance in a hemiplegic person can be less severe. Although the connection between the muscles and the brain is impaired by the injury, the muscles still retain the ability to contract if innervated. This thesis describes control approaches which combine the remaining voluntary control of the paraplegic and stroke patients with the artificially controlled stimulation of the muscles of the paralysed limbs to aid the subject in balancing. The aim was to develop new control approaches which would assist balance in paraplegic subjects and in stroke. To support standing in paraplegic subjects, the moment generated at the ankle using electrical stimulation of the shank muscles was integrated with the voluntary control of the upper body, resulting in the concept of Integrated Voluntary Control (IVC). In the outer loop the ankle moment produced by the paraplegic subject due to his voluntary upper body movement was estimated using a mathematical model based on the inclination angles of upper and lower body. This estimated ankle moment was then compared with the actual moment applied at the force plates the subject was standing on, and an appropriate stimulation signal was applied to the paralysed shank muscles. Experimental evaluation initially involved four able bodied volunteers in which base line results with stiffness and stiffness-viscosity controllers using a rotating standing platform were obtained. This was extended to the paraplegic subject, where electrical muscle stimulation was used to generate the required ankle moment. The IVC concept was then evaluated with the paraplegic subject and compared to the base line results. Due to the nature of the system and implied perturbation onto the control system controlling the posture of the paraplegic subject the known evaluation values (e.g. rise time, steady state value, overshoot value etc.) are not suitable. Therefore, the variance of a time signal around its mean value was used as an evaluation value which allowed to compare the achieved performance of the paraplegic subject employing the new control approach with the stiffness and stiffness-viscosity controllers directly. To assist balance in stroke patients, a new training approach was introduced based on the concept of integrating the voluntary abilities of the patient with mechanical balance support and sensory electrical stimulation. This concept was evaluated in a training program with one stroke subject which demonstrated the feasibility and potential balance improvement resulting from this approach.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Primary liposarcoma of the ascending colon: a rare case of mixed type presenting as hemoperitoneum combined with other type of retroperitoneal liposarcoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Liposarcoma occurs most commonly in the extremities and retroperitoneum, however, it has been rarely observed in the colon.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>A case is reported a 41-year-old man with liposarcoma of ascending colon which was presented as hemoperitoneum and combined with a different histological type of retroperitoneal liposarcoma. He visited hospital with right lower abdominal pain and palpable mass. Laboratory data including tumor markers were within normal limits, and computed tomography revealed a 15 × 10 cm sized enhancing soft mass. Right hemicolectomy was performed, and after that, a further large retroperitoneal mass was revealed and this was also radically excised. Mixed-type colon liposarcoma and well differentiated type of retroperitoneal liposarcoma were diagnosed in pathologic report. The patient has remained free of disease for 24 months.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>No standardized guidelines have been established for its treatment because too small a number of cases have been reported, but surgical resection was considered the treatment of choice.</p

Pharmaceuticals removal and microbial community assessment in a continuous fungal treatment of non-sterile real hospital wastewater after a coagulation-flocculation pretreatment

Hospital wastewaters are a main source of pharmaceutical active compounds, which are usually highly recalcitrant and can accumulate in surface and groundwater bodies. Fungal treatments can remove these contaminants prior to discharge, but real wastewater poses a problem to fungal survival due to bacterial competition. This study successfully treated real non-spiked, nonsterile wastewater in a continuous fungal fluidized bed bioreactor coupled to a coagulation-flocculation pretreatment for 56 days. A control bioreactor without the fungus was also operated and the results were compared. A denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and sequencing approach was used to study the microbial community arisen in both reactors and as a result some bacterial degraders are proposed. The fungal operation successfully removed analgesics and anti-inflammatories, and even the most recalcitrant pharmaceutical families such as antibiotics and psychiatric drugs

Mechanisms of crosstalk between phosphorylation and ubiquitylation in the regulation of cell proliferation

Cell cycle progression is tightly controlled by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Cullin-RING ubiquitin ligases are the major players responsible for the periodic proteolysis of many regulators of the cell cycle. Deregulated protein degradation mediated by cullin-RING ubiquitin ligases may result in uncontrolled proliferation, genomic instability and cancer. The results described in this thesis provide important insights on novel functions of the UPS in the regulation of cell proliferation. Identifying substrates of ubiquitin ligases and characterizing the molecular mechanisms regulating their degradation is important as it could lead to the development of new strategies for anticancer therapies. In this thesis, we have studied how specific and timely cooperation between phosphorylation and ubiquitylation controls cell growth and proliferation by targeting specific substrate proteins for proteasomal degradation. The starting point of this study was an affinity purification coupled to a mass spectrometry analysis aimed at the identification of new substrates of the SCFβTrCP ubiquitin ligase. We decided to focus on the phosphorylation-dependent degradation of three previously unknown interactors of βTrCP, namely, TFAP4, DEC1 and AS160, as earlier literature had suggested a role of these proteins in the control of cell cycle progression and cellular growth. TFAP4 and DEC1 are both bHLH transcription factors, AS160 is a Rab-GTPase activating protein. TFAP4 is targeted by SCFβTrCP for ubiquitylation and proteasome-dependent degradation during the G2 phase of the cell cycle. We also show that failure to degrade TFAP4 results in a number of mitotic defects, including chromosome missegregation and multipolar spindles, which eventually cause the activation of the DNA damage checkpoint. Taken together these findings reveal that βTrCP-mediated proteolysis of TFAP4 is required for the fidelity of mitotic division. Moreover, I characterize the phosphodegron and phosphorylation events controlling the degradation of DEC1 by SCFβTrCP during recovery from G2 DNA damage checkpoint and, in particular, the role of CDK1-dependent phosphorylation in regulating DEC1 proteolysis. These findings contribute to uncover how a crosstalk between phosphorylation and ubiquitylation acts to control DEC1 proteolysis and the DNA damage response Finally, I describe for the first time the interaction between SCFβTrCP ubiquitin ligase and AS160, a substrate of AKT implicated in the insulin signaling pathway. The interaction depends on a specific phosphodegron motif and SCFβTrCP is directly responsible for AS160 ubiquitylation. We discuss a possible new regulatory mechanism by which the degradation of AS160 could exert an effect on the translocation of the glucose transporter GLUT4

Laccase-catalyzed removal of 2,4- dichlorophenol in the presence of polyethylene glycol

The effect of the additive, polyethylene glycol 4000 (PEG), on the laccase-catalyzed removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP) from synthetic wastewaters was studied over the DCP concentration range 2-16 mM. Results showed that PEG had a significant protective effect on laccase activity. The amount of enzyme required to obtain 50% pollutant removal was reduced 35-, 39- and 20-fold less than that required without PEG for 4, 8 and 16 mM DCP solutions, respectively

Kinetic behaviour and degradative capability of Lentinula edodes laccase with differently substituted chlorinated substrates

Partially purified Lentinula edodes laccase was tested for its ability to oxidize several putative mono-, di- and tri-chlorinated substrates. Both the initial reaction rate and removal efficiency were remarkably affected by the nature of substituents and their position on the aromatic ring. Chlorinated phenols and/or anilines bearing an additional substituent with at least one lone pair electrons adjacent to the benzene ring were preferentially oxidized by the enzyme. In contrast, chlorinated substrates bearing an electron-withdrawing substituent, such as the nitro group, were not oxidized at all. The extent of removal of the most reactive chlorinated compounds after 1 h incubation with laccase was in the following order: chlorohydroquinone &gt; 4,6-dichlororesorcinol &gt; 2-amino-4-chlorophenol &gt; 2,6-dichlorophenol &gt; 2,4-dichlorophenol &gt; 2,4,6-trichlorophenol &gt; 2-chlorophenol &gt; 4-chlorophenol

Kinetic behaviour and degradative capability of Lentinula edodes laccase with differently substituted chlorinated substrates

Partially purified Lentinula edodes laccase was tested for its ability to oxidize several putative mono-, di- and tri-chlorinated substrates. Both the initial reaction rate and removal efficiency were remarkably affected by the nature of substituents and their position on the aromatic ring. Chlorinated phenols and/or anilines bearing an additional substituent with at least one lone pair electrons adjacent to the benzene ring were preferentially oxidized by the enzyme. In contrast, chlorinated substrates bearing an electron-withdrawing substituent, such as the nitro group, were not oxidized at all. The extent of removal of the most reactive chlorinated compounds after 1 h incubation with laccase was in the following order: chlorohydroquinone &gt; 4,6-dichlororesorcinol &gt; 2-amino-4-chlorophenol &gt; 2,6-dichlorophenol &gt; 2,4-dichlorophenol &gt; 2,4,6-trichlorophenol &gt; 2-chlorophenol &gt; 4-chlorophenol