Electro-extractive fermentation for efficient biohydrogen production

Electrodialysis, an electrochemical membrane technique, was found to prolong and enhance the production of biohydrogen and purified organic acids via the anaerobic fermentation of glucose by Escherichia coli. Through the design of a model electrodialysis medium using cationic buffer, pH was precisely controlled electrokinetically, i.e. by the regulated extraction of acidic products with coulombic efficiencies of organic acid recovery in the range 50–70% maintained over continuous 30-day experiments. Contrary to\ud previous reports, E. coli produced H2 after aerobic growth in minimal medium without inducers and with a mixture of organic acids dominated by butyrate. The selective separation of organic acids from fermentation provides a potential nitrogen-free carbon source for further biohydrogen production in a parallel photofermentation. A parallel study incorporated this fermentation system into an integrated biohydrogen refinery (IBR) for the conversion of organic waste to hydrogen and energy

A comparison of chemistry and dust cloud formation in ultracool dwarf model atmospheres

The atmospheres of substellar objects contain clouds of oxides, iron, silicates, and other refractory condensates. Water clouds are expected in the coolest objects. The opacity of these `dust' clouds strongly affects both the atmospheric temperature-pressure profile and the emergent flux. Thus any attempt to model the spectra of these atmospheres must incorporate a cloud model. However the diversity of cloud models in atmospheric simulations is large and it is not always clear how the underlying physics of the various models compare. Likewise the observational consequences of different modeling approaches can be masked by other model differences, making objective comparisons challenging. In order to clarify the current state of the modeling approaches, this paper compares five different cloud models in two sets of tests. Test case 1 tests the dust cloud models for a prescribed L, L--T, and T-dwarf atmospheric (temperature T, pressure p, convective velocity vconv)-structures. Test case 2 compares complete model atmosphere results for given (effective temperature Teff, surface gravity log g). All models agree on the global cloud structure but differ in opacity-relevant details like grain size, amount of dust, dust and gas-phase composition. Comparisons of synthetic photometric fluxes translate into an modelling uncertainty in apparent magnitudes for our L-dwarf (T-dwarf) test case of 0.25 < \Delta m < 0.875 (0.1 < \Delta m M 1.375) taking into account the 2MASS, the UKIRT WFCAM, the Spitzer IRAC, and VLT VISIR filters with UKIRT WFCAM being the most challenging for the models. (abr.)Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures, MNRAS 2008, accepted, (minor grammar/typo corrections

Left-right symmetry at LHC and precise 1-loop low energy data

Despite many tests, even the Minimal Manifest Left-Right Symmetric Model (MLRSM) has never been ultimately confirmed or falsified. LHC gives a new possibility to test directly the most conservative version of left-right symmetric models at so far not reachable energy scales. If we take into account precise limits on the model which come from low energy processes, like the muon decay, possible LHC signals are strongly limited through the correlations of parameters among heavy neutrinos, heavy gauge bosons and heavy Higgs particles. To illustrate the situation in the context of LHC, we consider the "golden" process $pp \to e^+ N$. For instance, in a case of degenerate heavy neutrinos and heavy Higgs masses at 15 TeV (in agreement with FCNC bounds) we get $\sigma(pp \to e^+ N)>10$ fb at $\sqrt{s}=14$ TeV which is consistent with muon decay data for a very limited $W_2$ masses in the range (3008 GeV, 3040 GeV). Without restrictions coming from the muon data, $W_2$ masses would be in the range (1.0 TeV, 3.5 TeV). Influence of heavy Higgs particles themselves on the considered LHC process is negligible (the same is true for the light, SM neutral Higgs scalar analog). In the paper decay modes of the right-handed heavy gauge bosons and heavy neutrinos are also discussed. Both scenarios with typical see-saw light-heavy neutrino mixings and the mixings which are independent of heavy neutrino masses are considered. In the second case heavy neutrino decays to the heavy charged gauge bosons not necessarily dominate over decay modes which include only light, SM-like particles.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figs, KL-KS and new ATLAS limits taken into accoun

Signatures of arithmetic simplicity in metabolic network architecture

Metabolic networks perform some of the most fundamental functions in living cells, including energy transduction and building block biosynthesis. While these are the best characterized networks in living systems, understanding their evolutionary history and complex wiring constitutes one of the most fascinating open questions in biology, intimately related to the enigma of life's origin itself. Is the evolution of metabolism subject to general principles, beyond the unpredictable accumulation of multiple historical accidents? Here we search for such principles by applying to an artificial chemical universe some of the methodologies developed for the study of genome scale models of cellular metabolism. In particular, we use metabolic flux constraint-based models to exhaustively search for artificial chemistry pathways that can optimally perform an array of elementary metabolic functions. Despite the simplicity of the model employed, we find that the ensuing pathways display a surprisingly rich set of properties, including the existence of autocatalytic cycles and hierarchical modules, the appearance of universally preferable metabolites and reactions, and a logarithmic trend of pathway length as a function of input/output molecule size. Some of these properties can be derived analytically, borrowing methods previously used in cryptography. In addition, by mapping biochemical networks onto a simplified carbon atom reaction backbone, we find that several of the properties predicted by the artificial chemistry model hold for real metabolic networks. These findings suggest that optimality principles and arithmetic simplicity might lie beneath some aspects of biochemical complexity

Discrimination of low missing energy look-alikes at the LHC

The problem of discriminating possible scenarios of TeV scale new physics with large missing energy signature at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has received some attention in the recent past. We consider the complementary, and yet unexplored, case of theories predicting much softer missing energy spectra. As there is enough scope for such models to fake each other by having similar final states at the LHC, we have outlined a systematic method based on a combination of different kinematic features which can be used to distinguish among different possibilities. These features often trace back to the underlying mass spectrum and the spins of the new particles present in these models. As examples of "low missing energy look-alikes", we consider Supersymmetry with R-parity violation, Universal Extra Dimensions with both KK-parity conserved and KK-parity violated and the Littlest Higgs model with T-parity violated by the Wess-Zumino-Witten anomaly term. Through detailed Monte Carlo analysis of the four and higher lepton final states predicted by these models, we show that the models in their minimal forms may be distinguished at the LHC, while non-minimal variations can always leave scope for further confusion. We find that, for strongly interacting new particle mass-scale ~600 GeV (1 TeV), the simplest versions of the different theories can be discriminated at the LHC running at sqrt{s}=14 TeV within an integrated luminosity of 5 (30) fb^{-1}.Comment: 40 pages, 10 figures; v2: Further discussions, analysis and one figure added, ordering of certain sections changed, minor modifications in the abstract, version as published in JHE

Prevalensi Labioschisis Di Rsup. Prof. Dr. R. D. Kandou Manado Periode Januari 2011 – Oktober 2012

: Cleft lip or labioschisis is an inherited disorder that can occur on the lips to the ceiling. Cleft lip is a disruption in the face of growth since the fourth week of embryonic life. Method: This research in retrospection description research for knowning prevalence cleft lip or labioschisis in surgical department RSUP. Prof. Dr. R. D. Kandou Manado, period of Januari 2011 – October 2012. Output: Prevalence of Labioschisis and Labiopalatochisis on Januari 2011 – October 2012 is 57% and 43%. Presentation for each of kind harelipped are : unilateral labioschisis 47%, bilateral labioschisis 5%, unilateral palatum of labioshisis 28%, and bilateral palatum of labioschisis 12%, submucosa 1%, and cleft palate lips 7%. Presentation according to the place of defect : right 18%, left 57%, bilateral 25%, and status not complete 54%. Presentation according to age for doing operation : 0-4 years 73%, 5-9 years 10%, 10-14 years 7%, and >15 years 10%. Presentation labioschisis according to sex : Man 58%, and women 42%. Presentation labioschisis according to etiology : genetic factor 25%, environment factor 62%, and unknown factor 13%. Presentation of labioschisis that be surgery 93%, and not surgery 7%. Presentation of labioschisis according to complication surgery : bleeding post surgery 1%, secunder infection 4%, dehisensi/establish scar 4%, and not complication 91%. Conclusion: Prevalence labioschisis still decrease in each year, kind of labioschisis that large is unilateral labioschisis and localization defect is often on left edge. Labioschisis is happen more to man. Factor that to cause labioschisis between : genetic factor, environment factor and unknown factor. Labioschisis is often more to surgery 0-4 years old

Macrophage-Derived Extracellular Succinate Licenses Neural Stem Cells to Suppress Chronic Neuroinflammation.

Neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation can influence immune responses and suppress inflammation in the CNS. Metabolites, such as succinate, modulate the phenotype and function of immune cells, but whether and how NSCs are also activated by such immunometabolites to control immunoreactivity and inflammatory responses is unclear. Here, we show that transplanted somatic and directly induced NSCs ameliorate chronic CNS inflammation by reducing succinate levels in the cerebrospinal fluid, thereby decreasing mononuclear phagocyte (MP) infiltration and secondary CNS damage. Inflammatory MPs release succinate, which activates succinate receptor 1 (SUCNR1)/GPR91 on NSCs, leading them to secrete prostaglandin E2 and scavenge extracellular succinate with consequential anti-inflammatory effects. Thus, our work reveals an unexpected role for the succinate-SUCNR1 axis in somatic and directly induced NSCs, which controls the response of stem cells to inflammatory metabolic signals released by type 1 MPs in the chronically inflamed brain

The origin of GEMS in IDPs as deduced from microstructural evolution of amorphous silicates with annealing

We present laboratory studies of the micro-structural evolution of an amorphous ferro-magnesian silicate, of olivine composition, following thermal annealing under vacuum. Annealing under vacuum was performed at temperatures ranging from 870 to 1020 K. After annealing spheroidal metallic nano-particles (2-50 nm) are found within the silicate films. We interpret this microstructure in terms of a reduction of the initial amorphous silicate FeO component, because of the carbon-rich partial pressure in the furnace due to pumping mechanism. Annealing in a controlled oxygen-rich atmosphere confirms this interpretation. The observed microstructures closely resemble those of the GEMS (Glass with Embedded Metal and Sulphides) found in chondritic IDPs (Interplanetary Dust Particles). Since IDPs contain abundant carbonaceous matter, a solid-state reduction reaction may have occurred during heating in the hot inner regions of the proto-solar disc. Related to this, the presence of forsterite grains grown from the amorphous precursor material clearly demonstrates that condensation from gaseous species is not required to explain the occurrence of forsterite around young protostars and in comets. Forsterite grains in these environments can be formed directly in the solid phase by thermal annealing of amorphous ferro-magnesian silicates under reducing conditions.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication A&A Letter to the Edito