Isolation of two Kocuria species capable of growing on various polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Different samples collected from crude oil contaminated beach were enriched for isolation of bacterial strains capable of growing on naphthalene, phenanthrene and fluoranthene. Respiratory reduction ofWST-1{4-[3-(4-iodophenyl)-2-(4-nitrophenyl)-2H-5-tetrazolio]-1,3-benzene disulfonate} to a colored formazan showed that one isolated strain CMG2028, identified as Kocuria flava by 16s rRNA, grew onnaphthalene and phenanthrene while CMG2042, identified as Kocuria rosea grew on all three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In naphthalene degradation test, 64 and 47% residual naphthalene was extracted after ten days of incubation from culture medium of K. rosea CMG2042 and K. flava CMG2028, respectively, when provided with 0.5 mg ml-1 concentration as sole carbon source. Due to addition of 0.5 mg ml-1 yeast extract as additional carbon source, residual naphthalene extracted was 41 and 55% from K. rosea CMG2042 and K. flava CMG2028, respectively. Both strains exhibited growth on 0.01 mg ml-1 phenanthrene and fluoranthene in yeast extract added or omitted medium but only K. rosea CMG2042degraded 9% phenanthrene as a sole carbon source. Both strains had growth on minimal agar plates coated with Iranian light crude oil as sole carbon source and on agar medium added with yeast extract

Architecture and engineering of a supramolecular functional material by manipulating the nano-structure of fiber network

Three-dimensional fiber networks were created from an organogel system consisting mainly of elongated fibrils by using a nonionic surfactant as an additive. The presence of the surfactant molecules manipulates the network structure by enhancing the mismatch nucleation on the growing fiber tips. Both the fiber network structure and the rheological properties of the material can be finely tuned by changing the surfactant concentration, which provides a robust approach to the engineering of supramolecular soft functional materials.<br /

A study of students’ information searching strategies

Concerns have been expressed with respect to students’ ability to search for information using electronic search engines and databases. This research adopted a structured method comprising a combination of questionnaire surveys, an observational study and a ‘sense making’ interview to assess the information searching skills of a group of 14 students undertaking their final year dissertation studies on undergraduate programmes within the Department of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University. The findings reveal that the participants encountered problems with each type of search engine used (Google, Metalib, the Library OPAC system, and individual databases) and lacked knowledge of how to use advanced search strategies. All the participants formulated queries using simple words or free text and there was no evidence of consideration of structured word searching using systematically selected keywords. The results indicate priority areas for additional tuition in information literacy

The citation behaviour of Civil Engineering students

The New Review project investigated how to improve students’ information searching skills and the resulting reference lists through a new approach to teaching the literature review. This paper reports on one element of this study, which analysed reference lists from 47 final-year projects written by Civil & Building Engineering undergraduate students (BEng and MSc). It finds a strong positive correlation between the literature review mark and overall mark for each project, as well as a slightly weaker correlation between the number of references cited and the mark received. An analysis of the number, age, and type of references cited is performed in addition to an investigation into the quality of the bibliographic citations themselves. Finally, this paper makes recommendations as to how Information Literacy (IL) teaching relating to the literature review may be improved

Using the evidence: a comparison of Civil and Building lecturers and students' approach to the literature review

Lecturers and students in the Civil and Building Engineering Department at Loughborough University were surveyed to gain an understanding of how they expected the literature review element of Final Year Projects to be undertaken. The results showed a disparity in the number and type of resources expected to be used; in the problems they anticipated when undertaking a literature review; and in the confidence levels students had in the use of information tools. Recommendations are made to improve the teaching of the literature review

Microprocessor system to recover data from a self-scanning photodiode array

A microprocessor system developed at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory has expedited the recovery of data describing the low energy x-ray spectra radiated by laser-fusion targets. An Intel microprocessor controls the digitization and scanning of the data stream of an x-ray-sensitive self-scanning photodiode array incorporated in a crystal diffraction spectrometer. (auth

Influence of metals and metalloids on the composition and fluorescence quenching of the extracellular polymeric substances produced by the polymorphic fungus <i>Aureobasidium pullulans</i>

Aureobasidium pullulansis a ubiquitous and widely distributed fungus in the environment, and exhibits substantial tolerance against toxic metals. However, the interactions between metals and metalloids with the copious extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) produced byA. pullulansand possible relationships to tolerance are not well understood. In this study, it was found that mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se), as selenite, not only significantly inhibited growth ofA. pullulansbut also affected the composition of produced EPS. Lead (Pb) showed little influence on EPS yield or composition. The interactions of EPS fromA. pullulanswith the tested metals and metalloids depended on the specific element and their concentration. Fluorescence intensity measurements of the EPS showed that the presence of metal(loid)s stimulated the production of extracellular tryptophan-like and aromatic protein-like substances. Examination of fluorescence quenching and calculation of binding constants revealed that the fluorescence quenching process for Hg; arsenic (As), as arsenite; and Pb to EPS were mainly governed by static quenching which resulted in the formation of a stable non-fluorescent complexes between the EPS and metal(loid)s. Se showed no significant interaction with the EPS according to fluorescence quenching. These results provide further understanding of the interactions between metals and metalloids and EPS produced by fungi and their contribution to metal(loid) tolerance

Public Authority Commitment and Action to Eliminate Harassment and Targeted Violence

This report provides the first systematic investigation of action by public authorities in Britain to eliminate targeted violence. Based on a survey of 213 organisations, including police forces, councils and social landlords, it examines the extent to which existing policies, action plans, partnership work and training addressed targeted violence, and the level of action being taken to prevent, report and record such violence and to help victims and work with perpetrators. Key findings include that while most respondents worked in partnership, fewer had action plans. Equally, while most recognised that they had a role in helping people report, far fewer recognised a role in preventing incidents or working with perpetrators

Metabolic synergies in the biotransformation of organic and metallic toxic compounds by a saprotrophic soil fungus

The saprotrophic fungus Penicillium griseofulvum was chosen as model organism to study responses to a mixture of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) isomers (α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH, δ-HCH) and of potentially toxic metals (vanadium, lead) in solid and liquid media. The P. griseofulvum FBL 500 strain was isolated from polluted soil containing high concentrations of HCH isomers and potentially toxic elements (Pb, V). Experiments were performed in order to analyse the tolerance/resistance of this fungus to xenobiotics, and to shed further light on fungal potential in inorganic and organic biotransformations. The aim was to examine the ecological and bioremedial potential of this fungus verifying the presence of mechanisms that allow it to transform HCH isomers and metals under different, extreme, test conditions. To our knowledge, this work is the first to provide evidence on the biotransformation of HCH mixtures, in combination with toxic metals, by a saprotrophic non-white-rot fungus and on the metabolic synergies involved