Bioremoval of humic acid from water by white rot fungi : exploring the removal mechanisms

Altres ajuts: This Research is part of research program "Increasing the utilization of organic waste and low value feeds with help of lignin degrading fungi" with project number 11611, and is supported by the Dutch Technology Foundation STW, which is part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), and which is partly funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.Twelve white rot fungi (WRF) strains were screened on agar plates for their ability to bleach humic acid (HA). Four fungal strains were selected and tested in liquid media for removal of HA. Bioremediation was investigated by HA color removal and changes in the concentration and molecular size distribution of HA by size exclusion chromatography. Trametes versicolor and Phanerochaete chrysosporium showed the highest HA removal efficiency, reaching about 80%. Laccase and manganese peroxidase were measured as extracellular enzymes and their relation to the HA removal by WRF was investigated. Results indicated that nitrogen limitation could enhance the WRF extracellular enzyme activity, but did not necessarily increase the HA removal by WRF. The mechanism of bioremediation by WRF was shown to involve biosorption of HA by fungal biomass and degradation of HA to smaller molecules. Also, contradicting previous reports, it was shown that the decolorization of HA by WRF could not necessarily be interpreted as degradation of HA. Biosorption experiments revealed that HA removal by fungal biomass is dependent not only on the amount of biomass as the sorbent, but also on the fungal species. The involvement of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes was confirmed by comparing the HA removal capability of fungi with and without the presence of a CYP inhibitor. The ability of purified laccase from WRF to solely degrade HA was proven and the importance of mediators was also demonstrated

Longitudinal links between childhood peer acceptance and the neural correlates of sharing

Childhood peer acceptance is associated with high levels of prosocial behavior and advanced perspective taking skills. Yet, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these associations have not been studied. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study examined the neural correlates of sharing decisions in a group of adolescents who had a stable accepted status (n = 27) and a group who had a chronic rejected status (n = 19) across six elementary school grades. Both groups of adolescents played three allocation games in which they could share money with strangers with varying costs and profits to them and the other person. Stably accepted adolescents were more likely to share their money with unknown others than chronically rejected adolescents when sharing was not costly. Neuroimaging analyses showed that stably accepted adolescents, compared to chronically rejected adolescents, exhibited higher levels of activation in the temporo-parietal junction, posterior superior temporal sulcus, temporal pole, pre-supplementary motor area, and anterior insula during costly sharing decisions. These findings demonstrate that stable peer acceptance across childhood is associated with heightened activity in brain regions previously linked to perspective taking and the detection of social norm violations during adolescence, and thereby provide insight into processes underlying the widely established links between peer acceptance and prosocial behavior

Language motivation in a reconfigured Europe: access, identity, autonomy

In this paper, I propose that we need to develop an appropriate set of conceptual tools for examining motivational issues pertaining to linguistic diversity, mobility and social integration in a rapidly changing and expanding Europe. I begin by drawing on research that has begun to reframe the concept of integrative motivation in the context of theories of self and identity. Expanding the notion of identity, I discuss the contribution of the Council of Europe's European Language Portfolio in promoting a view of motivation as the development of a plurilingual European identity and the enabling of access and mobility across a multilingual Europe. Next, I critically examine the assumption that the individual pursuit of a plurilingual identity is unproblematic, by highlighting the social context in which motivation and identity are constructed and embedded. To illuminate the role of this social context, I explore three inter-related theoretical frameworks: poststructuralist perspectives on language motivation as 'investment'; sociocultural theory; and theories of autonomy in language education. I conclude with the key message that, as with autonomy, language motivation today has an inescapably political dimension of which we need to take greater account in our research and pedagogical practice

Immediate postoperative high-sensitivity troponin T concentrations and long-term patient-reported

BACKGROUND: Myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery is associated with mortality and major adverse postoperative cardiovascular events. The effect of postoperative troponin concentrations on patient-reported health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is unknown. OBJECTIVE: The study examined the association between immediate postoperative troponin concentrations and self-reported HRQoL 1 year after surgery. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Single-centre tertiary care hospital in the Netherlands between July 2012 and 2015. PATIENTS: Patients aged at least 60 years undergoing moderate and major noncardiac surgery.None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: HRQoL total score was assessed with the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire. Tobit regression analysis was used to determine the association between postoperative troponin concentrations and 1-year HRQoL. Peak high-sensitivity troponin T values were divided into four categories: less than 14, 14 to 49, 50 to 149 and at least 150 ng l. RESULTS: A total of 3085 patients with troponin measurements were included. 2634 (85.4%) patients were alive at 1-year follow-up of whom 1297 (49.2%) returned a completed questionnaire. The median score for HRQoL was 0.82 (0.85, 0.81, 0.77 and 0.71 per increasing troponin category). Multivariable analysis revealed betas of -0.06 [95% confidence interval (CI) -0.09 to -0.02], -0.11 (95% CI -0.18 to -0.04) and -0.18 (95% CI -0.29 to -0.07) for troponin levels of 14 to 49, 50 to 149 and at least 150 ng l when compared with values less than 14 ng l. Other independent predictors for lower HRQoL were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, female sex, peripheral arterial disease and increasing age. CONCLUSION: Higher levels of postoperative troponin measured immediately after surgery were independently associated with lower self-reported HRQoL total score at 1-year follow-up

GATA2 haploinsufficient patients lack innate lymphoid cells that arise after hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Innate lymphoid cells (ILC) are important barrier tissue immune regulators. They play a pivotal role in early non-specific protection against infiltrating pathogens, regulation of epithelial integrity, suppression of pro-inflammatory immune responses and shaping the intestinal microbiota. GATA2 haploinsufficiency causes an immune disorder that is characterized by bone marrow failure and (near) absence of monocytes, dendritic cells, B cells and natural killer (NK) cells. T cells develop normally, albeit at lower numbers. Here, we describe the absence of ILCs and their progenitors in blood and bone marrow of two patients with GATA2 haploinsufficiency and show that all subsets of ILCs appear after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, irrespective of the preparative conditioning regimen. Our data indicate that GATA2 is involved in the development of hematopoietic precursor cells (HPC) towards the ILC lineage

Atomistic Simulations of Nanotube Fracture

The fracture of carbon nanotubes is studied by atomistic simulations. The fracture behavior is found to be almost independent of the separation energy and to depend primarily on the inflection point in the interatomic potential. The rangle of fracture strians compares well with experimental results, but predicted range of fracture stresses is marketly higher than observed. Various plausible small-scale defects do not suffice to bring the failure stresses into agreement with available experimental results. As in the experiments, the fracture of carbon nanotubes is predicted to be brittle. The results show moderate dependence of fracture strength on chirality.Comment: 12 pages, PDF, submitted to Phy. Rev.

The Role of Friends’ Disruptive Behavior in the Development of Children’s Tobacco Experimentation: Results from a Preventive Intervention Study

Having friends who engage in disruptive behavior in childhood may be a risk factor for childhood tobacco experimentation. This study tested the role of friends’ disruptive behavior as a mediator of the effects of a classroom based intervention on children’s tobacco experimentation. 433 Children (52% males) were randomly assigned to the Good Behavior Game (GBG) intervention, a universal preventive intervention targeting disruptive behavior, and facilitating positive prosocial peer interactions. Friends’ disruptive behavior was assessed from age 7–10 years. Participants’ experimentation with tobacco was assessed annually from age 10–13. Reduced rates in tobacco experimentation and friends’ disruptive behavior were found among GBG children, as compared to controls. Support for friends’ disruptive behavior as a mediator in the link between intervention status and tobacco experimentation was found. These results remained after controlling for friends’ and parental smoking status, and child ADHD symptoms. The results support the role of friends’ disruptive behavior in preadolescents’ tobacco experimentation

Communion by extension : discrepancies between policy and practice

The growing practice of Communion by Extension was given formal authorisation by the Church of England General Synod in 2000 with the expectation that it would be used in particular circumstances, including explicitly the rural multi-church benefice. This paper reviews the historical origins of the practice of Communion by Extension and clarifies the intentions of the authorisation given in 2000. Then the intentions of the 2000 authorisation are compared and contrasted with current parochial practice within one English diocese. Considerable divergence is found. Five main themes are identified and discussed: the relationship between worship and mission; the pressures on clerical time; sacramental self-sufficiency; the value given to familiarity; and the choice between reservation and congregationalism