One-year survey of a single Micronesian reef reveals extraordinarily rich diversity of Symbiodinium types in soritid foraminifera

Recent molecular studies of symbiotic dinoflagellates (genus Symbiodinium) from a wide array of invertebrate hosts have revealed exceptional fine-scale symbiont diversity whose distribution among hosts, regions and environments exhibits significant biogeographic, ecological and evolutionary patterns. Here, similar molecular approaches using the internal transcribed spacer-2 (ITS-2) region were applied to investigate cryptic diversity in Symbiodinium inhabiting soritid foraminifera. Approximately 1,000 soritid specimens were collected and examined during a 12-month period over a 40m depth gradient from a single reef in Guam, Micronesia. Out of 61 ITS-2 types distinguished, 46 were novel. Most types found are specific for soritid hosts, except for three types (C1, C15 and C19) that are common in metazoan hosts. The distribution of these symbionts was compared with the phylotype of their foraminiferal hosts, based on soritid small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences, and three new phylotypes of soritid hosts were identified based on these sequences. Phylogenetic analyses of 645 host-symbiont pairings revealed that most Symbiodinium types associated specifically with a particular foraminiferal host genus or species, and that the genetic diversity of these symbiont types was positively correlated with the genetic diversity found within each of the three host genera. Compared to previous molecular studies of Symbiodinium from other locations worldwide, the diversity reported here is exceptional and suggests that Micronesian coral reefs are home to a remarkably large Symbiodinium assemblag

Neural correlates of phonological, orthographic and semantic reading processing in dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia is one of the most prevalent learning disabilities, thought to be associated with dysfunction in the neural systems underlying typical reading acquisition. Neuroimaging research has shown that readers with dyslexia exhibit regional hypoactivation in left hemisphere reading nodes, relative to control counterparts. This evidence, however, comes from studies that have focused only on isolated aspects of reading. The present study aims to characterize left hemisphere regional hypoactivation in readers with dyslexia for the main processes involved in successful reading: phonological, orthographic and semantic. Forty-one participants performed a demanding reading task during MRI scanning. Results showed that readers with dyslexia exhibited hypoactivation associated with phonological processing in parietal regions; with orthographic processing in parietal regions, Broca's area, ventral occipitotemporal cortex and thalamus; and with semantic processing in angular gyrus and hippocampus. Stronger functional connectivity was observed for readers with dyslexia than for control readers 1) between the thalamus and the inferior parietal cortex/ventral occipitotemporal cortex during pseudoword reading; and, 2) between the hippocampus and the pars opercularis during word reading. These findings constitute the strongest evidence to date for the interplay between regional hypoactivation and functional connectivity in the main processes supporting reading in dyslexia. Keywords: Dyslexia, Reading, Hypoactivation, Functional connectivity, Thalamus, Hippocampu

Writing difficulties in Alzheimer's disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment

The present study addresses the scope of the writing difficulties observed in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Patients with AD, patients with MCI and healthy controls performed a written picture-naming task and a direct copy transcoding task in which phonology-to-orthography (P-O) consistency was manipulated. Written latencies, inter-letter durations, mean word pen pressure and number of errors were measured. Results revealed that there was a significant difference between the control group and both groups of patients in written latencies and number of errors. However, in inter-letter interval or mean pen pressure there were significant differences only between the group with AD and the other groups. P-O consistency and the type of task produced similar effects in the three groups of participants, suggesting a general deficit affecting the ability to access/generate orthographic representations. The relevance of these results for understanding the spelling impairment in AD and MCI are discussed

The Broad Aryl Acid Specificity of the Amide Bond Synthetase McbA Suggests Potential for the Biocatalytic Synthesis of Amides

Amide bond formation is one of the most important reactions in pharmaceutical synthetic chemistry. The development of sustainable methods for amide bond formation, including those that are catalyzed by enzymes, is therefore of significant interest. The ATP-dependent amide bond synthetase (ABS) enzyme McbA, from Marinactinospora thermotolerans, catalyzes the formation of amides as part of the biosynthetic pathway towards the marinacarboline secondary metabolites. The reaction proceeds via an adenylate intermediate, with both adenylation and amidation steps catalyzed within one active site. In this study, McbA was applied to the synthesis of pharmaceutical-type amides from a range of aryl carboxylic acids with partner amines provided at 1-5 molar equivalents. The structure of McbA revealed the structural determinants of aryl acid substrate tolerance and differences in conformation associated with the two half reactions catalyzed. The catalytic performance of McbA, coupled with the structure, suggest that this and other ABS enzymes may be engineered for applications in the sustainable synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant (chiral) amides

Sedimentation of binary mixtures of like- and oppositely charged colloids: the primitive model or effective pair potentials?

We study sedimentation equilibrium of low-salt suspensions of binary mixtures of charged colloids, both by Monte Carlo simulations of an effective colloids-only system and by Poisson-Boltzmann theory of a colloid-ion mixture. We show that the theoretically predicted lifting and layering effect, which involves the entropy of the screening ions and a spontaneous macroscopic electric field [J. Zwanikken and R. van Roij, Europhys. Lett. {\bf 71}, 480 (2005)], can also be understood on the basis of an effective colloid-only system with pairwise screened-Coulomb interactions. We consider, by theory and by simulation, both repelling like-charged colloids and attracting oppositely charged colloids, and we find a re-entrant lifting and layering phenomenon when the charge ratio of the colloids varies from large positive through zero to large negative values

Microestructura y propiedades de capas de tribaloy T-800 depositadas mediante plaqueado láser

RESUMEN: El presente trabajo se centra en la obtención de capas de aleación base Cobalto (Tribaloy T-800) sobre un sustrato de acero inoxidable 18/8 (AISI 304) mediante la técnica de plaqueado láser. Tras los tratamientos, se caracterizaron las probetas mediante microscopía óptica y electrónica de barrido con microanálisis (EDS). La composición elemental del recubrimiento se determinó en un espectrómetro de emisión óptica con fuente de excitación (GDL). El estudio de la interfase reveló una perfecta adherencia entre el recubrimiento y el material base, sin defectos apreciables. La microestructura de las capas depositadas es dendrítica con un alto grado de refinamiento y una homogeneidad química a lo largo del cordón y con valores muy próximos a los del polvo de partida. En las zonas de solape entre cordones, se observó un crecimiento del grano debido al segundo tratamiento térmico recibido. La microdureza de las capas alcanza los 750 HV, valor considerablemente superior al del sustrato (200 HV). Asimismo, se obtuvo una mejora significativa de la resistencia a la corrosión del recubrimiento en medios salinos.ABSTRACT: The present work is based on obtaining Co based coatings (Tribaloy T-800) on plates of 18/8 stainless steel (AISI 304) by laser cladding technique. After the treatment, samples were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy with EDS analysis. The elemental composition of the coating was determined with a glow discharge lamp spectrometer (GDL). The study of the interface revealed a good adherence between the substrate and coating without substantial defects. For the laser cladded coatings, the microstructure was dendritic with a high degree of refinement and chemical homogeneity close to the original powder. The grain coarsening was observed in the overlapping zones due to the second heat treatment. Microhardness of the coatings reached 750 HV, a considerably higher value than the substrate hardness (200 HV). Also, the coating corrosion resistance in saline solutions had a great improvement

Aerosol size distribution and gaseous products from the oven-controlled combustion of straw materials

A number of controlled combustions have been carried out in the laboratory using samples of oats and barley straw collected in Spain in order to establish the characteristic particle spectra of these emissions. In addition, chemical compounds such as CO2, NO2 and NO and gravimetric variations have been registered during the combustion processes. For each combustible the burning phase has also been defined. Burning barley generates a higher number of particles in the fine mode (with a diameter of less than 0.5 μm) than oats (74% vs. 59%). The distributions of particles emitted during the flaming phase have been characterized, as well as during the previous and subsequent phases. The average geometric diameter reached its maximum during the flaming phase, with 0.53 ± 0.10 μm and 0.44 ± 0.04 μm for oats and barley, respectively. After the flaming phase, oat straw generates coarser particles than barley.The authors would like to thank the Institute of the Environment, Natural Resources and Biodiversity (IMARENAB) of the University of León and its Director, Antonio Morán, for the permission to use the technical equipment. We would also like to thank José Merino Ibáñez (RIP), the farmers of Quintanilla de Onsoña, Jose Luis Marcos, Antonio Calvo and María Carmen Gordaliza for their help throughout the whole field campaign. The authors are also in debt to Noelia Ramón for translating this paper into English.publishe

Assessment of Chemical Inhibitor Addition to Improve the Gas Production from Biowaste

The coexistence of sulphate-reducing bacteria and methanogenic archaea in the reactors during the anaerobic digestion from sulphate-containing waste could favor the accumulation of sulfide on the biogas, and therefore reduce its quality. In this study, the effect of sulphate-reducing bacteria inhibitor (MoO−2 4 ) addition in a two phase system from sulphate-containing municipal solid waste to improve the quality of the biogas has been investigated. The results showed that although SRB and sulphide production decreased, the use of inhibitor was not effective to improve the anaerobic digestion in a two phase system from sulphate-containing waste, since a significant decrease on biogas and organic matter removal were observed. Before MoO−2 4 addition the average values of volatile solid were around 12 g/kg, after 5 days of inhibitor use, those values did exceed to 28 g/kg. Molybdate caused acidification in the reactor and it was according to decrease in the pH values. In relation to microbial consortia, the effect of inhibitor was a decrease in Bacteria (44%; 60% in sulphate-reducing bacteria) and Archaea (38%) population