The adherence-associated Fdp fasciclin I domain protein of the biohydrogen producer Rhodobacter sphaeroides is regulated by the global Prr pathway

Expression of fdp, encoding a fasciclin I domain protein important for adherence in the hydrogenproducing bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides, was investigated under a range of conditions to gain insights into optimization of adherence for immobilization strategies suitable for H2 production. The fdp promoter was linked to a lacZ reporter and expressed in wild type and in PRRB and PRRA mutant strains of the Prr regulatory pathway. Expression was significantly negatively regulated by Prr under all conditions of aerobiosis tested including anaerobic conditions (required for H2 production), and aerobically regardless of growth phase, growth medium complexity or composition, carbon source, heat and cold shock and dark/light conditions. Negative fdp regulation by Prr was reflected in cellular levels of translated Fdp protein. Since Prr is required directly for nitrogenase expression, we propose optimization of Fdp-based adherence in R. sphaeroides for immobilised biohydrogen production by inactivation of the PrrA binding site(s) upstream of fdp

Clinical effect of IRT-5 probiotics on immune modulation of autoimmunity or alloimmunity in the eye

Background: Although the relation of the gut microbiota to a development of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases has been investigated in various animal models, there are limited studies that evaluate the effect of probiotics in the autoimmune eye disease. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effect of IRT-5 probiotics consisting of Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus reuteri, Bifidobacterium bifidum, and Streptococcus thermophilus on the autoimmunity of uveitis and dry eye and alloimmunity of corneal transplantation. Methods: Experimental autoimmune uveitis was induced by subcutaneous immunization with interphotoreceptor-binding protein and intraperitoneal injection of pertussis toxin in C57BL/6 (B6) mice. For an autoimmune dry eye model, 12-weeks-old NOD.B10.H2b mice were used. Donor cornea of B6 mice was transplanted into BALB/C mice. IRT-5 probiotics or phosphate buffered saline (PBS) were administered for three weeks immediately after induction of uveitis or transplantation. The inflammation score of the retinal tissues, dry eye manifestations (corneal staining and tear secretion), and graft survival were measured in each model. The changes of T cells were evaluated in drainage lymph nodes using fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Results: Retinal histology score in IRT-5 group of uveitis was lower than that in PBS group (p = 0.045). Ocular staining score was lower (p < 0.0001) and tear secretion was higher (p < 0.0001) in the IRT-5 group of NOD.B10.H2b mice than that in the PBS group. However, the graft survival in the IRT-5 group was not different from those of PBS group. The percentage of regulatory T cells was increased in the IRT-5-treated dry eye models (p = 0.032). The percentage of CD8+IL-17hi (p = 0.027) and CD8+ interferon gamma (IFN��)hi cells (p = 0.022) were significantly decreased in the IRT-5-treated uveitis models and the percentage of CD8+IFN��hi cells was markedly reduced (p = 0.036) in IRT-5-treated dry eye model. Conclusion: Our results suggest that administration of IRT-5 probiotics may modulate clinical manifestations of autoimmunity in the eye, but not on alloimmunity of corneal transplantation. ? 2017 by the authors.112Nsciescopu

Electric current circuits in astrophysics

Cosmic magnetic structures have in common that they are anchored in a dynamo, that an external driver converts kinetic energy into internal magnetic energy, that this magnetic energy is transported as Poynting fl ux across the magnetically dominated structure, and that the magnetic energy is released in the form of particle acceleration, heating, bulk motion, MHD waves, and radiation. The investigation of the electric current system is particularly illuminating as to the course of events and the physics involved. We demonstrate this for the radio pulsar wind, the solar flare, and terrestrial magnetic storms

Formation of dense partonic matter in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC: Experimental evaluation by the PHENIX collaboration

Extensive experimental data from high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions were recorded using the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The comprehensive set of measurements from the first three years of RHIC operation includes charged particle multiplicities, transverse energy, yield ratios and spectra of identified hadrons in a wide range of transverse momenta (p_T), elliptic flow, two-particle correlations, non-statistical fluctuations, and suppression of particle production at high p_T. The results are examined with an emphasis on implications for the formation of a new state of dense matter. We find that the state of matter created at RHIC cannot be described in terms of ordinary color neutral hadrons.Comment: 510 authors, 127 pages text, 56 figures, 1 tables, LaTeX. Submitted to Nuclear Physics A as a regular article; v3 has minor changes in response to referee comments. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Saturation of azimuthal anisotropy in Au + Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 62 - 200 GeV

New measurements are presented for charged hadron azimuthal correlations at mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 62.4 and 200 GeV. They are compared to earlier measurements obtained at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV and in Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 17.2 GeV. Sizeable anisotropies are observed with centrality and transverse momentum (p_T) dependence characteristic of elliptic flow (v_2). For a broad range of centralities, the observed magnitudes and trends of the differential anisotropy, v_2(p_T), change very little over the collision energy range sqrt(s_NN) = 62-200 GeV, indicating saturation of the excitation function for v_2 at these energies. Such a saturation may be indicative of the dominance of a very soft equation of state for sqrt(s_NN) = 62-200 GeV.Comment: 432 authors, 7 pages text, 4 figures, REVTeX4. To be submitted to Physical Review Letters. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Searches for lepton-flavour-violating decays of the Higgs boson in s=13\sqrt{s}=13 TeV pp\mathit{pp} collisions with the ATLAS detector

This Letter presents direct searches for lepton flavour violation in Higgs boson decays, H → eτ and H → μτ , performed with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The searches are based on a data sample of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy √s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1. No significant excess is observed above the expected background from Standard Model processes. The observed (median expected) 95% confidence-level upper limits on the leptonflavour-violating branching ratios are 0.47% (0.34+0.13−0.10%) and 0.28% (0.37+0.14−0.10%) for H → eτ and H → μτ , respectively.publishedVersio