Bioprospecting for and the applications of halophilic acidophiles in bioleaching operations

The economic recovery of metals from sulfide ores has become a topic of increasing interest due to the escalating demand for critical minerals and the reducing grade of available ores. Bioleaching is the use of acidophilic iron and sulfur-oxidising microorganisms to facilitate the extraction of base metals from primary sulfide ores and tailings. One significant issue limiting the use of bioleaching is the availability of freshwater due to the sensitivity of these microbes to chloride. The use of saline tolerant acidophilic iron- and-sulfur oxidising microorganisms will go a long way to addressing this issue. There are three possible means of sourcing suitable microorganisms; adaptation, genetic engineering and bioprospecting, with bioprospecting showing the greatest possibilities. Bioprospecting in search of native organisms for bioleaching operations has led researchers to numerous locations around the world and the isolation of iron- and sulfur-oxidising acidophiles that are capable of tolerating high levels of salinity has been of particular interest in these investigations

On-Line AdaTron Learning of Unlearnable Rules

We study the on-line AdaTron learning of linearly non-separable rules by a simple perceptron. Training examples are provided by a perceptron with a non-monotonic transfer function which reduces to the usual monotonic relation in a certain limit. We find that, although the on-line AdaTron learning is a powerful algorithm for the learnable rule, it does not give the best possible generalization error for unlearnable problems. Optimization of the learning rate is shown to greatly improve the performance of the AdaTron algorithm, leading to the best possible generalization error for a wide range of the parameter which controls the shape of the transfer function.)Comment: RevTeX 17 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Phys.Rev.

Analysis of element yield, bacterial community structure and the impact of carbon sources for bioleaching rare earth elements from high grade monazite

Rare earth element (REE) recovery from waste streams, mine tailings or recyclable components using bioleaching is gaining traction due to the shortage and security of REE supply as well as the environmental problems that occur from processing and refining. Four heterotrophic microbial species with known phosphate solubilizing capabilities were evaluated for their ability to leach REE from a high-grade monazite when provided with either galactose, fructose or maltose. Supplying fructose resulted in the greatest amount of REE leached from the ore due to the largest amount of organic acid produced. Gluconic acid was the dominant organic acid identified produced by the cultures, followed by acetic acid. The monazite proved difficult to leach with the different carbon sources, with preferential release of Ce over La, Nd and Pr

Severity of Infectious Mononucleosis (IM) Correlates with the Frequency of Crossreactive Influenza A Virus (IAV)-M1 and Epstein Barr Virus (EBV)-BMLF-1-specific CD8 T Cells

During EBV-associated IM IAV-specific crossreactive memory T cells are activated and play a role in disease severity. In HLA-A2+ IM patients, influenza M158 (IAV-M1)-specific CD8 memory T cell responses crossreacted with two different EBV lytic epitopes, BMLF1280 (17/29) and BRLF1190 (19/20). Furthermore, 11/22 IM patients demonstrated some intra-viral crossreactivity between EBV-BRLF1 and -BMLF1 responses. Disease severity of IM directly correlated with significantly increased frequencies of crossreactive IAV-M1/EBV-BMLF1, IAV-M1, and EBV-BMLF1 specific CD8 cells, and with mean viral load over the first 5 weeks of infection. Disease severity did not correlate with BRLF1 or M1/BRLF1 crossreactive responses. When severity of IM was scored and patients were assigned to either mild or severe groups, disease severity correlated with specific TCR Vb usage in IAV-M1 population suggesting that TcR selection is driving disease outcome. Consistent with IAV-M1 and EBV-BMLF1 responses driving increased immunopathology was the observation that patients with severe disease had significantly more IAV-M1 and EBV-BMLF1 cells producing IFNg/MIP1-b in response to antigen as compared to patients with mild disease. These results suggest that T cell crossreactivity impacts T cell selection and function and ultimately disease outcome. Insights on these issues are important for the intelligent design of vaccines and to develop therapeutic interventions for virally induced disease (NIHAI49320)

3-O-Benzhydryl-2,5-dide­oxy-2,5-imino-2-C-methyl-l-lyxono-1,4-lactone

The title bicyclic lactone, C19H19NO3, is an inter­mediate in the synthesis of chiral α-methyl­prolines and branched C-methyl pyrrolidines; the absolute configuration was determined by the use of d-erythronolactone as the starting material. It exhibits no unusual crystal packing features, and each mol­ecule acts as a donor and acceptor for one C—H⋯O hydrogen bond

2-De­oxy-2,3-O-isopropyl­idene-2,4-di-C-methyl-β-l-arabinose

X-ray crystallography unequivocally confirmed the stereochemistry of the C atom at position 2 in the carbon scaffold of the title mol­ecule, C10H18O4. The pyran­ose ring exists in a chair conformation with the methyl group on the C atom in the 2 position in an equatorial configuration. The absolute stereochemistry was determined from the starting material. The crystal structure consists of O—H⋯O hydrogen-bonded chains of mol­ecules running parallel to the b axis

2,3-O-(S)-Benzyl­idene-2-C-methyl-d-ribono-1,4-lactone

The crystal structure of the title compound, C13H14O5, establishes (i) the (S) – rather than (R) – configuration at the acetal carbon and (ii) that both the acetal and the lactone form five- rather than six-membered rings; the absolute configuration is determined by the use of 2-C-methyl-d-ribono-1,4-lactone as the starting material. The compound consists of hydrogen-bonded chains of mol­ecules running along the a axis; there are no unusual packing features. Only classical hydrogen bonding has been considered

Evaluating research impact: The development of a research for impact tool

© 2016 Tsey, Lawson, Kinchin, Bainbridge, McCalman, Watkin, Cadet-James and Rossetto. Introduction: This paper examines the process of developing a Research for Impact Tool in the contexts of general fiscal constraint, increased competition for funding, perennial concerns about the over-researching of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues without demonstrable benefits as well as conceptual and methodological difficulties of evaluating research impact. The aim is to highlight the challenges and opportunities involved in evaluating research impact to serve as resource for potential users of the research for impact tool and others interested in assessing the impact of research. Materials and methods: A combination of literature reviews, workshops with researchers, and reflections by project team members and partners using participatory snowball techniques. Results: Assessing research impact is perceived to be difficult, akin to the so-called "wicked problem," but not impossible. Heuristic and collaborative approach to research that takes the expectations of research users, research participants and the funders of research offers a pragmatic solution to evaluating research impact. The logic of the proposed Research for Impact Tool is based on the understanding that the value of research is to create evidence and/or products to support smarter decisions so as to improve the human condition. Research is, therefore, of limited value unless the evidence created is used to make smarter decisions for the betterment of society. A practical way of approaching research impact is, therefore, to start with the decisions confronting decision makers whether they are government policymakers, industry, professional practitioners, or households and the extent to which the research supports them to make smarter policy and practice decisions and the knock-on consequences of doing so. Embedded at each step in the impact planning and tracking process is the need for appropriate mix of expertise, capacity enhancement, and collaborative participatory learning-by-doing approaches. Discussion: The tool was developed in the context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research but the basic idea that the way to assess research impact is to start upfront with the information needs of decisions makers is equally applicable to research in other settings, both applied (horizontal) and basic (vertical) research. The tool will be further tested and evaluated with researchers over the next 2 years (2016/17). The decision by the Australian Government to include 'industry engagement' and 'impact' as additions to the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) quality measures from 2018 makes the Research for Impact Tool a timely development. The wider challenge is to engage with major Australian research funding agencies to ensure consistent alignment and approaches across research users, communities, and funders in evaluating impact

1-De­oxy-d-galactitol (l-fucitol)

1-De­oxy-d-galactitol, C6H14O5, exists in the crystalline form as hydrogen-bonded layers of mol­ecules running parallel to the ac plane, with each mol­ecule acting as a donor and acceptor of five hydrogen bonds