Investigating the Impact of Metals and Methanobactin on Gene Expression in Methylosinus Trichosporium Ob3b

Methanotrophs are a unique set of bacteria capable of mitigating methane emissions by converting methane to carbon dioxide which has a lower global warming potential. Studies on methanotrophs mainly focus on understanding the physiological and biochemical properties of methanotrophs to model them for field scale applications. While methanotrophs are known to be sensitive to copper, information about the effect of other abundant metal ions in the environment is scarce. Understanding the behavioral response of methanotrophs to diverse environments is thus vital for exploiting them in bioremediation. Firstly, the effect of metals other than copper on the expression and activity of methane monooxygenase was studied. Gold was shown to affect the “copper-switch” by competing with copper for uptake by a copper chelating molecule, methanobactin, secreted by few methanotrophs. The presence of copper is well known to suppress the activity of soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO), however, gold induced sMMO activity in Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b in the presence of copper. This indicates the need for understanding how the relative abundance of metals in the environment affects methanotrophic activity. Secondly, the effect of the rare earth metal, cerium, on the expression of methanol dehydrogenase was studied. The study indicates that cerium acts as a switch between the two forms of methanol dehydrogenase in M. trichosporium OB3b. Such information will likely prove important when designing systems where one form of methanol dehydrogenase is preferred over the other. Thirdly, M. trichosporium OB3b when grown with copper and methanobactin from Methylocystis sp. strain SB2, induces sMMO activity. This shows that “cross-talk” can occur between methanotrophs and thus methanobactin qualifies as a signaling molecule affecting the gene expression in a methanotroph that did not secrete it. Lastly, this study attempted to identify the complete regulatory basis of the “copper-switch” as competing models currently exist. A series of electro-mobility shift assays were performed between DNA upstream of genes and the gene products to determine if any specific gene product activates or suppresses the expression of the gene. The results are not confirmative and thus more work is needed to fully define the mechanism underlying the “copper-switch” in methanotrophs.PhDEnvironmental EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/120672/1/bkalidas_1.pd

Comparison of membrane immobilized zero-valent iron nanoparticles for RED ME4BL azodye degradation

Textile industries are hailed as one of the major environmental polluters in the world, owing to their release of undesirable dye effluents. Synthetic dyes do not adhere to fabric firmly and are released into the aquatic ecosystem as effluent. Consequently, the consistent release of wastewater from numerous textile industries without previous treatment has detrimental effects on the ecosystem and human health.   Treatment methods currently being used fail to degrade the dye effluents and have their own shortcomings. Immobilized nanoparticles have been extensively studied for dye remediation because of their many advantages over conventional methods. The present study aimed to compare the efficiency of two different carrier matrices [namely Poly(vinylidene fluoride) and Polyurethane] for iron nanoparticle and their decolorization activity on an azo dye (RED ME4BL). Scanning Electron Microscopy was carried out to show the deposition of iron nanoparticles on the membrane. The reaction kinetics of the bare nanoparticles were compared with that of the immobilized nanoparticles, and all were found to follow pseudo-second-order kinetics. Polyurethane immobilized iron nanoparticles showed a significant degradation of RED ME4bl than the Poly(vinylidene fluoride) immobilized iron and bare nanoparticles. This paper also demonstrates a relatively newer method for nanoparticle immobilisation using the synthetic polyurethane form.

Perbandingan Tanda Vital Sebelum, Ketika dan Sesudah Olahraga Futsal Pada Mahasiswa Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Andalas

Sport is a physical activity within a certain period of time and intensity of routine physical person aims to improve performance. When exercising major changes in circulation and breathing as a homeostatic response. An increase cardiac output and stroke volume depends on the pulse frequency. Futsal is a sport will be an increase in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure .The objective of this study was to determine the changes in vital signs futsal sport by University Andalas Medical Faculty students. The design of the study was to analytic observational by using cross-sectional study. The sample was 20 students from Medical student of University Andalas who meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria. This research was conducted on November 25, 2016. The futsal sports had performed within 30 minutes by measureing the vital signs before, 15, 30, and after 15 minutes which was calculating by using a sphygmomanometer, stethoscope, stopwatch and thermometer. Data was processed manually and formed in the distribution and frequency table. The conclusion, there was no significant difference in vital signs between before exercise, between 15 minutes and 30 minutes, in the other hand, there was a significant difference in vital signs between before exercise with 15 minutes and 30 minutes of exercise, furthermore there is also a significant difference between 15 minutes and 30 minutes of exercise and 15 minutes after the exercise is completed. Keywords : Vital Signs, Sports futsal before, while and after 15 minut

Utilization of granite sawing waste in self compacting concrete

Samozbijajući beton treba sadržavati mineralne dodatke za poboljšanje svojstava tečenja betona. Kao mineralni dodatak u samozbijajućem betonu može se koristiti granitna prašina. Rezultati ispitivanja rentgenskom difrakcijom (XRD) te skeniranje elektronskim mikroskopom (SEM) pokazali su da postoji obećavajuća budućnost za korištenje ovog otpadnog materijala kao punila u samozbijajućim betonima, uz dodatak letećeg pepela. Rezultati su pokazali da je moguće koristiti granitnu prašinu i leteći pepeo da bi se poboljšala svojstva i ekonomska isplativost samozbijajućeg betona.The self-compacting concrete must contain mineral admixtures to improve the flow properties. The granite sawing waste can be utilized as mineral admixture in the self-compacting concrete. The results obtained by XRD and SEM methods show that there is a promising future for the use of this waste material as filler in self-compacting concrete, along with fly ash. The results show that the granite sawing waste and fly ash can be used to improve the properties and cost-effectiveness of the self-compacting concrete

In-Vitro Anthelmintic Potential Of Aqueous And Ethanolic Leaves And Roots Extracts Of Annona Muricata Against Earthworm

Helminths or Parasitic worms of humans may cause chronic and sometimes deadly diseases considered as Neglected Tropical Diseases that infect around two billion people worldwide. Many of synthetic drugs available, for the treatment of various worm infection like alendazole, mebendazole and Ivermectn with more of adverse effects so the need of herbal formulations are essential for teating worm infections.Plants have been used as anthelmintic from ancient times. In our study we selected Annona muricata is well known traditional plant which is used for the treatement of many worm infection without adverse effect.Phytochemical screening was conducted using standard qualitative methods, it reveals that they were rich in secondary metabolite compounds such as alkaloids, saponins, tannins, flavonoids. The in-vitro anthelmintic activity was determined using earthworm. In this ethanolic exctract of 200 mg/ml concentration shows high anthelmintic activity when compared to other concentration of Annona Muricata leaves extrac

Effectiveness of virtual reality in the treatment of hand function in children with cerebral palsy: A systematic review.

STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review. INTRODUCTION: Children with cerebral palsy (CP) may have limited use of their hands for functional activities and for fine motor skills. Virtual reality (VR) is a relatively new and innovative approach to facilitate hand function in children with CP. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of VR as an intervention to improve hand function in children with CP compared to either conventional physiotherapy or other therapeutic interventions. The secondary purpose was to classify the outcomes evaluated according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) dimensions. METHODS: A International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO)-registered literature search was carried out in August 2015 in MEDLINE, CINAHL, ERIC, HealthSTAR, AMED, BNI, Embase, PsycINFO, PEDro, Cochrane Central Register, DARE, OTSeeker, REHABDATA, HaPI, CIRRIE, and Scopus. PRISMA guidelines were followed. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included, and their methodological qualities were examined using the Cochrane collaboration's risk of bias (RoB) tool. A narrative synthesis was performed. RESULTS: The 6 RCTs published on this topic provide conflicting results. Four studies reported improved hand function (2 low RoB, 1 high RoB, and 1 unclear RoB), whereas 2 studies reported no improvement. All of the RCTs reported the activity element of ICF, but no study explicitly described the effect of VR intervention based on the ICF model. CONCLUSION: The role of VR ti imrpove hand fucntion in children with CP is unclear due to limited evidence; use as an adjunct has some support