Aquarium Viromes: Viromes of Human-Managed Aquatic Systems

An aquarium ecosystem is home to many animal species providing conditions similar to native aquatic habitats but under highly controlled management. With a growing interest in understanding the interaction of microbiomes and resident animal health within aquarium environments, we undertook a metagenomic survey of viromes in seven aquarium systems with differing physicochemical and resident animal profiles. Our results show that a diverse array of viruses was represented in aquarium viromes, many of which were widespread in different aquarium systems (27 common viral families in all of the aquarium systems). Most viromes were dominated by DNA phages of the order Caudovirales as commonly found in other aquatic environments with average relative abundance greater than 64%. The composition and structure of aquarium viromes were associated with controlled system parameters, including nitrate, salinity, and temperature as well as resident animal profiles, indicating the close interaction of viromes with aquarium management practices. Furthermore, finding human associated viruses in a touch exhibit suggested that exposure of aquarium systems to human contact may lead to introduction of human cutaneous viruses into aquaria. This is consistent with the high abundance of skin microflora on the palms of healthy individuals and their detection in recreational waters, such as swimming pools. Lastly, assessment of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in aquarium viromes revealed a unique signature of ARGs in different aquarium systems with trimethoprim being the most common. This is the first study to provide vital information on viromes and their unique relationships with management practices in a human-built and controlled aquarium environment

Solar-rechargeable battery based on photoelectrochemical water oxidation: Solar water battery

As an alternative to the photoelectrochemical water splitting for use in the fuel cells used to generate electrical power, this study set out to develop a solar energy rechargeable battery system based on photoelectrochemical water oxidation. We refer to this design as a "solar water battery". The solar water battery integrates a photoelectrochemical cell and battery into a single device. It uses a water oxidation reaction to simultaneously convert and store solar energy. With the solar water battery, light striking the photoelectrode causes the water to be photo-oxidized, thus charging the battery. During the discharge process, the solar water battery reduces oxygen to water with a high coulombic efficiency (>90%) and a high average output voltage (0.6 V). Because the reduction potential of oxygen is more positive [E0(O2/H2O) = 1.23 V vs. NHE] than common catholytes (e.g., iodide, sulfur), a high discharge voltage is produced. The solar water battery also exhibits a superior storage ability, maintaining 99% of its specific discharge capacitance after 10 h of storage, without any evidence of self-discharge. The optimization of the cell design and configuration, taking the presence of oxygen in the cell into account, was critical to achieving an efficient photocharge/discharge. © The Author(s) 2016.1

Electrocatalytic arsenite oxidation in bicarbonate solutions combined with CO₂ reduction to formate

Sunlight-driven water-energy nexus technologies are receiving increasing attention. This study presents a hybrid electrochemical system that catalyzes the oxidation of As(III) to As(V) with a nanoparticulate TiO₂ electrocatalyst (Ti/Ir_(1-x)Ta_xO_y/TiO₂; denoted as an n-TEC) while simultaneously converting CO₂ to formate on a Bi electrode in aqueous bicarbonate solutions at circum-neutral pH. Linear sweep voltammograms of n-TEC exhibit a specific As(III) oxidation peak (E_(p,As)), at which the Faradaic efficiency (FE) of As(V) production is ∼100%. However, the application of a potential higher than the peak (E > E_(p,As)) leads to a significant decrease in the FE due to water oxidation. Upon the addition of chloride, the oxidation of water and chloride occur competitively, producing reactive chlorine species responsible for mediating the oxidation of As(III). The Bi electrodes synthesized via the electrodeposition of Bi³⁺ typically show high FEs of >80% for formate production in bicarbonate solution purged with CO₂. The addition of chloride significantly enhances the current while maintaining the FE. The n-TEC catalyst and Bi electrodes are paired in a single device equipped with a membrane, and significant effort is made to achieve the same FEs in both the anodic and cathodic reactions as in their half-reactions. Finally, the optimized n-TEC/Bi pair is coupled with a low-cost, commercially available photovoltaic (PV). Various technical factors that drive the overall reactions with the PV are considered, and maximum FEs of ∼95% are achieved for the production of both As(V) and formate

Camera for QUasars in EArly uNiverse (CQUEAN)

We describe the overall characteristics and the performance of an optical CCD camera system, Camera for QUasars in EArly uNiverse (CQUEAN), which is being used at the 2.1 m Otto Struve Telescope of the McDonald Observatory since 2010 August. CQUEAN was developed for follow-up imaging observations of red sources such as high redshift quasar candidates (z >= 5), Gamma Ray Bursts, brown dwarfs, and young stellar objects. For efficient observations of the red objects, CQUEAN has a science camera with a deep depletion CCD chip which boasts a higher quantum efficiency at 0.7 - 1.1 um than conventional CCD chips. The camera was developed in a short time scale (~ one year), and has been working reliably. By employing an auto-guiding system and a focal reducer to enhance the field of view on the classical Cassegrain focus, we achieve a stable guiding in 20 minute exposures, an imaging quality with FWHM >= 0.6" over the whole field (4.8' * 4.8'), and a limiting magnitude of z = 23.4 AB mag at 5-sigma with one hour total integration time.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASP. 26 pages including 5 tables and 24 figure

c-Jun N-terminal kinase activation has a prognostic implication and is negatively associated with FOXO1 activation in gastric cancer

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Abstract Background Since the biological function of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in gastric cancer remains unclear, we investigated the clinical significance of JNK activation and its association with FOXO1 activation. Methods Immunohistochemical tissue array analysis of 483 human gastric cancer specimens was performed, and the results of the immunostaining were quantified. The correlation between JNK activation (nuclear staining for pJNK) and clinicopathological features, the proliferation index, prognosis or FOXO1 inactivation (cytoplasmic staining for pFOXO1) was analyzed. The SNU-638 gastric cancer cell line was used for in vitro analysis. Results Nuclear staining of pJNK was found in 38 % of the gastric carcinomas and was higher in the early stages of pTNM (P < 0.001). pJNK staining negatively correlated with lymphatic invasion (P = 0.034) and positively correlated with intestinal type by Laurens classification (P = 0.037), Ki-67-labeling index (P < 0.001), cyclin D1 (P = 0.045), cyclin E (P < 0.001) and pFOXO1 (P < 0.001). JNK activation correlated with a longer patients survival (P =0.008) and patients with a JNK-active and FOXO1-inactive tumor had a higher survival rate than the remainder of the population (P = 0.004). In vitro analysis showed that JNK inhibition by SP600125 in SNU-638 cells decreased cyclin D1 protein expression and increased FOXO1 activation. Further, JNK inhibition markedly suppressed colony formation, which was partially restored by FOXO1 shRNA expression. Conclusions Our results indicate that JNK activation may serve as a valuable prognostic factor in gastric cancer, and that it is implicated in gastric tumorigenesis, at least in part, through FOXO1 inhibition