Draft Genome Sequences of Facultative Methylotrophs, Gemmobacter sp. Strain LW1 and Mesorhizobium sp. Strain 1M-11, Isolated from Movile Cave, Romania

Facultative methylotrophs belonging to the genera Gemmobacter and Mesorhizobium were isolated from microbial mat and cave water samples obtained from the Movile Cave ecosystem. Both bacteria can utilize methylated amines as their sole carbon and nitrogen source. Here, we report the draft genome sequences of Gemmobacter sp. strain LW1 and Mesorhizobium sp. strain IM1

Alpha- and Gammaproteobacterial Methanotrophs Codominate the Active Methane-Oxidizing Communities in an Acidic Boreal Peat Bog

The objective of this study was to characterize metabolically active, aerobic methanotrophs in an ombrotrophic peatland in the Marcell Experimental Forest, Minnesota, USA. Methanotrophs were investigated in the field and in laboratory incubations using DNA-stable isotope probing, expression studies on particulate methane monooxygenase (pmoA) genes, and amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Potential rates of oxidation ranged from 14-17 μmol CH4 g dry wt soil-1 d-1. Within DNA-SIP incubations, the relative abundance of methanotrophs increased from 4% in situ to 25-36% after 8 -14 days. Phylogenetic analysis of the 13C-enriched DNA fractions revealed the active methanotrophs were dominated by the genera Methylocystis (Type II; Alphaproteobacteria), Methylomonas, and Methylovulum (Type I; Gammaproteobacteria). In field samples, a transcript-to-gene ratio of 1 to 2 was observed for pmoA in surface peat layers which attenuated rapidly with depth, indicating the highest methane consumption was associated with the 0-10 cm depth interval. Metagenomes and sequencing of cDNA pmoA amplicons from field samples confirmed the dominant active methanotrophs were Methylocystis and Methylomonas. Although Type II methanotrophs have long been shown to mediate methane consumption in peatlands, our results indicate members of the genera Methylomonas and Methylovulum (Type I) can significantly contribute to aerobic methane oxidation in these ecosystems

Tumors in von Hippel–Lindau Syndrome: From Head to Toe—Comprehensive State-of-the-Art Review

Von Hippel–Lindau syndrome (VHL) is an autosomal-dominant hereditary tumor disease that arises owing to germline mutations in the VHL gene, located on the short arm of chromosome 3. Patients with VHL may develop multiple benign and malignant tumors involving various organ systems, including retinal hemangioblastomas (HBs), central nervous system (CNS) HBs, endolymphatic sac tumors, pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, pancreatic cystadenomas, pancreatic cysts, clear cell renal cell carcinomas, renal cysts, pheochromocytomas, paragangliomas, and epididymal and broad ligament cystadenomas. The VHL/hypoxia-inducible factor pathway is believed to play a key role in the pathogenesis of VHL-related tumors. The diagnosis of VHL can be made clinically when the characteristic clinical history and findings have manifested, such as the presence of two or more CNS HBs. Genetic testing for heterozygous germline VHL mutation may also be used to confirm the diagnosis of VHL. Imaging plays an important role in the diagnosis and surveillance of patients with VHL. Familiarity with the clinical and imaging manifestations of the various VHL-related tumors is important for early detection and guiding appropriate management. The purpose of this article is to discuss the molecular cytogenetics and clinical manifestations of VHL, review the characteristic multimodality imaging features of the various VHL-related tumors affecting multiple organ systems, and discuss the latest advances in management of VHL, including current recommendations for surveillance and screening

Cloning of partial putative gonadotropin hormone receptor sequence from fish

A search for the presence of mariner-like elements in the Labeo rohita genome by polymerase chain reaction led to the amplification of a partial DNA sequence coding for a putative transmembrane domain of gonadotropin hormone receptor. The amplified DNA sequence shows a high degree of homology to the available turkey and human luteinizing and follicle stimulating hormone receptor coding sequences. This is the first report on cloning such sequences of piscine origin

Design of Multifunctional Lattice‐Frame Materials for Compact Heat Exchangers

Structured porous materials show great potential as extended surfaces in heat-exchange applications that also require design for load-bearing capability. In particular, lattice-frame materials (LFM) are known for their superior strength-to-weight ratio; this work presents a comprehensive experimental and numerical study of fluid flow and heat transfer in porous LFMs. Flow through a periodic unit cell of the material is simulated to characterize the forced-convection performance under hydraulically and thermally fully developed conditions. The performance of LFMs with a tetrahedral ligament configuration is characterized as a function of Reynolds number in the laminar regime (150 \u3c Re \u3c 1000) in terms of Nusselt number and friction factor; the effect of porosity is studied by changing the ligament diameter. Experiments are performed for a subset of porosities to validate the numerical approach. A method is demonstrated for utilizing the simulation results, which assume perfect surface efficiency, to predict the performance of LFMs with non-ideal surface efficiency, based on the conduction resistance of the ligaments. It is shown that the thermal behavior of the ligaments closely matches that of cylindrical fins in cross flow and that this analogy can be used to calculate the overall surface efficiency. The implications of the current results on the design of compact heat exchangers using LFMs is assessed using several conventional performance metrics. Our analysis illustrates the challenges in defining any one universal performance metric for compact heat exchanger design; an appropriate performance metric must be selected that accounts for the particular multifunctional performance characteristics of interest. LFMs are shown to provide the benefits of high-porosity and high surface area-to-volume ratio of materials such as metal foams, while also incurring lower pressure drops and displaying higher structural integrity. This makes them ideal for heat exchangers in aerospace and other applications demanding such multifunctional capabilities. The characterization provided in this study readily allows LFM designs for heat exchanger applications with combined heat-transfer and pressure-drop constraints

Computerized Tomography of the Acute Left Upper Quadrant Pain

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility of computerized tomography (CT) of the abdomen in the emergent setting of left upper quadrant pain. One hundred patients (average age: 45, range: 19–93 years, female: 57 %, male: 43 %) who presented to the emergency department (ED) and underwent CT scanning of abdomen with the given indication of left upper quadrant pain were included in this study. The results from CT examinations were compared to final diagnoses determined by either ED physician or clinician on a follow-up visit. Sensitivity of CT was 69 % (95 %CI: 52–83 %) for 39 patients who eventually were diagnosed with an acute abdominal abnormality. Twenty-seven patients had an acute abnormal finding on abdominal CT that represented the cause of the patient’s pain (positive predictive value of 100 %, 95 %CI: 87–100 %). Of the remaining 73 patients with negative CT report, 12 were diagnosed clinically (either in the ED or on follow-up visit to specialist) with a pathology that was undetectable on the CT imaging (negative predictive value of 83 %, 95 %CI: 73–91 %). None of the remaining 61 patients with negative CT were found to have pathology by clinical evaluation (specificity of 100 %, 95 %CI: 94–100 %). CT is a useful examination for patients with acute left upper quadrant pain in the emergency department setting with moderate sensitivity and excellent specificity

Identification of active denitrifiers by DNA-Stable Isotope Probing and amplicon sequencing reveals Betaproteobacteria as responsible for attenuation of nitrate contamination in a low impacted aquifer

Groundwater reservoirs constitute important freshwater resources. However, these ecosystems are highly vulnerable to contamination and have to rely on the resident microbiota to attenuate the impact of this contamination. Nitrate is one of the main contaminants found in groundwater and denitrification is the main process that removes the compound. In this study, the response to nutrient load on indigenous microbial communities in groundwater from a low impacted aquifer in Uruguay was evaluated. Denitrification rates were measured in groundwater samples from three different sites with nitrate, acetate and pyrite amendments. Results showed that denitrification is feasible under in situ nitrate and electron donor concentrations, although the lack of readily available organic energy source would limit the attenuation of higher nitrate concentrations. DNA Stable-isotope probing (SIP), combined with amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA, nirS and nirK genes, was used to identify the active denitrifiers. Members of the phylum Betaproteobacteria were the dominant denitrifiers in two of three sites, with different families being observed; members of the genus Vogesella (Neisseriaceae) were key denitrifiers at one site, while the genera Dechloromonas (Rhodocyclaceae) or Comamonas (Comamonadaceae) were the main denitrifiers detected at the other sites

Utilization of coconut oil mill waste as a substrate for optimized lipase production, oil biodegradation and enzyme purification studies in Staphylococcus pasteuri

Background: Oil and grease laden wastewaters pose hindrance to the treatment units and further threaten the receiving water bodies. Lipase-producing microbial strains are increasingly being exploited for the remediation of such effluents. Results: When bacterial strains isolated from oil mill effluent were screened for their lipolytic activity, two isolates, COM-4A and COM-6B showed significant extracellular lipase activity. They were identified to be Staphylococcus pasteuri and Bacillus subtilis , respectively. S. pasteuri COM-4A was cultivated in nutrient media based on coconut oil mill waste (CMW), in which it showed good growth at concentrations up to 20 g/L. While growing in such media, it was capable of producing lipase and other important extracellular hydrolytic enzymes. Furthermore, the isolate was able to effectively biodegrade the CMW supplemented in the medium. Applying the Box Behnken Design of Response Surface Methodology, lead to a 1.4-fold increase in both lipase production and oil removal by the isolate. The lipase was purified 9.02-fold and the molecular weight of the monomeric enzyme was deduced to be around 56 kDa. Characterization of the enzyme revealed it to be alkaliphilic and moderately thermophilic in nature, with pH and temperature optima of 9.0 and 50\ub0C, respectively. The enzyme was also quite stable in the presence of water-miscible organic solvents. Conclusion: Hence, the COM-4A lipase could be considered to be suitable for a variety of industrial applications such as in detergent formulations and in biodiesel production as well, apart from the possibility of applying it for bioremediation of fat and oil contaminants

Oscillation Theorems for Second Order Nonlinear Differential Equations with Damping

Some oscillation criteria for solutions of a general ordinary differential equation of second order of the form (r(t)ψ(x(t))ẋ(t)) . + h(t)ẋ(t) + q(t)ϕ (g(x(t)), r(t)ψ(x(t))ẋ(t)) = H(t, x(t),ẋ(t)) with alternating coefficients are discussed. Our results improve and extend some existing results in the literature. Some illustrative examples are given with its numerical solutions which are computed using Runge Kutta method of fourth order

Targeting Btk/Etk of prostate cancer cells by a novel dual inhibitor.

Btk and Etk/BMX are Tec-family non-receptor tyrosine kinases. Btk has previously been reported to be expressed primarily in B cells and has an important role in immune responses and B-cell malignancies. Etk has been shown previously to provide a strong survival and metastasis signal in human prostate cancer cells, and to confer androgen independence and drug resistance. While the role of Etk in prostate carcinogenesis is well established, the functions of Btk in prostate cancer have never been investigated, likely due to the perception that Btk is a hematopoietic, but not epithelial, kinase. Herein, we found that Btk is overexpressed in prostate cancer tissues and prostate cancer cells. The level of Btk in prostate cancer tissues correlates with cancer grades. Knockdown of Btk expression selectively inhibits the growth of prostate cancer cells, but not that of the normal prostate epithelial cells, which express very little Btk. Dual inhibition of Btk and Etk has an additive inhibitory effect on prostate cancer cell growth. To explore Btk and Etk as targets for prostate cancer, we developed a small molecule dual inhibitor of Btk and Etk, CTN06. Treatment of PC3 and other prostate cancer cells, but not immortalized prostate epithelial cells with CTN06 resulted in effective cell killing, accompanied by the attenuation of Btk/Etk signals. The killing effect of CTN06 is more potent than that of commonly used inhibitors against Src, Raf/VEGFR and EGFR. CTN06 induces apoptosis as well as autophagy in human prostate cancer cells, and is a chemo-sensitizer for docetaxel (DTX), a standard of care for metastatic prostate cancer patients. CTN06 also impeded the migration of human prostate cancer cells based on a 'wound healing' assay. The anti-cancer effect of CTN06 was further validated in vivo in a PC3 xenograft mouse model