Complete Genome Sequence of Aneurinibacillus migulanus E1, a Gramicidin S- and d-Phenylalanyl-l-Propyl Diketopiperazine-Deficient Mutant

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was supported by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme grant 245268 (ISEFOR; to L.B.). Further support came from the SwissBOL project (the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, to L.B.) and the Sciex-Scientific Exchange Programme NMS.CH (to L.L. and L.B.).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

EFFECTS OF ALTITUDE, ROOT BIOMASS AND TEMPERATURE OF SOIL ON BIOMASS OF EARTHWORM IN SOUTH-EASTERN PART OF SIMILIPAL BIOSPHERE RESERVE, MAYURBHANJ, ODISHA

Earthworm is the most important invertebrate of soil. Since it involved in improving the soil quality, an attempt has been made to test the effects of root biomass and temperature of soil on density of earthworms in different altitudes of South-eastern part of Similipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR) (Balma: 133 mASL, Debkund: 190 mASL, Hadgut: 222 mASL, Katuria: 242 mASL and Nato: 326 mASL). It was observed that the biomass (weight) of earthworms is significantly different among different seasons. But among altitudes it was not significantly different (Tables: 1). More root biomass indicates higher earthworm biomass. Biomass of earthworm was highest at moderate temperature, i.e., in rainy season (since temperature of soil in rainy was more than that of winter and less than that of summer season). There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in biomass of earthworm among different seasons of study areas

Increased Biological Activity of Aneurinibacillus migulanus Strains Correlates with the Production of New Gramicidin Secondary Metabolites

Acknowledgments This project was funded by the Government of Kuwait (to FA) and the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement 245268 (ISEFOR; to LB and SW). Further support came from the SwissBOL project, financed by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (grant holder LB) and the Sciex–Scientific Exchange Programme (http://nms.ch/) (NMS.CH; to LL and LB). LL is indebted to the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic for financial support in the frame of the project “VEGA 1/0061/16” and “VEGA 1/0046/16”. Funding This project was funded by the Government of Kuwait (to FA) and the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement 245268 (ISEFOR; to LB and SW). Further support came from the SwissBOL project, financed by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (grant holder LB) and the Sciex–Scientific Exchange Programme NMS.CH (to LL and LB). LL is indebted to the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic for financial support in the frame of the project “VEGA 1/0061/16.”Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Physical properties of seven binary and higher-order multiple OB systems

Analyses of multi-epoch, high-resolution (~ 50000) optical spectra of seven early-type systems provided various important new insights with respect to their multiplicity. First determinations of orbital periods were made for HD 92206C (2.022 d), HD 112244 (27.665 d), HD 164438 (10.25 d), HD 123056A (~ 1314 d) and HD 123056B (< 2 d); the orbital period of HD 318015 could be improved (23.445975 d). Concerning multiplicity, a third component was discovered for HD 92206C by means of He I line profiles. For HD 93146A, which was hitherto assumed to be SB1, lines of a secondary component could be discerned. HD 123056 turns out to be a multiple system consisting of a high-mass component A (~ O8.5) displaying a broad He II 5411 A feature with variable radial velocity, and of an inner pair B (~ B0) with double He I lines. The binary HD 164816 was revisited and some of its system parameters were improved. In particular, we determined its systemic velocity to be -7 km/s, which coincides with the radial velocity of the cluster NGC 6530. This fact, together with its distance, suggests the cluster membership of HD 164816. The OB system HD 318015 (V1082 Sco) belongs to the rare class of eclipsing binaries with a supergiant primary (B0.5/0.7). Our combined orbital and light-curve analysis suggests that the secondary resembles an O9.5III star. Our results for a limited sample corroborate the findings that many O stars are actually massive multiple systems.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures, to appear in Astronomy and Astrophysic

DESIGN OF NEURO-WAVELET BASED VECTOR QUANTIZER FOR IMAGE COMPRESSION

This paper presents a novel approach to design a vector quantizer for image compression. Compression of image data using Vector Quantization (VQ) will compare Training Vectors with Codebook that has been designed. The result is an index of position with minimum distortion. Moreover it provides a means of decomposition of the signal in an approach which takes the improvement of inter and intra band correlation as more lithe partition for higher dimension vector spaces. Thus, the image is compressed without any loss of information. It also provides a comparative study in the view of simplicity, storage space, robustness and transfer time of various vector quantization methods. In addition the proposed paper also presents a survey on different methods of vector quantization for image compression and application of SOFM

Effect of milling and annealing on microstructural, electrical and magnetic properties of electrodeposited Ni-11.3fe-1.4W alloy

A nanostructured Ni-11.3Fe-1.4W alloy deposit was obtained from an ammonium citrate bath at a current density of 600 mAcm -2. XRD analysis shows that the deposit contains an amorphous matrix having embedded nanocrystals of the FCC phase of the solid solution of Fe and W in Ni with the average crystal grain size of 8.8 nm. The deposit has a high internal microstrain value and a high minimum density of chaotically distributed dislocations. The effect of milling and annealing of the Ni-11.3Fe-1.4W alloy on electrical and magnetic properties was studied. Structural changes in the alloy take place during both annealing and milling. Upon deposition, the alloy was heated to 420 °C. Heating resulted in structural relaxation which induced a decrease in electrical resistivity and an increase in magnetic permeability of the alloy. Further heating of the alloy at temperatures higher than 420 °C led to crystallization which caused a reduction in both electrical resistivity and magnetic permeability. The milling of the alloy for up to 12 hours caused a certain degree of structural relaxation and crystallization of the alloy. The increase in crystal grain size up to 11 nm and the partial structural relaxation induced a decrease in electrical resistivity and an increase in magnetic permeability of the alloy. Heating the powders obtained by milling at 420 °C led to complete structural relaxation, reduced electrical resistivity, and increased magnetic permeability. During heating of the powders obtained by milling at temperatures above 420 °C, crystallization and a significant increase in crystal grain size occurred, leading to a reduction in both electrical resistivity and magnetic permeability. The best magnetic properties were exhibited by the alloys milled for 12 hours and annealed thereafter at 420 °C. In these alloys, crystal grains were found to have an optimum size, and complete relaxation took place, resulting in a maximum increase in magnetic permeability

Immediate Fitment of Prefabricated Orthoses in Corrective Surgery Camps

In surgical camps, deformity correction and immobilizationby Plaster of Paris (POP) cast is a routine methodfollowed in about four weeks by removal of sutures/plaster and provision of orthosis. A new technique wasdeveloped in which after corrective surgery, instead ofPOP cast pre-fabricated orthosis were fitted in 236 caseswith lower limb deformities following post polio residualparalysi and cerebral palsy.Use of pre-fabricated orthosis, immediately after surgeryin these camps reduced the cost markedly besides beingconvenient to fit the orthosis in one go

Draft Genome Sequence of Aneurinibacillus migulanus NCTC 7096

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project was funded by the Government of Kuwait (to F.N.A.) and the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement 245268 (ISEFOR; to L.B. and S.W.). Further support came from the SwissBOL project, financed by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (grant holder L.B.) and the Sciex–Scientific Exchange Programme NMS.CH (to L.L. and L.B.).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The stereospecificity of flobufen metabolism in isolated guinea pig hepatocytes

BACKGROUND: Flobufen (F) is an original nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug with one center of chirality. 4-Dihydroflobufen (DHF), compound with two chiral centers, is the main metabolite of F in microsomes and cytosol in all standard laboratory animals. This work describes the biotransformation of F enantiomers and DHF stereoisomers in isolated male guinea pig hepatocytes. Guinea pigs were chosen with respect to similarities in F metabolism as in Man found earlier. R-F, S-F, (2R;4S)-DHF, (2S;4R)-DHF, (2S;4S)-DHF and (2R;4R)-DHF, structurally very similar compounds, served as substrates in order to observe their interaction with enzymes. Stereospecificity of the respective enzymes was studied in vitro, using hepatocytes monolayer. Chiral HPLC using R,R-ULMO column as chiral stationary phase was used for detection and quantitation of metabolites. RESULTS: (2R;4S)-DHF and (2S;4S)-DHF were the principle stereoisomers detected after incubation with rac-F, R-F and S-F. The ratio of (2R;4S)-DHF/(2S;4S)-DHF ranged from 1.1 to 2.4 depending on the substrate used. (2R;4S)-DHF was the major stereoisomer found after incubation with (2S;4S)-DHF and (2R;4R)-DHF. (2S;4S)-DHF was the principle stereoisomer found after incubation with (2R;4S)-DHF and (2S;4R)-DHF. Besides DHF stereoisomers, other metabolites (M-17203, UM-1 and UM-2) were also detected after incubation of hepatocytes monolayer with F. Interestingly, these metabolites were not found in incubation of all F forms and DHF with fresh liver homogenate. CONCLUSIONS: Different activities and stereospecificities of the respective enzymes were observed for each substrate in primary culture of hepatocytes. Cell integrity is crucial for formation of secondary metabolites M-17203, UM-1 and UM-2