Aspergillus niger Spores Are Highly Resistant to Space Radiation

The filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger is one of the main contaminants of the International Space Station (ISS). It forms highly pigmented, airborne spores that have thick cell walls and low metabolic activity, enabling them to withstand harsh conditions and colonize spacecraft surfaces. Whether A. niger spores are resistant to space radiation, and to what extent, is not yet known. In this study, spore suspensions of a wild-type and three mutant strains (with defects in pigmentation, DNA repair, and polar growth control) were exposed to X-rays, cosmic radiation (helium- and iron-ions) and UV-C (254 nm). To assess the level of resistance and survival limits of fungal spores in a long-term interplanetary mission scenario, we tested radiation doses up to 1000 Gy and 4000 J/m2. For comparison, a 360-day round-trip to Mars yields a dose of 0.66 ± 0.12 Gy. Overall, wild-type spores of A. niger were able to withstand high doses of X-ray (LD90 = 360 Gy) and cosmic radiation (helium-ion LD90 = 500 Gy; and iron-ion LD90 = 100 Gy). Drying the spores before irradiation made them more susceptible toward X-ray radiation. Notably, A. niger spores are highly resistant to UV-C radiation (LD90 = 1038 J/m2), which is significantly higher than that of other radiation-resistant microorganisms (e.g., Deinococcus radiodurans). In all strains, UV-C treated spores (1000 J/m2) were shown to have decreased biofilm formation (81% reduction in wild-type spores). This study suggests that A. niger spores might not be easily inactivated by exposure to space radiation alone and that current planetary protection guidelines should be revisited, considering the high resistance of fungal spores

Shock recovery experiments confirm the possibility of transferring viable microorganisms from Mars to Earth

Extract from introduction: With regard to the impact and ejection phase we tested the case for the transfer of microorganisms from Mars to Earth. Using a high explosive set-up thin layers of bacterial endospores of Bacillus subtilis, of the lichen Xanthoria elegans and of the cyanobacterium Chroococcidiopsis sp. embedded between two plates of gabbro were subjected to 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 GPa which is the pressure range observed in Martian meteorites [1]

Life after shock: the mission from Mars to Earth

Extract from introduction: The minerals of the Martian meteorites collected so far indicate an exposure to shock waves in the pressure range of 5 to 55 GPa [1]. As terrestrial rocks are frequently inhabited by microbial communities, rocks ejected from a planet by impact processes may carry with them endolithic microorganisms, if microbial life existed/exists on this planet

Impact experiments in support of “Lithopanspermia”: The route from Mars to Earth

Shock recovery experiments on a Martian analogue rock (gabbro) loaded with three types of microorganisms reveal that these organisms survive the impact and ejection phase on Mars at shock pressures up to about 50 GPa with exponentially decreasing survival rates

Langfristig handeln, Mangel vermeiden: Betriebliche Strategien zur Deckung des Fachkräftebedarfs : Ergebnisse des IAB-Betriebspanels 2007

"Mit der günstigen wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung hat auch die Diskussion um den Fachkräftebedarf wieder an Bedeutung gewonnen. Dieser wird in dem Bericht aus betrieblicher Perspektive genauer untersucht. Grundlage dafür bilden die Daten des IAB-Betriebspanels. Besonderes Augenmerk liegt bei der Analyse auf den Unterschieden zwischen den Branchen und hier vor allem der Wissenswirtschaft. Die Daten des IAB-Betriebspanels zeigen, dass sowohl die Nachfrage nach Fachkräften als auch die Schwierigkeiten bei der Besetzung von Stellen für Fachkräfte zugenommen haben. Dies gilt insbesondere für die Wissenswirtschaft. Die Ergebnisse einer Längsschnittanalyse deuten darauf hin, dass es sich bei dem nicht gedeckten Fachkräftebedarf um ein strukturelles Problem handeln könnte. So sind insbesondere kleine Betriebe, Betriebe der Wissenswirtschaft oder Betriebe in Westdeutschland im Zeitverlauf überdurchschnittlich mit Stellenbesetzungsproblemen konfrontiert. Auch perspektivisch wird der Fachkräftebedarf ein Thema in den Betrieben bleiben. Ob Betriebe alle Stellen für Fachkräfte besetzen können, ist auch von dem Engagement der Betriebe selbst abhängig. Diejenigen Betriebe, die gezielt personalpolitische Maßnahmen nutzen, erwarten seltener Probleme bei der Besetzung von Stellen für Fachkräfte. Es hat sich auch gezeigt, dass die Betriebe, die Probleme bei der Stellenbesetzung antizipieren, darauf vorausschauend mit innerbetrieblichen Maßnahmen reagieren. Einen hohen Stellenwert für die Deckung des Fachkräftebedarfs stellen die Aus- und Weiterbildungsbeteiligung dar. In den Branchen des Produzierenden Gewerbes hat die betriebliche Ausbildung nach wie vor eine große Bedeutung. In Branchen mit einem hohen Anteil von hochqualifizierten Beschäftigten - hier handelt es sich überwiegend um Dienstleistungsbranchen - spielt demgegenüber Weiterbildung eine größere Rolle. Den Betrieben der Wissenswirtschaft, die sich hier aus den Bereichen der Unternehmensnahen Dienstleistungen und der FuE-intensiven Branchen des Verarbeitenden Gewerbes zusammensetzen, galt besonderes Augenmerk. Es hat sich gezeigt, dass sich die Betriebe der Wissenswirtschaft in vielen Aspekten von denen anderer Branchen unterscheiden. Gleichzeitig ließen sich aber auch deutliche Unterschiede innerhalb der beiden Bereiche der Wissenswirtschaft erkennen." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)Fachkräfte, Arbeitskräftemangel, Personalpolitik, Personalbeschaffung, IAB-Betriebspanel, Personalentwicklung, betriebliche Weiterbildung, offene Stellen, Personalbedarf, betriebliche Berufsausbildung, Ausbildungsbereitschaft, Ausbildungsabsolventen, Personaleinstellung

Nermin

Yenişehirlizade Halit Eyüp'ün Servet'te tefrika edilen Nermin adlı roman

Особенности функционирования системы здравоохранения Томской области

Рассмотрены основные проблемы функционирования отрасли здравоохранения в Томской области в настоящее время. Предложены направления, в которых прописаны этапы, мероприятия, объем финансирования и ожидаемые результаты реализации предложенных направлений, за счет которых предполагается привести отрасль в соответствие современным трендам и повысить качество жизни населения

A Versatile Macromer-Based Glycosaminoglycan (sHA3) Decorated Biomaterial for Pro-Osteogenic Scavenging of Wnt Antagonists

High serum levels of Wnt antagonists are known to be involved in delayed bone defect healing. Pharmaceutically active implant materials that can modulate the micromilieu of bone defects with regard to Wnt antagonists are therefore considered promising to support defect regeneration. In this study, we show the versatility of a macromer based biomaterial platform to systematically optimize covalent surface decoration with high-sulfated glycosaminoglycans (sHA3) for efficient scavenging of Wnt antagonist sclerostin. Film surfaces representing scaffold implants were cross-copolymerized from three-armed biodegradable macromers and glycidylmethacrylate and covalently decorated with various polyetheramine linkers. The impact of linker properties (size, branching) and density on sHA3 functionalization efficiency and scavenging capacities for sclerostin was tested. The copolymerized 2D system allowed for finding an optimal, cytocompatible formulation for sHA3 functionalization. On these optimized sHA3 decorated films, we showed efficient scavenging of Wnt antagonists DKK1 and sclerostin, whereas Wnt agonist Wnt3a remained in the medium of differentiating SaOS-2 and hMSC. Consequently, qualitative and quantitative analysis of hydroxyapatite staining as a measure for osteogenic differentiation revealed superior mineralization on sHA3 materials. In conclusion, we showed how our versatile material platform enables us to efficiently scavenge and inactivate Wnt antagonists from the osteogenic micromilieu. We consider this a promising approach to reduce the negative effects of Wnt antagonists in regeneration of bone defects via sHA3 decorated macromer based macroporous implants. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Genetic diversity in soybean germplasm identified by SSR and EST-SSR markers

Os objetivos deste trabalho foram avaliar a diversidade genética de 79 acessos de soja de diferentes regiões do mundo, agrupá-los de acordo com a similaridade e testar a correlação entre os dois tipos de marcadores utilizados. Foram utilizados marcadores microssatélites genômicos (SSR) e funcionais (EST-SSR). Trinta pares de primers SSR foram selecionados (20 genômicos e 10 EST-SSR) de acordo com sua distribuição nos 20 grupos de ligação da soja, com sua unidade de repetição trinucleotídica e com seu conteúdo de informação polimórfica. Todos os lócus analisados foram polimórficos, e 259 alelos foram encontrados. O número de alelos por lócus variou entre 2–21, com média de 8,63. Os acessos possuem uma quantidade significativa de alelos raros, sendo os acessos 19, 35, 63 e 65 os que apresentaram maior número de alelos exclusivos. Os acessos 75 e 79 são os mais similares e os acessos 31 e 35, e 40 e 78 são os mais divergentes. Foi observada baixa correlação entre resultados de SSR e EST-SSR. Portanto, uma análise adequada de diversidade em soja deve ser feita utilizando-se tanto marcadores microssatélites genômicos como funcionais. A diversidade genética dos acessos selecionados é alta, tendo sido encontrados cinco grupos e vários subgrupos. Observou-se moderada relação entre divergência genética e origem geográfica dos acessos.The objectives of this work were to investigate the genetic variation in 79 soybean (Glycine max) accessions from different regions of the world, to cluster the accessions based on their similarity, and to test the correlation between the two types of markers used. Simple sequence repeat markers present in genomic (SSR) and in expressed regions (EST-SSR) were used. Thirty SSR primer-pairs were selected (20 genomic and 10 EST-SSR) based on their distribution on the 20 genetic linkage groups of soybean, on their trinucleotide repetition unit and on their polymorphism information content. All analyzed loci were polymorphic, and 259 alleles were found. The number of alleles per locus varied from 2–21, with an average of 8.63. The accessions exhibit a significant number of rare alleles, with genotypes 19, 35, 63 and 65 carrying the greater number of exclusive alleles. Accessions 75 and 79 were the most similar and accessions 31 and 35, and 40 and 78, were the most divergent ones. A low correlation between SSR and EST-SSR data was observed, thus genomic and expressed microsatellite markers are required for an appropriate analysis of genetic diversity in soybean. The genetic diversity observed was high and allowed the formation of five groups and several subgroups. A moderate relationship between genetic divergence and geographic origin of accessions was observed