Manipulating nutrient composition of microalgal growth media to improve biomass yield and lipid content of Micractinium pusillum

Biodiesel production from microalgae depends on the algal biomass and lipid content. Both biomass production and lipid accumulation are limited by several factors in which nutrients play a key role. We investigated the influences of micronutrients on biomass, and lipid content of Micractinium pusillum GU732425 cultivated in bold basal media (BBM). The average dry biomass of microalgal strain in control medium reached 0.34 ± 0.01 g /L, while doubling (2X) the levels of Mn and Cu concentration increased the dry biomass to 0.38 ± 0.01 and 0.37 ± 0.02 g /L, respectively. M. pusillum cultivated in control medium had a biomass of 0.82 ± 0.05 g/L and a lipid productivity of 0.33 ± 0.02 g/L after 17 day cultivation. The alga cultivated in BBM with 4X Mn or 4X Cu produced more biomass (1.25 ± 0.01 or 1.28 ± 0.04 g dw/L) and lipid productivity (0.45±0.04 or 0.47±0.05 g/L), respectively. M. pusillum cultivated in different growth media had fatty acid compositions mainly comprising linoleic (49-54%), palmitic (24-29%), linolenic (16-22%), and oleic acids (2-5%). These results can be used to maximize the production of microalgal biomass and lipids in optimally designed  photobioreactors.Key words: Micractinium pusillum, biomass, lipid production, media composition, fatty acids, trace metals

PowerCore: a program applying the advanced M strategy with a heuristic search for establishing core sets

AbstractMotivation: Core sets are necessary to ensure that access to useful alleles or characteristics retained in genebanks is guaranteed. We have successfully developed a computational tool named 'PowerCore' that aims to support the development of core sets by reducing the redundancy of useful alleles and thus enhancing their richness.Results: The program, using a new approach completely different from any other previous methodologies, selects entries of core sets by the advanced M (maximization) strategy implemented through a modified heuristic algorithm. The developed core set has been validated to retain all characteristics for qualitative traits and all classes for quantitative ones. PowerCore effectively selected the accessions with higher diversity representing the entire coverage of variables and gave a 100% reproducible list of entries whenever repeated.Availability: PowerCore software uses the .NET Framework Version 1.1 environment which is freely available for the MS Windows platform. The files can be downloaded from http://genebank.rda.go.kr/powercore/. The distribution of the package includes executable programs, sample data and a user manual.Contact: [email protected]

Dissociation Between the Growing Opioid Demands and Drug Policy Directions Among the U.S. Older Adults with Degenerative Joint Diseases

We aim to examine temporal trends of orthopedic operations and opioid-related hospital stays among seniors in the nation and states of Oregon and Washington where marijuana legalization was accepted earlier than any others. As aging society advances in the United States (U.S.), orthopedic operations and opioid-related hospital stays among seniors increase in the nation. A serial cross-sectional cohort study using the healthcare cost and utilization project fast stats from 2006 through 2015 measured annual rate per 100,000 populations of orthopedic operations by age groups (45–64 vs 65 and older) as well as annual rate per 100,000 populations of opioid-related hospital stays among 65 and older in the nation, Oregon and Washington states from 2008 through 2017. Orthopedic operations (knee arthroplasty, total or partial hip replacement, spinal fusion or laminectomy) and opioid-related hospital stays were measured. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) was used to quantify temporal trends of orthopedic operations by age groups as well as opioid-related hospital stays and was tested by Rao–Scott correction of χ2 for categorical variables. The CAGR (4.06%) of orthopedic operations among age 65 and older increased (P...) (See full abstract in article

Inhibition of autophagy promotes salinomycin-induced apoptosis via reactive oxygen species-mediated PI3K/AKT/mTOR and ERK/p38 MAPK-dependent signaling in human prostate cancer cells

Recently, the interplay between autophagy and apoptosis has become an important factor in chemotherapy for cancer treatment. Inhibition of autophagy may be an effective strategy to improve the treatment of chemo-resistant cancer by consistent exposure to chemotherapeutic drugs. However, no reports have clearly elucidated the underlying mechanisms. Therefore, in this study, we assessed whether salinomycin, a promising anticancer drug, induces apoptosis and elucidated potential antitumor mechanisms in chemo-resistant prostate cancer cells. Cell viability assay, Western blot, annexin V/propidium iodide assay, acridine orange (AO) staining, caspase-3 activity assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and mitochondrial membrane potential were assayed. Our data showed that salinomycin alters the sensitivity of prostate cancer cells to autophagy. Pretreatment with 3-methyladenine (3-MA), an autophagy inhibitor, enhanced the salinomycin-induced apoptosis. Notably, salinomycin decreased phosphorylated of AKT and phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in prostate cancer cells. Pretreatment with LY294002, an autophagy and PI3K inhibitor, enhanced the salinomycin-induced apoptosis by decreasing the AKT and mTOR activities and suppressing autophagy. However, pretreatment with PD98059 and SB203580, an extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK), and p38 inhibitors, suppressed the salinomycin-induced autophagy by reversing the upregulation of ERK and p38. In addition, pretreatment with N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), an antioxidant, inhibited salinomycin-induced autophagy by suppressing ROS production. Our results suggested that salinomycin induces apoptosis, which was related to ROS-mediated autophagy through regulation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR and ERK/p38 MAPK signaling pathways

Effects of molecular contamination and sp2^2 carbon on oxidation of (100) single-crystal diamond surfaces

The efficacy of oxygen (O) surface terminations of specific moieties and densities on diamond depends on factors such as crystallinity, roughness, and crystal orientation. Given the wide breadth of diamond-like materials and O-termination techniques, it can be difficult to discern which method would yield the highest and most consistent O coverage on a particular subset of diamond. We first review the relevant physical parameters for O-terminating single-crystalline diamond (SCD) surfaces and summarize prior oxidation work on (100) SCD. We then report on our experimental study on X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) characterization of (100) diamond surfaces treated with oxidation methods that include wet chemical oxidation, photochemical oxidation with UV illumination, and steam oxidation using atomic layer deposition. We describe a rigorous XPS peak-fitting procedure for measuring the functionalization of O-terminated samples and recommend that the reporting of peak energy positions, line shapes, and full-width-half-maximum values of the individual components, along with the residuals, are important for evaluating the quality of the peak fit. Two chemical parameters on the surface, sp$^2$ C and molecular contaminants, are also crucial towards interpreting the O coverage on the diamond surface and may account for the inconsistency in prior reported values in literature