Mineral Uptake Rates and Yield Coefficients of the Green Microalgae Scenedesmus Dimorphus

The need for renewable sources of energy has become critical as fossil fuel resources, which include oil, coal, and natural gas, are known to contribute to climate change and will eventually be depleted. Biofuels that originate from the fat of plants, animals, microalgae, and bacteria are an attractive alternative. Microalgae, in particular, are strong candidates for biofuel production since they have a high growth rate and lipid content (up to 50 in some species). The goal of this research was to optimize 3N-BBM+V recipe (Bold Basal Medium with 3-fold Nitrogen and Vitamins) in an effort of reducing the amount of nutrients used in growing the green microalgae Scenedesmus dimorphus, and hence lower the cost of cultivation. Three runs were carried out on a 5L bioreactor in batch mode. The average growth rate of S. dimorphus was 0.17 ± 0.03 days-1. Inductively Coupled Plasma was utilized to monitor substrate concentration with time in the bioreactor which allowed the determination of yield coefficients in gdw biomass/g substrate for magnesium (253±50), calcium (341±84), potassium (61±15), phosphorous (60±13), and iron (5807±3000). These yields were utilized to calculate the optimal starting substrate concentration in the media in mg/L for magnesium (4.3±0.3), calcium (3.2±0.2), potassium (18±1), phosphorous (18±1), and iron (0.19±0.015). The inverse of mass fraction for elements in the biomass was obtained in gdw biomass/g substrate for magnesium (309±9), calcium (341±84), potassium (98±6), phosphorous (70±5), and iron (8075±2500). The average substrate consumption rates in the three runs for Mg, Ca, Fe, P, and K are 0.61±0.41,0.31±0.64, 0.008±0.03, 2.8±1.6, and 1.3±2.2 mg substrate/gdw biomass.day respectively. Potassium and phosphorous have the lowest yields which is consistent wit h them having the highest consumption rates. The bead beater and mortar and pestle cell lysing methods were utilized to determine which

Mineral Uptake Rates and Yield Coefficients of the Green Microalgae Scenedesmus Dimorphus

The need for renewable sources of energy has become critical as fossil fuel resources, which include oil, coal, and natural gas, are known to contribute to climate change and will eventually be depleted. Biofuels that originate from the fat of plants, animals, microalgae, and bacteria are an attractive alternative. Microalgae, in particular, are strong candidates for biofuel production since they have a high growth rate and lipid content (up to 50 in some species). The goal of this research was to optimize 3N-BBM+V recipe (Bold Basal Medium with 3-fold Nitrogen and Vitamins) in an effort of reducing the amount of nutrients used in growing the green microalgae Scenedesmus dimorphus, and hence lower the cost of cultivation. Three runs were carried out on a 5L bioreactor in batch mode. The average growth rate of S. dimorphus was 0.17 ± 0.03 days-1. Inductively Coupled Plasma was utilized to monitor substrate concentration with time in the bioreactor which allowed the determination of yield coefficients in gdw biomass/g substrate for magnesium (253±50), calcium (341±84), potassium (61±15), phosphorous (60±13), and iron (5807±3000). These yields were utilized to calculate the optimal starting substrate concentration in the media in mg/L for magnesium (4.3±0.3), calcium (3.2±0.2), potassium (18±1), phosphorous (18±1), and iron (0.19±0.015). The inverse of mass fraction for elements in the biomass was obtained in gdw biomass/g substrate for magnesium (309±9), calcium (341±84), potassium (98±6), phosphorous (70±5), and iron (8075±2500). The average substrate consumption rates in the three runs for Mg, Ca, Fe, P, and K are 0.61±0.41,0.31±0.64, 0.008±0.03, 2.8±1.6, and 1.3±2.2 mg substrate/gdw biomass.day respectively. Potassium and phosphorous have the lowest yields which is consistent wit h them having the highest consumption rates. The bead beater and mortar and pestle cell lysing methods were utilized to determine which

Smile Arc in Palestinian Adolesants

Smile Arc is good indicator of dentolabial harmony and attractiveness. The number of teeth displayed has an impact on smiling. Smiles which show first molar to first molar are judged the most attractive. Thus the aim of our study was to assess the smile arc in Palestinian adolescents and the number of teeth displayed in smiling so that to determine the attractiveness of Palestinian smile. This study was conducted on Palestinian adolescents with a total of 851 subjects (446 males and 405 females) aged between 12 and 17 years. They were examined for the smile arc using computer software program. (Adobe Photoshop CS3, Japan) The results showed that 75.8% of the Palestinian adolescents examined had consonant smile arc. Flat Smile Arc was present in 19.2% and reverse smile arc was present in 5% of the population examined. Statistically significant difference was present between males and females considering the smile arc and teeth displayed during smiling (p<0.05). The only insignificance was for consonant smile arc and smile that displays first premolars. The results also showed the percentage of people displayed canines during smiling was 5.1%, first premolars was 16.9%, second premolars was 35.5%, first molars was 40.3% and second molars was 2.2%. Palestinian adolescents generally show an attractive smile considering the impact of the number of teeth displayed on smiling and percentage of population having consonant smile arc

Self-medication practice among undergraduate medical students of a Saudi tertiary institution

Purpose: To assess the knowledge, attitude and magnitude of self-medication among medical students of Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.Methods: A cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire-based study was conducted among undergraduate medical students of Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia. A total of 300 students were selected by random sampling.Results: Self-medication practice was highly prevalent among the medical students, with 87 % reporting that they indulge in it. Self-medication was more prevalent among female students than male. Sedatives were the most common drugs used by students for self-medication (58 %). The most common reason adduced for self-medication practice was their belief that they have sufficient information, previous experience, and the experience of others, such as family members and colleagues, with regard to the drugs. A huge proportion (84.5 %) of the respondents agreed that selfmedication could be harmful and is associated with adverse effects, while 52.6 % stated that they would not advise other persons to indulge in self-medication.Conclusion: Self-medication is prevalent among third-year medical students of Jazan University in Saudi Arabia. Although the students exhibited sufficient awareness of self-medication, the findings highlight the need for intervention programmes regarding the practice of self-medication.Keywords: Self-medication, Prevalence, Awareness, Sedatives, Medical student

Alarming Eating Behaviours among Adolescents in Egypt

BACKGROUND: Adolescence is a phase of rapid growth and increased nutritional needs. It includes the stressful burden of pubertal changes, both physically and psychologically. Moreover, it is associated with the utmost need for independence and identity formation. An adolescent finds a great way to practice taking their own decisions by making personal food choices. But unfortunately, wrong dietary choices lead to unsatisfactory nutritional status. AIM: To investigate the prevalence of six eating behaviours among adolescents. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A case-control study was conducted on ninety Egyptian adolescents from 10 to 18 years old. Anthropometric measurements were taken. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated. The cases were forty-five children with body mass index ≥ 85th percentile. The control group involved forty-five of matched peers with body mass index ˂ 85th centile. A questionnaire form was constructed according to local customs in Egypt. RESULTS: Two unhealthy behaviours were mostly found in our study group. The first and the predominant one was multitasking while eating practised by 92.1% of candidates and showing the equal distribution in both groups. The second was skipping breakfast and was adopted by 51.7% of the study group with a significantly higher distribution in the ˂ 85th centile group. CONCLUSION: Faulty eating is a behaviour encountered in adolescence irrespective to BMI category. Thus, a normal BMI does not reflect healthy dietary behaviours

The association between leukocytes and sperm quality is concentration dependent

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To evaluate the association between leukocytes (polymorphonuclear granulocytes -PMNL) and semen parameters at different leukocyte concentrations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a retrospective clinical study at a university hospital andrology clinic. Semen samples from infertile men were analyzed for sperm morphology and motility according to seminal leukocytes (PMNL) concentration (category A: >0 to <0.25 × 10(6)/mL; category B: >0.25 to <0.5 × 10(6)/mL; category C: >0.5 to <0.75 × 10(6)/mL; category D: >0.75 to <1.0 × 10(6)/mL, category E: >1 × 10(6)/mL).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The percentage of sperm with normal morphology increased significantly from category A (14%) to category D (19%) but decreased in category E to levels (14%) similar to those in category A. Motility grades a and a+b (combined) also increased from category A (12%, 20%) to category D (18.0%, 28.5%) and decreased in category E (11%, 20.5%) to levels similar to those in category A. Sperm deformities and motility grades c and d increased progressively in all categories.</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>Leukocytes had a positive association with normal morphology and progressive motility in semen samples at a concentration of 0-1 × 10(6)/mL. The findings suggest that the association between leukocytes (PMNL) and semen quality might be concentration dependent.</p

Pre-mRNA splicing repression triggers abiotic stress signaling in plants

[EN] Alternative splicing (AS) of precursor RNAs enhances transcriptome plasticity and proteome diversity in response to diverse growth and stress cues. Recent work has shown that AS is pervasive across plant species, with more than 60% of intron-containing genes producing different isoforms. Mammalian cell-based assays have discovered various inhibitors of AS. Here, we show that the macrolide pladienolide B (PB) inhibits constitutive splicing and AS in plants. Also, our RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data revealed that PB mimics abiotic stress signals including salt, drought and abscisic acid (ABA). PB activates the abiotic stress-and ABA-responsive reporters RD29A::LUC and MAPKKK18::uidA in Arabidopsis thaliana and mimics the effects of ABA on stomatal aperture. Genome-wide analysis of AS by RNA-seq revealed that PB perturbs the splicing machinery and leads to a striking increase in intron retention and a reduction in other forms of AS. Interestingly, PB treatment activates the ABA signaling pathway by inhibiting the splicing of clade A PP2C phosphatases while still maintaining to some extent the splicing of ABA-activated SnRK2 kinases. Taken together, our data establish PB as an inhibitor and modulator of splicing and a mimic of abiotic stress signals in plants. Thus, PB reveals the molecular underpinnings of the interplay between stress responses, ABA signaling and post-transcriptional regulation in plants.We wish to thank members of the Laboratory for Genome Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology for helpful discussions and comments on the manuscript. We wish to thank Moussa Benhamed for helpful discussions and suggestions and for providing key materials. We wish to thank Sean Cutler for providing Arabidopsis seeds of MAKPKKK18-uidA. This study was supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Work in PR's laboratory was funded by grant BIO2014-52537-R from MINECO. Work in PD's laboratory is funded by grant PTDC/BIA-PLA/1084/2014 from FCT. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.Ling, Y.; Alshareef, S.; Butt, H.; Lozano Juste, J.; Li, L.; Galal, AA.; Moustafa, A.... (2017). Pre-mRNA splicing repression triggers abiotic stress signaling in plants. The Plant Journal. 89(2):291-309. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.13383S29130989

BrainScope: interactive visual exploration of the spatial and temporal human brain transcriptome

Spatial and temporal brain transcriptomics has recently emerged as an invaluable data source for molecular neuroscience. The complexity of such data poses considerable challenges for analysis and visualization. We present BrainScope: a web portal for fast, interactive visual exploration of the Allen Atlases of the adult and developing human brain transcriptome. Through a novel methodology to explore high-dimensional data (dual t-SNE), BrainScope enables the linked, all-in-one visualization of genes and samples across the whole brain and genome, and across developmental stages. We show that densities in t-SNE scatter plots of the spatial samples coincide with anatomical regions, and that densities in t-SNE scatter plots of the genes represent gene co-expression modules that are significantly enriched for biological functions. We also show that the topography of the gene t-SNE maps reflect brain region-specific gene functions, enabling hypothesis and data driven research. We demonstrate the discovery potential of BrainScope through three examples: (i) analysis of cell type specific gene sets, (ii) analysis of a set of stable gene co-expression modules across the adult human donors and (iii) analysis of the evolution of co-expression of oligodendrocyte specific genes over developmental stages. BrainScope is publicly accessible at www.brainscope.nl.FSW – Publicaties zonder aanstelling Universiteit Leide

Single-cell transcriptomics links loss of human pancreatic beta-cell identity to ER stress

The maintenance of pancreatic islet architecture is crucial for proper beta-cell function. We previously reported that disruption of human islet integrity could result in altered beta-cell identity. Here we combine beta-cell lineage tracing and single-cell transcriptomics to investigate the mechanisms underlying this process in primary human islet cells. Using drug-induced ER stress and cytoskeleton modification models, we demonstrate that altering the islet structure triggers an unfolding protein response that causes the downregulation of beta-cell maturity genes. Collectively, our findings illustrate the close relationship between endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis and beta-cell phenotype, and strengthen the concept of altered beta-cell identity as a mechanism underlying the loss of functional beta-cell mass.Diabetes mellitus: pathophysiological changes and therap