Sorotipos, "mating type" e ploidia de amostras de C. neoformans isoladas de pacientes no Brasil

Serotype, mating type and ploidy of 84 strains of Cryptococcus neoformans isolated from 61 AIDS and 23 non-AIDS patients admitted in a tertiary teaching hospital in São Paulo, Brazil were examined. Among 61 strains isolated from AIDS patients, 60 strains were var. grubii (serotype A). Only one strain was var. gattii (serotype B). No var. neoformans (serotype D) was found. Among 23 strains isolated from non-AIDS patients, 15 were var. grubii (serotype A) and the remaining 8 were var. gattii, all of which were serotype B. Seventy-three of the 75 serotype A strains were the heterothallic alpha type (MATalpha) and the remaining 2 were untypable (asexual). Most of the MATalpha strains (69/73) were haploid and the remaining 4 strains were diploid. Similarly, both of the 2 asexual strains among the 75 serotype A strains were haploid. There were no alpha-mating type (MATalpha) strains among the 84 isolates. All of the 8 var. gattii strains were serotype B and haploid. Among a total of 84 strains tested, neither serotype AD nor serotype D were found. Neither triploid nor tetraploid were found. These results suggest that the serological, sexual and ploidy characteristics in C. neoformans strains isolated from AIDS patients in São Paulo were rather simple, whereas strains isolated from non-AIDS patients presented serotype A and B with predominance of serotype A.Foram estudados os sorotipos, "mating type" e ploidia de 84 amostras de C. neoformans isoladas de 61 pacientes com AIDS e 23 não-AIDS em São Paulo. Das amostras isoladas de pacientes com AIDS, 60 foram identificadas como var. grubii (sorotipo A) e 1 como var. gattii (sorotipo B). Não houve isolamento do sorotipo D. Entre as amostras isoladas, de pacientes não-AIDS, 15 foram de var. grubii (sorotipo A) e as 8 restantes de var. gattii, todos do sorotipo B. Setenta e três dos 75 sorotipos A foram identificadas como cepas heterotálicas do fenótipo alfa (MATalfa) e as 2 remanescentes não-tipáveis (assexuada), eram haplóides. A maioria das cepas MATalfa (69/73) era haplóide sendo 4 diplóide. Não houve o isolamento de fenótipo a (MATa) entre as 84 cepas analisadas. Todas as 11 amostras de var. gattii eram do sorotipo B e haplóides. Não foram observados os sorotipos AD e C, nem células triplóides ou tetraplóides entre as 84 amostras estudadas. Os resultados sugerem, que as características sorológicas, sexuais e de ploidia de C. neoformans, isoladas de pacientes com AIDS em São Paulo, são particularmente simples, a maioria do sorotipo A, enquanto que nos pacientes não-AIDS foram observados tanto os sorotipos A quanto o B

Recent Results from LHD Experiment with Emphasis on Relation to Theory from Experimentalist’s View

he Large Helical Device (LHD) has been extending an operational regime of net-current free plasmas towardsthe fusion relevant condition with taking advantage of a net current-free heliotron concept and employing a superconducting coil system. Heating capability has exceeded 10 MW and the central ion and electron temperatureshave reached 7 and 10 keV, respectively. The maximum value of β and pulse length have been extended to 3.2% and 150 s, respectively. Many encouraging physical findings have been obtained. Topics from recent experiments, which should be emphasized from the aspect of theoretical approaches, are reviewed. Those are (1) Prominent features in the inward shifted configuration, i.e., mitigation of an ideal interchange mode in the configuration with magnetic hill, and confinement improvement due to suppression of both anomalous and neoclassical transport, (2) Demonstration ofbifurcation of radial electric field and associated formation of an internal transport barrier, and (3) Dynamics of magnetic islands and clarification of the role of separatrix

Electrocatalytic Activity of Pt Oxide Electrode for CO2 Reduction

Pushed by human activities, the atmospheric CO2 concentration has reached levels which have made extreme weather events more likely, and which threaten permanent climate changes for the world. In order to combat this, CO2 emissions must be reduced significantly. Electricity production and industry are two sectors which contribute greatly to the production of CO2, thus a reduction in the amount of CO2 produced by thermal power plants and factories could make a significant contribution to combatting climate change. The electrochemical reduction of CO2 in those sources is considered very likely to be a solution to the problem. In this study, the activity of a Pt oxide electrode in the electrochemical reduction of CO2 was investigated in a sulfuric acid solution. Pt oxide electrodes have shown superior activity for the methanol oxidation reaction, which is the reverse reaction of CO2 electrochemical reduction. Cyclic voltammetry of the Pt oxide electrode in a CO2-saturated H2SO4 solution showed a definite anodic peak at 0.6-0.8 V vs. SHE, which was not observed in an Ar-deaerated electrolyte. Thus, it was determined that the anodic peak could be related to the re-oxidation of the reduction product of CO2 during cathodic polarization. The activity of the Pt oxide electrode for CO2 reduction was much higher than that of the Pt electrode. It was concluded that the residual oxygen, which was hardly detected in the Pt electrode, improved the activity for CO2 electrochemical reduction on the Pt oxide electrode. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of the electrolytic solution after CO2 reduction revealed that the reduction product was mainly CH3OH. These results should be very useful for developing a new electrochemical reduction system for converting CO2 into CH3OH

In-situ Analysis of CO2 Electroreduction on Pt and Pt Oxide Cathodes

The issue of excessive amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere has promoted the study of methods of removing it from the atmosphere. In the field of electrochemistry, electroreduction of CO2 has become an area of significant scientific interest. Our previous work has shown Pt oxide exhibits a higher CO2 electroreduction activity than Pt. In this study, the surface adsorption species on Pt and Pt oxide during electroreduction were investigated with SEIRAS to clarify the mechanisms of the superior electroreduction activity of Pt oxide. The main adsorption species during CO2 electroreduction were methanol and HCOO− on the Pt oxide, and methanol and linear-CO on the Pt. We confirmed that the CO2 electroreduction reaction proceeds via HCOO− on Pt oxide, and through CO on Pt. The CO2 electroreduction activity is significantly affected by the adsorption species because CO strongly adsorbs on the active site and inhibits subsequent reactions. The residual oxygen in the reduced Pt oxide electrode may cause the difference in adsorption species, controlling the reaction pathway. We conclude that the superior CO2 electroreduction activity of Pt oxide is due to the difference in the reaction pathway, possibly caused by residual oxygen and oxygen vacancies in the Pt oxide electrode