Biosorption of Chromium (VI) from Aqueous Solutions onto Fungal Biomass

The biosorption of chromium (VI) on eighteen different natural biosorbents: Natural sediment, chitosan, chitin, Aspergillus flavus I-V, Aspergillus fumigatus I-ll, Helmintosporium sp, Cladosporium sp, Mucor rouxii mutant, M. rouxii IM-80, Mucor sp-I and 2, Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans was studied in this work. It was found that the biomass of C. neoformans, natural sediment, Helmintosporium sp and chitosan was more efficient to remove chromium (VI) (determined spectrophotometrically at 540 nm using diphenylcarbazide as the complexing agent) achieving the. following percentage of removals: 98%, 98% and 63%, respectively. The highest adsorption was obtained with C. neoformans and Helmintosporium sp at pH 2.0 and 4.0 + 0.2, respectively, at 28∘C after 24 hours of incubation, with 0.2 mg/L of cellular biomass

Summing Feynman diagrams in the worldline formalism

The worldline formalism shares with string theory the property that it allows one to write down master integrals that effectively combine the contributions of many Feynman diagrams. While at the one-loop level these diagrams differ only by the position of the external legs along a fixed line or loop, at multiloop they generally involve different topologies. Here we summarize various efforts that have been made over the years to exploit this property in a computationally meaningful way. As a first example, we show how to generalize the Landau-Khalatnikov-Fradkin formula for the non-perturbative gauge transformation of the fermion propagator in QED to the general 2n - point case by pure manipulations at the path-integral level. At the parameter-integral level, we show how to integrate out individual photons in the low-energy expansion, and then sketch a recently introduced general framework for the analytical evaluation of such worldline integrals involving a reduction to quantum mechanics on the circle and the relation between inverse derivatives and Bernoulli polynomials

Peg Biology: Deciphering the Molecular Regulations Involved During Peanut Peg Development.

Peanut or groundnut is one of the most important legume crops with high protein and oil content. The high nutritional qualities of peanut and its multiple usage have made it an indispensable component of our daily life, in both confectionary and therapeutic food industries. Given the socio-economic significance of peanut, understanding its developmental biology is important in providing a molecular framework to support breeding activities. In peanut, the formation and directional growth of a specialized reproductive organ called a peg, or gynophore, is especially relevant in genetic improvement. Several studies have indicated that peanut yield can be improved by improving reproductive traits including peg development. Therefore, we aim to identify unifying principles for the genetic control, underpinning molecular and physiological basis of peg development for devising appropriate strategy for peg improvement. This review discusses the current understanding of the molecular aspects of peanut peg development citing several studies explaining the key mechanisms. Deciphering and integrating recent transcriptomic, proteomic, and miRNA-regulomic studies provide a new perspective for understanding the regulatory events of peg development that participate in pod formation and thus control yield

Morphological variability of native maize (Zea mays L.) of the west highland of Puebla and east highland of Tlaxcala, Mexico

The objective of this research was to assess the morphological variability of maize landraces native of the west highland of Puebla and east highland of Tlaxcala, México, in order to, besides define it, related it to races, commercial varieties and with the altitude of the localities of seed collection. The genetic resources evaluated were 134 accessions collected in 34 localities, along with 10 controls. Experiments were established on three localities using a Lattice 12 x 12. Thirty-two morphological traits were analyzed, 27 of them resulting with highly significant differences, reflecting the high variability at the level of morphological characters, many of them of agronomic interest. From variance analysis 16 traits were selected for use in a cluster analysis through the Modified Localization Method, which joint the populations in six groups, most of them in the group 1, with morphological traits of long cycle varieties: high plants, with greater primary branches of the tassel, greater ear diameter and length, and greater grain length and width. The conclusions indicate that the morphological variability of Landraces is not associated with the altitude of localities of seed collection and that these have more relation with Chalqueño race, small with Conico race, absent with Conico Norteño and Palomero Toluqueño races and almost absent with commercial varieties.The objective of this research was to assess the morphological variability of maize landraces native of the west highland of Puebla and east highland of Tlaxcala, México, in order to, besides define it, related it to races, commercial varieties and with the altitude of the localities of seed collection. The genetic resources evaluated were 134 accessions collected in 34 localities, along with 10 controls. Experiments were established on three localities using a Lattice 12 x 12. Thirty-two morphological traits were analyzed, 27 of them resulting with highly significant differences, reflecting the high variability at the level of morphological characters, many of them of agronomic interest. From variance analysis 16 traits were selected for use in a cluster analysis through the Modified Localization Method, which joint the populations in six groups, most of them in the group 1, with morphological traits of long cycle varieties: high plants, with greater primary branches of the tassel, greater ear diameter and length, and greater grain length and width. The conclusions indicate that the morphological variability of Landraces is not associated with the altitude of localities of seed collection and that these have more relation with Chalqueño race, small with Conico race, absent with Conico Norteño and Palomero Toluqueño races and almost absent with commercial varieties

Differential cholinergic activation of G proteins in rat and mouse brainstem: Relevance for sleep and nociception

Murine models are increasingly used for investigations of sleep, yet no previous studies have characterized cholinergic activation of guanine nucleotide binding proteins (G proteins) in mouse brainstem nuclei known to regulate sleep. This study used in vitro [ 35 S]guanylyl-5′- O -(Γ-thio)-triphosphate ([ 35 S]GTPΓS) autoradiography to test the hypothesis that muscarinic cholinergic receptors activate G proteins in C57BL/6J (B6) mouse brainstem. The nuclei studied are homologous to those known in rat and cat to modulate sleep and nociception. In B6 mouse, carbachol significantly increased specific binding of [ 35 S]GTPΓS in the pontine reticular nucleus, caudal part (79%); pontine reticular nucleus, oral part (131%); laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (56%); pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (86%); dorsal raphe nucleus (53%); dorsal medial periaqueductal gray (54%); and ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (52%) when compared with basal binding. Carbachol-induced G protein activation was concentration-dependent and blocked by atropine, demonstrating mediation by muscarinic receptors. G protein activation by carbachol was heterogeneous across B6 mouse brainstem nuclei. Comparison of [ 35 S]GTPΓS binding between mouse and rat revealed different magnitudes of G protein activation in the pontine reticular formation. In the same pontine reticular formation area of B6 mouse where in vitro treatment with carbachol activates G proteins, in vivo microinjection of cholinomimetics causes a rapid eye movement sleep-like state. These data provide the first direct measurement of muscarinic receptor-activated G proteins in B6 mouse brainstem nuclei known in other species to regulate sleep. J. Comp. Neurol. 457:175–184, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34467/1/10548_ftp.pd

La ciencia desde la perspectiva de género: una mirada al verano de la investigación científica

The category of gender emerges in the second half of the twentieth century as a need to address human sexuality, from an expanded perspective that considers men and women as integral, historical and social beings, as well as for inequity, injustice and social hierarchy Which, based on sexual differences, builds relations of inequality.La categoría de género surge en la segunda mitad del siglo XX, como una necesidad de abordar la sexualidad humana, desde una perspectiva ampliada que considerara a hombres y mujeres como seres integrales, históricos y sociales, así como por la inequidad, injusticia y jerarquización social que, con base en las diferencias sexuales, construye relaciones de desigualdad