Oilseed Rape straw for Cultivation of Oyster Mushroom

Oyster mushroom [_Pleurotus ostreatus_ var. _sajor caju_ (Fr.) Singer] cultivation can play an important role in managing organic waste. It can be cultivated on a wide rang of substrates containing lignin and cellulose. Oyster mushroom was grown on five substrates: Rise straw (Oryza sativa L. var. Alikazemi), Rise straw + Oilseed Rape straw (Brassica napus var. Hyola 401) (75:25 dw /dw), Rise straw + Oilseed Rape straw (50:50 dw /dw), Rise straw + Oilseed Rape straw (25:75 dw /dw) and Oilseed Rape straw alone. Oilseed Rape straw alone and Rise straw + Oilseed Rape straw (25:75 dw /dw) were best for fruit body production of P. ostreatus. Time to fruiting for P. ostreatus was also shorter on Oilseed Rape straw. Protein content of the fruit bodies obtained from Oilseed Rape straw was higher than those from other substrates. Using Oilseed Rape straw as a substrate appears to be suitable for oyster mushroom production

On Association of Seismic Lineaments and Stress Patterns of the Southeastern United States: Criteria of Failure

It is generally agreed that shallow focus, low magnitude, crustal earthquakes are caused by a sudden frictional movement on preexisting faults, and that the orientation of the faults may be delineated by locations of past earthquakes. The spatial distribution of a large number of epicenters in the Southeastern region of the United States may be interpreted in terms of many linear patterns. These patterns indicate weak fracture zones which are conveniently called seismic lineaments. Orientations of the seismic lineaments are mostly NE-SW, NW-SE and N-S within the Piedmont and Coastal Plain Provinces, but they are nearly N-S, and NE-SW within the Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge Provinces. Azimuthal distribution of the seismic lineaments shows a dominant N30°E direction while azimuthal distribution of the available crustal stress orientations for this region indicates a dominant N60°E direction. Based on Anderson theory of faulting for this dominant orientation of the seismic fracture patterns and the dominant direction of the stress pattern, the frictional angle of crustal rock, Φ, is estimated to be about 30°. From a linear frictional law for failure and the two dimensional stress system the maximum shear and principal stresses are calculated. Results indicate that sliding on a weak fracture plane can occur for a wide range of angle P between the sliding plane and the principal stress axes, mean stresses, cohesive shear strengths, and rock frictional angles Φ = 30±10°. The maximum shear and principal stresses on the sliding planes are calculated for a range of parameters, as a function of β. The plots of the maximum shear and principal stresses indicate a very broad U shaped curve, where the minimum values vary from 0.68 to 2.3 Kbars for the maximum shear and from 3.23 to 17.84 Kbars for the maximum principal stresses respectively. or cohesive shear strength of 0.5 Kbars and frictional angle Φ = 30°, the maximum shear stress of 0.68 Kbars and maximum principal stress of 3.23 Kbars occur at P = 60° corresponding to the N30°E direction of the observed seismic lineaments

Statistical Relations Between Intensity and Magnitude of Southeastern United States Earthquakes

The least squared, the major axis and the reduced major axis criterion are used to deduce a statistical relation between magnitude, mbLg, and intensity, I, for the earthquakes-in southeastern United States. Based on a catalog of 162 events during 1833 to 1987, with magnitudes between 1.1 and 6.9 and intensities between II and X, it is shown that the reduced major axis criterion produces: mbLg = (0.656 ± 0.058)*I + (0.402 ± 0.178), which is the best predictor equation of magnitude for the upper range of the observed intensities. The predictor equations based on the least squared and major axis criterion are: mbLg = (0.441 ± 0.038)*I + (1.359 ± 0.176) and mbLg = (0,544 ± 0.047)*I + (0.898 ± 0.424), respectively; the least squared equation is a better predictor for the lower range of the observations and the major axis equation yields predictions which are between the predictions from the other two equations. In mid-range of the observed data all three equations predict nearly the same results. A set of three similar equations are found between intensity, I, and magnitude mbLg. The effects of various conversion methods on values of a and b in the frequency-magnitude equation log N= a + b*mbLg and values of a\u27 and b\u27 in the frequency-intensity relation log N= a\u27 + b\u27*I are negligible. Three new catalogs, with 2245 events in each were formed; in the new catalogs if the intensity or the magnitude of an event was missing it was estimated based on the above equations; then, the least squared technique was used to calculate the coefficients a, b, a\u27, and b\u27; the unnormalized values of the coefficients are: a = 4.105 ± 0.144, b = -0.591 ± 0.035, a\u27 = 3.941 ± 0.199, and b\u27 = -0.400 ± 0.033, respectively

Theoretical Study on the Mechanism of Removing Nitrogen Oxides using Isocyanic Acid.

The mechanism of RAPRENOx reactions - RAPid REduction of Nitrogen Oxides using Isocyanic acid - proposed by Robert A. Perry1 in an attempt to help control the emission of nitrogen oxides pollutant into the atmosphere, has been re-investigated theoretically. The study of reaction mechanisms was carried out using Chemist software2. All mathematically possible elementary steps have been evaluated and the chemically reasonable ones have been considered to propose new sets of reaction mechanisms. Density Functional Theory (B3LYP/6-31 G**) calculations using Gaussian 983 were made in order to study the relative energies of all species and to predict the energy barrier of each elementary step. As a consequence of our study, there are two more sets of reaction mechanisms (in addition to Perry’s mechanism), that could be possible for the propagation step of RAPRENOx process

On the Linear Relation Between mb And Ms for Discrimination Between Explosions and Earthquakes

Summary. The statistical capability of the mb :Ms, discriminant for the discrimination of earthquake and explosion populations is examined by application of discriminant functions to a group of 83 explosions and 72 earthquakes in Eurasia. Equations are derived for the probability that an event is an earthquake or an explosion. The positive sign of DIS in the decision index equation, DIS, = 34.3383 - 11.9569 mbi, + 7.1 161 Msi, indicates that the event i is an earthquake. Its negative sign indicates that event i is an explosion. The probability of correct classification for an event, Pi, is reiated to its DISi, value, by Pi = [l t exp (DISi,)]-1, where a large, positive DIS indicates a high probability that an event is an earthquake and a large, negative DIS indicates a high probability that an event is an explosion. The discrimination line Ms = 1.680 mb ~ 4.825, or rnb = 0.595 Ms + 2.872 very successfully separates the explosion population from the earthquake population. The points on this line have an equal chance of being an earthquake or an explosion; moreover, for any event, the distance parallel to the Ms,-axis from the point representing that event in the mb:Ms, plane to this line is a measure of the probability for the correct classification of that event

Gram-positive cocci contamination in dental unit water lines at Kerman dental school during 2015

Background: Because of its role in the incidence of serious microbial infections, the contamination of dental unit water lines is concerned. The aim of this study was to evaluate the bacterial contamination of dental unit water lines to gram-positive cocci at Kerman. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Environmental Health Engineering Research Center of Kerman University of Medical Sciences (KUMS) during 2015. Randomly 4 units among each of the departments of Dental School of KUMS (Pediatrics, Orthodontics, Oral surgery, Maxillofacial and Oral medicine) were selected. Samples were transported to the laboratory in sterile containers. Results: No contamination to gram-positive cocci in drinking water samples were reported. Among the water samples taken from Dental School the highest bacterial count was for the Oral medicine department (the cup filler unit 26/25 cfu/mL and 32/18 cfu/mL and the lowest bacterial count was for Oral surgery, Maxillofacial departments parts exposed to the weather unit 23/25 (cfu/mL) and 24/43 (cfu/mL). Conclusion: The prevalence of gram positive cocci in dental units of the departments was high. The dentists should care to the presence of microorganisms and take preventive measures to reduce the risk of infection among the department staff and patients

Effects of Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound on Liposomes Containing Channel proteins.

The ability to reversibly and non-invasively modulate region-specific brain activity in vivo suggests Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound (LIFU) as potential therapeutics for neurological dysfunctions such as epilepsy and Parkinson's disease. While in vivo studies provide evidence of the bioeffects of LIFU on neuronal activity, they merely hint at potential mechanisms but do not fully explain how this technology achieves these effects. One potential hypothesis is that LIFU produces local membrane depolarization by mechanically perturbing the neuronal cell membrane, or activating channels or other proteins embedded in the membrane. Proteins that sense mechanical perturbations of the membrane, such as those gated by membrane tension, are prime candidates for activating in response to LIFU and thus leading to the neurological responses that have been measured. Here we use the bacterial mechanosensitive channel MscL, which has been purified and reconstituted in liposomes, to determine how LIFU may affect the activation of this membrane-tension gated channel. Two bacterial voltage-gated channels, KvAP and NaK2K F92A channels were also studied. Surprisingly, the results suggest that ultrasound modulation and membrane perturbation does not induce channel gating, but rather induces pore formation at the membrane protein-lipid interface. However, in vesicles with high MscL mechanosensitive channel concentrations, apparent decreases in pore formation are observed, suggesting that this membrane-tension-sensitive protein may serve to increase the elasticity of the membrane, presumably because of expansion of the channel in the plane of the membrane independent of channel gating

Plasmid profile, antibiotic resistance, and phenotypic virulent strains of S. flexneri

Shigellosis is an acute gastroenteritis caused by Shigella species. The purpose of this study was to determine plasmid profile, antibiotic resistance and phenotypic virulent by Congo red between S. flexneri strains. The isolated bacteria were identified by standard bacterial and biochemical methods. Plasmids were isolated by alkaline lysis method. Antibiotic susceptibility test was performed according to "kirby-Bauer" method. Serological reactions were carried by slide agglutination tests with both polyclonal and monoclonal antiserum kits. Virulent strains were isolated on a TSA plate contained Congo red dye concentration. From 350 isolated Shigella species, 142 (40.57) were S. flexneri. Eleven distinct plasmid profile patterns were identified. Of S. flexneri isolates, 95 were resistant to tetracycline, 85.6 to SXT and 75.3 to ampicillin. All the isolates were sensitive to ciprofloxacin. Our results showed that 39 were serotype II. 45.56 of S. flexneri were Congo red positive. Antibiotic resistant determination in each case may prevent drug resistance increase. Since Congo red binding test is cheap and simple it can be used to determine virulence properties of S. flexneri

The effect of type II toxin-antitoxin systems on methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus persister cell formation and antibiotic tolerance

Persister cells are defi ned as a subpopulation of bacteria in a dormant state with the ability to reduce bacterial metabolism and they are involved in antibiotic tolerance. Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems have been previously suggested as important players in persistence. Therefore, this study aimed to study the involvement of TA systems in persister cell formation in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus following antibiotic exposure. Using TADB and RASTA database, two type II TA systems including MazF/MazE and RelE/RelB were predicted in S. aureus. The presence of these TA genes was determined in 5 methicillin-resistant S. aureus isolates and the standard strain S. aureus subsp. aureus N315 using PCR method. To induce persistence, isolates were exposed to lethal doses of ciprofl oxacin and the expression of the studied TA system genes was measured after 5 h using Real-Time PCR. According to our results, all the studied isolates harbored the TA system genes. S. aureus was highly capable of persister cell formation following exposure to sub-MIC of ciprofl oxacin and RT-qPCR showed a signifi cant increase in the expression of the MazEF and RelBE loci, indicating their potential role in antibiotic tolerance. Considering the importance of antibiotic tolerance, further studies on persister cell formation and TA systems involved in this phenomenon are required to effi ciently target these systems