Evidence of molecular adaptation to extreme environments and applicability to space environments

This is initial study of a gene signatures responsible for adapting microscopic life to the life in extreme Earth environments. We present a results on ID of the clusters of COGs common to several hyperthermophiles and exclusion of those common to a mesophile: E.coli.K12, will yield a group of proteins possibly involved in adaptation to life under extreme T. Methanogens stand out as the only group of organisms that have species capable of growth at 0C (M.frigidum and M.burtonii) and 110C (M.kandleri). Not all the components of heat adaptation can be attributed to novel genes, the chaperones known as heat shock proteins stabilize the enzymes under elevated temperature. Highly conserved chaperons found in bacteria and eukaryots are not present in hyperthermophilic Archea, rather, they have a unique chaperone TF55. Our aim is to use software which we specifically developed for extremophile genome comparative analyses in order to search for additional novel genes involved in hyperthermophile adaptation. The following hyperthermophile genomes incorporated in our software were used for these studies: M.jannaschii, M.kandleri, A.fulgidus and 3 species of Pyrococcus. Common genes were annotated and grouped according to their roles in cellular processes when information was available and proteins not previously implicated in the heat-adaptation of hyperthermophiles were identified. Additional experimental data is needed in order to learn more about these proteins. To address a non-gene based components of thermal adaptation, all sequenced extremophiles were analysed for their GC contents and aminoacid hydrophobicity. We develop a prediction model for optimal growth temperature.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, To be published in Serbian Astronomical Journa

Influence of Cellulose on the Anoxic Treatment of Domestic Wastewater in Septic Tanks: Statistical Analysis of the Chemical and Physico-Chemical Parameters

Cellulose is a very common polymer in domestic wastewater (WW), representing a not negligible part of the organic substance contained in sewage. To date, many studies have highlighted the feasibility of reusing this compound in several ways (e.g., building sector, wastewater treatment, energy production, etc.) after its separation from domestic WW. However, studies about the impact of the absence of cellulose on the chemical and physico-chemical parameters of a biological process are still lacking. In this work, two pilot-scale plants were used to simulate an anoxic treatment of WW in septic tanks, with and without cellulose (CWW and NCWW, respectively), for three months. The results of the monitoring highlighted that T, pH, and electrical conductivity (EC) remained almost constants, in both cases. The Spearman correlation coefficients (SCC) for turbidity (TUR), total suspended solids (TSS), and color (COL) indicated a higher removal in the case of CWW (65%, 66%, and 56%, respectively). Organic substance and nitrogen forms showed a similar behavior with and without cellulose, but in the case of CWW, N-NH3 was highly negatively correlated with TUR (SCC: −0.54), TSS (−0.49), and COL (−0.39). A biological denitrification process was highlighted in both cases. Despite these differences, when statistically analyzing the trends of the chemical and physico-chemical parameters for CWW and NCWW, a significant difference due to the absence of cellulose was excluded. These results will be useful to the scientific community, as they exclude that the operational parameters of anoxic treatments and the effectiveness on pollutants removal can be affected in the case of preliminary cellulose separation from domestic WW for recovery/reuse purposes

Advanced model for the calculation of meshing forces in spur gear planetary transmissions

This paper presents a planar spur gear planetary transmission model, describing in great detail aspects such as the geometric definition of geometric overlaps and the contact forces calculation, thus facilitating the reproducibility of results by fellow researchers. The planetary model is based on a mesh model already used by the authors in the study of external gear ordinary transmissions. The model has been improved and extended to allow for the internal meshing simulation, taking into consideration three possible contact scenarios: involute–involute contact, and two types of involute-tip rounding arc contact. The 6 degrees of freedom system solved for a single couple of gears has been expanded to 6 + 3n degrees of freedom for a planetary transmission with n planets. Furthermore, the coupling of deformations through the gear bodies’ flexibility has been also implemented and assessed. A step-by-step integration of the planetary is presented, using two typical configurations, demonstrating the model capability for transmission simulation of a planetary with distinct pressure angles on each mesh. The model is also put to the test with the simulation of the transmission error of a real transmission system, including the effect of different levels of external torque. The model is assessed by means of quasi-static analyses, and the meshing stiffness values are compared with those provided by the literature.The authors would like to acknowledge Project DPI2013-44860 funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology

Pharmacological Inhibition of Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase/Visfatin Enzymatic Activity Identifies a New Inflammatory Pathway Linked to NAD

Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), also known as visfatin, is the rate-limiting enzyme in the salvage pathway of NAD biosynthesis from nicotinamide. Since its expression is upregulated during inflammation, NAMPT represents a novel clinical biomarker in acute lung injury, rheumatoid arthritis, and Crohn's disease. However, its role in disease progression remains unknown. We report here that NAMPT is a key player in inflammatory arthritis. Increased expression of NAMPT was confirmed in mice with collagen-induced arthritis, both in serum and in the arthritic paw. Importantly, a specific competitive inhibitor of NAMPT effectively reduced arthritis severity with comparable activity to etanercept, and decreased pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion in affected joints. Moreover, NAMPT inhibition reduced intracellular NAD concentration in inflammatory cells and circulating TNFα levels during endotoxemia in mice. In vitro pharmacological inhibition of NAMPT reduced the intracellular concentration of NAD and pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion by inflammatory cells. Thus, NAMPT links NAD metabolism to inflammatory cytokine secretion by leukocytes, and its inhibition might therefore have therapeutic efficacy in immune-mediated inflammatory disorders

Comparative review of human and canine osteosarcoma: morphology, epidemiology, prognosis, treatment and genetics

Osteosarcoma (OSA) is a rare cancer in people. However OSA incidence rates in dogs are 27 times higher than in people. Prognosis in both species is poor, with five year osteosarcoma survival rates in people not having improved in decades. For dogs, one year survival rates are only around ~45%. Improved and novel treatment regimens are urgently required to improve survival in both humans and dogs with OSA. Utilising information from genetic studies could assist in this in both species, with the higher incidence rates in dogs contributing to the dog population being a good model of human disease. This review compares the clinical characteristics, gross morphology and histopathology, aetiology, epidemiology, and genetics of canine and human osteosarcoma. Finally, the current position of canine osteosarcoma genetic research is discussed and areas for additional work within the canine population are identified

Protein-altering germline mutations implicate novel genes related to lung cancer development

Few germline mutations are known to affect lung cancer risk. We performed analyses of rare variants from 39,146 individuals of European ancestry and investigated gene expression levels in 7,773 samples. We find a large-effect association with an ATM L2307F (rs56009889) mutation in adenocarcinoma for discovery (adjusted Odds Ratio = 8.82, P = 1.18 × 10−15) and replication (adjusted OR = 2.93, P = 2.22 × 10−3) that is more pronounced in females (adjusted OR = 6.81 and 3.19 and for discovery and replication). We observe an excess loss of heterozygosity in lung tumors among ATM L2307F allele carriers. L2307F is more frequent (4%) among Ashkenazi Jewish populations. We also observe an association in discovery (adjusted OR = 2.61, P = 7.98 × 10−22) and replication datasets (adjusted OR = 1.55, P = 0.06) with a loss-of-function mutation, Q4X (rs150665432) of an uncharacterized gene, KIAA0930. Our findings implicate germline genetic variants in ATM with lung cancer susceptibility and suggest KIAA0930 as a novel candidate gene for lung cancer risk