Seed transcriptome annotation reveals enhanced expression of genes related to ros homeostasis and ethylene metabolism at alternating temperatures in wild cardoon

The association among environmental cues, ethylene response, ABA signaling, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis in the process of seed dormancy release is nowadays well-established in many species. Alternating temperatures are recognized as one of the main environmental signals determining dormancy release, but their underlying mechanisms are scarcely known. Dry after-ripened wild cardoon achenes germinated poorly at a constant temperature of 20, 15, or 10◦C, whereas germination was stimulated by 80% at alternating temperatures of 20/10◦C. Using an RNA-Seq approach, we identified 23,640 and annotated 14,078 gene transcripts expressed in dry achenes and achenes exposed to constant or alternating temperatures. Transcriptional patterns identified in dry condition included seed reserve and response to dehydration stress genes (i.e., HSPs, peroxidases, and LEAs). At a constant temperature, we observed an upregulation of ABA biosynthesis genes (i.e., NCED9), ABA-responsive genes (i.e., ABI5 and TAP), as well as other genes previously related to physiological dormancy and inhibition of germination. However, the alternating temperatures were associated with the upregulation of ethylene metabolism (i.e., ACO1, 4, and ACS10) and signaling (i.e., EXPs) genes and ROS homeostasis regulators genes (i.e., RBOH and CAT). Accordingly, the ethylene production was twice as high at alternating than at constant temperatures. The presence in the germination medium of ethylene or ROS synthesis and signaling inhibitors reduced significantly, but not completely, germination at 20/10◦C. Conversely, the presence of methyl viologen and salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM), a peroxidase inhibitor, partially increased germination at constant temperature. Taken together, the present study provides the first insights into the gene expression patterns and physiological response associated with dormancy release at alternating temperatures in wild cardoon (Cynara cardunculus var. sylvestris).Fil: Huarte, Hector Roberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora; ArgentinaFil: Puglia, Giuseppe. D.. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; ItaliaFil: Prjibelski, Andrey D.. Academia de Ciencias de Rusia.; RusiaFil: Raccuia, Salvatore A.. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Itali

Thermomechanical and morphological properties of poly(ethylene terephthalate)/anhydrous calcium terephthalate nanocomposites

Calcium terephthalate anhydrous salts (CATAS), synthetized by reaction of terephthalic acid with metal (Ca) oxide were incorporated at dierent weight contents (0-30 wt. %) in recycled Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (rPET) by melt processing. Their structure, morphology, thermal and mechanical properties (tensile and flexural behavior) were investigated. Results of tensile strength of the dierent formulations showed that when the CATAS content increased from 0.1 to 0.4 wt. %, tangible changes were observed (variation of tensile strength from 65.5 to 69.4 MPa, increasing value for E from 2887 up to 3131 MPa, respectively for neat rPET and rPET_0.4CATAS). A threshold weight amount (0.4 wt. %) of CATAS was also found, by formation at low loading, of a rigid amorphous fraction at the rPET/CATAS interface, due to the aromatic interactions (π-π conjugation) between the matrix and the filler. Above the threshold, a restriction of rPET/CATAS molecular chains mobility was detected, due to the formation of hybrid mechanical percolation networks. Additionally, enhanced thermal stability of CATAS filled rPET was registered at high content (Tmax shift from 426 to 441 offiC, respectively, for rPET and rPET_30CATAS), essentially due to chemical compatibility between terephthalate salts and polymer molecules, rich in stable aromatic rings. The singularity of a cold crystallization event, identified at the same loading level, confirmed the presence of an equilibrium state between nucleation and blocking eect of amorphous phase, basically related to the characteristic common terephthalate structure of synthetized Ca-Metal Organic Framework and the rPET matrix

Characterization of licorice root waste for prospective use as filler in more eco-friendly composite materials

The extraction of glycyrrhizin fromlicorice root and stolonwith ethanol/water solutions leaves a lignocellulosic residue, which could be potentially applied in biocomposites. This process proved difficult in principle, given the considerable hardness of this material as received, which impedes its use in polymer resins in large amounts. After ball milling, up to 10% of this fibrous residue, which shows very variable aspect ratio, was introduced into an epoxy matrix, to investigate its possible future application in sustainable polymers. Of the three composites investigated, containing 1, 5 and 10 wt% of licorice waste, respectively, by performing flexural testing, it was found that the introduction of an intermediate amount of filler proved the most suitable for possible development. Thermal characterization by thermogravimetry (TGA) did not indicate large variation of degradation properties due to the introduction of the filler. Despite the preliminary characteristics of this study, an acceptable resin-filler interface has been obtained for all filler contents. Issues to be solved in future study would be the possibility to include a larger amount of filler by better compatibilization and a more uniform distribution of the filler, considering their orientation, since most of it maintains an elongated geometry after ball milling

Ground Motion Prediction Equations Derived from the Italian Strong Motion Database

We present a set of ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) derived for the geometrical mean of the horizontal components and the vertical, considering the latest release of the strong motion database for Italy. The regressions are performed over the magnitude range 4–6.9 and considering distances up to 200 km. The equations are derived for peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV) and 5%-damped spectral acceleration at periods between 0.04 and 2 s. The total standard deviation (sigma) varies between 0.34 and 0.38 log10 unit, confirming the large variability of ground shaking parameters when regional data sets containing small to moderate magnitude events (M < 6) are used. The between-stations variability provides the largest values for periods shorter than 0.2 s while, for longer periods, the between-events and between-stations distributions of error provide similar contribution to the total variabilit

Curcumin loaded polymeric vs. Lipid nanoparticles: Antioxidant effect on normal and hypoxic olfactory ensheathing cells

Background: Curcumin (Cur) shows anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects on central nervous system diseases. The aim of this study was to develop Cur-loaded polymeric and lipid nanoparticles for intranasal delivery to enhance its stability and increase antioxidant effect on olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs). Methods: The nanosuspensions were subjected to physico-chemical and technological evaluation through photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and UV-spectrophotometry. The cytotoxicity studies of nanosuspensions were carried out on OECs. A viability test was performed after 24 h of exposure of OECs to unloaded and curcumin-loaded nanosuspensions. The potential protective effect of Cur was assessed on hypoxic OECs cells. Uptake studies were performed on the same cell cultures. Thermal analysis was performed to evaluate potential interaction of Cur with a 1,2-Dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) biomembrane model. Results: PCS analysis indicated that lipid and polymeric nanosuspensions showed a mean size of 127.10 and 338.20 nm, respectively, high homogeneity and negative zeta potential. Incorporation of Cur into both nanocarriers increased drug stability up to 135 days in cryoprotected freeze-dried nanosuspensions. Cell viability was improved when hypoxic OECs were treated with Cur-loaded polymeric and lipid nanosuspensions compared with the control. Conclusions: Both nanocarriers could improve the stability of Cur as demonstrated by technological studies. Biological studies revealed that both nanocarriers could be used to deliver Cur by intranasal administration for brain targeting

Two heterologously expressed Planobispora rosea proteins cooperatively induce Streptomyces lividans thiostrepton uptake and storage from the extracellular medium

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A bacterial artificial chromosomal library of <it>Planobispora rosea</it>, a genetically intractable actinomycete strain, was constructed using <it>Escherichia coli</it>-<it>Streptomyces </it>artificial chromosome (ESAC) and screened for the presence of genes known to be involved in the biosynthesis of antibiotics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One clone with a 40 kb insert showed antimicrobial activity against Gram positive bacteria. Insert sequence analysis and subcloning experiments revealed that the bioactivity was due to a 3.5 kb DNA fragment containing two open reading frames. These <it>orfs </it>encode two proteins with high similarity to a putative membrane protein of <it>Streptomyces coelicolor </it>and to the nogalamycin resistance protein SnorO of <it>Streptomyces nogalater</it>, respectively. The role of these two Orfs is unknown in <it>Planobispora. </it>Disruption and complementation experiments revealed that both proteins are necessary for the antibacterial activity and chemical analysis demonstrated that the antibiotic activity was due to thiostrepton, antibiotic used as recombinant clone selection marker.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Two <it>Planobispora rosea orfs </it>are responsible for increasing intracellular amounts and storage of thiostrepton in <it>Streptomyces lividans</it>.</p

Pan-European ground-motion prediction equations for the average horizontal component of PGA, PGV, and 5 %-damped PSA at spectral periods up to 3.0 s using the RESORCE dataset

This article presents a set of Ground-Motion Prediction Equations (GMPEs) for Europe and the Middle East, derived from the RESORCE strong motion data bank, following a standard regression approach. The parametric GMPEs are derived for the peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, and 5 %-damped pseudo-absolute acceleration response spectra computed over 23 periods between 0.02 and 3 s, considering the average horizontal-component ground-motions. The GMPEs are valid for distances less than 300 km, hypocentral depth up to 35 km and over the magnitude range 4–7.6. Two metrics for the source-to-station distance (i.e. Joyner-Boore and hypocentral) are considered. The selected dataset is composed by 2,126 recordings (at a period of 0.1 s) related to 365 earthquakes, that includes strong-motion data from 697 stations.The EC8 soil classification (four classes from A to D) discriminates recording sites and four classes (normal, reverse, strike-slip, and unspecified) describe the style of faulting. A subset which contains only stations with measured Vs30 and earthquakes with specified focal mechanism (1,224 records from 345 stations and 255 earthquakes) is used to test of the accuracy of the median prediction and the variability associated to the broader data set. A random effect regression scheme is applied and bootstrap analyses are performed to estimate the 95 % confidence levels for the parameters. The total standard deviation sigma is decomposed into between-events and within-event components, and the site-to-site component is evaluated as well. The results show that the largest contribution to the total sigma is coming from the within-event component. When analyzing the residual distributions, no significant trends are observed that can be ascribed to the earthquake type (mainshock-aftershock classification) or to the non-linear site effects. The proposed GMPEs have lower median values than global models at short periods and large distances, while are consistent with global models at long periods (T>1) s. Consistency is found with two regional models developed for Turkey and Italy, as the considered dataset is dominated by waveforms recorded in these regions

Time-Dependent Density-Functional Theory for Trapped Strongly-Interacting Fermionic Atoms

The dynamics of strongly interacting trapped dilute Fermi gases (dilute in the sense that the range of interatomic potential is small compared with inter-particle spacing) is investigated in a single-equation approach to the time-dependent density-functional theory. Our results are in good agreement with recent experimental data in the BCS-BEC crossover regime. It is also shown that the calculated corrections to the hydrodynamic approximation may be important even for systems with a rather large number of atoms.Comment: Resubmitted to PRA in response to referee's comments. Abstract is changed. Added new figure

Superconductivity from a melted insulator

Quantum phase transitions typically result in a broadened critical or crossover region at nonzero temperature. Josephson arrays are a model of this phenomenon, exhibiting a superconductor-insulator transition at a critical wave impedance, and a well-understood insulating phase. Yet high-impedance arrays used in quantum computing and metrology apparently evade this transition, displaying superconducting behavior deep into the nominally insulating regime. The absence of critical behavior in such devices is not well understood. Here we show that, unlike the typical quantum-critical broadening scenario, in Josephson arrays temperature dramatically shifts the critical region. This shift leads to a regime of superconductivity at high temperature, arising from the melted zero-temperature insulator. Our results quantitatively explain the low-temperature onset of superconductivity in nominally insulating regimes, and the transition to the strongly insulating phase. We further present, to our knowledge, the first understanding of the onset of anomalous-metallic resistance saturation. This work demonstrates a non-trivial interplay between thermal effects and quantum criticality. A practical consequence is that, counterintuitively, the coherence of high-impedance quantum circuits is expected to be stabilized by thermal fluctuations.Comment: 8+18 pages, 4+15 figure

Bacterial community structure and removal performances in IFAS-MBRs: A pilot plant case study

The paper reports the results of an experimental campaign carried out on a University of Cape Town (UCT) integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant. The pilot plant was analysed in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nutrients removal, kinetic/stoichiometric parameters, membrane fouling and sludge dewaterability. Moreover, the cultivable bacterial community structure was also analysed. The pilot plant showed excellent COD removal efficiency throughout experiments, with average value higher than 98%, despite the slight variations of the influent wastewater. The achieved nitrification efficiency was close to 98% for most of the experiments, suggesting that the biofilm in the aerobic compartment might have sustained the complete nitrification of the influent ammonia, even for concentrations higher than 100\ua0mg\ua0L-1. The irreversible resistance due to superficial cake deposition was the mechanism that mostly affected the membrane fouling. Moreover, it was noticed an increase of the resistance due pore blocking likely due to the increase of the EPSBound fraction that could derive by biofilm detachment. The bacterial strains isolated from aerobic tank are wastewater bacteria known for exhibiting efficient heterotrophic nitrification\ue2\u80\u93aerobic denitrification and producing biofilm