Taxonomic results of the Bryotrop expedition to Zaire and Rwanda : 4., a preliminary check-list of the Hepaticae and Anthocerotae from Central Africa (Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi)

A check-list of the Hepaticae and Anthocerotae from Central Africa (Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi) is presented. 267 liverwort species and 4 hornworts are recognized for the area. For Zaire 215 Hepaticae and 3 species of Anthocerotae are recorded. In Rwanda 150 liverworts and one hornwort have been found. Burundi is far less known and only 48 Hepaticae are recorded

Substrate Range and Genetic Analysis of Acinetobacter Vanillate Demethylase

An Acinetobacter sp. genetic screen was used to probe structure-function relationships in vanillate demethylase, a two-component monooxygenase. Mutants with null, leaky, and heat-sensitive phenotypes were isolated. Missense mutations tended to be clustered in specific regions, most of which make known contributions to catalytic activity. The vanillate analogs m-anisate, m-toluate, and 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylbenzoate are substrates of the enzyme and weakly inhibit the metabolism of vanillate by wild-type Acinetobacter bacteria. PCR mutagenesis of vanAB, followed by selection for strains unable to metabolize vanillate, yielded mutant organisms in which vanillate metabolism is more strongly inhibited by the vanillate analogs. Thus, the procedure opens for investigation amino acid residues that may contribute to the binding of either vanillate or its chemical analogs to wild-type and mutant vanillate demethylases. Selection of phenotypic revertants following PCR mutagenesis gave an indication of the extent to which amino acid substitutions can be tolerated at specified positions. In some cases, only true reversion to the original amino acid was observed. In other examples, a range of amino acid substitutions was tolerated. In one instance, phenotypic reversion failed to produce a protein with the original wild-type sequence. In this example, constraints favoring certain nucleotide substitutions appear to be imposed at the DNA level

Quick reference list of basic literature to identify tropical African bryophytes

The aim of this short and selected reference list is to guide bryologists in the very scattered African literature when they try to identify specimens, as no standard bryofloras are available for the whole of Tropical Africa. The idea to compile such a reference list was raised during the Tropical Bryology Workshop held by the British Bryological Society, in the Botany School of Cambridge University, on the 21st of September 1990. The list is based on the senior author’s private library and files. We hope that the publication and distribution of such a list, even if incomplete, will prove to be useful for the future taxonomic and floristic works in Tropical Africa with special reference to the Bryologia Africana Project. We also hope that it will encour- age further collecting and identification by those who are not well versed in or do not possess the very diversified taxonomic literature on African bryo- phytes

Antimicrobial activity of de novo designed cationic peptides against multi-resistant clinical isolates

Antibiotic resistance is one of the main problems concerning public health or clinical practice. Antimicrobial peptides appear as good candidates for the development of new therapeutic drugs. In this study we de novo designed a group of cationic antimicrobial peptides, analyzed its physicochemical properties, including its structure by circular dichroism and studied its antimicrobial properties against a panel of clinical isolates expressing different mechanisms of resistance. Three cationic alpha helical peptides exhibited antimicrobial activity comparable to, or even better than the comparator omiganan (MBI-226).Fil: Faccone, Diego Francisco. Dirección Nacional de Institutos de Investigación. Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Área de Antimicrobianos; ArgentinaFil: Veliz, Omar. Dirección Nacional de Institutos de Investigación. Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Área de Antimicrobianos; ArgentinaFil: Corso, Alejandra. Dirección Nacional de Institutos de Investigación. Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Área de Antimicrobianos; ArgentinaFil: Noguera, Martín Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Martínez, Melina María Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Microbiología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Payés, Cristian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Microbiología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Semorile, Liliana Carmen. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Microbiología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Maffia, Paulo Cesar. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Microbiología Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

A linear Stark shift in dressed atoms as a signal to measure a nuclear anapole moment with a cold atom fountain or interferometer

We demonstrate theoretically the existence of a linear dc Stark shift of the individual substates of an alkali atom in its ground state, dressed by a circularly polarized laser field. It arises from the electroweak nuclear anapole moment violating P but not T. It is characterized by the pseudoscalar equal to the mixed product formed with the photon angular momentum and static electric and magnetic fields. We derive the relevant left-right asymmetry with its complete signature in a field configuration selected for a precision measurement with cold atom beams. The 3,3 to 4,3 Cs hyperfine-transition frequency shift amounts to 7 $\mu$Hz for a laser power of about 1 kW at 877 nm, E=100 kV/cm and B larger than 0.5 G.Comment: Article, 4 pages, 2 figure

Sidsel Natland 2007. Volden, horen og vennskapet. En kulturanalytisk studie av unge jenter som utøvere av vold.

âDet var ikke meningen å skjære så hardt med kniven, sa en av de tiltalte; en 17 år gammel jente (â¦). Hun inrømmet å ha rispet offeret i hofta slik at offeret måtte sy i alt 11 sting.â (Ãstlendingen 20 januar 2005).  Sidsel Natlands avhandling Volden, horen og vennskapet. En kulturanalytisk studie av unge jenter som utøvere av vold (2007) inleds med ett citat som kastar oss rätt in i det fält hon kommer att undersöka. Som Natland konstaterar så väcker det uppseende när flickor utövar våld. Dessa flickor är normbrytare i så motto att vi är vana att förhålla oss till män som våldsutövare. Kvinnor brukar oftare uppmärksammas och beskrivas som offer för våld snarare än som utövare. Denna motsättning motiverar avhandlingens utgångspunkt, nämligen hur vi ska förstå och förklara flickors bruk av våld

Characteristics of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) isolated from medical fields in Japan

学位記番号：医博甲169

Negative Entropy of Mixing for Vanadium-Platinum Solutions

The phonon densities of states for pure vanadium and the solid solutions V-6.25% Ni, Pd, Pt were determined from inelastic neutron scattering measurements. The solute atoms caused a large stiffening of the phonons, resulting in large, negative vibrational entropies of mixing. For V-6.25%Pt, the negative vibrational entropy of mixing exceeds the conventional positive chemical entropy of mixing. This negative total entropy of mixing should extend to lower concentrations of Pt, and the effect on the bcc solvus line is discussed. The experimental data were inverted to obtain interatomic force constants by using a Born–von Kármán model with an iterative optimization algorithm. The stiffening of bonds responsible for the decrease of entropy was found to occur mainly in first-nearest-neighbor solute-host bonds, and correlates in part with the solute metallic radius

Taxonomic results of the Bryotrop expedition to Zaire and Rwanda : 10., Trichocoleaceae, Geocalycaceae, Acrobolbaceae, Balantiopsidaceae, Lepidoziaceae (Telaranea, Arachniopsis), Calypogeiaceae, Adelanthaceae, Porellaceae, Jubulaceae, Marchantiaceae (Dumortiera), Polytrichaceae

A survey of the families Trichocoleaceae, Geocalycaceae, Acrobolbaceae, Balantiopsidaceae, Lepidoziaceae (Telaranea, Arachniopsis), Calypogeiaceae, Adelanthaceae, Porellaceae, Jubulaceae, Marchantiaceae (Dumortiera) (Hepaticae) and Polytrichaceae (Musci) for Central Africa (Zaire and Rwanda) is presented. Leptoscyphus infuscatus, Tylimanthus ruwenzoriensis, Calypogeia fissa, Adelanthus lindenbergianus and Porella subdentata are recorded as new to Rwanda. Telaranea trifida and Calypogeia fusca are new to Zaire. Leptoscyphus hedbergii and Calypogeia afrocaerulea are new records for Zaire and Rwanda