Nonomuraea monospora sp. nov., an actinomycete isolated from cave soil in Thailand, and emended description of the genus Nonomuraea

A novel actinomycete, designated strain PT708T, was isolated from cave soil collected in Pha Tup Cave Forest Park, Nan province, Thailand. It produced compounds with antimicrobial and anticancer activities. Its chemotaxonomic properties were consistent with those of members of the genus Nonomuraea . The major menaquinone was MK-9(H4), with minor amounts of MK-9(H6), MK-9(H2), MK-10(H2) and MK-8(H4). The polar lipid profile contained phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, hydroxy-phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, hydroxy-phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside and phosphatidylinositol. The major fatty acids were iso-C16 : 0, 10-methyl C17 : 0, C16 : 0 and C17 : 1ω6c. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain PT708T belonged to the genus Nonomuraea and was most closely related to Nonomuraea rhizophila YIM 67092T (98.50 % sequence similarity) and Nonomuraea rosea GW 12687T (98.30 %). The genomic DNA G+C content of strain PT708T was 73.3 mol%. Unlike the recognized members of the genus Nonomuraea , the novel strain formed single spores at the tips of aerial hyphae. Based on the phenotypic, phylogenetic and genotypic evidence, strain PT708T represents a novel species of the genus Nonomuraea , for which the name Nonomuraea monospora sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is PT708T ( = TISTR 1910T = JCM 16114T)

Energy gap of the bimodal two-dimensional Ising spin glass

An exact algorithm is used to compute the degeneracies of the excited states of the bimodal Ising spin glass in two dimensions. It is found that the specific heat at arbitrary low temperature is not a self-averaging quantity and has a distribution that is neither normal or lognormal. Nevertheless, it is possible to estimate the most likely value and this is found to scale as L^3 T^(-2) exp(-4J/kT), for a L*L lattice. Our analysis also explains, for the first time, why a correlation length \xi ~ exp(2J/kT) is consistent with an energy gap of 2J. Our method allows us to obtain results for up to 10^5 disorder realizations with L <= 64. Distributions of second and third excitations are also shown.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Dihydromyricetin Attenuates Streptozotocin-induced Liver Injury and Inflammation in Rats via Regulation of NF-κB and AMPK Signaling Pathway

open access articleDihydromyricetin (DHM) dramatically improved the quality of life for Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats and significantly increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the liver. Moreover, DHM successfully ameliorated diabetes-induced liver damage by suppression of apoptosis in the liver, as indicated by the decreased levels of Bax and cleaved caspase-3. In diabetic rats, the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β in the liver were significantly increased. However, the administration of DHM (100–400 mg/kg/day) for 6 weeks restored the cytokine levels to their normal values in a dose-dependent manner in diabetic rats by the regulation of nuclear factor-kappa B signaling pathway. In addition, DHM significantly induced 5' AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation and decreased MyD88, TLR4, p38, GSK-3β protein expression levels in the liver of diabetic rats. In conclusion, DHM could improve STZ-induced liver impairment by preventing oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammation

Analytical evidence for the absence of spin glass transition on self-dual lattices

We show strong evidence for the absence of a finite-temperature spin glass transition for the random-bond Ising model on self-dual lattices. The analysis is performed by an application of duality relations, which enables us to derive a precise but approximate location of the multicritical point on the Nishimori line. This method can be systematically improved to presumably give the exact result asymptotically. The duality analysis, in conjunction with the relationship between the multicritical point and the spin glass transition point for the symmetric distribution function of randomness, leads to the conclusion of the absence of a finite-temperature spin glass transition for the case of symmetric distribution. The result is applicable to the random bond Ising model with $\pm J$ or Gaussian distribution and the Potts gauge glass on the square, triangular and hexagonal lattices as well as the random three-body Ising model on the triangular and the Union-Jack lattices and the four dimensional random plaquette gauge model. This conclusion is exact provided that the replica method is valid and the asymptotic limit of the duality analysis yields the exact location of the multicritical pointComment: 11 Pages, 4 figures, 1 table. submitted to J. Phys. A Math. Theo

The effect of a school-based iron intervention on the haemoglobin concentration of school children in north-west Pakistan

This article was published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition [Nature Publishing Group © the authors] and the definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.160Objective: To assess the effectiveness of iron supplements administered to school children through a longitudinal school health intervention in terms of child haemoglobin concentration and anaemia prevalence. Subjects and Methods: Children and adolescents aged 5-17 years were selected from 30 schools in north-west Pakistan for a longitudinal iron supplement intervention. Children received once-weekly iron supplements (200mg ferrous sulphate containing 63mg of elemental iron) for 24 weeks (n=352); or the same supplements twice-weekly for 12 weeks (n=298) or received no tablets (n=298). Haemoglobin concentration was estimated in finger-prick blood samples at baseline, 12 and 24 weeks. Follow-up samples were taken at 36 weeks. Results: A non-significant increase in haemoglobin concentration was observed in children receiving iron supplements after 12 weeks (mean 1.4 g/l SD 15.0 g/l in once-weekly vs 2.5 g/l SD 14.5 g/l in twice-weekly) compared with the group receiving no iron supplements. There was no significant reduction in the prevalence of anaemia in the once-weekly or twice-weekly group compared with the unsupplemented group. The prevalence of anaemia increased in all three groups during the follow-up period (24 to 36 weeks). Conclusion: Once-weekly and twice-weekly iron supplements were not associated with significant increases in haemoglobin concentration compared with unsupplemented children. In all groups, baseline haemoglobin concentration was the strongest predictor of haemoglobin increase. The lack of improvement may stem from the moderate baseline prevalence of anaemia (33%); other micronutrient deficiencies; variable compliance, or the worsening of haemoglobin status due to seasonal changes in dietary iron and other nutrients

Impacts of oomycete mycelia and zoospores in bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

138 páginas.-- 52 figuras.-- 8 tablas.-- 135 referencias.-- Tesis presentada para optar al título de Doctor por la Universidad de Sevilla.[EN]: With the aim to evaluate possible roles of oomycetes in bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), we explored in this thesis the functional interactions between these microorganisms and PAH-degrading bacteria. The interactions were studied at two different modes of oomycete development: mycelia and zoospores. The first part of this thesis focused on the ecological interaction between an oomycete Pythium aphanidermatum and two representative PAH-degrading bacteria (Mycobacterium gilvum VM552 and Pseudomonas putida G7). We chose a set of chemicals to imitate PAH-polluted scenarios, which included aqueous solutions with dissolved organic carbon (DOC) of diverse origins (plant root exudates and humic acid) and organic solvents. The oomycete mycelia and both bacteria were not antagonist during growth on solid media. The bacteria diminished zoospore formation only at the highest bacterial cell density (108-1010 cells mL-1), while M. gilvum VM552 exhibited the greatest antagonism. A negative influence of PAHs on zoospore formation and chemotaxis was observed when the chemicals were exposed from DOC solutions and polar solvents, but this influence was diminished by PAH-degrading bacteria. When PAHs were exposed from substrata made by non-polar solvents, hexadecane (HD) and heptamethylnonane (HMN), that formed a nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) separated from the water phase, they did not prevent zoospore settlement on these substrata. The zoospore settlement occurred at HD-water interface but not at HMN-water interface, and it was not influenced by PAH-degrading bacteria. We also observed that zoospores encysted at the HDwater interface and created a mycelial network expanding the interfacial area between the NAPL and the water phase. Such network initiated biofilm formation by microbial consortia composed by the oomycete and PAH-degrading bacteria. On the basis of these results, we suggest that both mycelia and zoospores of the oomycete were able to develop in PAHpolluted scenarios, and were influenced both by pollutant bioavailability and by interactions with PAH-degrading bacteria....[ES] : Con el objetivo de evaluar el papel de los oomicetos en la biorremediación de hidrocarburos aromáticos policíclicos (HAPs), exploramos en esta tesis las interacciones funcionales entre estos microorganismos y las bacterias degradadoras de HAPs. Estas interacciones se estudiaron en dos diferentes modos del desarrollo de los oomicetos: micelios y zoosporas. La primera parte de esta tesis se centró en la interacción ecológica entre el oomiceto Pythium aphanidermatum y dos bacterias representativas degradadoras de HAPs (Mycobacterium gilvum VM552 y Pseudomonas putida G7). Elegimos una serie de compuestos químicos para imitar escenarios de contaminación por HAPs, que incluían disoluciones acuosas con carbono orgánico de origen diverso (exudados radicales de plantas y ácidos húmicos) y disolventes orgánicos. El micelio del oomiceto y ambas bacterias no actuaron de forma antagonista durante el crecimiento en medio sólido. Sólo a la densidad más alta de células bacterianas (108-1010 células mL-1) ambas bacterias disminuyeron la formación de zoosporas. M. gilvum VM552 mostró el mayor antagonismo. Se observó una influencia negativa de los HAPs sobre la formación y la quimiotaxis de zoosporas cuando se expuso los productos químicos desde soluciones de carbono orgánico disuelto (COD) y disolventes polares, pero esta influencia fué disminuida por las bacterias. Cuando los PAHs fueron expuestos a partir de disolventes no polares, que formaban una fase diferenciada con el agua (o líquido en fase no acuosa – NAPL), no impidieron el asentamiento de las zoosporas sobre estos sustratos. El asentamiento se produjo en la interfase con hexadecano (HD) como NAPL, pero no con heptametilnonano, y no fue influido por las bacterias degradadoras de HAPs. También se observó que las zoosporas se enquistaron sobre la interfase agua-HD, creando una red de micelio que colonizaba la interfase, expandiendo el área interfásica entre el NAPL y la fase acuosa. Dicha red inició la formación de un biofilm por los consorcios microbianos compuestos por el oomiceto y las bacterias degradadoras de HAPs. En base a estos resultados, sugerimos que los micelios y las zoosporas del oomiceto fueron capaces de desarrollarse en en escenarios de contaminación por HAPs, y que fueron influidos por la biodisponibilidad de los contaminantes y por las interacciones con las bacterias degradadoras de HAPs....Proyecto CGL2010-22068-C02-01 del Plan Nacional de I+D (CYCIT) y dentro del Programa JAE-CSIC (PreDoc).Peer reviewe

Control Of Hydrogen Sulfide Emissions Using Autotrophic Denitrification Landfill Biocovers: Engineering Applications

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) emitted from construction and demolition waste landfills has received increasing attention. Besides its unpleasant odor, longterm exposure to a very low concentration of H2S can cause a public health issue. In the case of construction and demolition (C&D) waste landfills, where gas collection systems are not normally required, the generated H2S is typically not controlled and the number of treatment processes to control H2S emissions in situ is limited. An attractive alternative may be to use chemically or biologically active landfill covers. A few studies using various types of cover materials to attenuate H2S emissions demonstrated that H2S emissions can be effectively reduced. In this study, therefore, the costs and benefits of H2S-control cover systems including compost, soil amended with lime, fine concrete, and autotrophic denitrification were evaluated. Based on a case-study landfill area of 0. 04 km2, the estimated H2S emissions of 80900 kg over the 15-year period and costs of active cover system components (ammonium nitrate fertilizer for autotrophic denitrification cover, lime, fine concrete, and compost), ammonium nitrate fertilizer is the most cost effective, followed by hydrated lime, fine concrete, and yard waste compost. Fine concrete and yard waste compost covers are expensive measures to control H2S emissions because of the large amount of materials needed to create a cover. Controlling H2S emissions using fine concrete and compost is less expensive at landfills that provide on-site concrete recovery and composting facilities; however, ammonium nitrate fertilizer or hydrated lime would still be more cost effective applications. © 2011 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg