Screening Brazilian Macrophomina phaseolina isolates for alkaline lipases and other extracellular hydrolases

Macrophomina phaseolina, phylum Ascomycota, is a phytopathogenic fungus distributed worldwide in hot dry areas. There are few studies on its secreted lipases and none on its colony radial growth rate, an indicator of fungal ability to use nutrients for growth, on media other than potato-dextrose agar. In this study, 13 M. phaseolina isolates collected in different Brazilian regions were screened for fast-growth and the production of hydrolases of industrial interest, especially alkaline lipases. Hydrolase detection and growth rate determination were done on citric pectin, gelatin, casein, soluble starch, and olive oil as substrates. Ten isolates were found to be active on all substrates tested. The most commonly detected enzymes were pectinases, amylases, and lipases. The growth rate on pectin was significantly higher (P < 0.05), while the growth rates on the different media identified CMM 2105, CMM 1091, and PEL as the fastest-growing isolates. The lipase activity of four isolates grown on olive oil was followed for 4 days by measuring the activity in the cultivation broth. The specific lipolytic activity of isolate PEL was significantly higher at 96 h (130 mU mg protein–1). The broth was active at 37 °C, pH 8, indicating the potential utility of the lipases of this isolate in mild alkaline detergents. There was a strong and positive correlation (0.86) between radial growth rate and specific lipolytic activity. [Int Microbiol 2012; 15(1):1-7

An Examination of the Challenges Experienced by Canadian Ice-Hockey Players in the National Hockey League

Semistructured interviews were used in this study to learn about the challenges experienced by four groups of National Hockey League (NHL) players (N=11): prospects (n=3), rookies (n=3), veterans (n=2), and retirees (n=3). The database is comprised of 757 meaning units grouped into 11 contextual challenges pertaining to scouting demands, training camp, increased athletic demands, team expectations, and earning team trust. The veterans spoke mostly of challenges including scouting demands, athletic demands, and team expectations. Retirees considered mostly challenges pertaining to team expectations, athletic demands, lifestyle, media demands, transactions, cross-cultural encounters, and playoffs. An expert panel ensured that the interview guide, data analysis, and the findings represented the participants’ experiences in the NHL. Recommendations for practitioners and researchers working with NHL players are proposed

Nova proposta para uso de bacteriófagos no controle de mancha foliar em repolho, causada por Xanthomonas campestris pv. Campestris.

Um novo método de produção e identificação de bacteriófagos em suspensão, e seu potencial como controlador biológico. A suspensão obtida por esta forma foi eficaz para controlar tanto in vitro quanto in vivo a bactéria Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris. Evidenciou-se uma diferença entre a suspensão criada do patógeno (PLP) e outra que não foi (PLN), pois havia halos no crescimento bacteriano em 48 h/ 28º C produzido pelas suspensões PLS e PLP, a suspensão PLN não apresentou halo. Apesar dos tratamentos PLP e PLS não diferirem estatisticamente em relação às UFCs, atingindo valores de 5x 105 e 1x105 respectivamente, diferiram da suspensão bruta (PLN) e da testemunha. Procedeu-se então avaliação in vivo com as suspensões que criaram halo, quando foram incluídos os tratamentos (PLPS) e (PLPP), que consistiram de inóculo adicionado nas suspensões matrizes (PLS e PLP), para o aumento de bacteriófagos. Verificou-se, então, a redução do índice de doença para a testemunha, mostrando que o tratamento com suspensão de bacteriófagos protege a planta. Os índices mais baixos de doenças foram (PLP) e (PLS), com valores de 1,46 e 1,40, respectivamente

Preparing athletes and teams for the Olympic Games: experiences and lessons learned from the world's best sport psychologists

As part of an increased effort to understand the most effective ways to psychologically prepare athletes and teams for Olympic competition, a number of sport psychology consultants have offered best-practice insights into working in this context. These individual reports have typically comprised anecdotal reflections of working with particular sports or countries; therefore, a more holistic approach is needed so that developing practitioners can have access to - and utilise - a comprehensive evidence-base. The purpose of this paper is to provide a panel-type article, which offers lessons and advice for the next generation of aspiring practitioners on preparing athletes and teams for the Olympic Games from some of the world’s most recognised and experienced sport psychologists. The sample comprised 15 sport psychology practitioners who, collectively, have accumulated over 200 years of first-hand experience preparing athletes and/or teams from a range of nations for six summer and five winter Olympic Games. Interviews with the participants revealed 28 main themes and 5 categories: Olympic stressors, success and failure lessons, top tips for neophyte practitioners, differences within one’s own consulting work, and multidisciplinary consulting. It is hoped that the findings of this study can help the next generation of sport psychologists better face the realities of Olympic consultancy and plan their own professional development so that, ultimately, their aspirations to be the world’s best can become a reality

Photodissociation of Ozone in the Hartley Band: Potential Energy Surfaces, Nonadiabatic Couplings, and Singlet/Triplet Branching Ratio

The lowest five 1A\u27states of ozone, involved in the photodissociation with UV light, are analyzed on the basis of multireference configuration interaction electronic structure calculations with emphasis on the various avoided crossings in different regions of coordinate space. Global diabatic potential energy surfaces are constructed for the lowest four states termed X, A, B, and R. In addition, the off-diagonal potentials that couple the initially excited state B with states R and A are constructed to reflect results from additional electronic structure calculations, including the calculation of nonadiabatic coupling matrix elements. The A/X and A/R couplings are also considered, although in a less ambitious manner. The photodissociation dynamics are studied by means of trajectory surface hopping (TSH) calculations with the branching ratio between the singlet, O(1D)+O2(1Δg), and triplet, O(3P)+O2(3Σ-g), channels being the main focus. The semiclassical branching ratio agrees well with quantum mechanical results except for wavelengths close to the threshold of the singlet channel. The calculated O(1D) quantum yield is approximately 0.90-0.95 across the main part of the Hartley band, in good agreement with experimental data. TSH calculations including all four states show that transitions B→A are relatively unimportant and subsequent transitions A→X/R to the triplet channel are negligible

Photodissociation of ozone in the Hartley band: Product state and angular distributions

Product state properties from the photodissociation of ozone in the ultraviolet Hartley band are investigated by trajectory surface-hopping calculations. The diabatic B and R state potential energy and coupling surfaces of Schinke and McBane [J. Chem. Phys. 132, 044305 (2010)] are employed. The properties computed include rotational and vibrational distributions in both the singlet and triplet channels, the total internal energy distribution in the triplet channel, and the photodissociation anisotropy parameter β role= presentation style= display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px 2px 0px 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative; \u3eββ in the singlet channel. A method for computing β role= presentation style= display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px 2px 0px 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative; \u3eββ from trajectories computed in internal Jacobi coordinates is described. In the singlet channel, the vibrational distribution is in good agreement with the experimental results. The observed increase in β role= presentation style= display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px 2px 0px 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative; \u3eββ with increasing photolysis wavelength is reproduced by the calculations and is attributed to the effects of the bending potential on the B state late in the fragmentation. The computed β role= presentation style= display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px 2px 0px 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative; \u3eββ values are too high with respect to experiment, and the peaks jmax role= presentation style= display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px 2px 0px 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative; \u3ejmaxjmax of the singlet-channel rotational distributions are too low; these discrepancies are attributed to a too steep bending potential at long O–O distances. In the triplet channel, the main part of the internal energy distribution is described well by the calculations, although the detailed structures observed in the experiment are not reproduced. The experimental rotational distributions are well reproduced, although the maxima appear at slightly too high j role= presentation style= display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px 2px 0px 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative; \u3ejj. The triplet state product energy distributions are shown to depend largely on the distribution of hopping points onto the R state surface. A Landau–Zener model constructed as a function of the O2 role= presentation style= display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px 2px 0px 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative; \u3eO2O2 bond distance provides a good physical description of the two-state dynamics. The high internal energy O2 role= presentation style= display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px 2px 0px 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative; \u3eO2O2 products that cannot be attributed to the excitation of the Herzberg states remain unexplained

Predicting color and short-circuit current of colored BIPV modules

Photovoltaic modules for façade integration should have a widely modifiable appearance to adjust to the architect’s requirements. However, architects today usually have only a limited number of already manufactured samples to choose from. Changing the color will also change the photovoltaic yield. Therefore, it would be helpful to have a procedure that allows us to determine the appearance and expected yield in advance of module fabrication. We present such a method for creating a digital prototype of a colored building integrated photovoltaic module. Using reflectance and external quantum efficiency measurements of eight colored modules, we simulate the appearance and respective energy yield for arbitrary module colors. We validate our predictions for 29 different colored modules. We use textiles that have been colored by printing and laminate them onto the modules to change the appearance of the modules. However, our digital prototyping model is also applicable to other coloring techniques. We achieve an average color difference of ΔE00 = 1.34 between predicted and measured colors, which is barely perceptible to the human eye. The predicted short-circuit current density of the digital prototype deviates on average less than 1% from the measured on

The Ultraviolet Spectrum of OCS from First Principles: Electronic Transitions, Vibrational Structure and Temperature Dependence

Global three dimensional potential energy surfaces and transition dipole moment functions are calculated for the lowest singlet and triplet states of carbonyl sulfide at the multireference configuration interaction level of theory. The first ultraviolet absorption band is then studied by means of quantum mechanical wave packet propagation. excitation of the repulsive 21A\u27 state gives the main contribution to the cross section. Excitation of the repulsive 11A state is about a factor of 20 weaker at the absorption peak (Eph ≈ 45 000 cm-1) but becomes comparable to the 21A\u27 state absorption with decreasing energy (35 000 cm-1) and eventually exceeds it. Direct excitation of the repulsive triplet states is negligible except at photon energies Eph \u3c 38 000 cm-1. The main structure observed in the cross section is caused by excitation of the bound 23A state, which is nearly degerate with the 2 1A\u27 state in the Franck-Condon region. The structure observed in the low energy tail of the spectrum is caused by excitation of quasi-bound bending vibrational states of the 21A\u27 and 11A electronic states. The absorption cross sections agree well with experimental data and the temperature dependence of the cross section is well reproduced

Multi-State Analysis of the OCS Ultraviolet Absorption Including Vibrational Structure

The first absorption band of OCS (carbonyl sulfide) is analyzed using potential energy surfaces and transition dipole moment functions of the lowest four singlet and the lowest four triplet states. Excitation of the 21A\u27 state is predominant except at very low photon energies. It is shown that the vibrational structures in the center of the band are due to excitation of the 23A triplet state, whereas the structures at the very low energies are caused by bending excitation in the potential wells of states 21A\u27 and 11A

Production of O\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e Herzberg States in the Deep UV Photodissociation of Ozone

High-resolution imaging experiments combined with new electronic structure and dynamics calculations strongly indicate that the O(3P)+O2 products with very low kinetic energy release (Etr2: A\u27 3Δu(v=0, 1, 2) and A 3Σ+u(v=0, 1). This interpretation contradicts the earlier assignment to very high (v≥26) vibrational states of O2(3Σ-g)