Ecophysiology and diversity of anaeromyxobacter spp. and implications for uranium bioremediation

Uranium has been released into the environment due to improper practices associated with mining and refinement for energy and weapons production. Soluble U(VI) species such as uranyl carbonate can be reduced to form the insoluble U(IV) mineral uraninite (UO2) via microbial respiratory processes. Formation of UO2 diminishes uranium mobility and prevents uranium-laden groundwater from being discharged into surface water; however, oxygen and other oxidants re-solubilize UO2. Many organisms have been shown to reduce uranium, but variations in microbial physiology change the dynamics of microbial uranium reduction in situ and affect uraninite stability. Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans is a metal-reducing delta-Proteobacterium in the myxobacteria family that displays remarkable respiratory versatility and efficiently reduces U(VI). The approach of this research was to enhance characterization of A. dehalogenans by identifying unique genetic traits, describing variability within the species, and examining the environmental distribution of A. dehalogenans strains. Genome analysis revealed that A. dehalogenans shares many traits with the myxobacteria including type IV pilus-based motility and an aerobic-like electron transport chain. In addition, the genome revealed genes that share sequence similarity with strict anaerobes and other metal-reducing organisms. Physiological examination of microaerophilism in A. dehalogenans strain 2CP-C revealed growth at sub-atmospheric oxygen partial pressure. Physiological characterization of novel isolates demonstrated that strain-level variation in the 16S rRNA gene coincides with metabolic changes that can be linked to the loss of specific gene homologs. Anaeromyxobacter spp. were present at the Oak Ridge Integrated Field-scale Subsurface Research Challenge (IFC) site and multiplex qPCR tools designed using a minor-groove binding probe gave insights into strain and species differences in the community. Finally, 16S rRNA gene sequences were identified which suggest a novel Anaeromyxobacter species that is responsible for uranium reduction at the Oak Ridge IFC site. This research contributes new knowledge of the ecophysiology of a widely distributed, metal-reducing bacterial group capable of uranium immobilization. The characterization of Anaeromyxobacter spp. helps to elucidate the dynamics of biological cycling of metals at oxic-anoxic interfaces, like those at the Oak Ridge IFC, and contributes to the broader study of microbial ecology in groundwater and sediment environments.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Dr. Frank E. Löffler; Committee Member: Dr. Joseph B. Hughes; Committee Member: Dr. Kurt D. Pennell; Committee Member: Dr. Lawrence J. Shimkets; Committee Member: Dr. Robert A. Sanford; Committee Member: Dr. Thomas DiChristin

Revisión del complejo de géneros de chinches de encaje del Nuevo Mundo <i>Tigava</i> (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Tingidae), con la descripción de dos nuevos géneros y dos nuevas especies y una clave para géneros

The lace bug (Tingidae) genera belonging to the New World Tigava complex are reviewed. The two new genera and new species Mexicotingis brailovskyi, from México, and Paraceratotingis convergens, from Venezuela, are described. Diagnoses, descriptions, and digital color photographs of the new taxa, diagnoses and digital photographs of the heads and pronota of all genera, an updated checklist and distributions of the included species, and a key to genera are provided to help distinguish these closely related Tingidae.Se revisan los géneros de chinches de encaje (Tingidae) del Nuevo Mundo pertenecientes al complejo Tigava. Se describen dos nuevos géneros y especies Mexicotingis brailovskyi de México, y Paraceratotingis convergens, de Venezuela. Se brindan diagnosis, descripciones, y fotos en color de los nuevos taxa, diagnosis y fotografías de la cabeza y el pronoto de todos los géneros, una lista actualizada de las distribuciones de todas sus especies, y una clave para géneros para distinguir estos Tingidae estrechamente emparentados.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Cloning and characterization of feline islet glucokinase

Background: Glucokinase (GK) is a metabolic enzyme encoded by the GCK gene and expressed in glucose-sensitive tissues, principally pancreatic islets cell and hepatocytes. The GK protein acts in pancreatic islets as a “glucose sensor” that couples fluctuations in the blood glucose concentration to changes in cellular function and insulin secretion. GCK and GK have proposed importance in the development and progression of diabetes mellitus and are potential therapeutic targets for diabetes treatment. The study was undertaken to determine the nucleotide sequence of feline pancreatic GK cDNA, predict the amino acid sequence and structure of the feline GK protein, and perform comparative bioinformatic analysis of feline cDNA and protein. Routine PCR techniques were used with cDNA from feline pancreas. Clones were assembled to obtain the full length cDNA. Protein prediction and modeling were performed using bioinformatic tools. Results: Full-length feline pancreatic GK cDNA contains a 1398 nucleotide coding sequence with high identity to other pancreatic GK cDNAs. The deduced 465 amino acid feline protein has 15 amino acid substitutions not found in other mammalian GK proteins but maintains high structural homology with human GK. Feline pancreatic GK is highly conserved at nucleotide and protein levels. Residues crucial for substrate binding and catalysis are completely conserved in the feline protein. Conclusion: Molecular analysis predicts that feline pancreatic GK functions similarly to other mammalian GK proteins

Ursinus College Bulletin Vol. 9, No. 5, February 1893

A digitized copy of the February 1893 Ursinus College Bulletin.https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/ucbulletin/1083/thumbnail.jp

How do organisms affect and respond to climate change?

Life on Earth is diverse at many levels, meaning there is a lot of variety within species and there are many different kinds of species. This biodiversity provides many of the resources that humans need and enhances our quality of life. All of Earth’s organisms are affected by Earth’s climate, but they also influence Earth’s climate. In this article, we show how research on plants, animals, and microbes helps us better understand how living things can both impact and respond to climate change. This research also gives us insight into what the future might be like for life on Earth. Such knowledge will help us to protect our planet—and the living things on it—from the harmful effects of future climate change

Experiences with implementation of continuous positive airway pressure for neonates and infants in low-resource settings: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the gold standard of care in providing non-invasive positive pressure support to neonates in respiratory distress in high-resource settings. While safety has been demonstrated in low-resource settings, there is a lack of knowledge on the barriers and facilitators to proper implementation. OBJECTIVE: To identify and describe the barriers, facilitators, and priorities for future implementation of CPAP for neonates and infants in low-resource settings. METHODS: A systematic search (database inception to March 6, 2020) was performed on MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, Global Health, and the WHO Global Index Medicus using PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Original research articles pertaining to implementation of CPAP devices in low-resource settings, provider or parent perspectives and experiences with CPAP, cost-benefit analyses, and cost-effectiveness studies were included. Inductive content analysis was conducted. FINDINGS: 1385 article were screened and 54 studies across 19 countries met inclusion criteria. Six major themes emerged: device attributes, patient experiences, parent experiences, provider experiences, barriers, and facilitators. Nasal trauma was the most commonly reported complication. Barriers included unreliable electricity and lack of bioengineering support. Facilitators included training, mentorship and empowerment of healthcare providers. Device design, supply chain infrastructure, and training models were imperative to the adoption and sustainability of CPAP. CONCLUSION: Sustainable implementation of CPAP in low resource settings requires easy-to-use devices, ready access to consumables, and holistic, user-driven training. Further research is necessary on standardizing metrics, interventions that support optimal provider performance, and conditions needed for successful long-term health system integration

Discovery Of Cold, Pristine Gas Possibly Accreting Onto An Overdensity Of Star-Forming Galaxies At Redshift z ~ 1.6

We report the discovery of large amounts of cold (T ~ 10^4 K), chemically young gas in an overdensity of galaxies at redshift z ~ 1.6 in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey southern field (GOODS-S). The gas is identified thanks to the ultra-strong Mg II absorption features it imprints in the rest-frame UV spectra of galaxies in the background of the overdensity. There is no evidence that the optically-thick gas is part of any massive galaxy (i.e. M_star > 4x10^9 M_sun), but rather is associated with the overdensity; less massive and fainter galaxies (25.5 < z_850 < 27.5 mag) have too large an impact parameter to be causing ultra-strong absorption systems, based on our knowledge of such systems. The lack of corresponding Fe II absorption features, not detected even in co-added spectra, suggests that the gas is chemically more pristine than the ISM and outflows of star-forming galaxies at similar redshift, including those in the overdensity itself, and comparable to the most metal-poor stars in the Milky Way halo. A crude estimate of the projected covering factor of the high-column density gas (N_H >~ 10^20 cm-2) based on the observed fraction of galaxies with ultra-strong absorbers is C_F ~ 0.04. A broad, continuum absorption profile extending to the red of the interstellar Mg II absorption line by <~ 2000 km/s is possibly detected in two independent co-added spectra of galaxies of the overdensity, consistent with a large-scale infall motion of the gas onto the overdensity and its galaxies. Overall, these findings provides the first tentative evidence of accretion of cold, chemically young gas onto galaxies at high redshift, possibly feeding their star formation activity. The fact that the galaxies are members of a large structure, as opposed to field galaxies, might play a significant role in our ability to detect the accreting gas.Comment: 57 pages, 17 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication by ApJ (Aug 9, 2011); minor modifications to match the accepted versio

Biopiracy <i>versus </i>one-world medicine – from colonial relicts to global collaborative concepts

Background: Practices of biopiracy to use genetic resources and indigenous knowledge by Western companies without benefit-sharing of those, who generated the traditional knowledge, can be understood as form of neocolonialism.Hypothesis: : The One-World Medicine concept attempts to merge the best of traditional medicine from developing countries and conventional Western medicine for the sake of patients around the globe.Study design: Based on literature searches in several databases, a concept paper has been written. Legislative initiatives of the United Nations culminated in the Nagoya protocol aim to protect traditional knowledge and regulate benefit-sharing with indigenous communities. The European community adopted the Nagoya protocol, and the corresponding regulations will be implemented into national legislation among the member states. Despite pleasing progress, infrastructural problems of the health care systems in developing countries still remain. Current approaches to secure primary health care offer only fragmentary solutions at best. Conventional medicine from industrialized countries cannot be afforded by the impoverished population in the Third World. Confronted with exploding costs, even health systems in Western countries are endangered to burst. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is popular among the general public in industrialized countries, although the efficacy is not sufficiently proven according to the standards of evidence-based medicine. CAM is often available without prescription as over-the-counter products with non-calculated risks concerning erroneous self-medication and safety/toxicity issues. The concept of integrative medicine attempts to combine holistic CAM approaches with evidence-based principles of conventional medicine.Conclusion: To realize the concept of One-World Medicine, a number of standards have to be set to assure safety, efficacy and applicability of traditional medicine, e.g. sustainable production and quality control of herbal products, performance of placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized clinical trials, phytovigilance, as well as education of health professionals and patients

How Should Addiction-Related Research at the National Institutes of Health be Reorganized?

The decades-old debate about the optimum organizational structure of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has reached a crescendo with the recent deliberations of the Scientific Management Review Board, which, despite the lack of a crisis, proposed a structural reorganization that would dissolve the two institutes and create a new institute for substance use, abuse, and addiction, in hope of new scientific and public health advances (Collins, 2010). For a new institute to succeed, a multitude of potential challenges need to be negotiated effectivel

Three red suns in the sky: A transiting, terrestrial planet in a triple M-dwarf system at 6.9 pc

We present the discovery from Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) data of LTT 1445Ab. At a distance of 6.9 pc, it is the second nearest transiting exoplanet system found to date, and the closest one known for which the primary is an M dwarf. The host stellar system consists of three mid-to-late M dwarfs in a hierarchical configuration, which are blended in one TESS pixel. We use MEarth data and results from the Science Processing Operations Center data validation report to determine that the planet transits the primary star in the system. The planet has a radius of ${1.38}_{-0.12}^{+0.13}$ ${R}_{\oplus }$, an orbital period of ${5.35882}_{-0.00031}^{+0.00030}$ days, and an equilibrium temperature of ${433}_{-27}^{+28}$ K. With radial velocities from the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, we place a 3σ upper mass limit of 8.4 ${M}_{\oplus }$ on the planet. LTT 1445Ab provides one of the best opportunities to date for the spectroscopic study of the atmosphere of a terrestrial world. We also present a detailed characterization of the host stellar system. We use high-resolution spectroscopy and imaging to rule out the presence of any other close stellar or brown dwarf companions. Nineteen years of photometric monitoring of A and BC indicate a moderate amount of variability, in agreement with that observed in the TESS light-curve data. We derive a preliminary astrometric orbit for the BC pair that reveals an edge-on and eccentric configuration. The presence of a transiting planet in this system hints that the entire system may be co-planar, implying that the system may have formed from the early fragmentation of an individual protostellar core.Accepted manuscrip