Identification of exoS, exoU genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common cause of infections, and infection with antibiotic-resistant strains can be dangerous. The aim of the present study is to investigate the presence of the exoS and exoU genes and the formation of biofilms in clinically isolated P.aeruginosa strains. A total of 126 samples were isolated, and P.aeruginosa was identified using biochemical tests. Bacterial genomic DNA was extracted, and the presence of the exoS and exoU genes were detected by PCR. Biofilms were formed by culturing P.aeruginosaon glass slides in rich medium. The exoU (76%) exoS (68%) genes were detected in of strains isolated from burn (burns caused by heat) patients, respectively. Among the 113 strains isolated from patients with burn infections. An improved understanding of virulence genes and biofilm formation in P.aeruginosa may facilitate the future development of novel vaccines and drug treatments.

Integrated framework for modeling the interactions of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles aggregators, parking lots and distributed generation facilities in electricity markets

This paper presents an integrated framework for the optimal resilient scheduling of an active distribution system in the day-ahead and real-time markets considering aggregators, parking lots, distributed energy resources, and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) interactions. The main contribution of this paper is that the impacts of traffic patterns on the available dispatchable active power of PHEVs in day-ahead and real-time markets are explored. A two stage framework is considered. Each stage consists of a four-level optimization procedure that optimizes the scheduling problems of PHEVs, parking lots and distributed energy resources, aggregators, and active distribution system. The distribution system procures ramp-up and ramp-down services for the upward electricity market in a real-time horizon. The active distribution system can utilize a switching procedure to sectionalize its system into a multi-microgrid system to mitigate the impacts of external shocks. The model was assessed by the 123-bus test system. The proposed algorithm reduced the interruption and operating costs of the 123-bus test system by about 94.56% for the worst-case external shock. Further, the traffic pattern decreased the available ramp-up and ramp-down of parking lots by about 58.61% concerning the no-traffic case.© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Phototherapy motivates protein and lipid oxidation in jaundiced term and late term neonates

Background: Hyperbilirubinemia is one of the most important complications encountered in neonatal units. It has been proposed that phototherapy yields oxidative stress. Therefore, this study was undertaken to survey the levels of antioxidant and oxidative stress in the serum of neonates before and after phototherapy. Methods: This study was performed on thirty-five healthy, late preterm (>35 weeks) and term newborns aged 6-10 days, who underwent phototherapy due to hyperbilirubinemia (>14.00 mg/dL). Infants with a congenital malformation, birth asphyxia, sepsis, signs and symptoms suggestive of severe illness, and receiving phototherapy before recruitment to the study were excluded. Blood samples were taken to determine total serum bilirubin, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of serum, malondialdehyde (MDA), advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) as markers of the intensity of oxidative stress and inflammation with photometric methods, reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH) by HPLC-UV as well as the ratio of them before and after phototherapy. Results: TAC, GSH and bilirubin levels were significantly lower after phototherapy than before it, but reversely about levels of MDA, AOPP and oxidized GSH in addition to the ratio of reduced to oxidized GSH (p<0.05-0.001). AOPP and MDA showed a high negative correlation with bilirubin (respectively R=-0.985 and -0.986, p<0.001)) while vice versa about TAC and GSH (R=0.975 and 0.988, P<0.001). Conclusion: Phototherapy induces oxidative stress and inflammation not only due to the elevation of protein and lipid oxidation but also with reducing of antioxidant markers of serum

Bacteria transport and retention in intact calcareous soil columns under saturated flow conditions

Study of bacterial transport and retention in soil is important for various environmental applications such as groundwater contamination and bioremediation of soil and water. The main objective of this research was to quantitatively assess bacterial transport and deposition under saturated conditions in calcareous soil. A series of leaching experiments was conducted on two undisturbed soil columns. Breakthrough curves of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Cl were measured. After the leaching experiment, spatial distribution of bacteria retention in the soil columns was determined. The HYDRUS-1D one- and two-site kinetic models were used to predict the transport and deposition of bacteria in soil. The results indicated that the two-site model fits the observed data better than one-site kinetic model. Bacteria interaction with the soil of kinetic site 1 revealed relatively fast attachment and slow detachment, whereas attachment to and detachment of bacteria from kinetic site 2 was fast. Fast attachment and slow detachment of site 1 can be attributed to soil calcium carbonate that has favorable attachment sites for bacteria. The detachment rate was less than 0.02 of the attachment rate, indicating irreversible attachment of bacteria. High reduction rate of bacteria was also attributed to soil calcium carbonate

Vegetative mulltiplication, callus formation and regeneration ofsugar beet through in vitro culture

SIGLEKULeuven Campusbibliotheek Exacte Wetenschappen / UCL - Université Catholique de LouvainBEBelgiu

Synthesis of Bare and Four Different Polymer- Stabilized Zero-Valent Iron Nanoparticles and Their Efficiency on Hexavalent Chromium Removal from Aqueous Solutions

Zero-valent iron particles at the nanoscale are proposed to be one of the important reductants of Cr(VI), transforming the same into nontoxic Cr(III). In this study zero valent iron nanoparticles(ZVINs) were synthesized and characterized for hexavalent chromium removal from aqueous solutions. Five different zero-valent iron nanoparticle types comprising of bare and stabilized ZVINs with poly acrylamide(PAM), polyvinyl pyrrolidone(PVP), polystyrene sulfonate(PSS) and guar gum(GG) were synthesized and employed in this study. The sizes of zero-valent iron nanoparticles were found to be 40, 14, 17, 29 and 34nm, using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), corresponding to bare zero valent iron nanoparticles(ZVINs), poly acrylamide(PAM), guar gum(GG), poly styrene solfunate(PSS) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone(PVP) stabilized zero valent iron nanoparticles (ZVINs) respectively. The trend in the sizes of ZVINs with various stabilizers in the decreasing order was found to be bare ZVIN > PVP-ZVIN >PSS-ZVIN> GG-ZVIN> PAM-ZVIN respectively. Results showed that by increasing hexavalent chromium concentrations from 20 to 100 mg/L, the Cr(VI) efficiency removal decreased significantly. When the ZVINs concentrations increased from 2 to 10 gr/L(0.1 to 0.5g per 50 mL), the Cr(VI) removal efficiency enhanced. The most effective treatments of ZVINs and Cr(VI) for hexavalent chromium removal from solutions were 10 gr/lit (0.5g per 50 mL) and 20 mg/L respectively, so the efficiency of bare and polymer stabilized-ZVINs on Cr(VI) removal from solutions was found to be in the following order:  bare ZVINs < PVP-ZVINs <PSS-ZVINs< GG-ZVINs< PAM-ZVINs