The deep-subsurface sulfate reducer Desulfotomaculum kuznetsovii employs two methanol-degrading pathways

Methanol is generally metabolized through a pathway initiated by a cobalamine-containing methanol methyltransferase by anaerobic methylotrophs (such as methanogens and acetogens), or through oxidation to formaldehyde using a methanol dehydrogenase by aerobes. Methanol is an important substrate in deep-subsurface environments, where thermophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria of the genus Desulfotomaculum have key roles. Here, we study the methanol metabolism of Desulfotomaculum kuznetsovii strain 17T, isolated from a 3000-m deep geothermal water reservoir. We use proteomics to analyze cells grown with methanol and sulfate in the presence and absence of cobalt and vitamin B12. The results indicate the presence of two methanol-degrading pathways in D. kuznetsovii, a cobalt-dependent methanol methyltransferase and a cobalt-independent methanol dehydrogenase, which is further confirmed by stable isotope fractionation. This is the first report of a microorganism utilizing two distinct methanol conversion pathways. We hypothesize that this gives D. kuznetsovii a competitive advantage in its natural environment.Research was funded by grants of the Division of Chemical Sciences (CW-TOP 700.55.343) and Earth and Life Sciences (ALW 819.02.014) of The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), the European Research Council (ERC grant 323009), and the Gravitation grant (024.002.002) of the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Scienceinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sport, War and Democracy in Classical Athens

This article concerns the paradox of athletics in classical Athens. Democracy may have opened up politics to every class of Athenian but it had little impact on sporting participation. The city’s athletes continued to drawn predominantly from the upper class. It comes as a surprise then that lower-class Athenians actually esteemed athletes above every other group in the public eye, honoured them very generously when they won, and directed a great deal of public and private money to sporting competitions and facilities. In addition athletics escaped the otherwise persistent criticism of upper-class activities in the popular culture of the democracy. The research of social scientists on sport and aggression suggests this paradox may have been due to the cultural overlap between athletics and war under the Athenian democracy. The article concludes that the practical and ideological democratization of war by classical Athens legitimized and supported upper-class sport

Using computer simulation to aid the research of drilling processes

Drilling wells is one of the primary methods used for mineral exploration. Scientific studies have aimed at improving the technical and economic aspects of drilling because of the current competitive economic conditions. Note that the primary topic of these studies has been developing new effective rock-cutting tools. To design a new rock-cutting tool, a thorough, reliable, and accurate study of the processes that occur during drilling is necessary. During drilling, mechanical, hydraulic, thermal, and chemical phenomena, which are interdependent and affect the performance of a drilling tool, simultaneously occur; therefore, a systematic, integrated approach is required for studying drilling processes. Field-based and laboratory experiments are quite tedious to perform and require high material costs, and it is often not possible to separately evaluate small elements of the drilling model. Therefore, computer simulation is an important research tool that enables accurate and reliable visualization of even small parts of the model. The aim. The aim of this study is to examine the potential for computer simulation of the processes that occur during drilling. Objective. In this study, we evaluated the simulation features of various software products, such as KOMPAS-3D, ANSYS, Delphi, and LabVIEW, for their utility in studying the processes that occur during drilling. The possibility of computer simulation for studying drilling processes, including its advantages and disadvantages, are demonstrated. The results are obtained from a model that simulates a rock cutting tool. The main uses of the rock cutting tool are outlined, and the drilling simulation development is planned. Choice of research method. The study of the capabilities of existing modern software products, for use in drilling process research, is carried out by an analytical review method

Modelling of the production of microwells

A new method for the production of microwells in polymers by solvent drops is presently under experimental and, by means of simulation, theoretical study. A small drop of toluene is placed on a plate of polystyrene. After evaporation a microwell is left as a mask for microlens production or to perform processes such as crystallization or chemical reactions. A mathematical model has been developed in order to understand the elementary effects in the system: (i) growth of the drop on the substrate, (ii) evaporation process of the solvent, (iii) dissolving of the substrate, (iv) flow rate in the evaporating drop caused by the pinning effect, including the vertical velocity profile, (v) increase of the concentration of dissolved material followed by precipitation. In the modelling and simulation process, it could be shown that the method of drop production has significant influence on the shape of the microwells

Evidence for the involvement of corrinoids and factor F430 in the reductive dechlorination of 1,2-dichloroethane by Methanosarcina barkeri.

Cobalamin and the native and diepimeric forms of factor F430 catalyzed the reductive dechlorination of 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) to ethylene or chloroethane (CA) in a buffer with Ti(III) citrate as the electron donor. Ethylene was the major product in the cobalamin-catalyzed transformation, and the ratio of ethylene to CA formed was 25:1. Native F430 and 12,13-di-epi-F430 produced ethylene and CA in ratios of about 2:1 and 1:1, respectively. Cobalamin dechlorinated 1,2-DCA much faster than did factor F430. Dechlorination rates by all three catalysts showed a distinct pH dependence, correlated in a linear manner with the catalyst concentration and doubled with a temperature increase of 10 degrees C. Crude and boiled cell extracts of Methanosarcina barkeri also dechlorinated 1,2-DCA to ethylene and CA with Ti(III) citrate as the reductant. The catalytic components in boiled extracts were heat and oxygen stable and had low molecular masses. Fractionation of boiled extracts by a hydrophobic interaction column revealed that part of the dechlorinating components had a hydrophilic and part had a hydrophobic character. These chemical properties of the dechlorinating components and spectral analysis of boiled extracts indicated that corrinoids or factor F430 was responsible for the dechlorinations. The ratios of 3:1 to 7:1 of ethylene and CA formed by cell extracts suggested that both cofactors were concomitantly active