The effects of acetylcholine, dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine on water pumping rate and pressure in the mussel Mytilus edulis L

Acetylcholine (ACh) and dopamine (DA), at certain concentrations, are known inhibitors of ctenidial lateral cilia. Addition of either reduces water pumping rate in intact Mytilus edulis by a maximum of 60–70%. The remaining 30–40% of flow is probably generated by the abfrontal cilia which are unaffected by either substance. Reduced pumping rate results in a reduction of exhalant aperture size which almost maintains exhalant water velocity. Exhalant pressure is slightly reduced after addition of either substance. Addition of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) causes an initial small reduction in water pumping rate, but rate recovers to pre-addition levels after 10–15 min.     

A Local Agreement Filtering Algorithm for Transmission EM Reconstructions

We present LAFTER, an algorithm for de-noising single particle reconstructions from cryo-EM.Single particle analysis entails the reconstruction of high-resolution volumes from tens of thousands of particle images with low individual signal-to-noise. Imperfections in this process result in substantial variations in the local signal-to-noise ratio within the resulting reconstruction, complicating the interpretation of molecular structure. An effective local de-noising filter could therefore improve interpretability and maximise the amount of useful information obtained from cryo-EM maps.LAFTER is a local de-noising algorithm based on a pair of serial real-space filters. It compares independent half-set reconstructions to identify and retain shared features that have power greater than the noise. It is capable of recovering features across a wide range of signal-to-noise ratios, and we demonstrate recovery of the strongest features at Fourier shell correlation (FSC) values as low as 0.144 over a 256³-voxel cube. A fast and computationally efficient implementation of LAFTER is freely available.We also propose a new way to evaluate the effectiveness of real-space filters for noise suppression, based on the correspondence between two FSC curves: 1) the FSC between the filtered and unfiltered volumes, and 2) C_ref, the FSC between the unfiltered volume and a hypothetical noiseless volume, which can readily be estimated from the FSC between two half-set reconstructions.     

Nonlinear state estimation as tool for online monitoring and adaptive feed in high throughput cultivations

Robotic facilities that can perform advanced cultivations (e.g., fed-batch or continuous) in high throughput have drastically increased the speed and reliability of the bioprocess development pipeline. Still, developing reliable analytical technologies, that can cope with the throughput of the cultivation system, has proven to be very challenging. On the one hand, the analytical accuracy suffers from the low sampling volumes, and on the other hand, the number of samples that must be treated rapidly is very large. These issues have been a major limitation for the implementation of feedback control methods in miniaturized bioreactor systems, where observations of the process states are typically obtained after the experiment has finished. In this work, we implement a Sigma-Point Kalman Filter in a high throughput platform with 24 parallel experiments at the mL-scale to demonstrate its viability and added value in high throughput experiments. The filter exploits the information generated by the ammonia-based pH control to enable the continuous estimation of the biomass concentration, a critical state to monitor the specific rates of production and consumption in the process. The objective in the selected case study is to ensure that the selected specific substrate consumption rate is tightly controlled throughout the complete Escherichia coli cultivations for recombinant production of an antibody fragment.     

Accessory enzymes influence cellulase hydrolysis of the model substrate and the realistic lignocellulosic biomass

The potential of cellulase enzymes in the developing and ongoing “biorefinery” industry has provided a great motivation to develop an efficient cellulase mixture. Recent work has shown how important the role that the so-called accessory enzymes can play in an effective enzymatic hydrolysis. In this study, three newest Novozymes Cellic CTec cellulase preparations (CTec 1/2/3) were compared to hydrolyze steam pretreated lignocellulosic substrates and model substances at an identical FPA loading. These cellulase preparations were found to display significantly different hydrolytic performances irrelevant with the FPA. And this difference was even observed on the filter paper itself when the FPA based assay was revisited. The analysis of specific enzyme activity in cellulase preparations demonstrated that different accessory enzymes were mainly responsible for the discrepancy of enzymatic hydrolysis between diversified substrates and various cellulases. Such the active role of accessory enzymes present in cellulase preparations was finally verified by supplementation with β-glucosidase, xylanase and lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases AA9. This paper provides new insights into the role of accessory enzymes, which can further provide a useful reference for the rational customization of cellulase cocktails in order to realize an efficient conversion of natural lignocellulosic substrates.     

Characterization of the Cellulase Complex of Penicillium echinulatum

New cellulases from a strain of Penicillium echinulatum were characterized for their filter paper activity and β-glucosidase activity. Both activities showed maximum values between pH 4 and 5. With citrate buffer, activities were slightly higher than in acetate buffer of the same pH. Thermal stability of both activities was good up to 55°C. Filter paper activity was significantly reduced at higher temperatures.     

Effects of resistance training intensity on sleep quality and strength recovery in trained men: a randomized cross-over study

Resistance training (RT) variables can affect sleep quality, strength recovery and performance. The aim of this study was to examine the acute effect of RT leading to failure vs. non-failure on sleep quality (SQ), heart rate variability (HRV) overnight and one-repetition maximum (1-RM) performance 24 hours after training. Fifteen resistance-trained male athletes (age: 23.4 ± 2.4 years; height 178.0 ± 7.6 cm; weight: 78.2 ± 10.6 kg) performed two training sessions in a randomized order, leading to failure (4x10) or non-failure (5x8(10) repetitions), with 90 seconds for resting between sets at 75% 1-RM in bench press (BP) and half squat (HS). The day after, the participants completed the predicted 1-RM test for both exercises. In addition, the subjective and actigraphic SQ and HRV during sleep were measured after each training session. The day after the training protocol leading to failure, the 1-RM of BP (MD = 7.24 kg; -7.2%; p < 0.001) and HS (MD = 20.20 kg; -11.1%; p < 0.001) decreased. However, this parameter did not decrease after a non-failure RT session. No differences were observed between failure and non-failure training sessions on SQ and HRV; therefore, both types of training sessions similarly affected the SQ and the autonomic modulation during the night after the training session. This study provides an insight into the influence of different training strategies on SQ, strength performance and recovery after moderate- to high-demand training. This information could be useful especially for professional coaches, weightlifters and bodybuilders, due to the potential influence on the programming processes.