Effect of propionic acid on citric acid fermentation in an integrated citric acid–methane fermentation process

In this study, an integrated citric acid-methane fermentation process was established to solve the problem of wastewater treatment in citric acid production. Citric acid wastewater was treated through anaerobic digestion and then the anaerobic digestion effluent (ADE) was further treated and recycled for the next batch citric acid fermentation. This process could eliminate wastewater discharge and reduce water resource consumption. Propionic acid was found in the ADE and its concentration continually increased in recycling. Effect of propionic acid on citric acid fermentation was investigated, and results indicated that influence of propionic acid on citric acid fermentation was contributed to the undissociated form. Citric acid fermentation was inhibited when the concentration of propionic acid was above 2, 4, and 6 mM in initial pH 4.0, 4.5 and, 5.0, respectively. However, low concentration of propionic acid could promote isomaltase activity which converted more isomaltose to available sugar, thereby increasing citric acid production. High concentration of propionic acid could influence the vitality of cell and prolong the lag phase, causing large amount of glucose still remaining in medium at the end of fermentation and decreasing citric acid production.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phialemoniopsis endophytica</Emphasis> sp. nov., a new species of endophytic fungi from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Luffa cylindrica</Emphasis> in Henan,China

During a survey of endophytic fungi in the cucurbit plants collected from Henan, China, a new species, Phialemoniopsis endophytica was isolated from the lower stem of Luffa cylindrica. It differs from other Phialemoniopsis species by its cylindrical to flask-shaped phialides, falcate conidia with blunt ends, ostiolate pycnidium-like conidiomata without marginal setae and ellipsoidal chlamydospores. Multi-locus (ITS, LSU, ACT, and TUB) phylogenetic analysis confirmed that P. endophytica is distinct from other species. A synopsis of the morphological characters of the new species is provided.     

Effect of Methamphetamine on Spectral Binding,Ligand Docking and Metabolism of Anti-HIV Drugs with CYP3A4

Cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) is the major drug metabolic enzyme, and is involved in the metabolism of antiretroviral drugs, especially protease inhibitors (PIs). This study was undertaken to examine the effect of methamphetamine on the binding and metabolism of PIs with CYP3A4. We showed that methamphetamine exhibits a type I spectral change upon binding to CYP3A4 with δA_max and K_D of 0.016±0.001 and 204±18 μM, respectively. Methamphetamine-CYP3A4 docking showed that methamphetamine binds to the heme of CYP3A4 in two modes, both leading to N-demethylation. We then studied the effect of methamphetamine binding on PIs with CYP3A4. Our results showed that methamphetamine alters spectral binding of nelfinavir but not the other type I PIs (lopinavir, atazanavir, tipranavir). The change in spectral binding for nelfinavir was observed at both δA_max (0.004±0.0003 vs. 0.0068±0.0001) and K_D (1.42±0.36 vs.2.93±0.08 μM) levels. We further tested effect of methamphetamine on binding of 2 type II PIs; ritonavir and indinavir. Our results showed that methamphetamine alters the ritonavir binding to CYP3A4 by decreasing both the δA_max (0.0038±0.0003 vs. 0.0055±0.0003) and K_D (0.043±0.0001 vs. 0.065±0.001 nM), while indinavir showed only reduced K_D in presence of methamphetamine (0.086±0.01 vs. 0.174±0.03 nM). Furthermore, LC-MS/MS studies in high CYP3A4 human liver microsomes showed a decrease in the formation of hydroxy ritonavir in the presence of methamphetamine. Finally, CYP3A4 docking with lopinavir and ritonavir in the absence and presence of methamphetamine showed that methamphetamine alters the docking of ritonavir, which is consistent with the results obtained from spectral binding and metabolism studies. Overall, our results demonstrated differential effects of methamphetamine on the binding and metabolism of PIs with CYP3A4. These findings have clinical implication in terms of drug dose adjustment of antiretroviral medication, especially with ritonavir-boosted antiretroviral therapy, in HIV-1-infected individuals who abuse methamphetamine.     

Combining Amplitude Spectrum Area with Previous Shock Information Using Neural Networks Improves Prediction Performance of Defibrillation Outcome for Subsequent Shocks in Out-Of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Patients

Objective

Quantitative ventricular fibrillation (VF) waveform analysis is a potentially powerful tool to optimize defibrillation. However, whether combining VF features with additional attributes that related to the previous shock could enhance the prediction performance for subsequent shocks is still uncertain.

Methods

A total of 528 defibrillation shocks from 199 patients experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were analyzed in this study. VF waveform was quantified using amplitude spectrum area (AMSA) from defibrillator''s ECG recordings prior to each shock. Combinations of AMSA with previous shock index (PSI) or/and change of AMSA (ΔAMSA) between successive shocks were exercised through a training dataset including 255shocks from 99patientswith neural networks. Performance of the combination methods were compared with AMSA based single feature prediction by area under receiver operating characteristic curve(AUC), sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and prediction accuracy (PA) through a validation dataset that was consisted of 273 shocks from 100patients.

Results

A total of61 (61.0%) patients required subsequent shocks (N = 173) in the validation dataset. Combining AMSA with PSI and ΔAMSA obtained highest AUC (0.904 vs. 0.819, p<0.001) among different combination approaches for subsequent shocks. Sensitivity (76.5% vs. 35.3%, p<0.001), NPV (90.2% vs. 76.9%, p = 0.007) and PA (86.1% vs. 74.0%, p = 0.005)were greatly improved compared with AMSA based single feature prediction with a threshold of 90% specificity.

Conclusion

In this retrospective study, combining AMSA with previous shock information using neural networks greatly improves prediction performance of defibrillation outcome for subsequent shocks.     

Polarization-Controlled Metamaterial Absorber with Extremely Bandwidth and Wide Incidence Angle

Plasmonics - In this paper, a three-dimensional metamaterial structure absorber has been analyzed and discussed. The unit of the absorber is composed of nine different size resistive films which...     

The Myeloid LSECtin Is a DAP12-Coupled Receptor That Is Crucial for Inflammatory Response Induced by Ebola Virus Glycoprotein

Fatal Ebola virus infection is characterized by a systemic inflammatory response similar to septic shock. Ebola glycoprotein (GP) is involved in this process through activating dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages. However, the mechanism is unclear. Here, we showed that LSECtin (also known as CLEC4G) plays an important role in GP-mediated inflammatory responses in human DCs. Anti-LSECtin mAb engagement induced TNF-α and IL-6 production in DCs, whereas silencing of LSECtin abrogated this effect. Intriguingly, as a pathogen-derived ligand, Ebola GP could trigger TNF-α and IL-6 release by DCs through LSECtin. Mechanistic investigations revealed that LSECtin initiated signaling via association with a 12-kDa DNAX-activating protein (DAP12) and induced Syk activation. Mutation of key tyrosines in the DAP12 immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif abrogated LSECtin-mediated signaling. Furthermore, Syk inhibitors significantly reduced the GP-triggered cytokine production in DCs. Therefore, our results demonstrate that LSECtin is required for the GP-induced inflammatory response, providing new insights into the EBOV-mediated inflammatory response.