Dual infections of Culex tritaeniorhynchus with West Nile virus and Nosema algerae

Culex tritaeniorhynchus females infected with the microsporidian Nosema algerae, and uninfected control females were compared for susceptibility to infection with West Nile (WN) virus and for the ability to transmit virus. When fed on a high titered dose fo virus, 95% of the control females became infected, whereas only 65% of the N. algerae-infected females were infected with WN virus. However, at two lower viral doses, no differences in susceptibility were observed. No significant differences in transmission ability were found between the N. algerae-infected and control females when tested at 10, 14, and 21 days after infection with WN virus. Also, in mosquitoes dually infected with N. algerae and WN virus, neither agent affected the ability of the other to replicate.     

Lipase Induction in Mucor hiemalis

The influence on lipase induction in Mucor hiemalis of different types of triglycerides containing mainly oleic acid (olive oil), erucic acid (mustard oil), or saturated fatty acids of 8 to 16 carbons (coconut oil) was studied. The fungus was grown in shake flasks in a fermentation medium containing peptone, minerals, and glucose or one of the oils as the carbon source. Maximum lipase was produced when the initial pH of the fermentation medium was kept at 4.0. Addition of Ca²⁺ to the medium did not increase lipase production. The optimum pH for activity of both the mycelial and extracellular lipases was found to be 7.0. The fungus produced a significant amount of lipase in the presence of glucose, but the lipase activity increased markedly when olive oil was added to the medium at the beginning of the fermentation. Addition of olive oil at a later stage did not induce as much enzyme. Studies with washed mycelia showed that a greater amount of lipase was released when olive oil was present than when glucose was present. Among the various types of triglycerides used as the carbon source, olive oil was found to be most effective in inducing the lipase. Olive oil and mustard oil fatty acids inhibited the lipase more than those of coconut oil. The lipase induced by a particular type of triglyceride did not seem to be specific for the same triglyceride, nor was it inhibited specifically by it. Irrespective of the triglyceride used in the fermentation medium, the lipase produced was most active against coconut oil triglyceride, and this specificity, as shown by lipase activities in an n-heptane system, was not found to be due to a better emulsification of this oil. The lipase of M. hiemalis can be considered to be both constitutive and inducible.     

The role of the pseudo-disaccharide neamine as an intermediate in the biosynthesis of neomycin.

By using wild-type and deoxystreptamine-negative mutants of Streptomyces fradiae grown in media containing [6(-3)H]glucose or [U-14C]glucose, and by subsequent hydrolysis of the labelled neomycin produced, neamines labelled with 3H in both rings I and II, but with 14C in ring I only, were prepared. A mixture of these two forms of neamine was converted by deoxystreptamine-negative Streptomyces rimosus forma paromomycinus into neomycin (not paromomycin) with a 30% yield. The3H: 14C ratio in this neomycin was the same as the measured in neamine produced by hydrolysis of the neomycin, and in unused neamine reisolated from the incubation medium. The 3H:14C ratio in the neomycin was not affected by the presence of unlabelled deoxystreptamine during the incubation. The radioactivity in the neomycin was associated with rings I and II only. It is concluded that the added neamine is incorporated into antibiotic intact, without initial hydrolysis, and that the probable first step in the subunit assembly of neomycin is the formation of neamine.     

Glycogenosis in the Dog

Four cases of a generalized form of glycogenosis occurring in German Shepherd dogs, all females, are described. Symptoms could be noticed as early as the age of two months and progressed slowly for months. They appeared as dizziness, muscular weakness, and in two of the cases as poor nutritional state. The abdomen became gradually distended. The main lesion seen at postmortem was a greatly increased liver size with some moderate liver fibrosis. Heavy deposits of a granular substance behaving as glycogen in histochemical tests and at electron microscopy were found in the hepatic cells, muscle fibres of the heart, skeletal and smooth muscles, and in nerve and glial cells of the central nervous system. The substance was lying freely dispersed in the cell cytoplasm without any indication of lysosomal storage. The disease of dogs does not seem to be fully comparable with any of the types observed in man, but is probably much related to Type III or Cori's Disease. Structure analysis of the deposits and enzyme investigations have been done and are published (Čeh et al. 1976).     

Exploring Coal Biodesulfurization Potential of a Novel Organic Sulfur Metabolizing Rhodococcus spp. (Eu-32) – A Case Study

Coal is one of the most abundant nonrenewable fossil fuels, in Pakistan. However, in general, the quality of coal is too low to offset the practical, economic, and regulatory barriers to its utilization. High sulfur content comes up as one of the bottlenecks in productive usage of indigenous coal. Biotechnology can emerge as a panacea for upgrading the huge reserves of high sulfur coal. In current study, the sulfur removal potential of Rhodococcus spp. (Eu-32) was investigated using coal from Dukki, Baluchistan, Pakistan. Biodesulfurization process was optimized for various parameters and maximum decrease of 40% and 60% in total and organic sulfur contents, respectively were achieved in 15 days. The Langmuir and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface areas of the biotreated coal were increased by 20 and 16 times, respectively. Scanning electron microscope showed higher tendency of attachment of bacterial cells to the coal particles. Our results revealed that Eu-32 could remove significant amounts of organic sulfur from coal and could be used in the pre-combustion operations with appropriate arrangements.     

Population Differences in Brain Morphology and Microstructure among Chinese,Malay, and Indian Neonates

We studied a sample of 75 Chinese, 73 Malay, and 29 Indian healthy neonates taking part in a cohort study to examine potential differences in neonatal brain morphology and white matter microstructure as a function of ethnicity using both structural T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We first examined the differences in global size and morphology of the brain among the three groups. We then constructed the T2-weighted MRI and DTI atlases and employed voxel-based analysis to investigate ethnic differences in morphological shape of the brain from the T2-weighted MRI, and white matter microstructure measured by fractional anisotropy derived from DTI. Compared with Malay neonates, the brains of Indian neonates’ tended to be more elongated in anterior and posterior axis relative to the superior-inferior axis of the brain even though the total brain volume was similar among the three groups. Although most anatomical regions of the brain were similar among Chinese, Malay, and Indian neonates, there were anatomical variations in the spinal-cerebellar and cortical-striatal-thalamic neural circuits among the three populations. The population-related brain regions highlighted in our study are key anatomical substrates associated with sensorimotor functions.     

Molecular characterization of Plasmodium vivax clinical isolates in Pakistan and Iran using pvmsp-1, pvmsp-3α and pvcsp genes as molecular markers

In this study, the diversity of Plasmodium vivax populations circulating in Pakistan and Iran has been investigated by using circumsporozoite protein (csp) and merozoite surface proteins 1 and 3α (msp-1 and msp-3α) genes as genetic markers. Infected P. vivax blood samples were collected from Pakistan (n = 187) and Iran (n = 150) during April to October 2008, and were analyzed using nested-PCR/RFLP and sequencing methods. Genotyping pvmsp-1 (variable block 5) revealed the presence of type 1, type 2 and recombinant type 3 allelic variants, with type 1 predominant, in both study areas. The sequence analysis of 33 P. vivax isolates from Pakistan and 30 from Iran identified 16 distinct alleles each, with one allele (R-8) from Iran which was not reported previously. Genotyping pvcsp gene also showed that VK210 type is predominant in both countries. Moreover, based on the size of amplified fragment of pvmsp-3α, three major types: type A (1800 bp), type B (1500 bp) and type C (1200 bp), were distinguished among the examined isolates that type A was predominant among Pakistani (72.7%) and Iranian (77.3%) parasites. PCR/RFLP products of pvmsp-3α with HhaI and AluI have detected 40 and 39 distinct variants among Pakistani and Iranian examined isolates, respectively. Based on these three studied genes, the rate of combined multiple genotypes were 30% and 24.6% for Pakistani and Iranian P. vivax isolates, respectively. These results indicate an extensive diversity in the P. vivax populations in both studies.     

Uncovering Atomic‐Scale Stability and Reactivity in Engineered Zinc Oxide Electrocatalysts for Controllable Syngas Production

In this study, scalable, flame spray synthesis is utilized to develop defective ZnO nanomaterials for the concurrent generation of H₂ and CO during electrochemical CO₂ reduction reactions (CO₂RR). The designed ZnO achieves an H₂/CO ratio of ≈1 with a large current density (j) of 40 mA cm^?2 during long‐term continuous reaction at a cell voltage of 2.6 V. Through in situ atomic pair distribution function analysis, the remarkable stability of these ZnO structures is explored, addressing the knowledge gap in understanding the dynamics of oxide catalysts during CO₂RR. Through optimization of synthesis conditions, ZnO facets are modulated which are shown to affect reaction selectivity, in agreement with theoretical calculations. These findings and insights on synthetic manipulation of active sites in defective metal‐oxides can be used as guidelines to develop active catalysts for syngas production for renewable power‐to‐X to generate a range of fuels and chemicals.