Biofilm ecology: On-line methods bring new insights into mic and microbial biofouling

Microbial biofilms were formed on coupons with defined coatings in once-through laminar flow fields of controlled bulk-phase composition and shear. Dilute media were utilized to select for biofilm growth. The formation, succession, and stability of the biofilms were monitored with non-destructive on-line methods (fluorescence, bioluminescence, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectrometry [ATR-FTIR] and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) and by high resolution destructive analysts (viable and direct counts and phospholipid fatty acid signature methods) at the termination of the experiments. Biofilms of reproducible composition can be formed and the order of inoculation of multi-component biofilms affects their composition at harvest. The corrosion rates of mild steel depended on the biofilm composition but not the attached biomass. Examination of biofilms with the scanning vibrating electrode in a microscope field showed effects of heterogeneity in biofilm structure which promoted localized anodic activity. Pseudomonas stains were engineered to contain the lux gene cassette as a "reporter"; and the formation of the exopolymer alginate was shown not to promote attachment of the strain or secondary colonization by Vibrio. Examination of mutants forming different alginate structures showed differential attachment and biofilm structure. Studies of mutants of lipopolysaccharide structure showed differential attachment to substrata. Specific antifouling and fouling-release coatings showed a wide range of attachment and release properties as well as sublethal toxicity.     

The arrangement of resources in patchy landscapes: effects on distribution, survival, and resource acquisition of chironomids

The spatial arrangement of resources in patchy habitats influences the distribution of individuals and their ability to acquire resources. We used Chironomus riparius, a ubiquitous aquatic insect that uses leaf particles as an important resource, to ask how the dispersion of resource patches influences the distribution and resource acquisition of mobile individuals in patchy landscapes. Two experiments were conducted in replicated laboratory landscapes (38×38 cm) created by arranging sand and leaf patches in a 5×5 grid so that the leaf patches were either aggregated or uniformly dispersed in the grid. One-day-old C. riparius larvae were introduced into the landscapes in one of three densities (low, medium, high). In experiment 1, we sampled larvae and pupae by coring each patch in each landscape 3, 6, 12, or 24 days after adding larvae. In experiment 2, emerging adults were collected daily for 42 days from each patch in each landscape. In aggregated landscapes, individuals were aggregated in one patch type or the other during a particular developmental stage, but the ”preferred” type changed depending on developmental stage and initial density. Adult emergence was lower by about 30% in all aggregated landscapes. In dispersed landscapes, individuals used both types of patch throughout their life cycles at all initial densities. Thus, patch arrangement influences the distribution of mobile individuals in landscapes, and it influences resource acquisition even when average resource abundance is identical among landscapes. Regardless of patch arrangement, high initial density caused accumulation of early instars in edge patches, 75% mortality of early instars, a 25% increase in development time, and a 60% reduction in adult emergence. Because mortality was extremely high among early-instar larvae in high-density treatments, we do not have direct evidence that the mechanism by which patch arrangement operates is density dependent. However, the results of our experiments strongly suggest that dispersion of resource patches across a landscape reduces local densities by making non-resource patches available for use, thereby reducing intraspecific competition. Received: 20 July 1999 / Accepted: 28 January 2000     

Strong genetic influences on measures of behavioral‐regulation among inbred rat strains

A fundamental challenge for any complex nervous system is to regulate behavior in response to environmental challenges. Three measures of behavioral‐regulation were tested in a panel of eight inbred rat strains. These measures were: (1) sensation seeking as assessed by locomotor response to novelty and the sensory reinforcing effects of light onset, (2) attention and impulsivity, as measured by a choice reaction time task and (3) impulsivity as measured by a delay discounting task. Deficient behavioral‐regulation has been linked to a number of psychopathologies, including ADHD, Schizophrenia, Autism, drug abuse and eating disorders. Eight inbred rat strains (August Copenhagen Irish, Brown Norway, Buffalo, Fischer 344, Wistar Kyoto, Spontaneous Hypertensive Rat, Lewis, Dahl Salt Sensitive) were tested. With n = 9 for each strain, we observed robust strain differences for all tasks; heritability was estimated between 0.43 and 0.66. Performance of the eight inbred rat strains on the choice reaction time task was compared to the performance of outbred Sprague Dawley (n = 28) and Heterogeneous strain rats (n = 48). The results indicate a strong genetic influence on complex tasks related to behavioral‐regulation and indicate that some of the measures tap common genetically driven processes. Furthermore, our results establish the potential for future studies aimed at identifying specific alleles that influence variability for these traits. Identification of such alleles could contribute to our understanding of the molecular genetic basis of behavioral‐regulation, which is of fundamental importance and likely contributes to multiple psychiatric disorders .     

SIMILARITY OF THE KINETICS OF INVERTASE ACTION IN VIVO AND IN VITRO

1. A method is given whereby the course of hydrolysis of sucrose by live yeast cells may be followed with precision equal to that found when invertase solutions prepared from autolyzed yeast are used to cause inversion. 2. The practical value of the equation of Nelson and Hitchcock as a means of following the course of enzymic hydrolysis of sucrose is hereby extended. 3. The inversion of sucrose by live yeast cells and by extracted invertase has been quantitatively compared. 4. The course of hydrolysis of sucrose by the invertase of Fleischmann''s yeast has been found to be identical in vivo and in vitro.     

Isosteric ramatroban analogs: selective and potent CRTH-2 antagonists

The chemoattractant receptor-homologous molecule expressed on T(H)2 cells (CRTH-2), also found on eosinophils and basophils, is a prostaglandin D2 receptor involved in the recruitment of these cell types during an inflammatory response. In this report, we describe the synthesis and optimization of a ramatroban isostere that is a selective and potent antagonist of CRTH-2 which may be useful in the treatment of certain diseases.     

A sub-population of rat liver membrane-bound ribosomes that are detached in vitro by carcinogens and centrifugation.

The chemical-carcinogen-induced detachment of ribosomes from rat liver endoplasmic reticulum was studied in vitro. Incubation of postmitochondrial supernatant with 0.2 mM-diethylnitrosamine or N-2-acetylaminofluorene removed approx. 16% of membrane-bound ribosomes, measured as differences in RNA/protein values of membrane separated from unbound ribosomes by flotation. These ribosomes are also detached by exposure to high centrifugal forces (160000g) and are among those removed by NADPH-catalysed lipid peroxidation. Extensive lipid peroxidation prohibits any measurement. The ribosomes (polyribosomes) removed are not those detached from the membrane by exposure to high KC1 concentrations (loosely bound) or high KC1 concentrations in the presence of puromycin (tightly bound). It is concluded then that centrifugally labile and carcinogen-sensitive represent a previously unreported sub-population of membrane-bound ribosomes.     

Hemoglobin regulates the migration of glioma cells along poly(ε‐caprolactone)‐aligned nanofibers

Aligned fibers have been shown to facilitate cell migration in the direction of fiber alignment while oxygen (O₂)‐carrying solutions improve the metabolism of cells in hypoxic culture. Therefore, U251 aggregate migration on poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL)‐aligned fibers was studied in cell culture media supplemented with the O₂ storage and transport protein hemoglobin (Hb) obtained from bovine, earthworm and human sources at concentrations ranging from 0 to 5 g/L within a cell culture incubator exposed to O₂ tensions ranging from 1 to 19% O₂. Individual cell migration was quantified using a wound healing assay. In addition, U251 cell aggregates were developed and aggregate dispersion/cell migration quantified on PCL‐aligned fibers. The results of this work show that the presence of bovine or earthworm Hb improved individual cell viability at 1% O₂, while human Hb adversely affected cell viability at increasing Hb concentrations and decreasing O₂ levels. The control data suggests that decreasing the O₂ tension in the incubator from 5 to 1% O₂ decreased aggregate dispersion on the PCL‐aligned fibers. However, the addition of bovine Hb at 5% O₂ significantly improved aggregate dispersion. At 19% O₂, Hb did not impact aggregate dispersion. Also at 1% O₂, aggregate dispersion appeared to increase in the presence of earthworm Hb, but only at the latter time points. Taken together, these results show that Hb‐based O₂ carriers can be utilized to improve O₂ availability and the migration of glioma spheroids on nanofibers. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 30:1214–1220, 2014     

Filmic encounters: Multispecies care and sacrifice on island Timor

This is a story about the ‘arts of noticing’ more‐than‐human noticing. In it I reflect on the ways in which my own practice of ethnographic filmmaking is itself an agent of multisensory participation. As artifice and artificial eye, there is something both liberating and sensuous about filmmaking practice. It heightens the performativity of participants and their embodied rituals and allows me to enter intimate spaces I would otherwise not encounter. In these encounters a deep multispecies noticing takes place, although in the first instance this is usually only by the camera. The intimacy enabled in these artificial but sensorial encounters can be both revealing and confronting, especially in cases of animal sacrifice. Re‐encountering footage filmed across years of research‐led endeavour, in this paper I explore the power of film to convey these multisensory and multispecies stories, as well as to evoke understanding and engage the multisensory memory of the filmmaker.     

From Life Cycle Assessment to Life Cycle Management

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a widely accepted methodology to support decision‐making processes in which one compares alternatives, and that helps prevent shifting of environmental burdens along the value chain or among impact categories. According to regulation in the European Union (EU), the movement of waste needs to be reduced and, if unavoidable, the environmental gain from a specific waste treatment option requiring transport must be larger than the losses arising from transport. The EU explicitly recommends the use of LCA or life cycle thinking for the formulation of new waste management plans. In the last two revisions of the Industrial Waste Management Programme of Catalonia (PROGRIC), the use of a life cycle thinking approach to waste policy was mandated. In this article we explain the process developed to arrive at practical life cycle management (LCM) from what started as an LCA project. LCM principles we have labeled the “3/3” principle or the “good enough is best” principle were found to be essential to obtain simplified models that are easy to understand for legislators and industries, useful in waste management regulation, and, ultimately, feasible. In this article, we present the four models of options for the management of waste solvent to be addressed under Catalan industrial waste management regulation. All involved actors concluded that the models are sufficiently robust, are easy to apply, and accomplish the aim of limiting the transport of waste outside Catalonia, according to the principles of proximity and sufficiency.