How optimal life history changes with the community size-spectrum

This paper derives optimal life histories for fishes or other animals in relation to the size spectrum of the ecological community in which they are both predators and prey. Assuming log-linear size-spectra and well known scaling laws for feeding and mortality, we first construct the energetics of the individual. From these we find, using dynamic programming, the optimal allocation of energy between growth and reproduction as well as the trade-off between offspring size and numbers. Optimal strategies were found to be strongly dependent on size spectrum slope. For steep size spectra (numbers declining rapidly with size), determinate growth was optimal and allocation to somatic growth increased rapidly with increasing slope. However, restricting reproduction to a fixed mating season changed optimal allocations to give indeterminate growth approximating a von Bertalanffy trajectory. The optimal offspring size was as small as possible given other restrictions such as newborn starvation mortality. For shallow size spectra, finite optimal maturity size required a decline in fitness for large size or age. All the results are compared with observed size spectra of fish communities to show their consistency and relevance.     

Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins C1/C2 identified as autoantigens by biochemical and mass spectrometric methods

The antigenic specificity of an unusual antinuclear antibody pattern in three patient sera was identified after separating HeLa-cell nuclear extracts by two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis and localizing the antigens by immunoblotting with patient serum. Protein spots were excised from the 2D gel and their contents were analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization (MALDI) or nanoelectrospray ionization time-of-flight (TOF) tandem mass spectrometry (MS) after in-gel digestion with trypsin. A database search identified the proteins as the C1 and C2 heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins. The clinical spectrum of patients with these autoantibodies includes arthritis, psoriasis, myositis, and scleroderma. None of 59 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 19 with polymyositis, 33 with scleroderma, and 10 with psoriatic arthritis had similar antibodies. High-resolution protein-separation methods and mass-spectrometric peptide mapping in combination with database searches are powerful tools in the identification of novel autoantigen specificities.     

Identification and characterization of fermentation inhibitors formed during hydrothermal treatment and following SSF of wheat straw

A pilot plant for hydrothermal treatment of wheat straw was compared in reactor systems of two steps (first, 80°C; second, 190–205°C) and of three steps (first, 80°C; second, 170–180°C; third, 195°C). Fermentation (SSF) with Sacharomyces cerevisiae of the pretreated fibers and hydrolysate from the two-step system gave higher ethanol yield (64–75%) than that obtained from the three-step system (61–65%), due to higher enzymatic cellulose convertibility. At the optimal conditions (two steps, 195°C for 6 min), 69% of available C6-sugar could be fermented into ethanol with a high hemicellulose recovery (65%). The concentration of furfural obtained during the pretreatment process increased versus temperature from 50 mg/l at 190°C to 1,200 mg/l at 205°C as a result of xylose degradation. S. cerevisiae detoxified the hydrolysates by degradation of several toxic compounds such as 90–99% furfural and 80–100% phenolic aldehydes, which extended the lag phase to 5 h. Acetic acid concentration increased by 0.2–1 g/l during enzymatic hydrolysis and 0–3.4 g/l during fermentation due to hydrolysis of acetyl groups and minor xylose degradation. Formic acid concentration increased by 0.5–1.5 g/l probably due to degradation of furfural. Phenolic aldehydes were oxidized to the corresponding acids during fermentation reducing the inhibition level.     

Evaluation of APOE polymorphisms and the risk for age-related macular degeneration in a Southeastern Brazilian population

This study aimed to evaluate the role of APOE polymorphisms (rs429358 and rs7412) in the risk of age-related macular degeneration in a sample of the Southeastern Brazilian population. Seven hundred and five unrelated individuals were analyzed, 334 with age-related macular degeneration (case group), and 371 without the disease (control group). In the case group, patients were further stratified according to disease phenotypes, divided into dry and wet age-related macular degeneration, and non-advanced and advanced age-related macular degeneration. APOE polymorphisms (rs429358 and rs7412) were evaluated through polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing. In the comparison of cases vs. controls, none of the associations reached statistical significance, considering the Bonferroni-adjusted P-value, although there was a suggestive protection for the E3/E4 genotype (OR = 0.626; P-value = 0.037) and E4 carriers (OR = 0.6515; P-value = 0.047). Statistically significant protection for both the E3/E4 genotype and E4 carriers was observed in the comparisons: advanced age-related macular degeneration vs. controls (OR = 0.3665, P-value = 0.491 × 10⁻³ and OR = 0.4031, P-value = 0.814 × 10⁻³, respectively), advanced age-related macular degeneration vs. non-advanced age-related macular degeneration (OR = 0.2529, P-value = 0.659 × 10⁻⁴ and OR = 0.2692, P-value = 0.631 × 10⁻⁴, respectively). In the comparison of wet age-related macular degeneration vs. control, protection was statistically significant only for E3/E4 (OR = 0.4052, P-value = 0.001). None of the comparisons demonstrated any significant association for E2 genotypes or E2 carriers in age-related macular degeneration risk in this study. Findings suggest a protective role of the E4 haplotype in the APOE gene in the risk for advanced and wet forms of age-related macular degeneration, in a sample of the Brazilian population. To our knowledge, this is the first Brazilian study to show the association between APOE polymorphisms and age-related macular degeneration.     

Hydration and saccharification of cellulose Iβ, II and IIII at increasing dry solids loadings

Crystalline cellulose Iβ (Avicel) was chemically transformed into cellulose II and III_I producing allomorphs with similar crystallinity indices (ATR-IR and XRD derived). Saccharifications by commercial cellulases at arrayed solids loadings showed cellulose III_I was more readily hydrolysable and less susceptible to increased dry solids levels than cellulose Iβ and II. Analysis by dynamic vapor sorption revealed cellulose II has a distinctively higher absorptive capacity than cellulose I and III_I. When equally hydrated (g water/g cellulose), low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) relaxometry showed that cellulose II, on average, most constrained water while cellulase III_I left the most free water. LF-NMR spin–spin relaxation time distribution profiles representing distinct water pools suggest cellulose III_I had the most restricted pool and changes in water distribution during enzymatic saccharification were most dramatic with respect to cellulose III_I compared to celluloses Iβ and II.