不孕不育患者解脲脲原体菌株血清型别的检测

本文以解脲脲原体标准菌株１－１４型免疫家获得ＵＵ１－１４型抗血清。用ＩＤＴ法对４８株自不孕不育患者分离的地方株作分型试验。结果在１．２．４．５．６．７．８和１２血八个清型中出现强阳性反应,其中４型最多。另有４株混合型。对四种血清型无反应。     

Continuous ethanol production byZymomonas mobilis andSaccharomyces cerevisiae in biofilm reactors

Continuous ethanol fermentations were performed in duplicate for 60 days withZymomonas mobilis ATCC 331821 orSaccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 24859 in packed-bed reactors with polypropylene or plastic composite-supports. The plastic composite-supports used contained polypropylene (75%) with ground soybean-hulls (20%) and zein (5%) forZ. mobilis, or with ground soybean-hulls (20%) and soybean flour (5%) forS. cerevisiae. Maximum ethanol productivities of 536 gL^–1 h^–1 (39% yield) and 499 gL^–1 h^–1 (37% yield) were obtained withZ. mobilis on polypropylene and plastic composite-supports of soybean hull-zein, respectively. ForZ. mobilis, and optimal yield of 50% was observed at a 1.92h^–1 dilution rate for soybean hull-zein plastic composite-supports with a productivity of 96gL^–1h^–1, whereas with polypropylene-supports the yield was 32% and the productivity was 60gL^–1h^–1. With aS. cerevisiae fermentation, the ethanol production was less, with a maximum productivity of 76gL^–1h^–1 on the plastic composite-support at a 2.88h^–1 dilution rate with a 45% yield. Polypropylene-support bioreactors were discontinued due to reactor plugging by the cell mass accumulation. Support shape (3-mm chips) was responsible for bioreactor plugging due to extensive biofilm development on the plastic composite-supports. With suspensionculture continuous fermentations in continuously-stirred benchtop fermentors, maximum productivities of 5gL^–1h^–1 were obtained with a yield of 24 and 26% withS. cerevisiae andZ. mobilis, respectively. Cell washout in suspensionculture continuous fermentations was observed at a 1.0h^–1 dilution rate. Therefore, for continuous ethanol fermentations, biofilm reactors out-performed suspension-culture reactors, with 15 to 100-fold higher productivities (gL^–1h^–1) and with higher percentage yields forS. cerevisiae andZ. mobilis, respectively. Further research is needed with these novel supports to evaluate different support shapes and medium compositions that will permit medium flow, stimulate biofilm formation, reduce fermentation costs, and produce maximum yields and productivities.This is Journal Paper No. J-16357 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. Project No. 3253     

Evaluation of plastic composite-supports for enhanced ethanol production in biofilm reactors

Biofilms are a natural form of cell immobilization that result from microbial attachment to solid supports. Biofilm reactors with polypropylene composite-supports containing up to 25% (w/w) of various agricultural materials (corn hulls, cellulose, oat hulls, soybean hulls or starch) and nutrients (soybean flour or zein) were used for ethanol production. Pure cultures ofZymomonas mobilis, ATCC 31821 orSaccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 24859 and mixed cultures with either of these ethanol-producing microorganisms and the biofilm-formingStreptomyces viridosporus T7A ATCC 39115 were evaluated. An ethanol productivity of 374g L^–1 h^–1 (44% yield) was obtained on polypropylene composite-supports of soybean hull-zein-polypropylene by usingZ. mobilis, whereas mixed-culture fermentations withS. viridosporus resulted in ethanol productivity of 147.5 g L^–1 h^–1 when polypropylene composite-supports of corn starch-soybean flour were used. WithS. cerevisiae, maximum productivity of 40 g L^–1 h^–1 (47% yield) was obtained on polypropylene composite-supports of soybean hull-soybean flour, whereas mixed-culture fermentation withS. viridosporus resulted in ethanol productivity of 190g L^–1 h^–1 (35% yield) when polypropylene composite-supports of oat hull-polypropylene were used. The maximum productivities obtained without supports (suspension culture) were 124 g L^–1 h^–1 and 5 g L^–1 h^–1 withZ. mobilis andS. cerevisiae, respectively. Therefore, forZ. mobilis andS. cerevisiae, ethanol productivities in biofilm fermentations were three- and eight-fold higher than suspension culture fermentations, respectively. Biofilm formation on the chips was detected by weight change and Gram staining of the support material at the end of the fermentation. The ethanol production rate and concentrations were consistently greater in biofilm reactors than in suspension cultures.This is Journal Paper No. J-16356 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. Project No. 3253     

A conformational switch‐based aptasensor for the chemiluminescence detection of microRNA

A simple microRNA (miRNA) aptasensor has been developed combining the conformational switch of a streptavidin aptamer and isothermal strand displacement amplification. In the presence of its target miRNA, the allosteric molecular beacon (aMB) probe immobilized on the plate can be ‘switched on' and release the streptavidin aptamer. At the same time, Klenow fragment (3′→5′ exo‐) is utilized to initiate DNA‐strand displacement, which starts the target recycling process. Based on the aptamer' high binding affinity and subsequent catalytic chemiluminescence (CL) detection, this CL strategy is highly specific in distinguishing mature miRNAs in same family. It exhibits a dynamic range of four orders of magnitude with a detection limit of 50 fM, and shows great potential for miRNA‐related clinical practices and biochemical research.     

Technical and economic potentials of the unconventional extruded dried Arabic bread wastes in broilers diets

Food waste is one of the major global challenges that have adverse socioeconomic and environmental impacts. Therefore, studying food waste utilization potentials and minimizing its negative consequences becomes imperative. This study aims to assess the technical and economic potentials of substituting corn with unconventional extruded dried Arabic Bread waste (EDABW) in broilers’ diets, in terms of broilers’ performance, carcass characteristic, economic net returns, and income over feed cost (IOFC). One hundred eighty unsexed one-day-old broiler birds of Ross breed were distributed randomly in six treatments (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100% EDABW group) of isocaloric and isonitrogenous diets in a completely randomized design with six replicated (5 chicks/replicate). The investigated traits were broilers’ performance (live body weight, total feed intake, total feed conversion ratio, and total weight gain. Other traits such as carcass weight, abdominal fat, edible offal (liver, heart, and gizzard), eviscerated (breast muscles, drum and thigh muscles, and wings) were weighed and expressed based on a live body weight. Results showed that the 20% replacement level of corn with EDABW generated the highest increase in the live body weight and the eviscerated carcass at about 4.24% g and 4.90%, respectively. On the other hand, the economic analysis showed potential reductions in the broilers’ diet cost and the total broilers' production cost as the levels of corn substitution with by unconventional EDABW increased. The reductions were estimated at 5.1%, 6.3%, 8.4%, 9.3%, and 9.9% at substitution levels of 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%, respectively as compared to the control diet. The results also showed a potential increase in the net economic returns of broiler meat as the increase in substitution levels ranged between 3.5–06.8% and 4.3–8.3% as compared to the control diets using the average retail and wholesale prices of broiler meats, respectively. In addition, the maximum IOFC was estimated potentially at a 20% substitution level of corn with EDABW. Conclusively, the study results show promising technical and economic potentials for unconventional EDABW in broilers’ diets that could lead to a thriving industry of unconventional broilers’ diets with high net economic returns and maximum IOFC.     

Assessment of antioxidant activities in roots of Miswak (Salvadora persica) plants grown at two different locations in Saudi Arabia

Traditionally, in Middle Eastern countries, many cultures use chewing sticks of arak for medicinal purposes especially, for oral cleanliness care. It was used by Muslims for treatment of teeth and highly recommended to be used by Muslims during the whole day. Therefore, the present work aimed to determine the total phenolic content and total flavonoids in two Miswak extracts obtained from arak roots collected from two different localities in Saudi Arabia. They were extracted with aqueous ethanol (80%) and used to estimate in vitro their antioxidative abilities. The new findings showed that the two tested extracts contained significantly different amounts of both total phenolic content and total flavonoids. According to the increase of total phenolic contents and total flavonoids obtained from the two extracts, Miswak collected from the southern region was found to contain more contents than those collected from the middle region. The results of antioxidant activities of Miswak root extract obtained by using different in vitro methods were varied depending on the technique used. According to the malondialdehyde (MDA) method, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) scavenging ability and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) methods, the two Miswak extracts exhibited to have high to very high antioxidant activities. Mostly, the values of antioxidant activities of Southern region have been shown to be always the highest.     

Population structure and geographical subdivision of the Leishmania major vector Phlebotomus papatasi as revealed by microsatellite variation

Abstract Multi‐locus microsatellite typing (MLMT) has been employed to infer the population structure of Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) (Diptera: Psychodidae) sandflies and assign individuals to populations. Phlebotomus papatasi sandflies were collected from 35 sites in 15 countries. A total of 188 P. papatasi individuals were typed using five microsatellite loci, resulting in 113 different genotypes. Unique microsatellite signatures were observed for some of the populations analysed. Comparable results were obtained when the data were analysed with Bayesian model and distance‐based methods. Bayesian statistic‐based analyses split the dataset into two distinct genetic clusters, A and B, with further substructuring within each. Population A consisted of five subpopulations representing large numbers of alleles that were correlated with the geographical origins of the sandflies. Cluster B comprised individuals collected in the Middle East and the northern Mediterranean area. The subpopulations B1 and B2 did not, however, show any further correlation to geographical origin. The genetic differentiation between subpopulations was supported by F statistics showing statistically significant (Bonferroni‐corrected P < 0.005) values of 0.221 between B2 and B1 and 0.816 between A5 and A4. Identification of the genetic structure of P. papatasi populations is important for understanding the patterns of dispersal of this species and to developing strategies for sandfly control.     

Morphometric and molecular differentiation of Phlebotomus (Phlebotomus) sandflies

The closely related sandfly species of the subgenus Phlebotomus namely, Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli, 1786), Phlebotomus duboscqi Neveu‐Lemair, 1906 and Phlebotomus bergeroti Parrot, 1934 (Diptera: Psychodidae), are major vectors of Leishmania major (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), the causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Old World. Although allopatric in most of their distribution, the three species exist sympatrically in many places in central and eastern Sudan. Males of the three species can be distinguished using morphological characters; however, females are much harder to identify, thus complicating epidemiological studies. We carried out a morphometric and a molecular study to determine reliable morphological features and develop a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for distinguishing females of these species. Males and females from each species were collected from sites in Sudan, East Africa and from one site in Mali, West Africa. Males were analysed morphologically and 20 characters and 10 character ratios were used in a stepwise discriminant analysis. This led to the identification of four characters with high discriminant loading scores sufficient for accurate male species identification. Male DNA was then used for the development of a PCR‐based species diagnostic based on the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) of the ribosomal DNA. A set of four primers was developed to generate fragment sizes that are specific to each species and can reliably identify females as well as hybrid DNA. Both the morphometric and the molecular findings of this study have important applications for studies of the epidemiology of cutaneous leishmaniasis.