Effects of pulmonary vascular pressures and flow on airway and parenchymal mechanics in isolated rat lungs.

Changes in pulmonary hemodynamics have been shown to alter the mechanical properties of the lungs, but the exact mechanisms are not clear. We therefore investigated the effects of alterations in pulmonary vascular pressure and flow (Q(p)) on the mechanical properties of the airways and the parenchyma by varying these parameters independently in three groups of isolated perfused normal rat lungs. The pulmonary capillary pressure (Pc(est)), estimated from the pulmonary arterial (Ppa) and left atrial pressure (Pla), was increased at constant Q(p) (n = 7), or Q(p) was changed at Pc(est) = 10 mmHg (n = 7) and at Pc(est) = 20 mmHg (n = 6). In each condition, the airway resistance (Raw) and parenchymal damping (G) and elastance (H) were identified from the low-frequency pulmonary input impedance spectra. The results of measurements made under isogravimetric conditions were analyzed. The changes observed in the mechanical parameters were consistent with an altered Pla: monotonous increases in Raw were observed with increasing Pla, whereas G and H were minimal at Pla of approximately 7-10 mmHg and increased at lower and higher Pla. The results indicate that Pla, and not Ppa or Q(p), is the primary determinant of the mechanical condition of the lungs after acute changes in pulmonary hemodynamics: the parenchymal mechanics are impaired if Pla is lower or higher than physiological, whereas airway narrowing occurs at high Pla.     

PHYTODESALINATION OF A MODERATELY-SALT-AFFECTED SOIL BY SULLA CARNOSA

The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the ability of the indifferent halophyte Sulla carnosa Desf. to desalinize a moderately-salt-affected soil. Seeds were sown on a fertile soil added or not with 1.5 g NaCl. kg^?1. Analogous treatments without plantation (control and salinized) were also used. Plant culture was performed under greenhouse conditions in non-perforated pots containing 10 kg soil each and irrigated with non-saline tap water. After 80 days of treatment, shoots were harvested. Soil samples were also collected after division of soil column in each pot into two horizons. Our results showed that salt addition increased electrical conductivity of saturation paste extract (ECe) from 3.3 to 8.4 dS. m^?1 and soluble sodium concentration from 0.32 to 1.15 g. kg^?1 soil in the upper horizon. In the lower horizon however, Na⁺ concentration was quasi-constant and then ECe was less increased. Plant culture inversed this pattern of sodium accumulation and salinity. Its productivity and phytodesalination capacity in 80 days were 5.0 t DW. ha^?1 and 0.3 t Na⁺. ha^?1 (24% of the added quantity), respectively. Interestingly, sodium dilution within biomass (41.5–45.6 mg. g^?1 DW) and the non-altered nutrition make this plant suitable for forage as second use after phytodesalination.     

A new antimicrobial peptide isolated from Oudneya africana seeds

Oudneya africana R. Br. (Brassicaceae), a wild‐growing plant in the arid region of Tunisia, is used in ethno‐medicinal treatment of microbial infections. Validation of ethno‐therapeutic claims pertaining to the plant was sought by investigating its antimicrobial activity. A proteinaceous extract of the seeds, called AS‐3000, showed activity against various organisms including L. monocytogenes, E. coli, B. subtilis, E. hirae, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus and C. albicans. Extract AS‐3000 exhibited a synergistic effect against L. ivanovii when combined with vancomycin or chloramphenicol. The post‐antibiotic inhibitory effect of the ampicillin/AS‐3000 combination was 2.3‐fold greater than for the antibiotic alone. The mode of action of AS‐3000 on Listeria and Escherichia was visible using SEM. These results support the use of O. africana for treating microbial infections.     

Estimating the Population Mean Using Extreme Ranked Set Sampling

Precision of the estimate of the population mean using ranked set sample (RSS) relative to using simple random sample (SRS), with the same number of quantified units, depends upon the population and success in ranking. In practice, even ranking a sample of moderate size and observing the ith ranked unit (other than the extremes) is a difficult task. Therefore, in this paper we introduce a variety of extreme ranked set sample (ERSSs) to estimate the population mean. ERSSs is more practical than the ordinary ranked set sampling, since in case of even sample size we need to identify successfully only the first and/or the last ordered unit or in case of odd sample size the median unit. We show that ERSSs gives an unbiased estimate of the population mean in case of symmetric populations and it is more efficient than SRS, using the same number of quantified units. Example using real data is given. Also, parametric examples are given.     

Prolamin storage proteins and alloploidy in wild populations of the small grass Brachypodium distachyon (L.) P. Beauv.

This paper reports the glutenin diversity of a collection of 23 wild populations of the grass Brachypodium distachyon collected in the Mediterranean and southern areas of the Iberian Peninsula. The plant material studied included the three different cytotypes of this species: 2n?=?10, 2n?=?20 and 2n?=?30. A specific method of extraction was used to isolate the glutenin subunits from the caryopsis. Separation by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) showed them to correspond to wheat low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GS). Twenty-two LMW-GS?Clike were identified that showed great diversity within and between populations. All the populations investigated were polymorphic for the endosperm proteins studied. The 2n?=?30 forms had the largest number of subunits; these were also more diverse than those of the 2n?=?10 or 2n?=?20 forms. The 2n?=?10 forms, the most common in the higher, interior areas of the Iberian Peninsula, showed the smallest subunit variation. In fact, negative correlations were found between subunit diversity and altitude and longitude. In contrast, a positive correlation was detected with the annual average temperature and the indices of thermicity and Mediterraneity. The similarity between the populations was estimated using the Sorensen?CDice coefficient, calculated on the basis of the presence/absence of the 22 LMW-GS proteins. The similarity indices were used to produce a dendrogram using the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means (UPGMA). This method produced three main groups corresponding to the three cytotypes. An analysis was made of the possible correlation between eco-geographic and climatic factors and the gene diversity and polymorphism shown in the populations. The diversity correlated positively with the number of chromosomes (2n), annual mean temperature, index of thermicity and index of Mediterraneity. In contrast, diversity correlated negatively with altitude, longitude and index of precipitation during the summer. The number of chromosomes correlated negatively with altitude, longitude and precipitation during summer and positively with all the other climatic indices. These results are coherent with the fact that diploid forms were more common in areas of the interior and at higher altitude, where the climate is more extreme.     

SciDBMaker: new software for computer-aided design of specialized biological databases

Background  

The exponential growth of research in molecular biology has brought concomitant proliferation of databases for stocking its findings. A variety of protein sequence databases exist. While all of these strive for completeness, the range of user interests is often beyond their scope. Large databases covering a broad range of domains tend to offer less detailed information than smaller, more specialized resources, often creating a need to combine data from many sources in order to obtain a complete picture. Scientific researchers are continually developing new specific databases to enhance their understanding of biological processes.     

Altered heat resistance in spores and vegetative cells of a mutant fromBacillus subtilis

The relationship between sporulation temperature and spore killing temperature is described.Bacillus subtilis YB886, grown and sporulated at 25°, 30°, 37°, and 45°C, produced spores having D₉₀ values of 63.5, 76.3, 89.0, and 106 min respectively. In addition, the vegetative cells of this strain also demonstrated resistance to heat killing when grown at elevated temperatures (D₅₀ of 26.6, 32.5, 39.0, and >50 min for cells grown at 25°, 30°, 37°, and 45°C). A transposon-generated mutant of strain YB886, designated as BUL786, which is missing a heat shock-induced protein (97 kDa) (Qoronfleh MW and Streips UN, BBRC, 138:526–532, 1986 and FEMS 1987), was tested for thermotolerance under similar conditions. The cells failed to respond to growth at high temperature by producing heat-resistant spores or vegetative cells. For strain BUL786 the D₉₀ of spores generated at 20°, 25°, 30°, 37°, and 45°C was 9.4, 11.3, 12.8, 14.1, and 20 min, respectively. Similarly, the D₅₀ of vegetative cells was 15, 16.8, 17.8, 19.0, and 22.3 min when the cells were grown at 20°, 25°, 30°, 37°, and 45°C. Also, sporulation of YB886 cells in the presence of cadmium chloride increased the D₉₀ values for the resulting spores (5µM CdCl₂ resulted in a D₉₀ of 160 min). Strain BUL786 failed to produce spores with any elevated D₉₀ when grown in the presence of CdCl₂.