Effect of extreme salinity conditions on the survival of Mytilopsis sallei Recluz (Pelecypoda)

Effects of salinity conditions, ranging from fresh water to 80, on the survival of marine molluscan fouling species, Mytilopsis sallei Recluz, have been studied in the laboratory. The results show that the species exhibits a wide tolerance to different salinity conditions including freshwater, showing normal activity up to 50 beyond which the higher salt concentration had a lethal effect. The effect of various salinity conditions on spawning has also been examined. The significance of wide range tolerance to salinity on the fouling in seawater cooling systems is discussed.     

Interaction of the Human Papillomavirus E6 Oncoprotein with Sorting Nexin 27 Modulates Endocytic Cargo Transport Pathways

A subset of high-risk Human Papillomaviruses (HPVs) are the causative agents of a large number of human cancers, of which cervical is the most common. Two viral oncoproteins, E6 and E7, contribute directly towards the development and maintenance of malignancy. A characteristic feature of the E6 oncoproteins from cancer-causing HPV types is the presence of a PDZ binding motif (PBM) at its C-terminus, which confers interaction with cellular proteins harbouring PDZ domains. Here we show that this motif allows E6 interaction with Sorting Nexin 27 (SNX27), an essential component of endosomal recycling pathways. This interaction is highly conserved across E6 proteins from multiple high-risk HPV types and is mediated by a classical PBM-PDZ interaction but unlike many E6 targets, SNX27 is not targeted for degradation by E6. Rather, in HPV-18 positive cell lines the association of SNX27 with components of the retromer complex and the endocytic transport machinery is altered in an E6 PBM-dependent manner. Analysis of a SNX27 cargo, the glucose transporter GLUT1, reveals an E6-dependent maintenance of GLUT1 expression and alteration in its association with components of the endocytic transport machinery. Furthermore, knockdown of E6 in HPV-18 positive cervical cancer cells phenocopies the loss of SNX27, both in terms of GLUT1 expression levels and its vesicular localization, with a concomitant marked reduction in glucose uptake, whilst loss of SNX27 results in slower cell proliferation in low nutrient conditions. These results demonstrate that E6 interaction with SNX27 can alter the recycling of cargo molecules, one consequence of which is modulation of nutrient availability in HPV transformed tumour cells.     

Improvement in fermentation characteristics of degermed ground corn by lipid supplementation

With rapid growth of fuel ethanol industry, and concomitant increase in distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), new corn fractionation technologies that reduce DDGS volume and produce higher value coproducts in dry grind ethanol process have been developed. One of the technologies, a dry degerm, defiber (3D) process (similar to conventional corn dry milling) was used to separate germ and pericarp fiber prior to the endosperm fraction fermentation. Recovery of germ and pericarp fiber in the 3D process results in removal of lipids from the fermentation medium. Biosynthesis of lipids, which is important for cell growth and viability, cannot proceed in strictly anaerobic fermentations. The effects of ten different lipid supplements on improving fermentation rates and ethanol yields were studied and compared to the conventional dry grind process. Endosperm fraction (from the 3D process) was mixed with water and liquefied by enzymatic hydrolysis and was fermented using simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. The highest ethanol concentration (13.7% v/v) was achieved with conventional dry grind process. Control treatment (endosperm fraction from 3D process without lipid supplementation) produced the lowest ethanol concentration (11.2% v/v). Three lipid treatments (fatty acid ester, alkylphenol, and ethoxylated sorbitan ester 1836) were most effective in improving final ethanol concentrations. Fatty acid ester treatment produced the highest final ethanol concentration (12.3% v/v) among all lipid supplementation treatments. Mean final ethanol concentrations of alkylphenol and ethoxylated sorbitan ester 1836 supplemented samples were 12.3 and 12.0% v/v, respectively.Mention of brand or firm names does not constitute an endorsement by University of Illinois or USDA above others of similar nature not mentioned     

Controlled release of nutrients to mammalian cells cultured in shake flasks

Though cell culture-based protein production processes are rarely carried out under batch mode of operation, cell line and initial process development operations are usually carried out in batch mode due to simplicity of operation in widely used scale down platforms like shake flasks. Nutrient feeding, if performed, is achieved by bolus addition of concentrated feed solution at different intervals, which leads to large transient increases in nutrient concentrations. One negative consequence is increased waste metabolite production. We have developed a hydrogel-based nutrient delivery system for continuous feeding of nutrients in scale down models like shake flasks without the need for manual feed additions or any additional infrastructure. Continuous delivery also enables maintaining nutrient concentrations at low levels, if desired. The authors demonstrate the use of these systems for continuous feeding of glucose and protein hydrolysate to a suspension Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) culture in a shake flask. Glucose feeding achieved using the glucose-loaded hydrogel resulted in a 23% higher integral viable cell density and an 89% lower lactate concentration at the end of the culture when compared with a bolus-feed of glucose.     

Centenary commemorations or centenary contestations?—Celebrating a hundred years of cinema in Bombay

The commemorations of the hundredth year of the arrival of cinema in India staged by the Government of Maharashtra were a combination of public and semi‐public rituals inscribing the history of cinema in India onto the urban landscape of Bombay. This article examines those commemorations to show how the history of cinema becomes an arena for the state to proclaim its distinct cultural identity. The centenary commemorations are an example of how a world‐historical moment like the Lumière screenings is appropriated by the state government to assert a particular cultural claim over the city of Bombay.     

Effect of geographical location and stochastic weather variation on life cycle assessment of biodiesel production from camelina in the northwestern USA

Purpose

The effect of regional factors on life cycle assessment (LCA) of camelina seed production and camelina methyl ester production was assessed in this study. While general conclusions from LCA studies point to lower environmental impacts of biofuels, it has been shown in many studies that the environmental impacts are dependent on location, production practices, and even local weather variations.

Methods

A cradle-to-farm gate and well-to-pump approaches were used to conduct the LCA. To demonstrate the impact of agro-climatic and management factors (weather condition, soil characteristics, and management practices) on the overall emissions for four different regions including Corvallis, OR, Pendleton, OR, Pullman, WA, and Sheridan, WY, field emissions were simulated using the DeNitrification-DeComposition (DNDC) model. openLCA v.1.4.2 software was used to quantify the environmental impacts of camelina seed and camelina methyl ester production.

Results and discussion

The results showed that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during camelina production in different regions vary between 49.39 and 472.51 kg CO₂-eq./ha due to differences in agro-climatic and weather variations. The GHG emissions for 1 kg of camelina produced in Corvallis, Pendleton, Pullman, and Sheridan were 0.76 ± 11, 0.55 ± 10, 0.47 ± 18, and 1.26 ± 6 % kg CO₂-eq., respectively. The GHG emissions for 1000 MJ of camelina biodiesel using camelina produced in Corvallis, Pendleton, Pullman, and Sheridan were 53.60 ± 5, 48.87 ± 5, 44.33 ± 7, and 78.88 ± 4 % kg CO₂-eq., respectively. Other impact categories such as acidification and ecotoxicity for 1000 MJ of camelina biodiesel varied across the regions by 43 and 103 %, respectively.

Conclusions

It can be concluded that process-based crop models such as DNDC in conjunction with Monte Carlo analysis are helpful tools to quantitatively estimate the influence of regional factors on field emissions which consequently can provide information about the expected variability in LCA results.

     

Robust filtering for stochastic genetic regulatory networks with time-varying delay

This paper addresses the robust filtering problem for a class of linear genetic regulatory networks (GRNs) with stochastic disturbances, parameter uncertainties and time delays. The parameter uncertainties are assumed to reside in a polytopic region, the stochastic disturbance is state-dependent described by a scalar Brownian motion, and the time-varying delays enter into both the translation process and the feedback regulation process. We aim to estimate the true concentrations of mRNA and protein by designing a linear filter such that, for all admissible time delays, stochastic disturbances as well as polytopic uncertainties, the augmented state estimation dynamics is exponentially mean square stable with an expected decay rate. A delay-dependent linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach is first developed to derive sufficient conditions that guarantee the exponential stability of the augmented dynamics, and then the filter gains are parameterized in terms of the solution to a set of LMIs. Note that LMIs can be easily solved by using standard software packages. A simulation example is exploited in order to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design procedures.     

A novel 99mTc-labeled testosterone derivative as a potential agent for targeting androgen receptors

With an insight that ligands possessing a N2S2 tetradentate array of donor atoms serve as ideal bifunctional chelating agents (BFCA) in the radiolabeling of target-specific agents, 5-hydroxy-3,7-diazanonan-1,9-dithiol (DAHPES) with a derivatizable substituent in the form of a hydroxyl group in the backbone was synthesized. The preparation of a steroid conjugate via coupling of this BFCA with testosterone-3-(O-carboxymethyl) oxime and the subsequent radiolabeling of the conjugate under optimized conditions with 99mTc, the ideal diagnostic radionuclide in nuclear medicine procedures, are reported. The immunoreactivity of the radiolabeled conjugate was demonstrated in a study using anti-testosterone antibodies, wherein the radiolabeled conjugate exhibited significant binding with antiserum to testosterone. Cell-uptake studies in DU145 prostate carcinoma cell line bearing androgen receptors (ARs) and comparison with AR non-bearing breast carcinoma cell line revealed the specific binding of the steroidal moiety with the testosterone receptor.