The use of DNA sequences for identifying fungi and fungus-like organisms predates the DNA barcoding movement by at least 10 years. A brief overview of the mycological shift from phenotypic to ...molecular taxonomy is provided. Exploration of the animal barcode marker, cytochrome oxidase 1, by Canadian mycologists has been fruitful for some fungi, but intron issues and lack of resolution in other taxa prevent its universal application. The momentum established by 15 years of research on the fungal nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences will lead to a proposal to the Consortium for the Barcode of Life on the adoption of this marker as the fungal barcode. Existing mycological research networks should facilitate the rapid development of DNA barcoding of fungi once the marker issue is settled. Some available online fungal identification databases are briefly described.
Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and the leading cause of long-term disability in the USA, costing $40.2 billion in direct and indirect costs. Globally, stroke is the second leading cause ...of death and has a higher prevalence in lower- and middle-income countries compared to high-income countries. The role of the spleen in stroke has been studied in rodent models of stroke and is seen as a major contributor to increased secondary neural injury after stroke. Splenectomy 2 weeks prior to ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in mice and rats shows decreased infarct volumes. Additionally, the spleen decreases in size following stroke in rodents. Pro-inflammatory mediators are also increased in the spleen and subsequently the brain after stroke. These data in preclinical models of stroke have led stroke neurologists to look at the splenic response in stroke subjects. The outcomes of these studies suggest the spleen is responding in a similar manner in stroke subjects as it is in animal models of stroke.
Animal models demonstrating the detrimental role of the spleen in stroke are providing strong evidence of how the spleen is responding during stroke in human subjects. This indicates treatments targeting the splenic immune response in animals could provide useful targets and treatments for stroke subjects.
•Biological methanogenesis with M. marburgensis was identified to be gas limited.•Volumetric productivity was increased by improving gas/liquid mass transfer.•Quantitative analysis of key parameters ...in gas/liquid mass transfer was demonstrated.•A systematic strategy for maximising productivity without quality loss is suggested.
The biological conversion of H2 and CO2 into CH4, using methanogenic archaea is an interesting technology for CO2 conversion, energy storage and biogas upgrading. For an industrial application of this process however, the optimization of the volumetric productivity and the product quality is an important issue. Since the reactants in this fermentation process are, unlike in most microbial fermentations, solely gasses, the gas liquid mass transfer is supposed to play an important role on the way to a higher volumetric productivity.
This work aimed at investigating the effects of the gassing rate, the reactor pressure, as well as reactor design issues on the performance of Methanothermobactermarburgensis by using continuous cultures. Our results show that biological methanogenesis with M. marburgensis is gas limited. Maximum physiological capacity is not reached yet. The gassing rate influenced mainly the volumetric methane production rate (MER), the reactor pressure influenced mainly the offgas quality. Based on this information, we demonstrated how a combination of increased gas flow rate and increased reactor pressure can be used to reach high volumetric productivity at high offgas quality. Maximum MER was 950mmolL−1h−1 at a CH4 concentration of 60Vol.-%, maximum CH4 concentration reached was 85Vol.-% at a MER of 255mmolL−1h−1.
The reactor design currently limits further increase in gas flow rate and reactor pressure. Therefore Interdisciplinary bridges from bioprocessing to chemical reactor design must be followed in the future to boot this promising bioprocess to gain biomethane via CO2 fixation.
Abstract
There is a persisting debate about what chemical bonds are and whether they exist. I argue that chemical bonds are real patterns of interactions between subatomic particles. This proposal ...resolves the problems raised in the context of existing understandings of the chemical bond and provides a novel way to defend the reality of chemical bonds.
•Successful method development for industrial emission gas impact assessment on BMP.•Good method validity through consideration of major mass transfer influencing factors.•The three tested gasses did ...not negatively influence biological conversion capacity.
This contribution presents a method for quantification of the impact of emission gasses on the methane production with hydrogenotrophic methanogenic archaea. The developed method allows a robust quantification of the influence of real gasses on the volumetric productivity of methanogenic cultures by uncoupling physiological and mass transfer effects. This is achieved over reference experiments with pure H2 and CO2, simulating the mass transfer influence of the non-convertible side components by addition of N2 to the reactant stream.
Furthermore, this method was used to examine the performance of Methanothermobacter marburgensis on different emission gasses. None of the present side components had a negative effect on the volumetric methane production rate.
The presented method showed to be ready to use as a generic tool for feasibility studies and quantification of the physiological impact regarding the use of exhaust gasses as reactant gas for the biological methanogenesis.
Theory predicts the water hexamer to be the smallest water cluster with a three-dimensional hydrogen-bonding network as its minimum energy structure. There are several possible low-energy isomers, ...and calculations with different methods and basis sets assign them different relative stabilities. Previous experimental work has provided evidence for the cage, book, and cyclic isomers, but no experiment has identified multiple coexisting structures. Here, we report that broadband rotational spectroscopy in a pulsed supersonic expansion unambiguously identifies all three isomers; we determined their oxygen framework structures by means of oxygen-18-substituted water (H₂¹₈O). Relative isomer populations at different expansion conditions establish that the cage isomer is the minimum energy structure. Rotational spectra consistent with predicted heptamer and nonamer structures have also been identified.
Fungi are ubiquitous components of indoor human environments, where most contact between humans and microbes occurs. The majority of these organisms apparently play a neutral role, but some are ...detrimental to human lifestyles and health. Recent studies that used culture-independent sampling methods demonstrated a high diversity of indoor fungi distinct from that of outdoor environments. Others have shown temporal fluctuations of fungal assemblages in human environments and modest correlations with human activity, but global-scale patterns have not been examined, despite the manifest significance of biogeography in other microbial systems. Here we present a global survey of fungi from indoor environments (n = 72), using both taxonomic and phylogeny-informative molecular markers to determine whether global or local indoor factors determine indoor fungal composition. Contrary to common ecological patterns, we show that fungal diversity is significantly higher in temperate zones than in the tropics, with distance from the equator being the best predictor of phylogenetic community similarity. Fungal composition is significantly auto-correlated at the national and hemispheric spatial scales. Remarkably, building function has no significant effect on indoor fungal composition, despite stark contrasts between architecture and materials of some buildings in close proximity. Distribution of individual taxa is significantly range- and latitude-limited compared with a null model of randomized distribution. Our results suggest that factors driving fungal composition are primarily global rather than mediated by building design or function.
The practice of planting winter cover crops has seen renewed interest as a solution to environmental issues with the modern maize- and soybean-dominated row crop production system of the US Midwest. ...We examine whether cover cropping patterns can be assessed at scale using publicly available satellite data, creating a classifier with 91.5% accuracy (.68 kappa). We then use this classifier to examine spatial and temporal trends in cover crop occurrence on maize and soybean fields in the Midwest since 2008, finding that despite increased talk about and funding for cover crops as well as a 94% increase in cover crop acres planted from 2008-2016, increases in winter vegetation have been more modest. Finally, we combine cover cropping with satellite-predicted yields, finding that cover crops are associated with low relative maize and soybean production and poor soil quality, consistent with farmers adopting the practice on fields most in need of purported cover crop benefits. When controlling for invariant soil quality using a panel regression model, we find modest benefits of cover cropping, with average yield increases of 0.65% for maize and 0.35% for soybean. Given these slight impacts on yields, greater incentives or reduced costs of implementation are needed to increase adoption of this practice for the majority of maize and soybean acres in the US.
With advances in genomic sequencing technology, the number of reported gene-disease relationships has rapidly expanded. However, the evidence supporting these claims varies widely, confounding ...accurate evaluation of genomic variation in a clinical setting. Despite the critical need to differentiate clinically valid relationships from less well-substantiated relationships, standard guidelines for such evaluation do not currently exist. The NIH-funded Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) has developed a framework to define and evaluate the clinical validity of gene-disease pairs across a variety of Mendelian disorders. In this manuscript we describe a proposed framework to evaluate relevant genetic and experimental evidence supporting or contradicting a gene-disease relationship and the subsequent validation of this framework using a set of representative gene-disease pairs. The framework provides a semiquantitative measurement for the strength of evidence of a gene-disease relationship that correlates to a qualitative classification: “Definitive,” “Strong,” “Moderate,” “Limited,” “No Reported Evidence,” or “Conflicting Evidence.” Within the ClinGen structure, classifications derived with this framework are reviewed and confirmed or adjusted based on clinical expertise of appropriate disease experts. Detailed guidance for utilizing this framework and access to the curation interface is available on our website. This evidence-based, systematic method to assess the strength of gene-disease relationships will facilitate more knowledgeable utilization of genomic variants in clinical and research settings.
PDF
