Tracer Studies in Laboratory Beach Simulating Tidal Influences

Bioremediation of oil spills on tidally influenced beaches commonly involves the addition of a nutrient solution to the contaminated region of the beach at low tide to stimulate the growth of indigenous oil-degrading bacteria. Maximizing the residence time of nutrients in the beach and subsequently their contact time with microorganisms is a main goal for successful bioremediation. Therefore, understanding the effects of the tide on water flow and solute transport in a beach is an essential task for designing a nutrient application strategy. We investigated these effects by conducting a tracer study in a laboratory beach simulating nutrient application on natural beaches. The study consisted of applying, at low tide, a conservative tracer solution onto the beach surface near the high-tide line and monitoring its movement in the beach subsurface. The tidal motion caused the applied plume to move downward and seaward. The downward movement occurred during rising tides, while the seaward movement occurred mainly during falling tides. The results indicate that nutrients should be applied at the high-tide line during low tides. Guidelines for scaling up the results to natural beaches are provided along with an example.     

Lipidomic Approaches to Study HDL Metabolism in Patients with Central Obesity Diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors characterised by central obesity, atherogenic dyslipidaemia, and changes in the circulating lipidome; the underlying mechanisms that lead to this lipid remodelling have only been partially elucidated. This study used an integrated “omics” approach (untargeted whole serum lipidomics, targeted proteomics, and lipoprotein lipidomics) to study lipoprotein remodelling and HDL composition in subjects with central obesity diagnosed with MetS (vs. controls). Compared with healthy subjects, MetS patients showed higher free fatty acids, diglycerides, phosphatidylcholines, and triglycerides, particularly those enriched in products of de novo lipogenesis. On the other hand, the “lysophosphatidylcholines to phosphatidylcholines” and “cholesteryl ester to free cholesterol” ratios were reduced, pointing to a lower activity of lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) in MetS; LCAT activity (directly measured and predicted by lipidomic ratios) was positively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI) and insulin resistance. Moreover, many phosphatidylcholines and sphingomyelins were significantly lower in the HDL of MetS patients and strongly correlated with BMI and clinical metabolic parameters. These results suggest that MetS is associated with an impairment of phospholipid metabolism in HDL, partially led by LCAT, and associated with obesity and underlying insulin resistance. This study proposes a candidate strategy to use integrated “omics” approaches to gain mechanistic insights into lipoprotein remodelling, thus deepening the knowledge regarding the molecular basis of the association between MetS and atherosclerosis.     

Solvent-free oxidation of benzyl alcohol using titania-supported gold–palladium catalysts: Effect of Au–Pd ratio on catalytic performance

The oxidation of benzyl alcohol with molecular oxygen under solvent-free conditions has been investigated using a range of titania-supported Au–Pd alloy catalysts to examine the effect of the Au–Pd ratio on the conversion and selectivity. The catalysts have been compared at high reaction temperature (160 °C) as well as at 100 °C, to determine the effect on selectivity since at lower reaction temperature the range of by-products that are formed are limited. Under these conditions the 2.5 wt.% Au–2.5 wt.% Pd/TiO₂ was found to be the most active catalyst, whereas the Au/TiO₂ catalyst demonstrated the highest selectivity to benzaldehyde. Toluene, formed via either a hydrogen transfer process or an oxygen transfer process, was observed as a major by-product under these forcing conditions.     

Interaction between a coke and a tar. 2. Limit of tar penetration in coke porosity

The limit of penetration of a given coal-tar pitch into two cokes during mixing of the coke and liquid tar has been studied. It was shown that tar penetration is limited by compression of gas occluded in pores. Mercury porosimetry of cokes and pyrolysed coke-tar mixtures as well as micrographs of cokes impregnated with tar allow one to estimate the limiting pore diameter of tar penetration into coke at ca. 6 μm for the system considered.     

Easily made and handled carbon nanocones for scanning tunneling microscopy and electroanalysis

Well-formed carbon nanocones at the ends of micrometer-diameter carbon fibers (CFs) were fashioned into functional tips for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and miniaturized voltammetric sensors. Sharpening of single graphite filaments was achieved by simple DC electrochemical etching in 0.1 N NaOH. Operated as STM tips, pointed CFs resolved in air the contour and surface morphology of a nanoscopic Au line pattern and imaged in vacuum a Si (1 1 1) surface with clear atomic resolution. Subjecting already etched CFs to tip-sparing insulation with electrodeposited paint produced conical carbon ultramicroelectrodes (UMEs) with effective radii down to about 900 nm. Comparative cyclic voltammetry trials in alkaline, neutral and acidic solutions showed that the conical carbon UME’s had a wider practical potential window for electroanalytic applications than, for instance, Pt disk UMEs. The CF-based conical sensors described here are exceptionally easy to make with simple laboratory equipment and perform well in STM topography imaging and voltammetry. The inherent simplicity of sensor production widens the field of potential users, and offers clear advantages over existing types of UMEs, in particular those based on carbon nanotubes, which are especially hard to handle in an optical microscope setting.     

Measurement of enzymatic activity and specificity of human and avian influenza neuraminidases from whole virus by glycoarray and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Influenza neuraminidases hydrolyze the ketosidic linkage between N-acetylneuraminic acid and its adjacent galactose residue in sialosides. This enzyme is a tetrameric protein that plays a critical role in the release of progeny virions. Several methods have been described for the determination of neuraminidase activity, usually based on colorimetric, fluorescent, or chemiluminescent detection. However, only a few of these tests allow discrimination of the sialyl-linkage specificity (i.e., α2-3- versus α2-6-linked sialyllactosides) of the neuraminidase. Herein we report a glycoarray-based assay and a MALDI-TOF study for assessing the activity and specificity of two influenza neuraminidases on whole viruses. The human A(H3N2) and avian A(H5N2) neuraminidase activities were investigated. The results from both approaches demonstrated that α2-3 sialyllactoside was a better substrate than α2-6 sialyllactoside for both viruses and that H5N2 virus had a lower hydrolytic activity than H3N2.     

Burning off DNA methylation: new evidence for oxygen-dependent DNA demethylation

Where do you stop? Three recent publications have described how the oxidation of 5-methylcytosine by Tet dioxygenases does not stop at the 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) state, rather further oxidation of 5hmC is involved in DNA demethylation. The nature of the enzymes involved in this process shed light on the dynamics of epigenetic signaling and its evolutionary origin.