Porphyromonas gingivalis HmuY and Bacteroides vulgatus Bvu—A Novel Competitive Heme Acquisition Strategy

Human oral and gut microbiomes are crucial for maintenance of homeostasis in the human body. Porphyromonas gingivalis, the key etiologic agent of chronic periodontitis, can cause dysbiosis in the mouth and gut, which results in local and systemic infectious inflammatory diseases. Our previous work resulted in extensive biochemical and functional characterization of one of the major P. gingivalis heme acquisition systems (Hmu), with the leading role played by the HmuY hemophore-like protein. We continued our studies on the homologous heme acquisition protein (Bvu) expressed by Bacteroides vulgatus, the dominant species of the gut microbiome. Results from spectrophotometric experiments showed that Bvu binds heme preferentially under reducing conditions using Met145 and Met172 as heme iron-coordinating ligands. Bvu captures heme bound to human serum albumin and only under reducing conditions. Importantly, HmuY is able to sequester heme complexed to Bvu. This is the first study demonstrating that B. vulgatus expresses a heme-binding hemophore-like protein, thus increasing the number of members of a novel HmuY-like family. Data gained in this study confirm the importance of HmuY in the context of P. gingivalis survival in regard to its ability to cause dysbiosis also in the gut microbiome.     

Inertia‐based Fast Vectorization of Line Drawings

Image vectorisation is a fundamental method in graphic design and is one of the tools allowing to transfer artist work into computer graphics. The existing methods are based mainly on segmentation, or they analyse every image pixel; thus, they are relatively slow. We introduce a novel method for fast line drawing image vectorisation, based on a multi‐scale second derivative detector accelerated by the summed‐area table and an auxiliary grid. Image is scanned initially along the grid lines, and nodes are added to improve accuracy. Applying inertia in the line tracing allows for better junction mapping in a single pass. Our method is dedicated to grey‐scale sketches and line drawings. It works efficiently regardless of the thickness of the line or its shading. Experiments show it is more than two orders of magnitude faster than the existing methods, not sacrificing accuracy.     

The toxicity to plants of the sewage sludges containing multiwalled carbon nanotubes

The aim of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of sewage sludges containing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with an outer diameter <10 nm (CNT10) or 40-60 nm (CNT60) to Lepidium sativum (cress), Sorghum saccharatum (sorgo), Solanum lycopersicon (tomato), Raphanus sativus (radish) and Cucumis sativus (cucumber). CNTs were also incubated in sewage sludge for 7 or 31 days to determine the effect of CNT aging on sewage sludge phytotoxicity. The influence of CNTs on 4 different sewage sludges was tested. The CNTs' influence on sludge toxicity varied with respect to the CNTs' outer diameter, type of sewage sludges and the plants tested. No significant influence of CNT concentration on phytotoxicity was noted. In the case of two sludges, a positive influence of CNTs on seed germination and root growth was observed. Depending on the CNTs' outer diameter, CNT aging decreased (CNT10) or increased (CNT60) sewage sludge phytotoxicity.     

Improving Fluorometric Determination of Water Content in Aprotic Solvents

A fluorometric method allowing quantification of minute amounts of water in highly lipophilic solvents is proposed. This approach takes advantage of resonance energy transfer between 4-methylumbelliferone and Sudan I. The conditions required to observe effective energy transfer have been elucidated. The emission band of the donor molecule (4-methylumbelliferone) depends strongly on the water content—its position is affected by protolytic reactions occurring between the fluorescent dye and water in lipophilic solvent media. In consequence, the extent of overlap between the emission band of the donor and absorption peak of the acceptor scales with the water concentration. The sensitivity of this optical system can be considerably increased by addition of organic bases. The dependence of the emission band of 4-methylumbelliferone/Sudan I system on minute amount of water present in lipophilic solutions opens up possibility of determination of water content in these media at the unique wavelength, in a turn on mode. The presented system was successfully applied to determine water in model commercial oil samples. It was shown that using herein proposed method the increase of water contents in the sample can be observed as increase of the emission intensity, despite the native fluorescence of the vegetable oil samples. For these samples, a good correlation with golden standard Karl Fischer titration was obtained.     

Finite element analysis of small-scale hot compression testing

This paper models hot compression testing using a dilatometer in loading mode.These small-scale tests provide a high throughput at low cost,but are susceptible to inhomogeneity due to friction and temper-ature gradients.A novel method is presented for correcting the true stress-strain constitutive response over the full range of temperatures,strain-rates and strain.The nominal response from the tests is used to predict the offset in the stress-strain curves due to inhomogeneity,and this stress offset Δσ is applied piecewise to the data,correcting the constitutive response in one iteration.A key new feature is the smoothing and fitting of the flow stress data as a function of temperature and strain-rate,at multiple discrete strains.The corrected model then provides quantitative prediction of the spatial and tempo-ral variation in strain-rate and strain throughout the sample,needed to correlate the local deformation conditions with the microstructure and texture evolution.The study uses a detailed series of 144 hot compression tests of a Zr-Nb alloy.While this is an important wrought nuclear alloy in its own right,it also serves here as a test case for modelling the dilatometer for hot testing of high temperature alloys,particularly those with dual α-β phase microstructures(such as titanium alloys).     

Control of ecdysteroidogenesis: activation and inhibition of prothoracic gland activity

The ecdysteroid hormones, mainly 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), play a pivotal role in insect development by controlling gene expression involved in molting and metamorphosis. In the model insect Manduca sexta the production of ecdysteroids by the prothoracic gland is acutely controlled by a brain neurohormone, prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH). PTTH initiates a cascade of events that progresses from the influx of Ca2+ and cAMP generation through phosphorylation of the ribosomal protein S6 and S6-dependent protein synthesis, and concludes with an increase in the synthesis and export of ecdysteroids from the gland. Recent studies indicate that S6 phosphorylation probably controls the steroidogenic effect of PTTH by gating the translation of selected mRNAs whose protein products are required for increased ecdysteroid synthesis. Inhibition of S6 phosphorylation prevents an increase in PTTH-stimulated protein synthesis and subsequent ecdysteroid synthesis. Two of the proteins whose translations are specifically stimulated by PTTH have been identified, one being a beta tubulin and the other a heat shock protein 70 family member. Current data suggest that these two proteins could be involved in supporting microtubule-dependent protein synthesis and ecdysone receptor assembly and/or function. Recent data also indicate that the 20E produced by the prothoracic gland feeds back upon the gland by increasing expression and phosphorylation of a specific USP isoform that is a constituent of the functional ecdysone receptor. Changes in the concentration and composition of the ecdysone receptor complex of the prothoracic gland could modulate the gland's potential for ecdysteroid synthesis (e.g. feedback inhibition) by controlling the levels of enzymes or other proteins in the ecdysteroid biosynthetic pathway.     

Experimental and Numerical Study of the Buckling of Composite Profiles with Open Cross Section under Axial Compression

The object of the research are short, thin-walled columns with an open top-hat cross section made of multilayer laminate. The walls of the investigated profiles are made of plate elements. The entire columns are subjected to uniform compression. A detailed analysis allowed us to determine critical forces and post-critical equilibrium paths. It is assumed that the columns are articulately supported on the edges forming their ends. The numerical investigation is performed by the finite element method. The study involves solving the problem of eigenvalue and the non-linear problem of stability of the structure. The numerical analysis is performed by the commercial simulation software ABAQUS®. The numerical results are then validated experimentally. In the discussed cases, it is assumed that the material operates within a linearly-elastic range, and the non-linearity of the FEM model is due to large displacements.     

The selective catalytic oxidation of methane to methyl bisulfate at ambient pressure

The selective catalytic oxidation of methane in 25 wt.% oleum to methyl bisulfate at ambient pressure in presence of PtCl₄ catalyst was investigated. The reaction between methane and sulfuric acid took place at atmospheric pressure if the mass transfer between gas and liquid was sufficient. The process was carried out at 130–220 °C in absorption reactor packed with glass balls 1.5–7 mm in diameter.