Composition features of hydrocarbons and rocks of Domanic deposits of different oil fields in the Tatarstan territory

Study was conducted of rocks composition and its extracted moving hydrocarbons from Domanic deposits of Tatarstan, differing in location and occurrence depth from 1379 to 1891 m. The rocks are represented from carbonate-siliceous to pure carbonates with calcite content from 24 to 99%. With increase in calcite content in rocks, the yield of extracts from them decreases. Within Romashkinskoye field, an increase in yield of bitumoids with increase the occurrence depth of the host rocks - from 0.63 to 2.40% was established. Saturated hydrocarbons content of changes from 18 to 39%, of asphaltenes - from 9 to 26%.     

Time-dependent response of active composites with thermal, electrical, and mechanical coupling effect

The mechanical and physical properties of materials change with time. This change can be due to the dissipative characteristic of materials like in viscoelastic bodies and/or due to hostile environmental conditions and electromagnetic fields. We study time-dependent response of active fiber reinforced polymer composites, where the polymer constituent undergoes different viscoelastic deformations at different temperatures, and the electro-mechanical and piezoelectric properties of the active fiber vary with temperatures. A micromechanical model is formulated for predicting effective time-dependent response in active fiber composites with thermal, electrical, and mechanical coupling effects. In this micromechanical model limited information on the local field variables in the fiber and matrix constituents can be incorporated in predicting overall performance of active composites. We compare the time-dependent response of active composites determined from the micromechanical model with those obtained by analyzing the composites with microstructural details. Finite element (FE) is used to analyze the composite with microstructural details which allows quantifying variations of field variables in the constituents of the active composites.     

Mitochondrial rRNA Methylation by Mettl15 Contributes to the Exercise and Learning Capability in Mice

Mitochondrial translation is a unique relic of the symbiotic origin of the organelle. Alterations of its components cause a number of severe human diseases. Hereby we report a study of mice devoid of Mettl15 mitochondrial 12S rRNA methyltransferase, responsible for the formation of m⁴C839 residue (human numbering). Homozygous Mettl15^−/− mice appeared to be viable in contrast to other mitochondrial rRNA methyltransferase knockouts reported earlier. The phenotype of Mettl15^−/− mice is much milder than that of other mutants of mitochondrial translation apparatus. In agreement with the results obtained earlier for cell cultures with an inactivated Mettl15 gene, we observed accumulation of the RbfA factor, normally associated with the precursor of the 28S subunit, in the 55S mitochondrial ribosome fraction of knockout mice. A lack of Mettl15 leads to a lower blood glucose level after physical exercise relative to that of the wild-type mice. Mettl15^−/− mice demonstrated suboptimal muscle performance and lower levels of Cox3 protein synthesized by mitoribosomes in the oxidative soleus muscles. Additionally, we detected decreased learning capabilities in the Mettl15^−/− knockout mice in the tests with both positive and negative reinforcement. Such properties make Mettl15^−/− knockout mice a suitable model for mild mitochondriopathies.     

DBPs formation and toxicity monitoring in different origin water treated by ozone and alum/PAC coagulation

In this study, aluminium sulphate (alum) and polyaluminum chloride (PAC) coagulation were used for coagulation of different origin water (Buyukcekmece, BC and Omerli, OM in Istanbul, Turkey and Carmine, CR in Salerno, Italy) treatment. The effect of pre-ozonation alone and combined with coagulation on NOM removal which was characterized by TOC, UV254 was investigated. DBPs formation and acute toxicity on Daphnia magna of chlorinated raw and treated samples were defined in parallel. Moreover, bromide spiking was evaluated for DBPs speciation. Optimum alum dose for TOC removal was found to be 40 mg/L for OM while 80 mg/L of alum exhibited the lowest total trihalomethane formation potential (TTHMFP). Pre-ozonation enhanced the removal of TOC and reduction of TTHMFP when it was used in combination with both coagulants. In contrast, total haloacetic acid formation potential (THAAFP) increased after each coagulation, ozonation and their combination. 300 µg/L bromide spiking (around the same level with BC) in raw sample collected from CR increased the formation of brominated disinfection byproducts. Raw and treated samples displayed acute toxicity on Daphnia magna in different pattern and practically “no dose-response behavior” was observed.     

A new route to steroid ring C aromatization from readily available precursors

3β-Acetoxy-8α,9α-epoxy-5α-cholest-14-ene (1); 3β-acetoxy-14α,15α-epoxy-5α-cholest-8-ene (2); 3β-acetoxy-5α-cholest-8(14)-ene-9α,15α-diol (3); and 3β-acetoxy-5α-cholesta-8(14),9(11)-dien-15α-ol (4) have been aromatized to a 9∶1 mixture of 3β-hydroxy-12-methyl-18-nor-5α,17β(H)-cholesta-8,11,13-triene (5a) and 3β-hydroxy-12-methyl-18-nor-5α,17α(H)-cholesta-8,11,13-triene (5b) in ethanol solution by using hydrochloric acid. The aromatization by action ofp-toluenesulfonic acid gave mainly the epimer with the natural C-17 configuration as the acetate 5c at the appropriatep-toluenesulfonic acid concentration. 3β-Acetoxy-5α-cholesta-7,9(11),14-triene (7a) and 3β-hydroxy-5α-cholesta-8,11,14-triene (8a), 2 intermediary compounds in the aromatization, were isolated and characterized.     

Gender-Related Aspects in Osteoarthritis Development and Progression: A Review

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative joint disease treated mostly symptomatically before approaching its definitive treatment, joint arthroplasty. The rapidly growing prevalence of OA highlights the urgent need for a more efficient treatment strategy and boosts research into the mechanisms of OA incidence and progression. As a multifactorial disease, many aspects have been investigated as contributors to OA onset and progression. Differences in gender appear to play a role in the natural history of the disease, since female sex is known to increase the susceptibility to its development. The aim of the present review is to investigate the cues associated with gender by analyzing various hormonal, anatomical, molecular, and biomechanical parameters, as well as their differences between sexes. Our findings reveal the possible implications of gender in OA onset and progression and provide evidence for gaps in the current state of art, thus suggesting future research directions.     

The In Vitro Cytotoxicity of Eremothecium oil and Its Components—Aromatic and Acyclic Monoterpene Alcohols

The microscopic fungi Eremothecium ashbyi and E. gossypii are known for their ability to synthetize essential oil, which has a composition similar to that of rose oil. The development of Eremothecium oil technology enables the production of rose-scented products, which are demanded by pharmaceutical, food, and perfumery industries. This study focuses on assessing the in vitro cytotoxicity of Eremothecium oil, in comparison with that of rose oil, using a combination of methods and two cell types (3T3 mouse fibroblast cell line and bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs)). The Eremothecium oil samples possessed cytotoxic effects that varied among strains and batches. The revealed cytotoxicity level may be used to tailor the qualitative and quantitative composition of Eremothecium oil to achieve a particular quality in its end products. These results require further analysis using other cell types and assays based on measuring other cell functions.     

New Evidence of the Importance of Weak Interactions in the Formation of PML-Bodies

In this work, we performed a comparative study of the formation of PML bodies by full-length PML isoforms and their C-terminal domains in the presence and absence of endogenous PML. Based on the analysis of the distribution of intrinsic disorder predisposition in the amino acid sequences of PML isoforms, regions starting from the amino acid residue 395 (i.e., sequences encoded by exons 4–6) were assigned as the C-terminal domains of these proteins. We demonstrate that each of the full-sized nuclear isoforms of PML is capable of forming nuclear liquid-droplet compartments in the absence of other PML isoforms. These droplets possess dynamic characteristics of the exchange with the nucleoplasm close to those observed in the wild-type cells. Only the C-terminal domains of the PML-II and PML-V isoforms are able to be included in the composition of the endogenous PML bodies, while being partially distributed in the nucleoplasm. The bodies formed by the C-terminal domain of the PML-II isoform are dynamic liquid droplet compartments, regardless of the presence or absence of endogenous PML. The C-terminal domain of PML-V forms dynamic liquid droplet compartments in the knockout cells (PML^−/−), but when the C-terminus of the PML-V isoform is inserted into the existing endogenous PML bodies, the molecules of this protein cease to exchange with the nucleoplasm. It was demonstrated that the K490R substitution, which disrupts the PML sumoylation, promotes diffuse distribution of the C-terminal domains of PML-II and PML-V isoforms in endogenous PML knockout HeLa cells, but not in the wild-type cells. These data indicate the ability of the C-terminal domains of the PML-II and PML-V isoforms to form dynamic liquid droplet-like compartments, regardless of the ordered N-terminal RBCC motifs of the PML. This indicates a significant role of the non-specific interactions between the mostly disordered C-terminal domains of PML isoforms for the initiation of liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) leading to the formation of PML bodies.     

Biofiltration of wastewater treatment plant effluent: effective removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products and reduction of toxicity

This study investigates biofiltration for the removal of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), and for the reduction of non-specific toxicity expressed as baseline toxicity equivalent concentration (baseline-TEQ). Two filtering media, sand and granular activated carbon, were tested. The influence of pre-ozonation and empty-bed contact time (EBCT, from 30 to 120 min) was determined. The experiments were performed at a pilot-scale with real WWTP effluent. A previous study showed that biological activity had developed on the filtering media and dissolved organic removal had reached a steady state before sampling commenced. The results show that biological activated carbon (BAC) has a good potential for the removal of DOC (35-60%), PPCPs (>90%) and baseline-TEQ (28-68%) even without pre-ozonation. On the contrary, the sand shows limited improvement of effluent quality. Varying the EBCT does not influence the performance of the BAC filters; however, dissolved oxygen concentration could be a limiting factor. The performances of the BAC filters were stable for over two years suggesting that the main mechanism of organic matter and PPCPs removal is biodegradation. It is concluded that BAC filtration without pre-ozonation could be implemented as a low cost advanced treatment option to improve WWTP effluent chemical quality.