Aerobic degradation by white‐rot fungi of trichloroethylene (TCE) and mixtures of TCE and perchloroethylene (PCE)

BACKGROUND: Trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) are considered among the most important groundwater pollutants around the world. These compounds are usually found together in polluted environments but little is known about the ability of microorganisms to simultaneously degrade TCE and PCE. RESULTS: Data showed that several species of white‐rot fungi, including Trametes versicolor, Ganoderma lucidum, and Irpex lacteus, degrade substantial levels of TCE in pure culture. T. versicolor was chosen for further study since it degraded higher levels of TCE than the other organisms. Initial glucose concentration and reoxygenation of samples increased the amount of TCE dechlorination, but no significant difference in percentage TCE degradation was observed. T. versicolor was able to degrade 34.1 and 47.7% of PCE and TCE added as mixtures (containing 5 and 10 mg L⁻¹, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The degradation ability of TCE was extended to other species of white‐rot fungi. Percentage degradation as well as chloride release from mixtures of TCE and PCE showed that T. versicolor degrades mixtures of TCE and PCE almost as well as its ability to degrade individually added TCE or PCE. The results suggest the potential promise of T. versicolor for bioremediation of TCE and PCE in the environment. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Human-Induced Neural and Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy Combined with a Curcumin Nanoconjugate as a Spinal Cord Injury Treatment

We currently lack effective treatments for the devastating loss of neural function associated with spinal cord injury (SCI). In this study, we evaluated a combination therapy comprising human neural stem cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC-NSC), human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), and a pH-responsive polyacetal–curcumin nanoconjugate (PA-C) that allows the sustained release of curcumin. In vitro analysis demonstrated that PA-C treatment protected iPSC-NSC from oxidative damage in vitro, while MSC co-culture prevented lipopolysaccharide-induced activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in iPSC-NSC. Then, we evaluated the combination of PA-C delivery into the intrathecal space in a rat model of contusive SCI with stem cell transplantation. While we failed to observe significant improvements in locomotor function (BBB scale) in treated animals, histological analysis revealed that PA-C-treated or PA-C and iPSC-NSC + MSC-treated animals displayed significantly smaller scars, while PA-C and iPSC-NSC + MSC treatment induced the preservation of β-III Tubulin-positive axons. iPSC-NSC + MSC transplantation fostered the preservation of motoneurons and myelinated tracts, while PA-C treatment polarized microglia into an anti-inflammatory phenotype. Overall, the combination of stem cell transplantation and PA-C treatment confers higher neuroprotective effects compared to individual treatments.     

Self-managed topologies in P2P networks

The problem of efficient resource location is an important open issue in P2P systems. This paper introduces DANTE, a self-adapting P2P system that changes its peer links to form topologies where resources are located in an efficient manner via random walks. Additionally, this same self-adaptation capacity makes DANTE capable of reacting to events like changes in the system load or attacks on well-connected nodes by adjusting the topology to the new scenario. This adaptive behavior emerges as the global result of the individual work of nodes, without the intervention of any central entity or the need for global knowledge. Simulations show that this adaptation process makes the system scalable, resilient to attacks, and tolerant to a high transitivity of peers. Simulations are also used to compare this solution with other well-known self-adapting P2P system. From these results it can be concluded that the topologies achieved by DANTE offer better performance.     

Superconducting Vortex Lattice Configurations on Periodic Potentials: Simulation and Experiment

Nb films have been fabricated on top of array of Ni nanodots. The array of periodic pinning potentials modifies the vortex lattice for specific values of the external applied magnetic field. By means of an implemented code developed from scratch, computer simulations based only on the vortex?Cvortex and the vortex?Cnanodot interactions provide the total interaction between vortices and pinning sites as well as the position of the vortices in the array unit cell. This simulation approach could be performed on square, rectangular or triangular arrays of nanodefects of different size.     

Online-Based Kinetic Analysis of Higher Alcohol and Ester Synthesis During Winemaking Fermentations

The production of the major volatile carbon compounds corresponding to the predominant higher alcohols and esters synthesized during wine alcoholic fermentation was monitored using an online GC system. The accuracy and frequency of measurements made it possible to calculate kinetic parameters, in particular rates and specific rates of production. Using this original GC system and a model describing the evolution of the gas–liquid ratio during the fermentation process, kinetic gas–liquid balances of the synthesis of volatile compounds could be followed. This showed that, for esters—substantial proportions of which are lost in the off-gas (up to 40 % of the total production at 20 °C)—measurements of the liquid concentration, rather than of the total production (liquid content?+?losses), can lead to misinterpretations of yeast metabolism. The specific production rate of individual higher alcohols reached their maximum values before the exhaustion of the corresponding precursor amino acids. Isobutanol and isoamyl alcohol were formed from carbon metabolites and nitrogen metabolites and consequently were produced continuously throughout the fermentation process. In contrast, propanol synthesis was strongly correlated with the presence of assimilable nitrogen, during both the growth and stationary phases. Therefore, propanol appears to be a highly pertinent marker of nitrogen metabolism. Acetate ester concentrations correlated linearly with the concentrations of the corresponding higher alcohols, indicating that the availability of the precursors is the main limiting factor for the production of these esters. These results open possibilities for innovative approaches based on metabolic flux analysis and taking their dynamics into account.     

Robustness of optimal channel reservation using handover prediction in multiservice wireless networks

The aim of our study is to obtain theoretical limits for the gain that can be expected when using handover prediction and to determine the sensitivity of the system performance against different parameters. We apply an average-reward reinforcement learning approach based on afterstates to the design of optimal admission control policies in mobile multimedia cellular networks where predictive information related to the occurrence of future handovers is available. We consider a type of predictor that labels active mobile terminals in the cell neighborhood a fixed amount of time before handovers are predicted to occur, which we call the anticipation time. The admission controller exploits this information to reserve resources efficiently. We show that there exists an optimum value for the anticipation time at which the highest performance gain is obtained. Although the optimum anticipation time depends on system parameters, we find that its value changes very little when the system parameters vary within a reasonable range. We also find that, in terms of system performance, deploying prediction is always advantageous when compared to a system without prediction, even when the system parameters are estimated with poor precision.     

Positional distribution of Δ5-acids in triacylglycerols from conifer seeds as determined by partial chemical cleavage

The positional distribution of various Δ5-acids in the seed triacylglycerols from several conifer species has been established after partial chemical degradation with Grignard reagent. The species studied were representative of four conifer families and were specially selected for their particularly high Δ5-acid contents. These species were Taxus baccata (Taxaceae; 5,9-18:2 acid, 11.9%), Larix decidua (Pinaceae; 5,9,12-18:3 acid, 28.5%), Sciadopytis verticillata (Taxodiaceae; 5,11,14-20:3 acid, 16.7%), and Juniperus communis (Cupressaceae; 5,11,14,17-20:4 acid, 19.8%). Calculations from the fatty acid compositions of triacylglycerols and of the mixture of 1,2- and 2,3-diacylglycerols generated by the Grignard reagent indicated that, for the four species, there was a considerable enrichment of Δ5-acids (generally more than ten times) in the 1,3-positions as compared to the 2-position, where Δ5-acids represented always less than 2% of total fatty acids esterified to triacylglycerols. This distribution was practically independent from the species (four families studied), the chainlength (18 or 20 carbon atoms), and the number of ethylenic bonds (two to four) in the Δ5-acids. Similar distributions were established for triacylglycerols from the seeds of three pine species that are available on a ton-scale: Pinus pinea, P. koraiensis, and P. pinaster. These observations confirm and extend previous studies conducted with other conifer species by similar techniques or by ¹³C-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Consequently, the almost exclusive location of Δ5-acids in the external positions of triacylglycerols is now well established and appears to be a general feature of conifer seed oils.