Estimation of biodegradation kinetic constants for aromatic derivates through aerobic batch experiments.

The kinetics of aerobic biodegradation were studied for 20 aromatic species by using sludges taken from a municipal sewage treatment plant. The reproducibility of the results is tested with respect to the period of collection of the sludges and the wastewater treatment plant where they were taken. The comparison of kinetic constants estimated for investigated chemicals allows evaluation of the effect on the reactivity due to the presence of single groups (i.e. -OH, -CH3, -Cl, -NO2) into the aromatic structures. The search for easy structure-reactivity relations is also attempted by using some group contributing methods.     

The application of core functions to residue number systems

A theory of core functions is presented, and the application of this theory to the difficult residue number system (RNS) operations is described. Potential applications for special-purpose core-based RNS processors include adaptive array processing, Kalman filtering, fast-Fourier transforms, and image processing. The theoretical developments are motivated by the assumption that look-up tables are available with some limit on the number of addresses per table. The tables are used to implement both the modular and nonmodular operations. The restriction on the number of addresses per table, in turn, places a restriction on the largest permissible modulus, because the tables used to implement the modular operations will be addressed by a pair of residues. The contents of each look-up table may be precomputed by any method, as long as the limit on address space is respected and the number of bits per address is reasonable     

Mechanisms of Sensitivity and Resistance of Primary Effusion Lymphoma to Dimethyl Fumarate (DMF)

PEL is a rare B cell lymphoma associated with KSHV that mainly arises in immune-deficient individuals. The search for new drugs to treat this cancer is still ongoing given its aggressiveness and the poor response to chemotherapies. In this study, we found that DMF, a drug known for its anti-inflammatory properties which is registered for the treatment of psoriasis and relapsing–remitting MS, could be a promising therapeutic strategy against PEL. Indeed, although some mechanisms of resistance were induced, DMF activated NRF2, reduced ROS and inhibited the phosphorylation of STAT3 and the release of the pro-inflammatory and immune suppressive cytokines IL-6 and IL-10, which are known to sustain PEL survival. Interestingly, we observed that DMF displayed a stronger cytotoxic effect against fresh PEL cells in comparison to PEL cell lines, due to the activation of ERK1/2 and autophagy in the latter cells. This finding further encourages the possibility of using DMF for the treatment of PEL.     

Two genes encoding putative mitochondrial alcohol dehydrogenases are present in the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis

Four structural genes encoding isozymes of the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) system in the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis have been identified by hybridization to ADH2 DNA probes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this paper we report on the isolation of KlADH4 and the complete sequencing of KlADH3 and KlADH4, two genes which show high homology to KlADH1, the ADH gene previously isolated in K. lactis, and to the ADH genes of S. cerevisiae. When compared with KlADH1, both KlADH3 and KlADH4 encode amino-terminal extensions which show the characteristics of the mitochondrial targeting sequences. These extensions are poorly conserved both at the nucleotide and the amino acid level. Surprisingly, the KlADH4 extension shows a higher identity at the amino acid level to the one encoded by ADH3 of S. cerevisiae than to the KlADH3 presequence. KlADH3 and KlADH4, in contrast to the ADH3 gene of S. cerevisiae, show a strong bias in the choice of codons.     

Thermal and hydrodynamic effects in the ordering of lamellar fluids

Phase separation in a complex fluid with lamellar order has been studied in the case of cold thermal fronts propagating diffusively from external walls. The velocity hydrodynamic modes are taken into account by coupling the convection-diffusion equation for the order parameter to a generalized Navier-Stokes equation. The dynamical equations are simulated by implementing a hybrid method based on a lattice Boltzmann algorithm coupled to finite difference schemes. Simulations show that the ordering process occurs with morphologies depending on the speed of the thermal fronts or, equivalently, on the value of the thermal conductivity ξ. At large values of ξ, as in instantaneous quenching, the system is frozen in entangled configurations at high viscosity while it consists of grains with well-ordered lamellae at low viscosity. By decreasing the value of ξ, a regime with very ordered lamellae parallel to the thermal fronts is found. At very low values of ξ the preferred orientation is perpendicular to the walls in d=2, while perpendicular order is lost moving far from the walls in d=3.     

In situ immune response in gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) following oral antigen in TCR-transgenic mice

Oral administration of Ag results in systemic hyporesponsiveness termed oral tolerance. The regulatory cells induced by oral Ag are effective in the suppression of Th1-type autoimmune diseases. We examined the cytokine microenvironment in gut-associated lymphoid tissue in response to orally administered OVA in OVA TCR-transgenic mice. Mice were fed a low (0.5 mg) or high (500 mg) dose of OVA one time or five times. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated increased IL-4, IL-10, and TGF-beta in the gut within 6 h of a low-dose feeding and after five low-dose or high-dose feedings. IFN-gamma and IL-2 either decreased or showed no change, with the exception of a small transient increase in IL-2 at 6 h after a low dose. Increases in IL-4 and IL-10 were found in the dome of the Peyer's patch, and increases in TGF-beta were observed in the interfollicular region and the villi. IL-10 was also substantially increased in the villi. IL-4 and IL-10 were produced predominately by CD4+ T cells. TGF-beta was found predominately in macrophages and CD4+ T cells. Peyer's patches had a marked up-regulation of TGF-beta mRNA as measured by RT-PCR. These results demonstrate the differential activation of cytokine production in discrete regions of gut-associated lymphoid tissue. The induction of cytokines known to inhibit autoimmune disease at the site of Ag absorption indicates an important role for the mucosal immune system in the establishment of oral tolerance.