Investigation of U.S. landfill GHG reporting program methane emission models.

As part of its commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the U.S. annually develops a national estimate of methane emissions from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills by aggregating activity data from each facility.

The burden of ischemic heart disease and the epidemiologic transition in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: 1990-2019.

It has been estimated that in the next decade, IHD prevalence, DALYs and deaths will increase more significantly in EMR than in any other region of the world. This study aims to provide a comprehensive description of the trends in the burden of ischemic heart disease (IHD) across the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) from 1990 to 2019. Data on IHD prevalence, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), mortality, DALYs attributable to risk factors, healthcare access and quality index (HAQ), and universal health coverage (UHC) were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database for EMR countries.

Trends in the burden and determinants of hypertensive heart disease in the Eastern Mediterranean region, 1990-2019: an analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

Background: Hypertensive heart disease (HHD), one of the end-organ damage consequences of hypertension, is an important public health issue worldwide. Data on the HHD burden in the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR) are scarce. We aimed to investigate the burden of HHD in the EMR, its member countries, and globally from 1990 to 2019.

Improvement in desulfurization of dibenzothiophene and dibenzothiophene sulfone by Paenibacillus strains using immobilization or nanoparticle coating.

Aims: Biodesulfurization of fossil fuels is a promising technology for deep desulfurization. Previously, we have shown that Paenibacillus strains 32O-W and 32O-Y can desulfurize dibenzothiophene (DBT) and DBT sulfone (DBTS) effectively. In this work, improvements in DBT and DBTS desulfurization by these strains were investigated through immobilization and nanoparticle coating of cells.

Final Thoughts, Microorganisms Special Issue on Microbial Hemoglobins.

The year 2021 marked the thirty-fifth anniversary of the discovery of microbial hemoglobins by Dale Webster and his colleagues [...

CARMIL3 is important for cell migration and morphogenesis during early development in zebrafish.

Cell migration is important during early animal embryogenesis. Cell migration and cell shape are controlled by actin assembly and dynamics, which depend on capping proteins, including the barbed-end heterodimeric actin capping protein (CP). CP activity can be regulated by capping-protein-interacting (CPI) motif proteins, including CARMIL (capping protein Arp2/3 myosin-I linker) family proteins.

The Discovery of Hemoglobin and Early Studies on Its Biochemical Functions, the Control of Its Expression, and Its Use in Practical Applications.

In 1986, the surprising identification of a hemoglobin (VHb) in the bacterium greatly extended the range of taxa in which this oxygen binding protein functions. Elucidation of many of its biochemical properties and relation to overall cell physiology, as well as the sequence of the gene encoding it and aspects of control of its expression were determined in the following years. In addition, during the early years following its discovery, strategies were developed to use its expression in heterologous microbial hosts to enhance processes of practical usefulness.

Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk Factors, 1990-2019: Update From the GBD 2019 Study.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), principally ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke, are the leading cause of global mortality and a major contributor to disability. This paper reviews the magnitude of total CVD burden, including 13 underlying causes of cardiovascular death and 9 related risk factors, using estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019. GBD, an ongoing multinational collaboration to provide comparable and consistent estimates of population health over time, used all available population-level data sources on incidence, prevalence, case fatality, mortality, and health risks to produce estimates for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019.

The delayed effect of wildfire season particulate matter on subsequent influenza season in a mountain west region of the USA.

Particularly in rural settings, there has been little research regarding the health impacts of fine particulate matter (PM) during the wildfire season smoke exposure period on respiratory diseases, such as influenza, and their associated outbreaks months later. We examined the delayed effects of PM concentrations for the short-lag (1-4 weeks prior) and the long-lag (during the prior wildfire season months) on the following winter influenza season in Montana, a mountainous state in the western United States. We created gridded maps of surface PM for the state of Montana from 2009 to 2018 using spatial regression models fit with station observations and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol optical thickness data.

Complete Genome Sequence of Vitreoscilla sp. Strain C1, Source of the First Bacterial Hemoglobin.

Vitreoscilla sp. strain C1 is of historical importance as the source of the first prokaryotic hemoglobin identified. Vitreoscilla spp.

CARMIL family proteins as multidomain regulators of actin-based motility.

CARMILs are large multidomain proteins that regulate the actin-binding activity of capping protein (CP), a major capper of actin filament barbed ends in cells. CARMILs bind directly to CP and induce a conformational change that allosterically decreases but does not abolish its actin-capping activity. The CP-binding domain of CARMIL consists of the CP-interaction (CPI) and CARMIL-specific interaction (CSI) motifs, which are arranged in tandem.

Repeated batch fermentation of immobilized E. coli expressing Vitreoscilla hemoglobin for long-term use.

This study describes an efficient and reusable process for ethanol production from medium containing whey powder, using alginate immobilized ethanologenic E. coli strains either expressing (TS3) or not expressing (FBR5) Vitreoscilla hemoglobin. Reuseabilities of the FBR5 and TS3 strains were investigated regarding their ethanol production capacities over the course of 15 successive 96-h batch fermentations.

Enhancement of Microbial Biodesulfurization via Genetic Engineering and Adaptive Evolution.

In previous work from our laboratories a synthetic gene encoding a peptide ("Sulpeptide 1" or "S1") with a high proportion of methionine and cysteine residues had been designed to act as a sulfur sink and was inserted into the dsz (desulfurization) operon of Rhodococcus erythropolis IGTS8. In the work described here this construct (dszAS1BC) and the intact dsz operon (dszABC) cloned into vector pRESX under control of the (Rhodococcus) kstD promoter were transformed into the desulfurization-negative strain CW25 of Rhodococcus qingshengii. The resulting strains (CW25[pRESX-dszABC] and CW25[pRESX-dszAS1BC]) were subjected to adaptive selection by repeated passages at log phase (up to 100 times) in minimal medium with dibenzothiophene (DBT) as sole sulfur source.

Effective ethanol production from whey powder through immobilized E. coli expressing Vitreoscilla hemoglobin.

Ethanol production from whey powder was investigated by using free as well as alginate immobilized E. coli and E. coli expressing Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (VHb) in both shake flask and fermenter cultures.

Recent trends in bioethanol production from food processing byproducts.

The widespread use of corn starch and sugarcane as sources of sugar for the production of ethanol via fermentation may negatively impact the use of farmland for production of food. Thus, alternative sources of fermentable sugars, particularly from lignocellulosic sources, have been extensively investigated. Another source of fermentable sugars with substantial potential for ethanol production is the waste from the food growing and processing industry.

Biodesulfurization: a model system for microbial physiology research.

Biological desulfurization (biodesulfurization) of dibenzothiophene (DBT) by the 4S pathway is a model system for an enviromentally benign way to lower the sulfur content of petroleum. Despite a large amount of effort the efficiency of the 4S pathway is still too low for a commercial oil biodesulfurization process, but the 4S pathway could potentially be used now for commercial processes to produce surfactants, antibiotics, polythioesters and other chemicals and for the detoxification of some chemical warfare agents. Proteins containing disulfide bonds are resistant to temperature, pH, and solvents, but the production of disulfide-rich proteins in microbial hosts is challenging.

Complete Genome Sequences of Two Interactive Moderate Thermophiles, Paenibacillus napthalenovorans 32O-Y and Paenibacillus sp. 32O-W.

Microorganisms with the capability to desulfurize petroleum are in high demand with escalating restrictions currently placed on fuel purity. Thermophilic desulfurizers are particularly valuable in high-temperature industrial applications. We report the whole-genome sequences of Paenibacillus napthalenovorans 32O-Y and Paenibacillus sp.

Differential expression of CARMIL-family genes during zebrafish development.

CARMILs are a conserved family of large multidomain proteins that regulate and target actin assembly by interacting with actin capping protein (CP). Vertebrates contain three highly conserved CARMIL isoforms encoded by three genes, whereas lower organisms contain only one isoform and gene. In order to investigate the functions of vertebrate CARMILs, we identified and characterized the three CARMIL genes in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Directed evolution to produce sludge communities with improved oxygen uptake abilities.

Two activated sludge cultures, seeded with activated sludge from the same source, were cultivated for 370 days in synthetic wastewater. Both cultures were transferred weekly to fresh medium; one culture was operated at high dissolved oxygen (DO) (near saturation) and the other at low DO (0.25 mg O2/L).

Engineering of Nitrosomonas europaea to express Vitreoscilla hemoglobin enhances oxygen uptake and conversion of ammonia to nitrite.

Nitrosomonas europaea was transformed with a recombinant plasmid bearing the gene (vgb) encoding the hemoglobin (VHb) from the bacterium Vitreoscilla under control of the N. europaea amoC P1 promoter. Vgb was maintained stably and appeared to be expressed in the transformants at VHb levels of about 0.

Isolation and characterization of an interactive culture of two Paenibacillus species with moderately thermophilic desulfurization ability.

Objective: To isolate and characterize novel thermophilic bacteria capable of biodesulfurization of petroleum.

Results: A culture containing two Paenibacillus spp. (denoted "32O-W" and "32O-Y") was isolated by repeated passage of a soil sample at up to 55 °C in medium containing dibenzothiophene (DBT) as sulfur source.

Efficient ethanol production from potato and corn processing industry waste using E. coli engineered to express Vitreoscilla haemoglobin.

Engineering of ethanologenic E. coli to express the haemoglobin (VHb) from the bacterium Vitreoscilla has been shown to enhance ethanol production by fermentation of pure sugars, sugars from hydrolysis of lignocellulose, components of whey, and sugars from wastewater produced during potato processing. Here, these studies were extended to see whether the same effect could be seen when a mixture of waste materials from processing of potatoes and corn into potato and corn chips were used as sugar sources.

Recent applications of Vitreoscilla hemoglobin technology in bioproduct synthesis and bioremediation.

Since its first use in 1990 to enhance production of α-amylase in E. coli, engineering of heterologous hosts to express the hemoglobin from the bacterium Vitreoscilla (VHb) has become a widely used strategy to enhance production of a variety of bioproducts, stimulate bioremediation, and increase growth and survival of engineered organisms. The hosts have included a variety of bacteria, yeast, fungi, higher plants, and even animals.