Effects of Chloride Concentration on the Water Disinfection Performance of Silver Containing Nanocellulose-based Composites.

The availability of microbially-safe drinking water is a challenge in many developing regions. Due to the well-known antibacterial effect of silver ions, materials used for their controlled release have been widely studied for point-of-use water disinfection. However, even if it is in principle known that chloride anions can suppress the antibacterial efficiency of silver, the majority of previous studies, surprisingly, have not focused on chloride concentrations relevant for freshwaters and thus for practical applications.

Mutant CHUK and severe fetal encasement malformation.

We report an autosomal recessive lethal syndrome characterized by multiple fetal malformations, the most obvious anomalies being the defective face and seemingly absent limbs, which are bound to the trunk and encased under the skin. We identified the molecular defect that causes this syndrome, using a combined strategy of gene-expression arrays, candidate-gene analysis, clinical studies, and genealogic investigations. A point mutation in two affected fetuses led to the loss of the conserved helix–loop–helix ubiquitous kinase (CHUK), also known as IκB kinase α.