Maternal Pea Protein Intake Provides Sex-Specific Protection against Dyslipidemia in Offspring from Obese Pregnancies.

Increased consumption of dietary pulse protein has been shown to assist in body weight regulation and improve a range of metabolic health outcomes. We investigated if the exchange of casein for yellow pea protein (YPPN) in an obese-inducing maternal diet throughout pregnancy and lactation offered protection against obesity and dyslipidemia in offspring. Sixty female Sprague Dawley rats were fed a low-calorie control diet (CON), a high-caloric obesity-inducing diet (with casein protein (CP), HC-CP), or an isocaloric/macronutrient-matched HC diet supplemented with YPPN isolate (HC-PPN) in pre-pregnancy, gestation, and lactation.

Novel Corrugated Long Period Grating Surface Balloon-Shaped Heterocore-Structured Plastic Optical Fibre Sensor for Microalgal Bioethanol Production.

A novel long period grating (LPG) inscribed balloon-shaped heterocore-structured plastic optical fibre (POF) sensor is described and experimentally demonstrated for real-time measurement of the ultra-low concentrations of ethanol in microalgal bioethanol production applications. The heterocore structure is established by coupling a 250 μm core diameter POF between two 1000 μm diameter POFs, thus representing a large core-small core-large core configuration. Before coupling as a heterocore structure, the sensing region or small core fibre (SCF; i.

Integrative Conjugative Elements (ICEs) of the SXT/R391 family drive adaptation and evolution in γ-Proteobacteria.

Integrative Conjugative Elements (ICEs) are mosaics containing functional modules allowing maintenance by site-specific integration and excision into and from the host genome and conjugative transfer to a specific host range. Many ICEs encode a range of adaptive functions that aid bacterial survival and evolution in a range of niches. ICEs from the SXT/R391 family are found in γ-Proteobacteria.

A Review of Optical Fibre Ethanol Sensors: Current State and Future Prospects.

A range of optical fibre-based sensors for the measurement of ethanol, primarily in aqueous solution, have been developed and are reviewed here. The sensing approaches can be classified into four groups according to the measurement techniques used, namely absorption (or absorbance), external interferometric, internal fibre grating and plasmonic sensing. The sensors within these groupings can be compared in terms of their characteristic performance indicators, which include sensitivity, resolution and measurement range.

Comparison of flow cytometry with other modalities in the diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome.

Introduction: The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) are heterogeneous myeloid malignancies, conventionally diagnosed by cytomorphology and cytogenetics, with an emerging role for flow cytometry. This study compared the performance of a 4-parameter flow cytometry scoring system, the Ogata Score, with other modalities in the diagnosis of MDS.

Methods: Bone marrow aspirate and trephine biopsies from 238 patients performed to assess for possible MDS were analysed, and the flow cytometry score was retrospectively applied.

On the bacteriostatic activity of hyaluronic acid composite films.

Biofilm-related infections and contamination of biomaterials are major problems in the clinic. These contaminations are frequently caused by Staphylococcus aureus and are a pressing issue for implantable devices, catheters, contact lenses, prostheses, and wound dressings. Strategies to decrease contamination and biofilm related infections are vital for the success of implantable biomaterials.

The Genus as Major Opportunistic Pathogens.

species are non-enteric, Gram-negative organisms that are closely related to the genus . Since the designation of the genus in 1988, several distinct species have now been characterised and implicated as opportunistic pathogens in multiple outbreaks. Here, we examine the genus, its members, diagnostic tools used for identification, data from recent whole genome sequencing and the pathogenicity associated with reported infections.

A Novel Arsenate-Resistant Determinant Associated with ICEpMERPH, a Member of the SXT/R391 Group of Mobile Genetic Elements.

ICEpMERPH, the first integrative conjugative element (ICE) of the SXT/R391 family isolated in the United Kingdom and Europe, was analyzed to determine the nature of its adaptive functions, its genetic structure, and its homology to related elements normally found in pathogenic or species. Whole genome sequencing of isolate K802 (which contains the ICEpMERPH) was carried out using Illumina sequencing technology. ICEpMERPH has a size of 110 Kb and 112 putative open reading frames (ORFs).

Pyruvate Decarboxylase is Less Effective Than That of for Ethanol Production in Metabolically Engineered sp. PCC6803.

To produce bioethanol from model cyanobacteria such as , a two gene cassette consisting of genes encoding pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) are required to transform pyruvate first to acetaldehyde and then to ethanol. However the partition of pyruvate to ethanol comes at a cost, a reduction in biomass and pyruvate availability for other metabolic processes. Hence strategies to divert flux to ethanol as a biofuel in are of interest.

Autothermal Thermophilic Aerobic Digestion (ATAD) for Heat, Gas, and Production of a Class A Biosolids with Fertilizer Potential.

Autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion (ATAD) is a microbial fermentation process characterized as a tertiary treatment of waste material carried out in jacketed reactors. The process can be carried out on a variety of waste sludge ranging from human, animal, food, or pharmaceutical waste where the addition of air initiates aerobic digestion of the secondary treated sludge material. Digestion of the sludge substrates generates heat, which is retained within the reactor resulting in elevation of the reactor temperature to 70-75 °C.

Quantitative mass spectrometry for human melanocortin peptides in vitro and in vivo suggests prominent roles for β-MSH and desacetyl α-MSH in energy homeostasis.

Objective: The lack of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived melanocortin peptides results in hypoadrenalism and severe obesity in both humans and rodents that is treatable with synthetic melanocortins. However, there are significant differences in POMC processing between humans and rodents, and little is known about the relative physiological importance of POMC products in the human brain. The aim of this study was to determine which POMC-derived peptides are present in the human brain, to establish their relative concentrations, and to test if their production is dynamically regulated.

Evaluation of the ethanol tolerance for wild and mutant strains by flow cytometry.

Flow cytometry was used to evaluate the effect of initial ethanol concentrations on cyanobacterial strains of PCC 6803 [wild-type (WT), and ethanol producing recombinants (UL 004 and UL 030)] in batch cultures. Ethanol recombinants, containing one or two metabolically engineered cassettes, were designed towards the development of an economically competitive process for the direct production of bioethanol from microalgae through an exclusive autotrophic route. It can be concluded that the recombinant UL 030 containing two copies of the genes per genome was the most tolerant to ethanol.

Brevundimonas spp: Emerging global opportunistic pathogens.

Non-fermenting Gram-negative bacteria are problematic in clinical locations, being one of the most prevalent causes of nosocomial infections. Many of these non-fermenting Gram-negative bacteria are opportunistic pathogens that affect patients that are suffering with underlying medical conditions and diseases. Brevundimonas spp.

Analysis and comparative genomics of R997, the first SXT/R391 integrative and conjugative element (ICE) of the Indian Sub-Continent.

The aim of this study was to analyse R997, the first integrative and conjugative element (ICE) isolated from the Indian Sub-Continent, and to determine its relationship to the SXT/R391 family of ICEs. WGS of Escherichia coli isolate AB1157 (which contains R997) was performed using Illumina sequencing technology. R997 context was assessed by de novo assembly, gene prediction and annotation tools, and compared to other SXT/R391 ICEs.

Mutagenic activities of biochars from pyrolysis.

Biochar production, from pyrolysis of lignocellulosic feedstocks, agricultural residues, and animal and poultry manures are emerging globally as novel industrial and commercial products. It is important to develop and to validate a series of suitable protocols for the ecological monitoring of the qualities and properties of biochars. The highly sensitive Salmonella mutagenicity assays (the Ames test) are used widely by the toxicology community and, via the rat liver extract (S9), can reflect the potential for mammalian metabolic activation.

SXT/R391 Integrative and Conjugative Elements (ICEs) Encode a Novel 'Trap-Door' Strategy for Mobile Element Escape.

Integrative conjugative elements (ICEs) are a class of bacterial mobile elements that have the ability to mediate their own integration, excision, and transfer from one host genome to another by a mechanism of site-specific recombination, self-circularisation, and conjugative transfer. Members of the SXT/R391 ICE family of enterobacterial mobile genetic elements display an unusual UV-inducible sensitization function which results in stress induced killing of bacterial cells harboring the ICE. This sensitization has been shown to be associated with a stress induced overexpression of a mobile element encoded conjugative transfer gene, orf43, a traV homolog.

Women's views on autologous cell-based therapy for post-obstetric incontinence.

Aim: Fecal and urinary incontinence are devastating consequences of obstetric-related perineal injury. The aim of the present study is to determine acceptability to parous women of autologous cell-based therapy for fecal and urinary incontinence that arises due to pelvic diaphragm tearing during vaginal childbirth.

Materials & Methods: A multiple choice questionnaire survey was offered to 76 parous women at the Maternity Unit, University College Hospital, London, UK.

Utilising the native plasmid, pCA2.4, from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803 as a cloning site for enhanced product production.

Background: The use of photosynthetic autotrophs and in particular the model organism Synechocystis PCC6803 is receiving much attention for the production of sustainable biofuels and other economically useful products through metabolic engineering. Optimisation of metabolic-engineered organisms for high-level sustained production of product is a key element in the manipulation of this organism. A limitation to the utilisation of metabolically-engineered Synechocystis PCC6803 is the availability of strong controllable promoters and stable gene dosage methods for maximising gene expression and subsequent product formation following genetic manipulation.

Cation Diffusion Facilitator family: Structure and function.

The Cation Diffusion Facilitators (CDFs) form a family of membrane-bound proteins capable of transporting zinc and other heavy metal ions. Involved in metal tolerance/resistance by efflux of ions, CDF proteins share a two-modular architecture consisting of a transmembrane domain (TMD) and C-terminal domain (CTD) that protrudes into the cytoplasm. Discovery of a Zn²⁺ and Cd²⁺ CDF transporter from a marine bacterium Maricaulis maris that does not possess the CTD questions current perceptions regarding this family of proteins.

The state of autotrophic ethanol production in Cyanobacteria.

Ethanol production directly from CO2 , utilizing genetically engineered photosynthetic cyanobacteria as a biocatalyst, offers significant potential as a renewable and sustainable source of biofuel. Despite the current absence of a commercially successful production system, significant resources have been deployed to realize this goal. Utilizing the pyruvate decarboxylase from Zymomonas species, metabolically derived pyruvate can be converted to ethanol.

Examination of the cell sensitizing gene orf43 of ICE R391 suggests a role in ICE transfer enhancement to recipient cells.

SXT/R391 family of ICEs have been found to express an unusual function that enhances bacterial cell death post-UV irradiation. Previous analysis of ICE R391 found four core SXT/R391 ICE genes to be involved—orf96, orf90, orf91 and orf43. These genes functioned as part of a UV-inducible pathway, where upon exposure to UV, the levels of the Orf43 protein, a TraV homolog which we propose naming TraV(R391), were upregulated, resulting in increased cell sensitization.

Control of expression of the ICE R391 encoded UV-inducible cell-sensitising function.

Background: Many SXT/R391-like enterobacterial Integrative Conjugative Elements (ICEs) have been found to express an atypical, recA-dependent, UV-inducible, cell-sensitising phenotype observed as a reduction in post-irradiation cell survival rates in host cells. Characterisation of a complete deletion library of the prototype ICE R391 identified the involvement of three core ICE genes, orfs90/91 encoding a putative transcriptional enhancer complex, and orf43, encoding a putative type IV secretion system, outer membrane-associated, conjugative transfer protein.

Results: In this study, expression analysis of orf43 indicated that it was up-regulated as a result of UV irradiation in an orfs90/91-dependent manner.

Generation and analysis of an ICE R391 deletion library identifies genes involved in the element encoded UV-inducible cell-sensitising function.

ICE R391, a prototype member of the SXT/R391 family of site-specific integrative conjugative elements (ICEs), frequently isolated from enterobacterial pathogens, exhibits an unusual, recA-dependent, UV-inducible, cell-sensitising function. This significantly decreases postirradiation cell survival rates in Escherichia coli host cells, a trait that would at first appear to be counterproductive in terms of adaptation to stress conditions. Construction and screening of a complete ICE R391 deletion library in E.