Noncovalent Interactions of Silatranes and Germatranes with the Surface of Stoichiometric and Hydroxylated 2D Silica.

Analysis of noncovalent interactions formed by the surface of a 2D silica bilayer and atrane molecules, as precursors of functional layers immobilized on a surface of silicatene, was performed. For this purpose, the systems of substituted silatranes and germatranes adsorbed on silicatene surfaces with different amounts of hydroxyl groups (0, 2, 4, and 30 per cell) were simulated by using quantum chemical modeling with periodic boundary conditions and full-electron basis sets. The observation results for interaction energy changes in the systems "atrane molecule-silicatene surface" with increasing silanol number of the silicatene surface can be used to predict the optimal degree of silicatene hydroxylation in order to control the effective progress of atrane deprotection on activated 2D silica materials.

Direct Current Stimulation over the Primary Motor Cortex, Cerebellum, and Spinal Cord to Modulate Balance Performance: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Objectives: Existing applications of non-invasive brain stimulation in the modulation of balance ability are focused on the primary motor cortex (M1). It is conceivable that other brain and spinal cord areas may be comparable or more promising targets in this regard. This study compares transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over (i) the M1, (ii) the cerebellum, and (iii) trans-spinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) in the modulation of balance ability.

Evaluating membrane performance in recycled water treatment plants for assets replacement strategy.

Membranes are an important barrier used in recycled water treatment plants for pathogen removal. Understanding performance over operational life is important to inform membrane replacement. In this study, full scale virus challenge testing was conducted on newly commissioned membranes to validate virus log removal values for accreditation.

Virus removal by ultrafiltration: Understanding long-term performance change by application of Bayesian analysis.

Ultrafiltration is an effective barrier to waterborne pathogens including viruses. Challenge testing is commonly used to test the inherent reliability of such systems. Performance validation seeks to demonstrate the adequate reliability of the treatment system.

Risk assessment of aquifer storage transfer and recovery with urban stormwater for producing water of a potable quality.

The objective of the Parafield Aquifer Storage Transfer and Recovery research project in South Australia is to determine whether stormwater from an urban catchment that is treated in a constructed wetland and stored in an initially brackish aquifer before recovery can meet potable water standards. The water produced by the stormwater harvesting system, which included a constructed wetland, was found to be near potable quality. Parameters exceeding the drinking water guidelines before recharge included small numbers of fecal indicator bacteria and elevated iron concentrations and associated color.

A critical evaluation of combined engineered and aquifer treatment systems in water recycling.

Australian experience at five research sites where stormwater and reclaimed water have been stored in aquifers prior to reuse, have yielded valuable information about water treatment processes in anaerobic and aerobic aquifers. One of these sites is the stormwater to potable water ASTR project at the City of Salisbury, a demonstration project within the broader EC project 'RECLAIM WATER'. A framework for characterising the effectiveness of such treatment for selected organic chemicals, natural organic matter, and pathogens is being developed for inclusion in new Australian Guidelines for Management of Aquifer Recharge.

Relative value of surrogate indicators for detecting pathogens in lakes and reservoirs.

This study investigated the relative behavior of pathogens, fecal indicator organisms, and particles of varying size during transport through a reservoir following a storm event inflow in Myponga Reservoir, South Australia. During the inflow, samples were collected from the river and at various locations within the reservoir to determine the fate and transport of microroganisms as they progressed through the water body. Microbiological analysis included the indicator organisms Escherichia coli, enterococci, Clostridium perfringens, aerobic spores, and somatic coliphages, the protozoan pathogens Cryptosporidium spp.

Protein assembly of photosystem II and accumulation of subcomplexes in the absence of low molecular mass subunits PsbL and PsbJ.

The protein assembly and stability of photosystem II (PSII) (sub)complexes were studied in mature leaves of four plastid mutants of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L), each having one of the psbEFLJ operon genes inactivated. In the absence of psbL, no PSII core dimers or PSII-light harvesting complex (LHCII) supercomplexes were formed, and the assembly of CP43 into PSII core monomers was extremely labile. The assembly of CP43 into PSII core monomers was found to be necessary for the assembly of PsbO on the lumenal side of PSII.

Effects of selective inactivation of individual genes for low-molecular-mass subunits on the assembly of photosystem II, as revealed by chloroplast transformation: the psbEFLJoperon in Nicotiana tabacum.

Photosystem (PSII) is a supramolecular polypeptide complex found in oxygenic photosynthetic membranes, which is capable of extracting electrons from water for the reduction of plastoquinone. An intriguing feature of this assembly is the fact that it includes more than a dozen low-mass polypeptides of generally unknown function. Using a transplastomic approach, we have individually disrupted the genes of the psbEFLJoperon in Nicotiana tabacum, which encode four such polypeptides, without impairing expression of downstream loci of the operon.

The plastid chromosome of Atropa belladonna and its comparison with that of Nicotiana tabacum: the role of RNA editing in generating divergence in the process of plant speciation.

The nuclear and plastid genomes of the plant cell form a coevolving unit which in interspecific combinations can lead to genetic incompatibility of compartments even between closely related taxa. This phenomenon has been observed for instance in Atropa-Nicotiana cybrids. We have sequenced the plastid chromosome of Atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade), a circular DNA molecule of 156,688 bp, and compared it with the corresponding published sequence of its relative Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) to understand how divergence at the level of this genome can contribute to nuclear-plastid incompatibilities and to speciation.

Algal esterase activity as a biomeasure of environmental degradation in a freshwater creek.

This study investigated the potential for using algal esterase activity of Microcystis aeruginosa and Selenastrum capricornutum as a rapid measure of the biological effects of acid mine drainage (AMD) in a South Australian stream (Australia) also affected by sewage pollution and dry-land salinity. Algal bioassays were based on the non-fluorescent substrate, fluorescein diacetate (FDA) which is metabolised by esterases to the fluorescent product, fluorescein. Esterase activity was interpreted as the mean rate of conversion of FDA to fluorescein and expressed as a percentage of the rate achieved by control algae (%FDAC).

Deregulation of electron flow within photosystem II in the absence of the PsbJ protein.

The photosystem II (PSII) complex of photosynthetic oxygen evolving membranes comprises a number of small proteins whose functions remain unknown. Here we report that the low molecular weight protein encoded by the psbJ gene is an intrinsic component of the PSII complex. Fluorescence kinetics, oxygen flash yield, and thermoluminescence measurements indicate that inactivation of the psbJ gene in Synechocystis 6803 cells and tobacco chloroplasts lowers PSII-mediated oxygen evolution activity and increases the lifetime of the reduced primary acceptor Q(A)(-) (more than a 100-fold in the tobacco DeltapsbJ mutant).

Molecular adaptation of Drosophila melanogaster lysozymes to a digestive function.

A lysozyme (pI 5.5) was purified to homogeneity from heated acid extracts of Drosophila melanogaster larvae, using gel filtration in a Superose column and ion-exchange chromatography in a Mono Q column. The final yield was 67%.

[Comparison of the values of automatic ECG analysis according to the Smith and the Pipberger diagnostic programs by means of a serial study in a large industry].

It could be shown that an ECG-screening could be integrated into the routine work of a factory outpatient department. As a result of the automatical analysis of the ECG we got an exact knowledge of the efficiency of Smith's and Pipberger's diagnostic programmes. The suitability of the two programmes for screening examinations resulted from the 91% and 97% certain separation of normal and pathological findings and the small proportion of falsely negative results (Smith, Pipberger).