Unités Mixtes de Recherche1347 Agroécologie, Université de Bourgogne Dijon, France ; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Unités Mixtes de Recherche1347 Agroécologie Dijon, France.
Published: January 2015
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
In this study, we investigated whether the Agr communication system of the pathogenic bacterium Listeria monocytogenes was involved in adaptation and competitiveness in soil. Alteration of the ability to communicate, either by deletion of the gene coding the response regulator AgrA (response-negative mutant) or the signal pro-peptide AgrD (signal-negative mutant), did not affect population dynamics in soil that had been sterilized but survival was altered in biotic soil suggesting that the Agr system of L. monocytogenes was involved to face the complex soil biotic environment. This was confirmed by a set of co-incubation experiments. The fitness of the response-negative mutant was lower either in the presence or absence of the parental strain but the fitness of the signal-negative mutant depended on the strain with which it was co-incubated. The survival of the signal-negative mutant was higher when co-cultured with the parental strain than when co-cultured with the response-negative mutant. These results showed that the ability to respond to Agr communication provided a benefit to listerial cells to compete. These results might also indicate that in soil, the Agr system controls private goods rather than public goods.
The glucoconjugation between linear chimeric α-(1→4)- and α-(1→6)-glucosidic segments exhibits functional properties throughout their structure. In this study, we enzymatically synthesized three new series of chimeric nonreducing isomaltomegalosaccharides (N-IMS-n/m), each featuring a constant n, α-(1→4)-segment (average degree of polymerization, DP = 22-25) at the nonreducing terminal, and varying m, α-(1→6)-main chain lengths (DP = 7-53). The synthesized compounds-N-IMS-25/7, N-IMS-24/19, and N-IMS-22/53-were compared to amylose (DP = 28) and previous samples of N-IMS-15/35 and D-IMS-28.
Medical Intelligence and Language Engineering Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560012, India; Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560012, India. Electronic address:
Meditation is a self-regulatory process practiced primarily to reduce stress, manage emotions and mental health. The objective of this work is to study the information exchange between electrodes within and across the hemispheres during meditation using functional connectivity (FC) measures. We investigate the changes in the coherence between EEG electrode pairs during the meditation with open eyes practiced by long-term Brahmakumaris Rajyoga meditators and during listening to music by controls as the comparable task.
The study addresses the challenge of variable solar radiation affecting the efficiency of solar dryers, especially for sensitive crops like basil leaves during winter.
A hybrid solar dryer (HSD) combining solar energy and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) was developed, featuring an automatic air circulation system to enhance drying efficiency and accommodate varying weather conditions.
Testing indicated that drying basil leaves at 60°C with a 90% air change rate significantly reduced drying time by up to 35.71% in summer and 35.56% in winter, while also improving energy consumption and product quality.
Overconsumption of sucrose or fat is widely acknowledged as a prominent feature of unhealthy dietary patterns. Both factors commonly co-occur and are recognized as hallmarks of the Western diet, which is an important contributor to non-communicative diseases. In this study, we investigated the hazards of high sucrose or fat intake, either alone or in combination.
