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Vanadium — a transition metal — is found in the ferrous-ferric mineral, magnetite. Vanadium has many industrial applications, such as in the production of high-strength low-alloy steels, and its increasing global industrial consumption requires new primary sources. Bioleaching is a biotechnological process for microbially catalyzed dissolution of minerals and wastes for metal recovery such as biogenic organic acid dissolution of bauxite residues. In this study, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was used to identify microorganisms in Nordic mining environments influenced by vanadium containing sources. These data identified gene sequences that aligned to the Gluconobacter genus that produce gluconic acid. Several strategies for magnetite dissolution were tested including oxidative and reductive bioleaching by acidophilic microbes along with dissimilatory reduction by Shewanella spp. that did not yield significant metal release. In addition, abiotic dissolution of the magnetite was tested with gluconic and oxalic acids, and yielded 3.99 and 81.31% iron release as a proxy for vanadium release, respectively. As a proof of principle, leaching via gluconic acid production by Gluconobacter oxydans resulted in a maximum yield of 9.8% of the available iron and 3.3% of the vanadium. Addition of an increased concentration of glucose as electron donor for gluconic acid production alone, or in combination with calcium carbonate to buffer the pH, increased the rate of iron dissolution and final vanadium recoveries. These data suggest a strategy of biogenic organic acid mediated vanadium recovery from magnetite and point the way to testing additional microbial species to optimize the recovery.

Background Diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) arising in specific extranodal sites have peculiar clinicopathologic features. Patients and methods We analyzed a cohort of 187 primary Waldeyer's ring (WR) DLBCLs retrieved from GELA protocols using anthracyclin-based polychemotherapy. Results Most patients (92%) had stage I-II disease. A germinal center B-cell-like (GCB) immunophenotype was observed in 61%, and BCL2 expression in 55%, of WR DLBCLs. BCL2, BCL6, IRF4 and MYC breakpoints were observed in, respectively, 3 of 42 (7%), 9 of 36 (25%), 2 of 26 (8%) and 4 of 40 (10%) contributive cases. A variable follicular pattern was evidenced in 30 of 68 (44%) large biopsy specimens. The 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) and the overall survival (OS) of 153 WR DLBCL patients with survival information were 69.5% and 77.8%, respectively. The GCB immunophenotype correlated with a better OS (P=0.0015), while BCL2 expression predicted a worse OS (P=0.037), an effect overcome by the GCB/non-GCB classification. Compared with matched nodal DLBCLs, WR DLBCLs with no age-adjusted international prognostic index factor disclosed a better 5-year PFS rate (77.5% versus 70.7%; P=0.03). Conclusions WR DLBCLs display distinct clinicopathologic features compared with conventional DLBCLs, with usual localized-stage disease, common follicular features and a high frequency of GCB immunophenotype contrasting with a low rate of BCL2 rearrangements. In addition, they seem to be associated with a better outcome than their nodal counterpart

© 2017 Bottomley, Liew, Kusuma, Peterson, Seidel, Foster and Harry. Productive bacterial cell division and survival of progeny requires tight coordination between chromosome segregation and cell division to ensure equal partitioning of DNA. Unlike rod-shaped bacteria that undergo division in one plane, the coccoid human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus divides in three successive orthogonal planes, which requires a different spatial control compared to rod-shaped cells. To gain a better understanding of how this coordination between chromosome segregation and cell division is regulated in S. aureus, we investigated proteins that associate with FtsZ and the divisome. We found that DnaK, a well-known chaperone, interacts with FtsZ, EzrA and DivIVA, and is required for DivIVA stability. Unlike in several rod shaped organisms, DivIVA in S. aureus associates with several components of the divisome, as well as the chromosome segregation protein, SMC. This data, combined with phenotypic analysis of mutants, suggests a novel role for S. aureus DivIVA in ensuring cell division and chromosome segregation are coordinated.

A sustainable way to produce plastics made from biomass (biomass to gas) and electricity (power to gas) could be obtained by the direct synthesis of light alkenes. Samples (≤ 1 g) of the bulk catalysts Co/Fe, Fe/Na/S and the supported catalysts Fe/Mn | MgO and Co | SiO2 are mentioned in the literature to allow the direct synthesis of light alkenes. These materials are studied in extended fixed beds with catalyst amounts between 35 and 70 g and classic syngas (H2 and CO) in this work in order to prepare a potential scale-up of this technology.The influence of activation conditions (H2 or CO as reduction agent; 350 or 420 °C at 1.5 bar) and synthesis temperature (230–500 °C) on catalyst activity and product selectivity are pointed out. Selectivities to ethene of up to 11% are found for Fe/Mn | MgO at T ≈ 440 °C and for Fe/Na/S at T ≈ 310 °C. The other materials did not produce significant amounts of ethene. CO2 and CH4 were the main products in any case, while C2H6 was the main C2 product. Applying CO as reduction agent was superior to activation with H2 at low times on stream (< 20 h). This is justified by the fast formation of carbides with CO as reduction agent since they are the most catalytically active species on Fe catalysts. The low selectivities observed for ethene are likely caused by the low GHSV value of 160 h− 1 applied in this study, which facilitates the conversion of primary alkenes in secondary reactions. Recommendations on operational conditions of Fischer-Tropsch to olefins processes are specified.

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It has been claimed that exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) could be regarded as a surrogate marker for sputum eosinophil count in patients with asthma. However, the FeNO threshold value that identifies a sputum eosinophil count ≥3% in an unselected population of patients with asthma has been poorly studied., Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Nebivolol is a highly selective beta-adrenoreceptor antagonist with vasodilating properties. This study investigated its effect on quality of life (QoL) and blood pressure (BP) in real life conditions. In total, 1468 patients were enrolled, 12% diabetics. Nebivolol was prescribed as monotherapy, add-on or switch medication., Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Multicenter Study, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Signatur des Originals: S 36/F01832

Crohn's disease (CD) is a multifactorial disease with genetic heterogeneity. TNF-alpha plays a key role in the development of the mucosal lesions. The aim of our work was to study a single base pair polymorphism located in the promoter region of TNF gene, in a large population of CD patients with well defined phenotypes. One hundred and ninety-three patients with CD and 98 ethnically matched controls were studied. The -308 single base pair polymorphism of TNF gene was studied using an allele-specific polymerase chain reaction. Genotype and allelic frequencies were compared between patients and controls and between subgroups of patients defined by sex, age at diagnosis, familial history, location of disease, type of disease, extra-intestinal manifestations, and response to steroid treatment. In 29 patients a measure of TNF-alpha production by colonic biopsies was performed. The frequency of the allele TNF2 as well as the proportion of carriers of the allele TNF2 were slightly but not significantly lower in CD than in controls (11.9% versus 14.8% and 21.5% versus 27.6%, respectively). A more prominent difference in frequencies of allele TNF2 and in proportions of TNF2 carriers was found when comparing subgroups of patients. The frequency of allele TNF2 was significantly higher in steroid-dependent than in non-steroid-dependent disease (28.1% versus 10.3%; Delta = 17.8%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 6.3-29.5%, P = 0.0027) and tended to be higher in colonic than in small bowel disease and in fistulizing than in stricturing disease. Furthermore, TNF2 carriers tended to be more frequent in patients with steroid-dependent than non-steroid-dependent disease (43.8% versus 19.3%; Delta = 24.5%, 95% CI = 3.6-45.4%, P = 0.022), in patients with fistulizing than stricturing disease (26.5% versus 9.6%; Delta = 16.9%, 95% CI = 1. 1-32.6%, P = 0.036), and in patients with colonic than small bowel disease (26.5% versus 11.1%; Delta = 15.4%, 95% CI = -0.8-31.6%, P = 0.063). Finally, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, FLWIN, info:eu-repo/semantics/published