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A radicular cyst associated with carious teeth is a very common odontogenic lesion in the oral cavity, but calcifications in residual radicular cysts are quite rare. We report one such case where a routine pre-implant radiographic assessment revealed a mixed periapical radiopaque radiolucent lesion in the right maxillary central incisor region. Histological and radiographic studies show that there is a slow increase in the mineralized deposits within the cyst lumen with time. This becomes prominent histochemically in cysts more than 8 years old and radiographically 6 years later, as seen in our case. In this paper we would like to highlight the importance of a residual radicular cyst with calcifications in the differential diagnosis of a mixed periapical radiopaque radiolucent lesion.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects over 130 million people causing a worldwide epidemic of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular-carcinoma. Because current HCV treatments are only partially effective, molecular mechanisms involved in HCV propagation are actively being pursued as possible drug targets. Here, we report on a new macromolecular interaction between the HCV capsid core protein and the helicase portion of HCV non-structural protein 3 (NS3h), confirmed by four different biochemical methods. The protease portion of NS3 is not required. Interaction between the two proteins could be disrupted by two types of specific inhibitors of core dimerization, the small molecule SL201 and core106, a C-terminally truncated core protein. Cross-linking experiments suggest that the physical interaction with NS3h is probably driven by core oligomerization. Moreover, SL201 blocks the production of infectious virus, but not the production of a subgenomic HCV replicon by hepatoma cells. Time-of-addition experiments confirm that SL201 has no effect on entry of the virus. These data underline the essential role of core as a key organizer of HCV particle assembly, confirm the importance of oligomerization, reveal the interaction with viral helicase and support a new molecular understanding of the formation of the viral particle at the level of the lipid droplets, before its migration to the site of release and budding.

A multiprotein DNA-processing complex identified from Deinococcus radiodurans exhibits uncharacterized ATP-sensitive nuclease functions. DR0505 was one of the 24 polypeptides identified from the complex. It contains two 5' nucleotidase motifs, one is at the C-terminal end of the N-terminal CPDD (calcineurin phosphodiesterase domain), with the second at the C-terminal end of the protein. Recombinant DR0505 showed both phosphomonoesterase and phosphodiesterase activities with chromogenic substrates, showing higher affinity for bis-(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate than for p-nitrophenyl phosphate. The enzyme exhibited pH optima ranging from 8.0 to 9.0 and metal-ion-dependent thermotolerance of esterase functions. Both mono- and di-esterase activities were stable at temperatures up to 50 °C in the presence of Mg2+, whereas monoesterase activity was observed at temperatures up to 80 °C in the presence of Mn2+ and up to 50 °C with Ca2+. The purified enzyme showed 5' nucleotidase activity on a wide range of natural mononucleotides including cyclic mononucleotides and 8-oxo-GMP. DR0505 showed a nearly 7-fold higher activity on ADP than AMP, but this activity was inhibited with ATP. Interestingly, DR0505 also showed single-stranded endonuclease and 3'→5' exonuclease activities on both single-stranded and double-stranded DNA-substrates. Unlike for the exonuclease activity, the single-stranded endonuclease activities observed on stem-loop substrates and at the single strand-double-strand junction in forked-hairpin substrates were not inhibited with ATP. These results suggested that DR0505 is an ATP-regulated DNA-processing enzyme and a thermotolerant esterase in vitro. We therefore suggest possible roles of this enzyme in nucleotide recycling and DNA processing, which is required for efficient double-strand break repair and the high radiation tolerance observed in D. radiodurans.

A multiprotein DNA processing complex isolated from Deinococcus radiodurans contains the DNA repair protein PprA, an ATP-type DNA repair ligase (LigB) encoded by the drB0100 gene, and protein kinase activity. An ATP-dependent DNA end-joining activity was detected in the complex. To elucidate the function of the drB0100 gene, we generated the deletion mutant for the DR_B0100 ORF. The mutant exhibited a nearly 2-log cycle reduction in growth rate when exposed to a 10,000 Gray dose of γ-radiation, and a significant loss in mitomycin C and methylmethane sulphonate tolerance as compared with wild type. Functional complementation of these phenotypes required the wild-type copy of drB0100 along with other genes such as drb0099 and drb0098, organized downstream in the operon. The in vitro DNA ligase activity of LigB was stimulated severalfold by PprA in the presence of the recombinant DRB0098 protein. However, this activity did not improve when PprA was substituted with purified DRB0099 protein or when DRB0098 protein was substituted with the DRB0099 protein in the presence of PprA in solution. These results suggest that PprA and DRB0098 protein are required for LigB function. Furthermore, they also suggest that the LigB operon components contribute to radiation resistance and double-strand break (DSB) repair in D. radiodurans.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects over 130 million people worldwide and is a major cause of liver disease. No vaccine is available. Novel specific drugs for HCV are urgently required, since the standard-of-care treatment of pegylated interferon combined with ribavirin is poorly tolerated and cures less than half of the treated patients. Promising, effective direct-acting drugs currently in the clinic have been described for three of the ten potential HCV target proteins: NS3/NS4A protease, NS5B polymerase and NS5A, a regulatory phosphoprotein. We here present core, the viral capsid protein, as another attractive, non-enzymatic target, against which a new class of anti-HCV drugs can be raised. Core plays a major role in the virion's formation, and interacts with several cellular proteins, some of which are involved in host defense mechanisms against the virus. This most conserved of all HCV proteins requires oligomerization to function as the organizer of viral particle assembly. Using core dimerization as the basis of transfer-of-energy screening assays, peptides and small molecules were identified which not only inhibit core-core interaction, but also block viral production in cell culture. Initial chemical optimization resulted in compounds active in single digit micromolar concentrations. Core inhibitors could be used in combination with other HCV drugs in order to provide novel treatments of Hepatitis C.

Binding of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA to core, the capsid protein, results in the formation of the nucleocapsid, the first step in the assembly of the viral particle. A novel assay was developed to discover small molecule inhibitors of core dimerization. This assay is based on time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET) between anti-tag antibodies labeled with either europium cryptate (Eu) or allophycocyanin (XL-665). The N-terminal 106-residue portion of core protein (core106) was tagged with either glutathione-S-transferase (GST) or a Flag peptide. Tag-free core106 was selected as the reference inhibitor. The assay was used to screen the library of pharmacologically active compounds (LOPAC) consisting of 1,280 compounds and a 2,240-compound library from the Center for Chemical Methodology and Library Development at Boston University (CMLD-BU). Ten of the 28 hits from the primary TR-FRET run were confirmed in a secondary amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay (ALPHA screen). One hit was further characterized by dose-response analysis yielding an IC(50) of 9.3 microM. This 513 Da compound was shown to inhibit HCV production in cultured hepatoma cells.

Fusion classifiers with diverse components (classifiers or data sets) outperform those with less diverse components. Determining component diversity, therefore, is of the utmost importance in the design of fusion classifiers which are often employed in clinical diagnostic and numerous other pattern recognition problems. In this paper, a new pairwise diversity-based ranking strategy is introduced to select a subset of ensemble components, which when combined, will be more diverse than any other component subset of the same size. The strategy is unified in the sense that the components can be either polychotomous classifiers or polychotomous data sets. Classifier fusion and data fusion systems are formulated based on the diversity selection strategy and the application of the two fusion strategies are demonstrated through the classification of multi-channel event related potentials (ERPs). From the results it is concluded that data fusion outperforms classifier fusion. It is also shown that the diversity-based data fusion system outperforms the system using randomly selected data components. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the combination of data components that yield the best performance, in a relative sense, can be determined through the diversity selection strategy.

New small molecule inhibitors of HCV were discovered by screening a small library of indoline alkaloid-type compounds. An automated assay format was employed which allowed identification of dimerization inhibitors of core, the capsid protein of the virus. These compounds were subsequently shown to block production of infectious virus in hepatoma cells.

The goal of this paper is to introduce a new strategy to accurately classify event-related potentials (ERPs), recorded using dense electrode arrays, into predefined brain activity categories. The challenge is to exploit the enhanced spatial information offered by dense arrays while overcoming the significant increase in the dimensionality problem introduced by the large increase in the number of channels. These conflicting objectives are achieved by introducing a spatiotemporal-array model to observe the dense-array ERP amplitude variations across channels and time, simultaneously. To account for latency variations and EEG noise in the array elements, each spatiotemporal element in the array is initially modeled as a Gaussian random variable. A two-step process that uses the Kolmogrov-Smirnov test and the Lilliefors test is formulated to select the array elements that have different Gaussian densities across all ERP categories. Selecting spatiotemporal elements that fit the assumed model and also statistically differ across the ERP categories not only ensures high classification accuracies but also decreases the dimensionality significantly. The selection is dynamic in the sense that selecting spatiotemporal-array elements corresponds to selecting ERP samples of different channels at different time instants. Each selected array element is classified using a univariate Gaussian classifier, and the resulting decisions are fused into a decision fusion vector that is classified using a discrete Bayes classifier. By converting an inherently multivariate classification problem into a simpler problem involving only univariate classifications, the dimensionality problem that plagues the design of practical multivariate ERP classifiers is circumvented. Consequently, classifiers can be designed to classify the ERPs that are unique to an individual without having to collect a prohibitively large ERP dataset from him/her. The application of the resulting dynamic-channel-selection-based classification strategy is demonstrated by designing and testing classifiers for eight subjects using ERPs from a Stroop color test and it is shown that the strategy yields high classification accuracies. Finally, it is noted that because of the generalized formulation of the strategy, it can be applied to various other problems involving the classification of multivariate signals acquired from multiple identical or multiple heterogeneous sensors.

By modeling evoked potentials (EPs) as random vectors in which the EP samples are random variables, a generalized strategy is introduced to determine multivariate central-tendency estimates such as the arithmetic mean, geometric mean, harmonic mean, median, tri-mean, and trimmed-mean. Additionally, a generalized strategy is introduced to develop minimum-distance classifiers based on central tendency estimates. Furthermore, procedures are developed to fuse the decisions of the nearest-estimate classifiers for multi-channel EP classification. The central-tendency estimates of real EPs are compared and it is shown that although the mathematical operations to compute the estimates are quite different, the EP estimates are similar with respect to their overall waveform shapes and latencies. It is also shown that by fusing the classifier decisions across multiple channels, the classification accuracy can be improved significantly when compared with the accuracies of individual channel classifiers.

An efficient DNA strand break repair contributes to the radioresistance of Deinococcus radiodurans, which harbors the DNA repair pathways nearly identical to Escherichia coli. The molecular mechanisms of these proteins functioning in 2 diverse classes of bacteria seem to be different. The macromolecular interactions and formation of multiprotein complexes in vivo have gained significant importance in explaining the mechanism of the complex cellular processes. Here, we report the identification of a novel DNA metabolic protein complex from D. radiodurans. A similar complex has, however, not been found in E. coli. Mass spectrometric analysis showed the presence of a few known DNA repair proteins, molecular chaperones, and a large number of uncharacterized proteins from D. radiodurans R1. Biochemical and immunoblotting results indicated the presence of the protein promoting DNA repair A, DNA polymerase, Mg2+, and (or) Mn2+ -dependent 5'-->3' exonuclease activity along with protein kinase activity and phosphoproteins. DNA ligase activity was completely dependent upon the ATP requirement, as no ligase activity was seen in the presence of NAD as a cofactor. These results suggest the molecular interactions of the known DNA repair proteins with uncharacterized proteins in the macromolecular complex and the regulation of DNA degradation with the involvement of ATP and protein kinase functions.

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) constitutes a highly pathogenic virus that infects lung epithelial cells to cause a wide spectrum of respiratory diseases. Our recent studies have revealed the existence of an interferon-alpha/beta-independent, innate antiviral response against RSV that was dependent on activation of NF-kappaB. We demonstrated that NF-kappaB inducing pro-inflammatory cytokines like tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) confers potent antiviral function against RSV in an NF-kappaB-dependent fashion, independent of interferon-alpha/beta. During our efforts to study this pathway, we identified HBD2 (human beta-defensin-2), a soluble secreted cationic protein as an antiviral factor induced during NF-kappaB-dependent innate antiviral activity in human lung epithelial cells. Our results demonstrated that HBD2 is induced by TNF and RSV in an NF-kappaB-dependent manner. Induction of HBD2 in infected cells was mediated by the paracrine/autocrine action of TNF produced upon RSV infection. HBD2 plays a critical role during host defense, because purified HBD2 drastically inhibited RSV infection. We also show that the antiviral mechanism of HBD2 involves blocking of viral cellular entry possibly because of destabilization/disintegration of the viral envelope. The important role of HBD2 in the innate response was also evident from loss of antiviral activity of TNF upon HBD2 silencing by short interfering RNA. The in vivo physiological relevance of HBD2 in host defense was apparent from induction of murine beta-defensin-4 (murine counterpart of HBD2) in lung tissues of RSV-infected mice. Thus, HBD2 functions as an antiviral molecule during NF-kappaB-dependent innate antiviral immunity mediated by the autocrine/paracrine action of TNF.

A new strategy is introduced to exploit the enhanced spatial resolution offered by dense electrode arrays and to solve the dimensionality problem that plagues the design and evaluation of practical dense array event-related potential (ERP) classifiers. A spatio-temporal model is introduced to observe the dense array ERP amplitude variations across channels and time, simultaneously. Dimensionality reduction is achieved by selecting elements of the spatio-temporal arrays which differ in their probability distributions across the brain activity classes. Each selected spatio-temporal element is classified using an univariate Gaussian classifier and the resulting decisions are fused into a decision fusion vector which is classified using a discrete Bayes vector classifier. Using ERPs from a Stroop color test, it is shown that the performance improves significantly when the strategy is applied to normalized spatio-temporal ERP arrays. The main advantage of the new strategy is that it is not constrained by the dimensionality of the ERP vector. Consequently, it can be used to design ERP classifiers specialized for individual test subjects without having to collect a large number of ERPs from groups of subjects in order to solve the dimensionality problem.

The tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) are endogenous inhibitors of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Since unregulated MMP activities are linked to arthritis, cancer, and atherosclerosis, TIMP variants that are selective inhibitors of disease-related MMPs have potential therapeutic value. The structures of TIMP/MMP complexes reveal that most interactions with the MMP involve the N-terminal pentapeptide of TIMP and the C-D beta-strand connector which occupy the primed and unprimed regions of the active site. The loop between beta-strands A and B forms a secondary interaction site for some MMPs, ranging from multiple contacts in the TIMP-2/membrane type-1 (MT1)-MMP complex to none in the TIMP-1/MMP-1 complex. TIMP-1 and its inhibitory domain, N-TIMP-1, are weak inhibitors of MT1-MMP; inhibition is not improved by grafting the longer AB loop from TIMP-2 into N-TIMP-1, but this change impairs binding to MMP-3 and MMP-7. Mutational studies with N-TIMP-1 suggest that its weak inhibition of MT1-MMP, as compared to other N-TIMPs, arises from multiple (>3) sequence differences in the interaction site. Substitutions for Thr2 of N-TIMP-1 strongly influence MMP selectivity; Arg and Gly, that generally reduce MMP affinity, have less effect on binding to MMP-9. When the Arg mutation is added to the N-TIMP-1(AB2) mutant, it produces a gelatinase-specific inhibitor with Ki values of 2.8 and 0.4 nM for MMP-2 and -9, respectively. Interestingly, the Gly mutant has a Ki of 2.1 nM for MMP-9 and >40 muM for MMP-2, indicating that engineered TIMPs can discriminate between MMPs in the same subfamily.

A strategy is developed to dynamically fuse classification information from multiple channels in order to accurately classify brain activity elicited by external stimuli. The strategy is dynamic in the sense that different channels are selected at different time-instants. The channels are ranked at different time-instants according to their classification accuracies. Although the brain signals are multivariate signals, the classifiers are simple univariate classifiers. A rule is formulated to dynamically select different channels at different time-instants during the testing phase. The independent decisions of the selected channels are fused into a decision fusion vector. The resulting decision fusion vector is optimally classified using a discrete Bayes classifier. The dynamic decision fusion strategy is tested on 3 evoked potential (EP) data sets of 2 different paradigms using univariate mean and Gaussian classifiers. It is shown that the strategy yields high classification accuracies especially for high noise cases. Furthermore, the generalized formulation of the strategy makes it applicable to a wide range of multi-category classification problems involving multivariate signals collected from multiple sensors.

PprA: a pleiotropic protein promoting DNA repair, role in radiation resistance of Deinococcus radiodurans was demonstrated. In this study, the effect of radiation and oxidative stress on transgenic Escherichia coli expressing pprA has been studied. The pprA gene from D. radiodurans KR1 was cloned and expressed in E. coli. Transgenic E. coli cells expressing PprA showed twofold to threefold higher tolerance to hydrogen peroxide as compared to control. The 2.8-fold in vivo stimulation of catalase activity largely contributed by KatE was observed as compared to nonrecombinant control. Furthermore, the purified PprA could stimulate the E. coli catalase activity by 1.7-fold in solution. The effect of PprA on catalase activity observed both in vivo and in vitro was reverted to normal levels in the presence of PprA antibodies. The results suggest that enhanced oxidative stress tolerance in E. coli expressing PprA was due to the PprA stimulation of catalase activity, perhaps through the interaction of these proteins.

Deinococcus radiodurans R1 recovering from acute dose of gamma radiation shows a biphasic mechanism of DNA double-strand break repair. The possible involvement of microsequence homology-dependent, or non-homologous end joining type mechanisms during initial period followed by RecA-dependent homologous recombination pathways has been suggested for the reconstruction of complete genomes in this microbe. We have exploited the known roles of exonuclease I in DNA recombination to elucidate the nature of recombination involved in DNA double-strand break repair during post-irradiation recovery of D. radiodurans. Transgenic Deinococcus cells expressing exonuclease I functions of Escherichia coli showed significant reduction in gamma radiation radioresistance, while the resistance to far-UV and hydrogen peroxide remained unaffected. The overexpression of E. coli exonuclease I in Deinococcus inhibited DNA double-strand break repair. Such cells exhibited normal post-irradiation expression kinetics of RecA, PprA and single-stranded DNA-binding proteins but lacked the divalent cation manganese [(Mn(II)]-dependent protection from gamma radiation. The results strongly suggest that 3' (rho) 5' single-stranded DNA ends constitute an important component in recombination pathway involved in DNA double-strand break repair and that absence of sbcB from deinococcal genome may significantly aid its extreme radioresistance phenotype.

The recent deaths of three hardwood floor finishers in the Boston area have highlighted the urgency of addressing hazards in this industry. Among other dangers to health and safety, fire is a constant threat in a work setting that combines highly flammable solvents, large quantities of airborne wood dust, electrical equipment, heat, and friction inside old homes. Immigrant workers, who perform a large proportion of this work, are at special risk. An Environmental Justice partnership of community-based organizations, community health centers, and environmental health researchers funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (the "Dorchester Occupational Health Initiative") had been studying the occupational health of hardwood floor finishing when these workers died. This preparation enabled community, health, labor, business, and political leaders to mobilize a response and release recommendations within weeks of the second fatal fire. Their report, adapted below, contains important information for health and labor activists in all areas where wood flooring is common. Most notably, the use of less flammable (higher flash point) products can help reduce the risk of more fatal fires. For further information, please contact the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, masscosh.org.

This paper introduces the benefits of exploiting elasticity in the engineering design of surgical tools, in general, and of minimally invasive procedures, in particular. Compliant mechanisms are jointless mechanisms that rely on elastic deformation to transmit forces and motion. The lack of traditional joints in these single-piece flexible structures offers many benefits, including the absence of wear debris, pinch points, crevices, and lubrication. Such systems are particularly amenable to embedded sensing for haptic feedback and embedded actuation with active-material actuators. The paper provides an overview of design synthesis methods developed at the Compliant Systems Design Laboratory and focuses specifically on surgical applications. Compliant systems have potential to integrate. well within the constraints of laparoscopic procedures and telerobotic surgery. A load-path representation is used within a genetic algorithm to solve two gripper example problems. In addition, the paper illustrates the design and construction of an organ (kidney) manipulator for use in minimally invasive procedures.

Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-3 (TIMP-3) is a dual inhibitor of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and some adamalysins, two families of extracellular and cell surface metalloproteinases that function in extracellular matrix turnover and the shedding of cell surface proteins. The mechanism of inhibition of MMPs by TIMPs has been well characterized, and since the catalytic domains of MMPs and adamalysins are homologous, it was assumed that the interaction of TIMP-3 with adamalysins is closely similar. Here we report that the inhibition of the extracellular region of ADAM-17 (tumor necrosis factor alpha-converting enzyme (TACE)) by the inhibitory domain of TIMP-3 (N-TIMP-3) shows positive cooperativity. Also, mutations in the core of the MMP interaction surface of N-TIMP-3 dramatically reduce the binding affinity for MMPs but have little effect on the inhibitory activity for TACE. These results suggest that the mechanism of inhibition of ADAM-17 by TIMP-3 may be distinct from that for MMPs. The mutant proteins are also effective inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) release from phorbol ester-stimulated cells, indicating that they provide a lead for engineering TACE-specific inhibitors that may reduce side effects arising from MMP inhibition and are possibly useful for treatment of diseases associated with excessive TNF-alpha levels such as rheumatoid arthritis.

The separation of propylene-propane mixture is an energy intensive operation commercially practiced using cryogenic distillation. The separation by pressure swing adsorption has been studied as an alternative. A fixed-bed pressure swing adsorption yields the heavy component as a pure product. The product recovery and the productivity are not high. In a moving-bed process, because of the counter-current solid-gas contact, the separation achieved is similar to that of the fractionation by distillation. Although the moving-bed operation offers the upper limit for the performance of a cyclic adsorptive process, due to mechanical complexities in the handling of solids the 'simulated' moving-bed is preferred. By moving the inlet and outlet ports of streams located along the length of the bed, a moving-bed process can be realized in a fixed bed. We describe here a 'moving-port' system which permits injection or withdrawal of the fluid along the axial direction in a fixed bed. A fixed bed embedded with the moving-port systems emulates a simulated moving-bed adsorber. The proposed adsorber can fractionate a binary gas mixture into two product streams with high purities. It is similar to the Sorbex process of UOP but does not have the eluent as an additional separating agent. A parametric study indicates that high purity products and a higher productivity by an order of magnitude can be achieved with simulated moving-beds compared to the fixed beds.

The lipocalins are a highly divergent, ubiquitous family of proteins that commonly function in binding lipophilic molecules. Although a specific tear lipocalin is a major component of lacrimal fluid and tears in many mammals, there has been no definitive identification of such a protein in rabbit tears. The goals of this project were to identify the major proteins in rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) lacrimal fluid, so as to determine if they include a lipocalin and, if such a protein is present, to determine its source. Lacrimal fluid was collected from NZW sexually mature female rabbits, and culture medium from rabbit lacrimal gland epithelial (acinar) and interstitial cells was isolated. Proteins from these fluids were separated by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis and analyzed by sequencing the intact proteins and sequencing or mass analysis of fragments derived by trypsin digestion. Proteins of approximately 85 and 67 kDa were identified as rabbit transferrin and serum albumin, respectively, while components of 17 and 7 kDa had N-terminal sequences identical to those of lipophilin CL and AL, respectively. BLAST searches of the nr database with the N-terminal sequence of a protein of 18 kDa did not identify any homologues. However, when used to scan the PROSITE database, it was found to contain a lipocalin signature sequence. It is closely related to two lipocalins previously isolated from rabbit saliva and nasal mucus. Further studies with the N-terminal and internal sequences confirmed that the lacrimal protein is a lipocalin that is truncated at the N-terminus as compared with other tear lipocalins and is more similar to odorant binding proteins from rodents.

Dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria (DMRB) facilitate the reduction of Fe and Mn oxides in anoxic soils and sediments and play an important role in the cycling of these metals and other elements such as carbon in aqueous environments. Previous studies investigating the reduction of Fe(III) oxides by DMRB focused on reactions under constant initial electron donor (lactate) and electron acceptor (Fe oxide) concentrations. Because the concentrations of these reactants can vary greatly in the environment and would be expected to influence the rate and extent of oxide reduction, the influence of variable electron acceptor and donor concentrations on hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) bioreduction was investigated. Batch experiments were conducted in pH 7 HCO3 buffered media using Shewanella putrefaciens strain CN32. In general, the rate of Fe(III) reduction decreased with increasing HFO:lactate ratios, resulting in a relatively greater proportion of crystalline Fe(III) oxides of relatively low availability for DMRB. HFO was transformed to a variety of crystalline minerals including goethite, lepidocrocite, and siderite but was almost completely dissolved at high lactate to HFO ratios. These results indicate that electron donor and acceptor concentrations can greatly impact the bioreduction of HFO and the suite of Fe minerals formed as a result of reduction. The respiration driven rate of Fe(II) formation from HFO is believed to be a primary factor governing the array of ferrous and ferric iron phases formed during reduction.

The kinetics of dissimilatory reduction of goethite (alpha-FeOOH) was studied in batch cultures of a groundwater bacterium, Shewanella putrefaciens, strain CN32 in pH 7 bicarbonate buffer. The rate and extent of goethite reduction were measured as a function of electron acceptor (goethite) and donor (lactate) concentrations. Increasing goethite concentrations increased both the rate and extent of Fe(III) reduction when cell and lactate concentrations were held constant. However, constant initial reduction rates were observed after normalization to the Fe(II) sorption capacity of FeOOH, suggesting that the bacterial reduction rate was first orderwith respect to surface site concentration. Increasing the lactate concentration also increased the rate and extent of FeOOH reduction. Monod-type kinetic behaviorwas observed with respectto lactate concentration. Fe(II) sorption on FeOOH was well-described by the Langmuir sorption isotherm. However, the Fe(II) sorption capacities hyperbolically decreased with increasing FeOOH concentration (10-100 mM) implying aggregation, while the affinity constant between Fe(II) and goethite was constant (log K approximately equals 3). Evaluation of the end states of the variable FeOOH and lactate experiments when iron reduction ceased indicated a consistent excess in reaction free energy of -22.7 kJ/mol. This value was remarkably close to the minimum value reported for bacteria to mediate a given reaction (-20 kJ/mol). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that siderite (FeCO3) was the only biogenic Fe(II) solid formed upon FeOOH bioreduction. A kinetic biogeochemical model that incorporated Monod kinetics with respect to lactate concentration, first-order kinetics with respectto goethite surface concentration, a Gibbs free energy availability factor, the rates of Fe(II) sorption on goethite and siderite precipitation, and aqueous speciation reactions was applied to the experimental data. Using independently estimated parameters, the developed model successfully described bacterial goethite reduction with variable FeOOH and lactate concentrations.

Using a cross-sectional phenomenological approach, 40 schizophrenic patients satisfying Research Diagnostic Criteria were divided into positive, negative and mixed subtypes. On variables like age, duration of illness, and premorbid adjustment significant differences emerged between positive and negative subtypes. No significant differences were found when positive and negative subtypes were compared on variables like intelligence, memory, history of treatment with neuroleptics and electroconvulsive therapy and past and family history of schizophrenia. The results are compared with other studies.