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The goal of the RENEB inter-laboratory comparison 2021 exercise was to simulate a large-scale radiation accident involving a network of biodosimetry labs. Labs were required to perform their analyses using different biodosimetric assays in triage mode scoring and to rapidly report estimated radiation doses to the organizing institution. This article reports the results obtained with the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay. Three test samples were exposed to blinded doses of 0, 1.2 and 3.5 Gy X-ray doses (240 kVp, 13 mA, ∼75 keV, 1 Gy/min). These doses belong to 3 triage categories of clinical relevance: a low dose category, for no exposure or exposures inferior to 1 Gy, requiring no direct treatment of subjects; a medium dose category, with doses ranging from 1 to 2 Gy, and a high dose category, after exposure to doses higher than 2 Gy, with the two latter requiring increasing medical attention. After irradiation the test samples (no. 1, no. 2 and no. 3) were sent by the organizing laboratory to 14 centers participating in the micronucleus assay exercise. Laboratories were asked to setup micronucleus cultures and to perform the micronucleus assay in triage mode, scoring 500 binucleated cells manually, or 1,000 binucleated cells in automated/semi-automated mode. One laboratory received no blood samples, but scored pictures from another lab. Based on their calibration curves, laboratories had to provide estimates of the administered doses. The accuracy of the reported dose estimates was further analyzed by the micronucleus assay lead. The micronucleus assay allowed classification of samples in the corresponding clinical triage categories (low, medium, high dose category) in 88% of cases (manual scoring, 88%; semi-automated scoring, 100%; automated scoring, 73%). Agreement between scoring laboratories, assessed by calculating the Fleiss' kappa, was excellent (100%) for semi-automated scoring, good (83%) for manual scoring and poor (53%) for fully automated scoring. Correct classification into triage scoring dose intervals (reference dose ±0.5 Gy for doses ≤2.5 Gy, or reference dose ±1 Gy for doses >2.5 Gy), recommended for triage biodosimetry, was obtained in 79% of cases (manual scoring, 73%; semi-automated scoring, 100%; automated scoring, 67%). The percentage of dose estimates whose 95% confidence intervals included the reference dose was 58% (manual scoring, 48%; semi-automated scoring, 72%; automated scoring, 60%). For the irradiated samples no. 2 and no. 3, a systematic shift towards higher dose estimations was observed. This was also noticed with the other cytogenetic assays in this intercomparison exercise. Accuracy of the rapid triage modality could be maintained when the number of manually scored cells was scaled down to 200 binucleated cells. In conclusion, the micronucleus assay, preferably performed in a semi-automated or manual scoring mode, is a reliable technique to perform rapid biodosimetry analysis in large-scale radiation emergencies.

Four strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium including L. plantarum 01, L. fermentum D13, L. rhamnosus B01725, and B. bifidum B7.5 exhibiting naringinase production were applied in grapefruit juice fermentation. All investigated strains grew well in grapefruit juice without nutrition supplementation. In all cases, cell counts were 108–109 CFU ml−1 after 24 hours of fermentation. The highest lactic acid and acetic acid productions were observed in the case of strain L. plantarum 01. The L. plantarum 01 and L. fermentum D13 strains prefer glucose over fructose and sucrose, whereas fructose was the most favoured sugar for L. rhamnosus B01725 and B. bifidum B7.5. At the end of the fermentation process, antioxidant activity and total polyphenol content of grapefruit juice decreased in all cases, but the changes were not significant. Significant decrease of naringin was observed in the case of L. plantarum 01, 28% naringin in grapefruit juice was removed after fermentation. This result is promising for development of technology for production of probiotic grapefruit juice.

Whether local financial development could reduce the constraints for women to promote economic growth is an important question that has been paid little attention. In this paper, we use data of more than 40,000 firms collected in Vietnam from 2009 to 2013 to examine the effects of local financial development, male ownership and the joint effect of these factors on firm growth. To address endogeneity issues which might arise by the causality from firm growth to local financial development, we employ the heteroscedasticity-based identification strategy. The results show that local financial development promotes firm performance in terms of the growth rates of sales, investment, sales per worker, return on investment (ROI), return on assets (ROA), and return on equity (ROE). The results also suggest the difference in entrepreneurs’ gender affects firm growth. Moreover, the joint effect of local financial development and male ownership is significantly negative through all specifications. This implies that local financial development could help reduce the gender gap in promoting firm growth.

β-Galactosidase was covalently immobilized on the chitosan-coated magnetic nanoparticles activated with glutaraldehyde. The effect of three factors including protein content, pH and time on the yield of immobilization was investigated, and the optimum values were 0.45 mg/ml, 4.9 and 4.9 h, respectively. The maximum yield of immobilization reached 98.8% in term of enzyme activity. The stability of β-galactosidase significantly was improved after immobilization from 2.5 days to over 6 days of half-life at 60 °C and was active in wider ranges of temperature (45–60 °C), and pH (4.0–5.5) compared to soluble form. The activity of immobilized enzyme remained 85% of origin after eight recycles (at 60 °C, pH 4.5 for 4 h). Different initial lactulose concentrations (0.58–2.34 M) were applied for synthesis of galactooligosaccharides. The maximum yield of galactooligosaccharides was 17% mol/mol at the initial lactulose concentration of 2.34 M at 36 h of reaction. It showed that both hydrolytic and trans-galactosylation activities of β-galactosidase remained well after immobilization. The kinetic model of immobilized enzyme was determined. These results revealed that immobilized enzyme on chitosan-coated magnetic nanoparticles has application potentials in the production of prebiotic lactulose-based galactooligosaccharides.

International audience; Earthworm cast ageing controls soil ecosystem services such as carbon storage and nutrient availability. To test the hypothesis that biogeochemical changes during casts ageing can be traced by infrared spectroscopy, we collected topsoil aggregates and earthworm casts produced by the anecic earthworm Amynthas khami belonging to five distinct degradation stages in woodland in northern Vietnam. We analysed mid-infrared (MIR) spectra of both sample types using two approaches: (1) calculation of the proportion of aliphatic compounds and the humification index of organic matter (OM) using specific wavenumbers and (2) linear discriminant analysis (LDA) of the most important peaks and shoulders of the entire spectrum. Our results showed that aliphatic compound contribution to OM was similar and the humification index of OM lower (2-fold) in casts as compared to topsoil aggregates independent of their degradation stage. In contrast, LDA showed a continuous shift from fresh casts to aged casts and topsoil aggregates in agreement with biogeochemical changes of cast properties. We thus conclude that MIR analysis of bulk samples and LDA taking into account the absorbance intensity of most important wavenumbers is a promising tool to capture biogeochemical alterations of organic and mineral earthworm cast properties during ageing.

International audience; Soil macroporosity is a highly dynamic feature driven by numerous physical and biological processes, of which bioturbation, the movement of water in soil and swelling and shrinking cycles are the main processes. To date, the interaction between these factors, especially how galleries produced by soil fauna respond to rainwater percolation and wetting-drying (WD) cycles, remains poorly known. A laboratory experiment was carried out to expose soil macrofauna galleries to 3 different consecutive water flow (simulated rain event of 50, 80 and 110 mm h-1 in one hour) and drying cycles in a clayey soil. X-ray computed tomography and image analyses were used prior and after each exposure to assess the water stabilities of galleries and created cracks. The 3D properties (volume, diameter, specific surface area and density) of the galleries produced by termites or ants were not statistically influenced by rainwater percolation and WD cycles, suggesting a high water stability and life expectancy under natural conditions. Conversely, the crack water stability was variable and was probably influenced by the presence of galleries in the same area. This study emphasizes that the macropores created by soil fauna may persist in clayey soil and that there is a need to better understand how cracks and galleries interact.

International audience; By creating vertical and continuous burrows, anecic earthworms accelerate the transfer of water in soils. However, the degradation mechanisms and lifespan of burrows and the consequence of changes in burrow characteristics for water infiltration remain poorly known. In this study, the dynamics of the degradation and hydraulic properties of burrows made by the anecic earthworm Amynthas khami in a clayey soil were investigated in a meadow and in a woodland in North Vietnam. We selected three categories of surface casts, namely, (i) fresh (a few days old), (ii) dry (>1 month old) and (iii) degraded by rain (older than the dry casts), as proxies of the age of burrows. The physical and chemical properties of casts were measured and compared to the surrounding soil aggregates without visible earthworm activity (control). Soil cores were sampled below casts and control and the 3D structure of burrows was characterized using X-ray tomography. Then, water infiltration was measured in the saturated soil cores. Fresh and degraded casts had a lower water stability than control aggregates, whereas higher values were found in dry casts. Water infiltration was twice higher in columns below fresh and dry casts than in the control. However, below degraded casts, the positive effect on water infiltration was reduced or disappeared in some cases. The degradation of burrows led to significant increase in the specific surface area, decrease in their minimum diameter and increase in the abundance of cracks connected to burrows. Our results indicate that anecic burrows persist at least for months below degraded casts but that aging due mainly to physical processes reduces water infiltration. This study highlights the importance of taking into account the lifetime of burrows in the soil when assessing the effect of earthworms on soil structure and water transfer.

The transformation of organic matter (OM) occluded in earthworm casts during the casts' lifetime may affect its composition and accumulation in stabilised OM pools. We collected casts produced by the anecic earthworm Amynthas khami in a tropical woodland of Northern Vietnam presenting different degradation stages. The aim of this study was to assess (1) the biogeochemical properties of OM in earthworm casts compared to control aggregates from the surrounding soil, and (2) the fate of occluded OM during cast ageing. We analysed intact casts and their density fractions at five ageing stages for organic carbon (OC) and nitrogen (N) content, OM chemical composition by analytical pyrolysis, and OM stability by Rock-Eval thermal analysis. Compared to control aggregates, fresh casts had higher OC values (5.3 vs. 2.6%) and increased OC in all density fractions. Cast OM had more lignin (1.1 vs.

Due to the potentially negative impact on the employees’ well-being and productivity, the stress in the workplace becomes one of the most difficult problems for the enterprise’s successful operation. The frequency of its manifestations in the workplace is constantly increasing. These issues are especially relevant in the Covid-19 era when HR managers constantly have to form and implement policies to protect the employees’ mental health and general working conditions. It creates the preconditions to identify the factors underlying the occurrence of stress and employees’ potential behavioral responses. The aim of this study is to analyze and evaluate certain aspects of stress in the workplace. Based on the systematization of the results from previous research and interviews with five experienced heads and managers of Vietnamese companies, the article identifies and classifies common reasons, signs, symptoms, and consequences of workers’ stress. The classification of stress in the workplace into three categories (acute stress, episodic acute and chronic stress) forms the basis for identifying the source of stress as a result of the manifestation of factors which differ from the usual ones for the worker, taking into account their external and internal peculiarities. The article proposes an approach based on a combination of psychological, physiological, and autonomic methods to measure stress. It takes into account its cognitive, physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms to increase the accuracy for evaluating the practical application of stress minimization strategy. The paper examines the relationship between individual, organizational and financial effects of stress. It identifies four problems faced by staff in the workplace: identifying the reasons for stress, identifying ways to minimize it, resolving conflict, and developing proposals and recommendations for reducing stress. According to the analysis of five interviews with experienced managers from Vietnamese companies, there are recommendations on how to form and implement stress management strategies for human resource managers. Primary, secondary and tertiary approaches to workplace stress reduction are proposed based on managers’ individual and organizational interventions focused on different goals. Thus, human resource managers play an essential role in the development of stress management strategies to facilitate the interactive internal exchange of information and to establish a balanced personnel structure of the organization. Keywords: Eustress, Distress, Stress, Stress Management, Workplace.

This study investigated the effect of nutrient stress on cell viability and growth, bacteriocin activity, acid production, morphology and ultrastructure of Lactobacillus plantarum B21. The aim was to ascertain if this species’ viability in food applications could potentially be controlled/improved by initial culture conditions. Both glucose and Tween 80 were found to have statistically significant effects on cell viability, as well as pH and bacteriocin production. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy revealed that nutrient availability was also associated with changes in cell size and shape. Control cells displayed a regular, smooth, rod-shaped morphology with well-defined cytoplasmic contents, equal distribution of nuclear material and an intact cell-wall. In contrast, nutrient-stressed cells became irregular, varied in size and shape and had a ruffled, but intact, cell membrane with dense, fibre like protrusions. The absence of glucose in growth media resulted in a coccoid cell shape, whereas the absence of Tween 80 resulted in the formation of filamentous, rod shaped cells. This study proposes nutrient levels could be used as means of controlling the length to diameter ratio and shape of Lactobacillus plantarum B21 in order to produce robust, functional bacterial cells that could be used for applications in food technology.

The commercial enzymatic preparation, Pectinex Ultra SP-L, was successfully immobilized on activated chitosan particles for production of lactulose-based galacto-oligosaccharide (LuOS). The main degrees of polymerization (DP) of LuOS produced in this bioreactor were DP3 and DP4. The immobilization yield in term of expressed activity and recovery activity were 71% and 36.05%, respectively. The optimum temperature (60° C) was not affected by immobilization process, while the optimum pH was shifted from pH 5.5 to pH 4.5. In addition, a thermal stability of the immobilized enzyme was better than that of free enzyme. The half-life time of hydrolytic activity increased from 2.5 days (free enzyme) to 14 days (immobilized enzyme). Hydrolytic KM values were 651.3 mM and 187.9 mM lactulose for free enzyme and immobilized enzyme, respectively. Furthermore, the immobilized enzyme showed high reusability. The yield of LuOS formation was more than 60% after 33 cycles of reuses. In the case of trans-galactosylation, a model with 8 reaction rates was build using five-step reaction pathways with different initial lactulose concentrations. This catalytic model was validated well for a long-term period (27 days). These results strongly support to develop a continuous bioconversion to synthesize functional food ingredients, prebiotic LuOS.

International audience; Soil is considered as a non-renewable resource, which may be lost in sloping land more rapidly than it is formed thus leading to loss of fertility and ecosystem deterioration. We hypothesized that earthworms could counteract this process due to their cast forming activity. To test this hypothesis, we quantified the production of casts in small plots of 0.25 m2 established in three vegetation units (woodland, shrubland and meadow) in a catchment of 46 ha for 2.5 years in relation to their (micro-) pedoclimatic conditions. We also assessed the impact of cast formation on water runoff and soil detachment. Moreover, we quantified the mass of casts deposited in the entire catchment on a regular grid of 50 m and we measured soil erosion at the outlet of the catchment. Our results showed a high and variable production of casts (from 16 to 219 t ha−1 year−1) depending on vegetation, season and year. The mass of casts found in the entire catchment represented on average 7.4 t ha−1 with an annual production rate of 35 t ha−1. Since the annual erosion rate measured for the entire catchment (3 t ha−1 year−1) was much lower than the cast production rate, our results indicated that most of the soil bioturbated by earthworms remained in the catchment. Indeed, water runoff and soil detachment measured in small plots showed that casts were not transported in the water runoff but degraded by raindrop impacts with the material remaining at the place of deposition. This process led to the generating of a new soil horizon at the culmination point of the catchment of up to 6.5 cm after 2.5 years. We conclude that the surface activity of anecic earthworms could influence soil generation at scale and conteract the effects of soil erosion.

Pineapple is economically significant plant and the third most important fruit crop in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. In this study, fermentation of pineapple juice with probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains as well as changes of some properties of beverage during storage were investigated. All tested strains exhibited good growth properties on pineapple juice without supplementation of any nutrient compounds. After 24 hours fermentation, the cell counts of lactobacilli passed the level of 5*109 cfu/ml, while the cell number of bifidobacteria reached level of 109 cfu/ml. The highest volumetric productivity (3.5*108 cfu/ml*h) was observed with L. plantarum 299V without addition of prebiotic saccharide. The ratios of lactic acids to acetic acids in the cases of L. plantarum 299V and L. acidophilus La5 were 5.37 and 9.91, respectively. In the case of B. lactis Bb-12, concentration of lactic acid and acetic acid were 6 mM and 23 mM in natural juices, and 15 mM and 21 mM in the case of supplement of prebiotic at 16th hour fermentation, respectively. When supplementation with prebiotic at initiation of fermentation resulted 7 mM lactic acid and 23 mM acetic acid at the end of fermentation with B. lactis Bb-12 strain. Fructose was most preferred sugar for both lactobacilli and bifidobacteria. Both total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity increased slightly during fermentation and dropped during storage period. The microbial population did not change significantly during the first month of storage. After storage period (2 months), the probiotic bacteria lost about 0.11 log cfu/ml viability after treatment with 0.3 % pepsin for 135 minutes, and further 0.1 log cfu/ml after treatment with 0.6 % bile salts, respectively. These values were 10 times higher than data from the fresh fermented pineapple juice. Our results are very promising and may serve good base for development of probiotic pineapple juice.

Physarum polycephalum is a plasmodial slime mold. One of the trophic stages in the life cycle of this organism is a plasmodium. In submerged culture, plasmodia are fragmented into microplasmodia. The latter both lack cell walls and are capable of rapid growth. There has been limited information on the effects of medium composition on the growth and lipid accumulation of microplasmodia. In this study, optimization of medium components by response surface methodology showed that tryptone and yeast extract concentrations had the most significant effects on lipid and biomass production; significant synergistic interactions between glucose and tryptone concentration on these responses were also recorded. The optimal medium was composed of 20 g/L of glucose, 6.59 g/L of tryptone, and 3.0 g/L of yeast extract. This medium yielded 13.86 g/L of dry biomass and 1.97 g/L of lipids. These amounts are threefold higher than those of the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) medium. In addition, biomass and lipid production reached maximal values between only 4 and 5 days. Fatty acid compositions analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) revealed that P. polycephalum lipids consisted mainly of oleic acid (40.5%), linoleic acid (10%), and octadecynoic (15.8%). This is the first report on the fatty acid composition of P. polycephalum microplasmodia. These results suggest that the biomass of microplasmodia could be used as a source of material for direct conversion into biodiesel because of the absence of cell walls or it could also be used as a supplemental source of beneficial fatty acids for humans, albeit with some further evaluation needed.

Apricot is a popular fruit in the world with rich in carbohydrates, vitamins and elements as well as has high antioxidant capacity. In this study, fermentation of this juice by mono- and mixed cultures was investigated. All tested strains exhibited good growth properties on apricot juice without any nutrient supplementation. In monoculture fermentation, 7.2, 7.25, 7.06 and 7.16 log (cfu/mL h) cell yields were observed for Bifidobacterium lactis Bb-12, Bifidobacterium longum Bb-46, Lactobacillus casei 01 and Lactobacillus acidophilus La-5 strains, respectively, and higher cell yields were obtained in the mixed culture fermentation. The antioxidant capacity increased slightly during fermentation. The concentration of acetic acid (27–48 mM) were about doubled in cases of the mixed culture fermentations than of monoculture fermentations (18–30 mM), while the levels of lactic acid were similar (70–90 mM). The relatively high values of these properties offer the potential for development of novel probiotic apricot juice.

Background The myxomycetes derive their common name (slime molds) from the multinucleate trophic stage (plasmodium) in the life cycle, which typically produces a noticeable amount of slimy materials, some of which is normally left behind as a “slime track” as the plasmodium migrates over the surface of a particular substrate. The study reported herein apparently represents the first attempt to investigate the chemical composition and biological activities of slime tracks and the exopolysaccharides (EPS) which cover the surface of the plasmodia of Physarum polycephalum and Physarella oblonga. Results Chemical analyses indicated that the slime tracks and samples of the EPS consist largely of carbohydrates, proteins and various sulphate groups. Galactose, glucose and rhamnose are the monomers of the cabohydrates present. The slime tracks of both species and the EPS of Phy. oblonga contained rhamnose, but the EPS of Ph. polycephalum had glucose as the major monomer. In term of biological activities, the slime tracks displayed no antimicrobial activity, low anticancer activity and only moderate antioxidant activity. However, EPSs from both species showed remarkable antimicrobial activities, especially toward Candida albicans (zone of inhibition ≥20 mm). Minimum inhibitory concentrations of this fungus were found to be 2560 μg/mL and 1280 μg/mL for EPS from Phy. oblonga and Ph. polycephalum, respectively. These EPS samples also showed moderate antioxidant activities. However, they both displayed cytotoxicity towards MCF-7 and HepG2 cancer cells. Notably, EPS isolated from the plasmodium of Phy. oblonga inhibited the cell growth of MCF-7 and HepG2 at the half inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 1.22 and 1.11 mg/mL, respectively. Conclusions EPS from Ph. polycephalum plasmodium could be a potential source of antifungal compounds, and EPS from Phy. oblonga could be a potential source of anticancer compounds.

Myxomycetes have been shown to produce bioactive compounds, including those with antimicrobial and anticancer properties. However, only a small number of these compounds have been evaluated to any real extent, and the mechanisms involved in their interactions with pathogens or cancer cells have not yet been studied. In addition, the plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum has been used as a source of lipids for biodiesel production and as an ideal substrate for real-world implementations of unconventional sensing and computing devices. The ease of culturing the plasmodium of this species makes it an ideal organism for experiments relating to both types of applications. An overview of sensing and computing devices implemented with plasmodia are presented herein, and the devices discussed range from morphological processors for computational geometry to experimental archeology tools, from self-routing wires to memristors, and from devices approximating a shortest path to analog physical models of space exploration.

In terms of their flora and fauna, tropical forests are generally reported to be characterized by higher species diversity than temperate forests. Can this also be true for microorganisms such as myxomycetes? In the present study, three lowland tropical forests in the Philippines and three midlatitude temperate forests in north central Arkansas in the United States were surveyed for myxomycetes with the moist chamber technique as it applies to these organisms. Results indicated that more species of myxomycetes were associated with samples of aerial litter (dead but still attached plant parts), forest floor litter and woody twigs collected in Arkansas than for those collected in the Philippines. A higher value for taxonomic diversity also was noted for the temperate forests. However, 19 species listed herein are new records for the Philippines. In the present study, a comparison of the taxonomic diversity of myxomycetes in relation to the number of moist chamber replications was carried out, and this showed that a difference of as many as eight species could occur between what was recorded from a single culture and a series of three cultures prepared from the same sample. Clearly, many of these species could be missed if only a single culture is prepared for a particular sample.

The myxomycetes are a group of primitive phagotrophic eukaryotes characterized by a distinctive plasmodial stage that is well known for its rapid growth rate. In the present study, biomass and lipid production of several different species of myxomycetes were investigated. Physarum polycephalum was found to produce the highest amounts of both dry biomass (1.30g), and lipid (0.143g) per 20mL medium (equal to 65.0g biomass and 7.15g lipid per one liter of medium). Analysis of P. polycephalum lipids by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and fatty acid methyl esters (FAMES) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques showed that the major lipid type is triglyceride (95.5%), followed by phospholipids (2.6%); diglyceride (0.92%) and monoglyceride (0.92%). Myxomycete lipids consist of three dominant fatty acids: oleic (20%), linoleic (33%), and palmitoleic (17%). These results suggest that P. polycephalum has considerable potential as a source of lipids for biodiesel production.

This study was conducted to investigate the distribution and genetic diversity of the native lactic acid bacteria (LAB) population in nem chua, a popular traditional Vietnamese uncooked fermented sausage. A total of 74 LAB isolates were identified and their molecular fingerprints were obtained using repetitive-PCR (rep-PCR) and pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The results revealed that the majority of LAB isolates were Lactobacillus plantarum (67.6%), followed by Pediococcus pentosaceus (21.6%). A minority of LAB (9.5%) were Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus farciminis (1.4%). A large genetic plasticity within the same species was also observed. Both rep-PCR and PFGE methods were found to be acceptable regarding reproducibility and reliability. However, this study demonstrated the higher discriminatory power of PFGE compared to rep-PCR, as observed by the higher number of clusters generated (17 and 12 clusters of L. plantarum respectively, seven and six clusters of P. pentosaceus respectively and four and two clusters of L. brevis respectively), and lower percentage of similarity among clusters in PFGE data analysis. These results also revealed that there was not a single LAB strain that was found to predominate in the product. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed analysis of the native LAB population in nem chua. As this traditional sausage is fermented naturally or only with back-slop, knowledge about the native LAB population in the product is very important to understand the microflora that has been active in fermenting the nem chua and to ensure the safety of this uncooked sausage.

The conventional method used to assess growth of the plasmodium of the slime mold Physarum polycephalum in solid culture is to measure the extent of plasmodial expansion from the point of inoculation by using a ruler. However, plasmodial growth is usually rather irregular, so the values obtained are not especially accurate. Similar challenges exist in quantification of the growth of a fungal mycelium. In this paper, we describe a method that uses geographic information system software to obtain highly accurate estimates of plasmodial growth over time. This approach calculates plasmodial area from images obtained at particular intervals following inoculation. In addition, the correlation between plasmodial area and its dry cell weight value was determined. The correlation could be used for biomass estimation without the need of having to terminate the cultures in question. The method described herein is simple but effective and could also be used for growth measurements of other microorganisms such as fungi on solid media.

The phenolics and high organic content present in palm oil mill effluent are the major contributors to its dark brown color, toxicity, and antimicrobial properties. In this study, ten white rot fungi were screened for their potential in the dephenolization and decolorization of treated palm oil mill effluent (TPOME) in solid and liquid state cultures. Among them, Trametes hirsuta strain AK 04 was found to be more tolerant to high TPOME concentrations and showed the highest phenolics and color removal activities. This strain was immobilized onto oil palm fibers (OPFs) and appeared more resistant to inhibitory compounds such as phenolics in TPOME than the free cell culture. The OPF-immobilized fungus was able to effectively remove phenolics and color of TPOME without effluent dilution and addition of nutrients. The activities of laccase and manganese peroxidase were found during dephenolization and decolorization processes. Moreover, the degradation rate of immobilized fungus could be accelerated by pretreatment of phenolics with phenol-degrading bacteria. This method improved the fungal dephenolization and decolorization simultaneously up to 82.2 ± 3.8 % and 87.1 ± 1.1 % after 8 days of incubation. Therefore, a two-stage biological process containing phenol-degrading bacteria and OPF-immobilized fungus could be a feasible and economical method for simultaneous improvement of dephenolization and decolorization of TPOME.

Doxorubicin (D) is one of the most active agents in the treatment of breast cancer but can be associated with cardiotoxicity (CT) and febrile neutropenia (FN). Epirubicin, a stereoisomer of doxorubicin, is reported to have similar efficacy but reduced toxicity. A retrospective chart audit was performed to estimate the incidence, average length of hospitalisation and resource consumption for the management of CT and FN in 200 patients breast cancer patients receiving equidoses of doxorubicin or epirubicin. Overall, there were three more episodes of CT in the doxorubicin group than in epirubicin patients (five versus two) at a cost of Canadian dollars C$4268/episode. With regard to FN, there were 11 more episodes in the doxorubicin arm (25 versus 14) at a cost of C$5419/episode. The results of the study support the substitution of equidose epirubicin for doxorubicin in women undergoing treatment for malignancies of the breast. Such a policy may result in reduced toxicity-related management costs.

The problem of mode competition in cylindrical cavity gyrotrons is considered. The normalized variable equations are used to calculate the oscillation regions of possible operating modes in the energy-velocity-pitch-angle plane. The analysis is self-consistent and includes the effect of changing beam current, pitch angle, and energy during the startup phase. The time evolution of beam parameters during startup is computed for several types of startup methods and used to determine the oscillating cavity modes during startup. Depending on the type of startup chosen, the cavity can be made to oscillate in several modes or in a single chosen operating mode-even for high-order modes where many other possible operating modes exist. Some startup methods are seen to be less favorable than others, allowing for oscillation of unwanted modes and some methods are seen to be more sensitive to small beam/cavity misalignment. The accessibility to the high-efficiency hard-excitation region can also be determined and is seen to depend on the startup scenario. The startup analysis is linear whereas the stability and interaction efficiency computations are fully non-linear. The method is general and can be applied to any operating mode, with the mode competition analysis specifically useful for high-order modes where the spectrum is dense. The analysis of the accessibility to the hard-excitation region is applicable to high- and low-order operating modes. Both q=1 and q=2 longitudinal mode numbers are considered. >

A system is described which parallelizes the readout of the existing CERN RMH system and allows fast processing of MWPC data by distributing the hit wire information to any array of Transputers. Two new Transputer based modules were developed for the use in the implementation of a programmable second level track finding trigger for the UA6 experiment at the CERN Sp p S.

The parasitic oscillation of the TE degrees /sub 21/ gyrotron backward-wave (gyro BW) mode is observed in a low-Q, 8 GHz TE degrees /sub 011/, gyrotron. At low power (P/sub BW/ >

The ecological distribution and seasonal patterns of occurrence of myxomycetes associated with the microhabitats represented by agricultural ground litter and forest floor litter were investigated in six study sites in northern Thailand during Oct 2004-Oct 2005. Both specimens that developed under natural conditions in the field and specimens obtained in moist chamber cultures were considered. Agricultural study sites were a banana plantation, a mango orchard and a sweet corn farm, whereas forest study sites consisted of a lowland forest, a mideleva- tion forest and a highland forest. Seventy species of myxomycetes representing 20 genera were collected, with 34 species recorded during the dry season and 58 species recorded during the rainy season. Distinct differences were apparent for numbers of positive moist chambers, numbers of species recorded from moist chambers, numbers of species recorded as field collections and numbers of field collections when data obtained for the two seasons were compared. In the dry season only three species were collected in the field, but the percentage of positive moist chamber cultures (129/180 or 72%) and number of species recorded (33) from these cultures were high. In contrast, during the rainy season, 52 species of myxomycetes were collected in the field but only 15 species were recorded from the much lower percent- age (75/180 or 42%) of positive moist chambers cultures.

ITG and ETG turbulence is investigated with the nonlinear global PIC code ORB5. The large variety of numerical schemes and simulations domains used has sometimes lead to important discrepancies in the transport predictions. In order to discuss these disagreements, emphasis must be put on ways to check the numerical accuracy, such as energy conservation and numerical noise measurement. This paper therefore presents benchmarks, new algorithms and a noise diagnostic. After having demonstrated the numerical quality of our simulations, 2 topics are visited: the unclear role of the parallel nonlinearity and the transport level in ETG turbulence, for which predictions differing by one order of magnitude had been made elsewhere.

Note: Proc. 18th Symposium on Fusion Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany, August 1994, Vol. 1, 489 - 492 (1995) ISBN 0 444 82220 8 Reference CRPP-CONF-1995-042 Record created on 2008-05-13, modified on 2017-05-12