Prediction of itching diagnostic marker through RNA sequencing of contact hypersensitivity and skin scratching stimulation mice models.

Pruritus (itching) is classically defined as an unpleasant cutaneous sensation that leads to scratching behavior. Although the scientific criteria of classification for pruritic diseases are not clear, it can be divided as acute or chronic by duration of symptoms. In this study, we investigated whether skin injury caused by chemical (contact hypersensitivity, CHS) or physical (skin-scratching stimulation, SSS) stimuli causes initial pruritus and analyzed gene expression profiles systemically to determine how changes in skin gene expression in the affected area are related to itching. In both CHS and SSS, we ranked the Gene Ontology Biological Process terms that are generally associated with changes. The factors associated with upregulation were keratinization, inflammatory response and neutrophil chemotaxis. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway shows the difference of immune system, cell growth and death, signaling molecules and interactions, and signal transduction pathways. Il1a , Il1b and Il22 were upregulated in the CHS, and Tnf, Tnfrsf1b, Il1b, Il1r1 and Il6 were upregulated in the SSS. Trpc1 channel genes were observed in representative itching-related candidate genes. By comparing and analyzing RNA-sequencing data obtained from the skin tissue of each animal model in these characteristic stages, it is possible to find useful diagnostic markers for the treatment of itching, to diagnose itching causes and to apply customized treatment.

Model-based investigation of the chemical phosphorus removal potential of the peroxide regenerated iron-sulfide control technology.

In this study, the potential of using peroxide regenerated iron-sulfide control (PRI-SC®) for chemical phosphorus removal utilizing the existing iron sulfide found in wastewaters was investigated in batch tests and compared in full-scale facility-wide simulations to using iron salts. PRI-SC is a combination treatment that utilizes iron salts and hydrogen peroxide in a synergetic fashion, where hydrogen peroxide is used in regenerating the spent iron salt in situ in the form of iron sulfide, yielding ferric iron and colloidal sulfur. A simplified kinetic model was developed, calibrated, and integrated into a facility-wide model to simulate the process at the full-scale. Experimental results showed that dosing hydrogen peroxide, even at doses lower than the stoichiometrically required to oxidize iron sulfide, freed, and oxidized sulfide bound ferrous iron to ferric iron, which was consequently hydrolyzed and affected phosphorus removal. Higher dosing of hydrogen peroxide did not affect change in the speciation of sulfur remaining predominantly as elemental sulfur. Simulations showed that the application of PRI-SC with supplemental ferric iron dosing was able to cut the costs of chemicals addition up to 53% while maintaining a steady-state effluent phosphate concentration below 0.01 mg/L. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The kinetic model was used to optimize ferric iron and hydrogen peroxide dosing. The developed model can be integrated in existing wastewater process simulators. Dosing hydrogen peroxide effectively oxidized ferrous iron to ferric iron. The combination of hydrogen peroxide and iron salts can reduce the chemical addition cost by 53%.

Vacuum-enhanced anaerobic fermentation: Achieving process intensification, thickening and improved hydrolysis and VFA yields in a single treatment step.

This study assessed the feasibility of a novel vacuum-enhanced anaerobic digestion technology, referred to as IntensiCarbTM (IC), under mild vacuum pressure (110 mbar), compared to a control (conventional fermenter), and evaluated the impact of the vacuum on the activities of various microbial groups. Both fermenters (test and control) were operated with mixed (50% v/v) municipal sludge at solids concentrations of 2-2.5%, pH of 7.8-8.1, 40-45 °C, a theoretical solids retention time (SRT) of 3 days with different hydraulic retention times (HRT). The intensification factor (IF) of the IC, defined as SRT/HRT, was controlled at 1.3 and 2.0. Simultaneous thickening and fermentation intensification were achieved. Compared with the control, the IC, despite the shorter HRTs, achieved 29.5 to 90.2% increase in the VFA yield (79 to 116 mg ΔVFA/ g VSS vs 61 mg ΔVFA/ g VSS), and 16.2% to 56.4% increase (280 to 377 mg ΔsCOD/ g VSS vs 241 mg ΔsCOD/ g VSS), in the hydrolysis yield. Fermentate from the IC exhibited comparable specific denitrification rates to acetate. Further, the solids-free condensate contained low nutrient concentrations, and thus was far superior to a typical centrates from dewatering as a carbon source. No adverse effects of vacuum on the activity of fermentative bacteria and methanogens were observed. This study demonstrated that the IC can be deployed as an intensification technology for both fermentation and anaerobic digestion of biosolids with the additional significant advantage, i.e. elimination of sidestream ammonia treatment requirements.

A proof-of-concept experimental study for vacuum-driven anaerobic biosolids fermentation using the IntensiCarb technology.

This study demonstrates the potential of an innovative anaerobic treatment technology for municipal biosolids (IntensiCarb), which relies on vacuum evaporation to decouple solids and hydraulic retention times (SRT and HRT). We present proof-of-concept experiments using primary sludge and thickened waste activated sludge (50-50 v/v mixture) as feed for fermentation and carbon upgrading with the IntensiCarb unit. IntensiCarb fully decoupled the HRT and SRT in continuously stirred anaerobic reactors (CSAR) to achieve two intensification factors, that is, 1.3 and 2, while keeping the SRT constant at 3 days (including in the control fermenter). The intensified CSARs were compared to a conventional control system to determine the yields of particulate hydrolysis, VFA production, and nitrogen partitioning between fermentate and condensate. The intensified CSAR operating at an intensification factor 2 achieved a 65% improvement in particulate solubilization. Almost 50% of total ammonia was extracted without pH adjustment, while carbon was retained in the fermentate. Based on these results, the IntensiCarb technology allows water resource recovery facilities to achieve a high degree of plant-wide intensification while partitioning nutrients into different streams and thickening solids. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The IntensiCarb reactor can decouple hydraulic (HRT) and solids (SRT) retention times in anaerobic systems while also increasing particulate hydrolysis and overall plant capacity. Using vacuum as driving force of the IntensiCarb technology, the system could achieve thickening, digestion, and partial dewatering in the same unit-thus eliminating the complexity of multi-stage biosolids treatment lines. The ability to partition nutrients between particulate, fermentate, and condensate assigns to the IntensiCarb unit a key role in recovery strategies for value-added products such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon, which can be recovered separately and independently.

Identification and characterization of the insecticidal toxin "makes caterpillars floppy" in Photorhabdus temperata M1021 using a cosmid library.

Photorhabdus temperata is an entomopathogenic enterobacterium; it is a nematode symbiont that possesses pathogenicity islands involved in insect virulence. Herein, we constructed a P. temperata M1021 cosmid library in Escherichia coli XL1-Blue MRF` and obtained 7.14 × 105 clones. However, only 1020 physiologically active clones were screened for insect virulence factors by injection of each E. coli cosmid clone into Galleria mellonella and Tenebrio molitor larvae. A single cosmid clone, PtC1015, was consequently selected due to its characteristic virulent properties, e.g., loss of body turgor followed by death of larvae when the clone was injected into the hemocoel. The sequence alignment against the available sequences in Swiss-Prot and NCBI databases, confirmed the presence of the mcf gene homolog in the genome of P. temperata M1021 showing 85% homology and 98% query coverage with the P. luminescens counterpart. Furthermore, a 2932 amino acid long Mcf protein revealed limited similarity with three protein domains. The N-terminus of the Mcf encompassed consensus sequence for a BH3 domain, the central region revealed similarity to toxin B, and the C-terminus of Mcf revealed similarity to the bacterial export domain of ApxIVA, an RTX-like toxin. In short, the Mcf toxin is likely to play a role in the elimination of insect pests, making it a promising model for use in the agricultural field.

Draft Genome Sequence of Entomopathogenic Bacterium Photorhabdus temperata Strain M1021, Isolated from Nematodes.

Photorhabdus temperata strain M1021 is an entomopathogenic bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae and is symbiotically associated with nematodes. The draft genome sequence of P. temperata strain M1021 consists of 5,598,253 bp with a G+C content of 43.7%, and it has 6,120 protein-coding genes.

Physiological and molecular characterization of a newly identified entomopathogenic bacteria, Photorhabdus temperata M1021.

The present study concerned the identification and characterization of a novel bacterial strain isolated from entomopathogenic nematodes collected from different regions in Korea. The bacterial isolate M1021 was Gramnegative, bioluminescent, and produced red colonies on MacConkey agar medium. A rod-shaped structure was confirmed by the electron micrograph. Fatty acid composition was analyzed by using the Sherlock MIDI system. The identification was further supported by 16S rDNA sequence analysis, which revealed 96-99% sequence homology with strains of Photorhabdus temperata. The location of the isolated strain of P. temperata in the phylogenetic tree was confirmed and it was named P. temperata M1021. P. temperata M1021 exhibited catalase, protease, and lipase activities when grown on appropriate media supplemented with respective substrates. The culture of P. temperata M1021 exhibited insecticidal activity against the larvae of Galleria mellonella and the activity was the highest after 3-4 days of cultivation with agitating at 28 degrees C under 220 rpm. Antibacterial activity was also observed against Salmonella Typhimurium KCTC 1926 and Micrococcus luteus KACC 10488.