Investigation and evaluation of ultrasound reactor for reduction of fungi from sewage / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

The objective of the investigation was to study the application of ultrasound reactor technology (USRT) as a disinfectant for reduction of fungi from sewage effluent. Fungi are carbon heterotrophs that require preformed organic compounds as carbon sources. USRT is an attractive means to improve water quality because of the system simplicity and no production of toxic by-products. An ultrasound reactor produces strong cavitation in aqueous solution causing shock waves and reactive free radicals by the violent collapse of the cavitation bubble. These effects should contribute to the physical disruption of microbial structures and inactivation of organisms. There was significant reduction in fungal growth, with decreased fungal growth with increasing USRT. In this study, ultrasound irradiation at a frequency of 42 kHz was used to expose suspensions of fungi to evaluate the disinfection efficacy of the ultrasound reactor. Also, this study showed that in this system more than 99% reduction of sewage fungi was achieved after 60 min.

Positional relationship between natural killer cells and distribution of sympathetic nerves in decidualized mouse uterus

Uterine natural killer [uNK] cells are the most abundant leukocytes in pre-implantation endometrium and early pregnancy deciduas in humans and rodents. They are associated with structural changes in maternal spiral arteries but regulation of their recruitment and activation is incompletely understood. The major subpopulation of uNK cells in humans expresses CD56, the neural cell adhesion molecule [NCAM]-l while their counterpart in mouse expresses asialoGMl, a brain ganglioside. Sympathetic nerves express NCAM-1 which mediates homotypic binding. Sympathetic fibers innervate the me-sometrial vasculature but their relationship to the myometrial and decidual uNK cell recruitment is unknown. The present study aims to explore positional relationship between natural killer cells and distribution of nerves in decidualized mouse uterus. Immunohistochemistry and mRNA expression for the enzyme tyrosine hy-droxylase were used to map sympathetic nerve fibre distribution within C57BL/6 implantation sites and to address a relationship with uNK cells. Tyrosine hydroxylase positive neurons were identified in the mesometrium closely associated with uterine arteries. Staining became gradually vanished as the nerves crossed the myometrium and entered the decidualized uterus. No neuronal stain was associated with the spiral arteries. Periodic Acid Schiff s reactive uNK cells were absent from the mesentery, but abundant in decidua basalis where they are associated with non-innervated vessels. Data suggest that the recruitment of uNK progenitor cells to the uterus is unlikely to be dependent on signaling by the sympathetic nervous system