Mild desalination of various raw water streams.

For chemical industries, fresh water availability is a pre-requisite for sustainable operation. However, in many delta areas around the world, fresh water is scarce. Therefore, the E4 Water project (www.e4water.eu) comprises a case study at the Dow site in Terneuzen, The Netherlands, which is designed to develop commercial applications for mild desalination of brackish raw water streams from various origins to enable reuse in industry or agriculture. This study describes an effective two-stage work process, which was used to narrow down a broad spectrum of desalination technologies to a selection of the most promising techniques for a demonstration pilot at 2-4 m³/hour. Through literature study, laboratory experiments and multi-criteria analysis, nanofiltration and electrodialysis reversal were selected, both having the potential to attain the objectives of E4Water at full scale.

Industrial relations effects of English health care reforms on doctors.

Doctors are central to the provision of health care. In England, doctors have been part of and have dealt with the National Health Service for over 45 years. This study looks at recent changes within and outside the National Health Service and their effects on the industrial relations system and outcomes for doctors. The changes include structural reforms imposed by government, changes resulting from dissatisfaction of junior doctors, and reforms advocated by the European Community. A principal finding is that the changes may potentially affect almost every aspect of employment and working conditions of doctors and of the professional and bargaining organizations that represent them. In particular, the changes may alter the existing relationships in doctors' ranks and between hospitals and senior doctors. Hence, the stability and uniformity of the industrial relations system are threatened.

Sophorose induction of an intracellular b-glucosidase in Trichoderma.

The disaccharide sophorose induces Trichoderma to increase a soluble intracellular b-glucosidase that hydrolyses cellobiose, sophorose, and p-nitrophenyl-b-D-glucopyranoside. Simultaneously, it depresses the activity of a similar insoluble enzyme that is associated with the mycelium. Gel electrophoresis indicates that a single enzyme is responsible for all the soluble intracellular b-glucosidase activity. Cycloheximide severely inhibits sophorose induction of this enzyme indicating that the increase in activity normally obtained with sophorose is due to the de novo formation of the enzyme. The same sugars that promote the formation and release of cellulase by Trichoderma induce an increase in the soluble intracellular b-glucosidase. A function of the soluble intracellular enzyme appears to be the hydrolysis of cellobiose, which would otherwise accumulate during cellulose degradation, and thus to prevent cellobiose inhibition of cellulase.

Ultrastructural localization of cellulase in Trichoderma reesei using immunocytochemistry and enzyme cytochemistry.

Two components of the cellulase complex (E.C. 3.2.1.4) of the fungus Trichoderma reesei were localized at the ultrastructural level. Immunocytochemistry and enzyme cytochemistry demonstrated that cellobiohydrolase and beta-1,4 glucanase were localized within cisternae of endoplasmic reticulum and within membrane complexes of cellulose-grown hyphae. Both enzymes were also present in the culture medium. Glucose-grown control hyphae lacked enzyme-specific staining, and no enzyme activity was detected in the growth medium.

Drosophilia alpha-tubulin genes and their transcription patterns.

There are four different alpha-tubulin genes in D. melanogaster DNA; three of them appear as single copies and the other is present as either one or two copies in the haploid genome. The transcripts of three of these genes were examined. Each of them is complementary to a transcript of different length, implying that each is transcribed. Since these transcripts are found on polysomes, it is likely that they are translated. At least two of the genes are complementary to several transcripts, indicating that each of them has more than one transcription start or stop site or perhaps that there are alternative paths of posttranscriptional processing. There is a different developmental pattern of concentrations for transcripts from each of these genes, and different RNAs from the same gene also have different patterns. We conclude that the concentration of transcripts from each gene appears to be independently controlled and that even different transcription products from the same gene appear to independently controlled.

Partial purification and characterization of a new intracellular beta-glucosidase of Trichoderma reesei.

A new intracellular beta-glucosidase was isolated from Trichoderma reesei. It was sequentially purified by (NH4)2SO4 precipitation and chromatography and rechromatography on Sephadex G-150. The enzyme has a mol.wt. of 98 000, optimal activity at pH 6.5, pI 4.4 and Km values of 6.7 mM and 3.3 mM for sophorose and cellobiose respectively. Possible functions of the enzyme may be regulation of cellulase induction and/or to serve as a proenzyme.

Sophorose metabolism and cellulase induction in Trichoderma.

The cellulase inducer sophorose was rapidly catabolized to CO2 and H2O by Trichoderma: only small amounts were used to induce the synthesis of cellulase. 3H-sophorose uptake began after a lag of 1 h and its half-life in the medium was less than 5 h. Cellulase activity in the medium did not increase till 6 h after the addition of sophorose and reached a half maximum value at 14 h. The presence of free sophorose in the medium was required for continuous cellulase production. Several small sophorose addition induced much more cellulase than an equivalent single dose. These results are attributed to two pathways of sophorose utilization, a catabolic pathway that has a high capacity but low affinity for sophorose and an inductive pathway having a lower capacity but higher affinity for sophorose.