Biological filter capable of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification for Aquatic Habitat in International Space Station.

The biological filter capable of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification was constructed for aquatic animal experiments in the International Space Station (ISS). The biological filter will be used to remove harmful ammonia excreted from aquatic animals in a closed water circulation system (Aquatic Habitat). The biological filter is a cylindrical tank packed with porous glass beads for nitrification and dual plastic bags for denitrification. The porous beads are supporting media for Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrobacter winogradskyi. The N. europaea cells and N. winogradskyi cells on the porous beads, oxidize the excreted ammonia to nitrate via nitrite. On the other hand, the dual bag is composed of an outer non-woven fabric bag and an inner non-porous polyethylene film bag. The outer bag is supporting media for Paracoccus pantotrophus. The inner bag, in which 99.5% ethanol is packed, releases the ethanol slowly, since ethanol can permeate through the non-porous polyethylene film. The P. pantotrophus cells on the outer bag reduce the produced nitrate to nitrogen gas by using the released ethanol as an electron donor for denitrification. The biological filter constructed in this study consequently removed the ammonia without accumulating nitrate. Most of the excess ethanol was consumed and did not affect the nitrification activity of the N. europaea cells and N. winogradskyi cells severely. In accordance with the aquatic animal experiments in the ISS, small freshwater fish had been bred in the closed water circulation system equipped with the biological filter for 90 days. Ammonia concentration daily excreted from fish is assumed to be 1.7 mg-N/L in the recirculation water. Under such conditions, the harmful ammonia and nitrite concentrations were kept below 0.1 mg-N/L in the recirculation water. Nitrate and total organic carbon concentrations in the recirculation water were kept below 5 mg-N/L and 3 mg-C/L, respectively. All breeding fish were alive and ate the feed well. The results show that the nitrification and denitrification abilities of the biological filter sufficed to keep water quality for aquatic animal experiments in the ISS. This simple and effective system is certainly applicable to aquarium systems and aquaculture systems.

The male-specific factor Sry harbors an oncogenic function.

Sgf29, a component of the SPT-ADA-GCN5 acetyltransferase (SAGA) complex, binds H3K4me2/3 marks and leads to histone H3 acetylation. Previously, we found that downregulation of Sgf29 suppresses c-Myc-mediated malignant transformation. Nonetheless, the upstream regulator of the Sgf29 gene is not yet known. Here, we report that Sry (sex-determining region Y), an HMG (high-mobility group) domain containing transcription factor, directly upregulates Sgf29 gene expression. Sry expression was deregulated in two out of the four tested male rodent hepatocellular carcinoma (rHCC) cell lines. Luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays indicated that Sry could bind HMG-boxes in the proximal promoter region of the Sgf29 gene. Knockdown of Sry robustly lowered anchorage-independent growth, invasiveness and tumorigenicity of rHCC cells, whereas ectopic expression of Sry conferred more malignant properties. Thus, these data show that Sry is involved in male-specific malignant conversion of rHCCs via Sgf29 upregulation.

Medial femoral head border is a reliable and reproducible reference for axis determination for femoral component of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty.

PURPOSE: The femoral component should be implanted parallel to the mechanical axis in unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. It was hypothesised that a line between medial femoral condyle centres and medial border of femoral head will be parallel to the mechanical axis; this study set out to examine this hypothesis. METHODS: One hundred X-rays in fifty patients were included for this study. Long-leg standing X-rays including hip and ankle with patellae facing forwards were obtained. On these films, we measured the angle, α, between mechanical axis and the line between the femoral head centre and knee centre (medial mechanical axis), and the angle, ß, between the medial mechanical axis and a line between medial femoral condyle and femoral head centre. RESULTS: The average value of α was 0.1 ± 0.5° and the average value of ß 3.0° ± 0.3°. These data indicate that mechanical axis and medial mechanical axis are virtually parallel to each other. CONCLUSION: As medial femoral head border is easily identified fluoroscopically, it is a reliable landmark for orientating the femoral component of medial UKA.

Distribution of Nitrosomonas europaea and Paracoccus denitrificans immobilized in tubular polymeric gel for nitrogen removal.

To improve the cooperative removal of nitrogen by Nitrosomonas europaea and Paracoccus denitrificans, we controlled their distribution in a tubular gel. When ethanol was supplied inside the tubular gel as an electron donor, their distributions overlapped in the external region of the gel. By changing the electron donor from ethanol to gaseous hydrogen, the distribution of P. denitrificans shifted to the inside of the tube and was separated from that of N. europaea. The separation resulted in an increase of the oxidation rate of ammonia by 25%.

Effect of oxygen concentration on nitrogen removal by Nitrosomonas europaea and Paracoccus denitrificans immobilized within tubular polymeric gel.

Tubular gel reactors containing Nitrosomonas europaea and Paracoccus denitrificans, which remove nitrogen from solutions through a process of nitrification and denitrification, require oxygen for ammonia oxidation, the first and rate-limiting step in the process. To accelerate ammonia oxidation, high concentrations of oxygen were applied to the reactors instead of air. Although a 50% O2:N2 gas mixture and pure oxygen were both toxic to free N. europaea cells, they actually accelerated ammonia oxidation by N. europaea immobilized within the tubular gel. Indeed, the rate of ammonia oxidation by a tube exposed to pure oxygen was twice that of one exposed to 20% O2. When the distribution of N. europaea cells within the tubes was investigated using a fluorescently-labeled antibody, colonies were found on the external surface of the tube exposed to 20% O2, but were located at a depth of 120-300 microm from the external surface in the case of the tube exposed to pure oxygen. The region between the external surface of the gel and the colonies apparently acted as a barrier, reducing the diffusion of oxygen and thus protecting the cells from oxygen cytotoxicity.

Nitrogen removal reactor using packed gel envelopes containing Nitrosomonas europaea and Paracoccus denitrificans.

Packed gel envelopes were constructed as simple, compact reactors for removing nitrogen from wastewater. Each packed gel envelope consisted of two plate gels with a spacer in between. Nitrosomonas europaea and Paracoccus denitrificans were co-immobilized in the plate gels, and ethanol, serving as an electron donor for denitrification, was injected into the internal spaces of the envelopes. The external surfaces of the envelopes were in contact with ammonia-containing wastewater; the N. europaea present in the gels oxidized the ammonia to nitrite aerobically. On the other hand, the internal surfaces of the envelopes were in contact with the ethanol solution, which P. denitrificans used to reduce the nitrite to nitrogen gas anaerobically. In this way, the reactor using the packed gel envelopes removed ammonia from wastewater in a single step. When artificial wastewater containing 200 mg-N/L was treated using the reactor using eight envelopes, the ammonia was removed by the reactor without accumulating nitrite or ethanol. This simple system exhibited high rates of nitrification (ammonia to nitrite; 1.9 kg-N/day for 1m(3) of reactor volume) and nitrogen removal (ammonia to nitrogen gas; 1.6 kg-N/day). It is presumed that these high rates were achieved as a consequence of cooperation between the N. europaea and P. denitrificans present in the gels and the efficient uptake and exhaust of gases leading to the smooth conversion of ammonia to nitrogen gas.

Mukanadins A-C, new bromopyrrole alkaloids from marine sponge agelasnakamurai

Three new bromopyrrole alkaloids, mukanadins A-C (1-3), have been isolated from the Okinawan marine sponge Agelas nakamurai, and the structures were elucidated from spectroscopic data.

Closed water recirculating system for fish rearing equipped with bioreactor capable of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification.

Five crucian carp, Carassius auratus langsdorfiicarps had been reared in a closed water recirculating system. The system was equipped with the compact bioreactor using the plate gels capable of both nitrification and denitrification in a single unit. Ammonia and nitrite concentrations in the rearing water had been maintained below 0.05 mg-N/L, and nitrate concentration also controlled between 2 and 8 mg-N/L with the bioreactor. As concerns nitrogen budget in the closed system, 95.0% of nitrogen income from feed was lost as nitrogen gas from the closed system. All fish was alive for 91 days without any unusual behavior. Thus, the bioreactor performed both nitrification and denitrification abilities enough to rear the five fish for 91 days. The bioreactor using the plate gels would be effective to simplify the closed system both physically and operationally, since it can remove the ammonia excreted from fish as nitrogen gas by a single step.

Oral-aboral ectoderm differentiation of sea urchin embryos is disrupted in response to calcium ionophore.

Intracellular signaling mediated by calcium ions has been implicated as important in controlling cell activity. The ability of calcium ionophore (A23187), which causes an increase in calcium ion concentration in the cytoplasm, to alter the pattern of differentiation of cells during sea urchin development was examined. The addition of A23187 to embryos for 3 h during early cleavage causes dramatic changes in their development during gastrulation. Using tissue-specific cDNA probes and antibodies, it was shown that A23187 causes the disruption of oral-aboral ectoderm differentiation of sea urchin embryos. The critical period for A23187 to disturb the oral-aboral ectoderm differentiation is during the cleavage stage, and treatment of embryos with A23187 after that time has little effect. The A23187 does not affect the formation of the three germ layers. These results indicate that intracellular signals mediated by calcium ions may play a key role in establishment of the oral-aboral axis during sea urchin development.

Nitrogen removal by tubular gel containing Nitrosomonas europaea and Paracoccus denitrificans.

A new bioreactor for the removal of nitrogen from wastewater is described which consists of a tubular polymeric gel containing Nitrosomonas europaea and Paracoccus denitrificans. The outer surface of the tube is in aerobic contact with wastewater containing ammonia, while the inside of the tube is in anaerobic contact with ethanol flowing through the tube. N. europaea oxidizes ammonia to nitrite in the gel, and then P. denitrificans reduces the nitrite to nitrogen gas in the same gel. This concept would be effective for simplifying nitrogen removal systems requiring aerobic and anaerobic operations.

Immunoelectron microscopy of influenza A virus neuraminidase glycoprotein topography.

Using immunoelectron microscopy, the distribution of influenza A virus neuraminidase (NA) glycoproteins was examined, after performing immunoreactions to virions on the grid. With polyclonal antibody, the immunolabels of the glycoproteins were found to be homogeneously distributed, whereas with monoclonal antibody they were found to be distributed in clusters. After destruction of haemagglutinin (HA) but not of NA activity with a high concentration of trypsin, the remaining visible spikes were evenly distributed. This finding was consistent with the absence of immunolabelling with anti-HA antibody, and the homogeneous pattern of immunolabels with anti-NA polyclonal antibody, but not with the clustered labelling with the anti-NA monoclonal antibody. Thus, the immunolabelling image with anti-NA polyclonal antibody was considered to reflect the true one.