ALBERT

Description: The IOCCG-supported workshop “Phytoplankton Composition from Space: towards a validation strategy for satellite algorithms” was organized as a follow-up to the Phytoplankton Functional Types from Space splinter session, held at the International Ocean Colour Science Meeting (Germany, 2013). The specific goals of the workshop were to: 1.Provide a summary of the status of activities from relevant IOCCG working groups, the 2nd PFT intercomparison working group, PFT validation data sets and other research developments. 2.Provide a PFT validation strategy that considers the different applications of PFT products: and seeks community consensus on datasets and analysis protocols. 3.Discuss possibilities for sustaining ongoing PFT algorithm validation and intercomparison activities. The workshop included 15 talks, breakout sessions and plenary discussions. Talks covered community algorithm intercomparison activity updates, review of established and novel methods for PFT validation, validation activities for specific applications and space-agency requirements for PFT products and validation. These were followed by general discussions on (a) major recommendations for global intercomparison initiative in respect to validation, intercomparison and user’s guide; (b) developing a community consensus on which data sets for validation are optimal and which measurement and analysis protocols should be followed to support sustained validation of PFT products considering different applications; (c) the status of different validation data bases and measurement protocols for different PFT applications, and (d) engagement of the various user communities for PFT algorithms in developing PFT product specifications. From these discussions, two breakout groups provided in depth discussion and recommendations on (1) validation of current algorithms and (2) work plan to prepare for validation of future missions. Breakout group 1 provided an action list for progressing the current international community validation and intercomparison activity. Breakout group 2 provided the following recommendations towards developing a future validation strategy for satellite PFT products: 1. Establish a number of validation sites that maintain measurements of a key set of variables. 2. This set of variables should include: •Phytoplankton pigments from HPLC, phycobilins from spectrofluorometry •Phytoplankton cell counts and ID, volume / carbon estimation and imaging (e.g. from flow cytometry, FlowCam, FlowCytobot type technologies) •Inherent optical properties (e.g. absorption, backscattering, VSF) •Hyperspectral radiometry (both above and in-water) •Particle size distribution •Size-fractionated measurements of pigments and absorption •Genetic / -omics data 3. Undertake an intercomparison of methods / instruments over several years at a few sites to understand our capabilities to fully characterize the phytoplankton community. 4. Organise workshops to address the following topics: •Techniques for particle analysis, characterization and classification •Engagement with modellers and understanding end-user requirements •Data storage and management, standards for data contributors, data challenges In conclusion, the workshop was assessed to have fulfilled its goals. A follow-on meeting will be organized during the International Ocean Colour Science Meeting 2015 in San Francisco. Specific follow-on actions are listed at the end of the report.

Description: Deadwood in various stages of decomposition and diverse spatial arrangements provides habitat for numerous organisms. However, knowledge on the colonization of deadwood by vascular plants in mixed deciduous forests is insufficient. We carried out our study in an oak–lime–hornbeam forest in northeastern Poland. Downed logs were colonized by 49 vascular plant species, a number higher than reported from any other type of forest. Species richness and abundance of plants increased with log diameter and decomposition. The former was higher on broadleaf deadwood than on coniferous deadwood (46 vs. 38 species). The frequency and abundance on logs were higher for small-seeded plants (

Description: You are what you eat – this well-known phrase properly describes the phenomenon of the effects of diet on acute and chronic inflammation. Several lipids and lipophilic compounds that are delivered with food or are produced in situ in pathological conditions exert immunomodulatory activity due to their interactions with the plasma membrane. This group of compounds includes cholesterol and its oxidized derivatives, fatty acids, α-tocopherol, and polyphenols. Despite their structural heterogeneity, all these compounds ultimately induce changes in plasma membrane architecture and fluidity. By doing this, they modulate the dynamics of plasma membrane receptors, such as TLR4. This receptor is activated by lipopolysaccharide, triggering acute inflammation during bacterial infection, which often leads to sepsis and is linked with diverse chronic inflammatory diseases. In this review, we discuss how the impact on plasma membrane properties contributes to the immunomodulatory activity of dietary compounds, pointing to the therapeutic potential of some of them. Cholesterol, saturated, and trans fatty acids, abundant in “westernized” diet, can impact the architecture of plasma membrane rafts, a process that ultimately potentiates LPS-induced pro-inflammatory signaling of TLR4. A therapeutic effect can be achieved by enrichment of the diet with anti-inflammatory compounds affecting membrane organization, like α-tocopherol, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and polyphenols.

Description: This paper presents the results of studies on the influence of oxygen partial pressure (vacuum level in the chamber) on the properties of FeAl intermetallics. One of the problems in the application of classical methods of prepared Fe-Al intermetallic is the occurrence of oxides. Applying a vacuum during sintering should reduce this effect. In order to analyze the effect of oxygen partial pressure on sample properties, five samples were processed (by a pressure-assisted induction sintering—PAIS method) under the following pressures: 3, 8, 30, 80, and 300 mbar (corresponding to oxygen partial pressures of 0.63, 1.68, 6.3, 16.8, and 63 mbar, respectively). The chemical and phase composition, hardness, density, and microstructure observations indicate that applying a vacuum significantly impacts intermetallic samples. The compact sintered at pressure 3 mbar is characterized by the most homogeneous microstructure, the highest density, high hardness, and nearly homogeneous chemical composition.

Description: The Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) technique was combined with direct synthesis to fabricate L21-ordered Fe-Al-Ti based intermetallic alloys. It was found that ternary Fe-Al-Ti alloys can be synthesized using the LENS technique from a feedstock composed of a pre-alloyed Fe-Al powder and elemental Ti powder. The obtained average compositions of the ternary alloys after the laser deposition and subsequent annealing were quite close to the nominal compositions, but the distributions of the elements in the annealed samples recorded over a large area were inhomogeneous. No traces of pure Ti were observed in the deposited alloys. Macroscopic cracking and porosity were observed in all investigated alloys. The amount of porosity in the samples was less than 1.2 vol. %. It seems that the porosity originates from the porous pre-alloyed Fe-Al powders. Single-phase (L21), two-phase (L21-C14) and multiphase (L21-A2-C14) Fe-Al-Ti intermetallic alloys were obtained from the direct laser synthesis and annealing process. The most prominent feature of the ternary Fe-Al-Ti intermetallics synthesized by the LENS method is their fine-grained structure. The grain size is in the range of 3–5 μm, indicating grain refinement effect through the highly rapid cooling of the LENS process. The Fe-Al-Ti alloys synthesized by LENS and annealed at 1000 °C in the single-phase B2 region were prone to an essential grain growth. In contrast, the alloys annealed at 1000 °C in the two-phase L21-C14 region exhibited almost constant grain size values after the high-temperature annealing.

Description: We present a modelling framework, and basic model parameterization, for the study of DNA origami folding at the level of DNA domains. Our approach is explicitly kinetic and does not assume a specific folding pathway. The binding of each staple is associated with a free-energy change that depends on staple sequence, the possibility of coaxial stacking with neighbouring domains, and the entropic cost of constraining the scaffold by inserting staple crossovers. A rigorous thermodynamic model is difficult to implement as a result of the complex, multiply connected geometry of the scaffold: we present a solution to this problem for planar origami. Coaxial stacking of helices and entropic terms, particularly when loop closure exponents are taken to be larger than those for ideal chains, introduce interactions between staples. These cooperative interactions lead to the prediction of sharp assembly transitions with notable hysteresis that are consistent with experimental observations. We show that the model reproduces the experimentally observed consequences of reducing staple concentration, accelerated cooling, and absent staples. We also present a simpler methodology that gives consistent results and can be used to study a wider range of systems including non-planar origami.

Description: Journal of Medicinal Chemistry DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01144

Description: Management of digestate from manure co-digestion with a very high chemical oxygen demand (COD) to nitrogen ratio and high nitrogen loads are a major bottleneck in the development of agricultural biogas plants. The liquid phase of digestate mixed with municipal wastewater was treated in aerobic granular sludge batch reactors at cycle lengths (t) of 6 h (GSBR6h), 8 h (GSBR8h), and 12 h (GSBR12h), corresponding to nitrogen loads of 1.6, 1.2, and 0.8 g/(L·d). Thauera sp., Lacibacter sp., Thermanaerothrix sp., and Planctomyces sp. predominated in granules favoring effective granule formation and nitrogen removal. Increasing cycle lengths (t) significantly decreased proteins in soluble fraction of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in granules and increased polysaccharides in tightly bound EPS that resulted in higher granule diameters and higher COD removal. In GSBR6h, heterotrophic nitrification/denitrification was very efficient, but ammonium was fully oxidized in the last hour of the cycle. So in further studies, the effluent from GSBR8h was subjected to ultrafiltration (UF) at transmembrane pressures (TMPs) of 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 MPa. A GSBR8h-UF system (TMP of 0.4 MPa) ensured full removal of total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), suspended solids, and substantial reduction of COD and color with good permeate flux. The NOx-rich (about 250 mg/L), clear permeate can be reused in line with assumptions of modern circular economy.

Description: Journal of Medicinal Chemistry DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01381