Life Sciences Commons^™

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern And Biochemical Characteristics Of Staphylococcus Aureus: Impact Of Bio Field Treatment, Mahendra Kumar Trivedi, Shrikant Patil, Harish Shettigar, Sambhu Charan Mondal, Snehasis Jana

Mahendra Kumar Trivedi

Study background: Staphylococci are widespread in nature, mainly found on the skin and mucous membranes.Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is the key organism for food poisoning due to massive production of heat stable exotoxins. The current study was attempted to investigate the effect of biofield treatment on antimicrobial susceptibility pattern and biochemical characteristics of S. aureus (ATCC 25923).
Methods: S. aureus cells were procured from MicroBioLogics in sealed packs bearing the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC 25923) number and stored according to the recommended storage protocols until needed for experiments. Revived and lyophilized state of ATCC strains of S. aureus were …

Evaluation Of Biofield Modality On Viral Load Of Hepatitis B And C Viruses, Mahendra Kumar Trivedi

Mahendra Kumar Trivedi

Study background: Nowadays, hepatitis is a major challenge for clinical research, regulatory bodies, and clinicians who are trying to assess the more effectiveness of antiviral therapy against patients. Viral load count is the amount of particular viral DNA or RNA in a blood samples. It is one of the surrogate biomarker of hepatitis. High viral load indicates that the immune system is failed to fight against viruses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of biofield modality on hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in terms of viral load as surrogate marker.

Method: The …

Influence Of Biofield Treatment On Physical, Structural And Spectral Properties Of Boron Nitride, Mahendra Kumar Trivedi

Mahendra Kumar Trivedi

Boron nitride (BN) is known for high hardness, thermal stability, thermal conductivity, and catalytic action. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of biofield treatment on physical, structural and spectral properties of BN powder. The control and treated sample of BN powder were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). XRD results indicated that biofield treatment had substantially changed the crystallinity of BN powder as compared to control. Apart from the crystallinity, significant changes were also observed in lattice parameter, density and molecular weight of the treated BN powder as …

Antimicrobial Sensitivity Pattern Of Pseudomonas Fluorescens After Biofield Treatment, Mahendra Kumar Trivedi

Mahendra Kumar Trivedi

Global emergence of Pseudomonas fluorescens (P. fluorescens) displays a mechanism of resistance to all existing antimicrobials. Due to its strong ability to acquire resistance, there is a need of some alternative treatment strategy. Objective of this study was to investigate the effect of biofield treatment on antimicrobial sensitivity pattern of P. fluorescens. P. fluorescens cells were procured from MicroBioLogics in sealed packs bearing the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC 49838) number. Two sets of ATCC samples were taken in this experiment and denoted as A and B. ATCC-A sample was revived and divided into two groups (Gr) i.e. Gr.I (control) …

Changes In Microbial Communities Along Redox Gradients In Polygonized Arctic Wet Tundra Soils, David A. Lipson, Ted K. Raab, Melanie Parker, Scott T. Kelley, Colin J. Brislawn, Janet Jansson

Ted K. Raab

This study investigated how microbial community structure and diversity varied with depth and topography in ice wedge polygons of wet tundra of the Arctic Coastal Plain in northern Alaska, and what soil variables explain these patterns. We observed strong changes in community structure and diversity with depth, and more subtle changes between areas of high and low topography, with the largest differences apparent near the soil surface. These patterns are most strongly correlated with redox gradients (measured using the ratio of reduced Fe to total Fe in acid extracts as a proxy): conditions grew more reducing with depth and were …

Influence Of Current Land Use And Edaphic Factors On Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (Am) Hyphal Abundance And Soil Organic Matter In And Near Serengeti National Park, Geofrey Soka, Mark Ritchie, Emilian Mayemba

Geofrey Soka

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are important microbial symbionts for plants especially when soil phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) are limited. Little is known about the distribution of AM hyphae in natural systems of tropical soils across landscapes and their association with different land uses. We studied mycorrhizal hyphal abundance in a wildlife grazed system, a livestock grazed system and under cultivated soils in and near Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Samples of the upper 15 cm of soil beneath locally dominant plant species were collected. Hyphae were preserved on permanent slides and the length of hyphae per cubic centimeter of soil …

Isolation And Comparative Genomic Analysis Of Mycobacteriophage Enkatz, Thomas Van Horn, Micah Rickles-Young, Shaarada Srivasta, Tina Zudock

Thomas Van Horn

Phage Enkatz is a temperate mycobacteriophage isolated from an un-enriched soil sample collected from the South Forty housing area of the Washington University in St. Louis campus. Enkatz displays unequally sized plaques with a clear center that become cloudier with radial distance from the center. Genome analysis indicates that Enkatz is a cluster A1 mycobacteriophage with a genome size of 49,738 bases and 82 identified genes, 33 of which have been assigned functions. This analysis reveals that the majority of the genes in the positive strand code for structural proteins, while the majority of the genes in the negative strand …

Effect Of Biofield Treatment On The Physical And Thermal Characteristics Of Aluminium Powders, Mahendra Kumar Trivedi

Mahendra Kumar Trivedi

Aluminium powders are used in a wide range from propelling rockets to improving personal hygiene. More popular industrial applications include manufacture of silver metallic pigments, paints, inks, plastics, packaging, textiles and aerospace industry. As thick film pastes used in the manufacture of silicon solar cells, and as reducing agent and sources of heat, used in alumina thermic and exothermic applications. In the present investigation, Aluminium powders were exposed to non-contact Biofield treatment. Both the exposed and unexposed powders were later characterized by various techniques. The average particle size, after a slight initial decrease was found to increase after 80 days …

Comparative Studies Of Oleaginous Fungal Strains (Mucor Circinelloides And Trichoderma Reesei) For Effective Wastewater Treatment And Bio-Oil Production, Anshuman Bhanja, Gauri P. Minde, Sandip S. Magdum, Kalyanraman V.

Sandip S. Magdum

Biological wastewater treatment typically requires the use of bacteria for degradation of carbonaceous and nitrogenous compounds present in wastewater. The high lipid containing biomass can be used to extract oil and the contents can be termed as bio-oil (or biodiesel or myco-diesel after transesterification). The separate experiments were conducted on actual wastewater samples with 5% v/v inoculum of Mucor circinelloides MTCC1297 and Trichoderma reesei NCIM992 strains. The observed reductions in chemical oxygen demand (COD) were 88.72% and 86.75% in 96 hrs and the observed substrate based biomass yields were 0.21 mg VSS/mg COD and 0.22 mg VSS/mg COD for M. …

Synthesis, Characterization, Antimicrobial Activity And Applications Of Polyanilineti(Iv)Arsenophosphate Adsorbent For The Analysis Of Organic And Inorganic Pollutants, Mohammad Oves

Mohammad Oves

No abstract provided.

Microbe-Mineral Relationships And Biogenic Mineral Transformations In Actively Venting Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Sulfide Chimneys, Tzihsuan J. Lin

TZIHSUAN J LIN

This dissertation uses a combination of microbiology, mineralogy, and geochemistry to understand dissimilatory iron reduction in hyperthermophilic archaea and the role and potential impact of these and other vent microorganisms within active deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimneys. The central objective of the dissertation is to determine if mineral composition and chimney type are among the primary determinants of microbial community composition and hyperthermophilic, dissimilatory iron reducer growth, in addition to other environmental factors such as nutrient availability, temperature, pH, and chlorinity. This is done using samples and organisms collected from the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the …

Synthesis, Physico-Chemical And Antimicrobial Studies Of Ionic Liquid, Mohammad Oves

Mohammad Oves

No abstract provided.

Fungal Solid-State Fermentation And Various Methods Of Enhancement In Cellulase Production, Li Wan Yoon, Teck Nam Ang Dr., Gek Cheng Ngoh Dr, Adeline Seak May Chua Dr

Teck Nam Ang Dr.

Cellulase serves vast applications in the industries of biofuel, pulp and paper, detergent and textile. With the presence of its three components i.e. endoglucanase, exoglucanase and β-glucosidase, the enzyme can effectively depolymerize the cellulose chains in lignocellulosic substrate to produce smaller sugar units that consists of cellobiase and glucose. Fungi are the most suitable cellase producers attributing to its ability to produce a complete cellulase system. Solid state fermentation (SSF) by fungi is a preferable production route for cellulase as it imposes lower cost and enables the production of cellulase with higher titre. This article gives an overview on the …

Mathematical Modeling Reveals Kinetics Of Lymphocyte Recirculation In The Whole Organism, Vitaly Ganusov, Jeremy Auerbach

Vitaly Ganusov

The kinetics of recirculation of naive lymphocytes in the body has important implications for the speed at which local infections are detected and controlled by immune responses. With a help of a novel mathematical model, we analyze experimental data on migration of 51Cr-labeled thoracic duct lymphocytes (TDLs) via major lymphoid and nonlymphoid tissues of rats in the absence of systemic antigenic stimulation. We show that at any point of time, 95% of lymphocytes in the blood travel via capillaries in the lung or sinusoids of the liver and only 5% migrate to secondary lymphoid tissues such as lymph nodes, Peyer's …

Cellular And Population Plasticity Of Helper Cd4+ T Cell Responses, Gesham Magombedze, Pradeep B.J. Reddy, Shigetoshi Eda, Vitaly Ganusov

Vitaly Ganusov

Vertebrates are constantly exposed to pathogens, and the adaptive immunity has most likely evolved to control and clear such infectious agents. CD4+ T cells are the major players in the adaptive immune response to pathogens. Following recognition of pathogen-derived antigens naïve CD4+ T cells differentiate into effectors which then control pathogen replication either directly by killing pathogen-infected cells or by assisting with generation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) or pathogen-specific antibodies. Pathogen-specific effector CD4+ T cells are highly heterogeneous in terms of cytokines they produce. Three major subtypes of effector CD4+ T cells have been identified: T-helper 1 (Th1) cells …

An Overview On The Marine Neurotoxin, Saxitoxin: Genetics, Molecular Targets, Methods Of Detection And Ecological Functions, K. Cusick, Gary S. Sayler

Gary S. Sayler

Marine neurotoxins are natural products produced by phytoplankton and select species of invertebrates and fish. These compounds interact with voltage-gated sodium, potassium and calcium channels and modulate the flux of these ions into various cell types. This review provides a summary of marine neurotoxins, including their structures, molecular targets and pharmacologies. Saxitoxin and its derivatives, collectively referred to as paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs), are unique among neurotoxins in that they are found in both marine and freshwater environments by organisms inhabiting two kingdoms of life. Prokaryotic cyanobacteria are responsible for PST production in freshwater systems, while eukaryotic dinoflagellates are the …

Chromium Reducing And Plant Growth Promoting Novel Strain Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Osg41 Enhance Chickpea Growth In Chromium Amended Soils, Mohammad Oves

Mohammad Oves

No abstract provided.

Biofield And Fungicide Seed Treatment Influences On Soybean Productivity,Seed Quality And Weed Community, Mahendra Kumar Trivedi

Mahendra Kumar Trivedi

Soybean production in Iowa USA is among the most productive for raínfed regions in the world. Despite generally having excellent soils, growing season temperatures and rainfall, soybean yields are decreased by weed interference and inadequate available soil water at key stages of crop development. A field study was conducted at two locations in lowa in 2012 to determine if seed-applied fungicide or biofield treatments influenced weed community, soil volumetric water concentration and soybean yield and quality. Application of biofield treatment resulted in lower density of tall waterhemp density, greater soybean stand density at R8 stage and greater seed pod-1 compared …

Impact Of Biofield Treatment On Ginseng And Organic Blueberry Yield, Mahendra Kumar Trivedi

Mahendra Kumar Trivedi

This study tested the Null Hypothesis forthe effect of BioField Energy applied to two separate crops under typical growing conditions, namelyginseng and organic blueberry in commercial plantings in Wisconsin and California, respectively. Following treatment to replicated plots in standard experimental design, data were collected at harvest for yield quantity and quality. Ginseng plants treated both pre-harvest and a combination of pre- and post-harvest showed market grade increases of 33.3% and 40.0%, respectively. Point of sale gross return for this crop is dependent upon tuber quality, and from these data the economics of these treatments were calculated. Based on stand adjusted …

Commensal Microbiotica - Biological Frontier And Legal Challenge, Kenneth L. Sanders Md

Kenneth L Sanders MD

Recent advances in bacteriology and medical science affirm that the commensal relationship between surface microbial flora and the human host is intricate and important. Legal theory has thus far lagged behind the impact of the medical discoveries.

An Efficient Biotreatment Process For Polyvinyl Alcohol Containing Textile Wastewater, Sandip S. Magdum, Gauri P. Minde, Upendra S. Adhyapak, Kalyanraman V.

Sandip S. Magdum

The aim of this work was to optimize the biodegradation of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) containing actual textile wastewater for a sustainable treatment solution. The isolated microbial consortia of effective PVA degrader namely Candida Sp. and Pseudomonas Sp., which were responsible for symbiotic degradation of chemical oxidation demand (COD) and PVA from desizing wastewater. In the process optimization, the maximum aeration was essential to achieve a high degradation rate, where as stirring enhances further degradation and foam control. Batch experiments concluded with the need of 16 lpm/l and 150 rpm of air and stirring speed respectively for high rate of COD …

Development Of A Novel Inoculum Preparation Method For Solid-State Fermentation - Cellophane Film Culture (Cfc) Technique, Teck Nam Ang, Gek Cheng Ngoh, Adeline Seak May Chua

Teck Nam Ang Dr.

This study reports a user-friendly technique in the preparation of fungal inoculum intended for solid-state fermentation (SSF) – Cellophane Film Culture (CFC) technique. This technique uses cellophane film-overlaid agar plates to facilitate the separation of fungal biomass. The findings showed that inoculum of P. sajor-caju produced is viable, and it was confirmed by the presence of laccase enzyme activity in SSF of rice husk. The correlation between fungal dry and wet weights (r2 = 0.9329) provides an accurate estimation of fungal dry weight from its wet weight during inoculum preparation. Besides, this technique does not require a strict sterile handling …

Predominant Archaea In Marine Sediments Degrade Detrital Proteins, Karen Lloyd, Lars Schreiber, Dorthe G. Petersen, Kasper U. Kjeldsen, Mark A. Lever, Andrew D. Steen, Ramunus Stepanauskas, Michael Richter, Sara Kleindienst, Sabine Lenk, Andreas Schramm, Bo Barker Jørgensen

Karen Lloyd

Half of the microbial cells in the Earth’s oceans are found in sediments. Many of these cells are members of the Archaea, singlecelled prokaryotes in a domain of life separate from Bacteria and Eukaryota. However, most of these archaea lack cultured representatives, leaving their physiologies and placement on the tree of life uncertain. Here we show that the uncultured miscellaneous crenarchaeotal group (MCG) and marine benthic group-D (MBG-D) are among the most numerous archaea in the marine sub-sea floor. Single-cell genomic sequencing of one cell of MCG and three cells of MBG-D indicated that they form new branches basal to …

Biosorption Of Heavy Metals By Bacillus Thuringiensis Strain Osm29 Originating From Industrial Effluent Contaminated North Indian Soil, Mohammad Oves

Mohammad Oves

No abstract provided.

Pseudomonas Fluorescens Hk44: Lessons Learned From A Model Whole-Cell Bioreporter With A Broad Application History, Josef Trögl, Archana Chauhan, Steven Ripp, Alice C. Layton, Gabriela Kuncová, Gary S. Sayler

Gary S. Sayler

Initially described in 1990, Pseudomonas fluorescens HK44 served as the first whole-cell bioreporter genetically endowed with a bioluminescent (luxCDABE) phenotype directly linked to a catabolic (naphthalene degradative) pathway. HK44 was the first genetically engineered microorganism to be released in the field to monitor bioremediation potential. Subsequent to that release, strain HK44 had been introduced into other solids (soils, sands), liquid (water, wastewater), and volatile environments. In these matrices, it has functioned as one of the best characterized chemically-responsive environmental bioreporters and as a model organism for understanding bacterial colonization and transport, cell immobilization strategies, and the kinetics of cellular bioluminescent …

Hslic Fall 2012 Scholarship Committee Report, Ann Jordan

Ann Jordan

No abstract provided.

Desiccation Induces Viable But Non-Culturable Cells In Sinorhizobium Meliloti 1021, Jan A.C. Vriezen Dr., Frans J. Debruijn Dr., Klaus R. Nusslein Dr.

Jan A.C. Vriezen Dr.

Sinorhizobium meliloti is a microorganism commercially used in the production of e.g. Medicago sativa seed inocula. Many inocula are powder-based and production includes a drying step. Although S. meliloti survives drying well, the quality of the inocula is reduced during this process. In this study we determined survival during desiccation of the commercial strains 102F84 and 102F85 as well as the model strain USDA1021. The survival of S. meliloti 1021 was estimated during nine weeks at 22% relative humidity. We found that after an initial rapid decline of colony forming units, the decline slowed to a steady 10-fold reduction in …

Differential Expression Of Gastric Muc5ac In Colonic Epithelial Cells: Tff-3 Wired Il1Β/Akt Crosstalk Induced Mucosal Immune Response Against Shigella Dysenteriae Infection, Raja Sb, Murali Mr, Devaraj H, Devaraj Sn

Murali Malliga Raman

An understanding of the signaling mechanism(s) that regulate the differential expression of gastric mucin MUC5AC in colonic epithelial cells would contribute significantly to investigations of its role in colonic mucosa infected with the bacterial pathogen Shigella dysenteriae. Here we show that S. dysenteriae-Sinduced expression of interleukin-1β upregulates MUC2 expression and the differential expression of MUC5AC. Differential expression of MUC5AC involves crosstalk between interleukin-1β and Akt, whereby the trefoil factor family peptide TFF3 activates Akt by phosphorylation of EGFR. TFF3 also downregulates E-cadherin expression, causing accumulation of β-catenin in the cytosol. Phosphorylation of GSK-3β (inactivated) by activated Akt inhibits ubiquitylation of …

Anaerobic Oxidation Of Methane At Different Temperature Regimes In Guaymas Basin Hydrothermal Sediments, Jennifer F. Biddle, Zena Cardman, Howard Mendlovitz, Daniel B. Albert, Karen G. Lloyd, Karen Lloyd, Antje Boetius, Andreas Teske

Karen Lloyd

Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) was investigated in hydrothermal sediments of Guaymas Basin based on d13C signatures of CH4, dissolved inorganic carbon and porewater concentration profiles of CH4 and sulfate. Cool, warm and hot in-situ temperature regimes (15–20 1C, 30–35 1C and 70–95 1C) were selected from hydrothermal locations in Guaymas Basin to compare AOM geochemistry and 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA), mcrA and dsrAB genes of the microbial communities. 16S rRNA gene clone libraries from the cool and hot AOM cores yielded similar archaeal types such as Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotal Group, Thermoproteales and anaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea (ANME)-1; some of the ANME-1 …

Archaea Of The Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotal Group (Mcg) Are Abundant, Diverse, And Widespread In Marine Sediments, Kyoko Kubo, Karen Lloyd, Jennifer F. Biddle, Rudolf Amann, Andreas Teske, Katrin Knittel

Karen Lloyd

Members of the highly diverse Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotal Group (MCG) are globally distributed in various marine and continental habitats. In this study, we applied a polyphasic approach (rRNA slot blot hybridization, quantitative PCR (qPCR) and catalyzed reporter deposition FISH) using newly developed probes and primers for the in situ detection and quantification of MCG crenarchaeota in diverse types of marine sediments and microbial mats. In general, abundance of MCG (cocci, 0.4 lm) relative to other archaea was highest (12–100%) in anoxic, low-energy environments characterized by deeper sulfate depletion and lower microbial respiration rates (P¼0.06 for slot blot and P¼0.05 for qPCR). …