Prospects of Chlorine Method of Aluminum Production in Modern Conditions

The results of the feasibility study of the complete aluminum chlorine production cycle in comparison with the conventional method, namely, the extraction of alumina by the Bayer method and subsequent electrolysis of cryolite-alumina melts are reported in this paper. The advantages of the proposed method are: using low-quality Al-containing raw materials and less scarce and aggressive chlorides instead of fluorides; reduction of specific electric power consumption by about 30%; elimination of high-quality carbon-containing materials consumption and harmful emissions into the atmosphere; reduction of capital investments; labor productivity improvement. Keywords: aluminum-containing raw material chlorination, electrolysis of aluminum chloride, electricity saving

Metal and metalloid biorecovery using fungi

Bioleaching is a proven bioprocess for metal recovery by solution from solid matrices, while a bioprecipitation or biomineralization approach is of potential for biorecovery from solution. Fungi can directly and indirectly mediate the formation of many kinds of minerals, including oxides, phosphates, carbonates and oxalates, as well as elemental forms of metals and metalloids such as Ag, Se and Te. Fungal capabilities may offer a potentially useful contribution to biotechnological and physico-chemical methods for metal recovery.</p

Comparative Technical-and-Economical Evaluation of Production Costs of Coagulant from Technical-Grade Aluminum Hydroxide and Hydroxide Sluge

A comparative techno-economic estimate of the cost of HOAC producing from technical aluminum hydroxide and hydroxide sludge showed that the cost of HOAC would be decreased by 11% by using a hydroxide precipitate. The cost of operation on the hydroxide precipitate will decrease by 17.3% provided the storage vessel is converted into a reactor to neutralize the acid solution of HOAC. This is possible due to doubling the production of HOAC, moreover production volumes will amount to 7178.2 thousand rubles. The calculated payback period for capital investments for retrofitting is 1 month. Keywords: coagulant, aluminum hydroxychloride, hydroxide precipitate, aluminum- containing wast

Brown mycelial mat as an essential morphological structure of the shiitake medicinal mushroom lentinus edodes (Agaricomycetes)

© 2017 Begell House, Inc. We show here, to our knowledge for the first time, that the brown mycelial mat of the xylotrophic shiitake medicinal mushroom, Lentinus edodes, not only performs a protective function owing to significant changes in the ultrastructure (thickening of the cell wall, increased density, and pigmentation of the fungal hyphae) but also is a metabolically ac tive stage in the development of the mushroom. The cells of this morphological structure exhibit repeated activation of expression of the genes lcc4, tir, exp1, chi, and exg1, coding for laccase, tyrosinase, a specific transcription factor, chitinase, and glucanase, which are required for fungal growth and morphogenesis. This study revealed the maximum activity of functionally important proteins with phenol oxidase and lectin activities, and the emergence of additional laccases, tyrosinases, and lectins, which are typical of only this stage of morphogenesis and have a regulatory function in the development and formation of fruiting bodies

Alteration in the ultrastructural morphology of mycelial hyphae and the dynamics of transcriptional activity of lytic enzyme genes during basidiomycete morphogenesis

© 2017, The Microbiological Society of Korea and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.The morphogenesis of macromycetes is a complex multilevel process resulting in a set of molecular-genetic, physiological-biochemical, and morphological-ultrastructural changes in the cells. When the xylotrophic basidiomycetes Lentinus edodes, Grifola frondosa, and Ganoderma lucidum were grown on wood waste as the substrate, the ultrastructural morphology of the mycelial hyphal cell walls differed considerably between mycelium and morphostructures. As the macromycetes passed from vegetative to generative development, the expression of the tyr1, tyr2, chi1, chi2, exg1, exg2, and exg3 genes was activated. These genes encode enzymes such as tyrosinase, chitinase, and glucanase, which play essential roles in cell wall growth and morphogenesis

Green synthesis of nanoparticles with extracellular and intracellular extracts of basidiomycetes

Au, Ag, Se, and Si nanoparticles were synthesized from aqueous solutions of HAuCl4, AgNO3, Na2SeO3, and Na2SiO3 with extra- and intracellular extracts from the xylotrophic basidiomycetes Pleurotus ostreatus, Lentinus edodes, Ganoderma lucidum, and Grifola frondosa. The shape, size, and aggregation properties of the nanoparticles depended both on the fungal species and on the extract type. The bioreduction of the metal-containing compounds and the formation rate of Au and Ag nanoparticles depended directly on the phenol oxidase activity of the fungal extracts used. The biofabrication of Se and Si nanoparticles did not depend on phenol oxidase activity. When we used mycelial extracts from different fungal morphological structures, we succeeded in obtaining nanoparticles of differing shapes and sizes. The cytotoxicity of the noble metal nanoparticles, which are widely used in biomedicine, was evaluated on the HeLa and Vero cell lines. The cytotoxicity of the Au nanoparticles was negligible in a broad concentration range (1–100 µg/mL), whereas the Ag nanoparticles were nontoxic only when used between 1 and 10 µg/mL

Algorithm for Physiological Interpretation of Transcriptome Profiling Data for Non-Model Organisms

© 2018, Pleiades Publishing, Inc. Modern techniques of next-generation sequencing (NGS) allow obtaining expression profile of all genes and provide an essential basis for characterizing metabolism in the organism of interest on a broad scale. An important condition for obtaining a demonstrative physiological picture using high throughput sequencing data is the availability of the genome sequence and its sufficient annotation for the target organism. However, a list of species with properly annotated genomes is limited. Transcriptome profiling is often performed in the so-called non-model organisms, which are those with unknown or poorly assembled and/or annotated genome sequences. The transcriptomes of non-model organisms are possible to investigate using algorithms of de novo assembly of the transcripts from sequences obtained as the result of RNA sequencing. A physiological interpretation of the data is difficult in this case because of the absence of annotation of the assembled transcripts and their classification by metabolic pathway and functional category. An algorithm for transcriptome profiling in non-model organisms was developed, and a transcriptome analysis was performed for the basidiomycete Lentinus edodes. The algorithm includes open access software and custom scripts and encompasses a complete analysis pipeline from the selection of cDNA reads to the functional classification of differentially expressed genes and the visualization of the results. Based on this algorithm, a comparative transcriptome analysis of the nonpigmented mycelium and brown mycelial mat was performed in L. edodes. The comparison revealed physiological differences between the two morphogenetic stages, including an induction of cell wall biogenesis, intercellular communication, ion transport, and melanization in the brown mycelial mat

Diagnostic and prognostic value of long non-coding RNA PROX1‑AS1 and miR-647 expression in gastric cancer

Introduction. Gastric cancer remains one of the most common cancers and has a high mortality rate worldwide. Epigenetic alternations of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs and long ncRNAs can contribute to its pathogenesis and progression, and could be potent diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers.Aim. Estimation of PROX1‑AS1 and miR-647 expression in gastric cancer and investigation of its clinical significance. Materials and methods. Tumor and adjacent normal tissues (n = 62), and sectional normal tissue samples (n = 5) were included in the study. The expression of the ncRNAs was quantified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay.Results. We have reviled the significant difference in the PROX1‑AS1 expression in tumor (p = 0.002) and non-tumor tissues (p &lt;0.001) obtained from gastric cancer patients in comparison with sectional gastric tissues without pathology. Pearson correlation analysis confirmed a negative correlation between PROX1‑AS1 and miR-647 in gastric cancer both in tumor (р &lt;0,001) and adjacent normal tissues (р &lt;0.001). Besides, expression of PROX1‑AS1 and miR-647 was associated with the size and extent of the primary tumor.Conclusion. The obtained results allow to suggest a potential prognostic value of PROX1‑AS1 and miR-647 in gastric cancer

Диагностическое и прогностическое значение экспрессии длинной некодирующей РНК PROX1‑AS1 и микроРНК miR-647 при раке желудка

Introduction. Gastric cancer remains one of the most common cancers and has a high mortality rate worldwide. Epigenetic alternations of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs and long ncRNAs can contribute to its pathogenesis and progression, and could be potent diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers.Aim. Estimation of PROX1‑AS1 and miR-647 expression in gastric cancer and investigation of its clinical significance. Materials and methods. Tumor and adjacent normal tissues (n = 62), and sectional normal tissue samples (n = 5) were included in the study. The expression of the ncRNAs was quantified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay.Results. We have reviled the significant difference in the PROX1‑AS1 expression in tumor (p = 0.002) and non-tumor tissues (p &lt;0.001) obtained from gastric cancer patients in comparison with sectional gastric tissues without pathology. Pearson correlation analysis confirmed a negative correlation between PROX1‑AS1 and miR-647 in gastric cancer both in tumor (р &lt;0,001) and adjacent normal tissues (р &lt;0.001). Besides, expression of PROX1‑AS1 and miR-647 was associated with the size and extent of the primary tumor.Conclusion. The obtained results allow to suggest a potential prognostic value of PROX1‑AS1 and miR-647 in gastric cancer.Введение. Рак желудка входит в число наиболее распространенных злокачественных новообразований и занимает одно из лидирующих мест в структуре смертности от онкологичеких заболеваний во всем мире. Эпигенетические изменения с участием некодирующих РНК (нкРНК), включая микроРНК и длинные нкРНК, вовлечены в его патогенез и прогрессию и могут являться потенциальными диагностическими и прогностическими биомаркерами.Цель исследования – оценить экспрессию PROX1-AS1 и miR-647 при раке желудка и изучить ее клиническое значение.Материалы и методы. В исследование включены 62 парных образца опухоли и неопухолевой ткани желудка, а также 5 секционных образцов ткани желудка без патологии. Анализ экспрессии проведен с помощью метода полимеразной цепной реакции с обратной транскрипцией.Результаты. Обнаружены достоверные различия экспрессии PROX1-AS1 в опухолевых (р = 0,002) и неопухолевых тканях (р &lt;0,001), полученных от пациентов с раком желудка, относительно секционных тканей желудка без патологии. С помощью коэффициента корреляции Пирсона выявлена отрицательная корреляция между экспрессией PROX1-AS1 и miR-647 в опухолевых (р &lt;0,001) и неопухолевых (р &lt;0,001) тканях пациентов с раком желудка. Показано, что экспрессия PROX1-AS1 и miR-647 связана с распространенностью первичной опухоли.Заключение. Полученные результаты позволяют предположить потенциальную прогностическую значимостьPROX1-AS1 и miR-647 при раке желудка