Light Gray Research Articles

P-1740. Impact of a System Wide Antimicrobial Stewardship Intervention Bundle to Improve Guideline Directed Antibiotics for Urinary Tract Infections

Abstract Background Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the common reasons for antibiotic use across healthcare settings. Across an eleven-hospital system, common urinary pathogens (E. coli, Proteus species, and Klebsiella species) had greater than 80% coverage with cefazolin, which was within 0-8% of ceftriaxone coverage based on the local antibiograms. With increased risk of C. difficile infection and resistance development seen with ceftriaxone, cefazolin was promoted as first line for empiric UTI coverage.Table 1:Outcomes Methods An interrupted time series analysis was performed comparing a pre-intervention group to two phases of stewardship intervention (figure 1). The first intervention included an updated guideline, education, and pharmacist intervention upon order verification recommending guideline directed therapy. Guideline directed options and guideline non-compliant options are highlighted on green and red respectively, on figure 3. The second intervention was cascade reporting (figure 2) for urine culture Enterobacterales susceptibility, which was implemented across sites between 9/2023-1/2024. A generalized linear model with Poisson link was fit to the data. Compliant orders were regressed vs. the denominator of all UTI orders. Multiple models were considered, and the final model selection was based on likelihood ratio testing and the rule of parsimony.Figure 1:Interrupted Time-SeriesWhite = pre-intervention; light gray = intervention 1; dark gray = intervention 2 Results In the four pre-intervention months, guideline compliance across the system was 38.1% (1674/4393), compared to 61.9% (6749/10,903) after intervention 1 was implemented (table 1). The final model suggested that intervention 1 was associated with a nearly 1.5-fold increase in compliance which was sustained over time and suggested that the compliance rate over time increased modestly at around 5% per quarter (figure 1). There was no change in length of stay, risk adjusted length of stay, or 30-day all-cause readmission (table 1).Figure 2:Microbiology Cascade Reporting Workflow Conclusion Guideline update, education, and frontline pharmacist intervention were significantly impactful in improving guideline directed treatment for UTIs. Cascade reporting on urine cultures may help reinforce guideline directed therapy but did not result in substantially different compliance rates from education with frontline pharmacist intervention.Figure 3:Percent of Patients with Empiric Guideline Directed Therapy Orders Disclosures Nathaniel J. Rhodes, PharmD MS, Apothecademy, LLC: Advisor/Consultant

Dual-mode luminescence light intensity modulation characteristics and optical radiation dependence of stannate photochromic ceramics

Dual-mode luminescence light intensity modulation characteristics and optical radiation dependence of stannate photochromic ceramics

First Report of Stemphylium lycopersici Causing Leaf spot on Sedum plumbizincicola in Hunan Province of China.

Sedum plumbizincicola is a perennial succulent herb that can hyperaccumulate high concentrations of cadmium and zinc (Liu et al. 2017). In October 2021, a leaf spot disease occurred on S. plumbizincicola seedlings in a nursery in Changsha (28°13' N; 112°56'E), the Hunan Province of China. Almost 30% of the nearly 1 million seedlings were infected. Symptoms initially appeared as small brown spots on the leaf surface or edges, gradually enlarged, becoming oval, and bearing chlorotic lesions with dark brown borders. Eventually, the center of the lesions became sunken and then fell off. Eight symptomatic plant samples were collected by five-point sampling method (Zheng et al. 2018). Small pieces of 5×5 mm were excised from the lesion margins, sterilized with 70% ethanol for 10 s, 0.1% HgCl2 for 40 s, rinsed with sterile distilled water three times, and then cultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 26 °C for 5 days in the dark. Fungal colonies showing similar morphology were observed from all the isolated samples and, in total, eight fungal strains were obtained. On PDA, fungal colonies were initially white, and later become light gray. After cultured on V8 juice agar (V8A, each litre of medium contains 200 mL of V8 juice, 3 g of CaCO3 and 15 g of agarose) for 14 days (Hyowon et al. 2016), conidia of a representative isolate SY-1 were produced, which were oblong, muriform, with blunt ends and conical apex, pale to light brown, and constricted at the 1 to 3 major transverse septa, 38.34-46.68 μm×11.67-18.34 μm (n=50). These morphological characteristics were consistent with that of Stemphylium lycopersici (Nasehi et al. 2016). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA and the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene of representative isolates SY-1 to SY-3 were amplified and sequenced using the primer pairs ITS4/ITS5 and gpd1/gpd2 as described previously (Woudenberg et al. 2017). BLASTn analysis showed that ITS sequences of isolates SY-1, SY-2 and SY-3 (accession nos. OP317641, OQ852042 and OQ852043) had more than 99% identity with Stemphylium sp, while GAPDH sequences (OP331223, OQ858620 and OQ858621) had 100% identity with S. lycopersici KR911813 (Sun et al. 2016). A concatenated ITS-GAPDH phylogenetic tree grouped our isolates within the S. lycopersici clade. For the pathogenicity test, one-month-old potted S. plumbizincicola seedlings were inoculated with conidia suspension (105 conidia/ml), which was induced on V8A. Four sites of each leaf of the potted S. plumbizincicola plants were dropped with a conidia suspension of strain SY-1, with 10 μL per site. Leaves treated with sterile water were served as controls. All of the inoculated seedlings were placed in a growth chamber at 26°C with a photoperiod of 12 h. The pathogenicity tests were repeated twice, with each had three replicative plants. After 7 days, all the inoculated leaves developed brown spots resembling those observed in the nursery, whereas the control plants remained symptomless. Stemphylium lycopersici was specifically re-isolated and identified by morphological and molecular methods (accession nos. OQ852045 for ITS and OQ858622 for GAPDH, respectively), thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of S. lycopersici causing leaf spot on S. plumbizincicola in China. Since S. plumbizincicola played an important role and widely planted for heavy metal pollution treatment (Jiang et al. 2010), and this disease might seriously influence the S. plumbizincicola seedling breeding, identification of the pathogen might provide a foundation for the diagnosis and control of the disease.

Preparation of Pellet Biopolymer Polyvinyl Alcohol/Alginate/Gluataraldehyde Impregnated with Banana Peel Activated Carbon (BPAC)

Environmental pollution increases along with industrial developments, one of which is copper (Cu) heavy metal waste. In this research, banana peel as adsorbent was carbonized at 350℃. Then chemically activated with ZnCl2 and KMnO4. Biopolymer pellets without banana peel activated carbon were in the form of white gel-like beads, activated carbon ZnCl2 and KMnO4 0.5 g were dark gray, and ZnCl2 and KMnO4 1 g were light gray. SEM results showed that the pores of ZnCl2 and KMnO4 1 g were larger than the pores without 0.5 g. The mechanical strength with the best percentage of activated ZnCl2 biopolymer pellets was 1 g at 6%, while activated KMnO4 was 0,5 g at 2%. Biopolymer pellets of banana peel activated ZnCl2 worked well in the removal of copper (II) at pH 6 the concentration absorbed 3.03 ppm. Meanwhile activated KMnO4 at pH 5 with the concentration absorbed 3.675 ppm.

Modeling total predation to avoid perverse outcomes from cat control in a data-poor island ecosystem.

Data hungry, complex ecosystem models are often used to predict the consequences of threatened species management, including perverse outcomes. Unfortunately, this approach is impractical in many systems, which have insufficient data to parameterize ecosystem interactions or reliably calibrate or validate such models. Here we demonstrate a different approach, using a minimum realistic model to guide decisions in data- and resource-scarce systems. We illustrate our approach with a case-study in an invaded ecosystem from Christmas Island, Australia, where there are concerns that cat eradication to protect native species, including the red-tailed tropicbird, could release meso-predation by invasive rats. We use biophysical constraints (metabolic demand) and observable parameters (e.g. prey preferences) to assess the combined cat and rat abundances which would threaten the tropicbird population. We find that the population of tropicbirds cannot be sustained if predated by 1607 rats (95% credible interval (CI) [103, 5910]) in the absence of cats, or 21 cats (95% CI [2, 82]) in the absence of rats. For every cat removed from the island, the bird's net population growth rate improves, provided that the rats do not increase by more than 77 individuals (95% CI [30, 174]). Thus, in this context, one cat is equivalent to 30-174 rats. Our methods are especially useful for on-the-ground predator control in the absence of knowledge of predator-predator interactions, to assess whether 1) the current abundance of predators threatens the prey population of interest, 2) managing one predator species alone is sufficient to protect the prey species given potential release of another predator, and 3) control of multiple predator species is needed to meet the conservation goal. Our approach demonstrates how to use limited information for maximum value in data-poor systems, by shifting the focus from predicting future trajectories, to identifying conditions which threaten the conservation goal. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Boeremia exigua Causes Leaf Spot of Walnut Trees (Juglans regia) in China.

Walnuts are an important perennial nut crop widely cultivated in China, which are rich in protein, carbohydrate, renieratene, and other beneficial nutrients. China is the largest producer of walnuts in the world, with the largest planting area and output. At the end of April 2020, several unknown necrotic spots on leaves of walnut trees were observed in a Juglans regia field located in Sancha Town, Enshi, China (30°28'N, 109°64'E). Initially, lesions were black, small, sunken, and turning to yellowish-brown, irregular, well surrounded by brown margins. Severely, leaf spots coalesced and resulted in withered and abscised. In order to identify the pathogen, infected leaves were collected. Sections of leaves were aseptically excised from the margins of necrotic spots following surface sterilization and placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 28℃. After 4 days, fungal isolates were obtained and purified by hyphal tip isolation. The isolates looked morphologically similar, producing colonies that appeared hyphae with dark grey, lobed margins, and aerial mycelium with white to light gray. After 15 days of incubation, subglobose, dark brown pycnidia (100-176 μm in wide, 75-95 μm in length) were formed with an orifice in the center, producing conidia. Conidia (3.5 to 9.0 × 1.6 to 4.5 μm) were oval to round, aseptate, occasionally 1-septate. These morphological characteristics lead to the conclusion that the isolates may be identified as Phoma sp. (Boerema et al. 1976). A single isolate was randomly selected and designated for further verification. To confirm the identity, the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), actin (ACT) and beta-tubulin genes were amplified and sequenced ITS1/ITS4, ACT-512F/ACT-783R, and Bt2a/Bt2b, respectively (White et al. 1990, Groenewald et al. 2013). BLAST analysis of the ITS 505-bp sequence (GenBank accession no. MW282913), actin 269-bp sequence (GenBank accession no. MW201958), and beta-tubulin 347-bp sequence (GenBank accession no. MW273782) showed ≥99% homology with the sequences of B. exigua available in GenBank (GenBank accession no. AB454232, LT158234, and KR010463, respectively). Base on the above results, the strain HTY2 was identified as B. exigua. Pathogenicity was tested. Walnut plants were spray-inoculated with a spore suspension (5 x 105 CFU/mL). Controls were inoculated as described above except that sterile distilled water in the dark at 25 ℃. After seven days, lesions were evident at inoculation points, and equivalent to those observed in field were observed. Control leaves remained symptomless. The pathogenicity test was repeated thrice and the results were the same, fulfilling the Koch's postulates. The pathogen has been reported on various plants around the world, causing a series of symptoms. Infected plants rarely died, but the presence of lesions decreased their fruit quality and yield. Previous identification of the disease is essential in formulating management strategies.

Geotechnical characterization of Beka-Gotto rock massif (Adamawa Region-Cameroon) for the use in civil engineering

Beka-Gotto is a village of Ngaoundal located in the Adamawa region (Cameroon). The present study is carried out to determine the physical and mechanical characteristics of the local rock massifs, in order to determine their possible uses in various fields of civil engineering. The methodology used consists of petrographic and geotechnical characterization of the different massifs. The rocks crop outas domes or slabs. The rock is light gray. Under the microscope, the rock presents a grainy microstructure composed of plagioclase, potassium feldspar, biotite and quartz. Zircon and opaque minerals represent the accessory phase. With this composition, rock is granodiorite. The geotechnical study, on the other hand, made it possible to understand that, on the physical level, the rock massif has very good properties. In fact, the specific weight on class 6/10 and 10/14 obtained has mean values of ​​2.73 and 2.68 kN/m3 respectively. While the apparent density obtained of the class 6/10 and 10/14 has mean values 1.35 and 1.46 g/cm3 respectively. Mechanically, Los Angeles coefficient is 24-46.3% while the Micro-Deval coefficient is 7-35% and the coefficient of dynamic fragmentation is 18-30%. In accordance with geotechnical standards, with the exception of the Gbago massif, the other massifs have a choc resistance and a wear resistance of satisfactory to limited grade as well as good resistance to dynamic fragmentation and therefore usable in any type of structure.

Physical Characteristics of Skin Powder, Chitin and Chitosan (Holothuria scabra)

This study aims to determine the physical characteristics of skin powder, chitin and chitosan that prepared from skin of sea cucumber (H. scabra). The analysis parameters observed were physical characteristics, moisture content and ash content. The skin of H. scabra has blackish gray color with yellow and black spots originating from the dorsal part and white skin with yellow and brown spots originating from the ventral part. The color of skin powder was light gray. The color of chitin and chitosan were light cream. Moisture content of skin, skin powder, chitin and chitosan were 24.30%, 5.17%, 3.16% and 3.35% respectively. Ash content of skin, skin powder, chitin and chitosan were 62.92%, 61.10%, 3.05% and 1.42% respectively.

Development of HPLC-DAD and UPLC-QTOF-MS chromatographic systems for the identification for forensic purposes of disperse dyes of polyester

Development of HPLC-DAD and UPLC-QTOF-MS chromatographic systems for the identification for forensic purposes of disperse dyes of polyester

Prevalence of Color Vision Deficiencies

Purpose. The study of color deficiencies prevalence in young people, students of higher educational university.Materials and methods. The study was carried for the half year — fall semester. A total of 1,609 students were examined, aged 17–21. There were 1191 boys and 418 girls. The survey was conducted to determine the health groups in physical training and in various sports sections. An ophthalmologic examination determined refractive disorders and other ocular pathology, which is important for determining health groups. Rabkin polychromatic tables and Neitz color vision test (Neitz Lab (UW Medicine) were used for determining of color deficiencies. The obtained results of these tests were compared in terms of the time spent on the test, the results of the test effectiveness, the determination of dissimulation, and the assessment of the shift in the color spectrum in individuals with impaired color perception.Results. A total of refractive disorders were detected in 856 students (53.2 %). The high degree of myopia was in 40. Disorders of color deficient were noted in 101 students (8.48 %) of 1191 male subjects when using the Neitz color test. Dichromatic eye changes were observed from 2.1 % students: protanopia and deiteranopia were in 0.67 % and 1.43 %. Most of all there were violations with the perception of shades of light brown and light green colors. A third of healthy students noted the impossibility of distinguishing light brown from light gray. This is regardless of the state of refraction. Simultaneous violations of the perception of shades of red, green, yellow and blue were observed in one subject, it was associated with congenital cataracts. In four young people, acquired eye diseases caused. In two girls, violations of the perception of a pastel shade of light green were noted, with one girl (0.24 %) having a violation in two eyes, and was presumably due to a gene anomaly. The second girl had one eye and was associated with partial atrophy of the optic nerve after the optic neuritis.Conclusions. Neitz color test expands the diagnostic possibilities, since in its design it has pastel shades of light green and light brown colors on a gray background, reduces the likelihood of dissimulation, reduces the time of the survey. Neitz color test allows to expand the possibilities for more accurate and differential diagnosis dichromatic and anormal trichromatic subjects and acquired color vision defects.

Solar sail propulsion limitations due to hydrogen blistering

Solar sail propulsion limitations due to hydrogen blistering

Manganese–Fluorouracil Metallodrug Nanotheranostic for MRI-Correlated Drug Release and Enhanced Chemoradiotherapy

For cancer therapy, drug delivery systems are often limited by insufficient drug loading capacity, which usually results in systemic toxicity and heavy metabolic burden to excrete the carriers. Her...

Geomorphology and Species Interactions Control Facilitation Cascades in a Salt Marsh Ecosystem.

Facilitation cascades are chains of positive interactions that occur as frequently as trophic cascades and are equally important drivers of ecosystem function, where they involve the overlap of primary and secondary, or dependent, habitat-forming foundation species [1]. Although it is well recognized that the size and configuration of secondary foundation species' patches are critical features modulating the ecological effects of facilitation cascades [2], the mechanisms governing their spatial distribution are often challenging to discern given that they operate across multiple spatial and temporal scales [1, 3]. We therefore combined regional surveys of southeastern US salt marsh geomorphology and invertebrate communities with a predator exclusion experiment to elucidate the drivers, both geomorphic and biotic, controlling the establishment, persistence, and ecosystem functioning impacts of a regionally abundant facilitation cascade involving habitat-forming marsh cordgrass and aggregations of ribbed mussels. We discovered a hierarchy of physical and biological factors predictably controlling the strength and self-organization of this facilitation cascade across creekshed, landscape, and patch scales. These results significantly enhance our capacity to spatially predict coastal ecosystem function across scales based on easily identifiable metrics of geomorphology that are mechanistically linked to ecological processes. Replication of this approach across vegetated coastal ecosystems has the potential to support management efforts by elucidating the multi-scale linkages between geomorphology and ecology that, in turn, define spatially explicit patterns in community assembly and ecosystem functioning.

Abstract WP396: Simultaneous Patient Presentation for Endovascular Thrombectomy

Introduction: Increased demand for endovascular thrombectomy has increased the likelihood of simultaneous patient presentation leading to competing demand for time-sensitive treatment. The occurrence of simultaneous demand has not been well studied. In this work, we quantified the occurrence of simultaneous patient presentation at different patient volumes. Methods: Distributions for time of patient presentation and case duration were derived from local data. These distributions were used to probabilistically generate arrival time and case duration for annual patient volumes ranging from 5 to 500 cases per year, with 8000 independent trials at each volume. Time series were generated for each trial to represent the number of concurrent cases at each minute of the year. Time series were used to calculate the occurrence of simultaneous demand. Results: Annual simultaneous demand by two or more patients was far lower than annual demand by a single patient at all tested volumes. The median patient volume at which there was at least one occurrence per year of simultaneous demand by two patients was 45 (IQR 30-65). The median patient volume at which there was at least one occurrence per year of simultaneous demand by three patients was 220 (IQR 160-275). Conclusions: The occurrence of simultaneous presentation for endovascular thrombectomy varies with patient volume. Understanding these trends can inform intelligent strategies for optimizing patient care within real-world financial and operational constraints. Figure: Annual duration of concurrent demand by (A) one patient, (B) two patients, and (C) three patients. Solid line = median, dark gray = 50% confidence bound, light gray = 95% confidence bound.

Corrigendum: Gate-Voltage Control of Borophene Structure Formation.

In this Communication, the minimum thickness of the jellium slab (to allow for high doping) was set at d=4 Å, which is incorrect. In fact, d=3 Å is the correct thickness limit: it is computationally convergent, is reasonably larger than the covalent diameter of boron (1.74 Å), and the calculations with d=3 Å still avoid spurious occupancy of the vacuum states even at doping as high as q=0.5–1 e/atom. Importantly, for q ≥0.5 e/atom, the v1/3 honeycomb sheet emerges as the ground state (Figure 1). Furthermore, at q=1 e/atom the honeycomb borophene becomes isoelectronic to graphene and Dirac cones appear at the Fermi level (Figure 1 c, inset). This honeycomb structure is the same as that of the boron lattice responsible for superconductivity in MgB2. a) Top: Total energy per atom of all symmetry-inequivalent B sheets calculated by CE fits at a doping level of q=0.03 e/atom as a function of v in the B1−v[…]v systems. Diamonds show the data expanded from a rhombus cell while squares show those expanded from a rectangular cell, as shown in the inset. Hexagonal lattice sites, filled B sites, and hollow hexagons are indicated. The solid line shows the ground states from precise DFT calculations. Bottom: Top three stable sheets, with the stability decreasing as the circle fades from dark to light gray. b) and c) are the same as (a) but for q=0.2 e/atom, and q=0.5–1.0 e/atom, respectively. Bottom panel of (c) shows the the ground state structures for all q=0.5–1.0 e/atom, and inset shows the band structure of the ground state v=1/3 for a doping of q=1.0 e/atom (black solid line) and q=0 e/atom (red dashed lines). Note that the Dirac cone shifts to the Fermi level in this doped configuration.

First Report of Bipolaris secalis Causing Disease on Jangada Brava (Heliocarpus americanus) Seeds in Brazil

Jangada Brava (a local name) (Heliocarpus americanus L.) is a dioecious plant, native to South America, that can reach 12 m in height and 50 cm in diameter. It can be found in the semideciduous broadleaved forest of the Parana Basin (Lorenzi 1992). Its wood is used in the manufacture of pencils, toys, and cross laminated timber (CLT). The tree is planted as a quick replenishment for degraded areas due to its good growth. In January 2017, seeds collected directly from native trees around a neighborhood of the city of Engenheiro Beltrao, Parana, Brazil (23°47′49″S, 52°16′08″W), had a fungal infection in 60% of the samples sent for diagnostic testing. Contaminated seeds were surface-disinfested in a 0.5% NaOCl solution for 1 min and placed onto potato dextrose agar (PDA). A fungus was recovered after 5 days of incubation at 25°C showing a grayish black colony with an irregular shape, elevated surface, and a border ranging from white to light gray. On the seventh day of incubation, the colony produced free spindle conidia, fusiform, pale to dark-brown color. The conidia presented straight to slightly curved ranging from 49 to 95 μm in length and 11 to 23 μm in width, presenting an average of 10 septa. Conidiophores were mostly simple, producing conidia at their apices. Morphological characteristics of the isolates were similar to those of Bipolaris secalis as described by Sisterna (1989). To obtain a DNA based identification, amplification and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region using ITS1 and ITS4 primers was performed (White et al. 1990). A sequence of ∼400 bp of the ITS region was deposited in GenBank (accession no. MF770710), and BLAST analysis revealed that the isolate was 99% identical to the B. secalis isolate on GenBank (KU554556.1) differing from B. shoemakeri by base substitutions in the ITS positions 103 (G) and 339 (insertion or deletion of nucleotide) (Tan et al. 2016). To fulfill Koch’s postulates, a sample of 200 healthy seeds was placed in direct contact with the fungal mycelia, grown in Petri dishes containing PDA, and then incubated at 25°C for 72 h. A sample of 200 of the same seeds, placed on PDA only, was used as a negative control. The seeds were sowed in a commercial substrate and incubated for 25 days at 25°C with a 12-h day/night cycle. The fungus inhibited 80% of the seed’s germination when compared with the control group. The remaining seeds that germinated produced leaves with necrotic, sporulating lesions with dark brown stains, characteristic of the fungus as described above. In total, about 89% of the seedlings (with 75% of the leaves on each seedling) exhibited symptoms whereas the control group remained asymptomatic. The fungus was reisolated from symptomatic areas and reidentified with morphological bases. Koch’s postulates were repeated once and showed similar results. This is the first report of an incidence of B. secalis causing necrosis in seedlings and reducing germination in Jangada Brava seeds in Brazil.

IDENTIFIKASI VISUAL BATUAN PAF DAN NAF STUDI KASUS DI PT ARUTMIN INDONESIA ASAM ASAM

The research location is in Asam-Asam PT Arutmin Indonesia, located in District Jorong, Tanah Laut, Kalimantan Selatan. This study aims to determine the relationship of visual rock with PAF and NAF rock properties based on the distribution pattern, volume, and utilization. Visual identification that shows the strong correlation of PAF on the grain size of silt, color dark gray lithology, and lithologic silt. a strong correlation was also found on NAF rock with a grain size of clay, fine sand, very fine sand. In the color white rock medium, medium gray, light gray. obtained a volume of PAF: 208 309 329 BCM, NAF = 200 764 182 BCM volume, so the volume of NAF to be taken can coat 3,5 meters disposal.

A new mineral species ferricoronadite, Pb[Mn6 4+(Fe3+, Mn3+)2]O16: mineralogical characterization, crystal chemistry and physical properties

A new mineral ferricoronadite with the simplified formula Pb(Mn6 4+Fe2 3+)O16 was discovered in the orogenetic zone related to the “Mixed Series” metamorphic complex near the Nežilovo village, Pelagonian massif, Republic of Macedonia. Associated minerals are franklinite, gahnite, hetaerolite, romeite, almeidaite, Mn-analogue of plumboferrite, zincohogbomite analogue with Fe3+ > Al, zincochromite, Zn-bearing talc, Zn-bearing muscovite, baryte, quartz and zircon. Ferricoronadite is a late hydrothermal mineral forming veinlets up to 8 mm thick in granular aggregate predominantly composed by zinc-dominant spinels. The new mineral is opaque, black, with brownish black streak. The luster is strong submetallic to metallic. The micro-indentation hardness is 819 kg/mm2. Distinct cleavage is observed on (100). Ferricoronadite is brittle, with uneven fracture. The density calculated from the empirical formula is 5.538 g/cm3. In reflected light, ferricoronadite is light gray. The reflectance values [R max/R min, % (λ, nm)] are: 28.7/27.8 (470), 27.6/26.6 (546), 27.2/26.1 (589), 26.5/25.5 (650). The IR spectrum shows the absence of H2O and OH groups. According to the Mossbauer spectrum, all iron is trivalent. The Mn K-edge XANES spectroscopy shows that Mn is predominantly tetravalent, with subordinate Mn3+. The chemical composition is (wt%; electron microprobe, Mn apportioned between MnO2 and Mn2O3 based on the charge-balance requirement): BaO 5.16, PbO 24.50, ZnO 0.33, Al2O3 0.50, Mn2O3 9.90, Fe2O3 11.45, TiO2 4.19, MnO2 44.81, total 100.84. The empirical formula based on 8 cations Mn + Fe + Ti + Al + Zn pfu is Pb1.03Ba0.32(Mn 4.85 4+ Fe 1.35 3+ Mn 1.18 3+ Ti0.49Al0.09Zn0.04)Σ8.00O16. The crystal structure was determined using single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. The new mineral is tetragonal, space group I4/m, a = 9.9043(7), c = 2.8986(9) A, V = 284.34(9) A3, Z = 1. In ferricoronadite, double chains of edge-sharing (Mn, Fe, Ti)-centered octahedra are connected via common vertices to form a pseudo-framework with tunnels containing large cations Pb and Ba. The strongest lines of the powder X-ray diffraction pattern [d, A (I, %) (hkl)] are: 3.497 (33) (220), 3.128 (100) (−130, 130), 2.424 (27) (−121, 121), 2.214 (23) (240, −240), 2.178 (17) (031), 1.850 (15) (141, −141), 1.651 (16) (060), 1.554 (18) (−251, 251). Ferricoronadite is named as an analogue of coronadite Pb(Mn6 4+Mn2 3+)O16 with the major charge-compensating octahedral cation Fe3+ instead of Mn3+.

The Acidic C-terminal Tail of the GyrA Subunit Moderates the DNA Supercoiling Activity of Bacillus subtilis Gyrase

Gyrase is a type II DNA topoisomerase that introduces negative supercoils into DNA in an ATP-dependent reaction. It consists of a topoisomerase core, formed by the N-terminal domains of the two GyrA subunits and by the two GyrB subunits, that catalyzes double-stranded DNA cleavage and passage of a second double-stranded DNA through the gap in the first. The C-terminal domains (CTDs) of the GyrA subunits form a β-pinwheel and bind DNA around their positively charged perimeter. As a result, DNA is bound as a positive supercoil that is converted into a negative supercoil by strand passage. The CTDs contain a conserved 7-amino acid motif that connects blades 1 and 6 of the β-pinwheel and is a hallmark feature of gyrases. Deletion of this so-called GyrA-box abrogates DNA bending by the CTDs and DNA-induced narrowing of the N-gate, affects T-segment presentation, reduces the coupling of DNA binding to ATP hydrolysis, and leads to supercoiling deficiency. Recently, a severe loss of supercoiling activity of Escherichia coli gyrase upon deletion of the non-conserved acidic C-terminal tail (C-tail) of the CTDs has been reported. We show here that, in contrast to E. coli gyrase, the C-tail is a very moderate negative regulator of Bacillus subtilis gyrase activity. The C-tail reduces the degree of DNA bending by the CTDs but has no effect on DNA-induced conformational changes of gyrase that precede strand passage and reduces DNA-stimulated ATPase and DNA supercoiling activities only 2-fold. Our results are in agreement with species-specific, differential regulatory effects of the C-tail in gyrases from different organisms.

First Report of Diplodia pinea on Pseudotsuga menziesii in Turkey

Diplodia pinea is a latent, opportunistic pathogen of Pinus and other coniferous species, including Pseudotsuga menziesii (3). The fungus causes twig blight, branch cankers, tree and seedling collar rot, root rot, and can also infect cones (1). D. pinea has often been reported causing tip and shoot blight on various Pinus spp. in different parts of Turkey. During disease surveys on Pinus spp. carried out in May 2012 in Izmit in the Marmara Region (37°36'54″N, 31°20'00″E), typical shoot blight symptoms of D. pinea infection were also observed on the neighboring P. menziesii trees. Shoots and cones of P. menziesii were investigated for the presence of D. pinea pycnidia. Pycnidia from cones and shoots were placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 23°C. Three isolates were obtained from shoot and cone samples. Identification of the pathogen was based on morphological characteristics of the conidia and by PCR of the ITS region of nuclear rDNA. Colonies on PDA were woolly, whitish at first turning black, sometimes partly or entirely turning light gray. Micromorphological characteristics of the Diplodia isolates were similar to those described in (2): conidia width 18.4 μm (SD ± 2.8) (range 11 to 22 μm) × length 34.0 μm (SD ± 5.3) (range 20 to 41 μm) (n = 100). Conidia were at first hyaline, later becoming brown to dark brown, oblong ellipsoid, bicellular with a distinct septum. To confirm the identity of the isolates, genomic DNA was extracted and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA was amplified using primers ITS1 and ITS4 (4). Amplicons were 483 bp in length (GenBank Accession No. KF372874) and shared 98% nucleotide identity with HM100285.1 and 97% nucleotide identity with JX981458.1 of D. pinea. Inoculation tests were performed on 2-year-old P. menziesii seedlings by placing mycelial plugs of three isolates obtained from pycnidia on the main stem after wounding with a cork borer. Control seedlings were inoculated with PDA plugs without mycelium. All seedlings were incubated at 24°C for 3 weeks in a climate chamber. Following incubation, the seedlings displayed dark brown-to-black discoloration, measuring on average 10.7 ± 0.6 cm, of the bark and wood tissues around the inoculation points on the stems. The pathogen was successfully re-isolated from symptomatic stem tissues, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. menziesii as a host of D. pinea in Turkey. P. menziesii is not endemic to Turkey and to date has a limited distribution (approximately 140 ha), but it is an important fast growing tree species for new industrial plantations.