B-type supergiants in the Small Magellanic Cloud: rotational velocities and implications for evolutionary models

High-resolution spectra for 24 SMC and Galactic B-type supergiants have been analysed to estimate the contributions of both macroturbulence and rotation to the broadening of their metal lines. Two different methodologies are considered, viz. goodness-of-fit comparisons between observed and theoretical line profiles and identifying zeros in the Fourier transforms of the observed profiles. The advantages and limitations of the two methods are briefly discussed with the latter techniques being adopted for estimating projected rotational velocities ( v sin i) but the former being used to estimate macroturbulent velocities. The projected rotational velocity estimates range from approximately 20 to 60 kms(-1), apart from one SMC supergiant, Sk 191, with a v sin i similar or equal to 90 km s(-1). Apart from Sk 191, the distribution of projected rotational velocities as a function of spectral type are similar in both our Galactic and SMC samples with larger values being found at earlier spectral types. There is marginal evidence for the projected rotational velocities in the SMC being higher than those in the Galactic targets but any differences are only of the order of 5 - 10 km s(-1), whilst evolutionary models predict differences in this effective temperature range of typically 20 to 70 km s(-1). The combined sample is consistent with a linear variation of projected rotational velocity with effective temperature, which would imply rotational velocities for supergiants of 70 kms(-1) at an effective temperature of 28 000 K ( approximately B0 spectral type) decreasing to 32 km s(-1) at 12 000 K (B8 spectral type). For all targets, the macroturbulent broadening would appear to be consistent with a Gaussian distribution ( although other distributions cannot be discounted) with an 1/e half-width varying from approximately 20 km s(-1) at B8 to 60 km s(-1) at B0 spectral types.

The lipopolysaccharide core of Brucella abortus acts as a shield against innate immunity recognition

Innate immunity recognizes bacterial molecules bearing pathogen-associated molecular patterns to launch inflammatory responses leading to the activation of adaptive immunity. However, the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of the gram-negative bacterium Brucella lacks a marked pathogen-associated molecular pattern, and it has been postulated that this delays the development of immunity, creating a gap that is critical for the bacterium to reach the intracellular replicative niche. We found that a B. abortus mutant in the wadC gene displayed a disrupted LPS core while keeping both the LPS O-polysaccharide and lipid A. In mice, the wadC mutant induced proinflammatory responses and was attenuated. In addition, it was sensitive to killing by non-immune serum and bactericidal peptides and did not multiply in dendritic cells being targeted to lysosomal compartments. In contrast to wild type B. abortus, the wadC mutant induced dendritic cell maturation and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. All these properties were reproduced by the wadC mutant purified LPS in a TLR4-dependent manner. Moreover, the core-mutated LPS displayed an increased binding to MD-2, the TLR4 co-receptor leading to subsequent increase in intracellular signaling. Here we show that Brucella escapes recognition in early stages of infection by expressing a shield against recognition by innate immunity in its LPS core and identify a novel virulence mechanism in intracellular pathogenic gram-negative bacteria. These results also encourage for an improvement in the generation of novel bacterial vaccines.

Molecular basis of Yersinia enterocolitica temperature-dependent resistance to antimicrobial peptides

Antimicrobial peptides (APs) belong to the arsenal of weapons of the innate immune system against infections. In the case of gram-negative bacteria, APs interact with the anionic lipid A moiety of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In yersiniae most virulence factors are temperature regulated. Studies from our laboratory demonstrated that Yersinia enterocolitica is more susceptible to polymyxin B, a model AP, when grown at 37°C than at 22°C (J. A. Bengoechea, R. Díaz, and I. Moriyón, Infect. Immun. 64:4891-4899, 1996), and here we have extended this observation to other APs, not structurally related to polymyxin B. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that the lipid A modifications with aminoarabinose and palmitate are downregulated at 37°C and that they contribute to AP resistance together with the LPS O-polysaccharide. Bacterial loads of lipid A mutants in Peyer's patches, liver, and spleen of orogastrically infected mice were lower than those of the wild-type strain at 3 and 7 days postinfection. PhoPQ and PmrAB two-component systems govern the expression of the loci required to modify lipid A with aminoarabinose and palmitate, and their expressions are also temperature regulated. Our findings support the notion that the temperature-dependent regulation of loci controlling lipid A modifications could be explained by H-NS-dependent negative regulation alleviated by RovA. In turn, our data also demonstrate that PhoPQ and PmrAB regulate positively the expression of rovA, the effect of PhoPQ being more important. However, rovA expression reached wild-type levels in the phoPQ pmrAB mutant background, hence indicating the existence of an unknown regulatory network controlling rovA expression in this background.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia pestis show increased outer membrane permeability to hydrophobic agents which correlates with lipopolysaccharide acyl-chain fluidity

The hydrophobic probe N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine accumulated less in non-pathogenic Yersinia spp. and non-pathogenic and pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica than in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis or Yersinia pestis. This was largely due to differences in the activity of efflux systems, but also to differences in outer membrane permeability because uptake of the probe in KCN/arsenate-poisoned cells was slower in the former group than in Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis. The probe accumulation rate was higher in Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis grown at 37 degrees C than at 26 degrees C and was always highest in Y. pestis. These yersiniae had LPSs with shorter polysaccharides than Y. enterocolitica, particularly when grown at 37 degrees C. Gelliquid-crystalline phase transitions (Tc 28-31 degrees C) were observed in LPS aggregates of Y. enterocolitica grown at 26 and 37 degrees C, with no differences between non-pathogenic and pathogenic strains. Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis LPSs showed no phase transitions and, although the fluidity of LPSs of Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. enterocolitica grown at 26 degrees C were close below the Tc of the latter, they were always in a more fluid state than Y. enterocolitica LPS. Comparison with previous studies of Salmonella choleraesuis subsp. choleraesuis serotype minnesota rough LPS showed that the increased fluidity and absence of transition of Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis LPSs cannot be explained by their shorter polysaccharides and suggested differences at the lipid A/core level. It is proposed that differences in LPS-LPS interactions and efflux activity explain the above observations and reflect the adaptation of Yersinia spp. to different habitats.

Outer membrane differences between pathogenic and environmental Yersinia enterocolitica biogroups probed with hydrophobic permeants and polycationic peptides

Sensitivities to polycationic peptides and EDTA were compared in Yersinia enterocolitica pathogenic and environmental biogroups. As shown by changes in permeability to the fluorescent hydrophobic probe N-phenylnaphthylamine (NPN), the outer membranes (OMs) of pathogenic and environmental strains grown at 26 degrees C in standard broth were more resistant to poly-L-lysine, poly-L-ornithine, melittin, cecropin P1, polymyxin B, and EDTA than Escherichia coli OMs. At 37 degrees C, OMs of pathogenic biogroups were resistant to EDTA and polycations and OMs of environmental strains were resistant to EDTA whereas E. coli OMs were sensitive to both EDTA and polycations. Similar results were found when testing deoxycholate sensitivity after polycation exposure or when isogenic pairs with or without virulence plasmid pYV were compared. With bacteria grown without Ca++ available, OM permeability to NPN was drastically increased in pathogenic but not in environmental strains or E. coli. Under these conditions, OMs of pYV+ and pYV- cells showed small differences in NPN permeability but differences in polycation sensitivity could not be detected by fluorimetry. O:1,6 (environmental type) lipopolysaccharide (LPS), but not O:3 or O:8 LPS, was markedly rough at 37 degrees C, and this could explain the differences in polycation sensitivity. LPSs from serotypes O:3 and O:8 grown at 37 degrees C were more permeable to NPN than O:1,6 LPS, and O:8 LPS was resistant to polycation-induced permeabilization. These data suggest that LPSs relate to some but not all the OM differences described. It is hypothesized that the different OM properties of environmental and pathogenic biogroups reflect the adaptation of the latter biogroups to pathogenicity.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia pestis are more resistant to bactericidal cationic peptides than Yersinia enterocolitica

The action of bactericidal polycationic peptides was compared in Yersinia spp. by testing peptide binding to live cells and changes in outer membrane (OM) morphology and permeability. Moreover, polycation interaction with LPS was studied by measuring the dependence of dansylcadaverine displacement and zeta potential on polycation concentration. When growth at 37 degrees C, Yersinia pestis and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis bound less polymyxin B (PMB) than pathogenic or non-pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica, regardless of virulence plasmid expression. Y. pseudotuberculosis OMs were unharmed by PMB concentrations causing extensive OM blebbing in Y. enterocolitica. The permeability to lysozyme caused by PMB was greater in Y. enterocolitica than in Y. pseudotuberculosis or Y. pestis and differences increased at 37 degrees C. Similar observations were made with other polycations using a polymyxin/novobiocin permeability assay. With LPS of cells grown at 26 degrees C, polycation binding was highest for Y. pseudotuberculosis and lowest for Y. pestis, with Y. enterocolitica yielding intermediate results which were lower for pathogenic than for non-pathogenic strains. With LPS of cells grown at 37 degrees C, polycation binding remained unchanged for Y. pestis and pathogenic Y. enterocolitica, increased for non-pathogenic Y. enterocolitica and decreased for Y. pseudotuberculosis to Y. pestis levels. Polycation binding related in part to differences in charge density (zeta potential) of LPS aggregates, suggesting similar effects at bacterial surfaces. It is suggested that species and temperature differences in polycation resistance relate to infection route, invasiveness and intracellular multiplication of Yersinia spp.

Impacts of compressed air energy storage plant on an electricity market with a large renewable energy portfolio

Renewable energy generation is expected to continue to increase globally due to renewable energy targets and obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Some renewable energy sources are variable power sources, for example wind, wave and solar. Energy storage technologies can manage the issues associated with variable renewable generation and align non-dispatchable renewable energy generation with load demands. Energy storage technologies can play different roles in each of the step of the electric power supply chain. Moreover, large scale energy storage systems can act as renewable energy integrators by smoothing the variability. Compressed air energy storage is one such technology. This paper examines the impacts of a compressed air energy storage facility in a pool based wholesale electricity market in a power system with a large renewable energy portfolio.

A facile method for synthesizing PVA/Au, PVA/Ag and PVA/AuAg nanocomposites

In this paper, we presented a facile way of preparing PVA/Au, PVA/Ag and PVA/AuAg nanocomposites through in situ synthesis of metal nanoparticles in PVA hydrogel network using a room temperature atmospheric pressure microplasma. This is the first time microplasma technology is used for the fabrication of hydrogel based nanocomposites. The materials synthesized have been characterized for their microstructure and antibacterial properties. The nanoparticles synthesized within the PVA hydrogel network are found to be better dispersed than those synthesized in water, and their size and shape are more uniform. The new approach has opened a new avenue towards multi-scale synthesis of green and multi-functional nanocomposites, which may find wide range of potential applications in biomedical field.

Sher 25: pulsating but apparently alone

The blue supergiant Sher 25 is surrounded by an asymmetric, hourglass-shaped circumstellar nebula, which shows similarities to the triple-ring structure seen around SN 1987A. From optical spectroscopy over six consecutive nights, we detect periodic radial velocity variations in the stellar spectrum of Sher 25 with a peak-to-peak amplitude of ~ 12 km s^-1 on a time-scale of about 6 d, confirming the tentative detection of similar variations by Hendry et al. From consideration of the amplitude and time-scale of the signal, coupled with observed line profile variations, we propose that the physical origin of these variations is related to pulsations in the stellar atmosphere, rejecting the previous hypothesis of a massive, short-period binary companion. The radial velocities of two other blue supergiants with similar bipolar nebulae, SBW1 and HD 168625, were also monitored over the course of six nights, but these did not display any significant radial velocity variations. 

The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XXII. Multiplicity properties of the B-type stars

We investigate the multiplicity properties of 408 B-type stars observed in the 30 Doradus region of the Large Magellanic Cloud with multi-epoch spectroscopy from the VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey (VFTS). We use a cross-correlation method to estimate relative radial velocities from the helium and metal absorption lines for each of our targets. Objects with significant radial-velocity variations (and with an amplitude larger than 16 km s^-1) are classified as spectroscopic binaries. We find an observed spectroscopic binary fraction (defined by periods of <10^3.5 d and mass ratios >0.1) for the B-type stars, f<inf>B</inf>(obs) = 0.25 ± 0.02, which appears constant across the field of view, except for the two older clusters (Hodge 301 and SL 639). These two clusters have significantly lower binary fractions of 0.08 ± 0.08 and 0.10 ± 0.09, respectively. Using synthetic populations and a model of our observed epochs and their potential biases, we constrain the intrinsic multiplicity properties of the dwarf and giant (i.e. relatively unevolved) B-type stars in 30 Dor. We obtain a present-day binary fraction f<inf>B</inf>(true) = 0.58 ± 0.11, with a flat period distribution. Within the uncertainties, the multiplicity properties of the B-type stars agree with those for the O stars in 30 Dor from the VFTS.

Carbons, Ionic Liquids, and Quinones for Electrochemical Capacitors

Carbons are the main electrode materials used in supercapacitors, which are electrochemical energy storage devices with high power densities and long cycling lifetimes. However, increasing their energy density capacity will improve their potential for commercial implementation.
In this regard, the use of high surface area carbons and high voltage electrolytes are well known strategies to increase the attainable energy density, and lately ionic liquids have been explored as promising alternatives to current state of the art acetonitrile-based electrolytes. Also, in terms of safety and sustainability ionic liquids are attractive electrolyte materials for supercapacitors. In addition, it has been shown that the matching of the carbon pore size with the electrolyte ion size further increases the attainable electrochemical double layer (ECDL) capacitance and energy density.
The use of pseudocapacitive reactions can significantly increase the attainable energy density, and quinonic-based materials offer a potentially sustainable and cost effective research avenue for both the electrode and the electrolyte.
This perspective will provide an overview of the current state of the art research on supercapacitors based on combinations of carbons, ionic liquids and quinonic compounds, highlighting performances and challenges and discussing possible future research avenues. In this regard, current interest is mainly focused on strategies which may ultimately lead to commercially competitive sustainable high performance supercapacitors for different applications including those requiring mechanical flexibility and biocompatibility.