(C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Short-fiber-reinforced Go-6983 rubber composites (SFRCs) with hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) as the matrix and fibrillar silicate (FS) nanofibers and short aramid microfibers (DCAFs)

as the fillers were developed, and their tensile properties, compression moduli, and mechanical anisotropies were investigated. The results indicated that the properties of the HNBR/DCAF/FS composites were determined by the loadings of the FS nanofibers and DCAF microfibers. A small amount of the microfibers combined with an appropriate amount of the nanofibers resulted in synergetic reinforcement and imparted to the SFRCs significantly improved mechanical properties without substantially compromising the rubbery characteristics. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 120: 1439-1447, 2011″
“Tularemia is primarily caused by two subspecies of Francisella tularensis worldwide, ssp. tularensis (type A) and ssp. holarctica (type B), which were originally delineated by phenotypic differences. Application of molecular typing

methods to investigate population structure of F. tularensis has confirmed that catagorizing the two subspecies via phenotypic characteristics corresponds with genotypic differentiation. In addition, genotyping methods have demonstrated that both subspecies, type A and type B. can be further distinguished into Selleck EPZ004777 subpopulations and, in some cases, biological relevance BIBF 1120 in vivo has been ascribed to these identified subpopulations. Genetic variation among both type A and type B subpopulations has been shown to correlate with differences in geographic distribution and has also been coupled to distinct ecological niches, animal hosts and

replication foci. Among type A subpopulations, strain variation is linked to differing clinical manifestations in humans and virulence in mice. This article will highlight our current understanding of F. tularensis subpopulations, including methods for their detection, their observed epidemiologic differences, implications for public health and basic research programs, as well as future challenges yet to be solved.”
“A water-soluble polysaccharide (HCP) with a molecular mass of 6.7 x 10(5) Da determined by high performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), was isolated from the fruit bodies of Sarcodon aspratus (Berk.) S. Ito., an edible mushroom. HCP was elucidated as a liner glucan with a backbone structure of (1 -> 6)-linked-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl residues by interpretation of the composition analysis, methylation analysis, periodate oxidation experiment, FT-IR, and NMR spectroscopy. Immunological activity evaluation using H-3-thymidine incorporation method revealed that HCP could significantly stimulate the proliferation of the cultured mice spleen lymphocyte in a dose-dependent manner.