The nonproteinogenic amino acid enduracididine is a critical component of the mannopeptimycins, cyclic glycopeptide antibiotics with activity against drug-resistant pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Enduracididine is produced in Streptomyces hygroscopicus by three enzymes, MppP, MppQ, and MppR. On the basis of primary sequence analysis, MppP and MppQ are pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent...
As engineered nanomaterials (ENM) become more common in consumer products, it is crucial to rapidly assess toxicity of unique ENM. Previous studies rarely focused on standardizing nanotoxicity testing, leading to inconsistent and irreproducible results. This study characterized a variety of ENM of different size, shape, core type, and surface charge...
Some studies using regional climate models (RCMs) suggest a weakening of the climatological rain-shadow along the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountains during the western US cool-season. To identify the possible mechanisms of rain-shadow weakening under warming, a new set of 30-year, high-resolution (6 km) pseudo-global warming (PGW) simulations were analyzed...
The hydrologic cycle on Earth comprises the transitions among the solid, liquid, and gaseous phases of water. Understanding the hydrologic cycle is of course important for climate science, but also for agricultural, drinking water, and disaster preparedness purposes. Improvements in satellite observations and general circulation models (GCMs) have led to...
Changes in glacier length reflect the integrated response to local fluctuations in temperature and precipitation, but when do such changes indicate forced climate change, and when do they indicate natural variability? In this study, we simulate the past ~1000 years of glacier length variability across the globe using the 3-stage...
In this work, a hybrid thermochemistry compressed air energy storage (CAES) system is investigated. Following a review on chemical reactions investigated for use in thermochemical energy storage (TCES) systems, from these chemistries, the conversion of magnesium carbonate, MgCO3, to magnesium oxide, MgO, and carbon dioxide, CO2, was further analyzed for...
Concentrated solar power (CSP) along with thermal energy storage (TES) has the potential to provide reliable energy from an intermittent source. TES is used to store energy while the sun is shining, allowing for the stored energy to be used when the sun is no longer shining. There are many...
Stranded natural gas and biogas comprise a vast energy resource that is mostly wasted via flaring. This represents an opportunity to investigate novel ways to harness this resource. Nonthermal plasmas consist of excited electrons, ions and neutral atoms/molecules that have the ability to disrupt chemical bonds at ambient temperatures and...
Natural freshwater availability is decreasing as the global population increases. Advances in desalination technologies aim to produce fresh water in an economical way. More sustainable energy sources are desired for these desalination plants to limit the carbon footprint of water production since global carbon dioxide production is exacerbating freshwater scarcity....