The GIS was then used to extract the physical covariates values a

The GIS was then used to extract the physical covariates values at each of the 400 points. These spatial variables were imported into SPSS v.11 statistical software package (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL) and transformed to prevent outliers from having a disproportionate influence on the analysis. Next, a Spearman’s rank correlation was conducted to test for collinearity between the four spatial

covariates. Non-independence was identified between slope and elevation, so a data reduction technique (PCA) was performed. This produced two components SB431542 cell line (with eigenvalues of 0.3532 and 0.0511, respectively) that were then used in subsequent analyses, instead of the original covariates. Logistic regression analyses were performed to determine which covariates, individually and in combination, best explained deforestation across the study area. Models were compared on the basis of the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Akaike weights (w i ) (Burnham and Anderson 2002). Models that were within two AIC units (∆AIC) of the top ranked model with the smallest AIC were considered as p38 MAPK inhibitor plausible candidate models and their results discussed. The performance of a final regression model was then evaluated by calculating

the area under the curve of receiver operating characteristics (ROC) plots. The presence of spatial autocorrelation Go6983 cost in the model was then tested by calculating Moran’s I statistic (Cliff and Ord 1981) using the Crime-Stat v1.1 software package (N Levine and Associates, Annadale, VA). Next, a spatially explicit forest risk model was constructed within the GIS, using the significant spatial covariates and their beta coefficient values within the final logistic regression equation. A Mann–Whitney U test was performed to investigate the accuracy of of the deforestation risk model. For this,

the mean predicted risk values were extracted for 100 randomly selected points that were cleared between 2002 and 2004 and compared with 100 randomly selected points that had not been cleared during the same period. Modeling conservation intervention scenarios Based on the amount of remaining forest cover in 2002, the 1985–2002 deforestation rate was recalculated as the area of forest predicted to be cleared in the following year (i.e. 2003). Next, to predict and map deforestation patterns across the study area, a three stage iterative process was performed. First, the most threatened forest patches (1 ha pixels) equivalent to the calculated area of forest loss were identified and removed from the forest risk model. Second, this forest loss was then incorporated within an updated distance to forest edge covariate which, along with the other spatial covariates, formed a revised spatial dataset.

Table 1 Recommended target wait times (days) for cancer operation

Table 1 Recommended target wait times (days) for cancer operations based on assigned priority category, as established by the Cancer Care Ontario sub-committee on cancer wait times Priority category check details Clinical conditions Consult to decision-to-treat* Ready-to-treat to operation P1 Patients requiring surgery to remove known or suspected cancers that have immediately life-threatening conditions (e.g., airway obstruction, hemorrhage, neurological compromise) Immediate Immediate P2 Patients diagnosed

with very aggressive tumours, such as central nervous system (CNS) cancer 14 14 P3 All patients with known or suspected invasive cancer that does not meet the criteria of urgency category II or IV 14 28 P4 Patients diagnosed mTOR inhibitor with indolent tumours 14 84 *From the date of the patient’s first visit to the operating surgeon for this specific problem until the decision-to-treat date. The decision-to-treat date is the date on which sufficient Tanespimycin pre-treatment testing is complete, the physician can reasonably assume that the patient will be treated, and the patient has agreed to the treatment. By

this date, sufficient assessment will have been completed in order to reasonably assume that the procedure will go ahead, and an operating room booking is requested. All adults (age 18 and older) undergoing elective cancer surgery with curative intent and whose decision-to-treat and operation dates fell within the defined study periods 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase were included. We excluded patients whose cases were booked in emergency or ACCESS OR time, and patients who were assigned a P1 priority status, since they required an imminent operation and thus were typically operated on non-electively. We also excluded patients who underwent surgery to remove benign or pre-malignant tumours, to correct or repair defects from previous cancer operations (reconstructive surgery), or to provide palliation. Analyses were carried out on the basis of surgeries performed by general surgeons,

as well as the overall patient population. Continuous variables were compared using the Mann–Whitney U-test. Categorical variables were compared using chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests where indicated. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Statistical analysis was performed using Graphpad Prism Version 5 (Graphpad, La Jolla, California). Results We identified a total of 732 patients who underwent cancer surgery by the general surgeons at VH across the two study periods (Table 2). There were 365 elective cancer surgeries performed in the post-ACCESS, compared to 367 cases performed in the pre-ACCESS period. Overall, there was no difference in the median wait-times (25 versus 23 days) between the eras for elective general surgery cancer operations (p = 0.82).

Although VAS scales are mostly

used in studies of self-re

Although VAS scales are mostly

used in studies of self-reports on pain, already in 1977 they were used in a study about the functional capacity in rheumatoid arthritis patients (Scott and Huskisson 1977). Also in other studies VAS scales were used, such as, in assessing functional disability and ability to perform physical activities (Durüoz 1996; Knop et al. 2001; Kwa et al. 1996; Post et al. 2006). selleck Furthermore, VAS scales were used in studies on quality of life and functional scores (Krief and Huguet 2005; Matheson et al. 2006). We also performed a pilot study in which we studied the feasibility of the VAS to assess the judgment of IPs in disability claims. According to the participating AR-13324 in vitro IPs, the VAS was a feasible method of assessing eFT-508 cost the level of physical work ability in claimants with MSDs. The following 12 activities were rated on a VAS: walking, sitting, standing, lifting or carrying, dynamic movements of the trunk, static bending of the trunk, reaching, movements above shoulder height, kneeling

or crouching and 3 activities related to hand and finger movements (repetitive hand movements, specific hand movements and pinch or grip strength). These activities were selected from several questionnaires as being valid and useful for assessment of the physical work ability of subjects with MSDs. Questionnaires were taken only for the selection of activities and not tests, because no physical tests were found to have the same clinimetric quality (Wind et al. 2005). All the selected activities are part of the FCE test, and the test results are described in the FCE report. The selected activities are also part of the functional ability list (FAL), which is the instrument currently used routinely by IPs to classify physical work ability in the context of disability claims. The VAS score ranged from 0 to 10 and was represented by a horizontal line, length of 10 cm. The lower limit (0) was defined as complete lack of physical work ability for the activity in question compared

to the situation before the claimant became disabled. The upper limit (10) was defined Adenylyl cyclase as no loss of physical work ability for that activity compared to the situation before onset of disability. The main outcome measure is a shift of more than 1.2 cm in the VAS score for work ability as determined for one of the 12 physical activities between the first and second assessment carried out by each IP. A change of more than 1.2 cm between the two VAS scores for a given claimant was regarded as representing an intentional change in the IP’s judgment of the physical work ability. This assumption was based on the outcome of the previous mentioned unpublished feasibility study. In that study, 6 IPs assessed the physical work ability of claimants with MSDs in the context of disability claims and re-assessed the physical work ability after 2 weeks, based on the information in the claimants file.

A limitation of our study is the lack of comparison of our sequen

A limitation of our study is the lack of comparison of our sequences with that of the upper respiratory flora. This could possibly be obtained by performing 16S rDNA sequencing on a matching nasal lavage sample for each mouse. This should be done in the future. Our lung tissue samples showed some clustering that could indicate a sampling problem. In our study we sampled the distal tip of the left lung lobe after the BAL procedure was performed. The clustering could be a result of this BAL procedure not being equally effective between samples in the very low airways, sometimes leaving the distal

tip un-flushed. This would predict a clustering showing one community equal to the one found in the BAL and one more rich and diverse representing the less rinsed tissue. If we were especially interested in the tissue associated click here microbiota, BAL should not be performed before sampling and mouse cells should not be removed from the BAL fluid before extraction. LCL161 cost Our results show

that there are fewer OTUs in the BAL-plus samples with mouse cells and that the lung tissues samples have a large variation. This suggests that the removal of tissues and host cells is a viable approach, when extracting DNA for the examination of the lung microbiome. Another challenge when working with low bacterial loads is the risk of contamination from the environment or sampling procedures. Some contamination must be expected and taken into account when interpreting data. We believe that we have taken large precautions to insure sterility during procedures and we have used excess controls to check

that our sampling procedure or experimental chemicals did not produce any sequences on their own Dipeptidyl peptidase in the PCRs. Culturing of the BAL used for DNA extraction did not yield many bacteria either. Furthermore, our sequences were very consistent between mice. This would suggest that any contamination was either negligible or at least distributed evenly between mice. We did find large JQEZ5 variation within the vaginal samples resulting in subclustering into groups we designated S1 and S2 (Figure 1C and D). S1 (vaginal samples 2, 5 and 8) was found to be much more distantly related to caecum and lung communities than the S2 group, which more closely resembled the lung microbiota. We believe this could be the result of a possible infection in the S1 vaginas, as these 3 samples contained 56-97% Streptococcus. In the present study, we did not monitor the stage of the estrous cycle at the time of sampling, which has been shown to change the bacterial profile of the vagina in animals and humans [28, 29]. Mice have a daily fluctuation in estrous cycle, which in part could explain the subclustering of the vaginal microbiota. This should be taken into account in futures studies.

Moreover, risk factors can vary according to the type of

Moreover, risk factors can vary according to the type of Protein Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor threat, for instance habitat loss versus hunting or predation by introduced species (Owens and Bennett 2000; Isaac and Cowlishaw 2004). A smaller number of studies have investigated correlates of vulnerability for invertebrates (Reynolds 2003), and have focused on butterflies and moths (e.g., Thomas and Morris 1995; Warren et al. 2001; Franzén and Johannesson 2007), carabid beetles (Kotze and O’Hara 2003), hoverflies (Sullivan et al. 2000) and arthropod predators and herbivores on nettle plants (Zabel and Tscharnke 1998). The

results from these studies, as with those on vertebrates, are not always consistent, but suggest that body size, degree of specialization, distributional range and mobility may be associated with vulnerability. The generality Mizoribine price of risk traits across terrestrial arthropod groups, and whether they typically differ from those of other animals, remains unclear. In addition, nearly all of the aforementioned arthropod studies examine risk status, extinction, or population decline principally as

a result of habitat loss or fragmentation. It is unknown whether the same traits will correlate with vulnerability when arthropods are threatened primarily by invasive species. Invasive ants exert some of the most damaging impacts on arthropod communities (Holway et al. 2002) and hence are among the most thoroughly studied of insect invaders. Despite a fairly large number of case studies, it has been difficult to identify non-ant taxa that are consistently vulnerable NVP-BEZ235 in vivo to invasive ants (Human and Gordon 1997; Holway et al. 2002), and therefore to develop an understanding of what factors may promote vulnerability. This shortcoming could be due to real variation in vulnerability among sites, or alternatively may result Bay 11-7085 from low taxonomic resolution masking real trends, or could be an artifact of methodological differences between studies.

In the present study, we avoided these uncertainties by employing standard methods to examine the vulnerability of arthropods to invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) and big-headed ants (Pheidole megacephala) at five sites in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian Islands are believed to have no native ant species (Wilson 1996), and the anthropogenic introduction of ants to the archipelago has long been considered to be devastating for the endemic arthropod fauna (Perkins 1913; Zimmerman 1970; Reimer 1994). We assessed whether body size, population density, or trophic role was correlated with vulnerability among a large number and wide variety of arthropod species. In addition, we examined taxonomic trends and the influence of provenance—the extent to which vulnerability can be attributed to a species being endemic rather than introduced to the islands. Finally, we used the high taxonomic resolution in this study to examine population-level variation in impact between communities.

The DNAs of these control strains were also used as template to P

The DNAs of these control strains were also used as template to PCR amplify each of the virulence gene followed by preparation of DNA probes. The E. coli eaeA gene was PCR amplified using the eae-F and eae-R primer set and subtyped by PCR-RFLP BIX 1294 price with MspI as described previously [34]. Cytotoxicity assay Cytotoxicity assay was performed as described earlier [10]. Briefly, test strains were grown overnight in 3 mL of tryptic soy broth at 37°C overnight with shaking. Bacterial cells were lysed by sonication using an Astrason ultrasonic processor (Heat-System

7 Ultrasonics, Farmingdale, NY, USA) and each sonic lysate was passed through sterile disposable filter with 0.22-μm pore size and each filtrate was used for cytotoxicity assay. Vero and CHO cells were seeded at density of 1 × 104 cells in a 96 well plate (Asahi glass Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) respectively, and 20 μL of 2-fold serially diluted each toxin solution was added to assay their cytotoxic effects. After 9 h of incubation, 100 μL of fresh medium was added per well and cytotoxic effect of each test sample, if any, was examined microscopically after 72 h of incubation. The toxin titer was expressed as the reciprocal of the highest dilution that caused

50% of the Vero and CHO cells in a well to be killed and distended, respectively. E. coli strains Sakai and GB1371 were always used as positive controls and as a negative

control we used E. coli strain C600. Vero and CHO cells were cultured in Minimum Essential Medium (MEM) and MEM-α (Life technologies), respectively, LDN-193189 clinical trial containing 10% fetal bovine serum (EuroClone S.p.A., Pero, Italy), and 1% antibiotic-antimycotic (100x) (Penicillin G sodium [10,000 U/mL], streptomycin sulfate [10,000 μg/mL], and 25 μg/mL amphotericin B in 0.85% saline [Life technologies]). Cells were cultured at 37°C under 5% CO2 Oxaprozin in air. Sequence analysis of cdt-III and cdt-V To determine the entire sequence of the cdt genes, the cdt gene-cluster including their flanking regions were PCR amplified followed by sequencing as previously described [10]. For the cdt-III genes, PCR product obtained by the pVir-u and pVir-d primers specific to the flanking region of cdt-III on the pVir plasmid was sequenced. For the cdt-V genes, PCR products obtained by the P2-A2 and CdtVC-D2 primers and the CdtIII/VB-F2 and P2-C3 primers were sequenced (Figure 1). Each PCR product was purified by the QIAquick PCR Purification Kit (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany) and the nucleotide sequence of the PCR product was determined as described above. Nucleotide and amino acid sequences were analyzed and compared with each subtype using the BLAST program through the DDBJ (DNA Data Bank of Japan), and the DNA Lasergene software Eltanexor in vivo package (DNASTAR).

TVL is a postdoctoral fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders

TVL is a postdoctoral fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). The financial support of the Hercules Foundation (project AUGE/013) is gratefully acknowledged.

We thank Dr. Dionyssios Perdikis for collecting the Greek Macrolophus populations. buy CP673451 We acknowledge Tim Lacoere for assistance with the PCR-DGGE’s. Thanks also go to Koppert BV, The Netherlands, for providing us with a laboratory strain of M. pygmaeus. This article has been published as part of BMC Microbiology Volume 11 Supplement 1, 2012: Arthropod symbioses: from fundamental studies to pest and disease mangement. The full contents of the supplement are available online at http://​www.​biomedcentral.​com/​1471-2180/​12?​issue=​S1. Electronic supplementary material Additional file 1: Accession numbers phylogenetic tree. Description: Accession numbers of the 16s rRNA, glta and coxA genes of different species used for constructing

the phylogenetic tree of Rickettsia. (DOCX 14 KB) References 1. Douglas AE: Nutritional interactions in insect-microbial symbioses: aphids and their symbiotic bacteria Buchnera . Annu Rev Entomol 1998, 43:17–37.PubMedCrossRef 2. Gross R, Vavre F, Heddi A, Hurst GDD, Zchori-Fein E, Bourtzis K: Immunity and symbiosis. Molecular Microbiology 2009,73(5):751–759.PubMedCrossRef AZD5582 in vitro 3. Brownlie JC, Johnson KN: Symbiont-mediated protection in insect hosts. Trends in Microbiology 2009,17(8):348–354.PubMedCrossRef 4. Werren JH: Biology of Wolbachia . Annu Rev Entomol 1997, 42:587–609.PubMedCrossRef 5. Werren JH, O’Neill SL: The evolution of heritable symbionts. In Influential Passengers: Inherited Microorganisms and Arthropod Reproduction. Edited by: O’Neill SL, Hoffmann AA, Werren JH. New York: Oxford University

Press; 1997:1–41. 6. Hilgenboecker K, Hammerstein P, Schlattmann P, Telschow A, Werren JH: How many species are infected with Wolbachia ? A statistical analysis of current data. FEMS Microbiol Lett 2008,281(2):215–220.PubMedCrossRef 7. Stouthamer R, Breeuwer JAJ, Hurst GDD: LY294002 Wolbachia pipientis: microbial manipulator of arthropod reproduction. Annu Rev Microbiol 1999, 53:71–102.PubMedCrossRef 8. Stevens L, Giordano R, Fialho RF: Male-killing, nematode Mocetinostat order infections, bacteriophage infection, and virulence of cytoplasmic bacteria in the genus Wolbachia . Annu Rev Ecol Syst 2001, 32:519–545.CrossRef 9. Stouthamer R, Luck RF, Hamilton WD: Antibiotics cause parthenogenetic Trichogramma (Hymenoptera/Trichogrammatidae) to revert to sex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1990,87(7):2424–2427.PubMedCrossRef 10. Rousset F, Bouchon D, Pintureau B, Juchault P, Solignac M: Wolbachia endosymbionts responsible for various alterations of sexuality in arthropods. Proc Biol Sci 1992,250(1328):91–98.PubMedCrossRef 11.

[Govindjee has always greatly valued Bob Blankenship’s kind words

[Govindjee has always greatly valued Bob Blankenship’s kind words about the Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration book series at the time volume 25 (Chlorophylls and Bacteriochlorophylls) was released. He wrote: “Congratulations on another volume in the Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration (AIPH) series. Govindjee’s 4SC-202 mentor Eugene Rabinowitch wrote the story of photosynthesis

in the 1940s and 1950s. No one could ever hope to do that again; the amount of information is just too vast for any one person to ever hope to do a proper job of giving the real state of knowledge. However, Govindjee has really HDAC inhibitor duplicated Rabinowitch’s accomplishment in the only way it could be done nowadays, by enlisting editors who are experts in areas of the field and having them in turn enlist expert authors. When I look at the AIPH books on my shelf I am struck with how effectively they collectively summarize the field. I am continually impressed with how Govindjee has added new books to the series that make sense and really provide the level of detail that is needed” Source: ; see Fig. 4… JJE-R.] Bob Buchanan Professor, Department of Plant & Microbial Biology University of California Stem Cells inhibitor Berkeley, CA Dear Govindjee Your contributions in making the work of Andrew Benson better known will be long

remembered. [It was Govindjee who spent many days with Andy Benson, the co-discoverer of Calvin-Benson cycle for carbon fixation, and brought to light Benson’s contributions; he brought Benson’s work to the attention of the BBC that has produced a video “Botany: A Blooming History, Episode 2: The Power of Plants”; it fully recognizes Benson’s contributions. There is also a entertaining chat by Govindjee with Benson at a web site; it was recorded by John Nishio; it can be seen at: http://​www.​life.​illinois.​edu/​govindjee/​index_​files/​Andy%20​Benson_​Asilomar_​2002.​mpg

… JJE-R.] Carl N. Cederstrand Retired from Beckman Instrument Company, Lives in Orange, CA It gives me much pleasure to comment on my association with Govindjee during the time I was at the photosynthesis laboratory at Tacrolimus (FK506) the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Govindjee had so much enthusiasm for understanding photosynthesis that I believe his enthusiasm could have made photosynthesis work without chlorophyll. [Carl Cederstrand’s PhD was done essentially under the guidance of Govindjee. It was at the time when they provided one of the first papers on fluorescence characteristics of the two photosystems and the existence of different spectral forms of chlorophyll a (Cederstrand and Govindjee 1961; Cederstrand et al. 1966a, b). It was Cederstrand who taught Govindjee how to drive a car and survived (see Eaton-Rye 2007b)… JJE-R.] Fred (W. S.

Mater Chem Phys 2007, 105:325–330 CrossRef Competing interests Th

Mater Chem Phys 2007, 105:325–330.CrossRef Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ contributions AA collected and reviewed the data and drafted the manuscript. ARD and MAAH modified the draft in first version and after revision. NKO participated in the discussion. ES participated in analysis and interpretation of data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background As a new class of energy storage device, supercapacitors, also known as electrochemical capacitors, has received CP673451 molecular weight considerable attention that can be used in hybrid electric

vehicles, memory backup, and other emergency power supply devices due to their higher power density, superior cycle lifetime, and low maintenance cost. However, the energy density of supercapacitors is lower than batteries [1–6]. It is highly desirable to increase the energy density of supercapacitors to approach that of batteries, which could enable their use as primary power sources. Supercapacitors store electrical energy by two mechanisms [7, 8]: electrochemical double-layer selleck products capacitance (EDLC) and pseudocapacitance.

In EDLC, the capacitance comes from the charge accumulated at the electrode-electrolyte interface. Carbon-based materials are widely used in EDLC electrode due to their high surface area and excellent electric conductivity. Compared to EDLCs, pseudocapacitors can provide much higher capacitance and energy density AZD2281 through Faradic reaction [6, 7]. Transition metal oxides and conducting polymers are the promising candidates because they can provide high energy density for pseudocapacitors. It has been found that carbon materials which combine with pseudocapacitive electrode materials can improve the capacitance of supercapacitors [8–10]. Graphene (Gr) is an atom-thick, two-dimensional (2D) material composed of a monolayer hexagonal sp 2-hybridized carbon. Gr with the maximum surface area of 2,630 m2 g−1 and high intrinsic electrical conductivity this website is believed

to be one of the most promising electrode materials for supercapacitors [11–14]. However, in practical applications, Gr nanosheets usually suffer from agglomeration or restacking due to strong van der Waals interactions [15–17], which leads to the loss of surface area and capacitance. Metal/metal oxide or metal hydroxide nanoparticles are currently introduced into the interlayer of Gr nanosheets to prevent agglomeration [18–21]. Transition metal oxides [22–25], which can contribute to pseudocapacitance such as RuO2, have been recognized as the best electrode materials for supercapacitors. However, their expensive nature and high toxicity severely limit their practical application in a large scale. Therefore, the development of low-cost and high-abundance metal oxide as an alternative is highly desirable [26–29].

68 to 0 70 at 620 nm) by centrifugation at 12,000 rpm for 10 min

68 to 0.70 at 620 nm) by centrifugation at 12,000 rpm for 10 min. The pellet was washed thrice with sodium chloride solution (0.9%, w/v) and then resuspended in sodium chloride solution (0.9%, w/v). Fe3O4 nanoparticles were prepared as previously Bucladesine price described [7]. Fe3O4 powder (1.0 g) was put into 100 ml distilled water to form the Fe3O4 particle suspension. After ultrasonic disruption (25 KHz, 10 min; BUG25-06, Branson, MO, USA) of the suspension, the Fe3O4 nanoparticles were well dispersed in distilled water to form a stable suspension. Fe3O4 particle suspension (1%, w/v) and cell suspension were mixed with the ratio of cell wet weight to Fe3O4 of 1 (w/w). Microbial

cells and Fe3O4 nanoparticles were fully mixed by vortexing, then the mixture was incubated at 30°C for 2 h in a dark shaker to obtain microbial cell/Fe3O4 biocomposites. All biodegradation experiments were carried out in 100-ml flasks containing 10-ml MSM at 30°C on a reciprocal shaker at 180 rpm. In each experiment, 3,500 μg of carbazole was added to MSM, and the microbial cell/Fe3O4 biocomposites made by 2 ml mixture of Fe3O4 particle suspension selleck and cell suspension served as biocatalysts. Additionally, the same amount of cells

was conducted in the batch biodegradation experiment. All the subsequent experiments contained the same amount of carbazole and biocatalysts as above. In the recycle experiments, after each batch of biodegradation, the microbial cell/Fe3O4 biocomposites were collected using a magnetic field, and then

were washed thrice with MSM to remove the free cells. After the MSM was drained, 10 ml of fresh MSM containing carbazole was added to repeat the cycle. All experiments were performed in triplicate. After each batch of biodegradation, the biodegradation mixture was added 20 ml ethanol, followed by centrifugation (12,000 rpm for 20 min) and filtration. Residual contents of carbazole were determined using High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). HPLC was performed with an Agilent 1100 series (selleck chemical Hewlett-Packard) instrument equipped with a reversed-phase C18 column (4.6 mm × 150 mm, Hewlett-Packard). The mobile phase was a Teicoplanin mixture of methanol and deionized water (90:10, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.5 ml min-1, and carbazole was monitored at 254 nm with a variable-wavelength detector. The size and morphology of magnetic nanoparticles and microbial cell/Fe3O4 biocomposite were determined by transmission electronic microscopy (TEM; JEM-100cx II, JEOL, Akishima-shi, Japan). The sample was prepared by evaporating a drop of properly diluted microbial cell/Fe3O4 biocomposite or nanoparticle suspension on a carbon copper grid. The morphology of free cells was determined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM; S-570, Hitachi, Chiyoda-ku, Japan). Magnetization curves for the magnetic immobilized cells were obtained with a vibrating sample magnetometer (MicroMag 2900/3900, Princeton Measurements Corp., Westerville, OH, USA).