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Assimilating Seoul, the first book-length study written in English about Seoul during the colonial period, challenges conventional nationalist paradigms by revealing the intersection of Korean and Japanese history in this important capital. Through microhistories of Shinto festivals, industrial expositions, and sanitation campaigns, Todd A. Henry offers a transnational account that treats the city’s public spaces as \"contact zones,\" showing how residents negotiated pressures to become loyal, industrious, and hygienic subjects of the Japanese empire. Unlike previous, top-down analyses, this ethnographic history investigates modalities of Japanese rule as experienced from below. Although the colonial state set ambitious goals for the integration of Koreans, Japanese settler elites and lower-class expatriates shaped the speed and direction of assimilation by bending government initiatives to their own interests and identities. Meanwhile, Korean men and women of different classes and generations rearticulated the terms and degree of their incorporation into a multiethnic polity. Assimilating Seoul captures these fascinating responses to an empire that used the lure of empowerment to disguise the reality of alienation.

Rising CO 2 emissions have pushed scientists to develop new technologies for a more sustainable bio-based economy. Microbial conversion of CO 2 and CO 2 -derived carbon substrates into valuable compounds can contribute to carbon neutrality and sustainability. Here, we discuss the potential of C1 carbon sources as raw materials to produce energy, materials, and food and feed using microbial cell factories. We provide an overview of potential microbes, natural and synthetic C1 utilization pathways, and compare their metabolic driving forces. Finally, we sketch a future in which C1 substrates replace traditional feedstocks and we evaluate the costs associated with such an endeavor. The utilization of one-carbon assimilation pathways for bioproduction represents a promising direction towards a more sustainable bio-based economy. Here, the authors compare the thermodynamic efficiencies and energy demand of C1-assimilation pathways and discuss their implementation for energy, material, and food production.

The copper-nickel(-platinum-group element) sulfide resources of the Duluth Complex, Minnesota, USA, formed by assimilation of sulfur from the Virginia Formation black shale. In the normal black shale of the Virginia Formation, sulfur is mainly hosted in disseminated pyrite, whereas mm-scale pyrrhotite laminae dominate in the sulfur-rich Bedded Pyrrhotite Unit. The Bedded Pyrrhotite Unit was the main supply of sulfur in some of the magmatic sulfide deposits but its origin has not been studied in detail. Using Raman spectroscopy, we show that the carbonaceous material within the regionally metamorphosed normal black shale is graphitized biogenic material. The Bedded Pyrrhotite Unit contains pyrobitumen that represents residues of oil that accumulated to porous horizons, which formed due to dissolution of precursor sedimentary clasts. Replacement of the clasts by quartz and sulfides facilitated the formation of the pyrrhotite laminae of the Bedded Pyrrhotite Unit, which likely occurred during regional metamorphism. The pyrite-bearing normal black shale experienced loss of H 2 O, C org , and sulfur during devolatilization caused by the Duluth Complex. The contact-metamorphosed Bedded Pyrrhotite Unit shows no systematic depletion of volatiles and is the most C org and sulfur-rich part of the Virginia Formation. During devolatilization, sulfur was preserved because unlike pyrite, pyrrhotite was stable. Consequently, magmatic assimilation of sulfur from the Bedded Pyrrhotite Unit required partial melting. Retrograde hydration introduced H 2 O, and possibly C org , and sulfur, to the contact-metamorphosed Bedded Pyrrhotite Unit, which further affected the volatile budget. Our findings highlight why constraining diagenetic and regional metamorphic processes is important to understand magma-sediment interaction processes.

Few empires had such an impact on the conquered peoples as did the Roman empire, creating social, economic, and cultural changes that erased long-standing differences in material culture, languages, cults, rituals and identities. But even Rome could not create a single unified culture. Individual decisions introduced changes in material culture, identity, and behavior, creating local cultures within the global world of the Roman empire that were neither Roman nor native. The author uses Northwest Italy as an exemplary case as it went from a marginal zone to one of the most flourishing and strongly urbanized regions of Italy, while developing a unique regional culture. This volume will appeal to researchers interested in the Roman Empire, as well as those interested in individual and cultural identity in the past.

The current climatic change is predominantly driven by excessive anthropogenic CO 2 emissions. As industrial bioprocesses primarily depend on food-competing organic feedstocks or fossil raw materials, CO 2 co-assimilation or the use of CO 2 -derived methanol or formate as carbon sources are considered pathbreaking contributions to solving this global problem. The number of industrially-relevant microorganisms that can use these two carbon sources is limited, and even fewer can concurrently co-assimilate CO 2 . Here, we search for alternative native methanol and formate assimilation pathways that co-assimilate CO 2 in the industrially-relevant methylotrophic yeast Komagataella phaffii ( Pichia pastoris ). Using 13 C-tracer-based metabolomic techniques and metabolic engineering approaches, we discover and confirm a growth supporting pathway based on native enzymes that can perform all three assimilations: namely, the oxygen-tolerant reductive glycine pathway. This finding paves the way towards metabolic engineering of formate and CO 2 utilisation to produce proteins, biomass, or chemicals in yeast. One carbon compounds such as CO 2 , methanol and formate are cost-effective and environmentally friendly microbial feedstocks for biomanufacturing. Here, the authors report the oxygen tolerant reductive glycine pathway in Komagataella phaffii can co-assimilate CO 2 , methanol and formate.

Microalgae are a promising feedstock for biofuel production. Microalgal metabolic pathways are heavily influenced by environmental factors. For instance, lipid metabolism can be induced by nitrogen-limiting conditions. However, the underlying mechanisms of lipid biosynthesis are unclear. In this study, we analyzed the global metabolic profiles of three genetically closely related Chlorella strains (C1, C2, and C3) with significant differences in lipid productivity to identify the contributions of key metabolic pathways to lipid metabolism. We found that nitrogen obtained from amino acid catabolism was assimilated via the glutamate-glutamine pathway and then stored as amino acids and intermediate molecules (particularly proline, alanine, arginine, succinate, and gamma-aminobutyrate) via the corresponding metabolic pathways, which led to carbon-nitrogen disequilibrium. Excess carbon obtained from photosynthesis or glycolysis was re-distributed into carbon-containing compounds, such as glucose-6-phosphate, fructose-6-phosphate, phosphoenolpyruvate, lactate, citrate, 3-hydroxybutyrate, and leucine, and then diverted into lipid metabolism for the production of storage lipids via the gamma-aminobutyrate pathway, glycolysis, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. These results were substantiated in the model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by analyzing various mutants deficient in glutamate synthase/NADH-dependent, glutamate synthase/Fd-dependent, glutamine synthetase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, pyruvate kinase, and citrate synthase. Our study suggests that not only carbon but also nitrogen assimilation and distribution pathways contribute to lipid biosynthesis. Furthermore, these findings may facilitate genetic engineering efforts to enhance microalgal biofuel production.

To recover a nitrogen resource from high-ammonia-nitrogen wastewater, two amphitrophic hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria (HOB), Paracoccus denitrificans Y5 and P. versutus D6, capable of nitrogen assimilation for single-cell protein (SCP) production were isolated. These two HOB strains could grow autotrophically with H 2 as an electron donor, O 2 as an electron acceptor, CO 2 as a carbon source, and ammonia nitrogen (NH 4 + -N) as a nitrogen source. The cell molecular formulas of strains Y5 and D6 determined by autotrophic cultivation were C 3.33 H 6.83 O 2.58 N 0.77 and C 2.87 H 5.34 O 3.17 N 0.57 , respectively. The isolated strains could synchronously remove NH 4 + -N and organic carbon and produce SCP via heterotrophic cultivation. The rates of removal of NH 4 + -N and soluble chemical oxygen demand reached 35.47 and 49.04%, respectively, for Y5 under mixotrophic cultivation conditions with biogas slurry as a substrate. SCP content of strains Y5 and D6 was 67.34–73.73% based on cell dry weight. Compared with soybean meal, the SCP of Y5 contained a variety of amino acids.

Organic matter assimilation-induced reduction is thought to play a critical role in the formation of magmatic sulfide deposits if the parental magmas are too oxidized to form Ni-Cu deposits, but the mechanism for addition of organic matter to the magma and its global significance are unclear. The Tulaergen deposit, which was formed at 280 ± 4 Ma, is one of the several major magmatic Ni-Cu sulfide deposits in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt in western China and is associated with oxidized magmas derived from a subduction-modified mantle. Three types of carbonaceous phases are recognized in the sulfide-bearing ultramafic rocks, (i) graphite enclosed in olivine grains, (ii) graphite enclosed in apatite or sulfide, and (iii) solid bitumen in veinlets among silicates. The graphite inclusions are more common than the bitumen veins. Solid bitumen is also found in the Carboniferous volcano-sedimentary rocks which host the deposit. Based on the different modes of occurrences, we interpret that the graphite formed in the magmatic stage and bitumen during the post-magmatic stage. Non-carbonate carbon extracted from the sulfide-bearing ultramafic rocks has δ13C values from − 27.6 to − 22.9‰, significantly lower than mantle values (− 7 to − 5‰), but similar to those of volcano-sedimentary rocks (− 27.5 to − 24.0‰). The anomalous C isotopic ratios are attributed to addition of organic matter via dehydration of crustal rocks during magma emplacement. Bulk assimilation of country rocks estimated using Sr-Nd isotopes is only < 5 wt.%, suggesting that the organic matter was incorporated into the magma via selective assimilation. The addition of organic matter to the magma resulted in a sudden decrease of oxygen fugacity of the magma, thereby triggering sulfide over-saturation in the magma. No correlation is observed between δ13C values and estimated magmatic oxygen fugacities (fO2) for the Tulaergen deposit, which could be due to highly variable δ13C values in the contaminants. The δ34S values of sulfide ores are from − 1.3 to 3.8‰, within the range (− 2.6 to 4.5‰) of pyrite grains in the volcano-sedimentary rocks, suggesting that the country rocks could have supplied some sulfur to the magma. Our results propose that selective assimilation of organic matter, even for low abundance organic carbon in country rocks, could play a key role in causing sulfide saturation in highly oxidized mafic magma.

In this paper, we propose Deep Data Assimilation (DDA), an integration of Data Assimilation (DA) with Machine Learning (ML). DA is the Bayesian approximation of the true state of some physical system at a given time by combining time-distributed observations with a dynamic model in an optimal way. We use a ML model in order to learn the assimilation process. In particular, a recurrent neural network, trained with the state of the dynamical system and the results of the DA process, is applied for this purpose. At each iteration, we learn a function that accumulates the misfit between the results of the forecasting model and the results of the DA. Subsequently, we compose this function with the dynamic model. This resulting composition is a dynamic model that includes the features of the DA process and that can be used for future prediction without the necessity of the DA. In fact, we prove that the DDA approach implies a reduction of the model error, which decreases at each iteration; this is achieved thanks to the use of DA in the training process. DDA is very useful in that cases when observations are not available for some time steps and DA cannot be applied to reduce the model error. The effectiveness of this method is validated by examples and a sensitivity study. In this paper, the DDA technology is applied to two different applications: the Double integral mass dot system and the Lorenz system. However, the algorithm and numerical methods that are proposed in this work can be applied to other physics problems that involve other equations and/or state variables.

Purpose Probiotics have been reported to effectively alleviate hyperuricemia and regulate the gut microbiota. The aim of this work was to study the in vivo anti-hyperuricemic properties and the mechanism of a novel strain, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum X7022. Methods Purine content and mRNA expression of purine assimilation related enzymes were determined by HPLC and qPCR, respectively. Hyperuricemic mice were induced by potassium oxonate and hypoxanthine. Uric acid (UA), blood urea nitrogen, creatinine and renal inflammation were examined by kits. The expression of renal UA transporters was subjected to western blotting. Kidney tissues were sectioned for histological analysis. The fecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were determined by HPLC, and gut microbiota was investigated using the 16S rDNA metagenomic sequencing. Results L. plantarum X7022 possesses a complete purine assimilation pathway and can exhaust xanthine, guanine, and adenine by 82.1%, 33.1%, and 12.6%, respectively. The strain exhibited gastrointestinal viability as 44% at the dose of 10 9  CFU/mL in mice. After four-week administration of the strain, a significant decrease of 35.5% in the serum UA level in hyperuricemic mice was achieved. The diminished contents of fecal propionate and butyrate were dramatically boosted. The treatment also alleviated renal inflammation and restored renal damage. The above physiological changes may due to the inhibited xanthine oxidase (XO) activity, as well as the expressional regulation of UA transporters (GLUT9, URAT1 and OAT1) to the normal level. Notably, gut microbiota dysbiosis in hyperuricemic mice was improved with the inflammation and hyperuricemia related flora depressed, and SCFAs production related flora promoted. Conclusion The strain is a promising probiotic strain for ameliorating hyperuricemia.