Search results for: microbial electrolysis cell

Authors: Akintade O. Adeboyejo, Edwin O. Clarke, Oluwatoyin Aderinola

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The present study is on the sub-lethal toxicity of industrial effluents (IE) from the environment of Ologe Lagoon, Lagos, Nigeria on the African catfish fingerlings Clarias gariepinus. The fish were cultured in varying concentrations of industrial effluents: 0% (control), 5%, 15%, 25%, and 35%. Trials were carried out in triplicates for twelve (12) weeks. The culture system was a static renewable bioassay and was carried out in the fisheries laboratory of the Lagos State University, Ojo-Lagos. Weekly physico-chemical parameters: Temperature (0C), pH, Conductivity (ppm) and Dissolved Oxygen (DO in mg/l) were measured in each treatment tank. Length (cm) and weight (g) data were obtained weekly and used to calculate various growth parameters: mean weight gain (MWG), percentage weight gain (PWG), daily weight gain (DWG), specific growth rate (SGR) and survival. Haematological (Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Red blood cells (RBC), White Blood Cell (WBC), Neutrophil and Lymphocytes etc) and histological alterations were measured after 12 weeks. The physico-chemical parameters showed that the pH ranged from 7.82±0.25–8.07±0.02. DO range from 1.92±0.66-4.43±1.24 mg/l. The conductivity values increased with increase in concentration of I.E. While the temperature remained stable with mean value range between 26.08±2.14–26.38±2.28. The DO showed significant differences at P<0.05. There was progressive increase in length and weight of fish during the culture period. The fish placed in the control had highest increase in both weight and length while fish in 35% had the least. MWG ranged from 16.59–35.96, DWG is from 0.3–0.48, SGR varied from 1.0–1.86 and survival was 100%. Haematological results showed that C. gariepinus had PCV ranging from 13.0±1.7-27.7±0.6, RBC ranged from 4.7±0.6–9.1±0.1, and Neutrophil ranged from 26.7±4.6–61.0±1.0 amongst others. The highest values of these parameters were obtained in the control and lowest at 35%. While the reverse effects were observed for WBC and lymphocytes. This study has shown that effluents may affect the health status of the test organism and impair vital processes if exposure continues for a long period of time. The histological examination revealed several lesions as expressed by the gills and livers. The histopathology of the gills in the control tanks had normal tissues with no visible lesion, but at higher concentrations, there were: lifting of epithelium, swollen lamellae and gill arch infiltration, necrosis and gill arch destruction. While in the liver: control (0%) show normal liver cells, at higher toxic level, there were: vacoulation, destruction of the hepatic parenchyma, tissue becoming eosinophilic (i.e. tending towards Carcinogenicity) and severe disruption of the hepatic cord architecture. The study has shown that industrial effluents from the study area may affect fish health status and impair vital processes if exposure continues for a long period of time even at lower concentrations (Sublethal).

Keywords: sublethal toxicity, industrial effluents, clarias gariepinus, ologe lagoon

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Authors: Neelam Singha

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The present work intends to analyze the system dynamics of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis with the assistance of fractional calculus. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the thyroid gland, which gradually results in interrupting the normal thyroid operation. Consequently, the feedback control of the system gets disrupted due to thyroid follicle cell lysis. And, the patient perceives life-threatening clinical conditions like goiter, hyperactivity, euthyroidism, hyperthyroidism, etc. In this work, we aim to obtain the approximate solution to the posed fractional-order problem describing Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. We employ the Adomian decomposition method to solve the system of fractional-order differential equations, and the solutions obtained shall be useful to provide information about the effect of medical care. The numerical technique is executed in an organized manner to furnish the associated details of the progression of the disease and to visualize it graphically with suitable plots.

Keywords: adomian decomposition method, fractional derivatives, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, mathematical modeling

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Authors: Deb Kumar Shah, M. Shaheer Akhtar, Ha Ryeon Lee, O-Bong Yang, Chong Yeal Kim

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The crystalline silicon (Si) solar cells are highly renowned photovoltaic technology and well-established as the commercial solar technology. Most of the solar panels are globally installed with the crystalline Si solar modules. At the present scenario, the major photovoltaic (PV) market is shared by c-Si solar cells, but the cost of c-Si panels are still very high as compared with the other PV technology. In order to reduce the cost of Si solar panels, few necessary steps such as low-cost Si manufacturing, cheap antireflection coating materials, inexpensive solar panel manufacturing are to be considered. It is known that the antireflection (AR) layer in c-Si solar cell is an important component to reduce Fresnel reflection for improving the overall conversion efficiency. Generally, Si wafer exhibits the 30% reflection because it normally poses the two major intrinsic drawbacks such as; the spectral mismatch loss and the high Fresnel reflection loss due to the high contrast of refractive indices between air and silicon wafer. In recent years, researchers and scientists are highly devoted to a lot of researches in the field of searching effective and low-cost AR materials. Silicon nitride (SiNx) is well-known AR materials in commercial c-Si solar cells due to its good deposition and interaction with passivated Si surfaces. However, the deposition of SiNx AR is usually performed by expensive plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process which could have several demerits like difficult handling and damaging the Si substrate by plasma when secondary electrons collide with the wafer surface for AR coating. It is very important to explore new, low cost and effective AR deposition process to cut the manufacturing cost of c-Si solar cells. One can also be realized that a nano-texturing process like the growth of nanowires, nanorods, nanopyramids, nanopillars, etc. on Si wafer can provide a low reflection on the surface of Si wafer based solar cells. The above nanostructures might be enhanced the antireflection property which provides the larger surface area and effective light trapping. In this work, we report on the development of crystalline Si solar cells without using the AR layer. The Silicon wafer was modified by growing nanowires like Si nanostructures using the wet controlled etching method and directly used for the fabrication of Si solar cell without AR. The nanostructures over Si wafer were optimized in terms of sizes, lengths, and densities by changing the etching conditions. Well-defined and aligned wires like structures were achieved when the etching time is 20 to 30 min. The prepared Si nanostructured displayed the minimum reflectance ~1.64% at 850 nm with the average reflectance of ~2.25% in the wavelength range from 400-1000 nm. The nanostructured Si wafer based solar cells achieved the comparable power conversion efficiency in comparison with c-Si solar cells with SiNx AR layer. From this study, it is confirmed that the reported method (controlled wet etching) is an easy, facile method for preparation of nanostructured like wires on Si wafer with low reflectance in the whole visible region, which has greater prospects in developing c-Si solar cells without AR layer at low cost.

Keywords: chemical etching, conversion efficiency, silicon nanostructures, silicon solar cells, surface modification

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Authors: Hanan Begali, Shahi Dost, Annett Ziegler, Markus Cornberg, Maria-Esther Vidal, Anke R. M. Kraft

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Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can be treated with nucleot(s)ide analog (NA), for example, which inhibits HBV replication. However, they have hardly any influence on the functional cure of HBV, which is defined by hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss. NA needs to be taken life-long, which is not available for all patients worldwide. Additionally, NA-treated patients are still at risk of developing cirrhosis, liver failure, or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although each patient has the same components of the immune system, immune responses vary between patients. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the immune response against HBV in different patients is necessary to understand the parameters leading to HBV cure and to use this knowledge to optimize HBV therapies. This requires seamless integration of an enormous amount of diverse and fine-grained data from viral markers, e.g., hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). The data integration system relies on the assumption that profiling human immune systems requires the analysis of various variables (e.g., demographic data, treatments, pre-existing conditions, immune cell response, or HLA-typing) rather than only one. However, the values of these variables are collected independently. They are presented in a myriad of formats, e.g., excel files, textual descriptions, lab book notes, and images of flow cytometry dot plots. Additionally, patients can be identified differently in these analyses. This heterogeneity complicates the integration of variables, as data management techniques are needed to create a unified view in which individual formats and identifiers are transparent when profiling the human immune systems. The proposed study (HBsRE) aims at integrating heterogeneous data sets of 87 chronically HBV-infected patients, e.g., clinical data, immune cell response, and HLA-typing, with knowledge encoded in biomedical ontologies and open-source databases into a knowledge-driven framework. This new technique enables us to harmonize and standardize heterogeneous datasets in the defined modeling of the data integration system, which will be evaluated in the knowledge graph (KG). KGs are data structures that represent the knowledge and data as factual statements using a graph data model. Finally, the analytic data model will be applied on top of KG in order to develop a deeper understanding of the immune profiles among various patients and to evaluate factors playing a role in a holistic profile of patients with HBsAg level loss. Additionally, our objective is to utilize this unified approach to stratify patients for new effective treatments. This study is developed in the context of the project “Transforming big data into knowledge: for deep immune profiling in vaccination, infectious diseases, and transplantation (ImProVIT)”, which is a multidisciplinary team composed of computer scientists, infection biologists, and immunologists.

Keywords: chronic hepatitis B infection, immune response, knowledge graphs, ontology

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Authors: Korosh Khorshidi

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Due to the increasing use of different materials, such as auxetic structures, it is necessary to investigate mechanical phenomena, such as vibration, in structures made of these types of materials. This paper examines the forced vibrations of a three-layer cylindrical shell containing inviscid fluid under shock load. All three layers are made of aluminum, and the central layer is made of a re-entrant honeycomb cell structure. Using high-order shear deformation theories (HSDT) and Hamilton’s principle, the governing equations of the system have been extracted and solved by the Galerkin weighted residual method. The outputs of the Abaqus finite element software are used to validate the results. The system is investigated with both simple and clamped support conditions. Finally, this study investigates the influence of the geometrical parameters of the shell and the auxetic structure, as well as the type, intensity, duration, and location of the load, and the effect of the fluid on the dynamic and time responses.

Keywords: force vibration, cylindrical shell, auxetic structure, inviscid fluid

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Authors: Aleksandra Rajewska-Rager, Maria Skibinska, Monika Dmitrzak-Weglarz, Natalia Lepczynska, Pawel Kapelski, Joanna Pawlak, Joanna Hauser

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Introduction: Inflammation and cytokines have emerged as a promising target in mood disorders research; however there are still very limited numbers of study regarding inflammatory alterations among adolescents and young adults with mood disorders. The Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) and Stem Cell Factor (SCF) are the pleiotropic cytokines which may play an important role in mood disorders pathophysiology. The aim of this study was to investigate levels of these factors in serum of adolescent and young adults with mood disorders compared to healthy controls. Subjects: We involved 79 patients aged 12-24 years in 2-year follow-up study with a primary diagnosis of mood disorders: bipolar disorder (BP) and unipolar disorder with BP spectrum. Study group includes 23 males (mean age 19.08, SD 3.3) and 56 females (18.39, SD 3.28). Control group consisted 35 persons: 7 males (20.43, SD 4.23) and 28 females (21.25, SD 2.11). Clinical diagnoses according to DSM-IV-TR criteria were assessed using Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) and Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (SCID) in young adults respectively. Clinical assessment includes evaluation of clinical factors and symptoms severity (rated using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Young Mania Rating Scale). Clinical and biological evaluations were made at control visits respectively at baseline (week 0), euthymia (at month 3 or 6) and after 12 and 24 months. Methods: Serum protein concentration was determined by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA) method. Human MIF and SCF DuoSet ELISA kits were used. In the analyses non-parametric tests were used: Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA, Friedman’s ANOVA, Wilcoxon signed rank test, Spearman correlation. We defined statistical significance as p < 0.05. Results: Comparing MIF and SCF levels between acute episode of depression/hypo/mania at baseline and euthymia (at month 3 or 6) we did not find any statistical differences. At baseline patients with age above 18 years old had decreased MIF level compared to patients younger than 18 years. MIF level at baseline positively correlated with age (p=0.004). Positive correlations of SCF level at month 3 and 6 with depression or mania occurrence at month 24 (p=0.03 and p=0.04, respectively) was detected. Strong correlations between MIF and SCF levels at baseline (p=0.0005) and month 3 (p=0.03) were observed. Discussion: Our results did not show any differences in MIF and SCF levels between acute episode of depression/hypo/mania and euthymia in young patients. Further studies on larger groups are recommended. Grant was founded by National Science Center in Poland no 2011/03/D/NZ5/06146.

Keywords: cytokines, MIF, mood disorders, SCF

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Authors: Luis Rodrigo Valencia Pérez, Juan Manuel Peña Aguilar, Adelina Morita Alexander, Alberto Lamadrid Alvarez, Héctor Fernando Valencia Pérez

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Financial education is among the areas of opportunity in the Spanish-speaking from an early age to high school, through mobile devices such as cell phones and tablets using ludic and fun applications like interactive games, children can learn money management and investment through time, thereby fostering the habit of saving and/or sound management of cash and family business resources, having interaction with an uncontrolled environment such as the involvement of other players in the external decisions of the environment in which the game is play. The application proposed in Phase 1 (design and development) was designed in multi-user environments, under methodologies of hybrid programming for any platform on the market and designed under CMMI standards that allow for quality production over time, following up on these improvements counting with continuous user feedback and usage statistics.

Keywords: mobile educational games, ludic games, children, multiuser, design and software development

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Authors: Erfan Rahimi, Hadi Bahari Far, Mojgan Shikhpour

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Background: Urinary tract infection is one of the most common nosocomial infections, especially among women. E. coli is one of the main causes of urinary tract infections and one of the most common antibiotics to fight this bacterium is ampicillin. As conventional antibiotics led to bacterial antibiotic resistance, modification of the pure drugs can address this issue. The aim of this study was to prepare nanofluids containing carbon nanotubes conjugated with ampicillin to improve drug performance and reduce antibiotic resistance. Methods: Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were activated with thionyl chloride by reflux system and nanofluids containing antibiotics were prepared by ultrasonic method. The properties of the prepared nano-drug were investigated by general element analysis, infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. After the treatment of the desired strain with nanofluid, microbial studies were performed to evaluate the antibacterial effects and molecular studies were carried out to measure the expression of the resistance gene AcrAB. Result: We have shown that the antimicrobial effect of ampicillin-functionalized MWCNTs at low concentrations performed better than that of the conventional drug in both resistant and ATCC strains. Also, a decrease in antibiotic resistance of bacteria treated with ampicillin-functionalized MWCNTs compared to the pure drug was observed. Also, ampicillin-functionalized MWCNTs downregulated the expression of AcrAB in treated bacteria. Conclusion: Because carbon nanotubes are capable of destroying the bacterial wall, which provides antibiotic resistance features in bacteria, their usage in the form of nanofluids can make lower dosages (about three times less) than that of the pure drug more effective. Additionally, the expression of the bacterial resistance gene AcrAB decreased, thereby reducing antibiotic resistance and improving drug performance against bacteria.

Keywords: urinary tract infection, antibiotic resistance, carbon nanotube, nanofluid

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Authors: Francisco Pereira, António Augusto Vicente, Filipe Vaz, Joel Borges, Pedro Geada

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Light is a growth-limiting factor in microalgae cultivation, where factors like spectral components, intensity, and duration, often characterized by its wavelength, are well-reported to have a substantial impact on cell growth rates and, consequently, photosynthetic performance and mitigation of CO2, one of the most significant greenhouse gases (GHGs). Photobioreactors (PBRs) are commonly used to grow microalgae under controlled conditions, but they often fail to provide an even light distribution to the cultures. For this reason, there is a pressing need for innovations aiming at enhancing the efficient utilization of light. So, one potential approach to address this issue is by implementing plasmonic films, such as the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). LSPR is an optical phenomenon connected to the interaction of light with metallic nanostructures. LSPR excitation is characterized by the oscillation of unbound conduction electrons of the nanoparticles coupled with the electromagnetic field from incident light. As a result of this excitation, highly energetic electrons and a strong electromagnetic field are generated. These effects lead to an amplification of light scattering, absorption, and extinction of specific wavelengths, contingent on the nature of the employed nanoparticle. Thus, microalgae might benefit from this biotechnology as it enables the selective filtration of inhibitory wavelengths and harnesses the electromagnetic fields produced, which could lead to enhancements in both biomass and metabolite productivity. This study aimed at implementing and evaluating a “plasmon-enhanced PBR”. The goal was to utilize LSPR thin films to enhance the growth and CO2 bio-fixation rate of Chlorella vulgaris. The internal/external walls of the PBRs were coated with a TiO2 matrix containing different nanoparticles (Au, Ag, and Au-Ag) in order to evaluate the impact of this approach on microalgae’s performance. Plasmonic films with distinct compositions resulted in different Chlorella vulgaris growth, ranging from 4.85 to 6.13 g.L-1. The highest cell concentrations were obtained with the metallic Ag films, demonstrating a 14% increase compared to the control condition. Moreover, it appeared to be no differences in growth between PBRs with inner and outer wall coatings. In terms of CO2 bio-fixation, distinct rates were obtained depending on the coating applied, ranging from 0.42 to 0.53 gCO2L-1d-1. Ag coating was demonstrated to be the most effective condition for carbon fixation by C. vulgaris. The impact of LSPR films on the biochemical characteristics of biomass (e.g., proteins, lipids, pigments) was analysed as well. Interestingly, Au coating yielded the most significant enhancements in protein content and total pigments, with increments of 15 % and 173 %, respectively, when compared to the PBR without any coating (control condition). Overall, the incorporation of plasmonic films in PBRs seems to have the potential to improve the performance and efficiency of microalgae cultivation, thereby representing an interesting approach to increase both biomass production and GHGs bio-mitigation.

Keywords: CO₂ bio-fixation, plasmonic effect, photobioreactor, photosynthetic microalgae

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Authors: Sankara Rao Gollu, Ramakant Sharma, G. Srinivas, Souvik Kundu, Dipti Gupta

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In recent years, bulk heterojunction organic solar cells (BHJ OSCs) based on polymer–fullerene attracted a large research attention due to their numerous advantages such as light weight, easy processability, eco-friendly, low-cost, and capability for large area roll-to-roll manufacturing. BHJ OSCs usually suffer from insufficient light absorption due to restriction on keeping thin ( < 150 nm) photoactive layer because of small exciton diffusion length ( ~ 10 nm) and low charge carrier mobilities. It is thus highly desirable that light absorption as well as charge transport properties are enhanced by alternative methods so as to improve the device efficiency. In this work, therefore, we have focused on the strategy of incorporating metallic nanostructures in the active layer or charge transport layer to enhance the absorption and improve the charge transport.

Keywords: organic solar cell, efficiency, bulk heterojunction, polymer-fullerene

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Authors: Badr M. Alshammari, Mohamed A. Khlifi

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This paper presents the analysis of DC/DC converter including a comparative study of control methods to extract the maximum power and to track the maximum power point (MPP) from photovoltaic (PV) systems under changeable environmental conditions. This paper proposes two methods of maximum power point tracking algorithm for photovoltaic systems, based on the first hand on P&O control and the other hand on the first order IC. The MPPT system ensures that solar cells can deliver the maximum power possible to the load. Different algorithms are used to design it. Here we compare them and simulate the photovoltaic system with two algorithms. The algorithms are used to control the duty cycle of a DC-DC converter in order to boost the output voltage of the PV generator and guarantee the operation of the solar panels in the Maximum Power Point (MPP). Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed algorithms can effectively improve the efficiency of a photovoltaic array output.

Keywords: solar cell, DC/DC boost converter, MPPT, photovoltaic system

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Authors: Deepak Kumar Mittal, Alok Kumar Jena, Deepmala Joshi

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The present study was carried out to observe the hepatoprotective effect and antioxidant activity of the aqueous extract of the roots of Polygonum bistorta (PB) (200 mg/kg) and Zingiber roseum (ZR) (250 mg/kg) in rats treated with carbon tetrachloride (0.15 ml/kg, i.p.). Extract of PB and ZR at the tested doses restored the levels of liver homogenate enzymes, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase, superoxide dismutase and catalase enzymes, significantly. The activities of MTT assay significantly recovered the damage and supported the biochemical observations. This study suggests that Zingiber roseum has a higher protective effect on liver, compared to Polygonum bistorta, against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity and possesses antioxidant activities. Also, extracts exhibited moderate anticancer activity towards cell viability at higher concentration.

Keywords: Polygonum bistorta, Zingiber roseum, hepatoprotective effect, carbon tetrachloride, anti-cancerous

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Authors: Z. Hormozi Moghaddam, M. Mokhtari-Dizaji, M. Movahedin, M. E. Ravari

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Mechanical index (MI) is used for quantifying acoustic cavitation and the relationship between acoustic pressure and the frequency. In this study, modeling of the MI was applied to provide treatment protocol and to understand the effective physical processes on reproducibility of stem cells. The acoustic pressure and MI equations are modeled and solved to estimate optimal MI for 28, 40, 150 kHz and 1 MHz frequencies. Radial and axial acoustic pressure distribution was extracted. To validate the results of the modeling, the acoustic pressure in the water and near field depth was measured by a piston hydrophone. Results of modeling and experiments show that the model is consistent well to experimental results with 0.91 and 0.90 correlation of coefficient (p<0.05) for 1 MHz and 40 kHz. Low intensity ultrasound with 0.40 MI is more effective on the proliferation rate of the spermatogonial stem cells during the seven days of culture, in contrast, high MI has a harmful effect on the spermatogonial stem cells. This model provides proper treatment planning in vitro and in vivo by estimating the cavitation phenomenon.

Keywords: ultrasound, mechanical index, modeling, stem cell

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Authors: Ahmad Rouhani, Masood Jabbari, Sima Honarmand

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This paper introduces a method to optimal design of a hybrid Wind/Photovoltaic/Fuel cell generation system for a typical domestic load that is not located near the electricity grid. In this configuration the combination of a battery, an electrolyser, and a hydrogen storage tank are used as the energy storage system. The aim of this design is minimization of overall cost of generation scheme over 20 years of operation. The Matlab/Simulink is applied for choosing the appropriate structure and the optimization of system sizing. A teaching learning based optimization is used to optimize the cost function. An overall power management strategy is designed for the proposed system to manage power flows among the different energy sources and the storage unit in the system. The results have been analyzed in terms of technics and economics. The simulation results indicate that the proposed hybrid system would be a feasible solution for stand-alone applications at remote locations.

Keywords: hybrid energy system, optimum sizing, power management, TLBO

Procedia PDF Downloads 578

Authors: Lali Kutateladze, Tamar Urushadze, Tamar Dudauri, Besarion Metreveli, Nino Zakariashvili, Izolda Khokhashvili, Maya Jobava

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Lignocellulosic waste streams from agriculture, paper and wood industry are renewable, plentiful and low-cost raw materials that can be used for large-scale production of liquid and gaseous biofuels. As opposed to prevailing multi-stage biotechnological processes developed for bioconversion of cellulosic substrates to ethanol where high-cost cellulase preparations are used, Consolidated Bioprocessing (CBP) offers to accomplish cellulose and xylan hydrolysis followed by fermentation of both C6 and C5 sugars to ethanol in a single-stage process. Syntrophic microbial consortium comprising of anaerobic, thermophilic, cellulolytic, and saccharolytic bacteria in the genus Clostridia with improved ethanol productivity and high tolerance to fermentation end-products had been proposed for achieving CBP. 65 new strains of anaerobic thermophilic cellulolytic and saccharolytic Clostridia were isolated from different wetlands and hot springs in Georgia. Using new isolates, fermentation of mechanically pretreated wheat straw and corn stalks was done under oxygen-free nitrogen environment in thermophilic conditions (T=550C) and pH 7.1. Process duration was 120 hours. Liquid and gaseous products of fermentation were analyzed on a daily basis using Perkin-Elmer gas chromatographs with flame ionization and thermal detectors. Residual cellulose, xylan, xylose, and glucose were determined using standard methods. Cellulolytic and saccharolytic bacteria strains degraded mechanically pretreated herbaceous cellulosic wastes and fermented glucose and xylose to ethanol, acetic acid and gaseous products like hydrogen and CO2. Specifically, maximum yield of ethanol was reached at 96 h of fermentation and varied between 2.9 – 3.2 g/ 10 g of substrate. The content of acetic acid didn’t exceed 0.35 g/l. Other volatile fatty acids were detected in trace quantities.

Keywords: anaerobic bacteria, cellulosic wastes, Clostridia sp, ethanol

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Authors: Kang Jian Xian, Huda Abdullah, Md. Akhtaruzzaman, Iskandar Yahya, Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman, Brian Yulianto

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The CZTS absorber layer doped with a silver (Ag) is one of the candidates that suggest improving the efficiency of thin films. Silver element functions to reduce antisite defects, increase grain size and create the plasmonic effect. In this work, an experimental study has been done to investigate the electrical and physical properties of CZTS, ACZTS, and AZTS. Ag replaces the Cu in (Cu1-xAgx)2ZnSnS4 (ACZTS) is up to x ≤1. ACZTS thin-films solar cells have been deposited by sol–the gel spin coating method. There are a total of 19 samples done with 11 significant percentages (0%, 10%, 20%… 100%) to show the whole phenomena of efficiency rate and nine specific percentages to find out the best concentration rate for Ag-doped. The obtained results can be helpful for better understanding ACZTS layers.

Keywords: CZTS, ACZTS, AZTS, silver, antisite, efficiency, thin-film solar cell

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Authors: Destin Kurniawati

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Asthma is one of the deadly diseases in the world. According to the World Health Organization in 2012, 300 million people suffer from asthma of different races and classes. An estimated 250,000 people die because of asthma annually.As well as more than 57% of children and 51% of adults with asthma. There two risk factors for asthma. That risk factors are the host and environmental. One of the environmental factors that can bring asthma is allergens. When an allergen enters the body, the allergen binds to IgE and cause cell granulat- issued several mediators such as histamine, leukotrienes, bradykinin or something like that. This will cause localized edema effect on bronchial walls of small, thick mucous secretions in the bronchioles, and bronchial smooth muscle spasm. Then there will be inflammation of the airways. Methodology this research is by literature. Therefore, to anticipate and cope with asthma is to control environmental factors that serve to minimize allergens and controlling one's intake in the form of antioxidant-rich foods. Foods rich in antioxidants serve to improve lung function and decrease symptoms of the disease of the respiratory tract.

Keywords: asthma, deadly disease, allergen, environmental and food control

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Authors: S. F. Afzali, W. L. Wong

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The epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS) causes by the oomycete fungus, Aphanomyces invadans; known to be one of the infectious fish diseases for farmed and wild fishes in fresh and brackish-water from the Asia-pacific region, America and Africa. Although, EUS had been documented by the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) since 1995, hitherto, there is neither standard chemical agents that can be used for successful treatment of this destructive infection in the time of outbreak; nor available vaccine for prevention. Plant-based remedies in controlling fish diseases are gaining much attention recently as an alternative to chemical treatments, which possess negative effects to the environment and human. In present study, Sonneratia alba, a mangrove plant belongs to the Sonneratiaceae family, was screened in vitro and in vivo for its antifungal activity against A. invadans mycelium growth and its effects on fish innate immune system and disease resistant. The in vitro tests was performed using the disc diffusion methods with measurements of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and inhibition zone. For in vivo study, the S. alba extract supplemented diets were administrated at 0.0, 1.0%, 3.0%, and 5.0% on healthy goldfish, Carassius auratus, which challenged with A. invadans zoospores (100 spores/ml). To compare the significant differences in the hematological and immunological parameters obtained from the experiments, the data were analysed using the SPSS. The methanol extract of S. alba effectively inhibited the mycelial growth of A. invadans at a minimum concentration of 1000 ppm for agar and filter paper diffusion experiments. In the agar diffusion test, 500 ppm of the extract inhibited the fungus mycelial growth up to 96 hours after exposure. The mycelial growth from the edge of the pre-inoculated A. invadans agar discs treated with S. alba extracts at concentrations of 100, 500 and 1000 ppm were 15, 8 and 0 mm respectively. The results of the filter paper disc test showed that the S. alba extract at its minimal inhibitory concentration (1000 ppm) has similar qualitative inhibitory effect as malachite green at 1 ppm and formalin at 250 ppm. According to the in vivo tests findings, in the infected fish fed with 3.0% and 5.0% supplementation diet, the numbers of white blood cell and myeloperoxidase activity significantly increased after the second week of treatment. Whilst the numbers of red blood cell significantly decreased in the infected fish fed with 0.0 and 1.0% supplementation diet. After the third week of feeding, significant increases in the total protein, albumin level, lysozyme activity were recorded in the infected fish fed with 3.0% and 5.0% supplementation diet. Also, the enriched diets increased the survival rate as compared to the untreated group that suffered from 90% mortality. The present study indicated that S. alba extract may inhibit the mycelial growth of A. invadans effectively, suggesting an alternative to other chemotherapeutic agents, which brought much environmental and health concerns to the public, for EUS treatment.

Keywords: fungal pathogen, goldfish, organic extract, treatment

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Authors: Kittiphat Rattanachan

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The sheet metal forming process, the raw material mechanical properties are important parameters. This paper is to compare the wall’s incline angle or formability of SS 400 steel and SUS 304 stainless steel in single point incremental forming. The two materials are ferrous base alloy, which have the different cell unit, mechanical property and chemical composition. They were forming into cone shape specimens 100 mm diameter with different wall’s incline angle: 90o, 75o, and 60o. The investigation, the specimens were forming until the surface fracture was occurred. The experimental result showed that both materials with the smaller wall’s incline angle, the higher formability. The formability limited of the ferrous base alloy was approx. 60o wall’s incline angle. By nature, SS 400 was higher formability than SUS 304. This result could be used as the initial utilized data in designing the single point incremental forming parts.

Keywords: NC incremental forming, single point incremental forming, wall incline angle, formability

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Authors: Efendi Zaenudin, Chien-Hung Huang, Ka-Lok Ng

Abstract:

Essential genes play an important role in the survival of an organism. It has been shown that cancer-associated essential genes are genes necessary for cancer cell proliferation, where these genes are potential therapeutic targets. Also, it was demonstrated that mutations of the cancer-associated essential genes give rise to the resistance of immunotherapy for patients with tumors. In the present study, we focus on studying the biological effects of the essential genes from a network perspective. We hypothesize that one can analyze a biological molecular network by decomposing it into both three-node and four-node digraphs (subgraphs). These network subgraphs encode the regulatory interaction information among the network’s genetic elements. In this study, the frequency of occurrence of the subgraph-associated essential genes in a molecular network was quantified by using the statistical parameter, odds ratio. Biological effects of subgraph-associated essential genes are discussed. In summary, the subgraph approach provides a systematic method for analyzing molecular networks and it can capture useful biological information for biomedical research.

Keywords: biological molecular networks, essential genes, graph theory, network subgraphs

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Authors: G. Disciglio, G. Gatta, F. Lops, A. Libutti, A. Tarantino, E. Tarantino

Abstract:

The experimental trial was carried out in open field at Foggia district (Apulia Region, Southern Italy), during the spring-summer season 2014, in order to evaluate the effect of four biostimulant products (RadiconÒ, Viormon plusÒ, LysodinÒ and SiaptonÒ 10L), compared with a control (no biostimulant), on the infestation of processing tomato crop (cv Dres) by the chlorophyll-lacking root parasite Phelipanche ramosa. Biostimulants consist in different categories of products (microbial inoculants, humic and fulvic acids, hydrolyzed proteins and aminoacids, seaweed extracts) which play various roles in plant growing, including the improvement of crop resistance and quali-quantitative characteristics of yield. The experimental trial was arranged according to a complete randomized block design with five treatments, each of one replicated three times. The processing tomato seedlings were transplanted on 5 May 2014. Throughout the crop cycle, P. ramosa infestation was assessed according to the number of emerged shoots (branched plants) counted in each plot, at 66, 78 and 92 day after transplanting. The tomato fruits were harvested at full-stage of maturity on 8 August 2014. From each plot, the marketable yield was measured and the quali-quantitative yield parameters (mean weight, dry matter content, colour coordinate, colour index and soluble solids content of the fruits) were determined. The whole dataset was tested according to the basic assumptions for the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the differences between the means were determined using Tukey’s tests at the 5% probability level. The results of the study showed that none of the applied biostimulants provided a whole control of Phelipanche, although some positive effects were obtained from their application. To this respect, the RadiconÒ appeared to be the most effective in reducing the infestation of this root-parasite in tomato crop. This treatment also gave the higher tomato yield.

Keywords: biostimulant, control methods, Phelipanche ramosa, tomato crop

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Authors: Jafar Ahmadi, Nafiseh Noormohammadi, Sedegeh Fabriki Ourang

Abstract:

GRF, Growth regulating factor, genes encode a novel class of plant-specific transcription factors. The GRF proteins play a role in the regulation of cell numbers in young and growing tissues and may act as transcription activations in growth and development of plants. Identification of GRF genes and their expression are important in plants to performance of the growth and development of various organs. In this study, to better understanding the structural and functional differences of GRFs family, 45 GRF proteins sequences in A. thaliana, Z. mays, O. sativa, B. napus, B. rapa, H. vulgare, and S. bicolor, have been collected and analyzed through bioinformatics data mining. As a result, in secondary structure of GRFs, the number of alpha helices was more than beta sheets and in all of them QLQ domains were completely in the biggest alpha helix. In all GRFs, QLQ, and WRC domains were completely protected except in AtGRF9. These proteins have no trans-membrane domain and due to have nuclear localization signals act in nuclear and they are component of unstable proteins in the test tube.

Keywords: domain, gene family, GRF, motif

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Authors: Zair Mohammed El Amine, Chemouri Hafida, Derbal Habak Hassina

Abstract:

Organic photovoltaic cells are electronic devices that convert sunlight into electricity. To this end, the number of studies on organic photovoltaic cells (OVCs) is growing, and this trend is expected to continue. Computational studies are still needed to verify and prove the capability of CVOs, specifically the nanometer molecule PCBM, based on successful experimental results. In this paper, we present a theoretical and computational investigation of PCBM and PC71BM derivatives using the DFT method. On this basis, we employ independent and time-dependent density theories. HOMO, LUMO and GAPH-L energies, ionization potentials and electronic affinity are determined and found to be in agreement with experiments. Using DFT theory based on B3LYP and M062X methods with bases 6-31G (d,p) and 6-311G (d), calculations show that the most efficient acceptors are presented in the group of PC71BM derivatives and are in substantial agreement with experiments. The geometries of the structures are optimized by Gaussian 09.

Keywords: PCBM, P3HT, organic cell solar, DFT, TD-DFT

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Authors: Ziaul Islam, Asad Sultan, Sarzamin Khan

Abstract:

Organic acids and micro encapsulated phyto essential oils have revealed great potential as an antibiotic replacement and as an additive to work tremendously for the health maintenance of broiler chicken. To explore more about organic acids, a total of 600 day-old broiler chicks (Cobb-500) were procured from a local hatchery and distributed into 5 treatment groups having 6 replicates of 20 birds each; the duration of the biological trial was of 35 days. Group T1 served as a control group that were fed on corn soy-based diet only. T2 were fed with a diet having 6% poultry by-product meal (PBM) diet, T3, T4, and T5 were served as the same diet as T2 but supplemented with an organic acid, phyto essential oils alone, and a combination, respectively. The findings declared significant improvement (p<0.05) in body weight gain and FCR in groups T3, T4, and T5 while feed intake was not affected. European broiler performance indicators like production efficiency factor (EPEF) and broiler index (EBI) were improved significantly (p<0.05) by the treatments T3, T4, and T5 compared with T1 and T2. Carcass evaluation depicted significantly better (p<0.05) dressed and eviscerated weight along with carcass yield (T3, T4, T5). Broilers fed organic acid and phyto essential oils supplemented diet had significantly lower (p<0.05) Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coliand Salmonella and increased Lactobacillus counts. Likewise, antibody titer against ND, IB, and IBD were also significantly (p<0.05) improved by the treatments T3, T4 and T5compared with the T1and T2. Litter moisture content was significantly (p<0.05) reduced by treatmentsT3, T4, and T5 on day 28 and 35 compared with the T1 and T2. These findings of the present study revealed that supplementation of organic acids blend and phyto-essential oils as an as an substitute to improve the performance of broilers without the use of feed antibiotics in broilers fed with 6% poultry by-product meal based diet.

Keywords: organic acid, phyto essential oils, growth performance, PBM, gut health, microbiota, immunity

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Authors: S. Najafi, E. Bertini, M. Pezzotti, G.B. Tornielli, S. Zenoni

Abstract:

Grapevine is an important agricultural fruit crop plant consumed worldwide and with a key role in the global economy. Grapevine is strongly affected by both biotic and abiotic stresses, which impact grape growth at different stages, such as during plant and berry development and pre- and post-harvest, consequently causing significant economic losses. Recently global warming has propelled the anticipation of the onset of berry ripening, determining the reduction of a grape color and increased volatilization of aroma compounds. Climate change could negatively alter the physiological characteristics of the grape and affect the berry and wine quality. Modern plant breeding can provide tools such as genome editing for improving grape resilience traits while maintaining intact the viticultural and oenological quality characteristics of the genotype. This study aims at developing a platform for genome editing application in grapevine plants with the final goal to improve berry quality, biotic, and abiotic resilience traits. We chose to directly deliver ribonucleoproteins (RNP, preassembled Cas protein and guide RNA) into plant protoplasts, and, from these cell structures, regenerate grapevine plants edited in specific selected genes controlling traits of interest. Edited plants regenerated by somatic embryogenesis from protoplasts will then be sequenced and molecularly characterized. Embryogenic calli of Sultana and Shiraz cultivars were initiated from unopened leaves of in-vitro shoot tip cultures and from stamens, respectively. Leaves were placed on NB2 medium while stamens on callus initiation medium (PIV) medium and incubated in the dark at 28 °C for three months. Viable protoplasts, tested by FDA staining, isolated from embryogenic calli were cultured by disc method at 1*105 protoplasts/ml. Mature well-shaped somatic embryos developed directly in the protoplast culture medium two months later and were transferred in the light into to shooting medium for further growth. Regenerated plants were then transferred to the greenhouse; no phenotypic alterations were observed when compared to non in-vitro cultured plants. The performed experiments allowed to established an efficient protocol of embryogenic calli production, protoplast isolation, and regeneration of the whole plant through somatic embryogenesis in both Sultana and Shiraz. Regenerated plants, through direct somatic embryogenesis deriving from a single cell, avoid the risk of chimerism during the regeneration process, therefore improving the genome editing process. As pre-requisite of genome editing, an efficient method for transfection of protoplast by yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) marker genes was also established and experiments of direct delivery of CRISPR–Cas9 ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) in protoplasts to achieve efficient DNA-free targeted mutations are in progress.

Keywords: CRISPR-cas9, plant regeneration, protoplast isolation, Vitis vinifera

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Authors: Yo-Sheng Lin, Jen-How Lee, Chien-Chin Wang

Abstract:

A 60-GHz receiver front-end using standard 90-nm CMOS technology is reported. The receiver front-end comprises a wideband low-noise amplifier (LNA), and a double-balanced Gilbert cell mixer with a current-reused RF single-to-differential (STD) converter, an LO Marchand balun and a baseband amplifier. The receiver front-end consumes 34.4 mW and achieves LO-RF isolation of 60.7 dB, LO-IF isolation of 45.3 dB and RF-IF isolation of 41.9 dB at RF of 60 GHz and LO of 59.9 GHz. At IF of 0.1 GHz, the receiver front-end achieves maximum conversion gain (CG) of 26.1 dB at RF of 64 GHz and CG of 25.2 dB at RF of 60 GHz. The corresponding 3-dB bandwidth of RF is 7.3 GHz (58.4 GHz to 65.7 GHz). The measured minimum noise figure was 5.6 dB at 64 GHz, one of the best results ever reported for a 60 GHz CMOS receiver front-end. In addition, the measured input 1-dB compression point and input third-order inter-modulation point are -33.1 dBm and -23.3 dBm, respectively, at 60 GHz. These results demonstrate the proposed receiver front-end architecture is very promising for 60 GHz direct-conversion transceiver applications.

Keywords: CMOS, 60 GHz, direct-conversion transceiver, LNA, down-conversion mixer, marchand balun, current-reused

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Authors: Maria Altamirano, Alfonso Duran

Abstract:

Biostimulation has recently become important in order to improve the stability and performance of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process. This strategy involves the addition of nutrients or supplements to improve the rate of degradation of a native microbial consortium. With the aim of biostimulate sytrophism between secondary fermenting bacteria and methanogenic archaea, improving metabolite degradation and efficient conversion to methane, the addition of conductive materials, mainly carbon based have been studied. This research seeks to highlight the effect that coconut biochar (CBC) has on the metanogenic conversion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), analyzing the surface chemistry properties that give biochar its capacity to serve as a redox mediator in the anaerobic digestion process. The biochar characterization techniques were electrical conductivity (EC) scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier Transform Infrared Transmission Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Cyclic Voltammetry (CV). Effect of coconut biochar addition was studied using Authomatic Methane Potential Test System (AMPTS II) applying a one-way variance analysis to determine the dose that leads to higher methane performance. The surface chemistry of the CBC could confer properties that enhance the AD process, such as the presence of alkaline and alkaline earth metals and their hydrophobicity that may be related to their buffering capacity and the adsorption of polar and non-polar compounds, such as NH4+ and CO2. It also has aromatic functional groups, just as quinones, whose potential as a redox mediator has been demonstrated and its morphology allows it to form an immobilizing matrix that favors a closer activity among the syntrophic microorganisms, which directly contributed in the oxidation of secondary metabolites and the final reduction to methane, whose yield is increased by 39% compared to controls, with a CBC dose of 1 g/L.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, biochar, biostimulation, syntrophic metabolism

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Authors: Otilia R. Vasile, Florina C. Ilie, Irina F. Nicoara, Cristina D. Ghitulica, Roxana Trusca, Ovidiu Oprea, Vasile A. Surdu, Bogdan S. Vasile, Ecaterina Adronescu

Abstract:

In this work ZnO nanostructures (nanopowders and nanostars) have been synthesized via a simple sol-gel method. The used methods for synthesizing the nanostructures involve two steps as follows: (1) precipitation of zinc acetate precursor for the synthesis of ZnO nanopowders and zinc chloride precursor for the synthesis of ZnO nanostars and (2) addition of Eu2O3 in different concentrations (1%, 3%, and 5%) using europium acetate as precursor. Detailed crystalline parameters for each of the synthetized species were analysed using X-ray diffraction. Structural transitions were also discussed. The structure and morphology of the as-prepared ZnO nanopowders and nanostars were investigated by electron microscopy. TEM investigations have shown an average particle size range from 23 to 29 nm and polyhedral and spherical morphology with tendency to form aggregates for nanopowders. For nanostars structures, a star-like morphology could be observed. Cytotoxicity tests on MG-63 cell lines were also performed. Photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanopowders have reached higher values compared to ZnO nanostars.

Keywords: cytotoxicity, photocatalytic activity, TEM, ZnO

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Authors: Eunseop Yeom

Abstract:

Many cardiovascular diseases, such as thrombosis and atherosclerosis, can change biochemical molecules in plasma and red blood cell. These alterations lead to excessive increase of blood viscosity contributing to peripheral vascular diseases. In this study, a simple microfluidic-based method is used to measure blood viscosity. Microfluidic device is composed of two parallel side channels and a bridge channel. To estimate blood viscosity, blood samples and reference fluid are separately delivered into each inlet of two parallel side channels using pumps. An interfacial line between blood samples and reference fluid occurs by blocking the outlet of one side-channel. Since width for this interfacial line is determined by pressure ratio between blood and reference flows, blood viscosity can be estimated by measuring width for this interfacial line. This microfluidic-based method can be used for evaluating variations in the viscosity of animal models with cardiovascular diseases under flow conditions.

Keywords: blood viscosity, microfluidic chip, pressure, shear rate

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Authors: Parul Kulshreshtha, Subrata Sinha, Rakesh Bhatnagar

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This study was conducted by taking B. anthracis as a model pathogen. On infecting a host, B. anthracis secretes three proteins, namely, protective antigen (PA, 83kDa), edema factor (EF, 89 kDa) and lethal factor (LF, 90 kDa). These three proteins are the components of two anthrax toxins. PA binds to the cell surface receptors, namely, tumor endothelial marker (TEM) 8 and capillary morphogenesis protein (CMG) 2. TEM8 and CMG2 interact with LDL-receptor related protein (LRP) 6 for endocytosis of EF and LF. On entering the cell, EF acts as a calmodulin-dependent adenylate cyclase that causes a prolonged increase of cytosolic cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). LF is a metalloprotease that cleaves most isoforms of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases (MAPKK/MEK) close to their N-terminus. By secreting these two toxins, B.anthracis ascertains death of the host. Once the systemic levels of the toxins rise, antibiotics alone cannot save the host. Therefore, toxin-specific inhibitors have to be developed. In this wake, monoclonal antibodies have been developed for the neutralization of toxic effects of anthrax toxins. We created hybridomas by using spleen of mice that were actively immunized with rLFn (recombinant N-terminal domain of lethal factor of B. anthracis) to obtain anti-toxin antibodies. Later on, separate group of mice were immunized with rLFn to obtain a polyclonal control for passive immunization studies of monoclonal antibodies. This led to the identification of one cohort of rLFn-immunized mice that harboured disease-enhancing polyclonal antibodies. At the same time, the monoclonal antibodies from all the hybridomas were being tested. Two hybridomas secreted monoclonal antibodies (H8 and H10) that were cross-reactive with EF (edema factor) and LF (lethal factor), while the other two hybridomas secreted LF-specific antibodies (H7 and H11). The protective efficacy of H7, H8, H10 and H11 was investigated. H7, H8 and H10 were found to be protective. H11 was found to have disease enhancing characteristics in-vitro and in mouse model of challenge with B. anthracis. In this study the disease enhancing character of H11 monoclonal antibody and anti-rLFn polyclonal sera was investigated. Combination of H11 with protective monoclonal antibodies (H8 and H10) reduced its disease enhancing nature both in-vitro and in-vivo. But combination of H11 with LETscFv (an scFv with VH and VL identical to H10 but lacking Fc region) could not abrogate the disease-enhancing character of H11 mAb. Therefore it was concluded that for suppression of disease enhancement, Fc portion was absolutely essential for interaction of H10 with H11. Our study indicates that the protective potential of an antibody depends equally on its idiotype/ antigen specificity and its isotype. A number of monoclonal and engineered antibodies are being explored as immunotherapeutics but it is absolutely essential to characterize each one for their individual and combined protective potential. Although new in the sphere of toxin-based diseases, it is extremely important to characterize the disease-enhancing nature of polyclonal as well as monoclonal antibodies. This is because several anti-viral therapeutics and vaccines have failed in the face of this phenomenon. The passive –immunotherapy thus needs to be well formulated to avoid any contraindications.

Keywords: immunotherapy, polyclonal, monoclonal, antibody-dependent disease enhancement

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