Various methods, including autoclaving, bead-beating, microwaves, sonication, and a 10% NaCl solution, were tested to identify the most effective cell disruption method. The total lipids from
...Botryococcus sp.,
Chlorella vulgaris, and
Scenedesmus sp. were extracted using a mixture of chloroform and methanol (1:1). The lipid contents from the three species were 5.4–11.9, 7.9–8.1, 10.0–28.6, 6.1–8.8, and 6.8–10.9
g
L
−1 when using autoclaving, bead-beating, microwaves, sonication, and a 10% NaCl solution, respectively.
Botryococcus sp. showed the highest oleic acid productivity at 5.7
mg
L
−1
d
−1 when the cells were disrupted using the microwave oven method. Thus, among the tested methods, the microwave oven method was identified as the most simple, easy, and effective for lipid extraction from microalgae.
To select microalgae with a high biomass and lipid productivity,
Botryococcus braunii, Chlorella vulgaris, and
Scenedesmus sp. were cultivated with ambient air containing 10% CO
2 and flue gas. The ...biomass and lipid productivity for
Scenedesmus sp. with 10% CO
2 were 217.50 and 20.65
mg
L
−1
d
−1 (9% of biomass), while those for
B. braunii were 26.55 and 5.51
mg
L
−1
d
−1 (21% of biomass). With flue gas, the lipid productivity for
Scenedesmus sp. and
B. braunii was increased 1.9-fold (39.44
mg
L
−1
d
−1) and 3.7-fold (20.65
mg
L
−1
d
−1), respectively. Oleic acid, a main component of biodiesel, occupied 55% among the fatty acids in
B. braunii. Therefore, the present results suggested that
Scenedesmus sp. is appropriate for mitigating CO
2, due to its high biomass productivity and C-fixation ability, whereas
B. braunii is appropriate for producing biodiesel, due to its high lipid content and oleic acid proportion.
This article proposes a shape memory alloy (SMA)-based artificial muscle that has an active cooling system. An SMA coil spring is embedded into a stretchable coolant vessel, which allows active ...cooling of SMA through coolant circulation. The coolant effect has been investigated by measuring actuation speed. Integrating a thermomechanical model and heat transfer model between coolant and SMA, actuation times have been estimated. Based on these results, actuation performances that use four different coolants have been found out, and the mineral oil cooling case shows both contraction and extension times of less than 1 s to contract to over 35% of its initial length with 1 kg load. A soft wearable robot for assisting wrist motion has been designed by integrating multiple SMA muscles with a glove, wristband, and elbow anchor. Thanks to the advantages of the SMA coil spring actuator, the proposed robot is compliant and weight-balanced structure. The robot shows ranges of motion of 38°, 50°, 34°, and 35°, for flexion, extension, radial deviation, and ulnar deviation, respectively. In addition, the robot shows improved cyclic performance compared to a natural air-cooling system. Finally, its torque assistance and theamount of time needed to wear it have been analyzed with user tests.
Metabolic engineering for sustainability and health Kim, Gi Bae; Choi, So Young; Cho, In Jin ...
Trends in biotechnology (Regular ed.),
March 2023, 2023-03-00, 20230301, Letnik:
41, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
During the past three decades, metabolic engineering (ME) has made great contributions to solving global challenges such as climate crisis, depletion of fossil resources, environmental pollution, ...food shortage, and health problems.ME enables microorganisms to produce chemicals, fuels, and materials with high efficiencies from nonedible biomass as a carbon source.Sustainable production of natural products by metabolically engineered microorganisms has contributed to improving our health and well-being.ME also contributes to enhanced bioremediation and solving environmental problems including degradation of waste plastics.
Bio-based production of chemicals and materials has attracted much attention due to the urgent need to establish sustainability and enhance human health. Metabolic engineering (ME) allows purposeful modification of cellular metabolic, regulatory, and signaling networks to achieve enhanced production of desired chemicals and degradation of environmentally harmful chemicals. ME has significantly progressed over the past 30 years through further integration of the strategies of synthetic biology, systems biology, evolutionary engineering, and data science aided by artificial intelligence. Here we review the field of ME from its emergence to the current state-of-the-art, highlighting its contribution to sustainable production of chemicals, health, and the environment through representative examples. Future challenges of ME and perspectives are also discussed.
Photobiomodulation (PBM) is a therapeutic tool that uses red or near-infrared light in medical applications. It's applications in both central (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS) are widely ...studied. Among glial cells, astrocytes are known to be activated in injured or damaged brains. Astrocytic cell migration is crucial for maintaining homeostasis in the brain. Our previous study showed that PBM led to astrocyte proliferation and differentiation, but the effects on migration has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of PBM on astrocyte migration, drebrin (DBN) expression and cytoplasmic morphology using primary cultured rat astrocyte. We applied a 660-nm light-emitting diode (LED) with fluence of 6, 12 and 18 J/cm
. PBM effects on astrocyte migration were analyzed by two different migration assays (scratch assay and transwell assay). We used immunofluorescence microscopy for visualizing DBN and glial-fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and analysis of DBN expression and astrocyte cytoplasmic morphology. Both scratch assay and transwell assay showed significant difference in astrocyte migration following PBM irradiation. With these specific fluence conditions, differences in DBN expression and cell morphology were revealed. PBM could increase the astrocyte migration by altering the cell morphology and DBN expression pattern.
Subungual melanoma (SUM) is a rare type of malignant melanoma that arises beneath the nails. SUM is categorized as a type of acral melanoma (AM), which occurs on the hands and feet. SUM is an ...aggressive type of cutaneous melanoma that is most common among Asian patients. Recent studies reveal that SUM and AM might have different molecular characteristics. Treatment of melanoma relies on analysis of both clinical and molecular data. Therefore, the clinical and molecular characteristics of SUM need to be established, especially during metastasis. To define the mutation profiles of SUM and compare them with those of AM, we performed next-generation sequencing of primary and metastatic tumors of SUM and AM patients. Subungual location was a better independent prognostic factor than acral location for better overall survival (p = 0.001). Patients with SUM most commonly had the triple wild-type (75%) driven by GNAQ (58%) and KIT (25%) mutations, whereas patients with AM had BRAF (28.6%) and RAF (14.3%) molecular types of mutations. Single-nucleotide variations (SNVs) were more common in SUM than in AM, whereas copy number alterations (CNAs) were more common metastatic lesions of AM. Metastatic tumors in patients with SUM and AM showed increases in CNAs (43% and 80%, respectively), but not in SNVs. The number of CNAs increased during metastasis. When compared with AM, SUM has distinct clinical and molecular characteristics.
Addictions have recently been classified as substance use disorder (SUD) and behavioral addiction (BA), but the concept of BA is still debatable. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct further ...neuroscientific research to understand the mechanisms of BA to the same extent as SUD. The present study used machine learning (ML) algorithms to investigate the neuropsychological and neurophysiological aspects of addictions in individuals with internet gaming disorder (IGD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD).
We developed three models for distinguishing individuals with IGD from those with AUD, individuals with IGD from healthy controls (HCs), and individuals with AUD from HCs using ML algorithms, including L1-norm support vector machine, random forest, and L1-norm logistic regression (LR). Three distinct feature sets were used for model training: a unimodal-electroencephalography (EEG) feature set combined with sensor- and source-level feature; a unimodal-neuropsychological feature (NF) set included sex, age, depression, anxiety, impulsivity, and general cognitive function, and a multimodal (EEG + NF) feature set.
The LR model with the multimodal feature set used for the classification of IGD and AUD outperformed the other models (accuracy: 0.712). The important features selected by the model highlighted that the IGD group had differential delta and beta source connectivity between right intrahemispheric regions and distinct sensor-level EEG activities. Among the NFs, sex and age were the important features for good model performance.
Using ML techniques, we demonstrated the neurophysiological and neuropsychological similarities and differences between IGD (a BA) and AUD (a SUD).
•The multimodal model with LR outperformed in distinguishing IGD and AUD.•Highlighting neurophysiological and neuropsychological similarities and differences.•IGD had differential delta and beta source connectivity compared with AUD.•IGD exhibited distinct sensor-level EEG activities in contrast to AUD.•IGD and AUD have similar neuropsychological symptoms.
In this paper, we demonstrate the use of polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) imprinted with a microlens array (MLA) via solution process to improve the outcoupling efficiency of organic light ...emitting diodes (OLEDs). The PDLC, well known for its scattering effect, is an excellent technology for improving the outcoupling efficiency of OLEDs. Additionally, we introduce a simple spin-coating process to fabricate PDLC which is adaptable for future solution-processed OLEDs. The MLA-imprinted PDLC applied OLED shows an enhancement factor of 1.22 in outcoupling efficiency which is a 37.5% increase compared to the existing PDLC techniques without changing the electrical properties of the OLED. Through this approach, we can expect the roll-to-roll based extremely flexible OLED, and with further research on pattering PDLC by various templates, higher outcoupling efficiency is achievable through a simple UV irradiation process.
Using nationally representative data, this study found positive impact of family trips on children's academic achievement in reading and math. Children who took at least one family trip in ...kindergarten or third-grade achieved on average 1% higher score on third-grade reading and math tests. The benefits were greater with more family trips, but differed by trip types. Family trips to cultural attractions most benefited the reading achievement, whereas those to athletic events benefited the math the most. This study's findings contribute to the understanding of family trip's educational benefits in early childhood; they also provide a rationale for the promotion of family trips for children's educational benefits and for the further examination of different types of trips and travel.
•Family trips had positive impact on children's academic achievement.•Family trips had both immediate and lasting impact on reading and math scores.•The more family trips, the greater impact on reading and math scores.•Trips to art gallery, museum, or historical site benefited reading score the most.•Trips to athletic or sporting event benefited math score the most.
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•Electrocatalytic performance of oxide anodes are compared in three electrolytes.•Sb-SnO2 exhibits the highest activity irrespective of the type of electrolyte.•The activity of ...Bi-TiO2 depends significantly on the type of electrolyte.•The chloride-specific activity is attributed to the effective generation of reactive chlorine species.•Electrocatalyst and electrolyte-dependent mechanism is discussed in detail.
This study compares the electrocatalytic behavior and performance of metal-doped oxide anodes in widely employed electrolytes (i.e., Na2SO4, NaClO4, and NaCl). Sb-doped SnO2 (Sb-SnO2), Bi-doped SnO2 (Bi-SnO2), or Bi-doped TiO2 (Bi-TiO2) are coated onto a Ta-doped IrO2 (Ta-IrO2) electrode using identical fabrication procedures involving coating and annealing cycles. The resultant electrodes display porous morphologies with interparticle connections. Crystalline phases of Sb-associated oxides are not evident in Sb-SnO2, whereas distinct Bi2O3 phases are observed in Bi-SnO2 and Bi-TiO2 because the radius of Bi3+ is larger than those of the base metals. Sb-SnO2 exhibits the highest electrocatalytic activity for the decomposition of phenol irrespective of the type of electrolyte, whereas the activity of Bi-SnO2 is always poor. The activity of Bi-TiO2 is poor in sulfate and perchlorate electrolytes; in contrast, it is remarkably enhanced and comparable to that of Sb-SnO2 in chloride electrolyte. Such chloride-specific activity of Bi-TiO2 is attributed to the effective generation of reactive chlorine species, whereas the generation of OH radicals is limited. On the other hand, Sb-SnO2 effectively catalyzes the generation of OH radicals, leading to mediated generation of reactive chlorine species. The decomposition of phenol is further examined in terms of reaction intermediates and CO2 production using Sb-SnO2 and Bi-TiO2 anodes in sulfate and chloride electrolytes. The electrocatalyst and electrolyte-dependent mechanism is discussed.
