The theoretical maxima of solar energy conversion efficiencies and productivities in oxygenic photosynthesis are evaluated. These are contrasted with actual measurements in a variety of ...photosynthetic organisms, including green microalgae, cyanobacteria, C4 and C3 plants. Minimizing, or truncating, the chlorophyll antenna size of the photosystems can improve photosynthetic solar energy conversion efficiency and productivity up to 3-fold. Generation of truncated light-harvesting chlorophyll antenna size
(
tla)
strains, in all classes of photosynthetic organisms would help to alleviate excess absorption of sunlight and the ensuing wasteful dissipation of excitation energy, and to maximize solar-to-product energy conversion efficiency and photosynthetic productivity in high-density mass cultivations. The
tla
concept may find application in the commercial exploitation of microalgae and plants for the generation of biomass, biofuels, chemical feedstocks, as well as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals.
Decreasing, or truncating, the chlorophyll antenna size of the photosystems can theoretically improve photosynthetic solar energy conversion efficiency and productivity in mass cultures of algae or ...plants by up to threefold. A Truncated Light-harvesting chlorophyll Antenna size (TLA), in all classes of photosynthetic organisms, would help to alleviate excess absorption of sunlight and the ensuing wasteful non-photochemical dissipation of excitation energy. Thus, solar-to-biomass energy conversion efficiency and photosynthetic productivity in high-density cultures can be increased. Applicability of the TLA concept was previously shown in green microalgae and cyanobacteria, but it has not yet been demonstrated in crop plants. In this work, the TLA concept was applied in high-density tobacco canopies. The work showed a 25% improvement in stem and leaf biomass accumulation for the TLA tobacco canopies over that measured with their wild-type counterparts grown under the same ambient conditions. Distinct canopy appearance differences are described between the TLA and wild type tobacco plants. Findings are discussed in terms of concept application to crop plants, leading to significant improvements in agronomy, agricultural productivity, and application of photosynthesis for the generation of commodity products in crop leaves.
The recent advancements in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) have revealed significant potential for enhancing traffic management through Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADASs), with benefits ...for both safety and environment. This research paper proposes a vehicle localization technique based on Kalman filtering, as accurate positioning of the ego-vehicle is essential for the proper functioning of the Traffic Light Advisor (TLA) system. The aim of the TLA is to calculate the most suitable speed to safely reach and pass the first traffic light in front of the vehicle and subsequently keep that velocity constant to overcome the following traffic light, thus allowing safer and more efficient driving practices, thereby reducing safety risks, and minimizing energy consumption. To overcome Global Positioning Systems (GPS) limitations encountered in urban scenarios, a multi-rate sensor fusion approach based on the Kalman filter with map matching and a simple kinematic one-dimensional model is proposed. The experimental results demonstrate an estimation error below 0.5 m on urban roads with GPS signal loss areas, making it suitable for TLA application. The experimental validation of the Traffic Light Advisor system confirmed the expected benefits with a 40% decrease in energy consumption compared to unassisted driving.
During pregnancy, cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in maternal blood encompasses a small percentage of cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA), an easily accessible source for determination of fetal disease status in risk ...families through non-invasive procedures. In case of monogenic heritable disease, background maternal cfDNA prohibits direct observation of the maternally inherited allele. Non-invasive prenatal diagnostics (NIPD) of monogenic diseases therefore relies on parental haplotyping and statistical assessment of inherited alleles from cffDNA, techniques currently unavailable for routine clinical practice. Here, we present monogenic NIPD (MG-NIPD), which requires a blood sample from both parents, for targeted locus amplification (TLA)-based phasing of heterozygous variants selectively at a gene of interest. Capture probes-based targeted sequencing of cfDNA from the pregnant mother and a tailored statistical analysis enables predicting fetal gene inheritance. MG-NIPD was validated for 18 pregnancies, focusing on CFTR, CYP21A2, and HBB. In all cases we could predict the inherited alleles with >98% confidence, even at relatively early stages (8 weeks) of pregnancy. This prediction and the accuracy of parental haplotyping was confirmed by sequencing of fetal material obtained by parallel invasive procedures. MG-NIPD is a robust method that requires standard instrumentation and can be implemented in any clinic to provide families carrying a severe monogenic disease with a prenatal diagnostic test based on a simple blood draw.
Na pojavu i štete od kukuruznog moljca kao jednog od najvažnijih štetnika kukuruza mogu utjecati različiti čimbenici. Istraživanje utjecaja sustava obrade tla i gnojidbe kukuruza na napad i štete od ...kukuruznog moljca provedeno je 2021. godine na pokusnim površinama Veleučilišta u Križevcima. Tretmani u pokusu bili su: standardna obrada tla (ST), konzervacijski sustav plitki (KSP) i konzervacijski sustav duboki (KSD), gnojidba prema preporuci (GPP), GPP s dodatkom biofoziološkog aktivatora (GPPGEO) te gnojidba umanjena za 50% (GU) i GU s dodatkom biofoziološkog aktivatora (GUGEO). Rezultati istraživanja su pokazali da sustav obrade tla, gnojidba kukuruza i njihove interakcije imaju značajan utjecaj na većinu, ali ne na sve mjerene parametre oštećenja od kukuruznog moljca (postotak zaraze stabljike, drške klipa i klipa, broj rupa i ukupna dužina oštećenja, broj gusjenica po biljci). Varijante ST, GPPGEO i GPP te njihove interakcije rezultirale su najvećim intenzitetom zaraze u većini parametara. Sustav obrade tla nije imao značajan učinak na postotak zaraze drške klipa, a gnojidba nije imala utjecaja na postotak zaraženih stabljika i broj gusjenica po biljci. Najveća masa klipa po biljci utvrđena je kod tretmana obrade tla KSP i ST, kod gnojidbe GPPGEO i GPP te u interakcijama KSP i GPP te ST i GPPGEO.
The infestation and damage caused by the European corn borer (ECB), as one of the most important pests of corn, are influenced by various factors. Research on the impact of different soil tillage systems and corn fertilization on attack and damage of ECB was conducted in year 2021 in Križevci (NW Croatia). The influence of conventional tillage (ST), deep loosening (CTD shallow loosening (CTS), fertilization as recommended (FR), FR with addition of biophysiological activator Geo2 (FRG) and fertilization reduced by 50% (F50%) and F50% with addition (F50%G)) of biophysiological activator were determined. The results of the research showed that the tillage system, corn fertilization and their interactions have a significant influence on most of the measured parameters of intensity of infestation from the ECB (percentage of stem, ear shank and ear infestation, number and length of holes in stalk, number of caterpillars per plant), but not for all. Variants ST, FRG and FR and their interactions resulted in the highest infestation intensity in most parameters, but the tillage system had no significant effect on the percentage of ear shank infestation, and fertilization did not affect the percentage of stalk infestation and the number of caterpillars per plant. The highest ear mass per plant was found in soil treatment CTS and ST, in fertilization FRG and FR and in the interactions of CTS and FR and ST and FRG.
Measurement and evaluation of nuclear data of radioisotopes used as tracers are continuously underway in many laboratories to reach high accuracy for their use in production. We briefly mention some ...of the radionuclides useful for medical diagnostics and other industrial applications. The research group at the Egyptian cyclotron facility (EGCF) performed in collaboration with nuclear research centres and universities in many countries (Germany, Hungary, Finland, USA, Japan and Saudi Arabia) some measurements and evaluations of interesting nuclear reaction data. Nuclear reactions induced by p, d and α-particles on a wide variety of targets were extensively studied from threshold energy up to 50 MeV. Nuclear model code calculations, mainly using EMPIRE and TALYS, were performed for nuclear data validation. Proton and neutron activation of some industrially interesting samples were also studied as technological application of nuclear analytical techniques. Since the cyclotron facility is dedicated to development of the production routes of medical radioisotopes, this overview presents examples of optimization experiments to establish good production conditions.
is an intracellular parasite of all mammals and birds, responsible for toxoplasmosis. In healthy individuals
infections mostly remain asymptomatic, however this parasite causes severe morbidity and ...mortality in immunocompromised patients and congenital toxoplasmosis in pregnant women. The consumption of raw or undercooked pork is considered as an important risk factor to develop toxoplasmosis in humans. Since effective therapeutic interventions to treat toxoplasmosis are scarce, vaccination of meat producing animals may prevent
transmission to humans. Here, we evaluated the elicited immune responses and the efficacy of a potential vaccine candidate, generated by size fractionation of
lysate proteins, to reduce the parasite burden in tissues from experimentally
infected pigs as compared to vaccination with total lysate antigens (TLA). Our results show that both the vaccine candidate and the TLA immunization elicited strong serum IgG responses and elevated percentages of CD4
CD8
IFNγ
T cells in
infected pigs. However, the TLA vaccine induced the strongest immune response and reduced the parasite DNA load below the detection limit in brain and skeletal muscle tissue in most animals. These findings might inform the development of novel vaccines to prevent
infections in livestock species and humans.
Na območju Triglavskega narodnega parka zasledimo poseben tip travnikov – grbinaste travnike. Zaradi človekove dejavnosti imajo grbinasti travniki ne le naravovarstveno, ampak tudi kulturno vrednost. ...Zato je od leta 2004 v Programu razvoja podeželja (PRP) vzpostavljen sistemski ukrep za ohranjanje grbinastih travnikov. Kmetje so za njihovo vzdrževanje upravičeni do izravnalnih plačil, a je ta podpora nizka, med manj poznanimi in zelo slabo uveljavljenimi. Uradni prostorski sloj grbinastih travnikov je, kljub terenski preveritvi in nadgradnji v letu 2021, necelovit in deloma pomanjkljiv. Namen članka je prikaz nove metode oziroma razvoja kvantitativnega postopka identifikacije grbinastih travnikov na območju Triglavskega narodnega parka. Omejitev postopka je, da ni neposredno uporaben za zaznavanje grbinastih travnikov brez naknadnega terenskega ali digitalnega pregleda. Z njegovo uporabo smo predstavili možnost učinkovite nadgradnje obstoječega uradnega prostorskega sloja grbinastih travnikov.
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