Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a mixed disorder with the highly irregular course, inconsistent response to treatment and has no well-known mechanism for the pathophysiology. Major causes of ...depression are genetic, neurobiological, and environmental. However, over the past few years, altered serum levels of macro-minerals (MM) and trace elements (TE) have been recognized as major causative factors to the pathogenesis of many mental disorders. The purpose of this study was to determine the serum levels of MM (calcium and magnesium) and TE (copper, iron, manganese, selenium, and zinc) in MDD patients and find out their associations with depression risk.
This prospective case-control study recruited 247 patients and 248 healthy volunteers matched by age and sex. The serum levels of MM and TE were analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Statistical analysis was performed with independent sample t-tests and Pearson's correlation test.
We found significantly decreased concentrations of calcium and magnesium, iron, manganese, selenium, and zinc in MDD patients compared with control subjects (p < 0.05). But the concentration of copper was significantly increased in the patients than control subjects (p < 0.05). Data obtained from different inter-element relations in MDD patients and control subjects strongly suggest that there is a disturbance in the element homeostasis.
Our study suggests that altered serum concentrations of MM and TE are major contributing factors for the pathogenesis of MDD. Alterations of these elements in serum levels of MDD patients arise independently and they may provide a prognostic tool for the assessment of depression risk.
The use of biodiesel is rapidly expanding around the world, making it imperative to fully understand the impacts of biodiesel on the diesel engine combustion process and pollutant formation. ...Biodiesel is known as the mono-alkyl-esters of long chain fatty acids derived from renewable feedstocks, such as, vegetable oils or animal fats, for use in compression ignition engines. Different parameters for the optimization of biodiesel production were investigated in the first phase of this study, while in the next phase of the study performance test of a diesel engine with neat diesel fuel and biodiesel mixtures were carried out. Biodiesel was made by the well known transesterification process. Cottonseed oil (CSO) was selected for biodiesel production. Cottonseed is non-edible oil, thus food versus fuel conflict will not arise if this is used for biodiesel production. The transesterification results showed that with the variation of catalyst, methanol or ethanol, variation of biodiesel production was realized. However, the optimum conditions for biodiesel production are suggested in this paper. A maximum of 77% biodiesel was produced with 20% methanol in presence of 0.5% sodium hydroxide. The engine experimental results showed that exhaust emissions including carbon monoxide (CO) particulate matter (PM) and smoke emissions were reduced for all biodiesel mixtures. However, a slight increase in oxides of nitrogen (NO
x
) emission was experienced for biodiesel mixtures.
The protection against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants by pre-existing antibodies elicited due to the current vaccination or natural infection is a global concern. We aimed to investigate the rate of ...SARS-CoV-2 infection and its clinical features among infection-naïve, infected, vaccinated, and post-infection-vaccinated individuals. A cohort was designed among icddr,b staff registered for COVID-19 testing by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). Reinfection cases were confirmed by whole-genome sequencing. From 19 March 2020 to 31 March 2021, 1644 (mean age, 38.4 years and 57% male) participants were enrolled; where 1080 (65.7%) were tested negative and added to the negative cohort. The positive cohort included 750 positive patients (564 from baseline and 186 from negative cohort follow-up), of whom 27.6% were hospitalized and 2.5% died. Among hospitalized patients, 45.9% had severe to critical disease and 42.5% required oxygen support. Hypertension and diabetes mellitus were found significantly higher among the hospitalised patients compared to out-patients; risk ratio 1.3 and 1.6 respectively. The risk of infection among positive cohort was 80.2% lower than negative cohort (95% CI 72.6-85.7%; p < 0.001). Genome sequences showed that genetically distinct SARS-CoV-2 strains were responsible for reinfections. Naturally infected populations were less likely to be reinfected by SARS-CoV-2 than the infection-naïve and vaccinated individuals. Although, reinfected individuals did not suffer severe disease, a remarkable proportion of naturally infected or vaccinated individuals were (re)-infected by the emerging variants.
•Development of data-intensive bottom-up life cycle assessment model.•Quantification of well-to-wheel GHG emissions for five North American crudes.•Allocation of emissions to transportation fuels ...(gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel).•California’s Kern County heavy oil is the most GHG intensive of the crudes.
A life cycle assessment (LCA) is an extremely useful tool to assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with all the stages of a crude oil’s life from well-to-wheel (WTW). All of the WTW life cycle stages of crude oil consume energy and produce significant amounts of GHG emissions. The present study attempts to quantify the WTW life cycle GHG emissions for transportation fuels derived from five North American conventional crudes through the development of an LCA model called FUNNEL-GHG-CCO (FUNdamental Engineering PrinciplEs-based ModeL for Estimation of GreenHouse Gases in Conventional Crude Oils). This model estimates GHG emissions from all the life cycle stages from recovery of crude to the combustion of transportation fuels in vehicle engines. The contribution of recovery emissions in the total WTW GHG emissions ranges from 3.12% for Mars crude to 24.25% for California’s Kern County heavy oil. The transportation of crude oil and refined fuel contributes only 0.44–1.73% of the total WTW life cycle GHG emissions, depending on the transportation methods and total distance transported. The GHG emissions for refining were calculated from the amount of energy use in the refining of crude oil to produce transportation fuels. All the upstream GHG emissions were allocated to gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Refining GHG emissions vary from 13.66–18.70g-CO2eq/MJ-gasoline, 9.71–15.33g-CO2eq/MJ-diesel, and 6.38–9.92g-CO2eq/MJ-jet fuel derived from Alaska North Slope and California’s Kern County heavy oil, respectively. The total WTW life cycle GHG emissions range from 97.55g-CO2eq/MJ-gasoline derived from Mars crude to 127.74g-CO2eq/MJ-gasoline derived from California’s Kern County heavy oil.
Group A rotaviruses are the most common cause of severe diarrhea in infants and children worldwide and continue to have a major global impact on childhood morbidity and mortality. In recent years, ...considerable research efforts have been devoted to the development of two new live, orally administered vaccines. Although both vaccines have proven to confer a good protection against severe rotavirus gastroenteritis, these vaccines will have to be screened and may have to be updated regularly to reflect temporal and spatial genotype fluctuations. In this matter, the genetic characterization of circulating and new emerging rotavirus strains will need to be compulsory and accurate. An extended classification system for rotaviruses in which all the 11 genomic RNA segments are used, has been proposed recently. The use of this classification system will help to elucidate the role of gene reassortments in the generation of genetic diversity, host range restriction, co-segregation of certain gene segments, and in adaptation to a new host species.
Here we present a web-based tool that can be used for fast rotavirus genotype differentiation of all 11 group A rotavirus gene segments according to the new guidelines proposed by the Rotavirus Classification Working Group (RCWG).
With the increasing sequencing efforts that are being conducted around the world to unravel complete rotavirus genomes of human and animal origin, this tool will be of great help to analyze and correctly classify the large amount of new data. The web-based tool is freely available at http://rotac.regatools.be.
In this paper we present an adaptive synaptic array that can be used to improve the energy-efficiency of training machine learning (ML) systems. The synaptic array comprises of an ensemble of analog ...memory elements, each of which is a micro-scale dynamical system in its own right, storing information in its temporal state trajectory. The state trajectories are then modulated by a system level learning algorithm such that the ensemble trajectory is guided towards the optimal solution. We show that the extrinsic energy required for state trajectory modulation can be matched to the dynamics of neural network learning which leads to a significant reduction in energy-dissipated for memory updates during ML training. Thus, the proposed synapse array could have significant implications in addressing the energy-efficiency imbalance between the training and the inference phases observed in artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
Bangladesh is a hugely populated country in South Asia. The country produces its electricity mainly from natural gas followed by liquid fuels. Although the installed electricity generation capacity ...of the country has been increased to 12,261MW, there is scarcity of electricity in the hot summer season which is a barrier to industrial development as well as socio-economic development. Combustion of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere which causes global warming. Bangladesh can be badly affected by greenhouse effect and global warming. These problems can be mitigated by incorporating renewable energy sources (e.g., solar, wind, hydro, biomass, etc.) to the country's electricity generation. Renewable energy resources are considered as clean and can serve the electricity demand in the remote areas where grid connection is not possible. The potential of solar energy and biomass is enormous in Bangladesh and people have already started to harness energy from these sources. The government and the policy makers should come forward to encourage the people of rural areas as well as urban areas to use renewable based electricity. The government of Bangladesh has set up a plan to generate 5% of the country's total electricity from renewable sources within 2015 and 10% within 2020. However, within 2015 the country has been able to generate only 3.5% of the total electricity from renewable sources. This paper presents a thorough review of the current status and future potentials of renewable energy sector in Bangladesh. In this paper the updated information is provided for the overall renewable energy sector of the country.
Recent studies have shown that hyperuricemia is commonly associated with dyslipidemia, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and metabolic syndrome. Elevated serum uric acid has been demonstrated to ...be associated with obesity in the adult population in many countries; however, there is still a lack of evidence for the Bangladeshi population. The aims of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of hyperuricemia and determine the relationship between serum uric acid (SUA) and obesity among the Bangladeshi adults.
In this cross-sectional study, blood samples were collected from 260 adults (142 males and 118 females) and analyzed for SUA and lipid profile. All participants were categorized as underweight (n = 11), normal (n = 66), overweight (n = 120) and obese (n = 63) according to the body mass index (BMI) scale for the Asian population. Based on SUA concentration the participants were stratified into four quartiles (Q1: < 232 μmol/L, Q2: 232-291 μmol/L, Q3: 292-345 μmol/L and Q4: > 345 μmol/L).
The mean age and BMI of the participants were 32.5 ± 13.3 years and 24.9 ± 3.8 kg/m2, respectively. The average level of SUA was 294 ± 90 μmol/L with a significant difference between males and females (p < 0.001). Overall, the estimated prevalence of hyperuricemia was 9.3% with 8.4% in male and 10.2% in female participants. There were significant increases in the prevalence of obesity (17.4%, 22.2%, 28.6% and 31.8%, respectively, p < 0.01 for trend) across the SUA quartiles. A multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that SUA quartiles were independently associated with the presence of obesity (p < 0.01).
Present study indicates a significant positive relationship between SUA and obesity among the Bangladeshi adults. Therefore, routine measurement of SUA is recommended in obese individuals to prevent hyperuricemia and its related complications.
Certain ionic liquids have been shown to dissolve cellulose, other biopolymers, and even raw biomass under relatively mild conditions. This particular ability of some ionic liquids, accompanied by a ...series of concurrent advantages, enables the development of improved processing strategies for the manufacturing of a plethora of biopolymer-based advanced materials. The more recent discoveries of dissolution of lignocellulosic materials (e.g., wood) in ionic liquids, with at least partial separation of the major constituent biopolymers, suggest further paths towards the achievement of a truly sustainable chemical and energy economy based on the concept of a biorefinery which provides chemicals, materials, and energy. Nonetheless, questions remain about the use of ionic liquids and the advisability of introducing any new process which utilizes bulk synthetic chemicals which have to be made, disposed of, and prevented from entering the environment. In this article, we discuss our own journey from the discovery of the dissolution of cellulose in ionic liquids to the cusp of an enabling technology for a true biorefinery and consider some of the key questions which remain.
There is a distinct transition in the mode of material removal in machining of brittle materials if the undeformed chip thickness is below a critical threshold of submicron scale. It is believed that ...at such small scale of material removal, the energy required to extend pre-existing flaws in the microstructure of brittle material exceeds the energy required to mobilize the micro-structural dislocations and hence plastic deformation serves as the dominant mode of material removal. It is postulated that a transition in the mode of material removal in machining of brittle materials is accompanied by a corresponding shift in the representative mode of energy expenditure. Hence, machining energy is a viable parameter to characterize the modes of material removal in machining of a brittle material. This paper presents a specific cutting-energy based model to predict the ductile–brittle transition point in ultra-precision machining of brittle materials. The energy expended in brittle and ductile modes of machining is modeled as a function of work-material intrinsic properties, tool geometry and process parameters. The transition point is identified in terms of undeformed chip thickness at which the mode of energy undergoes a transition from the plastic deformation based one to the fracture based one. The validity of the proposed model is verified by single-edge cutting tests on single-crystal silicon and BK7 glass. The experimental results are found in good agreement with model results.
► This study models specific cutting energy to determine ductile–brittle transition point. ► The ductile-mode energy is modeled by using the plasticity principle. ► The brittle-mode energy is modeled by using the fracture mechanics principle. ► The transition point occurs when the energy expended switches from one mode to the other.
PDF
