•Steam-explosion-periodic-peristalsis used first in sequence to overcome corn-pericarp recalcitrance.•SE altered physicochemical functionalities and substituted the sub-process of grinding.•Unground ...SECPs achieved higher glucan and xylan conversion than ground one.•Periodic peristalsis facilitated digestibility and increased sugars conversion at high solids load.•SE-PPEH is a clean and cost-effective saccharification process.
A new sequence of steam explosion (SE) with periodic peristalsis (PP) exploited to fractionate corn pericarp (CP), and its high solid cellulosic hydrolysis to increase sugar yield. In this investigation, the optimum SE-condition was 0.8 MPa/5 min., recovered around 12.62 % total sugars than untreated CP, whereas glucan and xylan digestibility reached around 97 % and 87 %, respectively. Besides that, the unground SECP conversion increased by 27.10 % glucan and 34.18 % xylan than the ground one. FE-SEM, FTIR, XRD results confirmed that SE significantly fractionated the amorphous substances that driven the increment of the crystallinity index. SE changed the functional groups without altering the lignin, and also the formation of degradations products was negligible and not detrimental to sugars conversion. An unpolluted SEPP enzymatic hydrolysis system at high solid loading (25 %) with compatible low cellulase dose (15 FPU g−1 solids) was beneficial to intensified sugars conversion.
Human Activity Recognition (HAR) systems are devised for continuously observing human behavior - primarily in the fields of environmental compatibility, sports injury detection, senior care, ...rehabilitation, entertainment, and the surveillance in intelligent home settings. Inertial sensors, e.g., accelerometers, linear acceleration, and gyroscopes are frequently employed for this purpose, which are now compacted into smart devices, e.g., smartphones. Since the use of smartphones is so widespread now-a-days, activity data acquisition for the HAR systems is a pressing need. In this article, we have conducted the smartphone sensor-based raw data collection, namely H-Activity , using an Android-OS-based application for accelerometer, gyroscope, and linear acceleration. Furthermore, a hybrid deep learning model is proposed, coupling convolutional neural network and long-short term memory network (CNN-LSTM), empowered by the self-attention algorithm to enhance the predictive capabilities of the system. In addition to our collected dataset ( H-Activity ), the model has been evaluated with some benchmark datasets, e.g., MHEALTH, and UCI-HAR to demonstrate the comparative performance of our model. When compared to other models, the proposed model has an accuracy of 99.93% using our collected H-Activity data, and 98.76% and 93.11% using data from MHEALTH and UCI-HAR databases respectively, indicating its efficacy in recognizing human activity recognition. We hope that our developed model could be applicable in the clinical settings and collected data could be useful for further research.
Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most phytotoxic elements causing an agricultural problem and human health hazards. This work investigates whether and how silicon (Si) ameliorates Cd toxicity in Alfalfa. ...The addition of Si in Cd-stressed plants caused significant improvement in morpho-physiological features as well as total protein and membrane stability, indicating that Si does have critical roles in Cd detoxification in Alfalfa. Furthermore, Si supplementation in Cd-stressed plants showed a significant decrease in Cd and Fe concentrations in both roots and shoots compared with Cd-stressed plants, revealing that Si-mediated tolerance to Cd stress is associated with Cd inhibition in Alfalfa. Results also showed no significant changes in the expression of two metal chelators MsPCS1 (phytochelatin synthase) and MsMT2 (metallothionein) and PC (phytochelatin) accumulation, indicating that there may be no metal sequestration or change in metal sequestration following Si application under Cd stress in Alfalfa. We further performed a targeted study on the effect of Si on Fe uptake mechanisms. We observed the consistent reduction in Fe reductase activity, expression of Fe-related genes MsIRT1 (Fe transporter), MsNramp1 (metal transporter) and OsFRO1 (ferric chelate reductase and Fe chelators (citrate and malate) by Si application to Cd stress in roots of Alfalfa. These results support that limiting Fe uptake through the down-regulation of Fe acquisition mechanisms confers Si-mediated alleviation of Cd toxicity in Alfalfa. Finally, an increase of catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase activities along with elevated methionine and proline subjected to Si application might play roles, at least in part, to reduce H2O2 and to provide antioxidant defense against Cd stress in Alfalfa. The study shows evidence of the effect of Si on alleviating Cd toxicity in Alfalfa and can be further extended for phytoremediation of Cd toxicity in plants.
COVID-19 (coronavirus disease of 2019) occurs due to the highly contagious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It uses angiotensin-converting enzyme- 2 (ACE-2) as its ...primary receptor to enter the host cell. Recent reports suggest that this pathogen also has a large impact on the CNS alongside other organs. Various inflammatory mediators, such as cytokines, chemokines, and numerous metabolites, are poorly regulated during infection as well as in several psychiatric diseases, which leads to conditions of hypoxia and cytokine storm. The persistence of COVID-19 infection may also result in aggravation of the already present neuro-psychiatric symptoms in patients.
We systematically searched various sources of journals and assessed the varied neurological routes of propagation and pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 neurotoxicity, like ACE2-mediated neuroinvasion induced hypoxia and the cytokine storm syndrome. Several case studies were also referred to obtain a better idea of the current mental health scenario as a consequence of infection and inflammation due to SARS-CoV-2.
Several risk factors for the causation of mental health issues during as well as after the infection include female gender, presence of necrosis, and pain in avascular regions. Most psychiatric disorders are directly associated with the socioeconomic and psychosocial changes that have occurred as a consequence of the pandemic. These psychiatric manifestations have only started to unravel, which calls for the development of faster means of diagnosis and integrated pharmacological and epidemiological studies to curb the growing rate of neuronal complications as well as mortality.
Blood biomarkers have great potential to advance clinical care and accelerate trials in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Plasma phospho-tau181 (p-tau181) is a promising blood biomarker however, it is ...unknown if levels increase in presymptomatic AD. Therefore, we investigated the timing of p-tau181 changes using 153 blood samples from 70 individuals in a longitudinal study of familial AD (FAD). Plasma p-tau181 was measured, using an in-house single molecule array assay. We compared p-tau181 between symptomatic carriers, presymptomatic carriers, and non-carriers, adjusting for age and sex. We examined the relationship between p-tau181 and neurofilament light and estimated years to/from symptom onset (EYO), as well as years to/from actual onset in a symptomatic subgroup. In addition, we studied associations between p-tau181 and clinical severity, as well testing for differences between genetic subgroups. Twenty-four were presymptomatic carriers (mean baseline EYO -9.6 years) while 27 were non-carriers. Compared with non-carriers, plasma p-tau181 concentration was higher in both symptomatic (p < 0.001) and presymptomatic mutation carriers (p < 0.001). Plasma p-tau181 showed considerable intra-individual variability but individual values discriminated symptomatic (AUC 0.93 95% CI 0.85-0.98) and presymptomatic (EYO ≥ -7 years) (AUC 0.86 95% CI 0.72-0.94) carriers from non-carriers of the same age and sex. From a fitted model there was evidence (p = 0.050) that p-tau181 concentrations were higher in mutation carriers than non-carriers from 16 years prior to estimated symptom onset. Our finding that plasma p-tau181 concentration is increased in symptomatic and presymptomatic FAD suggests potential utility as an easily accessible biomarker of AD pathology.
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•A systematic ab-initio study has been carried out on cubic CaPd3B4O12 (B = Ti, V) quadruple perovskite via the DFT method.•Metallic and semiconducting characteristics have been ...observed for CPVO and CPTO, respectively.•CaPd3B4O12 shows mechanical and thermodynamical stability with anisotropic nature.•Phonon properties of CPBO perovskite are investigated.•The optical properties related to the electric structure of CaPd3B4O12 are investigated to justify the optoelectronic applications.•CPTO has potential candidacy in thermoelectric applications.
This study has explored numerous physical properties of CaPd3Ti4O12 (CPTO) and CaPd3V4O12 (CPVO) quadruple perovskites employing the density functional theory (DFT) method. The calculated lattice constants show inclinable compliance with the experimental results that ensure their structural stability. The mechanical permanence of these two compounds was observed by the Born stability criteria as well. The mechanical and elastic behaviors have been rationalized to investigate elastic constants, bulk, shear, and Young’s modulus, Pugh’s ratio, Poisson’s ratio, and elastic anisotropy indexes. The ductility and anisotropic indexes confirm that both materials are ductile and anisotropic in essence. The band structure of CPTO reveals a 0.88 and 0.46 eV direct narrow band gap while using TB-mBJ and GGA-PBE potentials, respectively, which is an indication of its fascinating semiconducting nature. Whereas, CPVO perovskite exhibits a metallic character. The calculated partial density of states indicates the strong hybridization between Pd-4d and O-2p orbital electrons for CPTO, whereas Pd-4d and V-3d-O-2p for CPVO. The study of the chemical bonding nature and electronic charge distribution graph reveals the coexistence of covalent O-V/Pd bonds, ionic O-Ti/Ca bonds, as well as metallic Ti/V-Ti/V bonding for both compounds. The Fermi surface of CPVO ensures a kind of hole as well as electron faces simultaneously, indicating multifarious band characteristics. The prediction of the static real dielectric function (optical property) of CPTO at zero energy implies its promising dielectric nature. The photoconductivity and absorption coefficient of CPBO display good qualitative compliance with the consequences of band structure computations. The calculated thermodynamic properties manifest the thermodynamical stability for CPBO, whereas phonon dispersions of CPVO exhibit stable phonon dispersion in contrast to slightly unstable phonon dispersion of CPTO. The predicted Debye temperature (θD) has been utilized to correlate its topical features including thermoelectric behaviors. The studied thermoelectric transport properties of CPTO yielded a higher Seebeck coefficient (186 μV/K), power factor (11.9 μWcm−1K−2), and figure of merit (ZT) value of about 0.8 at 800 K, indicating that this material could be a promising candidate for thermoelectric applications.
An exemplary blend of chiral pool with chiral catalysis is exhibited in an eight-step (longest) convergent asymmetric total synthesis of mycalol, which is a promising anticancer natural lipid from a ...marine source. The polyhydroxy lipid is constructed by using four blocks, and two of which are derived from the chiral pool (d-mannitol and d-gluconolactone) and the other two by chiral catalysis (Sharpless epoxidation and Keck allylation). Alkylation and metathesis were used to knit the blocks in an excellent display of a modular convergent eight-step synthesis. The modular excess will enable rapid analogue generation as revealed by the convenient synthesis of 4-
-mycalol similarly in an eight-step sequence.
Crop production in acid soils is facing enormous challenges due to low soil quality associated with an increase in the acidification rate and aluminum toxicity. Despite comprehensive prior work with ...biochar application on nutrient availability and crop productivity in acid soils, little information is available about the recommendation or standardization of biochar application rates that are more suitable for soil fertility improvement under different soil environments (physico-chemical properties) for maximizing the benefits of biochar applications and minimizing the potential environmental risk. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of poultry litter (PL) and poultry litter biochar (PLB) in ameliorating the fertility of acid soils through incubation and pot experiments. The soil was amended with different materials as follows; lime (1 g kg−1), PL (5, 10 and 15 g kg−1) and PLB (5, 10 and 15 g kg−1) along with control (non-amended). A pot experiment was also conducted using similar treatments to observe the responses of maize crop to the different amendments. The results indicated an increase in the pH and a decrease in exchangeable acidity in lime, PL and PLB amended soils. Lower soil pH, base cations and soil available phosphorus (P), and higher exchangeable acidity were found in control than the amended soils. Compared to PL and lime, PLB achieved greater increase rate in soil pH and reduction rate in soil exchangeable acidity with increased soil exchangeable base cations. An increase in soil available calcium (Ca) was observed in the lime treatment, while in PL and PLB treatments, there was an increase in soil available Ca, magnesium (Mg), potassium (K) and P. Application of the amendments increased availability of nitrogen (N), P, K, Ca and Mg relative to the control for maize in the pot experiment. When PL and PLB amendments were compared, it was found that the PLB was the best choice for the amelioration of acid soils as well as nutrient uptake by maize plants. It is suggested that application of PLB at the rate of 15 g kg−1 is suitable for maize growth in acid soils.
•Poultry litter and its biochar impact soil acidity and maize growth.•Biochar decreased exchangeable acidity significantly in acid soils.•Incorporation of biochar with NPK fertilizer improved the maize growth under acidic soil condition.•Soil pH, exchangeable bases and exchangeable acidity were the main influential factors on maize growth.
The complication of bioconversion starts from corn stover's structural inhomogeneity resulting in low enzymatic hydrolysis and pulping efficiency. Contrarily, higher efficacy necessitates the ...homogeneity of raw material, which demands a better understanding of tissue and cell modules. The proposal “Tissue Fractionation through Steam Explosion–Assisted Mechanical Carding (SEME)” can effectively fractionate corn stover into vascular and parenchyma tissues without adding chemical and water, resulting in low pollution. The result showed that the enzymatic hydrolysis yield of parenchyma tissue fraction (PTF) was 1.33 and 1.16 times higher than that of vascular tissue fraction (VTF) and the whole steam-exploded corn stover, respectively. It also revealed that each part of corn stover, namely, pith, rind, and leaf, showed higher enzymatic hydrolysis performance 1.09, 1.77, and 1.37 times, respectively, in the case of PTF than that of VTF. By characterizing with Brunauer–Emmett–Teller low-field nuclear magnetic resonance and analyzing with multiple-factor regression, it was found that the higher yield of enzymatic hydrolysis was attributed to the homogeneity improvement of interface properties instead of cellulose content. Furthermore, with the ethanol self-catalyzed pulping method, VTF was used to prepare unbleached pulp whose strength properties fulfilled the indexes of grade A corrugated medium, and the yield reached up to 57.6%, which is 1.26 times higher than that of cornstalk. This study provides a new method of tissue fractionation to improve the degree of usability of total corn stover for enzymatic hydrolysis and pulping considering the cost competitiveness in the economical stage.
Steam exploded corn stover fractionated through mechanical carding equipment to obtain a fraction of vascular and parenchyma tissue and analyzed in terms of morpha characterization, enzymatic hydrolysis and pulping. Display omitted
•A novel and effective concept of tissue fractionation to assured total corn stover utilization.•Functional categorization of parenchyma and vascular tissue fraction.•Higher enzymatic hydrolysis yield in parenchyma 1.41 times than vascular tissue.•Homogeneity provided higher yield of enzymatic hydrolysis rather than cellulose content.•Carded vascular tissue enhanced pulping up to 57.6%, 1.26 times higher than cornstalk.
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