Abstract
Alcoholic fermentation of fermentable carbon sources like molasses and table sugar using yeast are typical route in producing alcohol particularly known as bioethanol (C2H5OH). The key ...challenge encountered in bioethanol production process is to eliminate the impurity presence within the bioethanol which mainly water. Distillation is an energy extensive process which commonly used to recover ethanol up to 95% purity due to the presence of azeotropic composition. The distillation will no longer appropriate for further purification once the azeotrope composition has reached. Nonetheless, to be able to use as a viable fuel for gasoline engine or for any other utilizations where the purity is a major concern, further dehydration steps are needed producing an absolute ethanol. Few studies have been investigated on various dehydration methods for producing anhydrous ethanol, including azeotropic distillation, extractive distillation, adsorption, membrane pervaporation, and solvent extraction process. This review offers an insight into currently used technology on the ethanol dehydration methods and the future prospect on the continuous improvement particularly on the process energy requirement and efficiency will be discussed.
Update on Zika Virus Toresdahl, Brett G.; Asif, Irfan M.
Sports health,
09/2016, Letnik:
8, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
As public health experts work to contain the outbreak of Zika virus in South America and minimize the devastating prenatal complications, the international sports community prepares for the 2016 ...Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Athletes have publicly expressed concern regarding the health risks of competition in Zika-endemic areas.33 Ensuring the safety of the athletes during training and competition is the primary role of the team physician. Special consideration is needed for sports teams preparing for travel to areas affected by Zika virus.
Entropy creation in multiparticle system is investigated by analysing the experimental data on ion-ion collisions at AGS and SPS energies and the results thus obtained are compared with those ...predicted by multiphase transport and correlation-free Monte Carlo models. Entropies produced in limited- and full-phase space are observed to increase with increasing beam energy. The entropy values, normalized to the maximum rapidity and plotted against pseudorapidity (bin width also normalized to the maximum rapidity), are found to be energy independent, exhibiting a kind of entropy scaling. Such scaling is observed in the full phase space as well as in the regions confined to the forward or backward hemispheres. The findings also reveal that there exist strong correlations amongst the particles produced in the forward and backward hemispheres around the midrapidity. These correlations are found to be of short range in nature, and the contributions from the long-range correlations seem to be absent. PACS numbers: 25.75-q, 25.75.Gz.
To investigate respiratory health problems related to pesticide exposure in the inhabitants of agricultural areas.
This study included 252 participants prior to pesticide application and 66 ...participants from the first group after pesticide application across four cotton farms. Symptom questionnaires were filled out by participants and respiratory function tests were measured before and after pesticide exposure. In addition, PM
, PM
, air temperature, and humidity were measured in all four farming villages before and after pesticide administration.
PM
and PM
levels were significantly increased after pesticide application. After pesticide application, all participants' nose, throat, eye, and respiratory complaints increased significantly. Expected forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) percentage values decreased significantly. The rates of FVC and FEV1 values lower than 80% were 23.5% and 22%, espectively, before pesticide application, and this rate increased to 42.4% and 43.1%, respectively, after pesticide application. There was a significant negative correlation between PM
levels and FVC, FEV1, and PEF values. After PM
pesticide application, the risk of experiencing burning in the mouth, nose, and throat increased by 2.3-fold (OR: 2.316), 2.6-fold for burning symptoms in the eyes (OR: 2.593), 2.1-fold for wheezing (OR: 2.153), and 2.2-fold for chest tightness (OR: 2.211). With increased PM
levels, the risk of chest tightness increased 1.1-fold (OR: 1.123).
After pesticide administration, the respiratory health of the participants deteriorated. Performing pesticide applications in agriculture with harmless methods is the most important measure to be taken to protect public health.
Heterozygous endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) deficiency is associated with normal endothelium‐dependent responses, however, little is known regarding the mechanisms that maintain or impair ...endothelial function with heterozygous eNOS deficiency. The goals of this study were to (1) determine mechanism(s) which serve to maintain normal endothelial function in the absence of a single eNOS gene; and (2) to determine whether heterozygous eNOS deficiency predisposes blood vessels to endothelial dysfunction in response to a high‐fat diet (HFD). Responses of carotid arteries were examined in wild‐type (eNOS+/+) and heterozygous eNOS‐deficient (eNOS+/−) treated with either vehicle (saline), NG‐nitro‐L‐arginine (L‐NNA, 100 μmol/L), an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, or 1H‐1,2,4oxadiazolo4,3‐aquinoxalin‐1‐one (ODQ, 1 μmol/L), an inhibitor of soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC), and in eNOS+/+ and eNOS+/− mice fed a control (10%) or a 45% HFD (kcal from fat). Responses to acetylcholine (ACh) were similar in vehicle‐treated arteries from eNOS+/+ and eNOS+/− mice, and were equally inhibited by L‐NNA and ODQ. Phosphorylation of eNOS Ser1176, a site associated with increased eNOS activity, was significantly greater in eNOS+/− mice most likely as a compensatory response for the loss of a single eNOS gene. In contrast, responses to ACh were markedly impaired in carotid arteries from eNOS+/−, but not eNOS+/+, mice fed a HFD. Vascular superoxide levels as well as plasma levels of the pro‐inflammatory cytokine interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) were selectively increased in HFD‐fed eNOS+/− mice. In reconstitution experiments, IL‐6 produced concentration‐dependent impairment of endothelial responses as well as greater increases in NADPH‐stimulated superoxide levels in arteries from eNOS+/− mice fed a control diet compared to eNOS+/+ mice. Our findings of increased Ser1176‐phosphorylation reveal a mechanism by which NOS‐ and sGC‐dependent endothelial function can be maintained with heterozygous eNOS deficiency. In addition, heterozygous eNOS deficiency predisposes blood vessels to developing endothelial dysfunction in response to a HFD. The impairment produced by a HFD in eNOS+/− mice appears to be mediated by IL‐6‐induced increases in vascular superoxide. These findings serve as an important example of eNOS haploinsufficiency, one that may contribute to the development of carotid artery disease in obese humans.
The goals of this study were to determine mechanism(s) which serve to maintain normal endothelial function and those that promote endothelial dysfunction, such as that produced by a high fat diet, in heterozygous eNOS‐deficient (eNOS+/−) mice. Our findings reveal that increased Ser1176‐phosphorylation serves to promote normal endothelial responses in the absence of a single eNOS gene. In addition, heterozygous eNOS deficiency predisposes blood vessels to developing endothelial dysfunction in response to a HFD. The impairment of endothelial function produced by a HFD in eNOS+/− mice appears to be mediated, in large part, by IL‐6‐induced increases in vascular superoxide.
Flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 (FMO3) is a hepatic microsomal enzyme that oxidizes a host of drugs, xenobiotics and other chemicals. Numerous variants in the gene encoding FMO3 have been ...identified, some of which result in altered enzymatic activity and, consequently, altered substrate metabolism. Studies also implicate individual and ethnic differences in the frequency of FMO3 polymorphisms. In addition, new variants continue to be identified with potentially important clinical implications. For example, the role of FMO3 variants in the pathophysiology of gastrointestinal diseases is an evolving area of research. Two commonly occurring polymorphisms of FMO3, E158K and E308G, have been associated with a reduction in polyp burden in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis who were treated with sulindac sulfide, an FMO3 substrate. These findings suggest a potential role for prospective genotyping of common FMO3 polymorphisms in the treatment of disease states that involve the use of drugs metabolized by FMO3. This review summarizes the current state of research on the genetic polymorphisms of FMO3, with a focus on their clinical implications in gastrointestinal diseases.
Bosscha Observatory, Institut Teknologi Bandung, has been experimenting to observe crescent moon using small telescope equipped with digital cameras since 2007. The initial motivation was to provide ...evidence, i.e. digital image, of the first crescent moon visible after new moon (hilal) for moslem community in determining the first day of Ramadan and Shawwal. Initially, observation was done after sunset, following common believe that crescent moon can be detected only after glare from the Sun disappear. In early 2000's it was shown that crescent moon can be detected using CCD camera before sunset (in daylight) with special setup. We catched up the idea in 2013. In this paper we summarize what we have learned so far. Now, detection of crescent moon with elongation e > 4° is not a problem. Detailed report will be written somewhere else.
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