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•Co-digestion with complementary substrates has more balanced nutrient.•Balanced nutrient of co-digestion causes positive shifts of microbial community.•The positive shifts of ...microbial community improve AcoD efficiency.
Anaerobic co-digestion generally results in a higher yield of biogas than mono-digestion, hence co-digestion has become a topic of general interest in recent studies of anaerobic digestion. Compared with mono-digestion, co-digestion utilizes multiple substrates. The balance of substrate nutrient in co-digestion comprises better adjustments of C/N ratio, pH, moisture, trace elements, and dilution of toxic substances. All of these changes could result in positive shifts in microbial community structure and function in the digestion processes and consequent augmentation of biogas production. Nevertheless, there have been few reviews on the interaction of nutrient and microbial community in co-digestions. The objective of this review is to investigate recent achievements and perspectives on the interaction of substrate nutrient balance and microbial community structure and function. This may provide valuable information on the optimization of combinations of substrates and prediction of bioreactor performance.
With the increase of COVID-19 cases worldwide, an effective way is required to diagnose COVID-19 patients. The primary problem in diagnosing COVID-19 patients is the shortage and reliability of ...testing kits, due to the quick spread of the virus, medical practitioners are facing difficulty in identifying the positive cases. The second real-world problem is to share the data among the hospitals globally while keeping in view the privacy concerns of the organizations. Building a collaborative model and preserving privacy are the major concerns for training a global deep learning model. This paper proposes a framework that collects a small amount of data from different sources (various hospitals) and trains a global deep learning model using blockchain-based federated learning. Blockchain technology authenticates the data and federated learning trains the model globally while preserving the privacy of the organization. First, we propose a data normalization technique that deals with the heterogeneity of data as the data is gathered from different hospitals having different kinds of Computed Tomography (CT) scanners. Secondly, we use Capsule Network-based segmentation and classification to detect COVID-19 patients. Thirdly, we design a method that can collaboratively train a global model using blockchain technology with federated learning while preserving privacy. Additionally, we collected real-life COVID-19 patients' data open to the research community. The proposed framework can utilize up-to-date data which improves the recognition of CT images. Finally, we conducted comprehensive experiments to validate the proposed method. Our results demonstrate better performance for detecting COVID-19 patients.
The Yellow River is the most important water resource in northern China. In the recent past, heavy metal contamination has become severe due to industrial processes and other anthropogenic ...activities. In this study, riparian soil samples with varying levels of chromium (Cr) pollution severity were collected along the Gansu industrial reach of the Yellow River, including samples from uncontaminated sites (XC, XGU), slightly contaminated sites (LJX, XGD), and heavily contaminated sites (CG, XG). The Cr concentrations of these samples varied from 83.83 mg⋅kg
(XGU) to 506.58 mg⋅kg
(XG). The chromate Cr (VI) reducing ability in the soils collected in this study followed the sequence of the heavily contaminated > slightly contaminated > the un-contaminated. Common Cr remediation genes
and
were detected in the XG and CG samples. qRT-PCR results showed that the expression of
was up-regulated four and threefold in XG and CG samples, respectively, whereas the expression of
was up-regulated 66- and 7-fold in the same samples after 30 min treatment with Cr (VI). The copy numbers of
and
didn't change after 35 days incubation with Cr (VI). The microbial communities in the Cr contaminated sampling sites were different from those in the uncontaminated samples. Especially, the relative abundances of
and
were higher while
was lower in the contaminated group than uncontaminated group. Further, potential indicator species, related to Cr such as Cr-remediation genera (
, and
); the Cr-sensitive genera (
, and
) were also identified. These data revealed that Cr shifted microbial composition and function. Further, Cr (VI) reducing ability could be related with the expression of Cr remediation genes.
Lignocellulosic pretreatment is an important stage in biomass utilization, which usually requires high input. In this study, a low-cost method using combined ensiling and NaOH was developed for ...lignocellulosic pretreatment. Sweet sorghum bagasse (SSB) was ensiled for 21 days and then treated with diluted NaOH (0%, 1%, and 2%) for fermentation. The results showed that the application of
(L) reduced fermentation losses of the silages, mainly low water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) and ammonia nitrogen loss. Meanwhile, the application of
and ensiling enzyme (LE) promoted lignocellulosic degradation, as evidenced by low neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), lignin (ADL), and hemicellulosic (HC) contents. The dominant bacterial genera were
, and
after silage, which corresponded to the higher lactic acid and acetic contents and lower pH. The reducing sugar yields of SSB increased after combined pretreatment of silage and NaOH and were further enhanced by the 2% NaOH application, as evidenced by the high reducing sugar yield and microstructure damage, especially in the L-2% NaOH group and the LE-2% NaOH group, in which the reducing sugar yields were 87.99 and 94.45%, respectively, compared with those of the no additive control (CK)-0 NaOH group. Therefore, this study provides an effective method for SSB pretreatment to enhance biomass conservation.
This study uses a high-resolution Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with the chemistry module (WRF-Chem) to analyze the dust storm that occurred during 12‒17 June 2018 over the northwest ...Indo-Gangetic Plain (NW-IGP). The performance of WRF-Chem is validated against the ground- and space-based datasets before being used to investigate the impact of the dust storm on the air quality and radiative changes. The aerosols and meteorological parameters from in situ, satellite and reanalysis were used to evaluate the WRF-Chem model. The horizontal and vertical distributions of dust aerosols reproduced by the WRF-Chem agree with the observations. However, the WRF-Chem-simulated mean aerosol optical depth (AOD ~ 1.21 ± 0.17) is slightly underestimated compared to MODIS AOD (1.60 ± 0.32). Furthermore, the evolution of dust storm and associated changes in atmospheric and air quality conditions are well simulated by the WRF-Chem. The ERA5 and WRF-Chem suggest that the dust storm is triggered by the low-pressure system over the NW-IGP, which helps in bringing the dust-laden air masses from the west and southwest of the study region with the strong southwesterly winds. Our results reveal that the dust storm has a significant impact on air quality and horizontal visibility. During the peak time of the dust storm, the horizontal visibility dropped drastically from 4 to 0.48 km. In addition, the daily averaged in situ and model-simulated PM
10
and PM
2.5
concentration abruptly increased by a factor of two on peak time of the storm that deteriorated the air quality. The WRF-Chem-simulated dust-induced net radiative forcing shows the surface cooling (− 16.18 ± 3.88 Wm
−2
), atmospheric warming (+ 11.62 ± 4.96 Wm
−2
) and top of the atmospheric cooling (− 4.57 ± 0.92 Wm
−2
) due to the presence of elevated dust aerosols.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a serious global health concern, and researchers have been investigating different strategies to prevent, treat, or support conventional therapies for CRC. This review ...article comprehensively covers CRC therapy involving wild-type bacteria, including probiotics and oncolytic bacteria as well as genetically modified bacteria. Given the close relationship between CRC and the gut microbiota, it is crucial to compile and present a comprehensive overview of bacterial therapies used in the context of colorectal cancer. It is evident that the use of native and engineered probiotics for colorectal cancer therapy necessitates research focused on enhancing the therapeutic properties of probiotic strains.. Genetically engineered probiotics might be designed to produce particular molecules or to target cancer cells more effectively and cure CRC patients.
To combat salinity, plants need easily accessible, safe and sustainable mechanisms for optimum growth. Recently, endophytes proved to be the promising candidates that helped the host plant to thrive ...under stress conditions. Therefore, the aim was to discover endophytic strain(s) and their mechanism of action to alleviate salt stress in maize.
Keeping the diverse role of endophytes in view, 9 endophytic fungi from the spines of Euphorbia milli L. were isolated. Among the isolated fungal isolates, isolate FH1 was selected for further study on the basis of high antioxidant activity and capability to produce high indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), indole-3-acetamide (IAM), phenol and flavonoid contents. The 18S rDNA sequence homology and phylogenetic analysis of the fungal isolate FH1 revealed to be Yarrowia lipolytica. Furthermore, the inoculation of Y. lipolytica FH1 had significantly promoted plant growth attributes in treated maize as compared to positive (salt stress) and negative (salt stress free) controls. Likewise, differences in chlorophyll, carotenes, electrolyte leakage, leaf relative water, peroxidase, catalase, ABA, IAA and proline contents were observed between treated maize and controls. Interestingly, Y. lipolytica FH1 inoculated plants showed lower endogenous ABA and higher endogenous IAA contents.
From the results, we have concluded that Y. lipolytica inoculation has promoted the growth of maize plants through controlled metabolism and hormonal secretions (ABA and IAA) under salinity stress. Because of the fact, Y. lipolytica can be tried as an eco-friendly bio-fertilizer to achieve optimum crop productivity under saline conditions.
The existence of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in large quantities threatens environment biosafety. However, the fate of PFOS in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system and its influence in system ...has not yet been revealed. In this study, the fate and behavior of PFOS in an SBR processing system were investigated. Mass balance analyses revealed that PFOS removal was mainly through adsorption. After the reactors were run for 20 days, the PFOS (100 mg/L) removal rate was only 28%. Under the influence of PFOS, the removal rates of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen dropped rapidly from 92, 98% to 23, 35% in the 20th day of system operation, respectively, while, accumulation of nitrite and nitrate was reduced. Compared with the control group, PFOS stimulates microorganisms to secrete more soluble microbial products (SMP) and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). The adsorption of PFOS and EPS causes sludge bulking and decreases settling. The richness and diversity of microorganisms decreased significantly, affecting the system’s removal of COD and ammonia nitrogen. Therefore, the SBR system is not suitable for treating wastewater containing PFOS. It is necessary to remove PFOS through pretreatment to reduce its impact on the SBR system.
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•Activated sludge removes PFOS mainly via adsorption rather than biodegradation.•PFOS reduces the removal of organic matter and ammonia nitrogen by SBR.•PFOS causes bulking of activated sludge and reduces settling.•PFOS stimulates microbes to secrete large extracellular polymeric substances.•PFOS reduces microbial richness and diversity in activated sludge.
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•The modified SA-kaolin carrier can be used in the aerobic activated-sludge system.•Immobilization help strain LZ-4 colonize in activated sludge.•Bioaugmentation protect denitrifiers ...from Cr(VI) toxicity.•Change of microbial community is the major reason for protection of denitrification.
The inhibition of denitrification by heavy metals is a problem in nitrogen wastewater treatment, but the solutions are rarely studied. In this study, Pseudomonas brassicacearum LZ-4, immobilized in sodium alginate-kaolin, was applied in an activated-sludge reactor to protect denitrifiers from hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)). Q-PCR result showed that the strain LZ-4 was incorporated into activated sludge under the help of immobilization. In the non-bioaugmentation system, the removal efficiency of nitrate was decreased by 86.07% by 30 mg/L Cr(VI). Whereas, denitrification was protected and 95% of nitrate was removed continuously in immobilized-cell bioaugmentation system. Miseq sequencing data showed that bioaugmentation decreased the impact of Cr(VI) on microbial communities and increased the abundance of denitrifiers. Based on the results of biomass and extracellular polymers, activated sludge was protected from Cr(VI) toxicity. This discovery will provide a feasible technique for nitrogen wastewater treatment in the presence of distressing heavy metals.
Traumatic Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition that results in life long disability. Impairments associated with traumatic SCI such as sensory, motor, and autonomic dysfunctions lead ...to an array of secondary SCI-specific complications. Neuropathic pain is one of the most common medical complications of traumatic SCI which significantly affects motor function and activities of daily living (ADL) in people with traumatic SCI. Neuropathic pain is one of the main factors for dependency, decreased quality of life (QOL), poor rehabilitation outcomes, and depression in traumatic SCI individuals. The main aim of the current study was to determine the frequency of neuropathic pain and its effects on rehabilitation outcomes, balance function, and QOL in people with traumatic SCI.
A cross-sectional survey was carried out at PCP from March to August 2020. Overall, 123 participants were added to the study using a non-probability convenience sampling technique. Information was collected using an adapted, validated questionnaire. Both male and female traumatic SCI patients with age between 18-60 years who received at least two weeks of rehabilitation, 42 days after diagnosis of traumatic SCI were included in current study while patients with Acute SCI, SCI patients with any other condition which can affect neuropathic pain such as traumatic brain injury, diabetic neuropathy, amputation, etc. and progressive neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Guillain barre syndromes were excluded. Patients who have received at least two weeks of rehabilitation, 42 days after diagnosis of traumatic SCI. Patients with traumatic SCI.
Overall, 123 traumatic SCI patients were included in the study. The majority of the (n=101, 82%) participants were male and 83 (67.5%) were from urban areas. Eighty-Seven (70.73%) participants had neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain was significantly associated (P-value <0.005) with rehabilitation outcomes, balance function, and quality of life.
It can be concluded that more than two-third of SCI patients suffer from neuropathic pain. Moreover, neuropathic pain is significantly associated with rehabilitation outcomes, balance function, and quality of life.
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