AIMS: The influence of bacterial species/strains in agitated culture was investigated on the morphology and structure characteristics of bacterial cellulose. METHODS AND RESULTS: Komagataeibacter ...nataicola Y19 and Gluconacetobacter entanii ACCC10215 were inoculated in Hestrin–Schramm (HS) medium and subjected to agitated cultivation. Different kinds of BCs were obtained including flocky asterisk‐like BC by G. entanii ACCC10215 and solid sphere‐like BC by K. nataicola Y19. The SEM results showed that the asterisk‐like BC had larger pores than the solid sphere‐like BC. The FT‐IR and X‐ray diffraction results showed the asterisk‐like BC had lower crystallinity (81·43%), higher cellulose Iα mass fraction (79·74%) and smaller crystallite size. CONCLUSIONS: The different species/strains can influence the morphology and structure characteristics of BC in agitated culture. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: We examined the influence of different species/strains on the morphology, macro‐ and microstructure of BCs produced in agitated culture for the first time, which suggest that different BCs with potential applications could be obtained by choosing different species or strains and fermentation method.
Considerable uncertainty exists about the defining brain changes associated with bipolar disorder (BD). Understanding and quantifying the sources of uncertainty can help generate novel clinical ...hypotheses about etiology and assist in the development of biomarkers for indexing disease progression and prognosis. Here we were interested in quantifying case-control differences in intracranial volume (ICV) and each of eight subcortical brain measures: nucleus accumbens, amygdala, caudate, hippocampus, globus pallidus, putamen, thalamus, lateral ventricles. In a large study of 1710 BD patients and 2594 healthy controls, we found consistent volumetric reductions in BD patients for mean hippocampus (Cohen's d=-0.232; P=3.50 × 10
) and thalamus (d=-0.148; P=4.27 × 10
) and enlarged lateral ventricles (d=-0.260; P=3.93 × 10
) in patients. No significant effect of age at illness onset was detected. Stratifying patients based on clinical subtype (BD type I or type II) revealed that BDI patients had significantly larger lateral ventricles and smaller hippocampus and amygdala than controls. However, when comparing BDI and BDII patients directly, we did not detect any significant differences in brain volume. This likely represents similar etiology between BD subtype classifications. Exploratory analyses revealed significantly larger thalamic volumes in patients taking lithium compared with patients not taking lithium. We detected no significant differences between BDII patients and controls in the largest such comparison to date. Findings in this study should be interpreted with caution and with careful consideration of the limitations inherent to meta-analyzed neuroimaging comparisons.
•Identify optimal torrefaction and densification conditions for torrefied pellet production.•Quantify increased heating value and decreased moisture uptake for torrefied pellets.•Quantify increased ...compression energy consumption and decreased density of torrefied pellets.•Recommend high die temperature and sample preconditioning for torrefied pellet production.
Torrefaction and densification of British Columbia (BC) softwoods, including pine, fir, spruce, SPF (a mixture of spruce, pine and fir) and pine bark, have been conducted for the production of high quality torrefied wood pellets. A bench-scale fixed bed tubular reactor was used for the torrefaction test at temperatures of 240–340°C. Densification was conducted in a press machine in order to identify the suitable conditions for making strong torrefied pellets. Results showed that the mass loss of BC softwood mainly depended on the torrefaction temperature and time. The heating value of torrefied sawdust particles had a close relationship with the mass loss, increasing with increasing the severity of torrefaction. It was more difficult to compress torrefied samples into strong pellets than the raw material under the same conditions as used for making the control (regular and non-torrefied) pellets, and either a higher die temperature or adding moisture into torrefied particles could improve the compression process. The moisture content of torrefied pellets prepared in this study was lower than control pellets, and the density of torrefied pellets was slightly lower than control pellets. At the same time, more energy was consumed for compacting torrefied softwood particles into pellets. Increasing torrefaction severity increased the heating value and decreased the moisture uptake of torrefied pellets, but decreased the energy yield and the hardness of torrefied pellets. Considering the quality of torrefied pellets, the optimal torrefaction condition appeared to be around 30% mass loss, which gave a 20% increase in pellet higher heating value and a reasonable low water update rate. The suitable densification conditions for torrefied softwoods corresponded to a die temperature of 170–230°C for unconditioned samples, or about 110°C for samples preconditioned to ∼10% moisture content.
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cancers are two major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Nowadays, there is convincing evidence of positive associations between T2D and the incidence or prognosis ...of a wide spectrum of cancers, for example, breast, colon, liver and pancreas. Many observational studies suggest that certain medications used to treat hyperglycemia (or T2D) may affect cancer cells directly or indirectly. The potential mechanisms of the direct T2D cancer links have been hypothesized to be hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia and chronic inflammation; however, the metabolic pathways that lead to T2D and cancers still remain elusive. Plasma-free amino acid (PFAA) profiles have been highlighted in their associations with the risks of developing T2D and cancers in individuals with different ethnic groups and degree of obesity. The alterations of PFAAs might be predominately caused by the metabolic shift resulted from insulin resistance. The underlying mechanisms have not been fully elucidated, in particular whether the amino acids are contributing to these diseases development in a causal manner. This review addresses the molecular and clinical associations between PFAA alterations and both T2D and cancers, and interprets possible mechanisms involved. Revealing these interactions and mechanisms may improve our understanding of the complex pathogenesis of diabetes and cancers and improve their treatment strategies.
•This study identifies the need for variable selection when forming species distribution models via MaxEnt.•Two potential methods are proposed—one involves selecting from a priori determined ...environmental variable sets, while the other utilizes a reiterative process of model formation and stepwise removal of least contributing variables.•Both methods were tested on eight known species of invasive crayfish, with results reinforcing the need for species-specific environmental variable sets.
The popularity of MaxEnt in species distribution modeling has been driven by several factors including its high degree of accuracy, and flexibility to tailor efforts to species-specific situations. Although many recent studies have identified the importance of adjusting mathematical transformation (feature class) and regularization of coefficient values, collectively known as tuning, few studies have addressed the need to customize the variables used in species distribution modeling, and use unselected variable sets. This study presents two novel methods to select for environmental variables in MaxEnt. The first involves selecting from a priori determined environmental variable sets (pre-selected based on ecological or biological knowledge), and the second utilizes a reiterative process of model formation and stepwise removal of least contributing variables. Both methods were tested on eight known species of invasive crayfish, with results reinforcing the need for species-specific environmental variable sets. While the reiterative process generally performs better than the a priori selected variables, selection of method can be based on information availability. These techniques appear to outperform the current practice of utilizing unselected variable sets and is especially important considering the increasing application of species distribution modeling (across spatial and temporal barriers) in conservation and management efforts whereby inaccurate predictions might have adverse effects.
► An oxidation torrefaction kinetics model was developed based on TGA data. ► Sawdust was torrefied in a fluidized bed reactor using oxygen-laden combustion flue gases. ► Torrefied sawdust was ...compressed into pellets of properties similar to regular pellets.
Oxidative torrefaction of sawdust with a carrier gas containing 3–6% O2 was investigated in a TG and a fluidized bed reactor, with the properties of the torrefied sawdust and pellets compared with traditional torrefaction without any O2, as well as the dry raw material. It is found that the oxidative torrefaction process produced torrefied sawdust and pellets of similar properties as normally torrefied sawdust and corresponding pellets, especially on the density, energy consumption for pelletization, higher heating value and energy yield. For moisture absorption and hardness of the torrefied pellets, the oxidative torrefaction process showed slightly poor but negligible performance. Therefore, it is feasible to use oxygen laden combustion flue gases as the carrier gas for torrefaction of biomass. Besides, torrefied sawdust can be made into dense and strong pellets of high hydrophobicity at a higher die temperature than normally used in the production of traditional control pellets.
Rice appearance quality, including traits specifying grain dimension and endosperm chalkiness, represents a major problem in many rice-producing areas of the world. In this study, the genetic basis ...of six appearance quality traits of milled rice was dissected into quantitative trait loci (QTL) main effects, and the stability of these QTLs was assessed in a population of 66 chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) across eight environments. The CSSLs showed transgressive segregation for many of the traits, and significant correlations were detected among most of the traits. Twenty-two QTLs were identified on eight chromosomes, and numerous QTLs affecting related traits were mapped in the same regions, probably reflecting pleiotropic effects. Nine QTLs, namely qGL-1,qGL-3, qGW-5,qLWR-3, qLWR-5,qPGWC-8, qPGWC-9, qACE-8, and qDEC-8, were consistently detected across the eight environments. The additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analysis showed that genotype (G) x environment (E) interaction was significant for all six traits, with the first three iPCA terms accounting for over 80% of the G x E variance. Both D(I) values and the iPCA1-iPCA2 biplots showed that the CSSLs harboring the nine QTL alleles were more stable than those carrying any of the additional 13 QTL alleles, thereby confirming their environmental stability and pointing to their appropriateness as targets for marker-assisted selection for high-quality rice varieties.
Objective:
To validate kappa free light chain (KFLC) and lambda free light chain (LFLC) indices as a diagnostic biomarker in multiple sclerosis (MS).
Methods:
We performed a multicenter study ...including 745 patients from 18 centers (219 controls and 526 clinically isolated syndrome (CIS)/MS patients) with a known oligoclonal IgG band (OCB) status. KFLC and LFLC were measured in paired cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples. Gaussian mixture modeling was used to define a cut-off for KFLC and LFLC indexes.
Results:
The cut-off for the KFLC index was 6.6 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 5.2–138.1). The cut-off for the LFLC index was 6.9 (95% CI = 4.5–22.2). For CIS/MS patients, sensitivity of the KFLC index (0.88; 95% CI = 0.85–0.90) was higher than OCB (0.82; 95%CI = 0.79–0.85; p < 0.001), but specificity (0.83; 95% CI = 0.78–0.88) was lower (OCB = 0.92; 95% CI = 0.89–0.96; p < 0.001). Both sensitivity and specificity for the LFLC index were lower than OCB.
Conclusion:
Compared with OCB, the KFLC index is more sensitive but less specific for diagnosing CIS/MS. Lacking an elevated KFLC index is more powerful for excluding MS compared with OCB but the latter is more important for ruling in a diagnosis of CIS/MS.
Context. The nearby and young M star AU Mic is surrounded by a debris disk in which we previously identified a series of large-scale arch-like structures that have never been seen before in any other ...debris disk and that move outward at high velocities. Aims. We initiated a monitoring program with the following objectives: (1) track the location of the structures and better constrain their projected speeds, (2) search for new features emerging closer in, and ultimately (3) understand the mechanism responsible for the motion and production of the disk features. Methods. AU Mic was observed at 11 different epochs between August 2014 and October 2017 with the IR camera and spectrograph of SPHERE. These high-contrast imaging data were processed with a variety of angular, spectral, and polarimetric differential imaging techniques to reveal the faintest structures in the disk. We measured the projected separations of the features in a systematic way for all epochs. We also applied the very same measurements to older observations from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) with the visible cameras STIS and ACS. Results. The main outcomes of this work are (1) the recovery of the five southeastern broad arch-like structures we identified in our first study, and confirmation of their fast motion (projected speed in the range 4–12 km s−1); (2) the confirmation that the very first structures observed in 2004 with ACS are indeed connected to those observed later with STIS and now SPHERE; (3) the discovery of two new very compact structures at the northwest side of the disk (at 0.40′′ and 0.55′′ in May 2015) that move to the southeast at low speed; and (4) the identification of a new arch-like structure that might be emerging at the southeast side at about 0.4′′ from the star (as of May 2016). Conclusions. Although the exquisite sensitivity of SPHERE allows one to follow the evolution not only of the projected separation, but also of the specific morphology of each individual feature, it remains difficult to distinguish between possible dynamical scenarios that may explain the observations. Understanding the exact origin of these features, the way they are generated, and their evolution over time is certainly a significant challenge in the context of planetary system formation around M stars.
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