bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Biotreatment of azo dye containing textile industry effluent by a developed bacterial consortium immobilised on brick pieces in an indigenously designed packed bed biofilm reactor
Authors: Agrawal Shweta , Tipre Devayani , Dave Shailesh R.
Published: July 2022

This study highlights the development of a lab-scale, indigenously designed; Packed-Bed Biofilm Reactors (PBBR) packed with brick pieces. The developed biofilm in the reactor was used for the decolourisation and biodegradation of the textile industry effluent. The PBBR was continuously operated for 264 days, during which 301 cycles of batch and continuous treatment were operated. In batch mode under optimised conditions, more than 99% dye decolourisation and ≥ 92% COD reduction were achieved in 6 h of contact time upon supplementation of effluent with 0.25 g L− 1 glucose, 0.25 g L− 1 urea, and 0.1 g L− 1 phosphates. A decolourisation rate of 133.94 ADMI units h− 1 was achieved in the process. PBBR, when operated in continuous mode, showed ≥ 95% and ≥ 92% reduction in ADMI and COD values. Subsequent aeration and passage through charcoal reactor assisted in achieving ≥ 96% reduction in COD and ADMI values. An overall increase of 81% in dye-laden effluent decolourisation rate, from 62 mg L− 1 h− 1 to 262 mg L− 1 h− 1, was observed upon increasing the flow rate from 18 mL h− 1 to 210 mL h− 1. Dye biodegradation was determined by UV-Vis and FTIR spectroscopy and toxicity study. SEM analysis showed the morphology of the attached-growth biofilm.
Circularly Polarized Printed MIMO Antenna for 5G Applications
Authors: Gangula Acharya , challa Rama Krishna , gaddam Nandini , Karji Rihana Begum
Published: July 2022

This study provides a proposal for printed circularly polarized MIMO 5G antenna with four ports that are suitable for enhanced impedance bandwidth. The proposed circularly polarized MIMO antenna is designed at 28 GHz. The complementary split ring rectangular resonator with a defective ground plane is used to support the array, which is placed on a FR4 epoxy substrate that is 40 mm × 40 mm × 0.8 mm in physical size. The MIMO 5G antenna components are structured in an orthogonal arrangement with four identical patches that have a triangular cut. By integrating triangular cuts on rectangular patch and inset feeding techniques, the the designed antenna work across the whole frequency range with good impedance matching, increased gain, and with 1.5 GHz axial ratio bandwidth for circular polarization. The circular polarized MIMO 5G antenna that has been proposed achieves a gain of 5 dBi over bandwidth of 7GHz. The circularly polarized MIMO antenna would cover 5G bands between 25.5 GHz and 32.5 GHz and it provides an axial ratio bandwidth of 1.5 GHz from 27.25GHz to 28.75GHz, which will be deployed in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, a performance and analysis of the MIMO performance measures for the proposed architecture have been presented. An antenna prototype is built and tested to validate simulation results.
Influence of smoking on the effectiveness of at-home bleaching with 22% carbamide peroxide: A cohort study
Authors: Silva Rodrigo Rohenkohl , De Carli João Paulo , Pecho Oscar Emilio , Collares Kauê Faria , Bona Alvaro Della , Meireles Sônia Saeger , Júnior João Renato Dieterich , Benetti Paula
Published: July 2022

ObjectivesTo evaluate the effect of smoking on tooth whitening and color change after at-home bleaching.Materials and methodsThis is a cohort study evaluating two groups of participants: NS- non-smokers (n = 24) and S- smokers (n = 16). All subjects were treated with at-home bleaching using 22% carbamide peroxide (CP) in individual trays for 1 h per day, during 14 days. The color was evaluated before bleaching (D0-baseline), and one day (D1), 15 days (D15), and one month (D30) after bleaching. The color coordinates were measured using the VITA Easyshade™ spectrophotometer and the whiteness index (WID- Whiteness Index for Dentistry) and color differences (ΔE00) for S and NS at different times were calculated. Color changes between S and NS subjects for specific teeth (CI- Central Incisors, LI- Lateral Incisors, and C- Canines) were analyzed using Mann-Whitney test (α=0.05).ResultsThere was no significant difference of WID between S and NS subjects at baseline (D0). NS participants showed higher WID than S at D1, D15, and D30 (p < 0.05). NS showed higher ΔWID for CI and C between D0 and the other evaluation times (D1, D15, and D30) compared to S. Smokers showed higher darkening of CI than NS in ΔWID D30-D1 (p < 0.05). Color change (ΔE00) findings had the overall behavior similar to ΔWID. ΔWID and ΔE00 values for all evaluation times were within the acceptability threshold.ConclusionAlthough smoking showed some effects on the at-home bleaching treatment using 22% CP, teeth whiteness and color changes are clinically acceptable for both groups. Clinical significance: At-home bleaching is a widely performed treatment, however there is a lack of evidence using 22% carbamide peroxide gel in smokers. Although the central incisors showed significant darkening (lower WID) in smokers at 30 days after bleaching, the whitening index was considered clinically acceptable.
Assessment of ocular neuropathic pain following vitreoretinal surgery using 23-gauge sclerotomy
Authors: Niktinat Hanieh , Yousefshahi Fardin , Latifi Golshan , Fadakar Kaveh , Kalantaritarari Farid , Fooladi Marjan Imani , Goudarzi Mehrdad , Ebrahimiadib Nazanin
Published: July 2022

Objective
To investigate the presence of persistent ocular pain after 23-gauge pars plana vitreoretinal surgery
Method
This is a prospective study including patients who underwent 23-gauge vitrectomy or silicone removal with local or general anesthesia. We evaluated the symptoms of ocular neuropathic pain before and two months after surgery using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) questionnaire, and the impact of reported ocular symptoms on quality of life. Correlation between ocular pain and factors such as patient demographics and underlying conditions were also assessed.
Result
75 patients with a mean age of 58.93 ± 12.05 years were evaluated. 44 (58.7%) were males. 67 (89.3%) patients underwent vitrectomy and eight had silicone removal surgery, all using 23-gauge instruments. there was an increasing trend in eye pain scores two months after surgery which did not reach a statistical significance. However, the analgesic consumption increased from 4% before surgery to 17.3% two months after surgery. Patients who reported increased analgesic usage two months after surgery, scored worse in items of the quality-of-life questionnaire. In addition, patients who reported ocular and facial pain and photophobia before surgery had higher chances of analgesic consumption after surgery (p-value: 0.03, 0.003, and 0.001, respectively). Those who reported migraine headaches had higher chances of reporting eye symptoms, postoperatively (p-value: 0.041).
Conclusion
Surgeries involving 23-gauge incisions may not induce ocular neuropathic pain. However, increased use of analgesics after surgery was observed.
Safe water reuse through a quasi-natural water cycle
Authors: Wang Xiaochang C.
Published: July 2022

Safe water reuse usually means the provision of reclaimed water with its quality meeting the criteria for safeguarding human health and aquatic ecology. Regarding this, people often overstress the technological magic in terms of hazardous substances removal by engineered processes while ignoring the utilization of nature's power to provide an additional barrier for safety control. Based on an understanding of the function of the hydrological cycle to secure water quality and the fact that water reuse is through a water loop, the author presented his viewpoint on creating a quasi-natural water cycle for water reuse. Existing data showed the remarkable effects of emerging pollutants removal and associated reduction of biotoxicities from the reclaimed water during open-storage under a quasi-natural condition. Adsorption by soil particles, sunlight-induced photolysis and purification by aquatic life were thought to be the major actions contributing to effective water quality improvement in a quasi-natural manner. Safe water reuse through a quasi-natural water cycle can thus be a recommendable strategy for system design in accordance with the purposes of water use.
La gestión directiva en las instituciones educativas
Authors: Polo Albarracín Miguel José , Sánchez Buitrago Jorge Oswaldo
Published: July 2022

Este libro deriva de la tesis doctoral «La gestión directiva en las organizaciones educativas: una interpretación desde la perspectiva de la resignificación de los Proyectos Educativos Institucionales -PEI-». Se trata de una investigación que surgió a partir de las tensiones que se evidencian en las prácticas cotidianas que realizan los rectores de las instituciones de educación básica y media en el ámbito de la gestión directiva, en contraste con las previsiones estipuladas en los PEI; lo que incide de manera contundente en la calidad educativa. Se posiciona la institución educativa como organización compleja, como construcción social en la que se desarrolla la gestión pedagógica y, en particular, la gestión directiva, orientada siempre desde los PEI, profundizando en su concepción, estructura y desarrollo. Se fundamenta la «resignificación» como una perspectiva metodológica para el fortalecimiento del PEI: como una mediación pedagógica; es decir, reflexiva, dialéctica, crítica y transformadora, que genera racionalidades emergentes para reflexionar y actuar en la gestión directiva. Estamos comprometidos con una concepción emergente que asume y vivencia la gestión de las organizaciones educativas como pedagógica: en la medida en que toda acción directiva se piense así, avanzaremos en superar la ruptura entre lo pedagógico y lo administrativo, llegando a entender que lo pedagógico es el rasgo definitorio que le otorga sello de identidad a tales organizaciones. Nuestra gran apuesta teórica y social es por la resignificación de la gestión pedagógica.
Therapeutic Application of Nanoparticles in Hepatitis Diseases:
A Narrative Review (2011-2021)
Authors: Mehrizi Tahereh Zadeh , Ardestani Mehdi Shafiee
Published: July 2022

Purpose:

Hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver parenchyma, is a viral disease. Addressing the
challenges of hepatitis is very important. Therefore, using nanoparticles (NPs) in solving the problems
of hepatitis diagnosis and treatment can be considered a promising approach.
To the best of our knowledge, there are few studies to review the most widely used and effective
NPs in the field of hepatitis. A literature review was performed on the publications available on the
subject matter from 2011 to 2021. The keywords in different combinations such as “hepatitis,”
“nanobiosensor,” “nanoparticles,” “drug delivery,” “vaccination,” “HBV,” and “HCV” were
searched in databases of PubMed and Scopus. The collected data were then analyzed.
Our review study for introducing the widely used metallic, polymeric and carbon-based NPs with
more promising effects in the field of hepatitis virus infection shows that the most effective metallic
NPs were gold nanoparticles for designing detection sensors. Also, among polymeric NPs, chitosan
NPs seem to be the best nanocarriers in drug delivery and vaccination for hepatitis and
among carbon-based NPs, carbon dots had more promising effects for biosensing of hepatitis.
According to the results, it is suggested that more studies could be conducted on these NPs for
further studies on hepatitis as well as other viral infectious diseases.
Computational Approaches for Investigating Disease-causing Mutations in Membrane Proteins: Database Development, Analysis and Prediction
Authors: Kulandaisamy Arulsang , Ridha Fathima , Frishman Dmitrij , Gromiha M. Michael
Published: July 2022

Membrane proteins (MPs) play an essential role in a broad range of cellular functions, serving as transporters, enzymes, receptors, and communicators, and about ~60% of membrane proteins are primarily used as drug targets. These proteins adopt either α-helical or β-barrel structures in the lipid bilayer of a cell/organelle membrane. Mutations in membrane proteins alter their structure and function, and may lead to diseases. Data on disease-causing and neutral mutations in membrane proteins are available in MutHTP and TMSNP databases, which provide additional features based on sequence, structure, topology, and diseases. These databases have been effectively utilized for analysing sequence and structure-based features in disease-causing and neutral mutations in membrane proteins, exploring disease-causing mechanisms, elucidating the relationship between sequence/structural parameters and diseases, and developing computational tools. Further, machine learning-based tools have been developed for identifying disease-causing mutations using diverse features, such as evolutionary information, physicochemical properties, atomic contacts, contact potentials, and the contribution of different energetic terms. These membrane protein-specific tools are helpful in characterizing the effect of new variants in the whole human membrane proteome. In this review, we provide a discussion of the available databases for disease-causing mutations in membrane proteins, followed by a statistical analysis of membrane protein mutations using sequence and structural features. In addition, available prediction tools for identifying disease-causing and neutral mutations in membrane proteins will be described with their performances. This comprehensive review provides deep insights into designing mutation-specific strategies for different diseases.
Magnetic Nanoparticles Molecularly Imprinted Polymers: A Review
Authors: Ramin Nursyahera Azreen , Asman Saliza , Ramachandran Muggundha Raoov , Saleh Noorashikin Md , Mat Ali Zalilah Murni
Published: July 2022

The molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) technology, which has been around since the 1970s, has grown in popularity in recent decades. MIPs have shown to be a useful approach for determining target molecules in complicated matrices containing other structurally similar and related chemicals. Despite MIPs have intrinsic polymer features such as stability, robustness, and low-cost production, traditional MIPs have a number of drawbacks. Surface molecular imprinting appears to be an alternative approach that can address some of the drawbacks of traditional MIP by anchoring shells to the surface of matrix carriers such as nanoparticles. The incorporation of nanoparticles into the polymeric structure of MIPs can improve their properties or provide novel capabilities. Magnetic nanoparticles have been widely explored for their separation and extraction capability. Magnetic components in MIP can help develop a regulated rebinding process, allowing magnetic separation to substitute centrifugation and filtration stages in a simple and cost-effective strategy. Polymers are created directly on the surface of a magnetic substrate to create a unique material termed magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (MMIP). These materials have been widely used to extract molecules from complex matrices in a variety of applications, especially in environmental, food, and biological studies. This paper seeks to summarize and discuss the nanoparticle synthesis and magnetic nanoparticle combination in the MIP preparation. The novel applications of MMIP in environmental, food, and biological analysis are also discussed in this paper.
Encapsulation of Melittin in Bicontinuous Microemulsions for Topical Delivery
Authors:   University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Oehler Madison , Hayes Douglas G. ,   University of Tennessee, Knoxville, D'Souza Doris ,   University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Published: July 2022

Surgical site infections and chronic wounds, especially those caused by antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, result in hospitalization and fatalities each year. Methods to prevent these infections, such as cleaning and preparing medical tools, have had minimal success in preventing infections. Further, antibiotic treatments have become less successful in treating infections and wounds as a result of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial peptides (AMP) are a possible treatment solution. AMPs are oligopeptides that occur in nature or can be synthesized in vitro which possess a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against bacteria and other harmful microorganisms. AMPs operate by disrupting the packing arrangements of biomembranes in prokaryotes through their insertion into negatively charged phospholipid bilayers. However, many AMP products have failed clinical trials because of their difficulty to be delivered at high concentrations in an active form. This project proposes the use of bicontinuous microemulsions (BMEs) to encapsulate and deliver AMPs. BMEs are thermodynamically stable monophasic solutions consisting of surfactant, oil, aqueous media, and sometimes a cosurfactant. They are optically clear and consist of surfactant monolayers that separate oil and water nanodomains. Several different BME systems composed of biocompatible oils such as isopropyl myristate and limonene were evaluated for their ability to encapsulate melittin, a model AMP, and to test the system’s antimicrobial activity. AMPs are typically cationic, and the following hypothesis is being tested, that BMEs created with anionic surfactants would induce a more highly folded, hence more biologically active, conformation for melittin. We are currently measuring the antimicrobial activity of BME-encapsulated melittin against several prominent bacteria that are present in chronic wounds and surgical site infections through multiple antimicrobial assays. We will also assess the structure and microenvironment of melittin using circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy, respectively, and the impact of melittin on the structure of BMEs through small-angle X-ray scattering.
Phosphatidylglycerol-specific Phospholipase C from Amycolatopsis Sp. NT115: Biochemical Characterization and Heterologous Expression
Authors:   Fukushima University, Sugimori Daisuke , Kajiyama Kiyoto ,   Fukushima University, Kawashima Shunsuke ,   Fukushima University, Matsumoto Yuho ,   Fukushima University
Published: July 2022

In recent years, phosphatidylglycerol (PG) has been attracting attention in the field of cell physiology such as photosynthesis and germ cells, or clinical diagnosis. Most of phospholipids containing PG are analyzed using HPLC and LC-MS; however, it has been desired to develop an enzymatic assay method for determination of PG concentration in a simple, easy, and high-through put.In our presentation, biochemical characterization of a PG-specific phospholipase C (PG-PLC) from Amycolatopsis sp. NT115 will be reported. PG-PLC (molecular mass, 55 kDa) showed maximal activity at pH 6.0 and 55°C. PG-PLC showed almost no activity on other diacylphospholipids, dipalmitoylPG, lysoPG and glycerol 3-phosphate, demonstrating PG-PLC can recognize not only the substrate headgroup but also the acyl chains. PG-PLC was inhibited by Zn2+; however, it was hardly inhibited by EDTA and non-ionic surfactants such as Triton X-100, Tween 80, Briji 35 and Nonidet P-40. PG-PLC activity was enhanced by 1 mM Mn2+, Al3+, 0.1% sodium deoxycholate by 1.3-2.5 folds. Recombinant PG-PLC (rPG-PLC) was extracellularly produced using Streptomyces lividans/pUC702 expression system. However, unexpectedly it was produced with the N-terminal region deleted by ca. 230 amino acids. As a result, the stability of the deletion mutant (Δ230aa) was markedly decreased. In 96 h culture, rPG-PLC with His6-tag was produced with 0.188 U/mL and 3.36×10-2 U/mg-protein in the culture supernatant. Moreover, 1.52 mg-protein of the purified Δ220aa (2.5 U/mL, 16.4 U/mg-protein) was yielded from 0.9 L of the culture supernatant by His-tag affinity chromatography. Using the purified Δ220aa, kinetic parameters were determined to be Km=0.368 mM, 99.2 µM/min (6.51 mmol/min/mg-protein), kcat=5.29×10-2 s-1, kcat/Km=0.256 mM-1s-1 for POPG.
In Situ Direct Transesterification Process Optimization for Biodiesel Production from Aspergillus Terreus Wet Biomass
Authors:   Savitribai Phule Pune University, Bed Rashmi Karamchand , Ravikumar Ameeta ,   Savitribai Phule Pune University, Ravi Kumar V. ,   National Chemical Laboratory, Pune
Published: July 2022

The popular saying “Never let a crisis go to waste” holds true today as global energy crisis has created opportunity for energy transition. To contribute towards bioenergy technology we developed a microbial biorefinery based cheap and abundantly available agro-waste, sugarcane bagasse. Sugarcane bagasse detoxified liquid hydrolysate supplemented with lipid accumulation media (DLH-LAM) substrate generated biomass of oleaginous Aspergillus terreus and its strain improved variant TB21 and was used for in-situ direct transesterification for biodiesel (FAME) generation. The efficiency of downstream processing was improved by optimizing the in-situ transesterification process. Time and energy consuming process of biomass drying was replaced by wet biomass harvested post fermentation. Hazardous chloroform was compensated with greener alternative, methanol. H2SO4 promoted biomass dehydration and catalysis of the transesterification reaction, limiting chemicals usage. Biomass loading, H2SO4 , methanol and reaction time were statistically optimized by Plackett-Burman design (PBD) experiments. A. terreus wild type grown in 3% DLH-LAM at 30 ˚C, 120 hours’ showed FAME yield 66 mg/g of wet biomass in 5 minutes of reaction time at 121˚C, 15 psi, compared to 24.51 mg/g FAME from dried biomass transesterified at 65 ˚C for 3 hours of reaction time (Bioenerg. Res.). TB21 showed comparatively higher FAME yield of 86.55 mg/g wet biomass, 2.6 times higher than 33.43 mg/g FAME from dried biomass under same conditions. This work is being taken forward with GC analysis and scale-up to fermenter level.Direct usage of wet biomass, replacement of chloroform, reduction in reaction time from 3 hours to 5 minutes, while achieving 2.6 times higher FAME yields shows the efficiency of the process optimized. Decarboniza­tion challenges can therefore be overcome with the development of such sound biodiesel generation system efficient in terms of time, energy, cost, and environmentally sustainable. Key words: biodiesel; process optimization; in-situ direct transesterification; Plackett-Burman; Aspergillus terreus
Effects of Fungal Fermentation on Cellulase Activity Along with the Solubility and Protein Yield on Different Economically Important Substrates
Authors:   South Dakota State University, Raihan Mohammad Karamchand , Alhomodi Ahmad ,   South Dakota State University, Berhow Mark ,   USDA, Gibbons William ,   South Dakota State University, Karki Bishnu ,   South Dakota State University
Published: July 2022

Plant-based agricultural residues are readily available. However, due to the presence of several undesirable plant components such as high starch content, low protein yield, phytic acid, saponins, phenolics, etc., these feedstocks need to be processed prior to their end use1. Fermentation technology has been successful in bringing some of these feedstocks to the animal feed and human food markets by improving the nutritional composition through microbial metabolic activity2. Submerged state fermentation (SMF) is an effective way of controlling fermentation parameters (pH, temperature, agitation, etc.) to achieve high product yield and improve the quality 1,2. In this study, our goal is to use fungal fermentation to enhance the proximate composition of three different feedstocks [dry pea protein (DPP), dehulled yellow pea (DHP), and distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS)]. Filamentous fungi have shown varied responses with regards to cellulase production depending upon the substrate composition, leading to a change in the structural and chemical composition of the substrate3. Hence, estimation of cellulases production during submerged fermentation of different feedstocks would generate the knowledge that can be implemented to optimize the fermentation process needed for upgrading the nutritional, and economic value of the agricultural commodities The specific objectives of this study were to: 1. Ferment three substrates using three generally recognized as safe (GRAS) microbes (Aureobasidium pullulans, Neurospora crassa and Trichoderma reesei) for 120 h under submerged conditions. 2. Determine and compare the proximate compositions of substrates with their unfermented counterparts. Estimate the microbial cellulase activities at 120 h of fermentation.
Consistent Units Are Required When Using the Activated Complex Theory in Oil Evaluation Process
Authors:   Anhui Polytechnic University, Zheng Liyou , Guo Hongyan ,   Anhui Polytechnic University, Jin Jun ,   Jiangnan University, Jin Qingzhe ,   Jiangnan University
Published: July 2022

Activated complex theory (ACT) has been applying as an effective tool to connect the kinetics (reaction rate constant, k) and thermodynamics parameters (including standard enthalpy of activation, ΔH++; standard entropy of activation, ΔS++; standard Gibbs free energy of activation, ΔG++) especially when evaluating lipid oxidation. The unit of the Planck’s constant (hP) in ACT is Js, in which the time unit is the second (s). The failure to correctly cancel the time units could have a significant impact on the predicted standard entropy of activation. Considering there were some improper calculations or mistakes often found in papers published recently in 2014‒2019, this abstract was thus presented. Raw data obtained from the published papers mainly in 2014‒2019 accordingly were used to calculate the corrected thermodynamics parameters. Unit conversions (1 h=60 min=3600 s) should always be explicitly included when calculating ΔS++ using ACT especially for the first-order reactions. That is, an increase in the reported calculated values of ΔS++ in the ACT by 34.041609 and 68.083218 J/(mol·K) can be found for the units of kinetic constants min‒1 and h‒1 in a first-order reaction, respectively. Thus, this abstract seems to be vital important to improve the correct use of ACT. In conclusion, the inconsistent units did exist to a large degree after reviewing several published papers, the abstract is expected to further improve the understanding and application of the well-known theory and further accelerate the practical applications of the scientific investigations for lipid oxidation evaluation.
Variation in Cellulase Production During Solid and Submerged State Fermentation of Raw and Processed Canola Meal by Aureobasidium Pullulans, Neurospora Crassa, and Trichoderma Reesei
Authors:   South Dakota State University, Alhomodi Ahmad , Gibbons William ,   South Dakota State University, Karki Bishnu ,   South Dakota State University
Published: July 2022

Justification: Canola meal (CM) is a protein rich co-product of canola oil extraction process, and its use is restricted to animal diet due to the presence of high fibers and antinutritional factors (ANFs) such as glucosinolates and phytic acids. As attempts to provide canola meal with low ANFs and fibers, traditional sprouting process of canola seed followed by sprout defatting and mild washing water pretreatment of hexane extracted CM were applied. The obtained canola sprout meal (CSM) and washed hexane extracted canola meal (WHECM) along with raw hexane extracted canola meal (HECM) underwent submerged and solid-state fermentation. It was noticed that used fungi yielded different outcomes in terms of fiber and ANFs reduction. The objective of this this study was to evaluate the activities of enzymes (cellulase, endoglucanase, and β-glucosidase) produced by three fungal strains (Aureobasidium pullulans, Neurospora crassa and Trichoderma reesei) cultivated on three differently processed canola substrates (CSM, WHECM and HECM) during solid- and submerged- state fermentations using mono and coculture inoculation. Our results showed that cellulase, β-glucosidase and endoglucanase activity significantly varied based on substrate used, mode of fermentation (solid/submerged) and inoculation type (mono/co) even under same strain, highlighting the effect of pre-processed meals, and fermentation conditions on the overall fungal enzymatic activities and their impact on the nutritional composition of the substrate/products.
crispr/cas9-targeted Mutagenesis of KTI1 and KTI3 to Reduce Trypsin Inhibitors in Soybean Seeds
Authors:   Virginia Tech, Wang Zhibo , Shea Zachary ,   Virginia Tech, Russo Maria L. ,   Virginia Tech, Shen Chao ,   Virginia Tech ., Li Jianyong ,   Virginia Tech, Bewick Patrick ,   Virginia Tech, Zhao Bingyu ,   Virginia Tech, Zhang Bo ,   Virginia Tech
Published: July 2022

Trypsin inhibitor (TI) in soybean seeds, restrains the function of trypsin, causing low protein digestibility when raw soybeans are fed to animals. Heat treatment has been widely used to deactivate TI, but it is energy-intensive and costly, and degrades protein quality. Despite a few soybean accessions harboring natural low TI content have been identified, multiple TI genes and lacking of gene-based markers still hinder the breeding success of low TI soybean cultivars. The objectives of this study were to concisely edit the major genes contributing to the TI content and activity specifically in the soybean seeds using CRISPR/Cas9 system, and develop allele-specific molecular markers based on the generated mutant alleles. With the aid of TI gene expression data and real-time PCR results, KTI1 (Glyma01g095000) and KTI3 (Glyma08g341500), were selected as the target genes. Then, we developed a productive CRISPR/Cas9 construct for the transformation on Glycine max cv. Williams 82. (WM82). The results showed that in the seeds at T0 generation, the gene editing has been all complete for KTI1 while it has been partly finished for KTI3. Consistent with genotyping results, the TI content and activity in gene edited seeds declined 70% and 10% with knock-out of KTI1 alone and 90% and 30% with knock-out of both KTI1 and KTI3, which were also both lower than that in the seeds of PI 547656, the natural low TI soybean accession. Furthermore, in T1 seeds, we collected one transgene free line #5-26 with double homozygous mutations. Based on the mutant alleles in #5-26, we developed molecular markers to effectively screen the mutant alleles of KTI1 and KTI3 for the perspective breeding of low TI soybean varieties. The soybean line and selection markers acquired from this study will assist in accelerating the introduction of low TI trait to elite soybean cultivars with added-value.
Novel Strategy for Synthesis of Stearidonic Acid Enriched Triacylglycerol from Ahiflower Seed Oil via a Two-step Enzyme Reaction
Authors:   Korea University, Lee Yu Jin , Ju Changhwan ,   Korea University, Kim In-Hwan ,   Korea University
Published: July 2022

Stearidonic acid (SDA) is a plant-based n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) with several positive therapeutic effects on human health such as reducing risks of cardiovascular diseases, obesity, inflammation, and cancer. Moreover, the conversion efficiency of SDA to EPA is significantly higher than α-linolenic acid to EPA, in the human body. Plant oils with SDA, such as ahiflower seed oil and echium seed oil, exhibit substantially higher oxidative stability than fish oil with EPA and DHA, the most popular n-3 PUFA. The present study has successfully carried out the enrichment of SDA and the synthesis of triacylglycerol (TAG) consecutively via two lipase-catalyzed reactions, which are selective hydrolysis and esterification, while most of n-3 PUFAs studies have separately employed its enrichment and the synthesis of TAG. SDA was enriched into a glyceride fraction from ahiflower seed oil by Candida rugosa lipase-catalyzed selective hydrolysis, and the SDA-enriched glycerides were separated from the reaction mixture using molecular distillation. SDA was enriched up to 40.7 mol% in glyceride fraction from an initial value of 21.6 mol% under the optimum conditions of 35 oC, and 0.1% enzyme loading relative to the weight of the total substrate. Then, SDA-enriched TAG was synthesized from the SDA-enriched glycerides and the fatty acid obtained from part of the SDA-enriched glycerides by saponification via esterification using an in-house immobilized lipase as a biocatalyst. The in-house immobilized lipase was prepared from Eversa® Transform 2.0 (liquid form) using Lewatit VP OC 1600 as a carrier. The maximum TAG yield of ca. 94% was achieved after 12 h under the optimum conditions, which are the temperature of 50 oC, the enzyme loading of 10 % relative to the weight of the total substrate, and the vacuum of 10 torr."
Nutrient Content and Carotenoid Bioaccessibility of Underutilized Taro Varieties from Hawaii
Authors:   University of Hawaii at Manoa, Senga Kento , Ho Kaci ,   University of Hawaii at Manoa, Bingham Jon-Paul ,   University of Hawaii at Manoa, Wall Marisa ,   United States Department of Agriculture
Published: July 2022

Taro (Colocasia esculenta), a starchy root crop, is widely consumed across Asia and the Pacific and exists as different colored varieties in Hawai‘i. Although nutritional information exists for taro, there is a lack of variety-specific compositional data. In this study, the nutrient content (proximate and mineral via ICP-OES), phytochemical content (carotenoid via HPLC-PDA, total phenolic via Folin-Ciocalteau assay, and total monomeric anthocyanin via pH differential method), and carotenoid bioaccessibility (digestibility and micellarization efficiency via three-stage simulated digestion) were compared for three non-commercial taro, Mana Ulu, Pi‘iali‘i, and immature Pi‘iali‘i (Keiki) with one commercial variety, Maui Lehua. Nutrient and phytochemical contents differed across each taro cultivar based on their raw and cooked forms (P< 0.05). Beta-carotene and lutein were the primary carotenoids across each cultivar, with Mana Ulu containing the highest carotenoid concentration. Beta-carotene exhibited digestive stability of 45.8% and a micellarization efficiency of 13.6% from Mana Ulu samples. Total phenolic content was 83.52, 76.04, 75.44, and 66.86 mg/100 g FW and total anthocyanin content of 10.02, 9.33, 7.32, and 6.93 mg/100g FW for Maui Lehua, Mana Ulu, Pi‘iali‘i Keiki, and Pi‘iali‘i, respectively. Cooked taro had significant polyphenol losses with total phenolic contents of 20.55, 17.73, 22.61, 25.93 mg/100g FW, as well as total anthocyanin contents of 3.19, 2.16, 2.12, and 2.88 mg/100g FW for Maui Lehua, Mana Ulu, Pi‘iali‘i Keiki, and Pi‘iali‘i, respectively. These findings indicate unique nutritional and phytochemical profiles amongst underutilized taro varieties, which could be better leveraged to improve nutrition and health outcomes. Overall, expanding variety-specific compositional data is critical to ensure reliable database information to assess the nutritional adequacy of diets.
Statistical Optimization of Media for Enhancing Intracellular Lipid Content in Yarrowia Lipolytica NCIM 3589 Grown on Waste Cooking Oil for Biodiesel Production
Authors:   Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Japtap Shubhangi Ramling , Ravikumar Ameeta ,   Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Raut Gouri ,   Agharkar Research Institute, Kumar Ravi ,   CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL)
Published: July 2022

The model oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica is capable of assimilating and metabolizing hydrophobic substrates and shown the ability to accumulate high amount of lipids for biodiesel production. In the present study, an effective hybrid RSM optimization strategy for media optimization for Yarrowia lipolytica NCIM 3589 grown on waste cooking oil (WCO) and glucose were undertaken to increase its lipid content for biodiesel production. Physico-chemical properties of varied WCO batches were determined and their effect on lipid accumulation in yeast studied. Low variation in lipid content was found in different batches ranging between 25-35% of dry biomass. As lipid content was dependent on extraction methods, different methods were evaluated to maximize yields and a modified acid hydrolysis method (42% lipid content of dry biomass) employed. Lipid accumulation media (LAM) components were initially chosen for a first level of statistical optimization by Plackett-Burman Design (PBD) of experiments using glucose or WCO as carbon sources. The WCO media gave significant increase (5.25 fold) in lipid accumulation when compared to glucose. The most significant factors identified media by PBD, namely, Na2HPO4, NH4Cl, yeast extract and chosen for a second level of optimization studies with a Box-Behnken Design (BBD). Response surface analysis and ANOVA were used to obtain the best-fit quadratic model and brought out the nature of the interactions amongst the three variables. Validation experiments of the model showed that lipid content in 120 h increased from 45.1% in the pre-optimized to 64.5% in optimized media. The FAME profile and fuel properties of the biodiesel were evaluated and found to be in accordance with international standards. The results obtained here after medium optimization hold promise in biodiesel production as the carbon source WCO used is a renewable substrate which not only is abundantly available and cheap, but also addresses the problem of waste disposal.
Polymyalgia Rheumatica, an Age-Related Rheumatic Disease
Authors:   Department of Rheumatology, National Institute of Rheumatology and Physiotherapy Budapest, Hungary, Schmidt Zsuzsanna M. , Poor Gyula ,   Department of Rheumatology, National Institute of Rheumatology and Physiotherapy Budapest, Hungary
Published: July 2022

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an age-related chronic inflammatory disease with rheumatic features at the fore. In addition to the high-grade systemic inflammation, it is characterized by typical “polymyalgic” musculoskeletal symptoms, including diffuse and severe pain and prolonged morning stiffness of the shoulder girdle, pelvic girdle, and neck. PMR is a member of the so-called giant cell arteritis complex; however, in spite of the marked systemic inflammation in PMR, the local vasculitis process aborts. The pathological background is synovitis, with a predominant inflammation of the extra-articular synovial structures. Synovitis of PMR is mild, transient, and non-erosive. Distal musculoskeletal symptoms are also observed but are more variable and less recognizable than the predominant proximal polymyalgic syndrome. PMR often overlaps with elderly-onset seronegative arthritides, elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis, late-onset seronegative spondylarthritis, and the RS3PE1 syndrome. Although glucocorticoids are the cornerstone of PMR therapy, considerable hope is attached to tocilizumab, an IL-6 receptor inhibitor.
Modelo productivo para el cultivo de cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) en el departamento de Boyacá
Authors: Jaimes Suárez Yeirme Yaneth , Agudelo Castañeda Genaro Andrés , Báez Daza Eliana Yadira , Montealegre Bustos Felipe , Coronado Silva Roberto Antonio , Rengifo Estrada Gersaín Antonio , Rojas Molina Jairo
Published: July 2022

El departamento de Boyacá está surgiendo como productor de cacao a nivel de Colombia. Sin embargo, este sistema productivo tiene una baja productividad, la cual está determinada por una pobre adopción de tecnologías, así como por malas prácticas de manejo de las plantaciones que, en su gran mayoría, se establecieron a través de programas de fomento, especialmente en la provincia de Occidente. Entre los puntos críticos para mejorar están los materiales de cacao de baja productividad, las podas inadecuadas del árbol de cacao, la escaza fertilización del cultivo como actividad para aumentar los rendimientos, el desconocimiento del manejo de plagas y enfermedades limitantes (moniliasis y barrenador del fruto, entre otros), y el mal manejo del beneficio del cacao que es muy importante para un departamento que le apunta a comercializar cacao de calidad. Cabe señalar que hay productores destacados, que, de emprendimientos individuales, tienen mejores rendimientos y grano de calidad que ha llevado a que el cacao originario de Boyacá sobresalga. En este modelo productivo para el cultivo de cacao del departamento de Boyacá se presentan las principales ofertas tecnológicas, que al ser aplicadas de manera juiciosa permiten el mejoramiento de productividad del cacao y la calidad de vida de sus cacaocultores.
Consumer-Generated Discourse on Cannabis as a Medicine: Scoping Review of Techniques
Authors: Khademi Habibabadi Sedigheh , Hallinan Christine , Bonomo Yvonne , Conway Mike
Published: July 2022

Background

Medicinal cannabis is increasingly being used for a variety of physical and mental health conditions. Social media and web-based health platforms provide valuable, real-time, and cost-effective surveillance resources for gleaning insights regarding individuals who use cannabis for medicinal purposes. This is particularly important considering that the evidence for the optimal use of medicinal cannabis is still emerging. Despite the web-based marketing of medicinal cannabis to consumers, currently, there is no robust regulatory framework to measure clinical health benefits or individual experiences of adverse events. In a previous study, we conducted a systematic scoping review of studies that contained themes of the medicinal use of cannabis and used data from social media and search engine results. This study analyzed the methodological approaches and limitations of these studies.

Objective

We aimed to examine research approaches and study methodologies that use web-based user-generated text to study the use of cannabis as a medicine.

Methods

We searched MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase databases for primary studies in the English language from January 1974 to April 2022. Studies were included if they aimed to understand web-based user-generated text related to health conditions where cannabis is used as a medicine or where health was mentioned in general cannabis-related conversations.

Results

We included 42 articles in this review. In these articles, Twitter was used 3 times more than other computer-generated sources, including Reddit, web-based forums, GoFundMe, YouTube, and Google Trends. Analytical methods included sentiment assessment, thematic analysis (manual and automatic), social network analysis, and geographic analysis.

Conclusions

This study is the first to review techniques used by research on consumer-generated text for understanding cannabis as a medicine. It is increasingly evident that consumer-generated data offer opportunities for a greater understanding of individual behavior and population health outcomes. However, research using these data has some limitations that include difficulties in establishing sample representativeness and a lack of methodological best practices. To address these limitations, deidentified annotated data sources should be made publicly available, researchers should determine the origins of posts (organizations, bots, power users, or ordinary individuals), and powerful analytical techniques should be used.
Leveraging Representation Learning for the Construction and Application of a Knowledge Graph for Traditional Chinese Medicine: Framework Development Study
Authors: Weng Heng , Chen Jielong , Ou Aihua , Lao Yingrong
Published: July 2022

Background

Knowledge discovery from treatment data records from Chinese physicians is a dramatic challenge in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) models to the research of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Objective

This paper aims to construct a TCM knowledge graph (KG) from Chinese physicians and apply it to the decision-making related to diagnosis and treatment in TCM.

Methods

A new framework leveraging a representation learning method for TCM KG construction and application was designed. A transformer-based Contextualized Knowledge Graph Embedding (CoKE) model was applied to KG representation learning and knowledge distillation. Automatic identification and expansion of multihop relations were integrated with the CoKE model as a pipeline. Based on the framework, a TCM KG containing 59,882 entities (eg, diseases, symptoms, examinations, drugs), 17 relations, and 604,700 triples was constructed. The framework was validated through a link predication task.

Results

Experiments showed that the framework outperforms a set of baseline models in the link prediction task using the standard metrics mean reciprocal rank (MRR) and Hits@N. The knowledge graph embedding (KGE) multitagged TCM discriminative diagnosis metrics also indicated the improvement of our framework compared with the baseline models.

Conclusions

Experiments showed that the clinical KG representation learning and application framework is effective for knowledge discovery and decision-making assistance in diagnosis and treatment. Our framework shows superiority of application prospects in tasks such as KG-fused multimodal information diagnosis, KGE-based text classification, and knowledge inference–based medical question answering.
Predicting Psychological Symptoms When Facebook’s Digital Well-being Features Are Used: Cross-sectional Survey Study
Authors: Barsova Tamara , Cheong Zi Gi , Mak Ann R , Liu Jean CJ
Published: July 2022

Background

Prior research has linked social media usage to poorer mental health. To address these concerns, social media platforms have introduced digital well-being tools to help users monitor their engagement. Nonetheless, little is known about the effectiveness of these tools.

Objective

In this study, we focused on Facebook to assess users’ awareness and usage of the following six Facebook well-being tools: the Unfollow, Snooze, Off-Facebook Activity, Your Time on Facebook, Set Daily Reminders, and Notification Settings features. Additionally, we examined whether the use of these tools was associated with better mental health outcomes.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 598 Facebook users. The survey comprised questions about (1) baseline Facebook use, (2) the adoption of Facebook’s digital well-being tools, and (3) participant demographics. These were used to predict the primary outcome measure—scores on the 21-item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale.

Results

Most participants (580/598, 97%) knew about Facebook’s digital well-being tools, but each tool was used by only 17.4% (104/598) to 55.5% (332/598) of participants. In turn, the use of two tools was associated with better well-being; although participants who spent more time on Facebook reported higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, those who managed their feed content or notifications by using the Unfollow or Notification Settings features had lower scores on each of these measures. However, the use of the Snooze, Off-Facebook Activity, Your Time on Facebook, or Set Time Reminder features was not associated with lower depression, anxiety, or stress scores.

Conclusions

Of the 6 Facebook digital well-being tools, only 2 were associated with better mental health among users. This underscores the complexity of designing social media platforms to promote user welfare. Consequently, we urge further research into understanding the efficacy of various digital well-being tools.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04967846; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT04967846