bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Microbial Diversity of Acetic Acid Producing Bacteria from Protein-Rich Residues
Authors: Onyenegecha G. C. , Ire F. S. , Agwa O. K. 
Published: October 2020

Background: Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) are concrete sets of organism which act as precursor for acetic acid production. Acetic acid is a colorless liquid with strong pungent and sour smell. It is synthesized from oxidation of ethanol by AAB. Vast studies have been made from sugary sources in the isolation of AAB.
Aim: The needs to study and utilize our protein-rich residues (PRR) for AAB presence spurn this study.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Microbiology, University of Port Harcourt, between June and December 2018.
Methodology: The samples (beans, groundnut and powdered milk) used in this study were surface-sterilized, homogenized, pre-enriched (in balsam medium) and serially diluted with inoculum size (0.1ml) inoculated on sterilized glucose yeast peptone agar, Mannitol agar and low glycemic index (LGI) media and incubated at 30oC for 48 h using the spread plate technique. A total of 11 bacterial isolates were obtained and screened for acetic acid production in brain heart infusion and yeast glucose ethanol acetic acid broth at 30oC for 14 days and positive isolates were identified by titration method. AAB isolates with the highest acetic acid concentration were selected for molecular identification and further studies.
Results: Two Acetic acid bacteria identified in this study were Acetobacter and Gluconobacter. The result of this study indicated that Acetobacter had acetic acid concentration of 3.6g/100ml while Gluconobacter had 1.8g/100 ml. However, molecular identification highlighted Acetobacter as Bacillus cereus with Genbank accession number MK 332142; whereas Gluconobacter was Stenotrophomonas maltophilia MK 332143. The neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree and bioinformatics revealed B. cereus and S. maltophilia as 97% and 96% similarity index, 854 and 883 nucleotide sequencing letters as well as 450 and 410 base pairs.
Conclusion: This finding implied that “S. maltophilia” and “B. cereus” are predominant Acetic acid bacteria in spoilt beans and groundnut; and can act as potential strains with industrial importance to man and environment.
A Review to Identify the Gaps in Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV Services in Nigeria
Authors: Chizoba A. F. , Adogu P. O. U. , Chineke H. N. 
Published: October 2020

Background: Nigeria has the second largest burden of maternal to child transmission of HIV (MTCT) in the world at a rate of 30% and has the largest burden of paediatric HIV infection globally at the rate of 10%. Effective prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) can drastically reduce the paediatric HIV infection to 2%. However, recent evidence reveals yawning gaps in the PMTCT services in Nigeria, where out of estimated 9.2 million pregnancies, only about 3 million received HIV counselling and testing (HCT). This review is to unravel the unmet needs for PMTCT of HIV services in Nigeria.
Methods: Keywords from objectives of review are MTCT and PMTCT which were used to search for related literatures through online libraries of national and international journals; Medline and PubMed including google. 62 related literatures/studies were initially generated and then narrowed down to 19 literatures were selected which met the inclusion criteria- less than 10 year and related to objective of review.
Findings: There are unmet needs for PMTCT of HIV services in Nigeria due to challenges like low HCT/PMTCT service uptake (35.5%), low HCT/PMTCT service delivery facilities (27%), low ANC (58%) and low (35%) delivery in formal health setting.
Conclusion: PMTCT target in Nigeria has not been met. Regular training of existing health workforce including the TBAs and the adoption of the recommendations for an HIV-free generation will bridge the HCT / PMTCT of HIV services gap identified in this review.
Hydrocracking of Calophyllum inophyllum Oil Employing Co and/or Mo Supported on γ-Al2O3 for Biofuel Production
Authors: Trisunaryanti Wega , Triyono Triyono , Ghoni Mohammad Ali , Fatmawati Dyah Ayu , Mahayuwati Puspa Nindro , Suarsih Endah 
Published: October 2020

Cobalt and/or Molybdenum based catalysts were simply dispersed on γ-Al2O3 through wet impregnation. The set of prepared monometallic and bimetallic catalysts of aCoO/γ-Al2O3, aMoO/γ-Al2O3, aCoOaMoO/γ-Al2O3, and bCoObMoO/γ-Al2O3 were investigated and evaluated in the hydrocracking of Calophyllum inophyllum (CIO) which is not a food crop as well as rich in unsaturated fatty acid that potential to be converted into biofuel. Out of the prepared catalysts, aCoOaMoO/γ-Al2O3 with total metal content, acidity, and specific surface area of 13.62 wt%, 5.01 mmol.g-1, and 107.67 m2.g-1, respectively, showed the best catalytic performance. The high metal loading of aCoOaMoO/γ-Al2O3is favorable by producing 65.56 wt% liquid fraction through carbocation formation mechanism. It was selective to produce 8.61 wt% gasoline and 5.01 wt% diesel. Copyright © 2021 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).
Effect of Severity Factor on the Subcritical Water and Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Coconut Husk for Reducing Sugar Production
Authors: Muharja Maktum , Fadhilah Nur , Darmayanti Rizki Fitria , Sangian Hanny Frans , Nurtono Tantular , Widjaja Arief 
Published: October 2020

Preventing the further degradation of monomeric or oligomeric sugar into by-product during biomass conversion is one of the challenges for fermentable sugar production. In this study, the performance of subcritical water (SCW) and enzymatic hydrolysis of coconut husk toward reducing sugar production was investigated using a severity factor (SF) approach. Furthermore, the optimal condition of SCW was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM), where the composition changes of lignocellulose and sugar yield as responses. From the results, at low SF of SCW, sugar yield escalated as increasing SF value. In the enzymatic hydrolysis process, the effect of SCW pressure is a significant factor enhancing sugar yield. A maximum total sugar yield was attained on the mild SF condition of 2.86. From this work, it was known that the SF approach is sufficient parameter to evaluate the SCW and enzymatic hydrolysis of coconut husk. Copyright © 2021 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).
Quantified VMAT plan complexity in relation to measurement‐based quality assurance results
Authors: Nguyen Michael , Chan Gordon H. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractVolumetric‐modulated arc therapy (VMAT) treatment plans that are highly modulated or complex may result in disagreements between the planned dose distribution and the measured dose distribution. This study investigated established VMAT complexity metrics as a means of predicting phantom‐based measurement results for 93 treatments delivered on a TrueBeam linac, and 91 treatments delivered on two TrueBeam STx linacs. Complexity metrics investigated showed weak correlations to gamma passing rate, with the exception of the Modulation Complexity Score for VMAT, yielding moderate correlations. The Spearman’s rho values for this metric were 0.502 (P < 0.001) and 0.528 (P < 0.001) for the TrueBeam and TrueBeam STx, respectively. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was also performed. The aperture irregularity on the TrueBeam achieved a 53% true positive rate and a 9% false‐positive rate to correctly identify complex plans. Similarly, the average field width on the TrueBeam STx achieved a 60% true‐positive rate and an 8% false‐positive rate. If incorporated into clinical workflow, these thresholds can identify highly modulated plans and reduce the number of dose verification measurements required.
Protein‐Engineered Functional Materials for Bioelectronics
Authors: Chen Min , Fu Xuewei , Chen Zhiping , Liu Jin , Zhong Wei‐Hong 
Published: October 2020

AbstractStructural and compositional diversities of proteins generate a number of functions for fabricating novel and advanced materials. Recent progress in protein engineering endows flexible approaches and new functionalities, which makes the fabricated materials potentially applicable in a broad spectrum of fields. Such engineering strategies by applying proteins alone or together with other molecules derive numerous functional materials such as patterned nanometal materials/nanometallic compounds, well‐designed nanocomposites, etc. Advantages in materials’ tunability, property improvement (e.g., electronic and mechanical properties, etc.), functionalities, and biocompatibility have been demonstrated, thus providing alternatives to existing materials via conventional methods. This review summarizes and discusses the strategies of fabricating functional materials using proteins as the critical contributors. Benefiting from their versatility, proteins find their roles in engineering functional materials via acting as structure‐control agents, reaction agents, and battery components, which are emphasized in this review. The strategies of each group of functions are specifically detailed. Properties of protein‐engineered functional materials and their potential applications in the fields of microelectronics, energy storage and conversion, sensor devices, etc. are also reviewed.
A Journey of Nanomotors for Targeted Cancer Therapy: Principles, Challenges, and a Critical Review of the State‐of‐the‐Art
Authors: Wang Wei , Zhou Chao 
Published: October 2020

AbstractA nanomotor is a miniaturized device that converts energy stored in the environment into mechanical motion. The last two decades have witnessed a surge of research interests in the biomedical applications of nanomotors, but little clinical translation. To accelerate this process, targeted cancer therapy is used as an example to describe a “survive, locate, operate, and terminate” (SLOT) mission of a nanomotor, where it must 1) survive in the unfriendly in vivo environment, 2) locate its target as well as be located by human operators, 3) carry out specific operations, and 4) terminate after the mission is completed. Along this journey, the challenges presented to a nanomotor, including to power, navigate, steer, target, release, control, image, and communicate are discussed, and how state‐of‐the‐art nanomotors meet or fall short of these requirements is critically reviewed. These discussions are then condensed into a table for easy reference. In particular, it is argued that chemically powered nanomotors are intrinsically ill‐positioned for targeted cancer therapy, while nanomotors powered by magnetic fields or ultrasound show more promises. Following this argument, a tentative nanomotor design is then presented in the end to conform to the SLOT guideline, and to inspire practical, functional nanorobots that are yet to come.
Enhanced Trion Emission and Carrier Dynamics in Monolayer WS2 Coupled with Plasmonic Nanocavity
Authors: Shi Jianwei , Zhu Jiangrui , Wu Xianxin , Zheng Biyuan , Chen Jie , Sui Xinyu , Zhang Shuai , Shi Jia , Du Wenna , Zhong Yangguang , Wang Qi , Zhang Qing , Pan Anlian , Liu Xinfeng 
Published: October 2020

AbstractIn 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), trions have important applications in fundamental studies of multibody phenomena, novel optoelectronic devices, and valleytronic devices. However, the enhancement of trion emission, and in particular how the carrier dynamics is influenced when coupled with plasmonic cavity, is important for a deep understanding of trions and their further utilization. In this study, strong trion emission is achieved by coupling monolayer WS2 with a plasmonic nanocavity. Temperature‐dependent photoluminescence, dark‐field scattering measurement, and transient absorption spectroscopy are employed to investigate the trion and exciton behaviors in the hybrid structure. In plasmonic nanocavity, trion emission is enhanced by an order of magnitude, which is attributed to the conversion of excitons to trions via capturing photoionized carriers facilitated by Fano resonance. Further, the ultrafast dynamics of trions and excitons suggest that the plasmonic nanocavity enhances the hole cooling process and radiative recombination of excitons, as well as the formation and recovery process of trions. The results not only explain the enhancement of trion emission and carrier dynamics in the hybrid system but also provide one feasible method to obtain strong trion emission in TMDs, which makes the hybrid system a promising candidate for optoelectronic and valleytronic applications.
Giant and Anisotropic Nonlinear Optical Responses of 1D van der Waals Material Tellurium
Authors: Gan Xuetao , Li Jiajie , Xu Manzhang , Wang Xuewen , Liu Zheng , Zhao Jianlin 
Published: October 2020

AbstractRecently, tellurium (Te), composed of helical Te chains stacked via the van der Waals interaction, emerges as a versatile material with high carrier mobilities and intriguing topological properties. Here, it is revealed that Te's 1D counterpart, that is, Te nanowire (NW), has advantages over the NWs of other materials in the characteristics of giant and anisotropic nonlinear optical responses. This endows the Te NW with potentials for developing nonlinear photonic and optoelectronic nanodevices with high efficiency and polarization selectivity. Compared with the well‐studied III–V and II–VI compound NWs, such as aluminium gallium arsenide, zinc oxide, and indium phosphide NWs, second harmonic generations (SHGs) and third harmonic generations (THGs) from the Te NWs are more than two orders of magnitude stronger. Its second‐order nonlinear susceptibility is estimated as 1.25 × 104 pm V−1, which is the highest value in the reported NWs, and almost four orders of magnitude higher than ZnO NW. Further, this giant optical nonlinearity promises the realizations of strong SHGs and sum‐frequency generations from Te NWs with the pump of sub‐milliwatt continuous‐wave lasers. Determined by the helical Te chain, its SHG only responds to the pump laser polarized perpendicularly to the long axis of NW, which is opposite to the polarization dependencies in other NWs, and the THG has a distorted fourfold polarimetric pattern.
Perovskite/Metal‐Based Hyperbolic Metamaterials: Tailoring the Permittivity Properties of Coexisting Anisotropies in the Visible Region
Authors: Basak Supratim , Bar‐On Ofer , Scheuer Jacob 
Published: October 2020

AbstractHyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) based on plasmonic metals and solution processable metal halide perovskites are realized and studied. By harnessing the flexibility and unique properties of perovskites it is possible to tailor and tune the dispersion properties of such HMMs in the visible band. In particular, an HMM exhibiting direct transition from type I to type II in the mid‐visible region is demonstrated for the first time. The wavelength of this transition can be controlled and tuned over the whole visible band by modifying the combination of the perovskite and the plasmonic constituents. HMMs with such characteristics exhibit intriguing properties such as supercollimation, which is highly attractive for applications in imaging, solar power harvesting, and light emitting devices.
Dynamic Mechanochromic Optics with Tunable Strain Sensitivity for Strain‐Responsive Digit Display
Authors: Mao Zemin , Zeng Songshan , Shen Kuangyu , Chooi Aimee P. , Smith Andrew T. , Jones Michael D. , Zhou Yingjie , Liu Xiang , Sun Luyi 
Published: October 2020

AbstractA facile but highly effective mechanochromism design is reported that is based on a bilayer structure consisting of a sputter‐coated metal light‐shielding layer atop a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate containing a fluorescent dye, featuring transverse and/or longitudinal microscale cracks when stretched. The crack opening width on the light‐shielding layer upon stretching/releasing allows the UV radiation to activate the fluorescent dye in the PDMS matrix to exhibit luminescent color, which can be easily tuned with choice of fluorescent dyes. The strain response of the crack opening width can be fine‐tuned by applying various degrees of prestretching strain in the preparation process, resulting in customizable mechanochromic responses. Three types of mechanochromic devices are prepared as representative examples. The fluorescence intensity of these devices can be tuned to either increase or decrease with an increasing strain, or first decrease and then increase within the operating strain range. Moreover, this system can be further modified into a dynamic strain sensor with digit display function, allowing the strain degree of the device to be directly read. This design strategy can be easily adopted by fellow researchers and is expected to open a brand‐new avenue to tune mechanochromic response for various dynamic adaptive optics.
Extension of Compositional Space to the Ternary in Alloy Chiral Nanoparticles through Galvanic Replacement Reactions
Authors: Ni Ziyue , Zhu Yuanmin , Liu Junjun , Yang Lin , Sun Peng , Gu Meng , Huang Zhifeng 
Published: October 2020

AbstractMetal chiral nanoparticles (CNPs), composed of atomically chiral lattices, are an emerging chiral nanomaterial showing unique asymmetric properties. Chirality transmission from the host CNPs mediated with galvanic replacement reactions (GRRs) has been carried out to extend their compositional space from the unary to binary. Further compositional extension to, e.g., the ternary is of fundamental interest and in practical demand. Here, layer‐by‐layer glancing angle deposition is used to dope galvanically “inert” dopant Au in the host Cu CNPs to generate binary Cu:Au CNPs. The “inert” dopants serve as structural scaffold to assist the chirality transmission from the host to the third metals (M: Pt and Ag) cathodically precipitating in the CNPs, enabling the formation of polycrystalline ternary Cu:Au:M CNPs whose compositions are tailored with engineering the GRR duration. More scaffold Au atoms are favored for the faster chirality transfer, and the Au‐assisted chirality transfer follows the first‐order kinetics with the reaction rate coefficient of ≈0.3 h−1 at room temperature. This work provides further understanding of the GRR‐mediated chirality transfer and paves the way toward enhancing the application functions in enantiodifferentiation, enantioseperation, asymmetric catalysis, bioimaging, and biodetection.
Exosomes for Wound Healing: Purification Optimization and Identification of Bioactive Components
Authors: Hettich Britta F. , Ben‐Yehuda Greenwald Maya , Werner Sabine , Leroux Jean‐Christophe 
Published: October 2020

AbstractHuman mesenchymal stem cell exosomes have been shown to promote cutaneous wound healing. Their bioactivity is most often attributed to their protein and nucleic acid components, while the function of exosomal lipids remains comparatively unexplored. This work specifically assesses the involvement of lipids and the transmembrane enzyme CD73 in the exosomes’ biological activity in stimulating the cutaneous wound healing process. Since exosome preparation processes are not harmonized yet, certain production and purification parameters are first systematically investigated, enabling the optimization of a standardized protocol delivering high exosome integrity, yield, and purity. An in situ enzymatic assay is introduced to specifically assess the vesicle functionality, and quantitative proteomics is employed to establish the cell culture conditions yielding a stable exosome protein profile. Using a combination of in vitro approaches, CD73 and constitutional lipids of HPV‐16 E6/E7 transformed human bone marrow stromal cell‐derived exosomes are identified as key bioactive components promoting the exosome‐driven acceleration of processes required for wound repair. A pilot wound healing study in mice indeed suggests a role of lipids in the exosomes’ biological activity. Strikingly, the extent of the bioactivity of these exosomal components is found to be dependent on the target cell type.
Functional dissection of magnesium nutrition and use efficiency in common bean
Authors: Ouled Youssef Ines , Krouma Abdelmajid 
Published: October 2020

AbstractDespite its abundance in the soil, Mg not only limits crop productivity and the quality of agricultural products, but also contributes to many chronic diseases in humans. This Mg deficiency is commonly observed in acid soils, lands of high rainfall and with high leaching activity, as well as agricultural soils with an unbalanced use of fertilizers (several Tunisian soils and irrigated areas …). Most authors suggested a critical Mg concentration for growth, photosynthesis, and the general plant functioning. However, some differential responses to this mineral constraint were observed among species, varieties, and genotypes but their origin is not yet elucidated. The present study focused on the response of two common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) genotypes to Mg deficiency with a deep analysis of the link between growth, chlorophyll accumulation, photosynthetic process, and tissues Mg status. The main results emerging from this study is the close relationship between chlorophyll concentration, photosynthesis, plant growth, and tissue Mg concentration. Our results confirm the interdependence of these functions. The genotypic differences observed in this study are linked to the ability of the tolerant genotype to maintain a better allocation of Mg to shoots to support chlorophyll biosynthesis and photosynthesis and a better Mg use efficiency for these functions.
Soil nutrient distribution on cattle farms in three physiographic regions of North Carolina
Authors: Franzluebbers Alan J. , Poore Matt H. , Freeman Sharon R. , Rogers Johnny R. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractBeef cattle production systems are sometimes considered a source of nutrient enrichment due to alteration of botanical composition and excretion of nutrients in isolated zones of pastures. However, research on environmental effects from livestock grazing in the eastern United States has been scant. We conducted an intensive soil sampling campaign on six private farms in three physiographic regions of North Carolina to determine the impacts of landscape features, pasture management, and animal behavior on a suite of soil nutrients. Total and particulate organic C and soil‐test biological activity (STBA) increased with increasing elevation due to edaphic and climate factors. Within farms, fields with different management illustrated that: (a) swine and poultry manure application can favorably enrich soil with infrequent application, but lead to excessive soil‐test P and K with repeated application; (b) positive impacts on total and particulate organic C and STBA occur with grazed perennial forages compared with annual forages and previous cropping; and (c) enrichment of total and particulate organic C and STBA occurs with winter hay feeding, but excessive nutrient accumulation can occur if fed in the same location repeatedly. Aggregated enrichment of soil organic C, STBA, and soil‐test P and K occurred on 30% of fields near drinking water tanks, shade sources, gates, and hay feeding stations. Improved grazing management with rotational stocking and more year‐round grazing helped to minimize occurrence and magnitude of nutrient enrichment zones. We conclude that improved grazing management systems can have positive impacts on the environment, and likely on farm livelihoods.