Exposure to 4-tert-octylphenol, an environmentally persistent alkylphenol, enhances interleukin-4 production in T cells via NF-AT activation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Mi H.; Kim, Eugene; Kim, Tae S.

2004-01-01

4-tert-Octylphenol (OP) is a representative endocrine disruptor that may have adverse effects on human health. The influence of this compound on allergic immune responses remains unclear. In this study, we have examined the effects of OP on production of interleukin-4 (IL-4), a pro-inflammatory cytokine closely associated with allergic immune responses. OP significantly enhanced IL-4 production in antigen-primed T cells in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment with OP in vivo resulted in significant increase of IL-4 production in T cells and of IgE levels in sera of antigen-primed mice. Furthermore, OP enhanced the activation of IL-4 gene promoter in EL4 T cells transiently transfected with IL-4 promoter/reporter constructs, and the enhancing effect mapped to a region in the IL-4 promoter containing binding sites for nuclear factor of activated T cell (NF-AT). Activation of T cells by phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) resulted in markedly enhanced binding activities to the NF-AT site, which significantly increased upon addition of OP, indicating that the transcription factor NF-AT was involved in the enhancing effect of OP on IL-4 production. The enhancement of IL-4 production by OP was blocked by FK506, a calcineurin inhibitor, but not by the estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist ICI 182 780. FK506 inhibited the NF-AT-DNA binding activity and IL-4 gene promoter activity enhanced by OP in a dose-dependent manner. These findings demonstrate that OP enhances IL-4 production in T cells via the stimulation of calcineurin-dependent NF-AT activation

Strategies for cost-effective and enhanced production of bacterial cellulose.

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, Mazhar Ul; Ullah, Muhammad Wajid; Khan, Shaukat; Shah, Nasrullah; Park, Joong Kon

2017-09-01

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has received substantial attention because of its high purity, mechanical strength, crystallinity, liquid-absorbing capabilities, biocompatibility, and biodegradability etc. These properties allow BC to be used in various fields, especially in industries producing medical, electronic, and food products etc. A major discrepancy associated with BC is its high production cost, usually much higher than the plant cellulose. To address this limitations, researchers have developed several strategies for enhanced production of BC including the designing of advanced reactors and utilization of various carbon sources. Another promising approach is the production of BC from waste materials such as food, industrial, agricultural, and brewery wastes etc. which not only reduces the overall BC production cost but is also environment-friendly. Besides, exploration of novel and efficient BC producing microbial strains provides impressive boost to the BC production processes. To this end, development of genetically engineered microbial strains has proven useful for enhanced BC production. In this review, we have summarized major efforts to enhance BC production in order to make it a cost-effective biopolymer. This review can be of interest to researchers investigating strategies for enhanced BC production, as well as companies exploring pilot projects to scale up BC production for industrial applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Significance and popularity in music production

Science.gov (United States)

Monechi, Bernardo; Gravino, Pietro; Servedio, Vito D. P.; Tria, Francesca; Loreto, Vittorio

2017-07-01

Creative industries constantly strive for fame and popularity. Though highly desirable, popularity is not the only achievement artistic creations might ever acquire. Leaving a longstanding mark in the global production and influencing future works is an even more important achievement, usually acknowledged by experts and scholars. `Significant' or `influential' works are not always well known to the public or have sometimes been long forgotten by the vast majority. In this paper, we focus on the duality between what is successful and what is significant in the musical context. To this end, we consider a user-generated set of tags collected through an online music platform, whose evolving co-occurrence network mirrors the growing conceptual space underlying music production. We define a set of general metrics aiming at characterizing music albums throughout history, and their relationships with the overall musical production. We show how these metrics allow to classify albums according to their current popularity or their belonging to expert-made lists of important albums. In this way, we provide the scientific community and the public at large with quantitative tools to tell apart popular albums from culturally or aesthetically relevant artworks. The generality of the methodology presented here lends itself to be used in all those fields where innovation and creativity are in play.

Significance and popularity in music production.

Science.gov (United States)

Monechi, Bernardo; Gravino, Pietro; Servedio, Vito D P; Tria, Francesca; Loreto, Vittorio

2017-07-01

Creative industries constantly strive for fame and popularity. Though highly desirable, popularity is not the only achievement artistic creations might ever acquire. Leaving a longstanding mark in the global production and influencing future works is an even more important achievement, usually acknowledged by experts and scholars. 'Significant' or 'influential' works are not always well known to the public or have sometimes been long forgotten by the vast majority. In this paper, we focus on the duality between what is successful and what is significant in the musical context. To this end, we consider a user-generated set of tags collected through an online music platform, whose evolving co-occurrence network mirrors the growing conceptual space underlying music production. We define a set of general metrics aiming at characterizing music albums throughout history, and their relationships with the overall musical production. We show how these metrics allow to classify albums according to their current popularity or their belonging to expert-made lists of important albums. In this way, we provide the scientific community and the public at large with quantitative tools to tell apart popular albums from culturally or aesthetically relevant artworks. The generality of the methodology presented here lends itself to be used in all those fields where innovation and creativity are in play.

Temperature dependence of CO2-enhanced primary production in the European Arctic Ocean

KAUST Repository

Holding, J. M.

2015-08-31

The Arctic Ocean is warming at two to three times the global rate1 and is perceived to be a bellwether for ocean acidification2, 3. Increased CO2 concentrations are expected to have a fertilization effect on marine autotrophs4, and higher temperatures should lead to increased rates of planktonic primary production5. Yet, simultaneous assessment of warming and increased CO2 on primary production in the Arctic has not been conducted. Here we test the expectation that CO2-enhanced gross primary production (GPP) may be temperature dependent, using data from several oceanographic cruises and experiments from both spring and summer in the European sector of the Arctic Ocean. Results confirm that CO2 enhances GPP (by a factor of up to ten) over a range of 145–2,099 μatm; however, the greatest effects are observed only at lower temperatures and are constrained by nutrient and light availability to the spring period. The temperature dependence of CO2-enhanced primary production has significant implications for metabolic balance in a warmer, CO2-enriched Arctic Ocean in the future. In particular, it indicates that a twofold increase in primary production during the spring is likely in the Arctic.

Enhanced production of GDP-L-fucose by overexpression of NADPH regenerator in recombinant Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Won-Heong; Chin, Young-Wook; Han, Nam Soo; Kim, Myoung-Dong; Seo, Jin-Ho

2011-08-01

Biosynthesis of guanosine 5'-diphosphate-L-fucose (GDP-L-fucose) requires NADPH as a reducing cofactor. In this study, endogenous NADPH regenerating enzymes such as glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), isocitrate dehydrogenase (Icd), and NADP(+)-dependent malate dehydrogenase (MaeB) were overexpressed to increase GDP-L-fucose production in recombinant Escherichia coli. The effects of overexpression of each NADPH regenerating enzyme on GDP-L-fucose production were investigated in a series of batch and fed-batch fermentations. Batch fermentations showed that overexpression of G6PDH was the most effective for GDP-L-fucose production. However, GDP-L-fucose production was not enhanced by overexpression of G6PDH in the glucose-limited fed-batch fermentation. Hence, a glucose feeding strategy was optimized to enhance GDP-L-fucose production. Fed-batch fermentation with a pH-stat feeding mode for sufficient supply of glucose significantly enhanced GDP-L-fucose production compared with glucose-limited fed-batch fermentation. A maximum GDP-L-fucose concentration of 235.2 ± 3.3 mg l(-1), corresponding to a 21% enhancement in the GDP-L-fucose production compared with the control strain overexpressing GDP-L-fucose biosynthetic enzymes only, was achieved in the pH-stat fed-batch fermentation of the recombinant E. coli overexpressing G6PDH. It was concluded that sufficient glucose supply and efficient NADPH regeneration are crucial for NADPH-dependent GDP-L-fucose production in recombinant E. coli.

Significantly enhanced thermal conductivity of indium arsenide nanowires via sulfur passivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Yucheng; Tang, Hao; Wang, Xiaomeng; Zhao, Yang; Fu, Qiang; Yang, Juekuan; Xu, Dongyan

2017-10-16

In this work, we experimentally investigated the effect of sulfur passivation on thermal transport in indium arsenide (InAs) nanowires. Our measurement results show that thermal conductivity can be enhanced by a ratio up to 159% by sulfur passivation. Current-voltage (I-V) measurements were performed on both unpassivated and S-passivated InAs nanowires to understand the mechanism of thermal conductivity enhancement. We observed a remarkable improvement in electrical conductivity upon sulfur passivation and a significant contribution of electrons to thermal conductivity, which account for the enhanced thermal conductivity of the S-passivated InAs nanowires.

Effectiveness of commercial microbial products in enhancing oil degradation in Prince William Sound field plots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Venosa, A.D.; Haines, J.R.; Allen, D.M.

1991-01-01

In the spring of 1990, previously reported laboratory experiments were conducted on 10 commercial microbial products to test for enhanced biodegradation of weathered crude oil from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The laboratory tests measured the rate and extent of oil degradation in closed flasks. Weathered oil from the beaches in Alaska and seawater from Prince William Sound were used in the tests. Two of the 10 products were found to provide significantly greater alkane degradation than flasks supplemented with mineral nutrients alone. These two products were selected for further testing on a beach in Prince William Sound. A randomized complete block experiment was designed to compare the effectiveness of these two products in enhancing oil degradation compared to simple fertilizer alone. Four small plots consisting of a no nutrient control, a mineral nutrient plot, and two plots receiving mineral nutrients plus the two products, were laid out on a contaminated beach. These four plots comprised a 'block' of treatments, and this block was replicated four times on the same beach. Triplicate samples of beach sediment were collected at four equally spaced time intervals and analyzed for oil residue weight and alkane hydrocarbon profile changes with time. The objective was to determine if either of the two commercial microbiological products was able to enhance bioremediation of an oil-contaminated beach in Prince William Sound to an extent greater than that achievable by simple fertilizer application. Results indicated no significant differences among the four treatments in the 27-day period of the experiment

Enhancement of Nucleoside Production in Hirsutella sinensis Based on Biosynthetic Pathway Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhi-Qiang; Zhang, Bo; Lin, Shan; Baker, Peter James; Chen, Mao-Sheng; Xue, Ya-Ping; Wu, Hui; Xu, Feng; Yuan, Shui-Jin; Teng, Yi; Wu, Ling-Fang

2017-01-01

To enhance nucleoside production in Hirsutella sinensis, the biosynthetic pathways of purine and pyrimidine nucleosides were constructed and verified. The differential expression analysis showed that purine nucleoside phosphorylase, inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase, and guanosine monophosphate synthase genes involved in purine nucleotide biosynthesis were significantly upregulated 16.56-fold, 8-fold, and 5.43-fold, respectively. Moreover, dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, uridine nucleosidase, uridine/cytidine monophosphate kinase, and inosine triphosphate pyrophosphatase genes participating in pyrimidine nucleoside biosynthesis were upregulated 4.53-fold, 10.63-fold, 4.26-fold, and 5.98-fold, respectively. To enhance the nucleoside production, precursors for synthesis of nucleosides were added based on the analysis of biosynthetic pathways. Uridine and cytidine contents, respectively, reached 5.04 mg/g and 3.54 mg/g when adding 2 mg/mL of ribose, resulting in an increase of 28.6% and 296% compared with the control, respectively. Meanwhile, uridine and cytidine contents, respectively, reached 10.83 mg/g 2.12 mg/g when adding 0.3 mg/mL of uracil, leading to an increase of 176.3% and 137.1%, respectively. This report indicated that fermentation regulation was an effective way to enhance the nucleoside production in H. sinensis based on biosynthetic pathway analysis. PMID:29333435

Contrast enhancement of the cochlear aqueduct in MR imaging: its frequency and clinical significance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, T.; Naganawa, S.; Fukatsu, H.; Sakurai, Y.; Ishigaki, T.; Aoki, I.; Ninomiya, A.; Nakashima, T.

2003-01-01

There have been no previous reports on contrast enhancement of the cochlear aqueduct in magnetic resonance imaging. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the frequency and significance of this finding. Thirty-one patients (15 men and 16 women; age range 18-81 years) with otologic symptoms (sudden sensorineural hearing loss, vertigo, or tinnitus) were examined using contrast-enhanced imaging on a 1.5-T MR scanner. The normal ear served as the control. Two radiologists evaluated contrast enhancement in the area of the cochlear aqueduct. Forty-eight of 62 ears (77.4%) showed contrast enhancement of the cochlear aqueduct, but no significant differences in the frequency of contrast enhancement were observed between patients with and patients without vertigo, tinnitus, sensorineural hearing loss, cerebellopontine angle tumors, or a high-riding jugular bulb. In addition, no gender- or age-related differences were noted. Contrast enhancement of the cochlear aqueduct was frequently observed, but the frequency of enhancement in symptomatic ears was not significantly higher than in control ears. The results of this study may prove helpful in avoiding unnecessary examinations and potential diagnostic confusion. (orig.)

Contrast enhancement of the cochlear aqueduct in MR imaging: its frequency and clinical significance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakamura, T; Naganawa, S; Fukatsu, H; Sakurai, Y; Ishigaki, T [Department of Radiology, Nagoya University School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, 466-8550, Shouwa-ku, Nagoya (Japan); Aoki, I; Ninomiya, A [Medical Systems Company, Toshiba Corporation, Nasu Operations, Otawara-shi, Tochigi (Japan); Nakashima, T [Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Shouwa-ku, Nagoya (Japan)

2003-09-01

There have been no previous reports on contrast enhancement of the cochlear aqueduct in magnetic resonance imaging. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the frequency and significance of this finding. Thirty-one patients (15 men and 16 women; age range 18-81 years) with otologic symptoms (sudden sensorineural hearing loss, vertigo, or tinnitus) were examined using contrast-enhanced imaging on a 1.5-T MR scanner. The normal ear served as the control. Two radiologists evaluated contrast enhancement in the area of the cochlear aqueduct. Forty-eight of 62 ears (77.4%) showed contrast enhancement of the cochlear aqueduct, but no significant differences in the frequency of contrast enhancement were observed between patients with and patients without vertigo, tinnitus, sensorineural hearing loss, cerebellopontine angle tumors, or a high-riding jugular bulb. In addition, no gender- or age-related differences were noted. Contrast enhancement of the cochlear aqueduct was frequently observed, but the frequency of enhancement in symptomatic ears was not significantly higher than in control ears. The results of this study may prove helpful in avoiding unnecessary examinations and potential diagnostic confusion. (orig.)

Lean Production Practices to Enhance Organisational Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shah Satya

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Service sector organisations are constantly overcoming the challenges facing the over-production and waste reduction within their environments. Industries are also becoming very competitive thus forcing them to seek suitable production organisation strategies with the aim towards enhancing their competitiveness and efficiency. The aim of this research study is to investigate the impact of lean production practices on the performance of service based businesses through the case study of a local baked goods supplier. The research framework adopted consists of questionnaire survey method implemented with different end users, thus covering the overall production – retail – customer cycle. The research results and analysis justify the objective of the research that lean production practices enhance the performance of the supplier company and the common tool identified were JIT (Just in Time, Value Steam Mapping (VSP and the 5S methods. The results also suggest that JIT method has a higher impact towards improvement on performance relating to quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost of the supplier. However, the research study also identifies that one of the major challenges faced by the organisation while adopting lean practices was the lack of commitment from top management, continuous training and employee engagement measures.

A solar still desalination system with enhanced productivity

KAUST Repository

Ayoub, George M.

2014-07-10

Abstract: Increasing the productivity of solar stills has been the focus of intensive research. Many introduced developments, however, require complex components and entail notable increases in cost and land requirements. Developing a compact, productive, and easy-to-operate system is a main challenge. This paper describes a sustainable modification of the solar still that significantly enhances its productivity without forsaking its basic features. A simple amendment in the form of a slowly rotating drum is introduced allowing the formation of thin water films that evaporate rapidly and are continually renewed. The performance of this system was compared against a control without the introduced drum. Throughout the experiment, the new system gave considerably higher yield than the control with an average increase in daily productivity of 200%. Moreover, during sunshine hours, the increase in yield could surpass 6–8 times that of the control. Important parameters such as ease of handling, material availability, efficacy, low cost, safe water quality, and space conservation are maintained. One side-benefit of this design is solving stagnation problems that usually develop in conventional stills. The new simple modification in this study presents a cost-effective and efficient design to solar stills especially in areas with abundant sunshine.

Higgs Pair Production as a Signal of Enhanced Yukawa Couplings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bauer, Martin [Heidelberg U.; Carena, Marcela [Chicago U., KICP; Carmona, Adrián [U. Mainz, PRISMA

2017-12-31

We present a non-trivial correlation between the enhancement of the Higgs-fermion couplings and the Higgs pair production cross section in two Higgs doublet models with a flavour symmetry. This symmetry suppresses flavour-changing neutral couplings of the Higgs boson and allows for a partial explanation of the hierarchy in the Yukawa sector. After taking into account the constraints from electroweak precision measurements, Higgs coupling strength measurements, and unitarity and perturbativity bounds, we identify an interesting region of parameter space leading to enhanced Yukawa couplings as well as enhanced di-Higgs gluon fusion production at the LHC reach. This effect is visible in both the resonant and non-resonant contributions to the Higgs pair production cross section. We encourage dedicated searches based on differential distributions as a novel way to indirectly probe enhanced Higgs couplings to light fermions.

Enhanced production of pigments by addition of surfactants in submerged fermentation of Monascus purpureus H1102.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yonghui; Zhang, Bobo; Lu, Liping; Huang, Yan; Xu, Ganrong

2013-10-01

The production of pigments by Monascus spp. has attracted increasing attention. Modification of the cell membrane structure by addition of surfactants has proved to be effective for the secretion of intracellular metabolites. Hence in this study the effects and underlying mechanism of surfactants on the production of pigments in submerged fermentation of Monascus purpureus H1102 were systematically investigated. Various surfactants exerted significant but different impacts on the biomass and production of pigments. The maximum production of pigment (304.3 U mL(-1) ) and highest extracellular/intracellular pigment ratio (1.46) were achieved when 15 g L(-1) Triton X-100 was added at 24 h of fermentation, corresponding to significant increases of 88.4 and 240% respectively compared with the control. Meanwhile, the concentration of citrinin (0.94 mg L(-1) ) was 20.6% lower than that of the control. A further study on the fatty acid composition of M. purpureus H1102 showed that the unsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio and the index of unsaturated fatty acid increased significantly with the addition of Triton X-100. The addition of surfactant Triton X-100 could greatly enhance the production of pigment. It was suggested that Triton X-100 facilitated the secretion of intracellular pigment and therefore enhanced pigment production accordingly. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

Enhanced production of biomass, pigments and antioxidant capacity of a nutritionally important cyanobacterium Nostochopsis lobatus.

Science.gov (United States)

Pandey, Usha; Pandey, J

2008-07-01

A diazotrophic cyanobacterium Nostochopsis lobatus was evaluated for enhanced production of biomass, pigments and antioxidant capacity. N. lobatus showed potentially high antioxidant capacity (46.12 microM AEAC) with significant improvement under immobilized cell cultures (87.05 microM AEAC). When a mixture of P and Fe was supplemented, biomass, pigments, nutritive value and antioxidant capacity increased substantially at pH 7.8. When considered separately, P appeared to be a better supplement than Fe for the production of biomass, chlorophyll and carotenoids. However, for phycocyanin, phycoerythrin, nutritive value and antioxidant capacity, Fe appeared more effective than P. Our study indicates N. lobatus to be a promising bioresource for enhanced production of nutritionally rich biomass, pigments and antioxidants. The study also suggests that P and Fe are potentially effective supplements for scale-up production for commercial application.

Modeling of process parameters for enhanced production of coenzyme Q10 from Rhodotorula glutinis.

Science.gov (United States)

Balakumaran, Palanisamy Athiyaman; Meenakshisundaram, Sankaranarayanan

2015-01-01

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) plays an indispensable role in ATP generation through oxidative phosphorylation and helps in scavenging superoxides generated during electron transfer reactions. It finds extensive applications specifically related to oxidative damage and metabolic dysfunctions. This article reports the use of a statistical approach to optimize the concentration of key variables for the enhanced production of CoQ10 by Rhodotorula glutinis in a lab-scale fermenter. The culture conditions that promote optimum growth and CoQ10 production were optimized and the interaction of significant variables para-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHB, 819.34 mg/L) and soybean oil (7.78% [v/v]) was studied using response surface methodology (RSM). CoQ10 production increased considerably from 10 mg/L (in control) to 39.2 mg/L in batch mode with RSM-optimized precursor concentration. In the fed-batch mode, PHB and soybean oil feeding strategy enhanced CoQ10 production to 78.2 mg/L.

Copper and dyes enhance laccase production in gamma-proteobacterium JB.

Science.gov (United States)

Malhotra, Kanam; Sharma, Prince; Capalash, Neena

2004-07-01

Laccase production in gamma-proteobacterium JB was enhanced 13-fold by adding 0.1 mM CuSO(4) 24 h after the onset of growth. Ethidium bromide (2.5 microM), Malachite Green, Phenol Red and Thymol Blue (10 microM each) enhanced laccase production 17-, 19-, 4- and 2-fold, respectively. Among the fourteen aromatic/organic compounds tried, p-aminobenzoic acid and an industrial effluent, from where the organism was isolated, showed 1.2- and 1.26-fold increases in production.

Enhanced limonene production in cyanobacteria reveals photosynthesis limitations.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xin; Liu, Wei; Xin, Changpeng; Zheng, Yi; Cheng, Yanbing; Sun, Su; Li, Runze; Zhu, Xin-Guang; Dai, Susie Y; Rentzepis, Peter M; Yuan, Joshua S

2016-12-13

Terpenes are the major secondary metabolites produced by plants, and have diverse industrial applications as pharmaceuticals, fragrance, solvents, and biofuels. Cyanobacteria are equipped with efficient carbon fixation mechanism, and are ideal cell factories to produce various fuel and chemical products. Past efforts to produce terpenes in photosynthetic organisms have gained only limited success. Here we engineered the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 to efficiently produce limonene through modeling guided study. Computational modeling of limonene flux in response to photosynthetic output has revealed the downstream terpene synthase as a key metabolic flux-controlling node in the MEP (2-C-methyl-d-erythritol 4-phosphate) pathway-derived terpene biosynthesis. By enhancing the downstream limonene carbon sink, we achieved over 100-fold increase in limonene productivity, in contrast to the marginal increase achieved through stepwise metabolic engineering. The establishment of a strong limonene flux revealed potential synergy between photosynthate output and terpene biosynthesis, leading to enhanced carbon flux into the MEP pathway. Moreover, we show that enhanced limonene flux would lead to NADPH accumulation, and slow down photosynthesis electron flow. Fine-tuning ATP/NADPH toward terpene biosynthesis could be a key parameter to adapt photosynthesis to support biofuel/bioproduct production in cyanobacteria.

Clinical significance of quantitative analysis of facial nerve enhancement on MRI in Bell's palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Mee Hyun; Kim, Jinna; Jeon, Ju Hyun; Cho, Chang Il; Yoo, Eun Hye; Lee, Won-Sang; Lee, Ho-Ki

2008-11-01

Quantitative analysis of the facial nerve on the lesion side as well as the normal side, which allowed for more accurate measurement of facial nerve enhancement in patients with facial palsy, showed statistically significant correlation with the initial severity of facial nerve inflammation, although little prognostic significance was shown. This study investigated the clinical significance of quantitative measurement of facial nerve enhancement in patients with Bell's palsy by analyzing the enhancement pattern and correlating MRI findings with initial severity of facial palsy and clinical outcome. Facial nerve enhancement was measured quantitatively by using the region of interest on pre- and postcontrast T1-weighted images in 44 patients diagnosed with Bell's palsy. The signal intensity increase on the lesion side was first compared with that of the contralateral side and then correlated with the initial degree of facial palsy and prognosis. The lesion side showed significantly higher signal intensity increase compared with the normal side in all of the segments except for the mastoid segment. Signal intensity increase at the internal auditory canal and labyrinthine segments showed correlation with the initial degree of facial palsy but no significant difference was found between different prognostic groups.

Thin stillage supplementation greatly enhances bacterial cellulose production by Gluconacetobacter xylinus.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jyh-Ming; Liu, Ren-Han

2012-09-01

Thin stillage (TS), a wastewater from rice wine distillery can well sustain the growth of Gluconacetobacter xylinus for production of bacterial cellulose (BC). When used as a supplement to the traditional BC production medium (Hestrin and Schramm medium), the enhancement of BC production increased with the amount of TS supplemented in a static culture of G. xylinus. When TS was employed to replace distilled water for preparing HS medium (100%TS-HS medium), the BC production in this 100%TS-HS medium was enhanced 2.5-fold to a concentration of 10.38 g/l with sugar to BC conversion yield of 57% after 7 days cultivation. The cost-free TS as a supplement in BC production medium not only can greatly enhance the BC production, but also can effectively dispose the nuisance wastewater of rice wine distillery. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Radio-frequency wave enhanced runaway production rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan, V.S.; McClain, F.W.

1983-01-01

Enhancement of runaway electron production (over that of an Ohmic discharge) can be achieved by the addition of radio-frequency waves. This effect is studied analytically and numerically using a two-dimensional Fokker--Planck quasilinear equation

Probing Electroweak Phase Transition via Enhanced Di-Higgs Production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carena, Marcela [Chicago U., KICP; Liu, Zhen [Fermilab; Riembau, Marc [DESY

2018-01-02

We consider a singlet extension of the Standard Model (SM) with a spontaneous $Z_2$ breaking and study the gluon-gluon fusion production of the heavy scalar, with subsequent decay into a pair of SM-like Higgs bosons. We find that an on-shell interference effect can notably enhance the resonant di-Higgs production rate up to 40\\%. In addition, consistently taking into account both the on-shell and off-shell interference effects between the heavy scalar and the SM di-Higgs diagrams significantly improves the HL-LHC and HE-LHC reach in this channel. As an example, within an effective field theory analysis in an explicitly $Z_2$ breaking scenario, we further discuss the potential to probe the parameter region compatible with a first order electroweak phase transition. Our analysis is applicable for general potentials of the singlet extension of the SM as well as for more general resonance searches.

Enhancement of sludge reduction and methane production by removing extracellular polymeric substances from waste activated sludge.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Minh Tuan; Mohd Yasin, Nazlina Haiza; Miyazaki, Toshiki; Maeda, Toshinari

2014-12-01

The management of waste activated sludge (WAS) recycling is a concern that affects the development of the future low-carbon society, particularly sludge reduction and biomass utilization. In this study, we investigated the effect of removing extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which play important roles in the adhesion and flocculation of WAS, on increased sludge disintegration, thereby enhancing sludge reduction and methane production by anaerobic digestion. EPS removal from WAS by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) significantly enhanced sludge reduction, i.e., 49 ± 5% compared with 27 ± 1% of the control at the end the digestion process. Methane production was also improved in WAS without EPS by 8881 ± 109 CH4 μmol g(-1) dry-weight of sludge. Microbial activity was determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and real-time polymerase chain reaction, which showed that the hydrolysis and acetogenesis stages were enhanced by pretreatment with 2% EDTA, with a larger methanogenic community and better methane production. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Various oils and detergents enhance the microbial production of farnesol and related prenyl alcohols.

Science.gov (United States)

Muramatsu, Masayoshi; Ohto, Chikara; Obata, Shusei; Sakuradani, Eiji; Shimizu, Sakayu

2008-09-01

The object of this research was improvement of prenyl alcohol production with squalene synthase-deficient mutant Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 64031. On screening of many kinds of additives, we found that oils and detergents significantly enhanced the extracellular production of prenyl alcohols. Soybean oil showed the most prominent effect among the additives tested. Its effect was accelerated by a high concentration of glucose in the medium. The combination of these cultivation conditions led to the production of more than 28 mg/l of farnesol in the soluble fraction of the broth. The addition of these compounds to the medium was an effective method for large-scale production of prenyl alcohols with microorganisms.

Enhanced thermophilic fermentative hydrogen production from cassava stillage by chemical pretreatments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Wen; Luo, Gang; Xie, Li

2013-01-01

Acid and alkaline pretreatments for enhanced hydrogen production from cassava stillage were investigated in the present study. The result showed that acid pretreatment was suitable for enhancement of soluble carbohydrate while alkaline pretreatment stimulated more soluble total organic carbon...... that the increase of all factors increased the soluble carbohydrate production, whereas hydrogen production was inhibited when the factors exceeded their optimal values. The optimal conditions for hydrogen production were pretreatment temperature 89.5 °C, concentration 1.4% and time 69 min for the highest hydrogen...

Reduced Coniferin and Enhanced 6-Methoxypodophyllotoxin Production in

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruslan Wirasutisna, Komar; Batterman, Sieben; Koulman, Albert; Kayser, Oliver; Woerdenbag, Herman J; Quax, Wim J

2010-01-01

Treatment of cell suspension cultures of Linum flavum L. with Na2EDTA reduced the coniferin and enhanced the 6-methoxypodophyllotoxin (6-MPT) production in a concentration-dependent way, in a range of 0.1–5 mM. On day 14 after treatment with Na2EDTA , an inhibition of the coniferin production up to

Humor in Advertisements Enhances Product Liking by Mere Association

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Strick, M.A.; Baaren, R.B. van; Holland, R.W.; Knippenberg, A.F.M. van

2009-01-01

Humor in advertising is known to enhance product liking, but this attitude change is often considered nonpredictive of product choice. Previous research relied exclusively on explicit self-report measures to assess attitudes and purchase intentions. The present research shows that unobtrusive

Modulation of guanosine nucleotides biosynthetic pathways enhanced GDP-L-fucose production in recombinant Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Won-Heong; Shin, So-Yeon; Kim, Myoung-Dong; Han, Nam Soo; Seo, Jin-Ho

2012-03-01

Guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP) is the key substrate for biosynthesis of guanosine 5'-diphosphate (GDP)-L-fucose. In this study, improvement of GDP-L-fucose production was attempted by manipulating the biosynthetic pathway for guanosine nucleotides in recombinant Escherichia coli-producing GDP-L-fucose. The effects of overexpression of inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP) dehydrogenase, guanosine 5'-monophosphate (GMP) synthetase (GuaB and GuaA), GMP reductase (GuaC) and guanosine-inosine kinase (Gsk) on GDP-L-fucose production were investigated in a series of fed-batch fermentations. Among the enzymes tested, overexpression of Gsk led to a significant improvement of GDP-L-fucose production. Maximum GDP-L-fucose concentration of 305.5 ± 5.3 mg l(-1) was obtained in the pH-stat fed-batch fermentation of recombinant E. coli-overexpressing Gsk, which corresponds to a 58% enhancement in the GDP-L-fucose production compared with the control strain overexpressing GDP-L-fucose biosynthetic enzymes. Such an enhancement of GDP-L-fucose production could be due to the increase in the intracellular level of GMP.

ENHANCED PRODUCTION OF POLYHYDROXYBUTYRATE (PHB FROM AGRO-INDUSTRIAL WASTES; FED-BATCH CULTIVATION AND STATISTICAL MEDIA OPTIMIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahmoud M. Berekaa

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Bacillus megaterium SW1-2 showed enhanced growth and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB production during cultivation on date palm syrup (DEPS or sugar cane molasses. FT-IR and NMR spectroscopic analyses of the polymer accumulated during growth on DEPS revealed specific absorption peaks characteristic for PHB. 1.65 g/L of PHB (56.9% CDW was produced during growth on medium supplemented with 2 g/L of DEPS. Approximately, 36.1% CDW of PHB were recorded during growth on sugar cane molasses. Six runs of different fed-batch cultivation strategies were tested, the optimal run showed approximately 6.87-fold increase. Modified E2 medium was prefered recording 10.11 and 11.34 g/L of total PHB produced for runs 1 and 2, at the end of 96 h incubation period, respectively. Decrease in PHB was recorded during growth on complex medium (run 3 and run 4. In another independent optimization strategy, ten variables were concurrently examined for their significance on PHB production by Plackett-Burman statistical design for the first time. Among variables, DEPS-II and inoculum concentration followed by KH2PO4 and (NH42SO4 were found to be the most significant variables encourage PHB production. Indeed, DEPS-II or Fresh syrup is more significant than commercial syrup DEPS-I (p-value= 0.05. RPM, incubation period have highly negative effect on PHB production. Role of ago-industrial wastes, especially DEPS, in enhancement of PHB production was closely discussed.

The significance and possibility of functional food production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dimitrijević-Branković Suzana I.

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Abundant knowledge of the significance of food quality for all human living functions as well as growing human population and the occurrence of world "hidden hunger", directed food producers toward new production processes of and new product development that must satisfy the specific needs of different categories of consumers. The differences are reflected in sex age, religious affiliation, activity, health, social status etc. "Organic", "natural, minimal processing, functional (and often called "therapeutical" food nowadays represents the key interest of nutritionists, physicians and food producers. Such food should have a beneficial influence on human health, besides satisfying the nutritive and energetic necessities, by protective, prophylactic and healing performance. This paper discusses facts about the influence of food on human health, problems of malnutrition in developing and developed countries, presents states of food production in the world and in Yugoslavia, legislation and regulations on nourishment and food production, the disadvantages of former concepts of development of this production and possible directions of future trends with a particular review on functional food production.

Data Fusion of Gridded Snow Products Enhanced with Terrain Covariates and a Simple Snow Model

Science.gov (United States)

Snauffer, A. M.; Hsieh, W. W.; Cannon, A. J.

2017-12-01

Hydrologic planning requires accurate estimates of regional snow water equivalent (SWE), particularly areas with hydrologic regimes dominated by spring melt. While numerous gridded data products provide such estimates, accurate representations are particularly challenging under conditions of mountainous terrain, heavy forest cover and large snow accumulations, contexts which in many ways define the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada. One promising avenue of improving SWE estimates is a data fusion approach which combines field observations with gridded SWE products and relevant covariates. A base artificial neural network (ANN) was constructed using three of the best performing gridded SWE products over BC (ERA-Interim/Land, MERRA and GLDAS-2) and simple location and time covariates. This base ANN was then enhanced to include terrain covariates (slope, aspect and Terrain Roughness Index, TRI) as well as a simple 1-layer energy balance snow model driven by gridded bias-corrected ANUSPLIN temperature and precipitation values. The ANN enhanced with all aforementioned covariates performed better than the base ANN, but most of the skill improvement was attributable to the snow model with very little contribution from the terrain covariates. The enhanced ANN improved station mean absolute error (MAE) by an average of 53% relative to the composing gridded products over the province. Interannual peak SWE correlation coefficient was found to be 0.78, an improvement of 0.05 to 0.18 over the composing products. This nonlinear approach outperformed a comparable multiple linear regression (MLR) model by 22% in MAE and 0.04 in interannual correlation. The enhanced ANN has also been shown to estimate better than the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrologic model calibrated and run for four BC watersheds, improving MAE by 22% and correlation by 0.05. The performance improvements of the enhanced ANN are statistically significant at the 5% level across the province and

Managing Risk, Reducing Vulnerability and Enhancing Productivity ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Managing Risk, Reducing Vulnerability and Enhancing Productivity under a Changing Climate. The countries of the Greater Horn of Africa are particularly vulnerable to drought, exacerbated by widespread poverty and dependence on rainfed agriculture. Even with normal rainfall, the region does not produce enough food to ...

Integrated agriculture enhances farm productivity and livelihoods in ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2016-04-29

Apr 29, 2016 ... Farm productivity and Livelihoods in Agro Biodiversity. Farmers in Tamil Nadu adopted locally-adapted cassava, boosting agro-biodiversity while enhancing ... Reducing post-harvest losses in South Asia's mango orchards.

Significance and popularity in music production

Science.gov (United States)

Gravino, Pietro; Servedio, Vito D. P.; Tria, Francesca; Loreto, Vittorio

2017-01-01

Creative industries constantly strive for fame and popularity. Though highly desirable, popularity is not the only achievement artistic creations might ever acquire. Leaving a longstanding mark in the global production and influencing future works is an even more important achievement, usually acknowledged by experts and scholars. ‘Significant’ or ‘influential’ works are not always well known to the public or have sometimes been long forgotten by the vast majority. In this paper, we focus on the duality between what is successful and what is significant in the musical context. To this end, we consider a user-generated set of tags collected through an online music platform, whose evolving co-occurrence network mirrors the growing conceptual space underlying music production. We define a set of general metrics aiming at characterizing music albums throughout history, and their relationships with the overall musical production. We show how these metrics allow to classify albums according to their current popularity or their belonging to expert-made lists of important albums. In this way, we provide the scientific community and the public at large with quantitative tools to tell apart popular albums from culturally or aesthetically relevant artworks. The generality of the methodology presented here lends itself to be used in all those fields where innovation and creativity are in play. PMID:28791169

Enhancement of clavulanic acid production by Streptomyces sp MU ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Purpose: To enhance clavulanic acid production using UV-mutagenesis on Streptomyces sp. NRC77. Methods: UV-mutagenesis was used to study the effect of Streptomyces sp. NRC77 on CA production. Phenotypic and genotypic identification methods of the promising mutant strain were characterized. Optimization of the ...

Enhanced dissolved lipid production as a response to the sea surface warming

Science.gov (United States)

Novak, Tihana; Godrijan, Jelena; Pfannkuchen, Daniela Marić; Djakovac, Tamara; Mlakar, Marina; Baricevic, Ana; Tanković, Mirta Smodlaka; Gašparović, Blaženka

2018-04-01

The temperature increase in oceans reflects on marine ecosystem functioning and surely has consequences on the marine carbon cycle and carbon sequestration. In this study, we examined dissolved lipid, lipid classes and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) production in the northern Adriatic Sea, isolated diatom Chaetoceros pseudocurvisetus batch cultures grown in a wide temperature range (10-30 °C) and in contrasting nutrient regimes, phosphorus (P)-depleted and P-replete conditions. Additionally, lipids and DOC were analyzed in the northern Adriatic (NA) in two stations characterized with different P availability, occupied from February to August 2010 that covered a temperature range from 9.3 to 31.1 °C. To gain insight into factors governing lipid and lipid classes' production in the NA, apart from temperature (T), Chlorophyll a, phytoplankton community abundance and structure, nutrient concentrations were measured together with hydrographic parameters. We found enhanced accumulation of dissolved lipids, particulary glycolipids, with increasing T, especially during the highest in situ temperature. The effect of T on enhanced dissolved lipid release is much more pronounced under P-deplete conditions indicating that oligotrophic regions might be more vulnerable to T rise. Temperature between 25 and 30 °C is a threshold T range for C. pseudocurvisetus, at which a significant part of lipid production is directed toward the dissolved phase. Unlike monocultures, there are multiple factors influencing produced lipid composition, distribution and cycling in the NA that may counteract the T influence. The possible role of enhanced dissolved lipid concentration for carbon sequestration at elevated T is discussed. On the one hand, lipids are buoyant and do not sink, which enhances their retention at the surface layer. In addition, they are surface active, and therefore prone to adsorb on sinking particles, contributing to the C sequestration.

Enhanced thermophilic fermentative hydrogen production from cassava stillage by chemical pretreatments.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wen; Luo, Gang; Xie, Li; Zhou, Qi

2013-01-01

Acid and alkaline pretreatments for enhanced hydrogen production from cassava stillage were investigated in the present study. The result showed that acid pretreatment was suitable for enhancement of soluble carbohydrate while alkaline pretreatment stimulated more soluble total organic carbon production from cassava stillage. Acid pretreatment thereby has higher capacity to promote hydrogen production compared with alkaline pretreatment. Effects of pretreatment temperature, time and acid concentration on hydrogen production were also revealed by response surface methodology. The results showed that the increase of all factors increased the soluble carbohydrate production, whereas hydrogen production was inhibited when the factors exceeded their optimal values. The optimal conditions for hydrogen production were pretreatment temperature 89.5 °C, concentration 1.4% and time 69 min for the highest hydrogen production of 434 mL, 67% higher than raw cassava stillage.

Diclofenac enhances proinflammatory cytokine-induced phagocytosis of cultured microglia via nitric oxide production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kakita, Hiroki; Aoyama, Mineyoshi; Nagaya, Yoshiaki; Asai, Hayato; Hussein, Mohamed Hamed; Suzuki, Mieko; Kato, Shin; Saitoh, Shinji; Asai, Kiyofumi

2013-01-01

Influenza-associated encephalopathy (IAE) is a central nervous system complication with a high mortality rate, which is increased significantly by the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac sodium (DCF). In the present study, we investigated the effects of DCF on brain immune cells (i.e. microglia) stimulated with three proinflammatory cytokines, namely tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, and interferon-γ. Similar to previous findings in astrocytes, all three cytokines induced the expression of inducible NO synthase (iNOS), as well as NO production, in microglia. The addition of DCF to the culture system augmented iNOS expression and NO production. Immunocytochemical analysis and the phagocytosis assay revealed that cytokine treatment induced morphological changes to and phagocytosis by the microglia. The addition of DCF to the culture system enhanced microglial activation, as well as the phagocytic activity of cytokine-stimulated microglia. Inhibitors of nuclear factor (NF)-κB inhibited iNOS gene expression in cytokine-stimulated microglia with or without DCF, suggesting that the NF-κB pathway is one of the main signaling pathways involved. The iNOS inhibitor N G -monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) reduced both cytokine-induced phagocytosis and phagocytosis induced by the combination of cytokines plus DCF. Furthermore, the NO donor sodium nitroprusside induced phagocytosis, indicating that NO production is a key regulator of microglial phagocytosis. In conclusion, DCF acts synergistically with proinflammatory cytokines to increase the production of NO in microglia, leading to phagocytic activity of the activated microglia. These findings, together with previous observations regarding astrocytes, may explain the significant increase in mortality of IAE patients treated with DCF. - Highlights: ► Influenza-associated encephalopathy (IAE) is associated with a high mortality rate. ► Hyperimmunization in the brain is believed to be responsible for IAE

Diclofenac enhances proinflammatory cytokine-induced phagocytosis of cultured microglia via nitric oxide production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kakita, Hiroki [Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601 (Japan); Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601 (Japan); Aoyama, Mineyoshi, E-mail: ao.mine@med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp [Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601 (Japan); Nagaya, Yoshiaki; Asai, Hayato [Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601 (Japan); Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601 (Japan); Hussein, Mohamed Hamed [Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric Hospital, Cairo University, Cairo 11559 (Egypt); Maternal and Child Health Department, VACSERA, 51 Wizaret El-Zeraa-Agouza, Giza 22311 (Egypt); Suzuki, Mieko [Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601 (Japan); Kato, Shin [Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601 (Japan); Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601 (Japan); Saitoh, Shinji [Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601 (Japan); Asai, Kiyofumi [Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1 Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601 (Japan)

2013-04-15

Influenza-associated encephalopathy (IAE) is a central nervous system complication with a high mortality rate, which is increased significantly by the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac sodium (DCF). In the present study, we investigated the effects of DCF on brain immune cells (i.e. microglia) stimulated with three proinflammatory cytokines, namely tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, and interferon-γ. Similar to previous findings in astrocytes, all three cytokines induced the expression of inducible NO synthase (iNOS), as well as NO production, in microglia. The addition of DCF to the culture system augmented iNOS expression and NO production. Immunocytochemical analysis and the phagocytosis assay revealed that cytokine treatment induced morphological changes to and phagocytosis by the microglia. The addition of DCF to the culture system enhanced microglial activation, as well as the phagocytic activity of cytokine-stimulated microglia. Inhibitors of nuclear factor (NF)-κB inhibited iNOS gene expression in cytokine-stimulated microglia with or without DCF, suggesting that the NF-κB pathway is one of the main signaling pathways involved. The iNOS inhibitor N{sup G}-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) reduced both cytokine-induced phagocytosis and phagocytosis induced by the combination of cytokines plus DCF. Furthermore, the NO donor sodium nitroprusside induced phagocytosis, indicating that NO production is a key regulator of microglial phagocytosis. In conclusion, DCF acts synergistically with proinflammatory cytokines to increase the production of NO in microglia, leading to phagocytic activity of the activated microglia. These findings, together with previous observations regarding astrocytes, may explain the significant increase in mortality of IAE patients treated with DCF. - Highlights: ► Influenza-associated encephalopathy (IAE) is associated with a high mortality rate. ► Hyperimmunization in the brain is believed to be responsible for

Continuous butyric acid fermentation coupled with REED technology for enhanced productivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baroi, George Nabin; Skiadas, Ioannis; Westermann, Peter

strains, C.tyrobutyricum seems the most promising for biological production of butyric acid as it is characterised by higher selectivity and higher tolerance to butyric acid. However, studies on fermentative butyric production from lignocellulosic biomasses are scarce in the international literature...... of continuous fermentation mode and in-situ acids removal by Reverse Enhanced Electro Dialysis (REED) resulted to enhanced sugars consumption rates when 60% PHWS was fermented. Specifically, glucose and xylose consumption rate increased by a factor of 6 and 39, respectively, while butyric acid productivity...

Use of magnetic nanoparticles to enhance bioethanol production in syngas fermentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young-Kee; Lee, Haryeong

2016-03-01

The effect of two types of nanoparticles on the enhancement of bioethanol production in syngas fermentation by Clostridium ljungdahlii was examined. Methyl-functionalized silica and methyl-functionalized cobalt ferrite-silica (CoFe2O4@SiO2-CH3) nanoparticles were used to improve syngas-water mass transfer. Of these, CoFe2O4@SiO2-CH3 nanoparticles showed better enhancement of syngas mass transfer. The nanoparticles were recovered using a magnet and reused five times to evaluate reusability, and it was confirmed that their capability for mass transfer enhancement was maintained. Both types of nanoparticles were applied to syngas fermentation, and production of biomass, ethanol, and acetic acid was enhanced. CoFe2O4@SiO2-CH3 nanoparticles were more efficient for the productivity of syngas fermentation due to improved syngas mass transfer. The biomass, ethanol, and acetic acid production compared to a control were increased by 227.6%, 213.5%, and 59.6%, respectively by addition of CoFe2O4@SiO2-CH3 nanoparticles. The reusability of the nanoparticles was confirmed by reuse of recovered nanoparticles for fermentation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers enhance the production of proinflammatory cytokines by the placenta.

Science.gov (United States)

Peltier, M R; Klimova, N G; Arita, Y; Gurzenda, E M; Murthy, A; Chawala, K; Lerner, V; Richardson, J; Hanna, N

2012-09-01

Polybrominated diphenyl ether(s) (PBDE) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants that bind and cross the placenta but their effects on pregnancy outcome are unclear. It is possible that environmental contaminants increase the risk of inflammation-mediated pregnancy complications such as preterm birth by promoting a proinflammatory environment at the maternal-fetal interface. We hypothesized that PBDE would reduce IL-10 production and enhance the production of proinflammatory cytokines associated with preterm labor/birth by placental explants. Second-trimester placental explants were cultured in either vehicle (control) or 2 μM PBDE mixture of congers 47, 99 and 100 for 72 h. Cultures were then stimulated with 10(6) CFU/ml heat-killed Escherichia coli for a final 24 h incubation and conditioned medium was harvested for quantification of cytokines and PGE(2). COX-2 content and viability of the treated tissues were then quantified by tissue ELISA and MTT reduction activity, respectively. PBDE pre-treatment reduced E. coli-stimulated IL-10 production and significantly increased E. coli-stimulated IL-1β secretion. PBDE exposure also increased basal and bacteria-stimulated COX-2 expression. Basal, but not bacteria-stimulated PGE(2), was also enhanced by PBDE exposure. No effect of PBDE on viability of the explants cultures was detected. In summary, pre-exposure of placental explants to congers 47, 99, and 100 enhanced the placental proinflammatory response to infection. This may increase the risk of infection-mediated preterm birth by lowering the threshold for bacteria to stimulate a proinflammatory response(s). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

CO-PRODUCT ENHANCEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT FOR THE MASADA OXYNOL PROCESS PROCESS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Donald V. Watkins

2010-06-14

The focus of this project was an overall process improvement through the enhancement of the co-product streams. The enhancement of the process operations and co-products will increase both ethanol production and the value of other process outputs and reduces the amount of waste byproducts. This leads to a more economical and environmentally sound alternative to landfill disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW). These enhancements can greatly increase the commercial potential for the production of ethanol from MSW by the Masada CES OxyNol process. Both technological and economical issues were considered for steps throughout the conversion process. The research efforts of this project are varied but synergistic. The project investigated many of the operations involved in the Masada process with the overall goal of process improvements. The general goal of the testing was to improve co-product quality, improve conversions efficiencies, minimize process losses, increase energy efficiency, and mitigate process and commercialization risks. The project was divided into 16 subtasks as described in general terms below. All these tasks are interrelated but not necessarily interdependent.

Enhanced biogas production from penicillin bacterial residue by thermal-alkaline pretreatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong, Weizhang; Li, Guixia; Gao, Yan; Li, Zaixing; Geng, Xiaoling; Li, Yubing; Yang, Jingliang; Zhou, Chonghui

2015-01-01

In this study, the orthogonal experimental design was used to determine the optimum conditions for the effect of thermal alkaline; pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion of penicillin bacterial residue. The biodegradability of the penicillin; bacterial residue was evaluated by biochemical methane potential tests in laboratory. The optimum values of temperature,; alkali concentration, pretreatment time and moisture content for the thermal-alkaline pretreatment were determined as; 70 °C, 6% (w/v), 30 min, and 85%, respectively. Thermal-alkaline pretreatment could significantly enhance the soluble; chemical oxygen demand solubilization, the suspended solid solubilization and the biodegradability. Biogas production; was enhanced by the thermal-alkaline pretreatment, probably as a result of the breakdown of cell walls and membranes of; micro-organisms, which may facilitate the contact between organic molecules and anaerobic microorganisms.; Keywords: penicillin bacterial residue; anaerobic digestion; biochemical methane potential tests; pretreatment

Novel approach for productivity enhancement of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) production by Cupriavidus necator DSM 545.

Science.gov (United States)

Berezina, Nathalie

2013-01-25

In the global context of increased concerns for our environment, the use of bioplastics as a replacement for existing petroleum-based polymers is an important challenge. Indeed, bioplastics hardly meet economical and technical constraints. One, of the most promising among currently studied bioplastics, is the polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA). To circumvent the economical issue for this particular biopolymer one solution can be the enhancement of the overall productivity by the improvement of the nutritional medium of the microorganism producing the biopolymer. Thus, several nutrition media, supplemented or not with sodium glutamate, were tested for the growth and the PHA production by Cupriavidus necator DSM 545 strain. The most efficient for the biomass and the PHA production improvement were found to be the Luria broth (LB) and the Bonnarme's media, both supplemented with 10 g/L sodium glutamate. Hence the overall productivity was 33 times enhanced comparing to traditional cultivation methods. These results open a new route for the PHA production by C. necator which appears to be more suitable on a rich, or enriched, medium with no limiting factors. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Endohyphal bacterium enhances production of indole-3-acetic acid by a foliar fungal endophyte.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michele T Hoffman

Full Text Available Numerous plant pathogens, rhizosphere symbionts, and endophytic bacteria and yeasts produce the important phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA, often with profound effects on host plants. However, to date IAA production has not been documented among foliar endophytes -- the diverse guild of primarily filamentous Ascomycota that live within healthy, above-ground tissues of all plant species studied thus far. Recently bacteria that live within hyphae of endophytes (endohyphal bacteria have been detected, but their effects have not been studied previously. Here we show not only that IAA is produced in vitro by a foliar endophyte (here identified as Pestalotiopsis aff. neglecta, Xylariales, but that IAA production is enhanced significantly when the endophyte hosts an endohyphal bacterium (here identified as Luteibacter sp., Xanthomonadales. Both the endophyte and the endophyte/bacterium complex appear to rely on an L-tryptophan dependent pathway for IAA synthesis. The bacterium can be isolated from the fungus when the symbiotic complex is cultivated at 36°C. In pure culture the bacterium does not produce IAA. Culture filtrate from the endophyte-bacterium complex significantly enhances growth of tomato in vitro relative to controls and to filtrate from the endophyte alone. Together these results speak to a facultative symbiosis between an endophyte and endohyphal bacterium that strongly influences IAA production, providing a new framework in which to explore endophyte-plant interactions.

Methods and measures of enhancing production capacity of uranium mines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ni Yuhui

2013-01-01

Limited by resource conditions and mining conditions, the production capacity of uranium mines is generally small. The main factors to affect the production capacity determination of uranium mines are analyzed, the ways and measures to enhance the production capacity of uranium mines are explored from the innovations of technology and management mode. (author)

Protocol optimization for enhanced production of pigments in Spirulina.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Devendra; Kumar, Neeraj; Pabbi, Sunil; Walia, Suresh; Dhar, Dolly Wattal

2013-01-01

Spirulina has attracted special attention due to its importance as human foodstuff and natural colours with specific functional properties. These functional properties have been attributed to phycobilins, carotenoids, phenolics and unsaturated fatty acids. Present study was conducted under controlled phytotron conditions to identify the efficient strains of Spirulina in terms of pigment synthesis and to optimize their enhanced production. Methodology for enhanced production was standardized by varying specific environmental parameters (light intensity, temperature, carbon dioxide concentration, pH and NaCl level). Different strains of Spirulina depicted variability and environmental parameters showed distinct influence on pigments. Growth and pigment production was recorded to be most efficient under optimized conditions of light intensity (70 μmol m -2  s -1 ), temperature (30 °C), CO 2 concentration (550 ppm and 750 ppm), pH (10.5) and NaCl level (2 g L -1 ).

78 FR 12329 - Distinguishing Medical Device Recalls From Product Enhancements; Reporting Requirements; Draft...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-22

... medical devices to take timely action to correct violative devices or remove them from the marketplace...] Distinguishing Medical Device Recalls From Product Enhancements; Reporting Requirements; Draft Guidance for... draft guidance entitled ``Distinguishing Medical Device Recalls From Product Enhancements; Reporting...

Production acceleration and injectivity enhancement using steam-propane injection for Hamaca extra-heavy oil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rivero, J. A.; Mamora, D. D. [Texas A and M University, El Paso, TX (United States)

2005-02-01

The possibility of enhanced recovery in the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela, the world's largest known hydrocarbon deposit, by using propane as a steam additive, is discussed. In a laboratory study the steam-propane injection accelerated the start of oil production by 21 per cent, compared to production with steam alone. The experiments illustrated that the inclusion of even small amounts of propane has considerable beneficial effect on the rate of bitumen production. Even though total bitumen recovery and ultimate residual oil saturation did not change, the acceleration of bitumen recovery is considered to have a significant impact on the net present value of the recovery process. 17 refs., 1 tab., 13 figs.

Collaborative networks in support of service-enhanced products

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Camarinha-Matos, L.M.; Afsarmanesh, H.; Koelmel, B.

2011-01-01

The development and support of highly customized and service-enhanced products requires new organizational structures, involving the manufacturers, customers and local suppliers in a process of co-creation. This requires the implementation of the glocal enterprise notion with value creation from

Will enhanced turbulence in inland waters result in elevated production of autochthonous dissolved organic matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yongqiang; Zhou, Jian; Jeppesen, Erik; Zhang, Yunlin; Qin, Boqiang; Shi, Kun; Tang, Xiangming; Han, Xiaoxia

2016-02-01

Biological activity in lakes is strongly influenced by hydrodynamic conditions, not least turbulence intensity; which increases the encounter rate between plankter and nutrient patches. To investigate whether enhanced turbulence in shallow and eutrophic lakes may result in elevated biological production of autochthonous chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), a combination of field campaigns and mesocosm experiments was used. Parallel factor analysis identified seven components: four protein-like, one microbial humic-like and two terrestrial humic-like components. During our field campaigns, elevated production of autochthonous CDOM was recorded in open water with higher wind speed and wave height than in inner bays, implying that elevated turbulence resulted in increased production of autochthonous CDOM. Confirming the field campaign results, in the mesocosm experiment enhanced turbulence resulted in a remarkably higher microbial humic-like C1 and tryptophan-like C3 (pCDOM. This is consistent with the significantly higher mean concentrations of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and the enhanced phytoplanktonic alkaline phosphatase activity (PAPA) recorded in the experimental turbulence groups than in the control group (pCDOM samples further suggested their probable autochthonous origin. Our results have implications for the understanding of CDOM cycling in shallow aquatic ecosystems influenced by wind-induced waves, in which the enhanced turbulence associated with extreme weather conditions may be further stimulated by the predicted global climate change. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

IL-29 Enhances CXCL10 Production in TNF-α-stimulated Human Oral Epithelial Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Hosokawa, Yoshitaka; Hosokawa, Ikuko; Shindo, Satoru; Ozaki, Kazumi; Matsuo, Takashi

2017-08-01

Interleukin-29 (IL-29) is a cytokine belonging to the Type III interferon family. It was recently detected in the gingival crevicular fluid of periodontitis patients. However, the role of IL-29 in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease remains unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of IL-29 on C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10) production in human oral epithelial cells. We measured CXCL10 production in TR146 cells, which is a human oral epithelial cell line, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We used a Western blot analysis to detect IL-29 receptor expression and the phosphorylation levels of signal transduction molecules, including p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), and nuclear factor (NF)- κB p65, in the TR146 cells. The TR146 cells expressed the IL-29 receptor. IL-29 induced CXCL10 production in the TR146 cells. IL-29 significantly enhanced CXCL10 production in tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α-stimulated TR146 cells. The p38 MAPK, STAT3, and NF-κB pathways were found to be related to the IL-29-induced enhancement of CXCL10 production in TNF-α-stimulated TR146 cells. IL-29 promotes T helper 1-cell accumulation in periodontal lesions by inducing CXCL10 production in oral epithelial cells.

Cyanobacterial chassis engineering for enhancing production of biofuels and chemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Xinyan; Sun, Tao; Pei, Guangsheng; Chen, Lei; Zhang, Weiwen

2016-04-01

To reduce dependence on fossil fuels and curb greenhouse effect, cyanobacteria have emerged as an important chassis candidate for producing biofuels and chemicals due to their capability to directly utilize sunlight and CO2 as the sole energy and carbon sources, respectively. Recent progresses in developing and applying various synthetic biology tools have led to the successful constructions of novel pathways of several dozen green fuels and chemicals utilizing cyanobacterial chassis. Meanwhile, it is increasingly recognized that in order to enhance productivity of the synthetic cyanobacterial systems, optimizing and engineering more robust and high-efficient cyanobacterial chassis should not be omitted. In recent years, numerous research studies have been conducted to enhance production of green fuels and chemicals through cyanobacterial chassis modifications involving photosynthesis, CO2 uptake and fixation, products exporting, tolerance, and cellular regulation. In this article, we critically reviewed recent progresses and universal strategies in cyanobacterial chassis engineering to make it more robust and effective for bio-chemicals production.

Enhanced Bio-hydrogen Production from Protein Wastewater by Altering Protein Structure and Amino Acids Acidification Type

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Naidong; Chen, Yinguang; Chen, Aihui; Feng, Leiyu

2014-01-01

Enhanced bio-hydrogen production from protein wastewater by altering protein structure and amino acids acidification type via pH control was investigated. The hydrogen production reached 205.2 mL/g-protein when protein wastewater was pretreated at pH 12 and then fermented at pH 10. The mechanism studies showed that pH 12 pretreatment significantly enhanced protein bio-hydrolysis during the subsequent fermentation stage as it caused the unfolding of protein, damaged the protein hydrogen bonding networks, and destroyed the disulfide bridges, which increased the susceptibility of protein to protease. Moreover, pH 10 fermentation produced more acetic but less propionic acid during the anaerobic fermentation of amino acids, which was consistent with the theory of fermentation type affecting hydrogen production. Further analyses of the critical enzymes, genes, and microorganisms indicated that the activity and abundance of hydrogen producing bacteria in the pH 10 fermentation reactor were greater than those in the control. PMID:24495932

Enhanced bio-hydrogen production from protein wastewater by altering protein structure and amino acids acidification type.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Naidong; Chen, Yinguang; Chen, Aihui; Feng, Leiyu

2014-02-05

Enhanced bio-hydrogen production from protein wastewater by altering protein structure and amino acids acidification type via pH control was investigated. The hydrogen production reached 205.2 mL/g-protein when protein wastewater was pretreated at pH 12 and then fermented at pH 10. The mechanism studies showed that pH 12 pretreatment significantly enhanced protein bio-hydrolysis during the subsequent fermentation stage as it caused the unfolding of protein, damaged the protein hydrogen bonding networks, and destroyed the disulfide bridges, which increased the susceptibility of protein to protease. Moreover, pH 10 fermentation produced more acetic but less propionic acid during the anaerobic fermentation of amino acids, which was consistent with the theory of fermentation type affecting hydrogen production. Further analyses of the critical enzymes, genes, and microorganisms indicated that the activity and abundance of hydrogen producing bacteria in the pH 10 fermentation reactor were greater than those in the control.

Enhanced L-(+)-lactic acid production by an adapted strain of Rhizopus oryzae using corncob hydrolysate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bai, Dongmei; Li, S.Z.; Liu, Z.L.

2008-01-01

-added production of a variety of bioproducts. Lactic acid can be used as a precursor for poly-lactic acid production. Although current industrial lactic acid is produced by lactic acid bacteria using enriched medium, production by Rhizopus oryzae is preferred due to its exclusive formation of the......-isomer and a simple nutrition requirement by the fungus. Production of-L-(+)-lactic acid by R. oryzae using xylose has been reported; however, its yield and conversion rate are poor compared with that of using glucose. In this study, we report an adapted R. oryzae strain HZS6 that significantly improved efficiency...... of substrate utilization and enhanced production of L-(+)-lactic acid from corncob hydrolysate. It increased L-(+)-lactic acid final concentration, yield, and volumetric productivity more than twofold compared with its parental strain. The optimized growth and fermentation conditions for Strain HZS6 were...

Critical variables in the performance of a productivity-enhanced solar still

KAUST Repository

Ayoub, George M.; Malaeb, Lilian; Saikaly, Pascal

2013-01-01

A new and sustainable modification has been introduced into the conventional solar still, considerably increasing its productivity. This enhancement in the solar still productivity is achieved without forsaking the basic features of the still

Cascade defect production and irradiation enhanced diffusion in Cu3Au

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirk, M.A.; Funk, L.L.

1986-03-01

By using the ordering alloy Cu 3 Au and measuring resistivity changes during and following fast-neutron irradiations at IPNS, we have studied cascade defect production and irradiation enhanced diffusion between 10 and 460 0 K. Ordering and disordering rates were measured as functions of irradiation temperature, neutron dose, neutron dose rate, time following cessation of flux, and step annealing. Free and clustered vacancy production was observed. The temperature dependence of the production of total migrating vacancy concentrations was determined. Vacancy sink production was linear with neutron dose and is compared with recent transmission electron microscopy experiments on the production of dislocation loops in this alloy. Time dependent and quasi-steady state vacancy concentrations were measured and compared with solutions of reaction rate equations for irradiation enhanced diffusion. The influence of recombination of vacancies with interstitials is observed at low sink concentrations (low neutron doses)

Continuous background light significantly increases flashing-light enhancement of photosynthesis and growth of microalgae.

Science.gov (United States)

Abu-Ghosh, Said; Fixler, Dror; Dubinsky, Zvy; Iluz, David

2015-01-01

Under specific conditions, flashing light enhances the photosynthesis rate in comparison to continuous illumination. Here we show that a combination of flashing light and continuous background light with the same integrated photon dose as continuous or flashing light alone can be used to significantly enhance photosynthesis and increase microalgae growth. To test this hypothesis, the green microalga Dunaliella salina was exposed to three different light regimes: continuous light, flashing light, and concomitant application of both. Algal growth was compared under three different integrated light quantities; low, intermediate, and moderately high. Under the combined light regime, there was a substantial increase in all algal growth parameters, with an enhanced photosynthesis rate, within 3days. Our strategy demonstrates a hitherto undescribed significant increase in photosynthesis and algal growth rates, which is beyond the increase by flashing light alone. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhanced production of polyunsaturated fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid by thraustochytrid protists

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Jain, R.; Raghukumar, S.; Chandramohan, D.

, thraustochytrids are considered among the most promising. These marine eukaryotic, straminopilan protests have been extensively studied in recent years for DHA production. This paper examines methods to enhance DHA production in thraustochytrids. A cold shock...

Enhanced xanthan production process in shake flasks and pilot ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Enhanced xanthan production process in shake flasks and pilot scale bioreactors using industrial semidefined medium. ... by the type and concentration of the different carbon and nitrogen source as well as other medium components. The

Probing the electroweak phase transition via enhanced di-Higgs boson production

Science.gov (United States)

Carena, Marcela; Liu, Zhen; Riembau, Marc

2018-05-01

We consider a singlet extension of the standard model (SM) with a spontaneous Z2 breaking and study the gluon-gluon fusion production of the heavy scalar, with subsequent decay into a pair of SM-like Higgs bosons. We find that an on-shell interference effect can notably enhance the resonant di-Higgs production rate up to 40%. In addition, consistently taking into account both the on-shell and off-shell interference effects between the heavy scalar and the SM di-Higgs diagrams significantly improves the HL-LHC and HE-LHC reach in this channel. As an example, within an effective field theory analysis in an explicitly Z2 breaking scenario, we further discuss the potential to probe the parameter region compatible with a first-order electroweak phase transition. Our analysis is applicable for general potentials of the singlet extension of the SM as well as for more general resonance searches.

Altered lipid composition and enhanced lipid production in green microalga by introduction of brassica diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Irshad; Sharma, Anil K; Daniell, Henry; Kumar, Shashi

2015-05-01

Higher lipid biosynthesis and accumulation are important to achieve economic viability of biofuel production via microalgae. To enhance lipid content, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was genetically engineered with a key enzyme diacylglycerol acyltransferase (BnDGAT2) from Brassica napus, responsible for neutral lipid biosynthesis. The transformed colonies harbouring aph7 gene, screened on hygromycin-supplemented medium, achieved transformation frequency of ~120 ± 10 colonies/1 × 10(6) cells. Transgene integration and expression were confirmed by PCR, Southern blots, staining lipid droplets, proteins and spectro-fluorometric analysis of Nile red-stained cells. The neutral lipid is a major class (over 80% of total lipids) and most significant requirement for biodiesel production; this was remarkably higher in the transformed alga than the untransformed control. The levels of saturated fatty acids in the transformed alga decreased to about 7% while unsaturated fatty acids increased proportionately when compared to wild type cells. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially α-linolenic acid, an essential omega-3 fatty acid, were enhanced up to 12% in the transformed line. Nile red staining confirmed formation of a large number of lipid globules in the transformed alga. Evaluation of long-term stability and vitality of the transgenic alga revealed that cryopreservation produced significantly higher quantity of lipid than those maintained continuously over 128 generations on solid medium. The overexpression of BnDGAT2 significantly altered the fatty acids profile in the transformed alga. Results of this study offer a valuable strategy of genetic manipulation for enhancing polyunsaturated fatty acids and neutral lipids for biofuel production in algae. © 2014 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Allocation of financial resource to enhance educational productivity ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study examines the allocation of financial resource to the education industry and how it enhances productivity and students' outcomes of the secondary schools' students in the Unity Colleges in Ogun state. It adopted ex-post factor research design and purposeful sample and sampling technique for the study. Scholars' ...

External tank program productivity and quality enhancements - A case study

Science.gov (United States)

Locke, S. R.

1988-01-01

The optimization of the Manned Space Systems productivity and quality enhancement program is described. The guidelines and standards of the program and the roles played in it by various employee groups are addressed. Aspects of the program involving job/organization redefinition, production and planning in automation, and artificial intelligence and robotics are examined.

β-Carotene from Yeasts Enhances Laccase Production of Pleurotus eryngii var. ferulae in Co-culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Chaolin; Zhao, Liting; Wang, Feng; Lu, Jian; Ding, Zhongyang; Shi, Guiyang

2017-01-01

Laccase is widely used in several industrial applications and co-culture is a common method for enhancing laccase production in submerged fermentation. In this study, the co-culture of four yeasts with Pleurotus eryngii var. ferulae was found to enhance laccase production. An analysis of sterilization temperatures and extraction conditions revealed that the stimulatory compound in yeasts was temperature-sensitive, and that it was fat-soluble. An LC-MS analysis revealed that the possible stimulatory compound for laccase production in the four yeast extracts was β-carotene. Moreover, the addition of 4 mg β-carotene to 150 mL of P. eryngii var. ferulae culture broth improved laccase production by 2.2-fold compared with the control (i.e., a monoculture), and was similar to laccase production in co-culture. In addition, the enhanced laccase production was accompanied by an increase of lac gene transcription, which was 6.2-time higher than the control on the fifth day. Therefore, it was concluded that β-carotene from the co-cultured yeasts enhanced laccase production in P. eryngii var. ferulae , and strains that produce β-carotene could be selected to enhance fungal laccase production in a co-culture. Alternatively, β-carotene or crude extracts of β-carotene could be used to induce high laccase production in large scale.

Enhanced production of glucose oxidase from UVmutant of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

UV rays were used as mutagen in wild type strain of Aspergillus niger for enhanced production of glucose oxidase. After mutangenization and selection, mutant A. niger strains, resistant to 2-deoxy-Dglucose were obtained. The mutants showed 1.57 and 1.98 fold increase in activities of extra and intra cellular glucose ...

Prior Exposure to Zika Virus Significantly Enhances Peak Dengue-2 Viremia in Rhesus Macaques

OpenAIRE

George, Jeffy; Valiant, William G.; Mattapallil, Mary J.; Walker, Michelle; Huang, Yan-Jang S.; Vanlandingham, Dana L.; Misamore, John; Greenhouse, Jack; Weiss, Deborah E.; Verthelyi, Daniela; Higgs, Stephen; Andersen, Hanne; Lewis, Mark G.; Mattapallil, Joseph J.

2017-01-01

Structural and functional homologies between the Zika and Dengue viruses? envelope proteins raise the possibility that cross-reactive antibodies induced following Zika virus infection might enhance subsequent Dengue infection. Using the rhesus macaque model we show that prior infection with Zika virus leads to a significant enhancement of Dengue-2 viremia that is accompanied by neutropenia, lympocytosis, hyperglycemia, and higher reticulocyte counts, along with the activation of pro-inflammat...

Free ammonia pre-treatment of secondary sludge significantly increases anaerobic methane production.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Wei; Zhou, Xu; Wang, Dongbo; Sun, Jing; Wang, Qilin

2017-07-01

Energy recovery in the form of methane from sludge/wastewater is restricted by the poor and slow biodegradability of secondary sludge. An innovative pre-treatment technology using free ammonia (FA, i.e. NH 3 ) was proposed in this study to increase anaerobic methane production. The solubilisation of secondary sludge was significantly increased after FA pre-treatment at up to 680 mg NH 3 -N/L for 1 day, under which the solubilisation (i.e. 0.4 mg SCOD/mg VS; SCOD: soluble chemical oxygen demand; VS: volatile solids) was >10 times higher than that without FA pre-treatment (i.e. 0.03 mg SCOD/mg VS). Biochemical methane potential assays showed that FA pre-treatment at above 250 mg NH 3 -N/L is effective in improving anaerobic methane production. The highest improvement in biochemical methane potential (B 0 ) and hydrolysis rate (k) was achieved at FA concentrations of 420-680 mg NH 3 -N/L, and was determined as approximately 22% (from 160 to 195 L CH 4 /kg VS added) and 140% (from 0.22 to 0.53 d -1 ) compared to the secondary sludge without pre-treatment. More analysis revealed that the FA induced improvement in B 0 and k could be attributed to the rapidly biodegradable substances rather than the slowly biodegradable substances. Economic and environmental analyses showed that the FA-based technology is economically favourable and environmentally friendly. Since this FA technology aims to use the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) waste (i.e. anaerobic digestion liquor) to enhance methane production from the WWTPs, it will set an example for the paradigm shift of the WWTPs from 'linear economy' to 'circular economy'. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhancement of Diosgenin Production in Plantlet and Cell Cultures ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Enhancement of Diosgenin Production in Plantlet and Cell Cultures of Dioscorea zingiberensis by Palmarumycin C13 from the Endophytic fungus, Berkleasmium sp. Dzf12. Y Mou, K Zhou, D Xu, R Yu, J Li, C Yin, L Zhou ...

Enhancing neutron beam production with a convoluted moderator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iverson, E.B., E-mail: iversoneb@ornl.gov [Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States); Baxter, D.V. [Center for the Exploration of Energy and Matter, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47408 (United States); Muhrer, G. [Lujan Neutron Scattering Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Ansell, S.; Dalgliesh, R. [ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton (United Kingdom); Gallmeier, F.X. [Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States); Kaiser, H. [Center for the Exploration of Energy and Matter, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47408 (United States); Lu, W. [Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States)

2014-10-21

We describe a new concept for a neutron moderating assembly resulting in the more efficient production of slow neutron beams. The Convoluted Moderator, a heterogeneous stack of interleaved moderating material and nearly transparent single-crystal spacers, is a directionally enhanced neutron beam source, improving beam emission over an angular range comparable to the range accepted by neutron beam lines and guides. We have demonstrated gains of 50% in slow neutron intensity for a given fast neutron production rate while simultaneously reducing the wavelength-dependent emission time dispersion by 25%, both coming from a geometric effect in which the neutron beam lines view a large surface area of moderating material in a relatively small volume. Additionally, we have confirmed a Bragg-enhancement effect arising from coherent scattering within the single-crystal spacers. We have not observed hypothesized refractive effects leading to additional gains at long wavelength. In addition to confirmation of the validity of the Convoluted Moderator concept, our measurements provide a series of benchmark experiments suitable for developing simulation and analysis techniques for practical optimization and eventual implementation at slow neutron source facilities.

A chalcone isomerase-like protein enhances flavonoid production and flower pigmentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Morita, Yasumasa; Takagi, Kyoko; Fukuchi-Mizutani, Masako; Ishiguro, Kanako; Tanaka, Yoshikazu; Nitasaka, Eiji; Nakayama, Masayoshi; Saito, Norio; Kagami, Takashi; Hoshino, Atsushi; Iida, Shigeru

2014-04-01

Flavonoids are major pigments in plants, and their biosynthetic pathway is one of the best-studied metabolic pathways. Here we have identified three mutations within a gene that result in pale-colored flowers in the Japanese morning glory (Ipomoea nil). As the mutations lead to a reduction of the colorless flavonoid compound flavonol as well as of anthocyanins in the flower petal, the identified gene was designated enhancer of flavonoid production (EFP). EFP encodes a chalcone isomerase (CHI)-related protein classified as a type IV CHI protein. CHI is the second committed enzyme of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway, but type IV CHI proteins are thought to lack CHI enzymatic activity, and their functions remain unknown. The spatio-temporal expression of EFP and structural genes encoding enzymes that produce flavonoids is very similar. Expression of both EFP and the structural genes is coordinately promoted by genes encoding R2R3-MYB and WD40 family proteins. The EFP gene is widely distributed in land plants, and RNAi knockdown mutants of the EFP homologs in petunia (Petunia hybrida) and torenia (Torenia hybrida) had pale-colored flowers and low amounts of anthocyanins. The flavonol and flavone contents in the knockdown petunia and torenia flowers, respectively, were also significantly decreased, suggesting that the EFP protein contributes in early step(s) of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway to ensure production of flavonoid compounds. From these results, we conclude that EFP is an enhancer of flavonoid production and flower pigmentation, and its function is conserved among diverse land plant species. © 2014 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Enhanced kefiran production by mixed culture of Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheirsilp, Benjamas; Shimizu, Hiroshi; Shioya, Suteaki

2003-01-09

In a batch mixed culture of Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which could assimilate lactic acid, cell growth and kefiran production rates of L. kefiranofaciens significantly increased, compared with those in pure cultures. The kefiran production rate was 36 mg l(-1) h(-1) in the mixed culture under the anaerobic condition, which was greater than that in the pure culture (24 mg l(-1) h(-1)). Under the aerobic condition, a more intensive interaction between these two strains was observed and higher kefiran production rate (44 mg l(-1) h(-1)) was obtained compared with that under the anaerobic condition. Kefiran production was further enhanced by an addition of fresh medium in the fed-batch mixed culture. In the fed-batch mixed culture, a final kefiran concentration of 5.41 g l(-1) was achieved at 87 h, thereby attaining the highest productivity at 62 mg l(-1) h(-1). Simulation study considered the reduction of lactic acid in pure culture was performed to estimate the additional effect of coculture with S. cerevisiae. Slightly higher cell growth and kefiran production rates in the mixed culture than those expected from pure culture by simulation were observed. These results suggest that coculture of L. kefiranofaciens and S. cerevisiae not only reduces the lactic acid concentration by consumption but also stimulates cell growth and kefiran production of L. kefiranofaciens.

Free hemoglobin enhances tumor necrosis factor-alpha production in isolated human monocytes.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrillo, Eddy H; Gordon, Laura E; Richardson, J David; Polk, Hiram C

2002-03-01

A systemic inflammatory response (SIR) is seen in approximately 75% of patients with complex blunt liver injuries treated nonoperatively. Many feel this response is caused by blood, bile, and necrotic tissue accumulation in the peritoneal cavity. Our current treatment for these patients is a delayed laparoscopic washout of the peritoneal cavity, resulting in a dramatic resolution of the SIR. Spectrophotometric analysis of the intraperitoneal fluid has confirmed the presence of high concentrations of free hemoglobin (Hb). We hypothesize that free Hb enhances the local peritoneal response by increasing tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production by monocytes, contributing to the local inflammatory response and SIR. Monocytes from five healthy volunteers were isolated and cultured in RPMI-1640 for 24 hours. Treatment groups included saline controls, lipopolysaccharide ([LPS], 10 ng/mL, from Escherichia coli), human Hb (25 microg/mL), and Hb + LPS. Supernatants were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Student's t test with Mann-Whitney posttest was used for statistical analysis with p < or = 0.05 considered significant. Free Hb significantly increased TNF-alpha production 915 +/- 223 pg/mL versus saline (p = 0.02). LPS and Hb + LPS further increased TNF-alpha production (2294 pg/mL and 2501 pg/mL, respectively, p < 0.001) compared with saline controls. These data confirm that free Hb is a proinflammatory mediator resulting in the production of significant amounts of TNF-alpha. These in vitro findings support our clinical data in which timely removal of intraperitoneal free hemoglobin helps prevent its deleterious local and systemic inflammatory effects in patients with complex liver injuries managed nonoperatively.

Higgs production enhancement in P-P collisions using Monte Carlo techniques at √s = 13 TeV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soleiman M.H.M.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A precise estimation of the amount of enhancement in Higgs boson production through pp collisions at ultra-relativistic energies throughout promotion of the gluon distribution function inside the protons before the collision is presented here. The study is based mainly on the available Monte Carlo event generators (PYTHIA 8.2.9, SHERPA 2.1.0 running on PCs and CERNX-Machine, respectively, and using the extended invariant mass technique. Generated samples of 1000 events from PYTHIA 8.2.9 and SHERPA,2.1.0 at √s = 13 TeV are used in the investigation of the effect of replacing the parton distribution function (PDF on the Higgs production enhancement. The CTEQ66 and MSRTW2004nlo parton distribution functions are used alternatively on PYTHIA 8.2.9 and SHERPA 2.1.0 event generators in companion with the effects of allowing initial state and final state radiations (ISR and FSR to obtain evidence on the enhancement of the SM-Higgs production depending on the field theoretical model of SM. It is found that, the replacement of PDFs will lead to a significant change in the SM-Higgs production, and the effect of allowing or denying any of ISR or FSR is sound for the two event generators but may be unrealistic in PHYTIA 8.2.9.

Higgs production enhancement in P-P collisions using Monte Carlo techniques at √s = 13 TeV

Science.gov (United States)

Soleiman, M. H. M.; Abdel-Aziz, S. S.; Sobhi, M. S. E.

2017-06-01

A precise estimation of the amount of enhancement in Higgs boson production through pp collisions at ultra-relativistic energies throughout promotion of the gluon distribution function inside the protons before the collision is presented here. The study is based mainly on the available Monte Carlo event generators (PYTHIA 8.2.9, SHERPA 2.1.0) running on PCs and CERNX-Machine, respectively, and using the extended invariant mass technique. Generated samples of 1000 events from PYTHIA 8.2.9 and SHERPA,2.1.0 at √s = 13 TeV are used in the investigation of the effect of replacing the parton distribution function (PDF) on the Higgs production enhancement. The CTEQ66 and MSRTW2004nlo parton distribution functions are used alternatively on PYTHIA 8.2.9 and SHERPA 2.1.0 event generators in companion with the effects of allowing initial state and final state radiations (ISR and FSR) to obtain evidence on the enhancement of the SM-Higgs production depending on the field theoretical model of SM. It is found that, the replacement of PDFs will lead to a significant change in the SM-Higgs production, and the effect of allowing or denying any of ISR or FSR is sound for the two event generators but may be unrealistic in PHYTIA 8.2.9.

Diclofenac enhances proinflammatory cytokine-induced nitric oxide production through NF-κB signaling in cultured astrocytes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kakita, Hiroki; Aoyama, Mineyoshi; Hussein, Mohamed Hamed; Kato, Shin; Suzuki, Satoshi; Ito, Tetsuya; Togari, Hajime; Asai, Kiyofumi

2009-01-01

Recently, the number of reports of encephalitis/encephalopathy associated with influenza virus has increased. In addition, the use of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac sodium (DCF), is associated with a significant increase in the mortality rate of influenza-associated encephalopathy. Activated astrocytes are a source of nitric oxide (NO), which is largely produced by inducible NO synthase (iNOS) in response to proinflammatory cytokines. Therefore, we investigated whether DCF enhances nitric oxide production in astrocytes stimulated with proinflammatory cytokines. We stimulated cultured rat astrocytes with three cytokines, interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α and interferon-γ, and then treated the astrocytes with DCF or acetaminophen (N-acetyl-p-aminophenol: APAP). iNOS and NO production in astrocyte cultures were induced by proinflammatory cytokines. The addition of DCF augmented NO production, but the addition of APAP did not. NF-κB inhibitors SN50 and MG132 inhibited iNOS gene expression in cytokine-stimulated astrocytes with or without DCF. Similarly, NF-κB p65 Stealth small interfering RNA suppressed iNOS gene expression in cytokine-stimulated astrocytes with or without DCF. LDH activity and DAPI staining showed that DCF induces cell damage in cytokine-stimulated astrocytes. An iNOS inhibitor, L-NMMA, inhibited the cytokine- and DCF-induced cell damage. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that iNOS and NO are induced in astrocyte cultures by proinflammatory cytokines. Addition of DCF further augments NO production. This effect is mediated via NF-κB signaling and leads to cell damage. The enhancement of DCF on NO production may explain the significant increase in the mortality rate of influenza-associated encephalopathy in patients treated with DCF.

Optimization of culture media for enhancing gamma-linolenic acid production by Mucor hiemalis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mina Mohammadi Nasr

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: g-linolenic acid is an essential fatty acid in human nutrition. In the present study, production of g-linolenic acid by Mucor hiemalis PTCC 5292 was evaluated in submerged fermentation. Materials and methods: The fermentation variables were chosen according to the fractional factorial design and further optimized via full factorial method. Four significant variables, glucose, peptone, ammonium nitrate and pH were selected for the optimization studies. The design consisted of total 16 runs consisting of runs at two levels for each factor with three replications of the center points. Results: The analysis of variance and three-dimensional response surface plot of effects indicated that variables were regarded to be significant for production of g-linolenic acid by Mucor hiemalis. Results indicated that fermentation at the optimum conditions (100 g/l glucose concentration; 1 g/l peptone; 1 g/l ammonium nitrate, and pH of 4.5 enhanced the g-linolenic acid production up to 709 mg/l. Discussion and conclusion: The results of this study indicated that higher g-linolenic acid yield can be achieved in a simple medium at high glucose and ammonium nitrate, low peptone concentrations and acidic pH by Mucor hiemalis PTCC 5292. This simple and low cost optimization condition of culture media can be applied for g-linolenic acid production at higher scale for pharmaceutical and nutritional industries. 

Strategic supplementation of cassava top silage to enhance rumen fermentation and milk production in lactating dairy cows in the tropics.

Science.gov (United States)

Wanapat, Metha; Phesatcha, Kampanat; Viennasay, Bounnaxay; Phesatcha, Burarat; Ampapon, Thiwakorn; Kang, Sungchhang

2018-04-19

High-quality protein roughage is an important feed for productive ruminants. This study examined the effects of strategic feeding of lactating cows with cassava (Manihot esculenta) top silage (CTS) on rumen fermentation, feed intake, milk yield, and quality. Four early lactating crossbred dairy cows (75% Holstein-Friesian and 25% Thai) with body weight (BW) 410 ± 30 kg and milk yield 12 ± 2 kg/day were randomly allotted in a 4 × 4 Latin square design to four different supplementation levels of CTS namely, 0, 0.75, 1.50, and 2.25 kg/day of dry matter (DM). Strategic supplementation of CTS significantly affected ruminal fermentation end-products, especially increased propionate production, decreased protozoal population and suppressed methane production (P < 0.05). Increasing the CTS supplementation level substantially enhanced milk yield and the 3.5% FCM from 12.7 to 14.0 kg/day and from 14.6 to 17.2 kg/day (P < 0.05) for non-supplemented group and for the 2.25 kg/day supplemented group, respectively. We conclude that high-quality protein roughage significantly enhances rumen fermentation end-products, milk yield, and quality in dairy cows.

Aqueous Productivity: An enhanced productivity indicator for water

Science.gov (United States)

Ritzema, Randall S.

2014-09-01

Increasing demand for scarce water supplies is fueling competition between agricultural production and other municipal and environmental demands, and has heightened the need for effective indicators to measure water performance and support water allocation and planning processes. Water productivity (WP), defined as the ‘ratio of the net benefits from crop, forestry, fishery, livestock, and mixed agricultural systems to the amount of water required to produce those benefits', is one such indicator that has gained prominence, particularly in research-for-development efforts in the developing world. However, though WP is a framework well-suited to systems where water use is directly attributable, particularly via depletion, to definitive benefits, the suitability of the approach becomes questionable when these conditions are not met, such as in multiple use systems with high re-use and non-depleting uses. These factors furthermore make WP highly scale-dependent, complicating comparative studies across scales and systems. This research forwards ‘aqueous productivity' (AP) as an alternative indicator that addresses some inherent limitations in the WP approach and enhances productivity estimates for water in integrated systems. Like WP, AP is expressed as a ratio of benefit to water volume. However, AP uses a systems approach and is based on the concept that elements within a hydrologic system are linked via water flow interactions, and that those elements either ‘extract' value from associated water flows or ‘infuse' value into them. The AP method therefore calculates the ‘aqueous productivity', a ratio indicating the ‘dissolved' production-related economic value of all downstream uses of an individual water flow, for each inter-element and cross-boundary flow in the system. The AP conceptual framework and analytical methodology are presented. The method is then applied to two example hydroeconomic systems and compared to equivalent WP analysis. Discussion

Humor in Advertisements Enhances Product Liking by Mere Association

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Strick, M.A.; Baaren, R.B. van; Holland, R.W.; Knippenberg, A.F.M. van

2011-01-01

This reprinted article originally appeared in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 2009 (Mar), Vol 15(1), 35-45. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2009-03685-005). Humor in advertising is known to enhance product liking, but this attitude change is often

Regulation of Vapor Pressure Deficit by Greenhouse Micro-Fog Systems Improved Growth and Productivity of Tomato via Enhancing Photosynthesis during Summer Season.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Dalong; Zhang, Zhongdian; Li, Jianming; Chang, Yibo; Du, Qingjie; Pan, Tonghua

2015-01-01

The role of a proposed micro-fog system in regulating greenhouse environments and enhancing tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) productivity during summer season was studied. Experiments were carried out in a multi-span glass greenhouse, which was divided into two identical compartments involving different environments: (1) without environment control and (2) with a micro-fog system operating when the air vapor pressure deficit (VPD) of greenhouse was higher than 0.5 KPa. The micro-fog system effectively alleviated heat stress and evaporative demand in the greenhouse during summer season. The physiologically favourable environment maintained by micro-fog treatment significantly enhanced elongation of leaf and stem, which contributed to a substantial elevation of final leaf area and shoot biomass. These improvements in physiological and morphological traits resulted in around 12.3% increase of marketable tomato yield per plant. Relative growth rate (RGR) of micro-fog treatment was also significantly higher than control plants, which was mainly determined by the substantial elevation in net assimilation rate (NAR), and to a lesser extent caused by leaf area ratio (LAR). Measurement of leaf gas exchange parameters also demonstrated that micro-fog treatment significantly enhanced leaf photosynthesis capacity. Taken together, manipulation of VPD in greenhouses by micro-fog systems effectively enhanced tomato growth and productivity via improving photosynthesis during summer season.

Field redevelopment optimization to unlock reserves and enhance production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AHMED AL-HASHAMI

2013-09-01

Full Text Available A cluster area "H" consists of 4 carbonate gas fields producing dry gas from N-A reservoir in the Northern area of Oman. These fields are producing with different maturity levels since 1968. An FDP (Field Development Plan study was done in 2006 which proposed drilling of 7 additional vertical wells beside the already existing 5 wells to develop the reserves and enhance gas production from the fields. The FDP well planning was based on a seismic amplitude "Qualitative Interpretation (QI" study that recommended drilling the areas with high amplitudes as an indication for gas presence, and it ignored the low amplitude areas even if it is structurally high. A follow up study was conducted in 2010 for "H" area fields using the same seismic data and the well data drilled post FDP. The new static and dynamic work revealed the wrong aspect of the 2006 QI study, and proved with evidence from well logs and production data that low seismic amplitudes in high structural areas have sweet spots of good reservoir quality rock. This has led to changing the old appraisal strategy and planning more wells in low amplitude areas with high structure and hence discovering new blocks that increased the reserves of the fields.Furthermore, water production in these fields started much earlier than FDP expectation. The subsurface team have integrated deeply with the operation team and started a project to find new solutions to handle the water production and enhance the gas rate. The subsurface team also started drilling horizontal wells in the fields to increase the UR, delay the water production and also reduce the wells total CAPEX by drilling less horizontal wells compared to many vertical as they have higher production and recovery. These subsurface and surface activities have successfully helped to stabilize and increase the production of "H" area cluster by developing more reserves and handling the water production.

Practical Significance of Basin Water Market Construction on Agricultural Production

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2011-01-01

On the basis of introducing the concept of water market and the water market research in cluding both domestic market and foreign market,the system design features of water market are analyzed.The features include the prior distribution of agricultural water right,the close construction of market structure,reasonable price of water obtaining right and water pollution-discharge right and scientific stipulation of total volume of water use and total volume of pollution drainage.The practical significances of basin water market construction on Chinese agricultural production are revealed,which clover safeguarding the safety of agricultural water;effectively alleviating agricultural drought;saving the agricultural production water and improving the quality of agricultural products.

Forbs enhance productivity of unfertilised grass-clover leys and support low-carbon bioenergy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cong, Wen-Feng; Jing, Jingying; Rasmussen, Jim

2017-01-01

Intensively managed grasslands are dominated by highly productive grass-clover mixtures. Increasing crop diversity by inclusion of competitive forbs may enhance biomass production and sustainable biofuel production. Here we examined if one or all of three forbs (chicory, Cichorium intybus L.; car...

A Novel Peptide from Soybean Protein Isolate Significantly Enhances Resistance of the Organism under Oxidative Stress.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heran Ma

Full Text Available Recent studies have indicated that protein hydrolysates have broad biological effects. In the current study we describe a novel antioxidative peptide, FDPAL, from soybean protein isolate (SPI. The aim of this study was to purify and characterize an antioxidative peptide from SPI and determine its antioxidative mechanism. LC-MS/MS was used to isolate and identify the peptide from SPI. The sequence of the peptide was determined to be Phe-Asp-Pro-Ala-Leu (FDPAL, 561 Da. FDPAL can cause significant enhancement of resistance to oxidative stress both in cells as well as simple organisms. In Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans, FDPAL can up-regulate the expression of certain genes associated with resistance. The antioxidant activity of this peptide can be attributed to the presence of a specific amino acid sequence. Results from our work suggest that FDPAL can facilitate potential applications of proteins carrying this sequence in the nutraceutical, bioactive material and clinical medicine areas, as well as in cosmetics and health care products.

Homocysteine enhances MMP-9 production in murine macrophages via ERK and Akt signaling pathways

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seung Jin; Lee, Yi Sle; Seo, Kyo Won; Bae, Jin Ung; Kim, Gyu Hee; Park, So Youn; Kim, Chi Dae

2012-01-01

Homocysteine (Hcy) at elevated levels is an independent risk factor of cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis. In the present study, we investigated the effect of Hcy on the production of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) in murine macrophages. Among the MMP known to regulate the activities of collagenase and gelatinase, Hcy exclusively increased the gelatinolytic activity of MMP-9 in J774A.1 cells as well as in mouse peritoneal macrophages. Furthermore, this activity was found to be correlated with Western blot findings in J774A.1 cells, which showed that MMP-9 expression was concentration- and time-dependently increased by Hcy. Inhibition of the ERK and Akt pathways led to a significant decrease in Hcy-induced MMP-9 expression, and combined treatment with inhibitors of the ERK and Akt pathways showed an additive effects. Activity assays for ERK and Akt showed that Hcy increased the phosphorylation of both, but these phosphorylation were not affected by inhibitors of the Akt and ERK pathways. In line with these findings, the molecular inhibition of ERK and Akt using siRNA did not affect the Hcy-induced phosphorylation of Akt and ERK, respectively. Taken together, these findings suggest that Hcy enhances MMP-9 production in murine macrophages by separately activating the ERK and Akt signaling pathways. -- Highlights: ► Homocysteine (Hcy) induced MMP-9 production in murine macrophages. ► Hcy induced MMP-9 production through ERK and Akt signaling pathways. ► ERK and Akt signaling pathways were activated by Hcy in murine macrophages. ► ERK and Akt pathways were additively act on Hcy-induced MMP-9 production. ► Hcy enhances MMP-9 production in macrophages via activation of ERK and Akt signaling pathways in an independent manner.

Homocysteine enhances MMP-9 production in murine macrophages via ERK and Akt signaling pathways

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Seung Jin; Lee, Yi Sle; Seo, Kyo Won; Bae, Jin Ung; Kim, Gyu Hee; Park, So Youn; Kim, Chi Dae, E-mail: chidkim@pusan.ac.kr

2012-04-01

Homocysteine (Hcy) at elevated levels is an independent risk factor of cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis. In the present study, we investigated the effect of Hcy on the production of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) in murine macrophages. Among the MMP known to regulate the activities of collagenase and gelatinase, Hcy exclusively increased the gelatinolytic activity of MMP-9 in J774A.1 cells as well as in mouse peritoneal macrophages. Furthermore, this activity was found to be correlated with Western blot findings in J774A.1 cells, which showed that MMP-9 expression was concentration- and time-dependently increased by Hcy. Inhibition of the ERK and Akt pathways led to a significant decrease in Hcy-induced MMP-9 expression, and combined treatment with inhibitors of the ERK and Akt pathways showed an additive effects. Activity assays for ERK and Akt showed that Hcy increased the phosphorylation of both, but these phosphorylation were not affected by inhibitors of the Akt and ERK pathways. In line with these findings, the molecular inhibition of ERK and Akt using siRNA did not affect the Hcy-induced phosphorylation of Akt and ERK, respectively. Taken together, these findings suggest that Hcy enhances MMP-9 production in murine macrophages by separately activating the ERK and Akt signaling pathways. -- Highlights: ► Homocysteine (Hcy) induced MMP-9 production in murine macrophages. ► Hcy induced MMP-9 production through ERK and Akt signaling pathways. ► ERK and Akt signaling pathways were activated by Hcy in murine macrophages. ► ERK and Akt pathways were additively act on Hcy-induced MMP-9 production. ► Hcy enhances MMP-9 production in macrophages via activation of ERK and Akt signaling pathways in an independent manner.

PRODUCTIVITY AND LAND ENHANCING TECHNOLOGIES IN NORTHERN ETHIOPIA: HEALTH, PUBLIC INVESTMENTS, AND SEQUENTIAL ADOPTION

OpenAIRE

Ersado, Lire; Amacher, Gregory S.; Alwang, Jeffrey Roger

2003-01-01

The adoption of more efficient farming practices and technologies that enhance agricultural productivity and improve environmental sustainability is instrumental for achieving economic growth, food security and poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa. Our research examines the interaction between public investments, community health, and adoption of productivity and land enhancing technologies by households in the northern Ethiopian state of Tigray. Agricultural technology adoption decision...

Oxidized lipids enhance RANKL production by T lymphocytes: implications for lipid-induced bone loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Lucia S; Parhami, Farhad; Tintut, Yin; Kitchen, Christina M R; Demer, Linda L; Effros, Rita B

2009-11-01

Osteoporosis is a systemic disease that is associated with increased morbidity, mortality and health care costs. Whereas osteoclasts and osteoblasts are the main regulators of bone homeostasis, recent studies underscore a key role for the immune system, particularly via activation-induced T lymphocyte production of receptor activator of NFkappaB ligand (RANKL). Well-documented as a mediator of T lymphocyte/dendritic cell interactions, RANKL also stimulates the maturation and activation of bone-resorbing osteoclasts. Given that lipid oxidation products mediate inflammatory and metabolic disorders such as osteoporosis and atherosclerosis, and since oxidized lipids affect several T lymphocyte functions, we hypothesized that RANKL production might also be subject to modulation by oxidized lipids. Here, we show that short term exposure of both unstimulated and activated human T lymphocytes to minimally oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL), but not native LDL, significantly enhances RANKL production and promotes expression of the lectin-like oxidized LDL receptor-1 (LOX-1). The effect, which is also observed with 8-iso-Prostaglandin E2, an inflammatory isoprostane produced by lipid peroxidation, is mediated via the NFkappaB pathway, and involves increased RANKL mRNA expression. The link between oxidized lipids and T lymphocytes is further reinforced by analysis of hyperlipidemic mice, in which bone loss is associated with increased RANKL mRNA in T lymphocytes and elevated RANKL serum levels. Our results suggest a novel pathway by which T lymphocytes contribute to bone changes, namely, via oxidized lipid enhancement of RANKL production. These findings may help elucidate clinical associations between cardiovascular disease and decreased bone mass, and may also lead to new immune-based approaches to osteoporosis.

Photochemical products causing fluorescence enhancement for 6H-benzo[cd]pyren-6-one in de-aerated and pre-irradiated solutions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yagishita, M., E-mail: yagishita.mayuko@nies.go.jp [Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Toho University, 2-2-1 Miyama, Funabashi, Chiba 274-8510 (Japan); National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba-City, Ibaraki 305-8506 (Japan); Nakajima, D. [National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba-City, Ibaraki 305-8506 (Japan); Ohshima, S. [Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Toho University, 2-2-1 Miyama, Funabashi, Chiba 274-8510 (Japan)

2016-11-15

Polycyclic aromatic ketones emit very weak fluorescence, but their fluorescence is significantly enhanced by about one hundred times after preliminary irradiation of their degassed solution. To investigate the mechanism of such fluorescence enhancement, liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry measurements were performed for degassed methanol, ethanol, and acetonitrile solutions of 6H-benzo[cd]pyren-6-one (naphthanthrone), in which fluorescence enhancement had been induced. As a result, two kinds of photochemical products were identified as the substance causing fluorescence enhancement: they were produced by dehydrogenation and dehydration of adducts of a solvent molecule to naphthanthrone. On the basis of the findings, the mechanism of the fluorescence enhancement of naphthanthrone was discussed. Fluorescence enhancement; 6H-benzo[cd]pyren-6-one; Polycyclic aromatic ketones; Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; Photochemical reaction.

Photochemical products causing fluorescence enhancement for 6H-benzo[cd]pyren-6-one in de-aerated and pre-irradiated solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yagishita, M.; Nakajima, D.; Ohshima, S.

2016-01-01

Polycyclic aromatic ketones emit very weak fluorescence, but their fluorescence is significantly enhanced by about one hundred times after preliminary irradiation of their degassed solution. To investigate the mechanism of such fluorescence enhancement, liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry measurements were performed for degassed methanol, ethanol, and acetonitrile solutions of 6H-benzo[cd]pyren-6-one (naphthanthrone), in which fluorescence enhancement had been induced. As a result, two kinds of photochemical products were identified as the substance causing fluorescence enhancement: they were produced by dehydrogenation and dehydration of adducts of a solvent molecule to naphthanthrone. On the basis of the findings, the mechanism of the fluorescence enhancement of naphthanthrone was discussed. Fluorescence enhancement; 6H-benzo[cd]pyren-6-one; Polycyclic aromatic ketones; Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; Photochemical reaction

IL-6 Production by TLR-Activated APC Broadly Enhances Aged Cognate CD4 Helper and B Cell Antibody Responses In Vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Brahmakshatriya, Vinayak; Kuang, Yi; Devarajan, Priyadharshini; Xia, Jingya; Zhang, Wenliang; Vong, Allen Minh; Swain, Susan L

2017-04-01

Naive CD4 T cell responses, especially their ability to help B cell responses, become compromised with aging. We find that using APC pretreated ex vivo with TLR agonists, polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid and CpG, to prime naive CD4 T cells in vivo, restores their ability to expand and become germinal center T follicular helpers and enhances B cell IgG Ab production. Enhanced helper responses are dependent on IL-6 production by the activated APC. Aged naive CD4 T cells respond suboptimally to IL-6 compared with young cells, such that higher doses are required to induce comparable signaling. Preactivating APC overcomes this deficiency. Responses of young CD4 T cells are also enhanced by preactivating APC with similar effects but with only partial IL-6 dependency. Strikingly, introducing just the activated APC into aged mice significantly enhances otherwise compromised Ab production to inactivated influenza vaccine. These findings reveal a central role for the production of IL-6 by APC during initial cognate interactions in the generation of effective CD4 T cell help, which becomes greater with age. Without APC activation, aging CD4 T cell responses shift toward IL-6-independent Th1 and CD4 cytotoxic Th cell responses. Thus, strategies that specifically activate and provide Ag to APC could potentially enhance Ab-mediated protection in vaccine responses. Copyright © 2017 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.

Regulation of Vapor Pressure Deficit by Greenhouse Micro-Fog Systems Improved Growth and Productivity of Tomato via Enhancing Photosynthesis during Summer Season.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dalong Zhang

Full Text Available The role of a proposed micro-fog system in regulating greenhouse environments and enhancing tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. productivity during summer season was studied. Experiments were carried out in a multi-span glass greenhouse, which was divided into two identical compartments involving different environments: (1 without environment control and (2 with a micro-fog system operating when the air vapor pressure deficit (VPD of greenhouse was higher than 0.5 KPa. The micro-fog system effectively alleviated heat stress and evaporative demand in the greenhouse during summer season. The physiologically favourable environment maintained by micro-fog treatment significantly enhanced elongation of leaf and stem, which contributed to a substantial elevation of final leaf area and shoot biomass. These improvements in physiological and morphological traits resulted in around 12.3% increase of marketable tomato yield per plant. Relative growth rate (RGR of micro-fog treatment was also significantly higher than control plants, which was mainly determined by the substantial elevation in net assimilation rate (NAR, and to a lesser extent caused by leaf area ratio (LAR. Measurement of leaf gas exchange parameters also demonstrated that micro-fog treatment significantly enhanced leaf photosynthesis capacity. Taken together, manipulation of VPD in greenhouses by micro-fog systems effectively enhanced tomato growth and productivity via improving photosynthesis during summer season.

Enhanced Production of Bovine Chymosin by Autophagy Deficiency in the Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus oryzae

Science.gov (United States)

Maruyama, Jun-ichi; Kitamoto, Katsuhiko

2013-01-01

Aspergillus oryzae has been utilized as a host for heterologous protein production because of its high protein secretory capacity and food-safety properties. However, A. oryzae often produces lower-than-expected yields of target heterologous proteins due to various underlying mechanisms, including degradation processes such as autophagy, which may be a significant bottleneck for protein production. In the present study, we examined the production of heterologous protein in several autophagy (Aoatg) gene disruptants of A. oryzae. We transformed A. oryzae gene disruptants of Aoatg1, Aoatg13, Aoatg4, Aoatg8, or Aoatg15, with a bovine chymosin (CHY) expression construct and found that the production levels of CHY increased up to three fold compared to the control strain. Notably, however, conidia formation by the Aoatg gene disruptants was significantly reduced. As large amounts of conidia are necessary for inoculating large-scale cultures, we also constructed Aoatg gene-conditional expression strains in which the promoter region of the Aoatg gene was replaced with the thiamine-controllable thiA promoter. Conidiation by the resultant transformants was clearly enhanced in the absence of thiamine, while autophagy remained repressed in the presence of thiamine. Moreover, these transformants displayed increased CHY productivity, which was comparable to that of the Aoatg gene disruptants. Consequently, we succeeded in the construction of A. oryzae strains capable of producing high levels of CHY due to defects in autophagy. Our finding suggests that the conditional regulation of autophagy is an effective method for increasing heterologous protein production in A. oryzae. PMID:23658635

The Significance of Farm Size in the Evaluation of Labour Productivity in Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martina Novotná

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper deal with the analysis of difference in labour productivity of farms categorised according to their size, to determine if the set subsidy system influences labour productivity in the size groups of the farms. The source of data for enterprises analysis was the firms database, which contains accounting data of 926 farms with at least one employee. The observed data were from the 6 year period (2007–2012. The farms were divided, according to their size into four categories defined by the European Commission: micro, small, medium and large enterprises. The analysis of the labour productivity I based on the added value and labour costs revealed that there are big differences of the labour productivity levels in particular size groups of farms. The further analysis revealed that an adjustment of the farm approach of the labour productivity, when the paid operation subsidies are added (labour productivity II, changes this conclusion and the differences between particular size groups of farms decreased. Using σ-convergence, it was proved that the relative variability of the labour productivity II values decreased significantly in the case of the medium-sized farms. We can say that subsidies significantly influence the labour productivity in farms. On one hand, there is decrease of differences between the level values of particular size groups of farms; on the other hand, there is no significant decrease its variability (except the medium-sized farms.

Process optimization for enhancing production of cis-4-hydroxy-L-proline by engineered Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Kequan; Pang, Yang; Zhang, Bowen; Feng, Jiao; Xu, Sheng; Wang, Xin; Ouyang, Pingkai

2017-11-22

Understanding the bioprocess limitations is critical for the efficient design of biocatalysts to facilitate process feasibility and improve process economics. In this study, a proline hydroxylation process with recombinant Escherichia coli expressing L-proline cis-4-hydroxylase (SmP4H) was investigated. The factors that influencing the metabolism of microbial hosts and process economics were focused on for the optimization of cis-4-hydroxy-L-proline (CHOP) production. In recombinant E. coli, SmP4H synthesis limitation was observed. After the optimization of expression system, CHOP production was improved in accordance with the enhanced SmP4H synthesis. Furthermore, the effects of the regulation of proline uptake and metabolism on whole-cell catalytic activity were investigated. The improved CHOP production by repressing putA gene responsible for L-proline degradation or overexpressing L-proline transporter putP on CHOP production suggested the important role of substrate uptake and metabolism on the whole-cell biocatalyst efficiency. Through genetically modifying these factors, the biocatalyst activity was significantly improved, and CHOP production was increased by twofold. Meanwhile, to further improve process economics, a two-strain coupling whole-cell system was established to supply co-substrate (α-ketoglutarate, α-KG) with a cheaper chemical L-glutamate as a starting material, and 13.5 g/L of CHOP was successfully produced. In this study, SmP4H expression, and L-proline uptake and degradation, were uncovered as the hurdles for microbial production of CHOP. Accordingly, the whole-cell biocatalysts were metabolically engineered for enhancing CHOP production. Meanwhile, a two-strain biotransformation system for CHOP biosynthesis was developed aiming at supplying α-KG more economically. Our work provided valuable insights into the design of recombinant microorganism to improve the biotransformation efficiency that catalyzed by Fe

Enhancement of glycerol production by zygosaccharomyces ruxii using strawberry wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meleigy, S.A; Taha, S.M.A.

2010-01-01

Glycerol is important industrial product that can be produced using osmophilic yeasts. In this study a local isolate of osmophilic yeast, zygosaccharomyces ruxii, was used for glycerol production from strawberry waste. The effects of some important parameters including glucose and urea concentrations, incubation temperature, initial ph and gamma irradiation were investigated. The optimum conditions for maximum glycerol production (126.8 g/l)by z. ruxii were occurred at 31 degree C and initial ph 5 in the presence of 250 g/l glucose and 3 g/l urea in the production medium . Under these optimizing fermentation parameters, enhancement of glycerol production (130 g/l) were recorded when the inoculum of z. ruxii was exposed to 0.25 kGy. also, the present results showed reduction in BOD 5 levels of fermented strawberry waste.

Enhanced Sorbitol Production under Submerged Fermentation using Lactobacillus plantarum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khan Nadiya Jan

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Background and Objective: Sorbitol is a non-toxic and slightly hygroscopic compound with different applications. Zymomonas mobiles produces sorbitol from sucrose or mixtures of glucose and fructose (formation is coupled with the dehydrogenation of glucose to glucono-δ- lactone. Recombinant Zymomonas mobilis may produce sorbitol and gluconic acid from glucose and fructose using different divalent metal ions with reduced the ethanol yield andsignificantly increased yield of sorbitol. Current study envisaged to alter the media components, physical process parameters and supplementation of amino acids for enhanced sorbitol production.Material and Methods: Several process variables were evaluated on sorbitol production including carbon sources (glucose, fructose, maltose, sucrose, carbon concentrations (5, 10, 20 and 25 g l-1, nitrogen sources (peptone, tryptone, yeast extract, beef extract and organic nitrogen mix, temperatures (25, 29, 33, 37, 41°C, pH (6, 6.5, 7 , 7.5 ,8, agitation rate (50, 100, 150, 200 rpm and amino acids (cysteine, cystine, tryptophanin batch cultivation ofLactobacillus plantarum NCIM 2912. Shake flask cultivation performed under optimum conditions like temperature 37°C, pH 7.0 and agitation rate of 150 rpm, resulted in enhanced sorbitol production. Comparative study of sorbitol production in solid state fermentation and submerged fermentation was also evaluated.Results and Conclusion: Batch cultivation under submerged conditions further performed in 7.5-l lab scale bioreactor (working volume 3.0-l under optimized conditions resulted in maximum cell biomass of 8.95±0.03 g g-1 and a sorbitol content of 9.78±0.04 g l-1 after 42.0 h of fermentation. Scale up study on bioreactor resulted in maximum sorbitol yield (Yp/x and productivity of 1.11 g g-1 and 0.50 g l-1 h under submerged fermentation, respectively.Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Observation of enhanced ozone in an electrically active storm over Socorro, NM: Implications for ozone production from corona discharges

Science.gov (United States)

Minschwaner, K.; Kalnajs, L. E.; Dubey, M. K.; Avallone, L. M.; Sawaengphokai, P. C.; Edens, H. E.; Winn, W. P.

2008-09-01

Enhancements in ozone were observed between about 3 and 10 km altitude within an electrically active storm in central New Mexico. Measurements from satellite sensors and ground-based radar show cloud top pressures between 300 and 150 mb in the vicinity of an ozonesonde launched from Socorro, NM, and heavy precipitation with radar reflectivities exceeding 50 dBZ. Data from a lightning mapping array and a surface electric field mill show a large amount of electrical activity within this thunderstorm. The observed ozone enhancements are large (50% above the mean) and could have resulted from a number of possible processes, including the advection of polluted air from the urban environments of El Paso and Juarez, photochemical production by lightning-generated NOx from aged thunderstorm outflow, downward mixing of stratospheric air, or local production from within the thunderstorm. We find that a large fraction of the ozone enhancement is consistent with local production from corona discharges, either from cloud particles or by corona associated with lightning. The implied global source of ozone from thunderstorm corona discharge is estimated to be 110 Tg O3 a-1 with a range between 40 and 180 Tg O3 a-1. This value is about 21% as large as the estimated ozone production rate from lightning NOx, and about 3% as large as the total chemical production rate of tropospheric ozone. Thus while the estimated corona-induced production of ozone may be significant on local scales, it is unlikely to be as important to the global ozone budget as other sources.

Refuse derived soluble bio-organics enhancing tomato plant growth and productivity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sortino, Orazio [Dipartimento di Scienze Agronomiche Agrochimiche e delle Produzioni Animali, Universita degli Studi di Catania, Via Valdisavoia 5, 95123 Catania (Italy); Dipasquale, Mauro [Dipartimento di Chimica, Universita di Torino, Via P. Giuria 7, 10125 Torino (Italy); Montoneri, Enzo, E-mail: enzo.montoneri@unito.it [Dipartimento di Chimica, Universita di Torino, Via P. Giuria 7, 10125 Torino (Italy); Tomasso, Lorenzo; Perrone, Daniele G. [Dipartimento di Chimica, Universita di Torino, Via P. Giuria 7, 10125 Torino (Italy); Vindrola, Daniela; Negre, Michele; Piccone, Giuseppe [Dipartimento di Valorizzazione e Protezione delle Risorse Agroforestali, Universita di Torino, Via L. da Vinci 44, 10095 Grugliasco (Italy)

2012-10-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Municipal bio-wastes are a sustainable source of bio-based products. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Refuse derived soluble bio-organics promote chlorophyll synthesis. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Refuse derived soluble bio-organics enhance plant growth and fruit ripening rate. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Sustainable chemistry exploiting urban refuse allows sustainable development. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Chemistry, agriculture and the environment benefit from biowaste technology. - Abstract: Municipal bio-refuse (CVD), containing kitchen wastes, home gardening residues and public park trimmings, was treated with alkali to yield a soluble bio-organic fraction (SBO) and an insoluble residue. These materials were characterized using elemental analysis, potentiometric titration, and 13C NMR spectroscopy, and then applied as organic fertilizers to soil for tomato greenhouse cultivation. Their performance was compared with a commercial product obtained from animal residues. Plant growth, fruit yield and quality, and soil and leaf chemical composition were the selected performance indicators. The SBO exhibited the best performance by enhancing leaf chlorophyll content, improving plant growth and fruit ripening rate and yield. No product performance-chemical composition relationship could be assessed. Solubility could be one reason for the superior performance of SBO as a tomato growth promoter. The enhancement of leaf chlorophyll content is discussed to identify a possible link with the SBO photosensitizing properties that have been demonstrated in other work, and thus with photosynthetic performance.

Refuse derived soluble bio-organics enhancing tomato plant growth and productivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sortino, Orazio; Dipasquale, Mauro; Montoneri, Enzo; Tomasso, Lorenzo; Perrone, Daniele G.; Vindrola, Daniela; Negre, Michele; Piccone, Giuseppe

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Municipal bio-wastes are a sustainable source of bio-based products. ► Refuse derived soluble bio-organics promote chlorophyll synthesis. ► Refuse derived soluble bio-organics enhance plant growth and fruit ripening rate. ► Sustainable chemistry exploiting urban refuse allows sustainable development. ► Chemistry, agriculture and the environment benefit from biowaste technology. - Abstract: Municipal bio-refuse (CVD), containing kitchen wastes, home gardening residues and public park trimmings, was treated with alkali to yield a soluble bio-organic fraction (SBO) and an insoluble residue. These materials were characterized using elemental analysis, potentiometric titration, and 13C NMR spectroscopy, and then applied as organic fertilizers to soil for tomato greenhouse cultivation. Their performance was compared with a commercial product obtained from animal residues. Plant growth, fruit yield and quality, and soil and leaf chemical composition were the selected performance indicators. The SBO exhibited the best performance by enhancing leaf chlorophyll content, improving plant growth and fruit ripening rate and yield. No product performance-chemical composition relationship could be assessed. Solubility could be one reason for the superior performance of SBO as a tomato growth promoter. The enhancement of leaf chlorophyll content is discussed to identify a possible link with the SBO photosensitizing properties that have been demonstrated in other work, and thus with photosynthetic performance.

Genes related to xylose fermentation and methods of using same for enhanced biofuel production

Science.gov (United States)

Wohlbach, Dana J.; Gasch, Audrey P.

2014-08-05

The present invention provides isolated gene sequences involved in xylose fermentation and related recombinant yeast which are useful in methods of enhanced biofuel production, particularly ethanol production. Methods of bioengineering recombinant yeast useful for biofuel production are also provided.

Full Product Pattern Recognition in β-Carotene Thermal Degradation through Ionization Enhancement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xiao, Xiaoyin [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Miller, Lance Lee [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Bernstein, Robert [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Hochrein, James M. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2015-07-01

The full product pattern including both volatile and nonvolatile compounds was presented for the first time for β-Carotene thermal degradation at variable temperatures up to 600°C. Solvent-enhanced ionization was used to confirm and distinguish between the dissociation mechanisms that lead to even and odd number mass products.

The application of biotechnology on the enhancing of biogas production from lignocellulosic waste.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Suzhen

2016-12-01

Anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic waste is considered to be an efficient way to answer present-day energy crisis and environmental challenges. However, the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic material forms a major obstacle for obtaining maximum biogas production. The use of biological pretreatment and bioaugmentation for enhancing the performance of anaerobic digestion is quite recent and still needs to be investigated. This paper reviews the status and perspectives of recent studies on biotechnology concept and investigates its possible use for enhancing biogas production from lignocellulosic waste with main emphases on biological pretreatment and bioaugmentation techniques.

Enhanced Production of Glucose Oxidase Using Penicillium notatum and Rice Polish

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shazia Sabir

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Glucose oxidase (GOD is an important enzyme that finds a wide range of applications in food and pharmaceutical industry. In this investigation the feasibility of using rice polish as a substrate for the production of GOD by Penicillium notatum in submerged fermentation (SmF has been evaluated. The intention was to enhance total GOD activity by the selection of economical substrate, microorganism and consecutive optimization of various cultural conditions. Maximum GOD activity of (112±5 U/mL was achieved under optimum growth conditions: rice polish 5 g, incubation period 72 h, buffering agent 3 % (by mass per volume, incubation temperature (30±1 °C and pH=6.0. Addition of carbon and nitrogen sources further enhanced the enzyme yield, indicating an economically attractive process for GOD production.

Exploitation of physiological and genetic variability to enhance crop productivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harper, J.E.; Schrader, L.E.; Howell, R.W.

1985-01-01

The American Society of Plant Physiologists recognizes the need to identify primary physiological limitations to crop productivity. This basic information is essential to facilitate and accelerate progress towards the goal of enhanced productivity on a global scale. Plant breeders currently select for desirable physiological traits intuitively by selecting for enhanced yield capability. Identification of specific physiological limitations by plant physiologists could potentially foster interdisciplinary research and accelerate progress in breeding for improved cultivars. The recent upsurge in research interest and funding in the area of biotechnology further exemplifies the importance of identification of specific physiological traits which may be amenable to manipulation at the molecular as well as the whole plant level. The theme of this symposium was to focus attention on current progress in identification of possible physiological limitations. The purpose of this publication is to document that progress and hopefully to extend the stimulating ideas to those who were unable to attend the symposium

Formate detection by potassium permanganate for enhanced hydrogen production in Escherichia coli

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maeda, Toshinari [Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, 220 Jack E. Brown Building, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843-3122 (United States); Wood, Thomas K. [Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, 220 Jack E. Brown Building, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843-3122 (United States); Department of Biology, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843-3258 (United States); Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843-3136 (United States)

2008-05-15

Mutagenesis of Escherichia coli for hydrogen production is difficult since there is no high-throughput screen. Here we describe a method for rapid detection of enhanced hydrogen production by engineered strains by detecting formate via potassium permanganate; in E. coli, hydrogen is synthesized from formate using the formate hydrogen lyase system. (author)

Optimization of culture medium for anaerobic production of rhamnolipid by recombinant Pseudomonas stutzeri Rhl for microbial enhanced oil recovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, F; Mandlaa, M; Hao, J; Liang, X; Shi, R; Han, S; Zhang, Y

2014-08-01

Response surface methodology was employed to enhance the anaerobic production of rhamnolipid by recombinant Pseudomonas stutzeri Rhl. Glycerol is a promising carbon source used to anaerobically produce rhamnolipid. In a Plackett-Burman design, glycerol, KH2 PO4 and yeast extract were significant factors. The proposed optimized medium contained the following: 46·55 g l(-1) glycerol; 3 g l(-1) NaNO3 ; 5·25 g l(-1) K2 HPO4 ·3H2 O; 5·71 g l(-1) KH2 PO4 ; 0·40 g l(-1) MgSO4 ·7H2 O; 0·13 g l(-1) CaCl2 ; 1·0 g l(-1) KCl; 1·0 g l(-1) NaCl; and 2·69 g l(-1) yeast extract. Using this optimized medium, we obtained an anaerobic yield of rhamnolipid of 3·12 ± 0·11 g l(-1) with a 0·85-fold increase. Core flooding test results also revealed that Ps. stutzeri Rhl grown in an optimized medium enhanced the oil recovery efficiency by 15·7%, which was 6·6% higher than in the initial medium. Results suggested that the optimized medium is a promising nutrient source that could effectively mobilize oil by enhancing the in situ production of rhamnolipid. The ex situ application of rhamnolipid for microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is costly and complex in terms of rhamnolipid production, purification and transportation. Compared with ex situ applications, the in situ production of rhamnolipid in anaerobic oil reservoir is more advantageous for MEOR. This study is the first to report the anaerobic production optimization of rhamnolipid. Results showed that the optimized medium enhanced not only the anaerobic production of rhamnolipid but also crude oil recovery. © 2014 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Enhanced production of recombinant proteins with Corynebacterium glutamicum by deletion of insertion sequences (IS elements).

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Jae Woong; Yim, Sung Sun; Kim, Min Jeong; Jeong, Ki Jun

2015-12-29

In most bacteria, various jumping genetic elements including insertion sequences elements (IS elements) cause a variety of genetic rearrangements resulting in harmful effects such as genome and recombinant plasmid instability. The genetic stability of a plasmid in a host is critical for high-level production of recombinant proteins, and in this regard, the development of an IS element-free strain could be a useful strategy for the enhanced production of recombinant proteins. Corynebacterium glutamicum, which is a workhorse in the industrial-scale production of various biomolecules including recombinant proteins, also has several IS elements, and it is necessary to identify the critical IS elements and to develop IS element deleted strain. From the cultivation of C. glutamicum harboring a plasmid for green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene expression, non-fluorescent clones were isolated by FACS (fluorescent activated cell sorting). All the isolated clones had insertions of IS elements in the GFP coding region, and two major IS elements (ISCg1 and ISCg2 families) were identified. By co-cultivating cells harboring either the isolated IS element-inserted plasmid or intact plasmid, it was clearly confirmed that cells harboring the IS element-inserted plasmids became dominant during the cultivation due to their growth advantage over cells containing intact plasmids, which can cause a significant reduction in recombinant protein production during cultivation. To minimize the harmful effects of IS elements on the expression of heterologous genes in C. glutamicum, two IS element free C. glutamicum strains were developed in which each major IS element was deleted, and enhanced productivity in the engineered C. glutamicum strain was successfully demonstrated with three models: GFP, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)] and γ-aminobutyrate (GABA). Our findings clearly indicate that the hopping of IS elements could be detrimental to the production of recombinant proteins in C

Radiation technology for enhancing agriculture productivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Souza, S.F.

2016-01-01

Radiations and radioisotopes are used in agricultural research to develop improved crop varieties, to manage insect pests, monitor fate of pesticides, to study fertilizer and plant micronutrient uptake and to preserve agricultural produce. This is one of the important fields of peaceful applications of atomic energy for societal benefit. Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has contributed significantly in this area especially in the development of new mutant crop varieties which are benefitting the farmers in enhancing their productivity. With an effective blend of induced mutagenesis and recombination breeding, 42 new crop varieties developed at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) have been released and Gazette notified by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India for commercial cultivation. These include 21 in oilseeds (15-groundnut, 3 mustard , 2 soybean, 1 sunflower), 19 in pulses (8-mungbean, 5-urdbean, 5-pigeonpea, 1-cowpea) and one each in rice and jute. Some of the desirable traits which have been bred through induced mutations in these crops include higher yields, improved quality traits, early maturity and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress. Several of these varieties have high patronage from the farming community and are grown extensively across the country. Groundnut varieties have given record yields in farmer's fields. Pulses such as mung, urid and tur are popular among farmers in view of their disease resistance and suitability to rice fallow situations. Many of the breeding programmes in national/state systems have been utilizing BARC varieties as parental materials/donors and have developed several other improved varieties using them. (author)

Microbially-Enhanced Coal Bed Methane: Strategies for Increased Biogenic Production

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, K.; Barhart, E. P.; Schweitzer, H. D.; Cunningham, A. B.; Gerlach, R.; Hiebert, R.; Fields, M. W.

2014-12-01

Coal is the largest fossil fuel resource in the United States. Most of this coal is deep in the subsurface making it costly and potentially dangerous to extract. However, in many of these deep coal seams, methane, the main component of natural gas, has been discovered and successfully harvested. Coal bed methane (CBM) currently accounts for approximately 7.5% of the natural gas produced in the U.S. Combustion of natural gas produces substantially less CO2 and toxic emissions (e.g. heavy metals) than combustion of coal or oil thereby making it a cleaner energy source. In the large coal seams of the Powder River Basin (PRB) in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, CBM is produced almost entirely by biogenic processes. The in situ conversion of coal to CBM by the native microbial community is of particular interest for present and future natural gas sources as it provides the potential to harvest energy from coal seams with lesser environmental impacts than mining and burning coal. Research at Montana State University has shown the potential for enhancing the subsurface microbial processes that produce CBM. Long-term batch enrichments have investigated the methane enhancement potential of yeast extract as well as algal and cyanobacterial biomass additions with increased methane production observed with all three additions when compared to no addition. Future work includes quantification of CBM enhancement and normalization of additions. This presentation addresses the options thus far investigated for increasing CBM production and the next steps for developing the enhanced in situ conversion of coal to CBM.

Photosynthesis solutions to enhance productivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Foyer, Christine H; Ruban, Alexander V; Nixon, Peter J

2017-09-26

The concept that photosynthesis is a highly inefficient process in terms of conversion of light energy into biomass is embedded in the literature. It is only in the past decade that the processes limiting photosynthetic efficiency have been understood to an extent that allows a step change in our ability to manipulate light energy assimilation into carbon gain. We can therefore envisage that future increases in the grain yield potential of our major crops may depend largely on increasing the efficiency of photosynthesis. The papers in this issue provide new insights into the nature of current limitations on photosynthesis and identify new targets that can be used for crop improvement, together with information on the impacts of a changing environment on the productivity of photosynthesis on land and in our oceans.This article is part of the themed issue 'Enhancing photosynthesis in crop plants: targets for improvement'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Can aquatic worms enhance methane production from waste activated sludge?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Serrano, Antonio; Hendrickx, Tim L.G.; Elissen, Hellen; Laarhoven, Bob; Buisman, Cees J.N.; Temmink, Hardy

2016-01-01

Although literature suggests that aquatic worms can help to enhance the methane production from excess activated sludge, clear evidence for this is missing. Therefore, anaerobic digestion tests were performed at 20 and at 30 °C with sludge from a high-loaded membrane bioreactor, the aquatic worm

Enhanced methane production of Chlorella vulgaris and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by hydrolytic enzymes addition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahdy, Ahmed; Mendez, Lara; Ballesteros, Mercedes; González-Fernández, Cristina

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Methane production of microalgae biomass is hampered by their cell wall. • Pretreatment should be designed in accordance to the microalgae specie. • Fresh Chlamydomonas reinhardtii exhibited high anaerobic biodegradability. • Chlorella vulgaris anaerobic biodegradability was enhanced by 50% using protease pretreatment. - Abstract: The effect of enzymatic hydrolysis on microalgae organic matter solubilisation and methane production was investigated in this study. Even though both biomasses, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Chlorella vulgaris, exhibited similar macromolecular distribution, their cell wall composition provided different behaviors. The addition of carbohydrolase (Viscozyme) and protease (Alcalase) resulted in high carbohydrates and protein solubilisation on both biomasses (86–96%). Despite the high carbohydrate solubilisation with the carbohydrolase, methane production was enhanced by 14% for C. vulgaris, while hydrolyzed C. reinhardtii did not show any improvement. The addition of protease to C. reinhardtii increased methane production by 1.17-fold. The low enhancement achieved together with the inherent high biodegradability of this biomass would not justify the cost associated to the enzyme addition. On the other hand, C. vulgaris hydrolyzed with the protease resulted in 86% anaerobic biodegradability compared to 54% of the raw biomass. Therefore, the application of protease prior anaerobic digestion of C. vulgaris could be a promising approach to decrease the energetic input required for cell wall disruption

Enhanced Production of Xylitol from Corncob by Pachysolen tannophilus Using Response Surface Methodology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Ramesh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Optimization of the culture medium and process variables for xylitol production using corncob hemicellulose hydrolysate by Pachysolen tannophilus (MTTC 1077 was performed with statistical methodology based on experimental designs. The screening of nine nutrients for their influence on xylitol production was achieved using a Plackett-Burman design. Peptone, xylose, MgSO4·7H2O, and yeast extract were selected based on their positive influence on xylitol production. The selected components were optimized with Box-Behnken design using response surface methodology (RSM. The optimum levels (g/L were peptone: 6.03, xylose: 10.62, MgSO4·7H2O: 1.39, yeast extract: 4.66. The influence of various process variables on the xylitol production was evaluated. The optimal levels of these variables were quantified by the central composite design using RSM, for establishment of a significant mathematical model with a coefficient determination of . The validation experimental was consistent with the prediction model. The optimum levels of process variables were temperature (36.56°C, pH (7.27, substrate concentration (3.55 g/L, inoculum size (3.69 mL, and agitation speed (194.44 rpm. These conditions were validated experimentally which revealed an enhanced xylitol yield of 0.80 g/g.

Enhancing microbial production of biofuels by expanding microbial metabolic pathways.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Ping; Chen, Xingge; Li, Peng

2017-09-01

Fatty acid, isoprenoid, and alcohol pathways have been successfully engineered to produce biofuels. By introducing three genes, atfA, adhE, and pdc, into Escherichia coli to expand fatty acid pathway, up to 1.28 g/L of fatty acid ethyl esters can be achieved. The isoprenoid pathway can be expanded to produce bisabolene with a high titer of 900 mg/L in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Short- and long-chain alcohols can also be effectively biosynthesized by extending the carbon chain of ketoacids with an engineered "+1" alcohol pathway. Thus, it can be concluded that expanding microbial metabolic pathways has enormous potential for enhancing microbial production of biofuels for future industrial applications. However, some major challenges for microbial production of biofuels should be overcome to compete with traditional fossil fuels: lowering production costs, reducing the time required to construct genetic elements and to increase their predictability and reliability, and creating reusable parts with useful and predictable behavior. To address these challenges, several aspects should be further considered in future: mining and transformation of genetic elements related to metabolic pathways, assembling biofuel elements and coordinating their functions, enhancing the tolerance of host cells to biofuels, and creating modular subpathways that can be easily interconnected. © 2016 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Enhancement of antibiotic productions by engineered nitrate utilization in actinomycetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Sitong; Wu, Hang; Wang, Lei; Zhang, Buchang; Bai, Linquan

2017-07-01

Nitrate is necessary for primary and secondary metabolism of actinomycetes and stimulates the production of a few antibiotics, such as lincomycin and rifamycin. However, the mechanism of this nitrate-stimulating effect was not fully understood. Two putative ABC-type nitrate transporters were identified in Streptomyces lincolnensis NRRL2936 and verified to be involved in lincomycin biosynthesis. With nitrate supplementation, the transcription of nitrogen assimilation genes, nitrate-specific ABC1 transporter genes, and lincomycin exporter gene lmrA was found to be enhanced and positively regulated by the global regulator GlnR, whose expression was also improved. Moreover, heterologous expression of ABC2 transporter genes in Streptomyces coelicolor M145 resulted in an increased actinorhodin production. Further incorporation of a nitrite-specific transporter gene nirC, as in nirC-ABC2 cassette, led to an even higher actinorhodin production. Similarly, the titers of salinomycin, ansamitocin, lincomycin, and geldanamycin were increased with the integration of this cassette to Streptomyces albus BK3-25, Actinosynnema pretiosum ATCC31280, S. lincolnensis LC-G, and Streptomyces hygroscopicus XM201, respectively. Our work expanded the nitrate-stimulating effect to many antibiotic producers by utilizing the nirC-ABC2 cassette for enhanced nitrate utilization, which could become a general tool for titer increase of antibiotics in actinomycetes.

Enhanced production of fructosyltransferase in Aspergillus oryzae by genome shuffling.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shenghai; Duan, Mengjie; Liu, Yalan; Fan, Sen; Lin, Xiaoshan; Zhang, Yi

2017-03-01

To breed Aspergillus oryzae strains with high fructosyltransferase (FTase) activity using intraspecific protoplast fusion via genome-shuffling. A candidate library was developed using UV/LiCl of the conidia of A. oryzae SBB201. By screening for enzyme activity and cell biomass, two mutants (UV-11 and UV-76) were chosen for protoplast fusion and subsequent genome shuffling. After three rounds of genome recombination, a fusion mutant RIII-7 was obtained. Its FTase activity was 180 U g -1 , approximately double that of the original strain, and RIII-7 was genetically stable. In fermentation culture, FTase activity of the genome-shuffled strain reached a maximum of 353 U g -1 using substrate-feeding method, and this value was approximately 3.4-times higher than that of the original strain A. oryzae SBB201. Intraspecific protoplast fusion of A. oryzae significantly enhanced FTase activity and generated a potentially useful strain for industrial production.

Enhancing isoprenoid production through systematically assembling and modulating efflux pumps in Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jian-Feng; Xiong, Zhi-Qiang; Li, Shi-Yuan; Wang, Yong

2013-09-01

Enhancement of the cellular exportation of heterologous compounds is an important aspect to improve the product yield in microbial cell factory. Efflux pumps can expel various intra- or extra-cellular substances out of microbial hosts and increase the cellular tolerance. Thus in this study, by using the hydrophobic sesquiterpene (amorphadiene) and diterpene (kaurene) as two model compounds, we attempted to improve isoprenoid production through systematically engineering the efflux pumps in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The pleiotropic resistant pumps, AcrAB-TolC, MdtEF-TolC from E. coli and heterologous MexAB-OprM pump from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, were overexpressed, assembled, and finely modulated. We found that overexpression of AcrB and TolC components can effectively enhance the specific yield of amorphadiene and kaurene, e.g., 31 and 37 % improvement for amorphadiene compared with control, respectively. The heterologous MexB component can enhance kaurene production with 70 % improvement which is more effective than TolC and AcrB. The results suggest that the three components of tripartite efflux pumps play varied effect to enhance isoprenoid production. Considering the highly organized structure of efflux pumps and importance of components interaction, various component combinations were constructed and the copy number of key components AcrB and TolC was finely modulated as well. The results exhibit that the combination TolC and TolC and AcrB improved the specific yield of amorphadiene with 118 %, and AcrA and TolC and AcrB improved that of kaurene with 104 %. This study indicates that assembling and finely modulating efflux pumps is an effective strategy to improve the production of heterologous compounds in E. coli.

A project management framework for enhanced productivity performance using building information modelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Longhui Liao

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Although the Singapore government has mandated submissions of building plans in building information modelling (BIM format since July 2013, this does not yet seem to lead to enhanced productivity performance. BIM collaboration between designers and downstream contractors appears to remain inadequate. While many studies have been conducted on using BIM for better project outcomes, studies that relate BIM with the identification of non-value adding activities in the project lifecycle and the reduction of the resulting wastes are at infancy stage. This paper aims to propose a project management framework for enhancing the productivity of building projects in Singapore, which forms Phase I of an ongoing research project. A two-pronged approach is presented. Firstly, non-value adding activities in the current project delivery process that uses BIM partially in Singapore are identified by comparing the typical current process with full BIM-based processes; such activities are cut down after process transformation in terms of people, process, and technology. Secondly, time savings derived from reducing the wastes caused by these activities are quantified. The proposed framework was validated by a case study of a local residential project. It was concluded that this framework provides a valuable tool for project teams to enhance productivity performance.

The proton-pump inhibitor lansoprazole enhances amyloid beta production.

Science.gov (United States)

Badiola, Nahuai; Alcalde, Victor; Pujol, Albert; Münter, Lisa-Marie; Multhaup, Gerd; Lleó, Alberto; Coma, Mireia; Soler-López, Montserrat; Aloy, Patrick

2013-01-01

A key event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) species in the brain, derived from the sequential cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by β- and γ-secretases. Based on a systems biology study to repurpose drugs for AD, we explore the effect of lansoprazole, and other proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), on Aβ production in AD cellular and animal models. We found that lansoprazole enhances Aβ37, Aβ40 and Aβ42 production and lowers Aβ38 levels on amyloid cell models. Interestingly, acute lansoprazole treatment in wild type and AD transgenic mice promoted higher Aβ40 levels in brain, indicating that lansoprazole may also exacerbate Aβ production in vivo. Overall, our data presents for the first time that PPIs can affect amyloid metabolism, both in vitro and in vivo.

Enhancement of cordyceps polysaccharide production via biosynthetic pathway analysis in Hirsutella sinensis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shan; Liu, Zhi-Qiang; Baker, Peter James; Yi, Ming; Wu, Hui; Xu, Feng; Teng, Yi; Zheng, Yu-Guo

2016-11-01

The addition of various sulfates for enhanced cordyceps polysaccharide (CP) production in submerged cultivation of H. sinensis was investigated, and manganese sulfate was found the most effective. 2mM of manganese sulfate on 0day (d) was investigated as the optimal adding condition, and the CP production reached optimum with 5.33%, increasing by 93.3% compared with the control. Furthermore, the consumption of three main precursors of CP was studied over cultivation under two conditions. Intracellular mannose content decreased by 43.1% throughout 6days cultivation, which corresponded to CP accumulation rate sharply increased from 0 d to 6 d, and mannose was considered as the most preferred precursor for generating CP. Subsequently, mannose biosynthetic pathway was constructed and verified for the first time in H. sinensis, which constituted the important part of CP biosynthesis, and transcriptional levels of the biosynthetic genes were studied. Transcriptional level of gene cpsA was significantly up-regulated 5.35-fold and it was a key gene involved both in mannose and CP biosynthesis. This study demonstrated that manganese sulfate addition is an efficient and simple way to improve CP production. Transcriptional analysis based on biosynthetic pathway was helpful to find key genes and better understand CP biosynthesis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sexual Enhancement Products for Sale Online: Raising Awareness of the Psychoactive Effects of Yohimbine, Maca, Horny Goat Weed, and Ginkgo biloba

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ornella Corazza

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. The use of unlicensed food and herbal supplements to enhance sexual functions is drastically increasing. This phenomenon, combined with the availability of these products over the Internet, represents a challenge from a clinical and a public health perspective. Methods. A comprehensive multilingual assessment of websites, drug fora, and other online resources was carried out between February and July 2013 with exploratory qualitative searches including 203 websites. Additional searches were conducted using the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN. Once the active constitutes of the products were identified, a comprehensive literature search was carried out using PsycInfo and PubMed. Results. The most common sexual enhancement products available on the Internet were identified. Their active ingredients included yohimbine, maca, horny goat weed and Ginkgo biloba. These four substances were reported with the occurrence of adverse events and the induction of psychological symptoms, such as mood changes, anxiety, and hallucinations as well as addictive behaviours. Conclusions. Uncontrolled availability of sexual enhancement products that contain potentially harmful substances is a major public health concern. The possible impact on population health, particularly among subjects with psychiatric disorders, usually at risk for sexual dysfunction, may be significant. This new trend needs to be extensively studied and monitored.

Colon-targeted delivery of piceatannol enhances anti-colitic effects of the natural product: potential molecular mechanisms for therapeutic enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yum S

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Soohwan Yum, Seongkeun Jeong, Sunyoung Lee, Joon Nam, Wooseong Kim, Jin-Wook Yoo, Min-Soo Kim, Bok Luel Lee, Yunjin Jung College of Pharmacy, Pusan National University, Busan, Republic of Korea Abstract: Piceatannol (PCT, an anti-colitic natural product, undergoes extensive Phase II hepatic metabolism, resulting in very low bioavailability. We investigated whether colon-targeted delivery of PCT could enhance anti-colitic effects and how therapeutic enhancement occurred at the molecular level. Molecular effects of PCT were examined in human colon carcinoma cells and inflamed colons. The anti-colitic effects of PCT in a colon-targeted capsule (colon-targeted PCT were compared with PCT in a gelatin capsule (conventional PCT in a trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced rat colitis model. Colon-targeted PCT elicited greatly enhanced recovery of the colonic inflammation. In HCT116 cells, PCT inhibited nuclear factor kappaB while activating anti-colitic transcription factors, nuclear factor-erythroid 2 (NF-E2 p45-related factor 2, and hypoxia-inducible factor-1. Colon-targeted PCT, but not conventional PCT, modulated production of the target gene products of the transcription factors in the inflamed colonic tissues. Rectal administration of PCT, which simulates the therapeutic action of colon-targeted PCT, also ameliorated rat colitis and reproduced the molecular effects in the inflamed colonic tissues. Colon-targeted delivery increased therapeutic efficacy of PCT against colitis, likely resulting from multitargeted effects exerted by colon-targeted PCT. The drug delivery technique may be useful for therapeutic optimization of anti-colitic lead compounds including natural products. Keywords: piceatannol, colitis, colon-targeted delivery, multitarget, polypharmacology

Valorisation of untreated cane molasses for enhanced phytase production by Bacillus subtilis K46b and its potential role in dephytinisation.

Science.gov (United States)

Rocky-Salimi, Karim; Hashemi, Maryam; Safari, Mohammad; Mousivand, Maryam

2017-01-01

The high cost of phytase production is the most limiting factor in its application in animal feeds. The present study aimed to develop a low-cost medium for production of a novel phytase in submerged fermentation using inexpensive agro-industrial by-products. The applicability of phytase in dephytinisation of commonly used food/feed ingredients, i.e. soybean meal and wheat bran, was also investigated. Using a one-factor-at-a-time approach, soybean meal and cane molasses were identified as significant agro-industrial by-products and these factors were subsequently optimised using response surface methodology (RSM). A central composite design was employed to further enhance phytase yield. Under optimum conditions of soybean meal 22.3 g L -1 , cane molasses 100 g L -1 and 39 h fermentation, phytase production increased to 56.562 U mL -1 , indicating more than 28-fold enhancement. The enzyme efficiently dephytinised wheat bran and soybean meal after 24 h incubation at 56.5 °C and increased inorganic phosphate content by 240% and 155%, respectively. Soybean meal and cane molasses were successfully used for enhancement of phytase production as economical carbon, nitrogen and phytic acid sources using RSM. The phytase showed a good capability to dephytinise wheat bran and soybean meal, demonstrating that the enzyme can be considered as a potential candidate for industrial food and feed applications. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Heterologous production of Pseudomonas aeruginosa rhamnolipid under anaerobic conditions for microbial enhanced oil recovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, F; Shi, R; Zhao, J; Li, G; Bai, X; Han, S; Zhang, Y

2015-02-01

The ex situ application of rhamnolipid to enhance oil recovery is costly and complex in terms of rhamnolipid production and transportation, while in situ production of rhamnolipid is restricted by the oxygen-deficient environments of oil reservoirs. To overcome the oxygen-limiting conditions and to circumvent the complex regulation of rhamnolipid biosynthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an engineered strain Pseudomonas stutzeri Rhl was constructed for heterologous production of rhamnolipid under anaerobic conditions. The rhlABRI genes for rhamnolipid biosynthesis were cloned into a facultative anaerobic strain Ps. stutzeri DQ1 to construct the engineered strain Rhl. Anaerobic production of rhamnolipid was confirmed by thin layer chromatography and Fourier transform infrared analysis. Rhamnolipid product reduced the air-water surface tension to 30.3 mN m(-1) and the oil-water interfacial tension to 0.169 mN m(-1). Rhl produced rhamnolipid of 1.61 g l(-1) using glycerol as the carbon source. Rhl anaerobic culture emulsified crude oil up to EI24 ≈ 74. An extra 9.8% of original crude oil was displaced by Rhl in the core flooding test. Strain Rhl achieved anaerobic production of rhamnolipid and worked well for enhanced oil recovery in the core flooding model. The rhamnolipid produced by Rhl was similar to that of the donor strain SQ6. This is the first study to achieve anaerobic and heterologous production of rhamnolipid. Results demonstrated the potential feasibility of Rhl as a promising strain to enhance oil recovery through anaerobic production of rhamnolipid. © 2014 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

miR-2861 as novel HDAC5 inhibitor in CHO cells enhances productivity while maintaining product quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Simon; Paul, Albert Jesuran; Wagner, Andreas; Mathias, Sven; Geiss, Melanie; Schandock, Franziska; Domnowski, Martin; Zimmermann, Jörg; Handrick, René; Hesse, Friedemann; Otte, Kerstin

2015-10-01

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have been exploited for years to improve recombinant protein expression in mammalian production cells. However, global HDAC inhibition is associated with negative effects on various cellular processes. microRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to regulate gene expression in almost all eukaryotic cell types by controlling entire cellular pathways. Since miRNAs recently have gained much attention as next-generation cell engineering tool to improve Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell factories, we were interested if miRNAs are able to specifically repress HDAC expression in CHO cells to circumvent limitations of unspecific HDAC inhibition. We discovered a novel miRNA in CHO cells, miR-2861, which was shown to enhance productivity in various recombinant CHO cell lines. Furthermore, we demonstrate that miR-2861 might post-transcriptionally regulate HDAC5 in CHO cells. Intriguingly, siRNA-mediated HDAC5 suppression could be demonstrated to phenocopy pro-productive effects of miR-2861 in CHO cells. This supports the notion that miRNA-induced inhibition of HDAC5 may contribute to productivity enhancing effects of miR-2861. Furthermore, since product quality is fundamental to safety and functionality of biologics, we examined the effect of HDAC inhibition on critical product quality attributes. In contrast to unspecific HDAC inhibition using VPA, enforced expression of miR-2861 did not negatively influence antibody aggregation or N-glycosylation. Our findings highlight the superiority of miRNA-mediated inhibition of specific HDACs and present miR-2861 as novel cell engineering tool for improving CHO manufacturing cells. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Enhanced cellulase production from Trichoderma reesei Rut-C30 by engineering with an artificial zinc finger protein library.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Fei; Bai, Fengwu; Zhao, Xinqing

2016-10-01

Trichoderma reesei Rut-C30 is a well-known cellulase producer, and improvement of its cellulase production is of great interest. An artificial zinc finger protein (AZFP) library is constructed for expression in T. reesei Rut-C30, and a mutant strain T. reesei U3 is selected based on its enhanced cellulase production. The U3 mutant shows a 55% rise in filter paper activity and 8.1-fold increased β-glucosidase activity, when compared to the native strain T. reesei Rut-C30. It is demonstrated that enhanced β-glucosidase activity was due to elevated transcription level of β-glucosidase gene in the U3 mutant. Moreover, significant elevation in transcription levels of several putative Azfp-U3 target genes is detected in the U3 mutant, including genes encoding hypothetical transcription factors and a putative glycoside hydrolase. Furthermore, U3 cellulase shows 115% higher glucose yield from pretreated corn stover, when compared to the cellulase of T. reesei Rut-C30. These results demonstrate that AZFP can be used to improve cellulase production in T. reesei Rut-C30. Our current work offers the establishment of an alternative strategy to develop fungal cell factories for improved production of high value industrial products. Copyright © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) enhances biomass production in a short-rotation poplar plantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calfapietra, C.; De Angelis, P.; Scarascia-Mungozza, G.; Gielen, B.; Ceulemans, R.; Galema, A. N. J.; Lukac, M.; Moscatelli, M. C.

2003-01-01

The possible contribution of short rotation cultures (SRC) to carbon sequestration in both current and elevated carbon dioxide concentrations was investigated using the free-air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) technique. Three poplar species were grown in an SRC plantation for three growing seasons. Above-ground and below-ground biomass increased by 15 to 27 per cent and by 22 to 38 per cent, respectively; light-efficiency also increased as a result. Depletion of inorganic nitrogen from the soil increased after three growing seasons at elevated carbon dioxide levels, but carbon dioxide showed no effect on stem wood density. Stem wood density also differed significantly from species to species. These results confirmed inter-specific differences in biomass production in poplar, and demonstrated that elevated carbon dioxide enhanced biomass productivity and light-use efficiency of a poplar short rotation cultivation ecosystem without changing biomass allocation. The reduction in soil nitrogen raises the possibility of reduced long-term biomass productivity. 60 refs., 4 tabs., 4 figs

Enhanced production of lovastatin by Omphalotus olearius (DC.) Singer in solid state fermentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Atlı, Burcu; Yamaç, Mustafa; Yıldız, Zeki; Isikhuemnen, Omoanghe S

2015-01-01

Although lovastatin production has been reported for different microorganism species, there is limited information about lovastatin production by basidiomycetes. The optimization of culture parameters that enhances lovastatin production by Omphalotus olearius OBCC 2002 was investigated, using statistically based experimental designs under solid state fermentation. The Plackett Burman design was used in the first step to test the relative importance of the variables affecting production of lovastatin. Amount and particle size of barley were identified as efficient variables. In the latter step, the interactive effects of selected efficient variables were studied with a full factorial design. A maximum lovastatin yield of 139.47mg/g substrate was achieved by the fermentation of 5g of barley, 1-2mm particle diam., at 28°C. This study showed that O. olearius OBCC 2002 has a high capacity for lovastatin production which could be enhanced by using solid state fermentation with novel and cost-effective substrates, such as barley. Copyright © 2013 Revista Iberoamericana de Micología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Enhanced production of L-sorbose from D-sorbitol by improving the mRNA abundance of sorbitol dehydrogenase in Gluconobacter oxydans WSH-003.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Sha; Wang, Xiaobei; Du, Guocheng; Zhou, Jingwen; Chen, Jian

2014-10-18

Production of L-sorbose from D-sorbitol by Gluconobacter oxydans is the first step to produce L-ascorbic acid on industrial scale. The sldhAB gene, which encodes the sorbitol dehydrogenase (SLDH), was overexpressed in an industrial strain G. oxydans WSH-003 with a strong promoter, P tufB . To enhance the mRNA abundance, a series of artificial poly(A/T) tails were added to the 3'-terminal of sldhAB gene. Besides, their role in sldhAB overexpression and their subsequent effects on L-sorbose production were investigated. The mRNA abundance of the sldhAB gene could be enhanced in G. oxydans by suitable poly(A/T) tails. By self-overexpressing the sldhAB gene in G. oxydans WSH-003 with an optimal poly(A/T) tail under the constitutive promoter P tufB , the titer and the productivity of L-sorbose were enhanced by 36.3% and 25.0%, respectively, in a 1-L fermenter. Immobilization of G. oxydans-sldhAB6 cells further improved the L-sorbose titer by 33.7% after 20 days of semi-continuous fed-batch fermentation. The artificial poly(A/T) tails could significantly enhance the mRNA abundance of the sldhAB. Immobilized G. oxydans-sldhAB6 cells could further enlarge the positive effect caused by enhanced mRNA abundance of the sldhAB.

Mathematical modeling of a multi-product EMQ model with an enhanced end items issuing policy and failures in rework.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Yuan-Shyi Peter; Sung, Peng-Cheng; Chiu, Singa Wang; Chou, Chung-Li

2015-01-01

This study uses mathematical modeling to examine a multi-product economic manufacturing quantity (EMQ) model with an enhanced end items issuing policy and rework failures. We assume that a multi-product EMQ model randomly generates nonconforming items. All of the defective are reworked, but a certain portion fails and becomes scraps. When rework process ends and the entire lot of each product is quality assured, a cost reduction n + 1 end items issuing policy is used to transport finished items of each product. As a result, a closed-form optimal production cycle time is obtained. A numerical example demonstrates the practical usage of our result and confirms a significant savings in stock holding and overall production costs as compared to that of a prior work (Chiu et al. in J Sci Ind Res India, 72:435-440 2013) in the literature.

Knowledge and tools to enhance resilience of beef grazing systems for sustainable animal protein production.

Science.gov (United States)

Steiner, Jean L; Engle, David M; Xiao, Xiangming; Saleh, Ali; Tomlinson, Peter; Rice, Charles W; Cole, N Andy; Coleman, Samuel W; Osei, Edward; Basara, Jeffrey; Middendorf, Gerad; Gowda, Prasanna; Todd, Richard; Moffet, Corey; Anandhi, Aavudai; Starks, Patrick J; Ocshner, Tyson; Reuter, Ryan; Devlin, Daniel

2014-11-01

Ruminant livestock provides meat and dairy products that sustain health and livelihood for much of the world's population. Grazing lands that support ruminant livestock provide numerous ecosystem services, including provision of food, water, and genetic resources; climate and water regulation; support of soil formation; nutrient cycling; and cultural services. In the U.S. southern Great Plains, beef production on pastures, rangelands, and hay is a major economic activity. The region's climate is characterized by extremes of heat and cold and extremes of drought and flooding. Grazing lands occupy a large portion of the region's land, significantly affecting carbon, nitrogen, and water budgets. To understand vulnerabilities and enhance resilience of beef production, a multi-institutional Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP), the "grazing CAP," was established. Integrative research and extension spanning biophysical, socioeconomic, and agricultural disciplines address management effects on productivity and environmental footprints of production systems. Knowledge and tools being developed will allow farmers and ranchers to evaluate risks and increase resilience to dynamic conditions. The knowledge and tools developed will also have relevance to grazing lands in semiarid and subhumid regions of the world. © 2014 New York Academy of Sciences.

Enhancing Fatty Acid Production of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as an Animal Feed Supplement.

Science.gov (United States)

You, Seung Kyou; Joo, Young-Chul; Kang, Dae Hee; Shin, Sang Kyu; Hyeon, Jeong Eun; Woo, Han Min; Um, Youngsoon; Park, Chulhwan; Han, Sung Ok

2017-12-20

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used for edible purposes, such as human food or as an animal feed supplement. Fatty acids are also beneficial as feed supplements, but S. cerevisiae produces small amounts of fatty acids. In this study, we enhanced fatty acid production of S. cerevisiae by overexpressing acetyl-CoA carboxylase, thioesterase, and malic enzyme associated with fatty acid metabolism. The enhanced strain pAMT showed 2.4-fold higher fatty acids than the wild-type strain. To further increase the fatty acids, various nitrogen sources were analyzed and calcium nitrate was selected as an optimal nitrogen source for fatty acid production. By concentration optimization, 672 mg/L of fatty acids was produced, which was 4.7-fold higher than wild-type strain. These results complement the low level fatty acid production and make it possible to obtain the benefits of fatty acids as an animal feed supplement while, simultaneously, maintaining the advantages of S. cerevisiae.

Complete Au@ZnO core-shell nanoparticles with enhanced plasmonic absorption enabling significantly improved photocatalysis

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Yiqiang; Sun, Yugang; Zhang, Tao; Chen, Guozhu; Zhang, Fengshou; Liu, Dilong; Cai, Weiping; Li, Yue; Yang, Xianfeng; Li, Cuncheng

2016-05-01

Nanostructured ZnO exhibits high chemical stability and unique optical properties, representing a promising candidate among photocatalysts in the field of environmental remediation and solar energy conversion. However, ZnO only absorbs the UV light, which accounts for less than 5% of total solar irradiation, significantly limiting its applications. In this article, we report a facile and efficient approach to overcome the poor wettability between ZnO and Au by carefully modulating the surface charge density on Au nanoparticles (NPs), enabling rapid synthesis of Au@ZnO core-shell NPs at room temperature. The resulting Au@ZnO core-shell NPs exhibit a significantly enhanced plasmonic absorption in the visible range due to the Au NP cores. They also show a significantly improved photocatalytic performance in comparison with their single-component counterparts, i.e., the Au NPs and ZnO NPs. Moreover, the high catalytic activity of the as-synthesized Au@ZnO core-shell NPs can be maintained even after many cycles of photocatalytic reaction. Our results shed light on the fact that the Au@ZnO core-shell NPs represent a promising class of candidates for applications in plasmonics, surface-enhanced spectroscopy, light harvest devices, solar energy conversion, and degradation of organic pollutants.Nanostructured ZnO exhibits high chemical stability and unique optical properties, representing a promising candidate among photocatalysts in the field of environmental remediation and solar energy conversion. However, ZnO only absorbs the UV light, which accounts for less than 5% of total solar irradiation, significantly limiting its applications. In this article, we report a facile and efficient approach to overcome the poor wettability between ZnO and Au by carefully modulating the surface charge density on Au nanoparticles (NPs), enabling rapid synthesis of Au@ZnO core-shell NPs at room temperature. The resulting Au@ZnO core-shell NPs exhibit a significantly enhanced plasmonic

Development of an Enhanced Two-Phase Production System at the Geysers Geothermal Field; FINAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steven Enedy

2001-01-01

A method was developed to enhance geothermal steam production from two-phase wells at THE Geysers Geothermal Field. The beneficial result was increased geothermal production that was easily and economically delivered to the power plant

Systematic mutagenesis method for enhanced production of bacitracin by Bacillus licheniformis mutant strain UV-MN-HN-6

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Nauman Aftab

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the current study was intended to obtain the enhanced production of bacitracin by Bacillus licheniformis through random mutagenesis and optimization of various parameters. Several isolates of Bacillus licheniformis were isolated from local habitat and isolate designated as GP-35 produced maximum bacitracin production (14±0.72 IU ml-1. Bacitracin production of Bacillus licheniformis GP-35 was increased to 23±0.69 IU ml-1 after treatment with ultraviolet (UV radiations. Similarly, treatment of vegetative cells of GP-35 with chemicals like N-methyl N'-nitro N-nitroso guanidine (MNNG and Nitrous acid (HNO2 increased the bacitracin production to a level of 31±1.35 IU ml-1 and 27±0.89 IU ml-1 respectively. Treatment of isolate GP-35 with combined effect of UV and chemical treatment yield significantly higher titers of bacitracin with maximum bacitracin production of 41.6±0.92 IU ml-1. Production of bacitracin was further enhanced (59.1±1.35 IU ml-1 by optimization of different parameters like phosphate sources, organic acids as well as temperature and pH. An increase of 4.22 fold in the production of bacitracin after mutagenesis and optimization of various parameters was achieved in comparison to wild type. Mutant strain was highly stable and produced consistent yield of bacitracin even after 15 generations. On the basis of kinetic variables, notably Yp/s (IU/g substrate, Yp/x (IU/g cells, Yx/s (g/g, Yp/s, mutant strain B. licheniformis UV-MN-HN-6 was found to be a hyperproducer of bacitracin.

The Design and Development of Enhanced Thermal Desorption Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Humble

2005-01-01

Full Text Available This research study is based on a knowledge-transfer collaboration between The National Centre for Product Design and Development Research (PDR and Markes International Ltd. The aim of the two-year collaboration has been to implement design tools and techniques for the development of enhanced thermal desorption products. Thermal desorption is a highly-specialised technique for the analysis of trace-level volatile organic compounds. This technique allows minute quantities of these compounds to be measured; however, there is an increasing demand from customers for greater sensitivity over a wider range of applications, which means new design methodologies need to be evaluated. The thermal desorption process combines a number of disparate chemical, thermal and mechanical disciplines, and the major design constraints arise from the need to cycle the sample through extremes in temperature. Following the implementation of a comprehensive product design specification, detailed design solutions have been developed using the latest 3D CAD techniques. The impact of the advanced design techniques is assessed in terms of improved product performance and reduced development times, and the wider implications of new product development within small companies are highlighted.  

Brief, pre-learning stress reduces false memory production and enhances true memory selectively in females.

Science.gov (United States)

Zoladz, Phillip R; Peters, David M; Kalchik, Andrea E; Hoffman, Mackenzie M; Aufdenkampe, Rachael L; Woelke, Sarah A; Wolters, Nicholas E; Talbot, Jeffery N

2014-04-10

Some of the previous research on stress-memory interactions has suggested that stress increases the production of false memories. However, as accumulating work has shown that the effects of stress on learning and memory depend critically on the timing of the stressor, we hypothesized that brief stress administered immediately before learning would reduce, rather than increase, false memory production. In the present study, participants submerged their dominant hand in a bath of ice cold water (stress) or sat quietly (no stress) for 3 min. Then, participants completed a short-term memory task, the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm, in which they were presented with 10 different lists of semantically related words (e.g., candy, sour, sugar) and, after each list, were tested for their memory of presented words (e.g., candy), non-presented unrelated "distractor" words (e.g., hat), and non-presented semantically related "critical lure" words (e.g., sweet). Stress, overall, significantly reduced the number of critical lures recalled (i.e., false memory) by participants. In addition, stress enhanced memory for the presented words (i.e., true memory) in female, but not male, participants. These findings reveal that stress does not unequivocally enhance false memory production and that the timing of the stressor is an important variable that could mediate such effects. Such results could have important implications for understanding the dependability of eyewitness accounts of events that are observed following stress. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Enhancement in secondary particulate matter production due to mountain trapping

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Teng; Fung, J. C. H.; Ma, H.; Lau, A. K. H.; Chan, P. W.; Yu, J. Z.; Xue, J.

2014-10-01

As China's largest economic development zone, the Pearl River Delta (PRD) is subject to particulate matter (PM) and visibility deterioration problems. Due to high PM concentration, haze days impacting ambient visibility have occurred frequently in this region. Besides visibility impairment, PM pollution also causes a negative impact on public health. These negative impacts have heightened the need to improve our understanding of the PM pollution of the PRD region. One major cause of the PRD pollution problem is cold front passages in the winter; however, the mechanism of pollution formation stays unclear. In this study, the Comprehensive Air Quality Model (CAMx) is utilized to investigate the detailed PM production and transport mechanisms in the PRD. Simulated concentrations of PM2.5 species, which have a good correlation with observation, show that sulfate and nitrate are the dominant pollutants among different PM2.5 species. Before the cold front passage a large amount of gas-phase and particle-phase pollutants are transported to the mountainous regions in the north of the PRD, and become trapped by the terrain. Over the mountain regions, cloud driven by upwelling flow promotes aqueous-phase reactions including oxidations of PM precursors such as SO2 and NO2. By this process, production of secondary PM is enhanced. When the cold front continues to advance further south, PM is transported to the PRD cities, and suppressed into a thin layer near the ground by a low planetary boundary layer (PBL). Thus high PM concentration episodes take place in the PRD cities. After examining production and transportation pathways, this study presents that the complex terrain configuration would block pollutant dispersion, provide cloudy environment, and advance secondary PM production. Previous studies have pointed out that pollution emitted from outside this region largely influences the air quality in the PRD; however, this study shows that pollutants from the outside could be

Deleting multiple lytic genes enhances biomass yield and production of recombinant proteins by Bacillus subtilis.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yi; Chen, Zhenmin; Zhao, Ruili; Jin, Tingting; Zhang, Xiaoming; Chen, Xiangdong

2014-08-31

Bacillus subtilis is widely used in agriculture and industrial biotechnology; however, cell autolysis significantly decreases its yield in liquid cultures. Numerous factors mediate the lysis of B. subtilis, such as cannibalism factors, prophages, and peptidoglycan (PG) hydrolases. The aim of this work was to use molecular genetic techniques to develop a new strategy to prevent cell lysis and enhance biomass as well as the production of recombinant proteins. Five genes or genetic elements representing three different functional categories were studied as follows: lytC encoding PG hydrolases, the prophage genes xpf and yqxG-yqxH-cwlA (yGlA), and skfA and sdpC that encode cannibalism factors. Cell lysis was reduced and biomass was enhanced by deleting individually skfA, sdpC, xpf, and lytC. We constructed the multiple deletion mutant LM2531 (skfA sdpC lytC xpf) and found that after 4 h of culture, its biomass yield was significantly increased compared with that of prototypical B. subtilis 168 (wild-type) strain and that 15% and 92% of the cells were lysed in cultures of LM2531 and wild-type, respectively. Moreover, two expression vectors were constructed for producing recombinant proteins (β-galactosidase and nattokinase) under the control of the P43 promoter. Cultures of LM2531 and wild-type transformants produced 13741 U/ml and 7991 U/ml of intracellular β-galactosidase, respectively (1.72-fold increase). Further, the level of secreted nattokinase produced by strain LM2531 increased by 2.6-fold compared with wild-type (5226 IU/ml vs. 2028 IU/ml, respectively). Our novel, systematic multigene deletion approach designed to inhibit cell lysis significantly increased the biomass yield and the production of recombinant proteins by B. subtilis. These findings show promise for guiding efforts to manipulate the genomes of other B. subtilis strains that are used for industrial purposes.

Determination of some significant batch culture conditions affecting acetyl-xylan esterase production by Penicillium notatum NRRL-1249

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akhtar MN

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Acetyl-xylan esterase (AXE, EC 3.1.1.72 hydrolyses acetate group from the linear chain of xylopyranose residues bound by β-1,4-linkage. The enzyme finds commercial applications in bio-bleaching of wood pulp, treating animal feed to increase digestibility, processing food to increase clarification and converting lignocellulosics to feedstock and fuel. In the present study, we report on the production of an extracellular AXE from Penicillium notatum NRRL-1249 by solid state fermentation (SSF. Results Wheat bran at a level of 10 g (with 4 cm bed height was optimized as the basal substrate for AXE production. An increase in enzyme activity was observed when 7.5 ml of mineral salt solution (MSS containing 0.1% KH2PO4, 0.05% KCl, 0.05% MgSO4.7H2O, 0.3% NaNO3, 0.001% FeSO4.2H2O and 0.1% (v/w Tween-80 as an initial moisture content was used. Various nitrogen sources including ammonium sulphate, urea, peptone and yeast extract were compared for enzyme production. Maximal enzyme activity of 760 U/g was accomplished which was found to be highly significant (p ≤ 0.05. A noticeable enhancement in enzyme activity was observed when the process parameters including incubation period (48 h, initial pH (5, 0.2% (w/w urea as nitrogen source and 0.5% (v/w Tween-80 as a stimulator were further optimized using a 2-factorial Plackett-Burman design. Conclusion From the results it is clear that an overall improvement of more than 35% in terms of net enzyme activity was achieved compared to previously reported studies. This is perhaps the first report dealing with the use of P. notatum for AXE production under batch culture SSF. The Plackett-Burman model terms were found highly significant (HS, suggesting the potential commercial utility of the culture used (df = 3, LSD = 0.126.

Bio-immobilization of dark fermentative bacteria for enhancing continuous hydrogen production from cornstalk hydrolysate.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Lei; Cao, Guang-Li; Sheng, Tao; Ren, Hong-Yu; Wang, Ai-Jie; Zhang, Jian; Zhong, Ying-Juan; Ren, Nan-Qi

2017-11-01

Mycelia pellets were employed as biological carrier in a continuous stirred tank reactor to reduce biomass washout and enhance hydrogen production from cornstalk hydrolysate. Hydraulic retention time (HRT) and influent substrate concentration played critical roles on hydrogen production of the bioreactor. The maximum hydrogen production rate of 14.2mmol H 2 L -1 h -1 was obtained at optimized HRT of 6h and influent concentration of 20g/L, 2.6 times higher than the counterpart without mycelia pellets. With excellent immobilization ability, biomass accumulated in the reactor and reached 1.6g/L under the optimum conditions. Upon further energy conversion analysis, continuous hydrogen production with mycelia pellets gave the maximum energy conversion efficiency of 17.8%. These results indicate mycelia pellet is an ideal biological carrier to improve biomass retention capacity of the reactor and enhance hydrogen recovery efficiency from lignocellulosic biomass, and meanwhile provides a new direction for economic and efficient hydrogen production process. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production By Surface Modification of p-Gap Photocathodes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Malizia, Mauro; Seger, Brian; Chorkendorff, Ib

2014-01-01

of forming a p-n heterojunction on GaP. We deposit different n-type metal oxides (TiO2, Nb2O5, ...) thus forming an heterojunction which significantly enhances charge separation upon light irradiation by forming a built-in potential at the junction interface. This built-in potential effectively drives...... 300 mV compared to the pristine p-GaP semiconductor and marking an unprecedented value of open-circuit voltage for GaP-based photocathodes for hydrogen production. It is found that the high carrier density of the n-type oxides shifts the distribution of the built-in potential almost entirely towards...... the lightly doped p-type substrate and forms an asymmetric charge depletion region at the junction, as depicted in Figure 1. Moreover, TiO2shows excellent stability over long-time operation, unveiling its double role of brilliant material for both heterojunction formation and protection against corrosion...

Enhanced production of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) in a novel airlift reactor with in situ cell retention using Azohydromonas australica.

Science.gov (United States)

Gahlawat, Geeta; Sengupta, Bedoshree; Srivastava, Ashok K

2012-09-01

Economic production of biodegradable plastics is a challenge particularly because of high substrate and energy cost inputs for its production. Research efforts are being directed towards innovations to minimize both of the above costs to economize polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) production. A novel airlift reactor (ALR) with outer aeration and internal settling was utilized in this investigation. Although it featured no power consumption for agitation, it facilitated increased oxygen transfer rate and better cell retention than stirred tank reactor (STR), thereby resulting in enhanced PHB productivity. ALR with in situ cell retention demonstrated a significant improvement in biomass concentration and biopolymer accumulation. The total PHB production rate, specific biomass, and product yield in the ALR were observed to be 0.84 g/h, 0.43 g/g, and 0.32 g/g, respectively. The studies revealed that the volumetric oxygen mass transfer rate and mixing time for ALR were 0.016 s⁻¹ and 3.73 s, respectively, at 2.0 vvm as compared with corresponding values of 0.005 s⁻¹ and 4.95 s, respectively, in STR. This demonstrated that ALR has better oxygen mass transfer and mixing efficiency than STR. Hence, ALR with cell retention would serve as a better bioreactor design for economic biopolymer production than STR, particularly due to its lower cost of operation and simplicity along with its enhanced oxygen and heat transfer rates.

SELECTION AND TREATMENT OF STRIPPER GAS WELLS FOR PRODUCTION ENHANCEMENT, MOCANE-LAVERNE FIELD, OKLAHOMA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scott Reeves; Buckley Walsh

2003-08-01

In 1996, Advanced Resources International (ARI) began performing R&D targeted at enhancing production and reserves from natural gas fields. The impetus for the effort was a series of field R&D projects in the early-to-mid 1990's, in eastern coalbed methane and gas shales plays, where well remediation and production enhancement had been successfully demonstrated. As a first step in the R&D effort, an assessment was made of the potential for restimulation to provide meaningful reserve additions to the U.S. gas resource base, and what technologies were needed to do so. That work concluded that: (1) A significant resource base did exist via restimulation (multiples of Tcf). (2) The greatest opportunities existed in non-conventional plays where completion practices were (relatively) complex and technology advancement was rapid. (3) Accurate candidate selection is the greatest single factor that contributes to a successful restimulation program. With these findings, a field-oriented program targeted at tight sand formations was initiated to develop and demonstrate successful candidate recognition technology. In that program, which concluded in 2001, nine wells were restimulated in the Green River, Piceance and East Texas basins, which in total added 2.9 Bcf of reserves at an average cost of $0.26/Mcf. In addition, it was found that in complex and heterogeneous reservoirs (such as tight sand formations), candidate selection procedures should involve a combination of fundamental engineering and advanced pattern recognition approaches, and that simple statistical methods for identifying candidate wells are not effective. In mid-2000, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded ARI an R&D contract to determine if the methods employed in that project could also be applied to stripper gas wells. In addition, the ability of those approaches to identify more general production enhancement opportunities (beyond only restimulation), such as via artificial lift and compression

Optimization of prodigiosin production by Serratia marcescens using crude glycerol and enhancing production using gamma radiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nora M. Elkenawy

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Prodigiosin is a red pigment produced by Serratia marcescens. Prodigiosin is regarded as a promising drug owing to its reported characteristics of possessing anti-microbial, anti-cancer, and immunosuppressive activity. A factorial design was applied to generate a set of 32 experimental combinations to study the optimal conditions for pigment production using crude glycerol obtained from local biodiesel facility as carbon source for the growth of Serratia marcescens. The maximum production (870 unit/cell was achieved at 22 °C, at pH 9 with the addition of 1% (w/v peptone and 109 cell/ml inoculum size after 6 days of incubation. Gamma radiation at dose 200 Gy was capable of doubling the production of the pigment using the optimized conditions and manipulating production temperature. Our results indicate that we have designed an economic medium supporting enhanced Serratia marcescens MN5 prodigiosin production giving an added value for crude glycerol obtained from biodiesel industry.

Potential for CO2 sequestration and enhanced coalbed methane production in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hamelinck, C.N.; Schreurs, H.; Faaij, A.P.C.; Ruijg, G.J.; Jansen, Daan; Pagnier, H.; Bergen, F. van; Wolf, K.-H.; Barzandji, O.; Bruining, H.

2006-01-01

This study investigated the technical and economic feasibility of using CO2 for the enhanced production of coal bed methane (ECBM) in the Netherlands. This concept could lead to both CO2 storage by adsorbing CO2 in deep coal layers that are not suitable for mining, as well as production of methane.

Raising the Bar on External Research Funding: Infrastructure and Strategies for Enhancing Faculty Productivity

Science.gov (United States)

Chval, Kathryn B.; Nossaman, Larry D.

2014-01-01

Administrators seek faculty who have the expertise to secure external funding to support their research agenda. Administrators also seek strategies to support and enhance faculty productivity across different ranks. In this manuscript, we describe the infrastructure we established and strategies we implemented to enhance the research enterprise at…

Significantly enhanced memory effect in metallic glass by multistep training

Science.gov (United States)

Li, M. X.; Luo, P.; Sun, Y. T.; Wen, P.; Bai, H. Y.; Liu, Y. H.; Wang, W. H.

2017-11-01

The state of metastable equilibrium glass can carry an imprint of the past and exhibit memory effect. As a hallmark of glassy dynamics, memory effect can affect glassy behavior as it evolves further upon time. Even though the physical picture of the memory effect has been well studied, it is unclear whether a glass can recall as many pieces of information as possible, and if so, how the glass will accordingly behave. We report that by fractionizing temperature interval, inserting multistep aging protocols, and optimizing the time of each temperature step, i.e., by imposing a multistep "training" on a prototypical P d40N i10C u30P20 metallic glass, the memory of the trained glass can be significantly strengthened, marked by a pronounced augment in potential energy. These findings provide a new guide for regulating the energy state of glass by enhancing the nonequilibrium behaviors of the memory effect and offer an opportunity to develop a clearer physical picture of glassy dynamics.

Jasmonic and salicylic acids enhanced phytochemical production and biological activities in cell suspension cultures of spine gourd (Momordica dioica Roxb).

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Ill-Min; Rekha, Kaliyaperumal; Rajakumar, Govindasamy; Thiruvengadam, Muthu

2017-03-01

In vitro cell suspension culture was established for the production of commercially valuable phytochemicals in Momordica dioica. The influence of elicitors in jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) increased their effect on phytochemical production and biomass accumulation in M. dioica. The results indicate that compared with non-elicited cultures, JA- and SA-elicited cell suspension cultures had significantly enhanced phenolic, flavonoid, and carotenoid production, as well as antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiproliferative activities. Furthermore, elicited cultures produced 22 phenolic compounds, such as flavonols, hydroxycinnamic acids, and hydroxybenzoic acids. Greater biomass production, phytochemical accumulation, and biological activity occurred in JA- than in SA-elicited cell cultures. This study is the first to successfully establish M. dioica cell suspension cultures for the production of phenolic compounds and carotenoids, as well as for biomass accumulation.

Production, Characterization and Application of Bacillus licheniformis W16 Biosurfactant in Enhancing Oil Recovery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanket J. Joshi

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The biosurfactant production by Bacillus licheniformis W16 and evaluation of biosurfactant based enhanced oil recovery using core-flood under reservoir conditions were investigated. Previously reported nine different production media were screened for biosurfactant production, and two were further optimized with different carbon sources (glucose, sucrose, starch, cane molasses or date molasses, as well as the strain was screened for biosurfactant production during the growth in different media. The biosurfactant reduced the surface tension and interfacial tension to 24.33+0.57mN m-1 and 2.47+0.32mN m-1 respectively within 72h, at 40 C, and also altered the wettability of a hydrophobic surface by changing the contact angle from 55.67°+1.6° to 19.54°+0.96°. The critical micelle dilution values of 4X were observed. The biosurfactants were characterized by different analytical techniques and identified as lipopeptide, similar to lichenysin-A. The biosurfactant was stable over wide range of extreme environmental conditions. The core flood experiments showed that the biosurfactant was able to enhance the oil recovery by 24-26% over residual oil saturation (Sor. The results highlight the potential application of lipopeptide biosurfactant in wettability alteration and microbial enhanced oil recovery processes.

Enhanced production of nitric oxide in A549 cells through activation of TRPA1 ion channel by cold stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Wenwu; Wang, Zhonghua; Cao, Jianping; Wang, Xu; Han, Yaling; Ma, Zhuang

2014-08-31

The respiratory epithelium is exposed to the external environment, and inhalation of cold air is common during the season of winter. In addition, the lung is a major source of nitric oxide (NO). However, the effect of cold stress on the production of NO is still unclear. In the present work, We measured the change of NO in single cell with DACF-DA and the change in cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]c) in A549 cell. We observed that cold stress (from 20 °C to 5 °C) induced an increase of NO in A549 cell, which was completely abolished by applying an extracellular Ca(2+) free medium. Further experiments showed that cold-sensing transient receptor potential subfamily member 1 (TRPA1) channel agonist (allyl isothiocyanate, AITC) increased the production of NO and the level of [Ca(2+)]c in A549 cell. Additionally, TRPA1 inhibitor, Ruthenium red (RR) and camphor, significantly blocked the enhanced production of NO and the rise of [Ca(2+)]c induced by AITC or cold stimulation, respectively. Taken together, these data indicated that cold-induced TRPA1 activation was responsible for the enhanced production of NO in A549 cell. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Role of Positive Psychology in Enhancing Satisfaction, Motivation, and Productivity in the Workplace

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Andrew J.

2005-01-01

Positive psychology offers scope for enhancing satisfaction, motivation, and productivity in the workplace. Wiegand and Geller (2004, this issue) point to a number of strategies to enhance individuals' success orientation and conclude their discussion with the actively caring model which appears to be a useful means of representing pivotal facets…

Enhanced Productivity of a Lutein-Enriched Novel Acidophile Microalga Grown on Urea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Vilchez

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Coccomyxa acidophila is an extremophile eukaryotic microalga isolated from the Tinto River mining area in Huelva, Spain. Coccomyxa acidophila accumulates relevant amounts of b-carotene and lutein, well-known carotenoids with many biotechnological applications, especially in food and health-related industries. The acidic culture medium (pH < 2.5 that prevents outdoor cultivation from non-desired microorganism growth is one of the main advantages of acidophile microalgae production. Conversely, acidophile microalgae growth rates are usually very low compared to common microalgae growth rates. In this work, we show that mixotrophic cultivation on urea efficiently enhances growth and productivity of an acidophile microalga up to typical values for common microalgae, therefore approaching acidophile algal production towards suitable conditions for feasible outdoor production. Algal productivity and potential for carotenoid accumulation were analyzed as a function of the nitrogen source supplied. Several nitrogen conditions were assayed: nitrogen starvation, nitrate and/or nitrite, ammonia and urea. Among them, urea clearly led to the best cell growth (~4 ´ 108 cells/mL at the end of log phase. Ammonium led to the maximum chlorophyll and carotenoid content per volume unit (220 mg·mL-1 and 35 mg·mL-1, respectively. Interestingly, no significant differences in growth rates were found in cultures grown on urea as C and N source, with respect to those cultures grown on nitrate and CO2 as nitrogen and carbon sources (control cultures. Lutein accumulated up to 3.55 mg·g-1 in the mixotrophic cultures grown on urea. In addition, algal growth in a shaded culture revealed the first evidence for an active xanthophylls cycle operative in acidophile microalgae.

Induction of apoptosis in human multiple myeloma cell lines by ebselen via enhancing the endogenous reactive oxygen species production.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Liang; Zhou, Liwei; Du, Jia; Li, Mengxia; Qian, Chengyuan; Cheng, Yi; Peng, Yang; Xie, Jiayin; Wang, Dong

2014-01-01

Ebselen a selenoorganic compound showing glutathione peroxidase like activity is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidative agent. Its cytoprotective activity has been investigated in recent years. However, experimental evidence also shows that ebselen causes cell death in several cancer cell types whose mechanism has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we examined the effect of ebselen on multiple myeloma (MM) cell lines in vitro. The results showed that ebselen significantly enhanced the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) accompanied by cell viability decrease and apoptosis rate increase. Further studies revealed that ebselen can induce Bax redistribution from the cytosol to mitochondria leading to mitochondrial membrane potential ΔΨm changes and cytochrome C release from the mitochondria to cytosol. Furtherly, we found that exogenous addition of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) completely diminished the cell damage induced by ebselen. This result suggests that relatively high concentration of ebselen can induce MM cells apoptosis in culture by enhancing the production of endogenous ROS and triggering mitochondria mediated apoptotic pathway.

Enhanced cellulase production by Penicillium oxalicum for bio-ethanol application.

Science.gov (United States)

Saini, Reetu; Saini, Jitendra Kumar; Adsul, Mukund; Patel, Anil Kumar; Mathur, Anshu; Tuli, Deepak; Singhania, Reeta Rani

2015-01-01

Present study was focused on cellulase production from an indigenously isolated filamentous fungal strain, identified as Penicillium oxalicum. Initially, cellulase production under submerged fermentation in shake flasks resulted in cellulase activity of 0.7 FPU/mL. Optimization of process parameters enhanced cellulase production by 1.7-fold and resulted in maximum cellulase activity of 1.2 FPU/mL in 8 days. Cellulase production was successfully scaled-up to 7 L fermenter under controlled conditions and incubation time was reduced from 8 days to 4 days for achieving similar cellulase titer. Optimum pH and temperature for activity of the crude enzyme were pH 5 and 50 °C, respectively. At 50 °C the produced cellulase retained approximately 50% and 26% of its activity at 48 h and 72 h, respectively. Hydrolytic efficiency of P. oxalicum was comparable to commercial cellulase preparations which indicate its great potential for application in the lignocellulose hydrolysis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhanced interleukin-8 production in THP-1 human monocytic cells by lipopolysaccharide from oral microorganisms and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor.

Science.gov (United States)

Baqui, A A; Meiller, T F; Falkler, W A

1999-10-01

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) has been used to assist in bone marrow recovery during cancer chemotherapy. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) plays an important role in macrophage mediated inflammatory processes including exacerbation of periodontal diseases, one of the most common complications in GM-CSF receiving cancer patients. The effect of GM-CSF supplementation on IL-8 production was investigated in a human monocyte cell line THP-1, stimulated with lipopolysaccharide extracted from two oral microorganisms, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum. Resting THP-1 cells were treated with lipopolysaccharide (1 microgram/ml) of P. gingivalis or F. nucleatum and/or GM-CSF (50 IU/ml) for varying time periods. The production of IL-8 in THP-1 cells was measured by a solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A very low level of the cytokine IL-8 was produced constitutive in THP-1 cells. Starting from 8 h of treatment and afterwards GM-CSF alone significantly increased IL-8 production in THP-1 cells. Lipopolysaccharide (1 microgram/ml) extracts from either F. nucleatum or P. gingivalis amplified IL-8 production 500-800 times in comparison to resting THP-1 cells. When lipopolysaccharide of F. nucleatum or P. gingivalis was supplemented with 50 IU/ml of GM-CSF, there was a statistically significant enhanced production of IL-8 by THP-1 cells after 1 day to 7 days of treatment as compared with lipopolysaccharide treatment alone. GM-CSF (50 IU/ml) also significantly increased IL-8 production from 2-7 days of treatment of THP-1 cells when supplemented with a positive control, phorbol-12-myristate-13 acetate (PMA), as compared to PMA treatment alone. These investigations using the in vitro THP-1 human monocyte cell model indicate that there may be an increase in the response on a cellular level to oral endotoxin following GM-CSF therapy as evidenced by enhanced production of the tissue-reactive inflammatory cytokine, IL-8.

The significance of fructose and MSG in affecting lipid and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) production of Aurantiochytrium sp. SW1

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Shariffah Nurhidayah Syed Abdul; Kalil, Mohd Sahaid; Hamid, Aidil Abdul

2018-04-01

Optimization of fermentation medium for the production of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) by Aurantiochytrium sp. SW1 was carried out. In this study, levels of fructose, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and sea salt were optimized for enhanced lipid and DHA production using response surface methodology (RSM). The design contains a total of 20 runs with 6 central points replication. Cultivation was carried out in 500 mL flasks containing 100 mL nitrogen limited medium at 30°C for 96h. Sequential model sum of squares (SS) revealed that the system was adequately represented by a quadratic model (p<0.0001). ANOVA results showed that fructose and MSG as a single factor has significant positive effect on the DHA content of SW1. The estimated optimal levels of the factors were 100 g/L fructose, 8 g/L MSG and 47% sea salt. Subsequent cultivation employing the suggested values confirmed that the predicted response values were experimentally achievable and reproducible, where 8.82 g/L DHA (51.34% g/g lipid) was achieved.

Neutron production enhancements for the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iverson, E. B.

1999-01-04

The Intense Pulsed Neutron Source (IPNS) was the first high energy spallation neutron source in the US dedicated to materials research. It has operated for sixteen years, and in that time has had a very prolific record concerning the development of new target and moderator systems for pulsed spallation sources. IPNS supports a very productive user program on its thirteen instruments, which are oversubscribed by more than two times, meanwhile having an excellent overall reliability of 95%. Although the proton beam power is relatively low at 7 kW, the target and moderator systems are very efficient. The typical beam power which gives an equivalent flux for long-wavelength neutrons is about 60 kW, due to the use of a uranium target and liquid and solid methane moderators, precluded at some sources due to a higher accelerator power. The development of new target and moderator systems is by no means stagnant at IPNS. They are presently considering numerous enhancements to the target and moderators that offer prospects for increasing the useful neutron production by substantial factors. Many of these enhancements could be combined, although their combined benefit has not yet been well established. Meanwhile, IPNS is embarking on a coherent program of study concerning these improvements and their possible combination and implementation. Moreover, any improvements accomplished at IPNS would immediately increase the performance of IPNS instruments.

Neutron production enhancements for the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iverson, E. B.

1999-01-01

The Intense Pulsed Neutron Source (IPNS) was the first high energy spallation neutron source in the US dedicated to materials research. It has operated for sixteen years, and in that time has had a very prolific record concerning the development of new target and moderator systems for pulsed spallation sources. IPNS supports a very productive user program on its thirteen instruments, which are oversubscribed by more than two times, meanwhile having an excellent overall reliability of 95%. Although the proton beam power is relatively low at 7 kW, the target and moderator systems are very efficient. The typical beam power which gives an equivalent flux for long-wavelength neutrons is about 60 kW, due to the use of a uranium target and liquid and solid methane moderators, precluded at some sources due to a higher accelerator power. The development of new target and moderator systems is by no means stagnant at IPNS. They are presently considering numerous enhancements to the target and moderators that offer prospects for increasing the useful neutron production by substantial factors. Many of these enhancements could be combined, although their combined benefit has not yet been well established. Meanwhile, IPNS is embarking on a coherent program of study concerning these improvements and their possible combination and implementation. Moreover, any improvements accomplished at IPNS would immediately increase the performance of IPNS instruments

Using a wire coil insert for biodiesel production enhancement in a microreactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aghel, Babak; Rahimi, Masoud; Sepahvand, Arash; Alitabar, Mohammad; Ghasempour, Hamid Reza

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: Schematic view of microreactor system. - Highlights: • A wire coil insert was used to promote mixing in a biodiesel microreactor. • Advantages of using the wire coil in the microreactor over plain one are shown. • A yield of 99% was obtained in the modified microreactor after 180 s. • RSM and the Box–Behnken method were used to optimize the biodiesel production. • Advantages of using this system over other conventional reactors are illustrated. - Abstract: In the present work, the application of wire coil to promote mixing in a microreactor during continuous production of biodiesel was studied. For this aim, soybean oil as a feedstock and potassium hydroxide as a homogeneous catalyzed were used. The influences of the various parameters such as geometric and operational conditions on the performance of biodiesel production were experimentally examined. Response surface methodology (RSM) in conjunction with the Box–Behnken method was used to statistically analyze and optimize the biodiesel production process. The comparison between two types of reactors (with and without wire coil) shows a significant enhancement in mixing during transesterification. The impacts of different wire coil lengths and wire coil pitchs on methyl ester conversion were also investigated. A reaction yield of 99% at the residence time of 180 s was obtained in the modified microreactor. However, the measured pressure drop show that the microreactor equipped with wire coil consumed more energy. Therefore, performance ratio was defined to evaluate energy efficiency and the results show the advantage of using the wire coil insert in lower feed flow rates

Assessment of environmental stresses for enhanced microalgal biofuel production-an overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan eCheng

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Microalgal biofuels are currently considered to be the most promising alternative to future renewable energy source. Microalgae have great potential to produce various biofuels, including biodiesel, bioethanol, biomethane, and biohydrogen. Cultivation of biofuel-producing microalgae demands favorable environmental conditions, such as suitable light, temperature, nutrients, salinity, and pH. However, these conditions are not always compatible with the conditions beneficial to biofuel production, because biofuel-related compounds (such as lipids and carbohydrates tend to accumulate under environmental-stress conditions of light, temperature, nutrient, and salt. This paper presents a brief overview of the effects of environmental conditions on production of microalgal biomass and biofuel, with specific emphasis on how to utilize environmental stresses to improve biofuel productivity. The potential avenues of reaping the benefits of enhanced biofuel production by environmental stresses while maintaining high yields of biomass production have been discussed.

Improvement of erythrose reductase activity, deletion of by-products and statistical media optimization for enhanced erythritol production from Yarrowia lipolytica mutant 49.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghezelbash, Gholam Reza; Nahvi, Iraj; Emamzadeh, Rahman

2014-08-01

The purpose of the present investigation was to produce erythritol by Yarrowia lipolytica mutant without any by-products. Mutants of Y. lipolytica were generated by ultra-violet for enhancing erythrose reductase (ER) activity and erythritol production. The mutants showing the highest ER activity were screened by triphenyl tetrazolium chloride agar plate assay. Productivity of samples was analyzed by thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with the refractive index detector. One of the mutants named as mutant 49 gave maximum erythritol production without any other by-products (particularly glycerol). Erythritol production and specific ER activity in mutant 49 increased to 1.65 and 1.47 times, respectively, in comparison with wild-type strain. The ER gene of wild and mutant strains was sequenced and analyzed. A general comparison of wild and mutant gene sequences showed the replacement of Asp(270) with Glu(270) in ER protein. In order to enhance erythritol production, we used a three component-three level-one response Box-Behnken of response surface methodology model. The optimum medium composition for erythritol production was found to be (g/l) glucose 279.49, ammonium sulfate 9.28, and pH 5.41 with 39.76 erythritol production.

Polarized electrode enhances biological direct interspecies electron transfer for methane production in upflow anaerobic bioelectrochemical reactor.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Qing; Song, Young-Chae; Yoo, Kyuseon; Kuppanan, Nanthakumar; Subudhi, Sanjukta; Lal, Banwari

2018-08-01

The influence of polarized electrodes on the methane production, which depends on the sludge concentration, was investigated in upflow anaerobic bioelectrochemical (UABE) reactor. When the polarized electrode was placed in the bottom zone with a high sludge concentration, the methane production was 5.34 L/L.d, which was 53% higher than upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor. However, the methane production was reduced to 4.34 L/L.d by placing the electrode in the upper zone of the UABE reactor with lower sludge concentration. In the UABE reactor, the methane production was mainly improved by the enhanced biological direct interspecies electron transfer (bDIET) pathway, and the methane production via the electrode was a minor fraction of less than 4% of total methane production. The polarized electrodes that placed in the bottom zone with a high sludge concentration enhance the bDIET for methane production in the UABE reactor and greatly improve the methane production. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Enhancement of fermentative hydrogen production from green algal biomass of Thermotoga neapolitana by various pretreatment methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nguyen, Tam-Anh D.; Kim, Kyoung-Rok; Nguyen, Minh-Thu; Sim, Sang Jun [Department of Chemical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Mi Sun [Bioenergy Research Center, Korea Institute of Energy Research, Daejeon 305-343 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Donhue [Department of Biochemical Engineering, Dongyang Mirae College, Seoul 152-714 (Korea, Republic of)

2010-12-15

Biomass of the green algae has been recently an attractive feedstock source for bio-fuel production because the algal carbohydrates can be derived from atmospheric CO{sub 2} and their harvesting methods are simple. We utilized the accumulated starch in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as the sole substrate for fermentative hydrogen (H{sub 2}) production by the hyperthermophilic eubacterium Thermotoga neapolitana. Because of possessing amylase activity, the bacterium could directly ferment H{sub 2} from algal starch with H{sub 2} yield of 1.8-2.2 mol H{sub 2}/mol glucose and the total accumulated H{sub 2} level from 43 to 49% (v/v) of the gas headspace in the closed culture bottle depending on various algal cell-wall disruption methods concluding sonication or methanol exposure. Attempting to enhance the H{sub 2} production, two pretreatment methods using the heat-HCl treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis were applied on algal biomass before using it as substrate for H{sub 2} fermentation. Cultivation with starch pretreated by 1.5% HCl at 121 C for 20 min showed the total accumulative H{sub 2} yield of 58% (v/v). In other approach, enzymatic digestion of starch by thermostable {alpha}-amylase (Termamyl) applied in the SHF process significantly enhanced the H{sub 2} productivity of the bacterium to 64% (v/v) of total accumulated H{sub 2} level and a H{sub 2} yield of 2.5 mol H{sub 2}/mol glucose. Our results demonstrated that direct H{sub 2} fermentation from algal biomass is more desirably potential because one bacterial cultivation step was required that meets the cost-savings, environmental friendly and simplicity of H{sub 2} production. (author)

Enhancement of carbon dioxide reduction and methane production by an obligate anaerobe and gas dissolution device.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Seungjin; Choi, Kwangkeun; Kim, Jong-Oh; Chung, Jinwook

2016-01-25

The use of gas dissolution devices to improve the efficiency of H2 dissolution has enhanced CO2 reduction and CH4 production. In addition, the nutrients that initially existed in anaerobic sludge were exhausted over time, and the activities of anaerobic microorganisms declined. When nutrients were artificially injected, CO2 reduction and CH4 production rates climbed. Thus, assuming that the activity of the obligatory anaerobic microorganisms is maintained, a gas dissolution device will further enhance the efficiency of CO2 reduction and CH4 production. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Enhancement and Optimization Mechanisms of Biogas Production for Rural Household Energy in Developing Countries: A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yitayal Addis Alemayehu

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Anaerobic digestion is common but vital process used for biogas and fertilizer production as well as one method for waste treatment. The process is currently used in developing countries primarily for biogas production in the household level of rural people. The aim of this review is to indicate possible ways of including rural households who own less than four heads of cattle for the biogas programs in developing countries. The review provides different research out puts on using biogas substrates other than cow dung or its mix through different enhancement and optimization mechanisms. Many biodegradable materials have been studied for alternative methane production. Therefore, these substrates could be used for production by addressing the optimum conditions for each factor and each processes for enhanced and optimized biogas production.

Enhanced ergonomics approaches for product design: a user experience ecosystem perspective and case studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Wei

2014-01-01

This paper first discusses the major inefficiencies faced in current human factors and ergonomics (HFE) approaches: (1) delivering an optimal end-to-end user experience (UX) to users of a solution across its solution lifecycle stages; (2) strategically influencing the product business and technology capability roadmaps from a UX perspective and (3) proactively identifying new market opportunities and influencing the platform architecture capabilities on which the UX of end products relies. In response to these challenges, three case studies are presented to demonstrate how enhanced ergonomics design approaches have effectively addressed the challenges faced in current HFE approaches. Then, the enhanced ergonomics design approaches are conceptualised by a user-experience ecosystem (UXE) framework, from a UX ecosystem perspective. Finally, evidence supporting the UXE, the advantage and the formalised process for executing UXE and methodological considerations are discussed. Practitioner Summary: This paper presents enhanced ergonomics approaches to product design via three case studies to effectively address current HFE challenges by leveraging a systematic end-to-end UX approach, UX roadmaps and emerging UX associated with prioritised user needs and usages. Thus, HFE professionals can be more strategic, creative and influential.

Enhanced aflatoxin production by aspergillus parasiticus and aspergillus flavus after low dose gamma irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Hitoshi

1992-01-01

Spores of Aspergillus parasiticus IFO 30179 and A. flavus var. columnaris S46 were irradiated at 0.05, 0.2 and 0.4 kGy in the synthetic low salts (SL) broth, and the effect on aflatoxin production was examined after 10 days incubation at 30 or 25degC. In these two strains, irradiation of spores at 0.05 kGy resulted in higher B1 or G1 production than the non-irradiated controles. However, spores of the both strains irradiated at 0.2 or 0.4 kGy produced less aflatoxins than non-irradiated controles. In the SL broth, apparent stimulation by low dose irradiation was slight, and these enhanced effects were not observed after reinfection to fresh SL broth. In the case of food samples, the levels of aflatoxin B 1 and G 1 with A. parasiticus were increased from 15 to 90% by incubation of irradiated spores at 1 kGy in autoclaved polished rice, black pepper, white pepper and red pepper. These enhancement would be induced by change of composition in each substrates. Mutations of fungi induced by irradiation is not effective for enhancement of aflatoxin production. (author)

Microwave-assisted synthesis of NiS2 nanostructures for supercapacitors and cocatalytic enhancing photocatalytic H2 production

Science.gov (United States)

Pang, Huan; Wei, Chengzhen; Li, Xuexue; Li, Guochang; Ma, Yahui; Li, Sujuan; Chen, Jing; Zhang, Jiangshan

2014-01-01

Uniform NiS2 nanocubes are successfully synthesized with a microwave-assisted method. Interestingly, NiS2 nanocubes, nanospheres and nanoparticles are obtained by controlling microwave reaction time. NiS2 nanomaterials are primarily applied to supercapacitors and cocatalytic enhancing photocatalytic H2 production. Different morphologies of NiS2 nanostructures show different electrochemical and cocatalytic enhancing H2 production activities. Benefited novel nanostructures, NiS2 nanocube electrodes show a large specific capacitance (695 F g-1 at 1.25 A g-1) and excellent cycling performance (the retention 93.4% of initial specific capacitance after 3000 cycles). More importantly, NiS2 nanospheres show highly cocatalytic enhancing photocatalytic for H2 evolution, in which the photocatalytic H2 production is up to 3400 μmol during 12 hours under irradiation of visible light (λ>420 nm) with an average H2 production rate of 283 μmol h-1.

Enhanced Simulated Annealing for Solving Aggregate Production Planning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohd Rizam Abu Bakar

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Simulated annealing (SA has been an effective means that can address difficulties related to optimisation problems. SA is now a common discipline for research with several productive applications such as production planning. Due to the fact that aggregate production planning (APP is one of the most considerable problems in production planning, in this paper, we present multiobjective linear programming model for APP and optimised by SA. During the course of optimising for the APP problem, it uncovered that the capability of SA was inadequate and its performance was substandard, particularly for a sizable controlled APP problem with many decision variables and plenty of constraints. Since this algorithm works sequentially then the current state will generate only one in next state that will make the search slower and the drawback is that the search may fall in local minimum which represents the best solution in only part of the solution space. In order to enhance its performance and alleviate the deficiencies in the problem solving, a modified SA (MSA is proposed. We attempt to augment the search space by starting with N+1 solutions, instead of one solution. To analyse and investigate the operations of the MSA with the standard SA and harmony search (HS, the real performance of an industrial company and simulation are made for evaluation. The results show that, compared to SA and HS, MSA offers better quality solutions with regard to convergence and accuracy.

Current lipid extraction methods are significantly enhanced adding a water treatment step in Chlorella protothecoides.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Xiaojie; Zhao, Xinhe; Turcotte, François; Deschênes, Jean-Sébastien; Tremblay, Réjean; Jolicoeur, Mario

2017-02-11

Microalgae have the potential to rapidly accumulate lipids of high interest for the food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and energy (e.g. biodiesel) industries. However, current lipid extraction methods show efficiency limitation and until now, extraction protocols have not been fully optimized for specific lipid compounds. The present study thus presents a novel lipid extraction method, consisting in the addition of a water treatment of biomass between the two-stage solvent extraction steps of current extraction methods. The resulting modified method not only enhances lipid extraction efficiency, but also yields a higher triacylglycerols (TAG) ratio, which is highly desirable for biodiesel production. Modification of four existing methods using acetone, chloroform/methanol (Chl/Met), chloroform/methanol/H 2 O (Chl/Met/H 2 O) and dichloromethane/methanol (Dic/Met) showed respective lipid extraction yield enhancement of 72.3, 35.8, 60.3 and 60.9%. The modified acetone method resulted in the highest extraction yield, with 68.9 ± 0.2% DW total lipids. Extraction of TAG was particularly improved with the water treatment, especially for the Chl/Met/H 2 O and Dic/Met methods. The acetone method with the water treatment led to the highest extraction level of TAG with 73.7 ± 7.3 µg/mg DW, which is 130.8 ± 10.6% higher than the maximum value obtained for the four classical methods (31.9 ± 4.6 µg/mg DW). Interestingly, the water treatment preferentially improved the extraction of intracellular fractions, i.e. TAG, sterols, and free fatty acids, compared to the lipid fractions of the cell membranes, which are constituted of phospholipids (PL), acetone mobile polar lipids and hydrocarbons. Finally, from the 32 fatty acids analyzed for both neutral lipids (NL) and polar lipids (PL) fractions, it is clear that the water treatment greatly improves NL-to-PL ratio for the four standard methods assessed. Water treatment of biomass after the first solvent extraction step

Biochemically enhanced methane production from coal

Science.gov (United States)

Opara, Aleksandra

For many years, biogas was connected mostly with the organic matter decomposition in shallow sediments (e.g., wetlands, landfill gas, etc.). Recently, it has been realized that biogenic methane production is ongoing in many hydrocarbon reservoirs. This research examined microbial methane and carbon dioxide generation from coal. As original contributions methane production from various coal materials was examined in classical and electro-biochemical bench-scale reactors using unique, developed facultative microbial consortia that generate methane under anaerobic conditions. Facultative methanogenic populations are important as all known methanogens are strict anaerobes and their application outside laboratory would be problematic. Additional testing examined the influence of environmental conditions, such as pH, salinity, and nutrient amendments on methane and carbon dioxide generation. In 44-day ex-situ bench-scale batch bioreactor tests, up to 300,000 and 250,000 ppm methane was generated from bituminous coal and bituminous coal waste respectively, a significant improvement over 20-40 ppm methane generated from control samples. Chemical degradation of complex hydrocarbons using environmentally benign reagents, prior to microbial biodegradation and methanogenesis, resulted in dissolution of up to 5% bituminous coal and bituminous coal waste and up to 25% lignite in samples tested. Research results confirm that coal waste may be a significant underutilized resource that could be converted to useful fuel. Rapid acidification of lignite samples resulted in low pH (below 4.0), regardless of chemical pretreatment applied, and did not generate significant methane amounts. These results confirmed the importance of monitoring and adjusting in situ and ex situ environmental conditions during methane production. A patented Electro-Biochemical Reactor technology was used to supply electrons and electron acceptor environments, but appeared to influence methane generation in a

Significance of Additional Non-Mass Enhancement in Patients with Breast Cancer on Preoperative 3T Dynamic Contrast Enhanced MRI of the Breast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Yun Hee; Cho, Kyu Ran; Park, Eun Kyung; Seo, Bo Kyoung; Woo, Ok Hee; Cho, Sung Bum; Bae, Jeoung Won

2016-01-01

In preoperative assessment of breast cancer, MRI has been shown to identify more additional breast lesions than are detectable using conventional imaging techniques. The characterization of additional lesions is more important than detection for optimal surgical treatment. Additional breast lesions can be included in focus, mass, and non-mass enhancement (NME) on MRI. According to the fifth edition of the breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS®), which includes several changes in the NME descriptors, few studies to date have evaluated NME in preoperative assessment of breast cancer. We investigated the diagnostic accuracy of BI-RADS descriptors in predicting malignancy for additional NME lesions detected on preoperative 3T dynamic contrast enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer. Between January 2008 and December 2012, 88 patients were enrolled in our study, all with NME lesions other than the index cancer on preoperative 3T DCE-MRI and all with accompanying histopathologic examination. The MRI findings were analyzed according to the BI-RADS MRI lexicon. We evaluated the size, distribution, internal enhancement pattern, and location of NME lesions relative to the index cancer (i.e., same quadrant, different quadrant, or contralateral breast). On histopathologic analysis of the 88 NME lesions, 73 (83%) were malignant and 15 (17%) were benign. Lesion size did not differ significantly between malignant and benign lesions (P = 0.410). Malignancy was more frequent in linear (P = 0.005) and segmental (P = 0.011) distributions, and benignancy was more frequent in focal (P = 0.004) and regional (P < 0.001) NME lesions. The highest positive predictive value (PPV) for malignancy occurred in segmental (96.8%), linear (95.1%), clustered ring (100%), and clumped (92.0%) enhancement. Asymmetry demonstrated a high positive predictive value of 85.9%. The frequency of malignancy was higher for NME lesions located in the same quadrant with

Microbial community structure in a thermophilic aerobic digester used as a sludge pretreatment process for the mesophilic anaerobic digestion and the enhancement of methane production.

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Hyun Min; Park, Sang Kyu; Ha, Jeong Hyub; Park, Jong Moon

2013-10-01

An effective two-stage sewage sludge digestion process, consisting of thermophilic aerobic digestion (TAD) followed by mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD), was developed for efficient sludge reduction and methane production. Using TAD as a biological pretreatment, the total volatile suspended solid reduction (VSSR) and methane production rate (MPR) in the MAD reactor were significantly improved. According to denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis, the results indicated that the dominant bacteria species such as Ureibacillus thermophiles and Bacterium thermus in TAD were major routes for enhancing soluble organic matter. TAD pretreatment using a relatively short SRT of 1 day showed highly increased soluble organic products and positively affected an increment of bacteria populations which performed interrelated microbial metabolisms with methanogenic species in the MAD; consequently, a quantitative real-time PCR indicated greatly increased Methanosarcinales (acetate-utilizing methanogens) in the MAD, resulting in enhanced methane production. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heat extraction and power production forecast of a prospective Enhanced Geothermal System site in Songliao Basin, China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Xiaoxue; Zhu, Jialing; Niu, Chengke; Li, Jun; Hu, Xia; Jin, Xianpeng

2014-01-01

As a promising advanced technology, Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) utilizing deep geothermal energy has gained increasing attention. Production performance of a prospective EGS site in Songliao Basin was evaluated through mathematical modeling. Firstly, numerical simulation of heat extraction process in the fractured reservoir was carried out. To take account of the flow process in wellbores, reservoir-wellbore coupled simulation was undertaken through indirect coupling of TOUGH2 with the wellbore simulator HOLA, in which dynamic treatment of the wellbottom pressure was enabled. Power production performance was then investigated through thermodynamic modeling of an electricity generation system using the output from the reservoir-wellbore coupled simulation. The results suggest that the desirable thermal efficiency and gross power output could be obtained initially, whereas the decrease in production arising from thermal depletion of the reservoir is significant at later stages of operation. Meanwhile, the power consumption of the injection pump takes up an increasing amount of the generated power. It can be inferred from the comparison between simulations with and without coupling that a downhole pump could improve the hydraulic performance notably with little sacrifice of the thermal performance. - Highlights: • An Enhanced Geothermal System based on field data in Songliao Basin is modelled. • We apply reservoir-wellbore and thermodynamic modeling for production evaluation. • Commercial objective is attained at the early stages, and decreases heavily afterward. • Mass flow rate decreases due to wellbottom pressure variation as enthalpy decreases. • Hydraulic performance is improved under the constant wellbottom pressure

Drug-enhanced carbon monoxide production from heme by cytochrome P450 reductase

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dragic Vukomanovic

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Carbon monoxide (CO formed endogenously is considered to be cytoprotective, and the vast majority of CO formation is attributed to the degradation of heme by heme oxygenases-1 and -2 (HO-1, HO-2. Previously, we observed that brain microsomes containing HO-2 produced many-fold more CO in the presence of menadione and its congeners; herein we explored these observations further. We determined the effects of various drugs on CO production of rat brain microsomes and recombinant human cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR; CO was measured by gas chromatography with reductive detection. Brain microsomes of Sprague-Dawley rats or recombinant human cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR were incubated with NADPH and various drugs in closed vials in phosphate buffer at pH 7.4 and 37°C. After 15 minutes, the reaction was stopped by cooling in dry ice, and the headspace gas was analyzed for CO production using gas chromatography with reductive (mercuric oxide detection. We observed drug-enhanced CO production in the presence of both microsomes and recombinant CPR alone; the presence of HO was not required. A range of structurally diverse drugs were capable of amplifying this CO formation; these molecules had structures consistent with redox cycling capability. The addition of catalase to a reaction mixture, that contained activating drugs, inhibited the production of CO. Drug-enhanced CO formation can be catalyzed by CPR. The mechanism of CPR activation was not through classical drug-receptor mediation. Redox cycling may be involved in the drug-induced amplification of CO production by CPR through the production of reactive oxygen species.

Microwave-assisted synthesis of NiS2 nanostructures for supercapacitors and cocatalytic enhancing photocatalytic H2 production

Science.gov (United States)

Pang, Huan; Wei, Chengzhen; Li, Xuexue; Li, Guochang; Ma, Yahui; Li, Sujuan; Chen, Jing; Zhang, Jiangshan

2014-01-01

Uniform NiS2 nanocubes are successfully synthesized with a microwave-assisted method. Interestingly, NiS2 nanocubes, nanospheres and nanoparticles are obtained by controlling microwave reaction time. NiS2 nanomaterials are primarily applied to supercapacitors and cocatalytic enhancing photocatalytic H2 production. Different morphologies of NiS2 nanostructures show different electrochemical and cocatalytic enhancing H2 production activities. Benefited novel nanostructures, NiS2 nanocube electrodes show a large specific capacitance (695 F g−1 at 1.25 A g−1) and excellent cycling performance (the retention 93.4% of initial specific capacitance after 3000 cycles). More importantly, NiS2 nanospheres show highly cocatalytic enhancing photocatalytic for H2 evolution, in which the photocatalytic H2 production is up to 3400 μmol during 12 hours under irradiation of visible light (λ>420 nm) with an average H2 production rate of 283 μmol h−1. PMID:24389929

Significantly improving trace thallium removal from surface waters during coagulation enhanced by nanosized manganese dioxide.

Science.gov (United States)

Huangfu, Xiaoliu; Ma, Chengxue; Ma, Jun; He, Qiang; Yang, Chun; Jiang, Jin; Wang, Yaan; Wu, Zhengsong

2017-02-01

Thallium (Tl) is an element of high toxicity and significant accumulation in human body. There is an urgent need for the development of appropriate strategies for trace Tl removal in drinking water treatment plants. In this study, the efficiency and mechanism of trace Tl (0.5 μg/L) removal by conventional coagulation enhanced by nanosized manganese dioxide (nMnO 2 ) were explored in simulated water and two representative surface waters (a river water and a reservoir water obtained from Northeast China). Experimental results showed that nMnO 2 significantly improve Tl(I) removal from selected waters. The removal efficiency was dramatically higher in the simulated water, demonstrating by less than 0.1 μg/L Tl residual. The enhancement of trace Tl removal in the surface waters decreased to a certain extent. Both adjusting water pH to alkaline condition and preoxidation of Tl(I) to Tl(III) benefit trace Tl removal from surface waters. Data also indicated that competitive cation of Ca 2+ decreased the efficiency of trace Tl removal, resulting from the reduction of Tl adsorption on nMnO 2 . Humic acid could largely low Tl removal efficiency during nMnO 2 enhanced coagulation processes. Trace elemental Tl firstly adsorbed on nMnO 2 and then removed accompanying with nMnO 2 settling. The information obtained in the present study may provide a potential strategy for drinking water treatment plants threatened by trace Tl. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physiochemical parameters optimization for enhanced nisin production by Lactococcus lactis (MTCC 440

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Puspadhwaja Mall

2010-02-01

Full Text Available The influence of various physiochemical parameters on the growth of Lactococcus lactis sub sp. lactis MTCC 440 was studied at shake flask level for 20 h. Media optimization (MRS broth was studied to achieve enhanced growth of the organism and also nisin production. Bioassay of nisin was done with agar diffusion method using Streptococcus agalactae NCIM 2401 as indicator strain. MRS broth (6%, w/v with 0.15μg/ml of nisin supplemented with 0.5% (v/v skimmed milk was found to be the best for nisin production as well as for growth of L lactis. The production of nisin was strongly influenced by the presence of skimmed milk and nisin in MRS broth. The production of nisin was affected by the physical parameters and maximum nisin production was at 30(0C while the optimal temperature for biomass production was 37(0C.

Material flow enhancement in production assembly lines under application of zoned order picking systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Živanić

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Introduced research work relates to the possibility of material flow enhancement in production systems, with the apostrophe on material order picking in production assembly lines. The paper presents basic rules and the results related to formed computer models of zoned order picking systems under the application of developed bound cavities method.

Enhancement of Biogas Production from Bakery Waste by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

OpenAIRE

S. Potivichayanon; T. Sungmon; W. Chaikongmao; S. Kamvanin

2011-01-01

Production of biogas from bakery waste was enhanced by additional bacterial cell. This study was divided into 2 steps. First step, grease waste from bakery industry-s grease trap was initially degraded by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The concentration of byproduct, especially glycerol, was determined and found that glycerol concentration increased from 12.83% to 48.10%. Secondary step, 3 biodigesters were set up in 3 different substrates: non-degraded waste as substrate in fir...

Enhanced antiproton production in Pb(160 A GeV)+Pb reactions evidence for quark gluon matter?

CERN Document Server

Bleicher, M; Bass, S A; Soff, S; Stöcker, H

2000-01-01

The centrality dependence of the antiproton per participant ratio is studied in Pb(160 AGeV)+Pb reactions. Antiproton production in collisions of heavy nuclei at the CERN/SPS seems considerably enhanced as compared to conventional hadronic physics, given by the antiproton production rates in $pp$ and antiproton annihilation in $\\bar{p}p$ reactions. This enhancement is consistent with the observation of strong in-medium effects in other hadronic observables and may be an indication of partial restoration of chiral symmetry.

Enhanced photocatalytic H{sub 2} production on CdS nanorod using cobalt-phosphate as oxidation cocatalyst

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Di, Tingmin; Zhu, Bicheng; Zhang, Jun; Cheng, Bei [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070 (China); Yu, Jiaguo, E-mail: jiaguoyu@yahoo.com [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070 (China); Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589 (Saudi Arabia)

2016-12-15

Highlights: • Co-Pi/CdS composites were synthesized by a simple photodeposition method. • The composites showed superior photocatalytic H{sub 2} production activity. • The optimal H{sub 2} production rate of Co-Pi/CdS was even higher than that of Pt-CdS. • Co-Pi is a good oxidation cocatalyst used for capture of photogenerated hole. - Abstract: Employing visible light responsive semiconductor for photocatalytic hydrogen production by water splitting is an efficient way for utilizing renewable solar energy to solve the depletion of fossil fuel and environmental contamination. Herein, we report enhanced photocatalytic H{sub 2}-production performance over CdS nanorod using cobalt-phosphate (Co-Pi) as a water oxdation cocatalyst. The optimal Co-Pi modified CdS nanocomposite photocatalyst with the Co-Pi content of 8.4 mol% has a superior visible light H{sub 2}-production rate of 13.3 mmol h{sup −1} g{sup −1} with an apparent quantum efficiency of 24.3% at 420 nm, which is even higher than that of 1 wt% Pt-CdS (11.3 mmol h{sup −1} g{sup −1}) under the same conditions. The enhanced visible-light photocatalytic H{sub 2} production activity was attributed to the hole trapping and collecting ability of Co-Pi cocatalyst, which could effectively suppress the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and increase the electron density for hydrogen production. This work shows a possibility of using earth-abundant Co-Pi as cocatalyst for enhancing photocatalytic H{sub 2} production.

Assessment of Environmental Stresses for Enhanced Microalgal Biofuel Production – An Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, Dan; He, Qingfang

2014-01-01

Microalgal biofuels are currently considered to be the most promising alternative to future renewable energy source. Microalgae have great potential to produce various biofuels, including biodiesel, bioethanol, biomethane, and biohydrogen. Cultivation of biofuel-producing microalgae demands favorable environmental conditions, such as suitable light, temperature, nutrients, salinity, and pH. However, these conditions are not always compatible with the conditions beneficial to biofuel production, because biofuel-related compounds (such as lipids and carbohydrates) tend to accumulate under environmental-stress conditions of light, temperature, nutrient, and salt. This paper presents a brief overview of the effects of environmental conditions on production of microalgal biomass and biofuel, with specific emphasis on how to utilize environmental stresses to improve biofuel productivity. The potential avenues of reaping the benefits of enhanced biofuel production by environmental stresses while maintaining high yields of biomass production have been discussed.

Assessment of Environmental Stresses for Enhanced Microalgal Biofuel Production – An Overview

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheng, Dan, E-mail: dxcheng@ualr.edu; He, Qingfang, E-mail: dxcheng@ualr.edu [Department of Applied Science, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR (United States)

2014-07-07

Microalgal biofuels are currently considered to be the most promising alternative to future renewable energy source. Microalgae have great potential to produce various biofuels, including biodiesel, bioethanol, biomethane, and biohydrogen. Cultivation of biofuel-producing microalgae demands favorable environmental conditions, such as suitable light, temperature, nutrients, salinity, and pH. However, these conditions are not always compatible with the conditions beneficial to biofuel production, because biofuel-related compounds (such as lipids and carbohydrates) tend to accumulate under environmental-stress conditions of light, temperature, nutrient, and salt. This paper presents a brief overview of the effects of environmental conditions on production of microalgal biomass and biofuel, with specific emphasis on how to utilize environmental stresses to improve biofuel productivity. The potential avenues of reaping the benefits of enhanced biofuel production by environmental stresses while maintaining high yields of biomass production have been discussed.

Induction of Apoptosis in Human Multiple Myeloma Cell Lines by Ebselen via Enhancing the Endogenous Reactive Oxygen Species Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Ebselen a selenoorganic compound showing glutathione peroxidase like activity is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidative agent. Its cytoprotective activity has been investigated in recent years. However, experimental evidence also shows that ebselen causes cell death in several cancer cell types whose mechanism has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we examined the effect of ebselen on multiple myeloma (MM cell lines in vitro. The results showed that ebselen significantly enhanced the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS accompanied by cell viability decrease and apoptosis rate increase. Further studies revealed that ebselen can induce Bax redistribution from the cytosol to mitochondria leading to mitochondrial membrane potential ΔΨm changes and cytochrome C release from the mitochondria to cytosol. Furtherly, we found that exogenous addition of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC completely diminished the cell damage induced by ebselen. This result suggests that relatively high concentration of ebselen can induce MM cells apoptosis in culture by enhancing the production of endogenous ROS and triggering mitochondria mediated apoptotic pathway.

Sodium ions activated phosphofructokinase leading to enhanced D-lactic acid production by Sporolactobacillus inulinus using sodium hydroxide as a neutralizing agent.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Lu; Liu, Mingqing; Sun, Jiaduo; Wu, Bin; He, Bingfang

2017-05-01

Sporolactobacillus inulinus is a superior D-lactic acid-producing bacterium and proposed species for industrial production. The major pathway for D-lactic acid biosynthesis, glycolysis, is mainly regulated via the two irreversible steps catalyzed by the allosteric enzymes, phosphofructokinase (PFK) and pyruvate kinase. The activity level of PFK was significantly consistent with the cell growth and D-lactic acid production, indicating its vital role in control and regulation of glycolysis. In this study, the ATP-dependent PFK from S. inulinus was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. The PFK was allosterically activated by both GDP and ADP and inhibited by phosphoenolpyruvate; the addition of activators could partly relieve the inhibition by phosphoenolpyruvate. Furthermore, monovalent cations could enhance the activity, and Na + was the most efficient one. Considering this kind activation, NaOH was investigated as the neutralizer instead of the traditional neutralizer CaCO 3 . In the early growth stage, the significant accelerated glucose consumption was achieved in the NaOH case probably for the enhanced activity of Na + -activated PFK. Using NaOH as the neutralizer at pH 6.5, the fermentation time was greatly shortened about 22 h; simultaneously, the glucose consumption rate and the D-lactic acid productivity were increased by 34 and 17%, respectively. This probably contributed to the increased pH and Na + -promoted activity of PFK. Thus, fermentations by S. inulinus using the NaOH neutralizer provide a green and highly efficient D-lactic acid production with easy subsequent purification.

Noble metal-free RGO/TiO2 composite nanofiber with enhanced photocatalytic H2-production performance

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Difa; Li, Lingling; He, Rongan; Qi, Lifang; Zhang, Liuyang; Cheng, Bei

2018-03-01

1D reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/TiO2 nanocomposite fibers were fabricated by a facile two-step method. These samples demonstrated high photocatalytic H2-production activity from methanol aqueous solution, even without the aid of noble metal. When the ratio of RGO is 0.25 wt%, the highest H2-production rate was achieved. It increased by 10 fold than bare TiO2, reaching 149 μmol h-1 g-1 with quantum efficiency (QE) of 0.75%. The reasons were as follows. Firstly, the RGO nanosheets acted as electron acceptors. Secondly, some shallow trap states at the surface or interface of TiO2 were created by the reduction of GO during calcination. Thirdly, the redox potential position of graphene/graphene- was suitable. Fourthly, RGO could efficiently promote the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and significantly enhance the photocatalytic H2-production activity. This interpretation was corroborated by transient photocurrent response. The aforementioned marvelous results provided a probable solution to replace noble metals (such as Pt) by graphene as an effective cocatalyst.

Sorption Enhanced Reaction Process (SERP) for production of hydrogen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anand, M.; Hufton, J.; Mayorga, S. [Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Allentown, PA (United States)] [and others

1996-10-01

Sorption Enhanced Reaction Process (SERP) is a novel process that is being developed for the production of lower cost hydrogen by steam-methane reforming (SMR). In this process the reaction of methane with steam is carried out in the presence of an admixture of a catalyst and a selective adsorbent for carbon dioxide. The key consequences of SERP are: (i) reformation reaction is carried out at a significantly lower temperature (300-500{degrees}C) than that in a conventional SMR reactor (800-1100{degrees}C), while achieving the same conversion of methane to hydrogen, (ii) the product hydrogen is obtained at reactor pressure (200-400 psig) and at 98+% purity directly from the reactor (compared to only 70-75% H{sub 2} from conventional SMR reactor), (iii) downstream hydrogen purification step is either eliminated or significantly reduced in size. The first phase of the program has focused on the development of a sorbent for CO{sub 2} which has (a) reversible CO{sub 2} capacity >0.3 mmol/g at low partial pressures of CO{sub 2} (0.1 - 1.0 atm) in the presence of excess steam (pH{sub 2}O/pCO{sub 2}>20) at 400-500{degrees}C and (b) fast sorption-desorption kinetics for CO{sub 2}, at 400-500{degrees}C. Several families of supported sorbents have been identified that meet the target CO{sub 2} capacity. A few of these sorbents have been tested under repeated sorption/desorption cycles and extended exposure to high pressure steam at 400-500{degrees}C. One sorbent has been scaled up to larger quantities (2-3 kg) and tested in the laboratory process equipment for sorption and desorption kinetics of CO{sub 2}. The CO{sub 2}, sorption and desorption kinetics are desirably fast. This was a critical path item for the first phase of the program and now has been successfully demonstrated. A reactor has been designed that will allow nearly isothermal operation for SERP-SMR. This reactor was integrated into an overall process flow diagram for the SERP-SMR process.

Biocatalytic production of psilocybin and derivatives in tryptophan synthase-enhanced reactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Blei, Felix; Baldeweg, Florian; Fricke, Janis; Hoffmeister, Dirk

2018-05-11

Psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is the main alkaloid of the fungal genus Psilocybe, the so-called "magic mushrooms". The pharmaceutical interest in this psychotropic natural product as a future medication to treat depression and anxiety is strongly re-emerging. Here, we present an enhanced enzymatic route of psilocybin production by adding TrpB, the tryptophan synthase of the mushroom Psilocybe cubensis, to the reaction. We capitalized on its substrate flexibility and show psilocybin formation from 4-hydroxyindole and L-serine, which are less cost-intensive substrates, compared to the previous method. Further, we show enzymatic production of 7-phosphoryloxytryptamine (isonorbaeocystin), a non-natural congener of the Psilocybe alkaloid norbaeocystin (4-phosphoryloxytryptamine), and of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) via the same in vitro approach. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Anaerobic treatment of antibiotic production wastewater pretreated with enhanced hydrolysis: Simultaneous reduction of COD and ARGs.

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Qizhen; Zhang, Yu; Gao, Yingxin; Tian, Zhe; Yang, Min

2017-03-01

The presence of high concentration antibiotics in wastewater can disturb the stability of biological wastewater treatment systems and promote generation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) during the treatment. To solve this problem, a pilot system consisting of enhanced hydrolysis pretreatment and an up-flow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor in succession was constructed for treating oxytetracycline production wastewater, and the performance was evaluated in a pharmaceutical factory in comparison with a full-scale anaerobic system operated in parallel. After enhanced hydrolysis under conditions of pH 7 and 85 °C for 6 h, oxytetracycline production wastewater with an influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 11,086 ± 602 mg L -1 was directly introduced into the pilot UASB reactor. With the effective removal of oxytetracycline and its antibacterial potency (from 874 mg L -1 to less than 0.61 mg L -1 and from 900 mg L -1 to less than 0.84 mg L -1 , respectively) by the enhanced hydrolysis pretreatment, an average COD removal rate of 83.2%, 78.5% and 68.9% was achieved at an organic loading rate of 3.3, 4.8 and 5.9 kg COD m -3  d -1 , respectively. At the same time, the relative abundances of the total tetracycline (tet) genes and a mobile element (Class 1 integron (intI1)) in anaerobic sludge on day 96 were one order of magnitude lower than those in inoculated sludge on day 0 (P anaerobic system treating oxytetracycline production wastewater with an influent COD of 3720 ± 128 mg L -1 after dilution exhibited a COD removal of 51 ± 4% at an organic loading rate (OLR) 1.2 ± 0.2 kg m -3  d -1 , and a total tet gene abundance in sludge was five times higher than the pilot-scale system (P anaerobic treatment of oxytetracycline production wastewater containing high concentrations of oxytetracycline with significantly lower generation of ARGs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Model development of production management unit to enhance entrepreneurship attitude of vocational school students from fashion department

Science.gov (United States)

Sumaryani, Sri

2018-03-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a model of production management unit to enhance entrepreneurship attitude of vocational school students from fashion department. This study concerns in developing students' entrepreneurship attitude in management which includes planning, organizing, applying and evaluation. The study uses Research and Development (R & D) approach with three main steps; preliminary study, development step, and product validation. Research subject was vocational school teachers from fashion department in Semarang, Salatiga and Demak. This study yields a development model of production management unit that could enhance vocational school students' entrepreneurship attitude in fashion department. The result shows that research subjects have understood about of production management unit in Vocational School (SMK).

Impact of β- radiolysis and transient products on irradiation-enhanced corrosion of zirconium alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemaignan, C.

1992-01-01

An analysis has been undertaken of the various cases of local enhancement of the corrosion rate of zirconium alloys under irradiation. It is observed that in most cases a strong emission of energetic β - is present leading to a local energy desorption rate higher than the core average. This suggests that the local transient radiolytic oxidising species produced in the coolant by the β - particles could contribute to corrosion enhancement, by increasing the local corrosion potential. This process is applicable to the local enhanced corrosion found in front of stainless steels structural parts, due to the contribution of Mn, in front of Pt inserts and Cu-rich cruds. It explains also the irradiation corrosion enhancement of Cu-rich Zr alloys. Enhanced corrosion around neutron absorbing material is explained similarly by pair production from conversion of high energy capture photons in the cladding, leading to energetic electrons. The same process was found to be active with other highly ionising species like α in Ni-rich alloys and fission products in homogeneous reactors. This mechanism, applicable for an explanation of localised irradiation-enhanced corrosion, is proposed to be extended to the reactor core, where the general enhancement of Zr-alloy corrosion under irradiation would be due to the general radiolysis. It suggests that care should be taken to avoid any source of β - emission or other ionising species in the reactor core that could give an increase of energy deposition rate for radiolysis. Also the corrosion testing conditions for the materials to be used in reactors have to be relevant to the radiolytic environments found in the reactor cores. (orig.)

Rumen bacteria at work: bioaugmentation strategies to enhance biogas production from cow manure.

Science.gov (United States)

Ozbayram, E G; Akyol, Ç; Ince, B; Karakoç, C; Ince, O

2018-02-01

To investigate the effects of different bioaugmentation strategies for enhancing the biogas production from cow manure and evaluate microbial community patterns. Co-inoculation with cow rumen fluid and cow rumen-derived enriched microbial consortia was evaluated in anaerobic batch tests at 36°C and 41°C. Singular addition of both rumen fluid and enriched bioaugmentation culture had a promising enhancement on methane yields; however, the highest methane yield (311 ml CH 4 per gram VS at 41°C) was achieved when the anaerobic seed sludge was co-inoculated together with rumen fluid and enriched bioaugmentation culture. Bacterial community profiles were investigated by Ion PGM Platform, and specific lignocellulolytic bacteria dynamics in batch tests were assessed by qPCR. The temperature had minor effects on the abundance of bacterial community; in which Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were the most abundant phyla in all digesters. Furthermore, Rikenellaceae, Clostridiaceae, Porphyromonadaceae, Bacteroidaceae and Ruminococcaceae played a crucial role during the anaerobic degradation of cow manure. There was an important impact of Firmicutes flavefaciens and Ruminococcus albus at 41°C, which in turn positively affected the methane production. The degree of enhancement in biogas production can be upgraded by the co-inoculation of rumen-derived bioaugmentation culture with anaerobic seed sludge with high methanogenic activity. A close look at the biotic interactions and their associations with abiotic factors might be valuable for evaluating rumen-related bioaugmentation applications. © 2017 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Microbial Consortium with High Cellulolytic Activity (MCHCA for enhanced biogas production.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krzysztof ePoszytek

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The use of lignocellulosic biomass as a substrate in agricultural biogas plants is very popular and yields good results. However, the efficiency of anaerobic digestion, and thus biogas production, is not always satisfactory due to the slow or incomplete degradation (hydrolysis of plant matter. To enhance the solubilization of the lignocellulosic biomass various physical, chemical and biological pretreatment methods are used.The aim of this study was to select and characterize cellulose-degrading bacteria, and to construct a microbial consortium, dedicated for degradation of maize silage and enhancing biogas production from this substrate.Over one hundred strains of cellulose-degrading bacteria were isolated from: sewage sludge, hydrolyzer from an agricultural biogas plant, cattle slurry and manure. After physiological characterization of the isolates, sixteen strains (representatives of Bacillus, Providencia and Ochrobactrum genera were chosen for the construction of a Microbial Consortium with High Cellulolytic Activity, called MCHCA. The selected strains had a high endoglucanase activity (exceeding 0.21 IU/mL CMCase activity and a wide range of tolerance to various physical and chemical conditions. Lab-scale simulation of biogas production using the selected strains for degradation of maize silage was carried out in a two-bioreactor system, similar to those used in agricultural biogas plants.The obtained results showed that the constructed MCHCA consortium is capable of efficient hydrolysis of maize silage, and increases biogas production by even 38%, depending on the inoculum used for methane fermentation. The results in this work indicate that the mesophilic Microbial Consortium with High Cellulolytic Activity has a great potential for application on industrial scale in agricultural biogas plants.

Evaluating relationships between wild Skeena river sockeye salmon productivity and the abundance of spawning channel enhanced sockeye smolts.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Michael H H; Connors, Brendan M

2014-01-01

The enhancement of salmon populations has long been used to increase the abundance of salmon returning to spawn and/or to be captured in fisheries. However, in some instances enhancement can have adverse impacts on adjacent non-enhanced populations. In Canada's Skeena watershed, smolt-to-adult survival of Babine Lake sockeye from 1962-2002 was inversely related to the abundance of sockeye smolts leaving Babine Lake. This relationship has led to the concern that Babine Lake smolt production, which is primarily enhanced by spawning channels, may depress wild Skeena (Babine and non-Babine) sockeye populations as a result of increased competition between wild and enhanced sockeye smolts as they leave their natal lakes and co-migrate to sea. To test this hypothesis we used data on Skeena sockeye populations and oceanographic conditions to statistically examine the relationship between Skeena sockeye productivity (adult salmon produced per spawner) and an index of Babine Lake enhanced smolt abundance while accounting for the potential influence of early marine conditions. While we had relatively high power to detect large effects, we did not find support for the hypothesis that the productivity of wild Skeena sockeye is inversely related to the abundance of enhanced sockeye smolts leaving Babine Lake in a given year. Importantly, life-time productivity of Skeena sockeye is only partially explained by marine survival, and likely is an unreliable measure of the influence of smolt abundance. Limitations to our analyses, which include: (1) the reliance upon adult salmon produced per spawner (rather than per smolt) as an index of marine survival, and (2) incomplete age structure for most of the populations considered, highlight uncertainties that should be addressed if understanding relationships between wild and enhanced sockeye is a priority in the Skeena.

Evaluating relationships between wild Skeena river sockeye salmon productivity and the abundance of spawning channel enhanced sockeye smolts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael H H Price

Full Text Available The enhancement of salmon populations has long been used to increase the abundance of salmon returning to spawn and/or to be captured in fisheries. However, in some instances enhancement can have adverse impacts on adjacent non-enhanced populations. In Canada's Skeena watershed, smolt-to-adult survival of Babine Lake sockeye from 1962-2002 was inversely related to the abundance of sockeye smolts leaving Babine Lake. This relationship has led to the concern that Babine Lake smolt production, which is primarily enhanced by spawning channels, may depress wild Skeena (Babine and non-Babine sockeye populations as a result of increased competition between wild and enhanced sockeye smolts as they leave their natal lakes and co-migrate to sea. To test this hypothesis we used data on Skeena sockeye populations and oceanographic conditions to statistically examine the relationship between Skeena sockeye productivity (adult salmon produced per spawner and an index of Babine Lake enhanced smolt abundance while accounting for the potential influence of early marine conditions. While we had relatively high power to detect large effects, we did not find support for the hypothesis that the productivity of wild Skeena sockeye is inversely related to the abundance of enhanced sockeye smolts leaving Babine Lake in a given year. Importantly, life-time productivity of Skeena sockeye is only partially explained by marine survival, and likely is an unreliable measure of the influence of smolt abundance. Limitations to our analyses, which include: (1 the reliance upon adult salmon produced per spawner (rather than per smolt as an index of marine survival, and (2 incomplete age structure for most of the populations considered, highlight uncertainties that should be addressed if understanding relationships between wild and enhanced sockeye is a priority in the Skeena.

A microbial fluidized electrode electrolysis cell (MFEEC) for enhanced hydrogen production

KAUST Repository

Liu, Jia

2014-12-01

A microbial fluidized electrode electrolysis cell (MFEEC) was used to enhance hydrogen gas production from dissolved organic matter. Flowable granular activated carbon (GAC) particles were used to provide additional surface area for growth of exoelectrogenic bacteria. The use of this exoelectrogenic biofilm on the GAC particles with fluidization produced higher current densities and hydrogen gas recoveries than controls (no recirculation or no GAC), due to intermittent contact of the capacitive particles with the anode. The total cumulative charge of 1688C m-2 with the MFEEC reactor (a recirculation flow rate of 19 mL min-1) was 20% higher than that of the control reactor (no GAC). The highest hydrogen gas yield of 0.82 ± 0.01 mol-H2/mol-acetate (17 mL min-1) was 39% higher than that obtained without recirculation (0.59 ± 0.01 mol-H 2/mol-acetate), and 116% higher than that of the control (no GAC, without recirculation). These results show that flowable GAC particles provide a useful approach for enhancing hydrogen gas production in bioelectrochemical systems. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous inhibition of sulfate-reducing bacteria, removal of H2S and production of rhamnolipid by recombinant Pseudomonas stutzeri Rhl: Applications for microbial enhanced oil recovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Feng; Zhou, Ji-Dong; Ma, Fang; Shi, Rong-Jiu; Han, Si-Qin; Zhang, Jie; Zhang, Ying

2016-05-01

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are widely existed in oil production system, and its H2S product inhibits rhamnolipid producing bacteria. In-situ production of rhamnolipid is promising for microbial enhanced oil recovery. Inhibition of SRB, removal of H2S and production of rhamnolipid by recombinant Pseudomonas stutzeri Rhl were investigated. Strain Rhl can simultaneously remove S(2-) (>92%) and produce rhamnolipid (>136mg/l) under S(2-) stress below 33.3mg/l. Rhl reduced the SRB numbers from 10(9) to 10(5)cells/ml, and the production of H2S was delayed and decreased to below 2mg/l. Rhl also produced rhamnolipid and removed S(2-) under laboratory simulated oil reservoir conditions. High-throughput sequencing data demonstrated that addition of strain Rhl significantly changed the original microbial communities of oilfield production water and decreased the species and abundance of SRB. Bioaugmentation of strain Rhl in oilfield is promising for simultaneous control of SRB, removal of S(2-) and enhance oil recovery. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sophorolipids Production by Candida bombicola ATCC 22214 and its Potential Application in Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Elshafie, Abdulkadir E; Joshi, Sanket J; Al-Wahaibi, Yahya M; Al-Bemani, Ali S; Al-Bahry, Saif N; Al-Maqbali, Dua'a; Banat, Ibrahim M

2015-01-01

Biosurfactant production using Candida bombicola ATCC 22214, its characterization and potential applications in enhancing oil recovery were studied at laboratory scale. The seed media and the production media were standardized for optimal growth and biosurfactant production. The production media were tested with different carbon sources: glucose (2%w/v) and corn oil (10%v/v) added separately or concurrently. The samples were collected at 24 h interval up to 120 h and checked for growth (OD660), and biosurfactant production [surface tension (ST) and interfacial tension (IFT)]. The medium with both glucose and corn oil gave better biosurfactant production and reduced both ST and IFT to 28.56 + 0.42mN/m and 2.13 + 0.09mN/m, respectively within 72 h. The produced biosurfactant was quite stable at 13-15% salinity, pH range of 2-12, and at temperature up to 100°C. It also produced stable emulsions (%E24) with different hydrocarbons (pentane, hexane, heptane, tridecane, tetradecane, hexadecane, 1-methylnaphthalene, 2,2,4,4,6,8-heptamethylnonane, light and heavy crude oil). The produced biosurfactant was extracted using ethyl acetate and characterized as a mixture of sophorolipids (SPLs). The potential of SPLs in enhancing oil recovery was tested using core-flooding experiments under reservoir conditions, where additional 27.27% of residual oil (Sor) was recovered. This confirmed the potential of SPLs for applications in microbial enhanced oil recovery.

Application of Serratia marcescens RZ-21 significantly enhances peanut yield and remediates continuously cropped peanut soil.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Hai-Yan; Yang, Bo; Wang, Hong-Wei; Yang, Qi-Yin; Dai, Chuan-Chao

2016-01-15

Continuous cropping practices cause a severe decline in peanut yield. The aim of this study was to investigate the remediation effect of Serratia marcescens on continuously cropped peanut soil. A pot experiment was conducted under natural conditions to determine peanut agronomic indices, soil microorganism characteristics, soil enzyme activities and antagonism ability to typical pathogens at different growth stages. Four treatments were applied to red soil as follows: an active fermentation liquor of S. marcescens (RZ-21), an equivalent sterilized fermentation liquor (M), an equivalent fermentation medium (P) and distilled water (CK). S. marcescens significantly inhibited the two typical plant pathogens Fusarium oxysporum A1 and Ralstonia solanacearum B1 and reduced their populations in rhizosphere soil. The RZ-21 treatment significantly increased peanut yield, vine dry weight, root nodules and taproot length by 62.3, 33, 72 and 61.4% respectively, followed by the M treatment. The P treatment also increased root nodules and root length slightly. RZ-21 also enhanced the activities of soil urease, sucrase and hydrogen peroxidase at various stages. In addition, RZ-21 and M treatments increased the average population of soil bacteria and decreased the average population of fungi in the three critical peanut growth stages, except for M in the case of the fungal population at flowering, thus balancing the structure of the soil microorganism community. This is the first report of S. marcescens being applied to continuously cropped peanut soil. The results suggest that S. marcescens RZ-21 has the potential to improve the soil environment and agricultural products and thus allow the development of sustainable management practices. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Enhanced production of extracellular inulinase by the yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus in xylose catabolic state.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoshida, Hisashi; Kidera, Kenta; Takishita, Ryuta; Fujioka, Nobuhisa; Fukagawa, Taiki; Akada, Rinji

2018-06-01

The production of extracellular proteins by the thermotolerant yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus, which utilizes various sugars, was investigated using media containing sugars such as glucose, galactose, and xylose. SDS-PAGE analysis of culture supernatants revealed abundant production of an extracellular protein when cells were grown in xylose medium. The N-terminal sequence of the extracellular protein was identical to a part of the inulinase encoded by INU1 in the genome. Inulinase is an enzyme hydrolyzing β-2,1-fructosyl bond in inulin and sucrose and is not required for xylose assimilation. Disruption of INU1 in the strain DMKU 3-1042 lost the production of the extracellular protein and resulted in growth defect in sucrose and inulin media, indicating that the extracellular protein was inulinase (sucrase). In addition, six K. marxianus strains among the 16 strains that were analyzed produced more inulinase in xylose medium than in glucose medium. However, expression analysis indicated that the INU1 promoter activity was lower in the xylose medium than in the glucose medium, suggesting that enhanced production of inulinase is controlled in a post-transcriptional manner. The production of inulinase was also higher in cultures with more agitation, suggesting that oxygen supply affects the production of inulinase. Taken together, these results suggest that both xylose and oxygen supply shift cellular metabolism to enhance the production of extracellular inulinase. Copyright © 2018 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Application of magnesium sulfate and its nanoparticles for enhanced lipid production by mixotrophic cultivation of algae using biodiesel waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarma, Saurabh Jyoti; Das, Ratul Kumar; Brar, Satinder Kaur; Le Bihan, Yann; Buelna, Gerardo; 2 Solutions Inc., 2300, rue Jean-Perrin, Québec, Québec G2C 1T9 (Canada))" data-affiliation=" (CO2 Solutions Inc., 2300, rue Jean-Perrin, Québec, Québec G2C 1T9 (Canada))" >Verma, Mausam; Soccol, Carlos Ricardo

2014-01-01

CG (Crude glycerol) is one of the major wastes of biodiesel production process. It can be used as a substrate for lipid production by algae and the produced lipid can be recycled as a feedstock for biodiesel production. In order to avoid substrate inhibition, lipid production media are prepared by diluting the CG with distilled water. However, CG contains only a small amount of Mg (57.41 ± 18 ppm) and its concentration is further decreased to around 0.57 ppm during the dilution process. Apart from having a number of roles in algal physiology, Mg is the central atom of chlorophyll. Therefore, MgSO 4 was evaluated as a Mg source to supplement the CG based media used for lipid production by Chlorella vulgaris. By supplementing the process with 1 g/L of MgSO 4 , nearly 185.29 ± 4.53% improvement in lipid production has been achieved. Further, application of MgSO 4 nanoparticles was found to improve the lipid production by 118.23 ± 5.67%. Interestingly, unlike MgSO 4 , its nanoparticles were found to enhance the lipid production at the expense of only a small amount of glycerol. Thus, application of MgSO 4 nanoparticles could be a potential strategy for enhanced lipid yield. - Highlights: • MgSO 4 supplementation can improve the biomass production by 125.58 ± 7.2%. • 185.29 ± 4.53% increase in lipid production by Chlorella vulgaris. • Enhanced lipid production in spite of negligible glycerol consumption. • MgSO 4 nanoparticle induced enhanced photosynthesis by micro algae

Significance of excipients to enhance the bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs in oral solid dosage forms: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Vadlamudi, Manoj Kumar; Dhanaraj, Sangeetha

2017-11-01

Nowadays most of the drug substances are coming into the innovation pipeline with poor water solubility. Here, the influence of excipients will play a significant role to improve the dissolution of poorly aqueous soluble compounds. The drug substance needs to be dissolved in gastric fluids to get the better absorption and bioavailability of an orally administered drug. Dissolution is the rate-controlling stage for drugs which controls the rate and degree of absorption. Usually, poorly soluble oral administrated drugs show a slower dissolution rate, inconsistent and incomplete absorption which can lead to lower bioavailability. The low aqueous solubility of BCS class II and IV drugs is a major challenge in the drug development and delivery process. Several technologies have been used in an attempt to progress the bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drug compounds which include solid dispersions, lipid-based formulations, micronization, solvent evaporation, co-precipitation, ordered mixing, liquid-solid compacts, solvent deposition inclusion complexation, and steam aided granulation. In fact, most of the technologies require excipient as a carrier which plays a significant role in improving the bioavailability using Hypromellose acetate succinate, Cyclodextrin, Povidone, Copovidone, Hydroxypropyl cellulose, Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, Crospovidone, Starch, Dimethylacetamide, Polyethylene glycol, Sodium lauryl sulfate, Polysorbate, Poloxamer. Mesoporous silica and so on. This review deliberates about the excipients significance on bioavailability enhancement of drug products in a single platform along with pragmatically proved applications so that user can able to select the right excipients as per the molecule.

Beyond trend analysis: How a modified breakpoint analysis enhances knowledge of agricultural production after Zimbabwe's fast track land reform

Science.gov (United States)

Hentze, Konrad; Thonfeld, Frank; Menz, Gunter

2017-10-01

In the discourse on land reform assessments, a significant lack of spatial and time-series data has been identified, especially with respect to Zimbabwe's ;Fast-Track Land Reform Programme; (FTLRP). At the same time, interest persists among land use change scientists to evaluate causes of land use change and therefore to increase the explanatory power of remote sensing products. This study recognizes these demands and aims to provide input on both levels: Evaluating the potential of satellite remote sensing time-series to answer questions which evolved after intensive land redistribution efforts in Zimbabwe; and investigating how time-series analysis of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) can be enhanced to provide information on land reform induced land use change. To achieve this, two time-series methods are applied to MODIS NDVI data: Seasonal Trend Analysis (STA) and Breakpoint Analysis for Additive Season and Trend (BFAST). In our first analysis, a link of agricultural productivity trends to different land tenure regimes shows that regional clustering of trends is more dominant than a relationship between tenure and trend with a slightly negative slope for all regimes. We demonstrate that clusters of strong negative and positive productivity trends are results of changing irrigation patterns. To locate emerging and fallow irrigation schemes in semi-arid Zimbabwe, a new multi-method approach is developed which allows to map changes from bimodal seasonal phenological patterns to unimodal and vice versa. With an enhanced breakpoint analysis through the combination of STA and BFAST, we are able to provide a technique that can be applied on large scale to map status and development of highly productive cropping systems, which are key for food production, national export and local employment. We therefore conclude that the combination of existing and accessible time-series analysis methods: is able to achieve both: overcoming demonstrated limitations of

The Role of Education and Training in Enhancing Labour Productivity in Arab Countries in Africa

Science.gov (United States)

ElObeidy, Ahmed A.

2016-01-01

Labour productivity in Arab countries is low by international standards and this problem occurs in Arab countries both inside and outside Africa. There are 10 Arab countries in Africa: Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti and Comoros. Enhancing labour productivity is a major challenge for Arab countries.…

New technique for enhancing helium production in ferritic materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greenwood, L.R.; Graczyk, D.G.; Kneff, D.W.

1987-10-01

Analyses of iron samples irradiated up to 10 27 n/m 2 in HFIR found more helium than was expected from fast neutron reactions at high neutron fluences. The helium excess increases systematically with neutron exposure, suggesting a transmutation-driven process. The extra helium may be produced in two different ways, either by fast neutron reactions on the transmuted isotopes of iron or by a thermal neutron reaction with the radioactive isotope 55 Fe. Radiometric and mass spectrometric measurements of the iron isotopes composing the irradiated samples have been used to determine limits on the cross sections for each process. Either of these processes can be used to enhance helium production in ferritic materials during irradiations in mixed-spectrum reactors by isotopically enriching the samples. Further work is needed to clarify the reaction mechanisms and helium production cross sections. Our measurements determined the thermal neutron total absorption cross section of 55 Fe to be 13.2 +- 2.1 barns. 16 refs., 3 figs., 3 tabs

PRODUCTION WELL PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT USING SONICATION TECHNOLOGY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Michael A. Adewumi; M. Thaddeus Ityokumbul; Robert W. Watson; Mario Farias; Glenn Heckman; Johnson Olanrewaju; Eltohami Eltohami; Bruce G. Miller; W. Jack Hughes; Thomas C. Montgomery

2003-12-17

The objective of this project is to develop a sonic well performance enhancement technology that focuses on near wellbore formations. In order to successfully achieve this objective, a three-year project has been defined with each year consisting of four tasks. The first task is the laboratory-scale study whose goal is to determine the underlying principles of the technology. The second task will develop a scale-up mathematical model to serve as the design guide for tool development. The third task is to develop effective transducers that can operate with variable frequency so that the most effective frequencies can be applied in any given situation. The system, assembled as part of the production string, ensures delivery of sufficient sonic energy to penetrate the near-wellbore formation. The last task is the actual field testing of the tool. The first year of the project has been completed.

Significant enhancement of magnetoresistance with the reduction of particle size in nanometer scale

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Kalipada; Dasgupta, P.; Poddar, A.; Das, I.

2016-01-01

The Physics of materials with large magnetoresistance (MR), defined as the percentage change of electrical resistance with the application of external magnetic field, has been an active field of research for quite some times. In addition to the fundamental interest, large MR has widespread application that includes the field of magnetic field sensor technology. New materials with large MR is interesting. However it is more appealing to vast scientific community if a method describe to achieve many fold enhancement of MR of already known materials. Our study on several manganite samples [La1−xCaxMnO3 (x = 0.52, 0.54, 0.55)] illustrates the method of significant enhancement of MR with the reduction of the particle size in nanometer scale. Our experimentally observed results are explained by considering model consisted of a charge ordered antiferromagnetic core and a shell having short range ferromagnetic correlation between the uncompensated surface spins in nanoscale regime. The ferromagnetic fractions obtained theoretically in the nanoparticles has been shown to be in the good agreement with the experimental results. The method of several orders of magnitude improvement of the magnetoresistive property will have enormous potential for magnetic field sensor technology. PMID:26837285

Biotechnological advances towards an enhanced peroxidase production in Pichia pastoris.

Science.gov (United States)

Krainer, Florian W; Gerstmann, Michaela A; Darnhofer, Barbara; Birner-Gruenberger, Ruth; Glieder, Anton

2016-09-10

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is a high-demand enzyme for applications in diagnostics, bioremediation, biocatalysis and medicine. Current HRP preparations are isolated from horseradish roots as mixtures of biochemically diverse isoenzymes. Thus, there is a strong need for a recombinant production process enabling a steady supply with enzyme preparations of consistent high quality. However, most current recombinant production systems are limited at titers in the low mg/L range. In this study, we used the well-known yeast Pichia pastoris as host for recombinant HRP production. To enhance recombinant enzyme titers we systematically evaluated engineering approaches on the secretion process, coproduction of helper proteins, and compared expression from the strong methanol-inducible PAOX1 promoter, the strong constitutive PGAP promoter, and a novel bidirectional promoter PHTX1. Ultimately, coproduction of HRP and active Hac1 under PHTX1 control yielded a recombinant HRP titer of 132mg/L after 56h of cultivation in a methanol-independent and easy-to-do bioreactor cultivation process. With regard to the many versatile applications for HRP, the establishment of a microbial host system suitable for efficient recombinant HRP production was highly overdue. The novel HRP production platform in P. pastoris presented in this study sets a new benchmark for this medically relevant enzyme. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Temperature dependence of CO2-enhanced primary production in the European Arctic Ocean

KAUST Repository

Holding, J. M.; Duarte, Carlos M.; Sanz-Martí n, M.; Mesa, E.; Arrieta, J M; Chierici, M.; Hendriks, I.  E.; Garcí a-Corral, L. S.; Regaudie-de-Gioux, A.; Delgado, A.; Reigstad, M.; Wassmann, P.; Agusti, Susana

2015-01-01

production (GPP) may be temperature dependent, using data from several oceanographic cruises and experiments from both spring and summer in the European sector of the Arctic Ocean. Results confirm that CO2 enhances GPP (by a factor of up to ten) over a range

Production of lipids in 10 strains of Chlorella and Parachlorella, and enhanced lipid productivity in Chlorella vulgaris

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pribyl, Pavel; Cepak, Vladislav [Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Trebon (Czech Republic). Algological Centre and Centre for Bioindication and Revitalization; Zachleder, Vilem [Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Trebon (Czech Republic). Lab. of the Cell Cycles of Algae

2012-04-15

We tested 10 different Chlorella and Parachlorella strains under lipid induction growth conditions in autotrophic laboratory cultures. Between tested strains, substantial differences in both biomass and lipid productivity as well as in the final content of lipids were found. The most productive strain (Chlorella vulgaris CCALA 256) was subsequently studied in detail. The availability of nitrates and/or phosphates strongly influenced growth and accumulation of lipids in cells by affecting cell division. Nutrient limitation substantially enhanced lipid productivity up to a maximal value of 1.5 g l{sup -1} day{sup -1}. We also demonstrated the production of lipids through large-scale cultivation of C. vulgaris in a thin layer photobioreactor, even under suboptimal conditions. After 8 days of cultivation, maximal lipid productivity was 0.33 g l{sup -1} day{sup -1}, biomass density was 5.7 g l{sup -1} dry weight and total lipid content was more than 30% dry weight. C. vulgaris lipids comprise fatty acids with a relatively high degree of saturation compared with canola oil offering a possible alternative to the use of higher plant oils. (orig.)

Enhancing agricultural productivity and rural incomes through sustainable use of natural resources in the semi arid tropics.

Science.gov (United States)

Wani, Suhas P; Dixin, Yin; Li, Zhong; Dar, William D; Chander, Girish

2012-03-30

A participatory watershed management approach is one of the tested, sustainable and eco-friendly options to upgrade rain-fed agriculture to meet growing food demand along with additional multiple benefits in terms of improving livelihoods, addressing equity issues and biodiversity concerns. Watershed interventions at study sites in Thailand (Tad Fa and Wang Chai) and India (Kothapally) effectively reduced runoff and the associated soil loss. Such interventions at Xiaoxincun (China) and Wang Chai improved groundwater recharging and availability. Enhanced productive transpiration increased rainwater use efficiency for crop production by 13-29% at Xiaoxincun; 13-160% at Lucheba (China), 32-37% at Tad Fa and 23-46% at Wang Chai and by two to five times at Kothapally. Watershed interventions increased significantly the additional net returns from crop production as compared with the pre-watershed intervention period. Increased water availability opened up options for crop diversification with high-value crops, including increased forage production and boosted livestock-based livelihoods. In dryland tropics, integrated watershed management approach enabled farmers to diversify the systems along with increasing agricultural productivity through increased water availability, while conserving the natural resource base. Household incomes increased substantially, leading to improved living and building the resilience of the community and natural resources. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Enhancement of Surfactin and Fengycin Production by Bacillus mojavensis A21: Application for Diesel Biodegradation

Science.gov (United States)

Ben Ayed, Hanen; Jacques, Philippe; Nasri, Moncef

2017-01-01

This work concerns the study of the enhancement of surfactin and fengycin production by B. mojavensis A21 and application of the produced product in diesel biodegradation. The influences of the culture medium and cells immobilization were studied. The highest lipopeptides production was achieved after 72 hours of incubation in a culture medium containing 30 g/L glucose as carbon source and a combination of yeast extract (1 g/L) and glutamic acid (5 g/L) as nitrogen sources with initial pH 7.0 at 30°C and 90% volumetric aeration. The study of primary metabolites production showed mainly the production of acetoin, with a maximum production after 24 h of strain growth. The use of immobilized cells seemed to be a promising method for improving lipopeptides productivity. In fact, the synthesis of both lipopeptides, mainly fengycin, was greatly enhanced by the immobilization of A21 cells. An increase of diesel degradation capacity of approximately 20, 27, and 40% in the presence of 0.5, 1, and 2 g/L of produced lipopeptides, respectively, was observed. Considering these properties, B. mojavensis A21 strain producing a lipopeptide mixture, containing both surfactin and fengycin, may be considered as a potential candidate for future use in bioremediation and crop protection. PMID:29082251

Enhancement of Surfactin and Fengycin Production by Bacillus mojavensis A21: Application for Diesel Biodegradation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noomen Hmidet

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This work concerns the study of the enhancement of surfactin and fengycin production by B. mojavensis A21 and application of the produced product in diesel biodegradation. The influences of the culture medium and cells immobilization were studied. The highest lipopeptides production was achieved after 72 hours of incubation in a culture medium containing 30 g/L glucose as carbon source and a combination of yeast extract (1 g/L and glutamic acid (5 g/L as nitrogen sources with initial pH 7.0 at 30°C and 90% volumetric aeration. The study of primary metabolites production showed mainly the production of acetoin, with a maximum production after 24 h of strain growth. The use of immobilized cells seemed to be a promising method for improving lipopeptides productivity. In fact, the synthesis of both lipopeptides, mainly fengycin, was greatly enhanced by the immobilization of A21 cells. An increase of diesel degradation capacity of approximately 20, 27, and 40% in the presence of 0.5, 1, and 2 g/L of produced lipopeptides, respectively, was observed. Considering these properties, B. mojavensis A21 strain producing a lipopeptide mixture, containing both surfactin and fengycin, may be considered as a potential candidate for future use in bioremediation and crop protection.

Prognostic significance of contrast-enhanced CT attenuation value in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asayama, Yoshiki [Kyushu University, Department of Advanced Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Nishie, Akihiro; Ishigami, Kousei; Ushijima, Yasuhiro; Takayama, Yukihisa; Okamoto, Daisuke; Fujita, Nobuhiro; Honda, Hiroshi [Kyushu University, Departments of Clinical Radiology, Fukuoka (Japan); Ohtsuka, Takao [Kyushu University, Departments of Surgery and Oncology, Fukuoka (Japan); Yoshizumi, Tomoharu [Kyushu University, Departments of Surgery and Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Aishima, Shinichi [Saga University, Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Saga (Japan); Kyushu University, Departments of Anatomic Pathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Oda, Yoshinao [Kyushu University, Departments of Anatomic Pathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan)

2017-06-15

To determine whether washout characteristics of dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) could predict survival in patients with extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (EHC). This study collected 46 resected cases. All cases were examined by dynamic contrast study on multidetector-row CT. Region-of-interest measurements were obtained at the non-enhanced, portal venous phase and delayed phase in the tumour and were used to calculate the washout ratio as follows: [(attenuation value at portal venous phase CT - attenuation value at delayed enhanced CT)/(attenuation value at portal venous phase CT - attenuation value at unenhanced CT)] x 100. On the basis of the median washout ratio, we classified the cases into two groups, a high-washout group and low-washout group. Associations between overall survival and various factors including washout rates were analysed. The median washout ratio was 29.4 %. Univariate analysis revealed that a lower washout ratio, venous invasion, lymphatic permeation and lymph node metastasis were associated with shorter survival. Multivariate analysis identified the lower washout ratio as an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio, 3.768; p value, 0.027). The washout ratio obtained from the contrast-enhanced CT may be a useful imaging biomarker for the prediction of survival of patients with EHC. (orig.)

Application of the Response Surface Methodology to Optimize the Fermentation Parameters for Enhanced Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) Production by Thraustochytrium sp. ATCC 26185.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Kang; Ding, Lijian; Zhu, Peng; Li, Shuang; He, Shan

2018-04-22

The aim of this study was to determine the cumulative effect of fermentation parameters and enhance the production of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) by Thraustochytrium sp. ATCC 26185 using response surface methodology (RSM). Among the eight variables screened for effects of fermentation parameters on DHA production by Plackett-Burman design (PBD), the initial pH, inoculum volume, and fermentation volume were found to be most significant. The Box-Behnken design was applied to derive a statistical model for optimizing these three fermentation parameters for DHA production. The optimal parameters for maximum DHA production were initial pH: 6.89, inoculum volume: 4.16%, and fermentation volume: 140.47 mL, respectively. The maximum yield of DHA production was 1.68 g/L, which was in agreement with predicted values. An increase in DHA production was achieved by optimizing the initial pH, fermentation, and inoculum volume parameters. This optimization strategy led to a significant increase in the amount of DHA produced, from 1.16 g/L to 1.68 g/L. Thraustochytrium sp. ATCC 26185 is a promising resource for microbial DHA production due to the high-level yield of DHA that it produces, and the capacity for large-scale fermentation of this organism.

Evacuation of performance and significant chemical constituents and by products in drinking water treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jamrah, I. A.

1999-01-01

Drinking water treatment is a task that comprises of several processes that eventually lead to the addition of chemicals to achieve the objectives of treatment. This study was conducted to assess treatment performance, explain the presence of significant chemical species in water, and investigate the interactions and chemical by-products that are formed during the course of treatment. Grab water samples were collected on a regular basis from the influent and effluent of Zai water treatment plant. Chemical analysis were conducted to determine the concentrations of various chemical species of interest. Turbidity, temperature, and pH of the samples were also measured. The study concluded that Zai Water Treatment Plant produces potable drinking water in accordance with Jordanian Standards. The use of treatment chemical resulted in an increase in the concentrations of certain materials, such as manganese, aluminum, and sulfate. The turbidity of the raw water and the TOC of the samples were positively correlated, and the treatment results in approximately 20% TOC reduction, which demonstrates that the measures used for the control of TOC (carbon adsorption and permanganate pre-oxidation), are not very effective. The study also showed that the TOC content of our raw water samples and the concentration of tribalomethanes resulting after disinfection were positively correlated, and that bromoform was the dominant component. Also chloroform was the minor component of tribalomethanes formed during treatment. Positive correlation between the total concentration of tribalomethanes in water and the chlorine dose used for disinfection was also observed, and the total concentration of tribalomethanes increased with temperature. The formation of tribalomethanes was enhanced as the pH of water increased and as the concentration of bromide ion in raw water became significant. (author). 25 refs., 14 figs.1 table

ENHANCING TRUST OR REDUCING PERCEIVED RISK, WHAT MATTERS MORE WHEN LAUNCHING A NEW PRODUCT?

OpenAIRE

ANN-MARIE NIENABER; GERHARD SCHEWE

2014-01-01

Using a collection of data among 490 participants from different companies in the field of medical engineering market, we contribute to the role of contact intensity by a business partner when launching new products by introducing trust as a mediator to the concept of perceived risk reduction to enhance the relationship commitment. The findings show that the common concept of risk reduction to enhance the relationship commitment is overrated. In detail, the results show first, that the influe...

Enhancement of biogas production at the municipal wastewater treatment plant by co-digestion with poultry industry waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Budych-Gorzna, Magdalena; Smoczynski, Marcin; Oleskowicz-Popiel, Piotr

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Laboratory and full-scale trials on co-digestion of sludge and poultry waste were performed. • Successful scaling-up of the results from laboratory to full-scale was accomplished. • Incremental addition of poultry waste to the full-scale anaerobic digesters did not cause any inhibition of the process. • WWTP energy dependency can be reduced significantly by co-digestion of sludge and external source of waste. - Abstract: Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are energy-intensive and thus cost-intensive facilities; therefore, it is crucial to increase energy production directly at the WWTP. Enhancement of biogas production by addition of external substrates is one of the solutions to increase energy self-sufficiency of the WWTPs with an additional benefit of cutting down the greenhouse gas emission. The main aim of the work was to investigate full utilization of the capacity of full-scale digesters at the municipal WWTP by addition of poultry industry waste. At first, laboratory trials were conducted in order to identify the most suitable dose for co-digestion with primary and waste activated sludge and finally, based on the achieved laboratory results, full-scale trials were carried out directly at the municipal WWTP. Poultry industrial waste yielded between 0.39 and 0.88 m 3 of methane per kg of volatile solids during laboratory trials, depending on the added concentration. During full-scale investigation yield of 0.81 m 3 /kg VS was achieved. Enhanced biogas production improved WWTP energy self-sufficiency bringing closer to the aim of increasing the share of self-produced energy up to 80%.

Development of an efficient process intensification strategy for enhancing Pfu DNA polymerase production in recombinant Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jian-Hua; Wang, Feng; Liu, Chun-Zhao

2015-04-01

An efficient induction strategy that consisted of multiple additions of small doses of isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) in the early cell growth phase was developed for enhancing Pfu DNA polymerase production in Escherichia coli. In comparison to the most commonly used method of a single induction of 1 mM IPTG, the promising induction strategy resulted in an increase in the Pfu activity of 13.5% in shake flasks, while simultaneously decreasing the dose of IPTG by nearly half. An analysis of the intracellular IPTG concentrations indicated that the cells need to maintain an optimum intracellular IPTG concentration after 6 h for efficient Pfu DNA polymerase production. A significant increase in the Pfu DNA polymerase activity of 31.5% under the controlled dissolved oxygen concentration of 30% in a 5 L fermentor was achieved using the multiple IPTG induction strategy in comparison with the single IPTG induction. The induction strategy using multiple inputs of IPTG also avoided over accumulation of IPTG and reduced the cost of Pfu DNA polymerase production.

Enhancing methane production of corn stover through a novel way: sequent pretreatment of potassium hydroxide and steam explosion.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jianghao; Zhang, Ruihong; Siddhu, Muhammad Abdul Hanan; He, Yanfeng; Wang, Wen; Li, Yeqing; Chen, Chang; Liu, Guangqing

2015-04-01

Getting over recalcitrance of lignocellulose is effective way to fuel production from lignocellulosic biomass. In current work, different pretreatments were applied to enhance the digestibility of corn stover (CS). Results showed that steam explosion (SE)-treated CS produced maximal methane yield (223.2 mL/gvs) at 1.2 MPa for 10 min, which was 55.2% more than untreated (143.8 mL/gvs). Whereas 1.5% KOH-treated CS produced maximum methane yield of 208.6 mL/gvs, and significantly (αpotassium hydroxide and steam explosion (SPPE) (1.5% KOH-1.2 MPa, 10 min) achieved a very significant (α<0.01) improvement (80.0%) of methane yield (258.8 mL/gvs) compared with untreated CS. Methane production could be well explained by the first-order and modified Gompertz models. Besides, SEM, FTIR, and XRD analyses validated structural changes of CS after SPPE. SPPE might be a promising method to pretreat CS in the future AD industry. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Affective significance enhances covert attention: roles of anxiety and word familiarity.

Science.gov (United States)

Calvo, Manuel G; Eysenck, Michael W

2008-11-01

To investigate the processing of emotional words by covert attention, threat-related, positive, and neutral word primes were presented parafoveally (2.2 degrees away from fixation) for 150 ms, under gaze-contingent foveal masking, to prevent eye fixations. The primes were followed by a probe word in a lexical-decision task. In Experiment 1, results showed a parafoveal threat-anxiety superiority: Parafoveal prime threat words facilitated responses to probe threat words for high-anxiety individuals, in comparison with neutral and positive words, and relative to low-anxiety individuals. This reveals an advantage in threat processing by covert attention, without differences in overt attention. However, anxiety was also associated with greater familiarity with threat words, and the parafoveal priming effects were significantly reduced when familiarity was covaried out. To further examine the role of word knowledge, in Experiment 2, vocabulary and word familiarity were equated for low- and high-anxiety groups. In these conditions, the parafoveal threat-anxiety advantage disappeared. This suggests that the enhanced covert-attention effect depends on familiarity with words.

Enhanced Freshwater Production Using Finned-Plate Air Gap Membrane Distillation (AGMD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Perves Bappy Mohammad Jabed

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Air Gap membrane distillation (AGMD, a special type of energy efficient membrane distillation process, is a technology for producing freshwater from waste water. Having some benefits over other traditional processes, this method has been able to draw attention of researchers working in the field of freshwater production technologies. In this study, a basic AGMD system with flat coolant plate has been modified using a specially designed channelled coolant plate of portable size to observe its effect over the production rate and performance of the system. Attempt has been made to increase the amount of distillate flux by using the “fin effect” of the channelled coolant plate. A finned plate have been used instead of a flat coolant plate and experiments were conducted to compare the effect. Coolant temperature and feed temperature of the system have been varied from 10°C to 25°C and 40°C to 70°C respectively. Comparing the data, around 50% to 58% distillate enhancement has been observed for channelled coolant plate. Also, it was seen that the enhancement was higher for higher feed temperatures and coolant temperatures. With these findings, a better performing AGMD module has been introduced to mitigate the scarcity of freshwater.

Phytohormone supplementation significantly increases growth of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cultivated for biodiesel production.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Won-Kun; Yoo, Gursong; Moon, Myounghoon; Kim, Chul Woong; Choi, Yoon-E; Yang, Ji-Won

2013-11-01

Cultivation is the most expensive step in the production of biodiesel from microalgae, and substantial research has been devoted to developing more cost-effective cultivation methods. Plant hormones (phytohormones) are chemical messengers that regulate various aspects of growth and development and are typically active at very low concentrations. In this study, we investigated the effect of different phytohormones on microalgal growth and biodiesel production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and their potential to lower the overall cost of commercial biofuel production. The results indicated that all five of the tested phytohormones (indole-3-acetic acid, gibberellic acid, kinetin, 1-triacontanol, and abscisic acid) promoted microalgal growth. In particular, hormone treatment increased biomass production by 54 to 69 % relative to the control growth medium (Tris-acetate-phosphate, TAP). Phytohormone treatments also affected microalgal cell morphology but had no effect on the yields of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) as a percent of biomass. We also tested the effect of these phytohormones on microalgal growth in nitrogen-limited media by supplementation in the early stationary phase. Maximum cell densities after addition of phytohormones were higher than in TAP medium, even when the nitrogen source was reduced to 40 % of that in TAP medium. Taken together, our results indicate that phytohormones significantly increased microalgal growth, particularly in nitrogen-limited media, and have potential for use in the development of efficient microalgal cultivation for biofuel production.

Study on Sensory Quality, Antioxidant Properties, and Maillard Reaction Products Formation in Rye-Buckwheat Cakes Enhanced with Selected Spices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Małgorzata Przygodzka

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The effect of selected spices included in the recipe of rye-buckwheat cakes on sensory quality, nutritional value, and Maillard reaction (MR products formation was addressed in this study. The cakes with cloves, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, vanilla, and spice mix addition revealed the highest overall quality values. Cakes enriched with cloves, allspice, and spice mix showed the highest rutin content and almost threefold higher available lysine contents whereas cakes enhanced with mix, cloves, and cinnamon were the richest source of phenolic compounds. The highest antioxidant capacity showed cakes with cloves and spice mix. The furosine, a marker of early stage of MR, was decreased in cakes with cloves, allspice, spice mix, and vanilla whereas fluorescent intermediatory compounds were reduced in cakes enhanced with cloves, allspice, and cinnamon. In contrast, browning index was increased as compared to cakes without spices. The FAST index was significantly lowered in all cakes enriched with spices, especially with cloves, allspice, and mix addition. The presence of cloves, allspice, and vanilla in cake formula was the most efficient in acrylamide strategy. It can be suggested that cloves, allspice, and vanilla might be used for production of safety and good quality cakes.

Enhancement of lipid production in two marine microalgae under different levels of nitrogen and phosphorus deficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Adenan, Nurul Salma; Yusoff, Fatimah Md; Medipally, Srikanth Reddy; Shariff, M

2016-07-01

Microalgae are important food sources for aquaculture animals. Among the different factors which influence the biochemical composition of microalgae, nitrogen and phosphorus are two of the most important nutrient sources for growth and development. The present study aimed to assess the effects of nitrogen and phosphorus deficiency on lipid production of Chlorella sp. and Chaetoceros calcitrans. Early stationary phase culture of these species were exposed to different stress levels of nitrogen and phosphorus (25%, 50% and 75% of the full NO(3)-N and PO(4)-P concentration in the Conway media), and solvent extraction and gas-liquid chromatography methods were performed for analysis of lipid and fatty acid composition. The results revealed that lipid production in these two species significantly increased (Pnitrogen and phosphorus decreased. The fatty acid proportion remained unaffected under nitrogen deficiency, while phosphorus limitation resulted in a decrease of saturated fatty acids and promoted a higher content of omega-3 fatty acids in these species. The protein and carbohydrate levels were also altered under limited nutrients. Therefore, these conditions could be used for enhanced lipid production in microalgae for aquaculture and other industrial applications.

How eco-evolutionary principles can guide tree breeding and tree biotechnology for enhanced productivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Franklin, Oskar; Palmroth, Sari; Näsholm, Torgny

2014-11-01

Tree breeding and biotechnology can enhance forest productivity and help alleviate the rising pressure on forests from climate change and human exploitation. While many physiological processes and genes are targeted in search of genetically improved tree productivity, an overarching principle to guide this search is missing. Here, we propose a method to identify the traits that can be modified to enhance productivity, based on the differences between trees shaped by natural selection and 'improved' trees with traits optimized for productivity. We developed a tractable model of plant growth and survival to explore such potential modifications under a range of environmental conditions, from non-water limited to severely drought-limited sites. We show how key traits are controlled by a trade-off between productivity and survival, and that productivity can be increased at the expense of long-term survival by reducing isohydric behavior (stomatal regulation of leaf water potential) and allocation to defense against pests compared with native trees. In contrast, at dry sites occupied by naturally drought-resistant trees, the model suggests a better strategy may be to select trees with slightly lower wood density than the native trees and to augment isohydric behavior and allocation to defense. Thus, which traits to modify, and in which direction, depend on the original tree species or genotype, the growth environment and wood-quality versus volume production preferences. In contrast to this need for customization of drought and pest resistances, consistent large gains in productivity for all genotypes can be obtained if root traits can be altered to reduce competition for water and nutrients. Our approach illustrates the potential of using eco-evolutionary theory and modeling to guide plant breeding and genetic technology in selecting target traits in the quest for higher forest productivity. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved

Engineering Yarrowia lipolytica for Enhanced Production of Lipid and Citric Acid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Abghari

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Increasing demand for plant oil for food, feed, and fuel production has led to food-fuel competition, higher plant lipid cost, and more need for agricultural land. On the other hand, the growing global production of biodiesel has increased the production of glycerol as a by-product. Efficient utilization of this by-product can reduce biodiesel production costs. We engineered Yarrowia lipolytica (Y. lipolytica at various metabolic levels of lipid biosynthesis, degradation, and regulation for enhanced lipid and citric acid production. We used a one-step double gene knock-in and site-specific gene knock-out strategy. The resulting final strain combines the overexpression of homologous DGA1 and DGA2 in a POX-deleted background, and deletion of the SNF1 lipid regulator. This increased lipid and citric acid production in the strain under nitrogen-limiting conditions (C/N molar ratio of 60. The engineered strain constitutively accumulated lipid at a titer of more than 4.8 g/L with a lipid content of 53% of dry cell weight (DCW. The secreted citric acid reached a yield of 0.75 g/g (up to ~45 g/L from pure glycerol in 3 days of batch fermentation using a 1-L bioreactor. This yeast cell factory was capable of simultaneous lipid accumulation and citric acid secretion. It can be used in fed-batch or continuous bioprocessing for citric acid recovery from the supernatant, along with lipid extraction from the harvested biomass.

ASSESSMENT OF A WIND TURBINE INTELLIGENT CONTROLLER FOR ENHANCED ENERGY PRODUCTION AND POLLUTION REDUCTION

Science.gov (United States)

This study assessed the enhanced energy production which is possible when variable-speed wind turbines are electronically controlled by an intelligent controller for efficiency optimization and performance improvement. The control system consists of three fuzzy- logic controllers...

Enhanced heterologous protein productivity by genome reduction in Lactococcus lactis NZ9000.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Duolong; Fu, Yuxin; Liu, Fulu; Xu, Haijin; Saris, Per Erik Joakim; Qiao, Mingqiang

2017-01-03

The implementation of novel chassis organisms to be used as microbial cell factories in industrial applications is an intensive research field. Lactococcus lactis, which is one of the most extensively studied model organisms, exhibits superior ability to be used as engineered host for fermentation of desirable products. However, few studies have reported about genome reduction of L. lactis as a clean background for functional genomic studies and a model chassis for desirable product fermentation. Four large nonessential DNA regions accounting for 2.83% in L. lactis NZ9000 (L. lactis 9 k) genome (2,530,294 bp) were deleted using the Cre-loxP deletion system as the first steps toward a minimized genome in this study. The mutants were compared with the parental strain in several physiological traits and evaluated as microbial cell factories for heterologous protein production (intracellular and secretory expression) with the red fluorescent protein (RFP) and the bacteriocin leucocin C (LecC) as reporters. The four mutants grew faster, yielded enhanced biomass, achieved increased adenosine triphosphate content, and diminished maintenance demands compared with the wild strain in the two media tested. In particular, L. lactis 9 k-4 with the largest deletion was identified as the optimum candidate host for recombinant protein production. With nisin induction, not only the transcriptional efficiency but also the production levels of the expressed reporters were approximately three- to fourfold improved compared with the wild strain. The expression of lecC gene controlled with strong constitutive promoters P5 and P8 in L. lactis 9 k-4 was also improved significantly. The genome-streamlined L. lactis 9 k-4 outcompeted the parental strain in several physiological traits assessed. Moreover, L. lactis 9 k-4 exhibited good properties as platform organism for protein production. In future works, the genome of L. lactis will be maximally reduced by using our specific design

Enhancement of ASTEC and COCOSYS regarding fission product release during MCCI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agethen, Kathrin [Bochum Univ. (Germany). Reactor Simulation and Safety Group

2016-10-15

The focus in this paper is on the enhancement of the fission product release model during molten core concrete interaction in the severe accident analysis codes ASTEC and COCOSYS. After both codes are harmonised and the model interaction as well as the input parameters are adapted, extended model approaches are implemented. These lead to an improvement of the release rates for selected semi-volatile species validated against the ACE tests under ex-vessel conditions.

Optimization of date syrup for enhancement of the production of citric acid using immobilized cells of Aspergillus niger.

Science.gov (United States)

Mostafa, Yasser S; Alamri, Saad A

2012-04-01

Date syrup as an economical source of carbohydrates and immobilized Aspergillus niger J4, which was entrapped in calcium alginate pellets, were employed for enhancing the production of citric acid. Maximum production was achieved by pre-treating date syrup with 1.5% tricalcium phosphate to remove heavy metals. The production of citric acid using a pretreated medium was 38.87% higher than an untreated one that consumed sugar. The appropriate presence of nitrogen, phosphate and magnesium appeared to be important in order for citric acid to accumulate. The production of citric acid and the consumed sugar was higher when using 0.1% ammonium nitrate as the best source of nitrogen. The production of citric acid increased significantly when 0.1 g/l of KH2PO4 was added to the medium of date syrup. The addition of magnesium sulfate at the rate of 0.20 g/l had a stimulating effect on the production of citric acid. Maximum production of citric acid was obtained when calcium chloride was absent. One of the most important benefits of immobilized cells is their ability and stability to produce citric acid under a repeated batch culture. Over four repeated batches, the production of citric acid production was maintained for 24 days when each cycle continued for 144 h. The results obtained in the repeated batch cultivation using date syrup confirmed that date syrup could be used as a medium for the industrial production of citric acid.

Production, Characterization, and Application of Bacillus licheniformis W16 Biosurfactant in Enhancing Oil Recovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, Sanket J; Al-Wahaibi, Yahya M; Al-Bahry, Saif N; Elshafie, Abdulkadir E; Al-Bemani, Ali S; Al-Bahri, Asma; Al-Mandhari, Musallam S

2016-01-01

The biosurfactant production by Bacillus licheniformis W16 and evaluation of biosurfactant based enhanced oil recovery (EOR) using core-flood under reservoir conditions were investigated. Previously reported nine different production media were screened for biosurfactant production, and two were further optimized with different carbon sources (glucose, sucrose, starch, cane molasses, or date molasses), as well as the strain was screened for biosurfactant production during the growth in different media. The biosurfactant reduced the surface tension and interfacial tension to 24.33 ± 0.57 mN m -1 and 2.47 ± 0.32 mN m -1 respectively within 72 h, at 40°C, and also altered the wettability of a hydrophobic surface by changing the contact angle from 55.67 ± 1.6 to 19.54°± 0.96°. The critical micelle dilution values of 4X were observed. The biosurfactants were characterized by different analytical techniques and identified as lipopeptide, similar to lichenysin-A. The biosurfactant was stable over wide range of extreme environmental conditions. The core flood experiments showed that the biosurfactant was able to enhance the oil recovery by 24-26% over residual oil saturation (S or ). The results highlight the potential application of lipopeptide biosurfactant in wettability alteration and microbial EOR processes.

Novel fungal consortium pretreatment of waste oat straw to enhance economic and efficient biohydrogen production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lirong Zhou

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Bio-pretreatment using a fungal consortium to enhance the efficiency of lignocellulosic biohydrogen production was explored.  A fungal consortium comprised of T. viride and P. chrysosporium as microbial inoculum was compared with untreated and single-species-inoculated samples. Fungal bio-pretreatment was carried out at atmospheric conditions with limited external energy input.  The effectiveness of the pretreatment is evaluated according to its lignin removal and digestibility. Enhancement of biohydrogen production is observed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM analysis. Fungal consortium pretreatment effectively degraded oat straw lignin (by >47% in 7 days leading to decomposition of cell-wall structure as revealed in SEM images, increasing biohydrogen yield. The hydrogen produced from the fungal consortium pretreated straw increased by 165% 6 days later, and was more than produced from either a single fungi species of T. viride or P. chrysosponium pretreated straw (94% and 106%, respectively. No inhibitory effect on hydrogen production was observed.

The Effects of Input-Enhanced Instruction on Iranian EFL Learners' Production of Appropriate and Accurate Suggestions

Science.gov (United States)

Ghavamnia, M.; Eslami-Rasekh, A.; Vahid Dastjerdi, H.

2018-01-01

This study investigates the relative effectiveness of four types of input-enhanced instruction on the development of Iranian EFL learners' production of pragmatically appropriate and grammatically accurate suggestions. Over a 16-week course, input delivered through video clips was enhanced differently in four intact classes: (1) metapragmatic…

Toward cropping systems that enhance productivity and sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, R. James

2006-01-01

The defining features of any cropping system are (i) the crop rotation and (ii) the kind or intensity of tillage. The trend worldwide starting in the late 20th century has been (i) to specialize competitively in the production of two, three, a single, or closely related crops such as different market classes of wheat and barley, and (ii) to use direct seeding, also known as no-till, to cut costs and save soil, time, and fuel. The availability of glyphosate- and insect-resistant varieties of soybeans, corn, cotton, and canola has helped greatly to address weed and insect pest pressures favored by direct seeding these crops. However, little has been done through genetics and breeding to address diseases caused by residue- and soil-inhabiting pathogens that remain major obstacles to wider adoption of these potentially more productive and sustainable systems. Instead, the gains have been due largely to innovations in management, including enhancement of root defense by antibiotic-producing rhizosphere-inhabiting bacteria inhibitory to root pathogens. Historically, new varieties have facilitated wider adoption of new management, and changes in management have facilitated wider adoption of new varieties. Although actual yields may be lower in direct-seed compared with conventional cropping systems, largely due to diseases, the yield potential is higher because of more available water and increases in soil organic matter. Achieving the full production potential of these more-sustainable cropping systems must now await the development of varieties adapted to or resistant to the hazards shown to account for the yield depressions associated with direct seeding. PMID:17130454

Enhanced Hydrogen Production Integrated with CO2 Separation in a Single-Stage Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mahesh Iyer; Himanshu Gupta; Danny Wong; Liang-Shih Fan

2005-09-30

Hydrogen production from coal gasification can be enhanced by driving the equilibrium limited Water Gas Shift reaction forward by incessantly removing the CO{sub 2} by-product via the carbonation of calcium oxide. This project aims at using the OSU patented high-reactivity mesoporous precipitated calcium carbonate sorbent for removing the CO{sub 2} product. Preliminary experiments demonstrate the show the superior performance of the PCC sorbent over other naturally occurring calcium sorbents. Gas composition analyses show the formation of 100% pure hydrogen. Novel calcination techniques could lead to smaller reactor footprint and single-stage reactors that can achieve maximum theoretical H{sub 2} production for multicyclic applications. Sub-atmospheric calcination studies reveal the effect of vacuum level, diluent gas flow rate, thermal properties of the diluent gas and the sorbent loading on the calcination kinetics which play an important role on the sorbent morphology. Steam, which can be easily separated from CO{sub 2}, is envisioned to be a potential diluent gas due to its enhanced thermal properties. Steam calcination studies at 700-850 C reveal improved sorbent morphology over regular nitrogen calcination. A mixture of 80% steam and 20% CO{sub 2} at ambient pressure was used to calcine the spent sorbent at 820 C thus lowering the calcination temperature. Regeneration of calcium sulfide to calcium carbonate was achieved by carbonating the calcium sulfide slurry by bubbling CO{sub 2} gas at room temperature.

Graft Product for Autologous Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation Enhances Thrombin Generation and Expresses Procoagulant Microparticles and Tissue Factor.

Science.gov (United States)

Sidibe, Fatoumata; Spanoudaki, Anastasia; Vanneaux, Valerie; Mbemba, Elisabeth; Larghero, Jerome; Van Dreden, Patrick; Lotz, Jean-Pierre; Elalamy, Ismail; Larsen, Annette K; Gerotziafas, Grigoris T

2018-05-01

The beneficial effect of autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT) may be compromised by acute vascular complications related to hypercoagulability. We studied the impact of graft product on thrombin generation of normal plasma and the expression of tissue factor (TF) and procoagulant platelet-derived procoagulant microparticles (Pd-MPs) in samples of graft products. Graft products from 10 patients eligible for APBSCT were mixed with platelet-poor plasma (PPP) or platelet-rich plasma (PRP) from healthy volunteers and assessed for in vitro thrombin generation. In control experiments, thrombin generation was assessed in (1) PPP and PRP without any exogenous TF and/or procoagulant phospholipids, (2) PPP with the addition of TF (5 pM) and procoagulant phospholipids (4 μM), (3) in PRP with the addition of TF (5 pM). Graft products were assessed with Western blot assay for TF expression, with a specific clotting assay for TF activity and with flow cytometry assay for Pd-MPs. The graft product enhanced thrombin generation and its procoagulant activity was related to the presence of Pd-MPs and TF. The concentration of Pd-MPs in the graft product was characterized by a significant interindividual variability. The present study reveals the need for a thorough quality control of the graft products regarding their procoagulant potential.

Significant enhancement in thermoelectric performance of nanostructured higher manganese silicides synthesized employing a melt spinning technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Muthiah, Saravanan; Singh, R C; Pathak, B D; Avasthi, Piyush Kumar; Kumar, Rishikesh; Kumar, Anil; Srivastava, A K; Dhar, Ajay

2018-01-25

The limited thermoelectric performance of p-type Higher Manganese Silicides (HMS) in terms of their low figure-of-merit (ZT), which is far below unity, is the main bottle-neck for realising an efficient HMS based thermoelectric generator, which has been recognized as the most promising material for harnessing waste-heat in the mid-temperature range, owing to its thermal stability, earth-abundant and environmentally friendly nature of its constituent elements. We report a significant enhancement in the thermoelectric performance of nanostructured HMS synthesized using rapid solidification by optimizing the cooling rates during melt-spinning followed by spark plasma sintering of the resulting melt-spun ribbons. By employing this experimental strategy, an unprecedented ZT ∼ 0.82 at 800 K was realized in spark plasma sintered 5 at% Al-doped MnSi 1.73 HMS, melt spun at an optimized high cooling rate of ∼2 × 10 7 K s -1 . This enhancement in ZT represents a ∼25% increase over the best reported values thus far for HMS and primarily originates from a nano-crystalline microstructure consisting of a HMS matrix (20-40 nm) with excess Si (3-9 nm) uniformly distributed in it. This nanostructure, resulting from the high cooling rates employed during the melt-spinning of HMS, introduces a high density of nano-crystallite boundaries in a wide spectrum of nano-scale dimensions, which scatter the low-to-mid-wavelength heat-carrying phonons. This abundant phonon scattering results in a significantly reduced thermal conductivity of ∼1.5 W m -1 K -1 at 800 K, which primarily contributes to the enhancement in ZT.

Bioelectrochemical enhancement of methane production in low temperature anaerobic digestion at 10 °C

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liu, Dandan; Zhang, Lei; Chen, Si; Buisman, Cees; Heijne, ter Annemiek

2016-01-01

Anaerobic digestion at low temperature is an attractive technology especially in moderate climates, however, low temperature results in low microbial activity and low rates of methane formation. This study investigated if bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) can enhance methane production from

A novel free ammonia based pretreatment technology to enhance anaerobic methane production from primary sludge.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Wei; Zhou, Xu; Xie, Guo-Jun; Duan, Haoran; Wang, Qilin

2017-10-01

This study proposed a novel free ammonia (FA, i.e., NH 3 ) pretreatment technology to enhance anaerobic methane production from primary sludge for the first time. The solubilization of primary sludge was substantially enhanced following 24 h FA pretreatment (250-680 mg NH 3 -N/L), by which the release of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) (i.e., 0.4 mg SCOD/mg VS added; VS: volatile solids) was approximately 10 times as much as that without pretreatment (i.e., 0.03 mg SCOD/mg VS added). Then, biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests demonstrated that FA pretreatment of 250-680 mg NH 3 -N/L was capable of enhancing anaerobic methane production while the digestion time was more than 7 days. Model based analysis indicated that the improved anaerobic methane production was due to an increased biochemical methane potential (B 0 ) of 8-17% (i.e., from 331 to 357-387 L CH 4 /kg VS added), with the highest B 0 achieved at 420 mg NH 3 -N/L pretreatment. However, FA pretreatment of 250-680 mg NH 3 -N/L decreased hydrolysis rate (k) by 24-38% compared with control (i.e., from 0.29 d -1 to 0.18-0.22 d -1 ), which explained the lower methane production over the first 7 days' digestion period. Economic analysis and environmental evaluation demonstrated that FA pretreatment technology was environmentally friendly and economically favorable. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2245-2252. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Potential for CO2 sequestration and enhanced coalbed methane production in the Netherlands

OpenAIRE

Hamelinck, C.N.; Schreurs, H.; Faaij, A.P.C.; Ruijg, G.J.; Jansen, Daan; Pagnier, H.; Bergen, F. van; Wolf, K.-H.; Barzandji, O.; Bruining, H.

2006-01-01

This study investigated the technical and economic feasibility of using CO2 for the enhanced production of coal bed methane (ECBM) in the Netherlands. This concept could lead to both CO2 storage by adsorbing CO2 in deep coal layers that are not suitable for mining, as well as production of methane. For every two molecules of CO2 injected, roughly one molecule of methane is produced. The work included an investigation of the potential CBM reserves in the Dutch underground and the related CO2 s...

Enhanced biohydrogen production by the N{sub 2}-fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena siamensis strain TISTR 8012

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khetkorn, Wanthanee [Program of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330 (Thailand); Laboratory of Cyanobacterial Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Phayathai Road, Bangkok, 10330 (Thailand); Department of Photochemistry and Molecular Science, Uppsala University, Box 523, SE-75120, Uppsala (Sweden); Lindblad, Peter [Department of Photochemistry and Molecular Science, Uppsala University, Box 523, SE-75120, Uppsala (Sweden); Incharoensakdi, Aran [Laboratory of Cyanobacterial Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Phayathai Road, Bangkok, 10330 (Thailand)

2010-12-15

The efficiency of hydrogen production depends on several factors. We focused on external conditions leading to enhanced hydrogen production when using the N{sub 2}-fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena siamensis TISTR 8012, a novel strain isolated from a rice paddy field in Thailand. In this study, we controlled key factors affecting hydrogen production such as cell age, light intensity, time of light incubation and source of carbon. Our results showed an enhanced hydrogen production when cells, at log phase, were adapted under N{sub 2}-fixing condition using 0.5% fructose as carbon source and a continuous illumination of 200 {mu}E m{sup -2} s{sup -1} for 12 h under anaerobic incubation. The maximum hydrogen production rate was 32 {mu}mol H{sub 2} mg chl a{sup -1} h{sup -1}. This rate was higher than that observed in the model organisms Anabaena PCC 7120, Nostoc punctiforme ATCC 29133 and Synechocystis PCC 6803. This higher production was likely caused by a higher nitrogenase activity since we observed an upregulation of nifD. The production did not increase after 12 h which was probably due to an increased activity of the uptake hydrogenase as evidenced by an increased hupL transcript level. Interestingly, a proper adjustment of light conditions such as intensity and duration is important to minimize both the photodamage of the cells and the uptake hydrogenase activity. Our results indicate that A. siamensis TISTR 8012 has a high potential for hydrogen production with the ability to utilize sugars as substrate to produce hydrogen. (author)

Enhanced Production of Glucose Oxidase Using Penicillium notatum and Rice Polish

OpenAIRE

Shazia Sabir; Haq Nawaz Bhatti; Muhammad Anjum Zia; Munir Ahmad Sheikh

2007-01-01

Glucose oxidase (GOD) is an important enzyme that finds a wide range of applications in food and pharmaceutical industry. In this investigation the feasibility of using rice polish as a substrate for the production of GOD by Penicillium notatum in submerged fermentation (SmF) has been evaluated. The intention was to enhance total GOD activity by the selection of economical substrate, microorganism and consecutive optimization of various cultural conditions. Maximum GOD activity of (112±5) U/m...

Field-enhanced REB deposition and Bremsstrahlung production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halbleib, J.A. Sr.; Widner, M.M.

1977-07-01

Recently developed models are employed to describe the interaction of a high-current REB (relativistic electron beam) with planar gold foils in the presence of macroscopic electromagnetic fields. It is shown that, under certain conditions, azimuthal magnetic fields which either penetrate into the foil and/or exist on the transmission side of the foil can significantly enhance the specific power deposited in the foil over that which would be deposited for diode fields alone. Similar field effects suggest methods for improving the external conversion efficiencies, softening the spectra and focussing the source intensities of flash x-ray facilities. Finally, preliminary results are shown from a new trajectory-field model for self-consistent REB transport

Enhancement of Shikonin Production in Suspension Cultures of Lithospermum erythrorhizon Cells by Gamma-irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baek, Myung Hwa; Chung, Byung Yeoup; Kim, Jae Sung; An, Beyoung Chul; Lee, Young Bok

2005-01-01

The shikonin and several derivatives produced by the roots of Boraginacae family plants are purple compounds that have been used in several parts of the World as antimicrobial and antitumor agents in human pharmaceuticals. Shikonin has been reported as the most successful specimen of the mass production of plant secondary metabolites by cell suspension culture. Numerous studies have elucidated the regulation of production of these compounds in cell suspension cultures. It has known that ultrasonic and gamma irradiation can enhance the production of secondary metabolites. Thus, in present study, we investigate the effects of gamma-irradiation on the shikonin production and the key enzymes in the shikonin biosynthetic pathway of L. erythrorhizon cells

Statistical culture-based strategies to enhance chlamydospore production by Trichoderma harzianum SH2303 in liquid fermentation*

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ya-qian; Song, Kai; Li, Ya-chai; Chen, Jie

2016-01-01

Trichoderma-based formulations are applied as commercial biocontrol agents for soil-borne plant pathogens. Chlamydospores are active propagules in Trichoderma spp., but their production is currently limited due to a lack of optimal liquid fermentation technology. In this study, we explored response surface methodologies for optimizing fermentation technology in Trichoderma SH2303. Our initial studies, using the Plackett-Burman design, identified cornmeal, glycerol, and initial pH levels as the most significant factors (P<0.05) for enhancing the production of chlamydospores. Subsequently, we applied the Box-Behnken design to study the interactions between, and optimal levels of, a number of factors in chlamydospore production. These statistically predicted results indicated that the highest number of chlamydospores (3.6×108 spores/ml) would be obtained under the following condition: corn flour 62.86 g/L, glycerol 7.54 ml/L, pH 4.17, and 6-d incubation in liquid fermentation. We validated these predicted values via three repeated experiments using the optimal culture and achieved maximum chlamydospores of 4.5×108 spores/ml, which approximately a 8-fold increase in the number of chlamydospores produced by T. harzianum SH2303 compared with that before optimization. These optimized values could help make chlamydospore production cost-efficient in the future development of novel biocontrol agents. PMID:27487807

Statistical culture-based strategies to enhance chlamydospore production by Trichoderma harzianum SH2303 in liquid fermentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ya-Qian; Song, Kai; Li, Ya-Chai; Chen, Jie

2016-08-01

Trichoderma-based formulations are applied as commercial biocontrol agents for soil-borne plant pathogens. Chlamydospores are active propagules in Trichoderma spp., but their production is currently limited due to a lack of optimal liquid fermentation technology. In this study, we explored response surface methodologies for optimizing fermentation technology in Trichoderma SH2303. Our initial studies, using the Plackett-Burman design, identified cornmeal, glycerol, and initial pH levels as the most significant factors (P<0.05) for enhancing the production of chlamydospores. Subsequently, we applied the Box-Behnken design to study the interactions between, and optimal levels of, a number of factors in chlamydospore production. These statistically predicted results indicated that the highest number of chlamydospores (3.6×10(8) spores/ml) would be obtained under the following condition: corn flour 62.86 g/L, glycerol 7.54 ml/L, pH 4.17, and 6-d incubation in liquid fermentation. We validated these predicted values via three repeated experiments using the optimal culture and achieved maximum chlamydospores of 4.5×10(8) spores/ml, which approximately a 8-fold increase in the number of chlamydospores produced by T. harzianum SH2303 compared with that before optimization. These optimized values could help make chlamydospore production cost-efficient in the future development of novel biocontrol agents.

Combination of traditional mutation and metabolic engineering to enhance ansamitocin P-3 production in Actinosynnema pretiosum.

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Zhi-Qiang; Zhang, Yuan; Qian, Zhi-Gang; Xiao, Han; Zhong, Jian-Jiang

2017-12-01

Ansamitocin P-3 (AP-3) is a maytansinoid with its most compelling antitumor activity, however, the low production titer of AP-3 greatly restricts its wide commercial application. In this work, a combinatorial approach including random mutation and metabolic engineering was conducted to enhance AP-3 biosynthesis in Actinosynnema pretiosum. First, a mutant strain M was isolated by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine mutation, which could produce AP-3 almost threefold that of wild type (WT) in 48 deep-well plates. Then, by overexpressing key biosynthetic genes asmUdpg and asm13-17 in the M strain, a further 60% increase of AP-3 production in 250-ml shake flasks was achieved in the engineered strain M-asmUdpg:asm13-17 compared to the M strain, and its maximum AP-3 production reached 582.7 mg/L, which is the highest as ever reported. Both the gene transcription levels and intracellular intermediate concentrations in AP-3 biosynthesis pathway were significantly increased in the M and M-asmUdpg:asm13-17 during fermentation compared to the WT. The good fermentation performance of the engineered strain was also confirmed in a lab-scale bioreactor. This work demonstrated that combination of random mutation and metabolic engineering could promote AP-3 biosynthesis and might be helpful for increasing the production of other industrially important secondary metabolites. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The significance of delayed contrast-enhanced CT in chronic subdural hematomas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karasawa, Hideharu; Ohya, Shigeru; Ueno, Junji; Watanabe, Saburo; Mikabe, Toshio

1983-01-01

We have previously, reported our delayed contrast-enhanced CT (DCECT) findings in traumatic subdural hygromas and chronic subdural hematomas. The purpose of this report is to clarify the relationship between the contrast media within subdural hematomas and the delayed enhancement. The clinical subjects were 35 cases of traumatic subdural hematomas. DCECT examinations were performed in all cases. The concentrations of the contrast media within the hematoma were measured during the operations. DCECT showed that the density of the hematomas increased 3 to 6 hours after the injection of the contrast media. The contrast media were detected within the hematomas a few hours after the injection. The contrast media were still present 24 hours after the injection, but disappeared in 48 hours. These findings suggest that contrast media go in and then come out of the subdural hematomas and that the main factor related to delayed enhancement is the concentration of the contrast media within the hematomas. DCECT examination may be most helpful in evaluating the dynamic changes in subdural collections. (author)

Optimization of micronutrient supplement for enhancing biogas production from food waste in two-phase thermophilic anaerobic digestion.

Science.gov (United States)

Menon, Ajay; Wang, Jing-Yuan; Giannis, Apostolos

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to enhance the biogas productivity of two-phase thermophilic anaerobic digestion (AD) using food waste (FW) as the primary substrate. The influence of adding four trace metals (Ca, Mg, Co, and Ni) as micronutrient supplement in the methanogenic phase of the thermophilic system was investigated. Initially, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied to determine the optimal concentration of micronutrients in batch experiments. The results showed that optimal concentrations of 303, 777, 7 and 3mg/L of Ca, Mg, Co and Ni, respectively, increased the biogas productivity as much as 50% and significantly reduced the processing time. The formulated supplement was tested in continuous two-phase thermophilic AD system with regard to process stability and productivity. It was found that a destabilized thermophilic AD process encountering high VFA accumulation recovered in less than two weeks, while the biogas production was improved by 40% yielding 0.46L CH 4 /gVS added /day. There was also a major increase in soluble COD utilization upon the addition of micronutrient supplement. The results of this study indicate that a micronutrient supplement containing Ca, Mg, Co and Ni could probably remedy any type of thermophilic AD process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pretreatment of wheat straw by nonionic surfactant-assisted dilute acid for enhancing enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol production.

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Benkun; Chen, Xiangrong; Wan, Yinhua

2010-07-01

Pretreating wheat straw (WS) with combined use of varied sulfuric acid concentration (0-3%, w/v) and Tween 20 concentration (0-1%) was investigated in an attempt to enhance the hydrolysis and fermentability of pretreated WS. Enzymatic hydrolysis yield of glucan and xylan and ethanol production by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of water-insoluble solids (WIS) were significantly affected by the amount of Tween 20 added during acid pretreatment. Any further addition of Tween 20 in either hydrolysis stage or fermentation stage only led to small increase in glucan conversion and ethanol production. Determination of adsorption of cellulases during hydrolysis showed that Tween 20-assisted acid treated straw solution contained more free cellulases than individual acid treated straw solution, indicating that modification of lignin surface by Tween 20 added during pretreatment likely occurred. In addition, the effects of pretreatment conditions on overall recovery of glucose and xylose after pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis were also investigated. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Beta-Carotene production enhancement by UV-A radiation in Dunaliella bardawil cultivated in laboratory reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mogedas, B.; Casal, C.; Forjan, E.; Vilchez, C.

2009-01-01

beta-Carotene is an antioxidant molecule of commercial value that can be naturally produced by certain microalgae that mostly belong to the genus Dunaliella. So far, nitrogen starvation has been the most efficient condition for enhancing beta-carotene accumulation in Dunaliella. However, while nitrogen starvation promotes beta-carotene accumulation, the cells become non-viable; consequently under such conditions, continuous beta-carotene production is limited to less than 1 week. In this study, the use of UV-A radiation as a tool to enhance long-term beta-carotene production in Dunaliella bardawil cultures was investigated. The effect of UV-A radiation (320-400 nm) added to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm) on growth and carotenoid accumulation of D. bardawil in a laboratory air-fluidized bed photobioreactor was studied. The results were compared with those from D. bardawil control cultures incubated with PAR only. The addition of 8.7 W/square m UV-A radiation to 250 W/square m PAR stimulated long-term growth of D. bardawil. Throughout the exponential growth period the UV-A irradiated cultures showed enhanced carotenoid accumulation, mostly as beta-carotene. After 24 days, the concentration of beta-carotene in UV-A irradiated cultures was approximately two times that of control cultures. Analysis revealed that UV-A clearly induced major accumulation of all-trans beta-carotene. In N-starved culture media, beta-carotene biosynthesis in UV-A irradiated cultures was stimulated. We conclude that the addition of UV-A to PAR enhances carotenoid production processes, specifically all-trans beta-carotene, in D. bardawil cells without negative effects on cell growth

Enhanced production of bacterial cellulose by using a biofilm reactor and its material property analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Demirci Ali

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Bacterial cellulose has been used in the food industry for applications such as low-calorie desserts, salads, and fabricated foods. It has also been used in the paper manufacturing industry to enhance paper strength, the electronics industry in acoustic diaphragms for audio speakers, the pharmaceutical industry as filtration membranes, and in the medical field as wound dressing and artificial skin material. In this study, different types of plastic composite support (PCS were implemented separately within a fermentation medium in order to enhance bacterial cellulose (BC production by Acetobacter xylinum. The optimal composition of nutritious compounds in PCS was chosen based on the amount of BC produced. The selected PCS was implemented within a bioreactor to examine the effects on BC production in a batch fermentation. The produced BC was analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA, and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA. Among thirteen types of PCS, the type SFYR+ was selected as solid support for BC production by A. xylinum in a batch biofilm reactor due to its high nitrogen content, moderate nitrogen leaching rate, and sufficient biomass attached on PCS. The PCS biofilm reactor yielded BC production (7.05 g/L that was 2.5-fold greater than the control (2.82 g/L. The XRD results indicated that the PCS-grown BC exhibited higher crystallinity (93% and similar crystal size (5.2 nm to the control. FESEM results showed the attachment of A. xylinum on PCS, producing an interweaving BC product. TGA results demonstrated that PCS-grown BC had about 95% water retention ability, which was lower than BC produced within suspended-cell reactor. PCS-grown BC also exhibited higher Tmax compared to the control. Finally, DMA results showed that BC from the PCS biofilm reactor increased its mechanical property values, i.e., stress at break and Young's modulus when compared to

Enhanced Production of Two Bioactive Isoflavone Aglycones in Astragalus membranaceus Hairy Root Cultures by Combining Deglycosylation and Elicitation of Immobilized Edible Aspergillus niger.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiao, Jiao; Gai, Qing-Yan; Niu, Li-Li; Wang, Xi-Qing; Guo, Na; Zang, Yu-Ping; Fu, Yu-Jie

2017-10-18

A cocultivation system of Astragalus membranaceus hairy root cultures (AMHRCs) and immobilized food-grade fungi was established for the enhanced production of calycosin (CA) and formononetin (FO). The highest accumulations of CA (730.88 ± 63.72 μg/g DW) and FO (1119.42 ± 95.85 μg/g DW) were achieved in 34 day-old AMHRCs cocultured with immobilized A. niger (IAN) for 54 h, which were 7.72- and 18.78-fold higher than CA and FO in nontreated control, respectively. IAN deglycosylation could promote the formation of CA and FO by conversion of their glycoside precursors. IAN elicitation could intensify the generation of endogenous signal molecules involved in plant defense response, which contributed to the significantly up-regulated expression of genes in CA and FO biosynthetic pathway. Overall, the coupled culture of IAN and AMHRCs offered a promising and effective in vitro approach to enhance the production of two health-promoting isoflavone aglycones for possible nutraceutical and pharmaceutical uses.

Optimization of date syrup for enhancement of the production of citric acid using immobilized cells of Aspergillus niger

Science.gov (United States)

Mostafa, Yasser S.; Alamri, Saad A.

2012-01-01

Date syrup as an economical source of carbohydrates and immobilized Aspergillus niger J4, which was entrapped in calcium alginate pellets, were employed for enhancing the production of citric acid. Maximum production was achieved by pre-treating date syrup with 1.5% tricalcium phosphate to remove heavy metals. The production of citric acid using a pretreated medium was 38.87% higher than an untreated one that consumed sugar. The appropriate presence of nitrogen, phosphate and magnesium appeared to be important in order for citric acid to accumulate. The production of citric acid and the consumed sugar was higher when using 0.1% ammonium nitrate as the best source of nitrogen. The production of citric acid increased significantly when 0.1 g/l of KH2PO4 was added to the medium of date syrup. The addition of magnesium sulfate at the rate of 0.20 g/l had a stimulating effect on the production of citric acid. Maximum production of citric acid was obtained when calcium chloride was absent. One of the most important benefits of immobilized cells is their ability and stability to produce citric acid under a repeated batch culture. Over four repeated batches, the production of citric acid production was maintained for 24 days when each cycle continued for 144 h. The results obtained in the repeated batch cultivation using date syrup confirmed that date syrup could be used as a medium for the industrial production of citric acid. PMID:23961184

Persistent adrenal enhancement may be the earliest CT sign of significant hypovolaemic shock

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheung, S.C.W.; Lee, R.; Tung, H.K.S.; Chan, F.L

2003-04-01

AIM: To report two cases of intense and persistent adrenal enhancement on computed tomography (CT) examinations of the abdomen. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two patients presented with septic shock, one due to pyogenic liver abscess and the other strangulated obturator hernia with gangrenous bowel. Both patients were resuscitated with fluid before undergoing unenhanced and enhanced CT. RESULTS: In both patients intravascular volume was not reduced as evident by normal calibre of the aorta and inferior vena cava. One patient had abnormal enhancement pattern in the liver and kidneys, suggesting hypoperfusion. The other patient had normal enhancement pattern of the other abdominal viscera. Both patient subsequently died with multi-organ failure. CONCLUSION: We propose that adrenal enhancement may be a sign of hyperperfusion in early stage of shock due to the crucial role of the adrenal glands in this clinical situation. This may not persist with further circulatory compromise due to vasoconstriction. If confirmed, its recognition has potential value of identifying a therapeutic window before irreversible shock set in.

Demonstration of AIRS Total Ozone Products to Operations to Enhance User Readiness

Science.gov (United States)

Berndt, Emily; Zavodsky, Bradley; Jedlovec, Gary

2014-01-01

Cyclogenesis is a key forecast challenge at operational forecasting centers such as WPC and OPC, so these centers have a particular interest in unique products that can identify key storm features. In some cases, explosively developing extratropical cyclones can produce hurricane force, non-convective winds along the East Coast and north Atlantic as well as the Pacific Ocean, with the potential to cause significant damage to life and property. Therefore, anticipating cyclogenesis for these types of storms is crucial for furthering the NOAA goal of a "Weather Ready Nation". Over the last few years, multispectral imagery (i.e. RGB) products have gained popularity among forecasters. The GOES-R satellite champion at WPC/OPC has regularly evaluated the Air Mass RGB products from GOES Sounder, MODIS, and SEVIRI to aid in forecasting cyclogenesis as part of ongoing collaborations with SPoRT within the framework of the GOES-R Proving Ground. WPC/OPC has used these products to identify regions of stratospheric air associated with tropopause folds that can lead to cyclogenesis and hurricane force winds. RGB products combine multiple channels or channel differences into multi-color imagery in which different colors represent a particular cloud or air mass type. Initial interaction and feedback from forecasters evaluating the legacy Air Mass RGBs revealed some uncertainty regarding what physical processes the qualitative RGB products represent and color interpretation. To enhance forecaster confidence and interpretation of the Air Mass RGB, NASA SPoRT has transitioned a total column ozone product from AIRS retrievals to the WPC/OPC. The use of legacy AIRS demonstrates future JPSS capabilities possible with CrIS or OMPS. Since stratospheric air can be identified by anomalous potential vorticity and warm, dry, ozone-rich air, hyperspectral infrared sounder ozone products can be used in conjunction with the Air Mass RGB for identifying the role of stratospheric air in explosive

Enhanced hydrogen production by coupled system of Halobacterium halobium and chloroplast after entrapment within reverse micelles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singh, A.; Dubey, R.S. [Banaras Hindhu University, Varanasi (India). Dept. of Biochemistry; Pandey, K.D. [Banaras Hindhu University, Varanasi (India). Dept. of Botany

1999-08-01

Reverse micelles were used for the enhanced rate of photoproduction of hydrogen using the coupled system of Halobacterium halobium and chloroplasts organelles. Different combinations of organic solvents and surfactants were used for generating reverse micelles. A several fold enhancement in the rate of H{sub 2} production was observed when the coupled system was entrapped within reverse micelles as compared to the aqueous suspension where no detectable H{sub 2} was produced. The coupled system immobilized in reverse micelles formed by sodium lauryl sulfate and carbon tetrachloride yielded maximum rate of H{sub 2} evolution. The optimum temperature for such hydrogen production was 40{sup o}C using light of 520-570 nm wavelength and 100 lux intensity. (author)

Thrombospondin-1 production is enhanced by Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide in THP-1 cells.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Misa Gokyu

Full Text Available Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by gram-negative anaerobic bacteria. Monocytes and macrophages stimulated by periodontopathic bacteria induce inflammatory mediators that cause tooth-supporting structure destruction and alveolar bone resorption. In this study, using a DNA microarray, we identified the enhanced gene expression of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1 in human monocytic cells stimulated by Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (LPS. TSP-1 is a multifunctional extracellular matrix protein that is upregulated during the inflammatory process. Recent studies have suggested that TSP-1 is associated with rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, and osteoclastogenesis. TSP-1 is secreted from neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages, which mediate immune responses at inflammatory regions. However, TSP-1 expression in periodontitis and the mechanisms underlying TSP-1 expression in human monocytic cells remain unknown. Here using real-time RT-PCR, we demonstrated that TSP-1 mRNA expression level was significantly upregulated in inflamed periodontitis gingival tissues and in P. gingivalis LPS-stimulated human monocytic cell line THP-1 cells. TSP-1 was expressed via Toll-like receptor (TLR 2 and TLR4 pathways. In P. gingivalis LPS stimulation, TSP-1 expression was dependent upon TLR2 through the activation of NF-κB signaling. Furthermore, IL-17F synergistically enhanced P. gingivalis LPS-induced TSP-1 production. These results suggest that modulation of TSP-1 expression by P. gingivalis plays an important role in the progression and chronicity of periodontitis. It may also contribute a new target molecule for periodontal therapy.

Enhanced Mulberroside A Production from Cell Suspension and Root Cultures of Morus alba Using Elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Komaikul, Jukrapun; Kitisripanya, Tharita; Tanaka, Hiroyuki; Sritularak, Boonchoo; Putalun, Waraporn

2015-07-01

Morus alba L. has been used in Asian traditional medicine as an anti-inflammatory, anti-asthmatic, anthelmintic and as a whitening agent in cosmetic products. Mulberroside A is the major active compound from M. alba root bark. In this study, cell suspension and root cultures of M. alba were established, and the effect of the elicitors on the enhancement of mulberroside A production in M. alba was investigated. The cell suspension and root cultures of M. alba were exposed to elicitors and then mulberroside A contents were determined by an indirect competitive ELISA method. High levels of mulberroside A were obtained by addition of 100 and 200 μM salicylic acid with 24 h exposure time in cell suspension cultures (37.9 ± 1.5 and 34.0 ± 4.7 mg/g dry wt., respectively). Furthermore, addition of yeast extract at 2 mg/mL with 24 h exposure time can significantly increase mulberroside A contents from both cell suspension (3.2-fold) and root cultures (6.6-fold). Mulberroside A contents from both cell suspension and root cultures after treatment with elicitors are similar or higher than those found in the intact root and root bark of several years old M. alba. These results indicate that mulberry tissue cultures using the elicitation method are interesting alternative sources for mulberroside A production.

Hepatocellular carcinoma: clinical significance of signal heterogeneity in the hepatobiliary phase of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fujita, Nobuhiro; Nishie, Akihiro; Asayama, Yoshiki; Ushijima, Yasuhiro; Moirta, Koichiro; Honda, Hiroshi [Kyushu University, Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Kubo, Yuichiro; Aishima, Shinichi [Kyushu University, Department of Anatomic Pathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Takayama, Yukihisa [Kyushu University, Department of Molecular Imaging and Diagnosis, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Shirabe, Ken [Kyushu University, Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan)

2015-01-15

To clarify the relationship between the biological behaviour of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) and their signal intensity in the hepatobiliary phase of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging with a special focus on the signal heterogeneity. A total of 68 patients with 70 pathologically proven HCCs were enrolled. On the basis of the signal intensity in the hepatobiliary phase, the lesions were classified into three groups: group 1, homogeneous hypointensity (n = 44); group 2, heterogeneous hyperintensity (n = 20); and group 3, homogeneous hyperintensity (n = 6). The clinicopathological findings were compared among the three groups. The tumour size and the serum level of protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II) were significantly higher in group 2 compared to group 1 (p = 0.0155, p = 0.0215, respectively) and compared to group 3 (p = 0.0330, p = 0.0220, respectively). The organic anion transporting polypeptide 8 (OATP8) expression in group 2 and group 3 was significantly higher than in group 1 (p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, respectively). Group 2 showed a significantly lower disease-free survival rate compared to group 1 (p = 0.0125), and group 2 was an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival (p = 0.0308). HCCs in the hepatobiliary phase that are heterogeneously hyperintense on gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging have more malignant potential than other types of HCCs. (orig.)

Deacetylation biocatalysis and elicitation by immobilized Penicillium canescens in Astragalus membranaceus hairy root cultures: towards the enhanced and sustainable production of astragaloside IV.

Science.gov (United States)

Gai, Qing-Yan; Jiao, Jiao; Luo, Meng; Wang, Wei; Yao, Li-Ping; Fu, Yu-Jie

2017-03-01

A novel biotechnology approach by combining deacetylation biocatalysis with elicitation of immobilized Penicillium canescens (IPC) in Astragalus membranaceus hairy root cultures (AMHRCs) was proposed for the elevated production of astragaloside IV (AG IV). The highest AG IV accumulation was achieved in 36-day-old AMHRCs co-cultured with IPC for 60 h, which resulted in the enhanced production of AG IV by 14.59-fold in comparison with that in control (0.193 ± 0.007 mg/g DW). Meanwhile, AG IV precursors were almost transformed to AG IV by IPC deacetylation. Moreover, expression of genes involved in AG IV biosynthetic pathway was significantly up-regulated in response to IPC elicitation. Also, FTIR and SEM showed that cell wall lignification was enhanced following IPC treatment and root surface was likely to be IPC deacetylation site. Overall, dual roles of IPC (biocatalyst and elicitor) offered an effective and sustainable way for the mass production of AG IV in AMHRCs. © 2016 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Comparative effectiveness of different carriers to improve the efficacy of bacterial consortium for enhancing wheat production under salt affected field conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shahzad, S.; Zahir, Z. A.; Asghar, H. N.; Chaudhry, U. K.

2017-01-01

Salinity is one of the most crucial problems for sustainable agriculture which is severely affecting crop growth and decreasing the food production. On another hand, burgeoning population in the world demands to produce more food. So, there is a need of hours to increase agricultural production particularly cereals from salt affected soils by adopting cost effective and environment friendly approaches. Use of bio-inoculants with salt tolerant plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) could be a promising option to enhance the production of cereals in salt affected soils. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted to evaluate different carriers compost, peat, biogas slurry and press mud along with PGPR to enhance wheat production under salinity stress. Consortium containing equal proportion of three PGPR strains (Bacillus cereus strain Y5, Bacillus sp. Y14 and Bacillus subtilis strain Y16) was used with different carriers for seed coating. Finely ground and sterilized carriers were mixed in broth and coated on the surface of wheat seeds with different carriers. Coated seeds were sown in saline field with salinity range of 10-13 dS m/sup -1/. Results revealed that multi-strain bacterial inoculation improved the gas exchange, ionic, biochemical, growth and yield attributes of wheat crop under salinity stress. However, use of different carriers further improved the efficacy of multi-strain inoculation and significantly increased growth, yield and physiological parameters of wheat. The results of compost, peat and biogas slurry as carrier for bio-inoculants were statistically similar. (author)

The impact of onsite workplace health-enhancing physical activity interventions on worker productivity: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, Michelle Jessica; Coombes, Brooke Kaye; Comans, Tracy Anne; Johnston, Venerina

2015-06-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of onsite workplace health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) programmes on worker productivity. The PROSPERO registration number is CRD42014008750. A search for controlled trials or randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the effects of onsite workplace HEPA programmes on productivity levels of working adults was performed. Risk of bias of included studies was assessed, and the inter-rater reliability of the quality assessment was analysed. Qualitative synthesis of available evidence is presented. Eight studies were included in the review. There is consistent evidence that onsite workplace HEPA programmes do not reduce levels of sick leave. There appears to be inconsistent evidence of the impact of onsite workplace HEPA programmes on worker productivity. A high-quality study of an onsite combination (aerobic, strengthening and flexibility) HEPA regime and a moderate-quality study of a Tai Chi programme improved worker productivity measured with questionnaires in female laundry workers and older female nurses, respectively. Two high-quality studies and four moderate-quality studies did not show benefit. Studies that showed benefit were mainly those designed with productivity measures as primary outcomes, delivered to occupations involved with higher physical loads, and had higher compliance and programme intensity. The small number of studies and the lack of consistency among studies limited further analyses. There is inconsistent evidence that onsite workplace HEPA programmes improve self-reported worker productivity. Future high-quality RCTs of onsite workplace HEPA programmes should be designed around productivity outcomes, target at-risk groups and investigate interventions of sufficient intensity. High attendance with improved recording is needed to achieve significant results in augmenting worker productivity. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not

Synthesis of natural products of therapeutic significance

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

system

2015-11-07

Nov 7, 2015 ... potential activity, while more natural products await the ... Treaty that prohibits commercial exploitation of Antarctic resources, the development of a synthetic strategy that allows the synthesis of palmerolide A and an array of its.

Enhanced Production of Vitamin K2 from Bacillus subtilis (nattoby Mutation and Optimization of the Fermentation Medium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junying Song

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to enhance the production of vitamin K2 by using N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitroso-guanidine (NTG and low energy ion beam implantation and optimizing the fermentation medium. Mutation resulted in 1.66-fold higher production of vitamin K2 than that of the parentl strain. The production by the mutant BN-P15-11-1was increased 55% and reached 3.593±0.107 mg/L by using the Plackett-Burman and Box-Behnken designs to optimize the fermentation medium. The optimal fermentation culture medium was composed of (g/L glycerol 69.6, sucrose 34.5, K2HPO4 4.0, peptone 20, yeast extract 25 and fermented at 37 °C and 150 rpm for 72 h. The results showed that the NTG and low energy ion beam implantation mutations and optimizing fermentation medium were effective methods to enhance vitamin K2production.

Stimulation of d- and l-lactate dehydrogenases transcriptional levels in presence of diammonium hydrogen phosphate resulting to enhanced lactic acid production by Lactobacillus strain.

Science.gov (United States)

Singhvi, Mamata; Zendo, Takeshi; Iida, Hiroshi; Gokhale, Digambar; Sonomoto, Kenji

2017-12-01

The present study revealed the effect of nitrogen sources on lactic acid production and stimulation of d- and l-lactate dehydrogenases (LDH) of parent Lactobacillus lactis NCIM 2368 and its mutant RM2-24 generated after UV mutagenesis. Both the parent and mutant strains were evaluated for d-lactic acid production in control and modified media. The modified media did not show remarkable effect on lactic acid production in case of parent whereas mutant exhibited significant enhancement in d-lactic acid production along with the appearance of l-lactic acid in the broth. Both LDH activities and specific activities were found to be higher in mutant than the parent strain. These results suggested that the diammonium hydrogen phosphate in modified media triggered the expression of LDH genes leading to enhanced lactic acid production. This observation has been proved by studying the expression levels of d- and l-LDH genes of parent and mutant in control and modified media using quantitative RT-PCR technique. In case of mutant, the transcriptional levels of d-LDH and l-LDH increased ∼17 fold and ∼1.38 fold respectively in modified medium compared to the values obtained with control medium. In case of parent, no significant change in transcriptional levels of d- and l-LDH was found when the cells were grown in either control medium or modified medium. This study suggested that the mutant, RM2-24 has l-LDH gene which is expressed in presence of (NH 4 ) 2 HPO 4 resulting in l-lactic acid production. Co-production of l-lactic acid in d-lactic acid fermentation may be detrimental in the PLA production. Copyright © 2017 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Enhanced hydrogen production from water via a photo-catalyzed reaction using chalcogenide d-element nanoparticles induced by UV light.

Science.gov (United States)

El Naggar, Ahmed M A; Nassar, Ibrahim M; Gobara, Heba M

2013-10-21

Hydrogen has the potential to meet the requirements as a clean non-fossil fuel in the future. The photocatalytic production of H2 through water splitting has been demonstrated and enormous efforts have been published. The present work is an attempt to enhance the production of H2 during water splitting using synthesized nanoparticles based on chalcogenide d-element semiconductors via a photochemical reaction under UV-light in the presence of methanol as a hole-scavenger. In general, the enhanced activity of a semiconductor is most likely due to the effective charge separation of photo generated electrons and holes in the semiconductors. Hence, the utilization of different semiconductors in combination can consequently provide better hydrogen production. Accordingly in this research work, two different semiconductors, with different concentrations, either used individually or combined together were introduced. They in turn produced a high concentration of H2 as detected and measured using gas chromatography. Herein, data revealed that the nano-structured semiconductors prepared through this work are a promising candidate in the production of an enhanced H2 flux under visible UV radiation.

Successful development of satiety enhancing food products: towards a multidisciplinary agenda of research challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Kleef, E; Van Trijp, J C M; Van Den Borne, J J G C; Zondervan, C

2012-01-01

In the context of increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in societies worldwide, enhancing the satiating capacity of foods may help people control their energy intake and weight. This requires an integrated approach between various food-related disciplines. By structuring this approach around the new product development process, this paper aims to present the contours of such an integrative approach by going through the current state of the art around satiety enhancing foods. It portrays actual food choice as the end result of a complex interaction between internal satiety signals, other food benefits, and environmental cues. Three interrelated routes to satiating enhancement are to change the food composition to develop stronger physiological satiation and satiety signals, anticipate and build on smart external stimuli at the moment of purchase and consumption, and improve palatability and acceptance of satiety enhanced foods. Key research challenges in achieving these routes in the field of nutrition, food technology, consumer, marketing, and communication are outlined.

Successful Development of Satiety Enhancing Food Products: Towards a Multidisciplinary Agenda of Research Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Van Kleef, E.; Van Trijp, J.C.M.; Van Den Borne, J.J.G.C.; Zondervan, C.

2012-01-01

In the context of increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in societies worldwide, enhancing the satiating capacity of foods may help people control their energy intake and weight. This requires an integrated approach between various food-related disciplines. By structuring this approach around the new product development process, this paper aims to present the contours of such an integrative approach by going through the current state of the art around satiety enhancing foods. It portrays actual food choice as the end result of a complex interaction between internal satiety signals, other food benefits, and environmental cues. Three interrelated routes to satiating enhancement are to change the food composition to develop stronger physiological satiation and satiety signals, anticipate and build on smart external stimuli at the moment of purchase and consumption, and improve palatability and acceptance of satiety enhanced foods. Key research challenges in achieving these routes in the field of nutrition, food technology, consumer, marketing, and communication are outlined. PMID:22530713

Salinity induced oxidative stress enhanced biofuel production potential of microalgae Scenedesmus sp. CCNM 1077.

Science.gov (United States)

Pancha, Imran; Chokshi, Kaumeel; Maurya, Rahulkumar; Trivedi, Khanjan; Patidar, Shailesh Kumar; Ghosh, Arup; Mishra, Sandhya

2015-01-01

Microalgal biomass is considered as potential feedstock for biofuel production. Enhancement of biomass, lipid and carbohydrate contents in microalgae is important for the commercialization of microalgal biofuels. In the present study, salinity stress induced physiological and biochemical changes in microalgae Scenedesmus sp. CCNM 1077 were studied. During single stage cultivation, 33.13% lipid and 35.91% carbohydrate content was found in 400 mM NaCl grown culture. During two stage cultivation, salinity stress of 400 mM for 3 days resulted in 24.77% lipid (containing 74.87% neutral lipid) along with higher biomass compared to single stage, making it an efficient strategy to enhance biofuel production potential of Scenedesmus sp. CCNM 1077. Apart from biochemical content, stress biomarkers like hydrogen peroxide, lipid peroxidation, ascorbate peroxidase, proline and mineral contents were also studied to understand the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediated lipid accumulation in microalgae Scenedesmus sp. CCNM 1077. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Significance of impurities in the safety evaluation of crop protection products - (IUPAC technical report)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ambrus, A.; Hamilton, D.J.; Kuiper, H.A.; Racke, K.D.

2003-01-01

There may be substantial differences in the chemical composition of technical-grade products of the same active ingredient manufactured under different conditions, from different raw materials, or by different routes of synthesis. Resulting differences in impurity content may significantly affect

Enhanced Hydrogen Production Integrated with CO2 Separation in a Single-Stage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mahesh Iyer; Shwetha Ramkumar; Liang-Shih Fan

2006-09-30

Enhancement in the production of high purity hydrogen from fuel gas, obtained from coal gasification, is limited by thermodynamics of the Water Gas Shift Reaction. However, this constraint can be overcome by concurrent water-gas shift (WGS) and carbonation reactions to enhance H{sub 2} production by incessantly driving the equilibrium-limited WGS reaction forward and in-situ removing the CO2 product from the gas mixture. The spent sorbent is then regenerated by calcining it to produce a pure stream of CO{sub 2} and CaO which can be reused. However while performing the cyclic carbonation and calcination it was observed that the CO{sub 2} released during the in-situ calcination causes the deactivation of the iron oxide WGS catalyst. Detailed understanding of the iron oxide phase diagram helped in developing a catalyst pretreatment procedure using a H{sub 2}/H{sub 2}O system to convert the deactivated catalyst back to its active magnetite (Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}) form. The water gas shift reaction was studied at different temperatures, different steam to carbon monoxide ratios (S/C) 3:1, 2:1, 1:1 and different total pressures ranging from 0-300 psig. The combined water gas shift and carbonation reaction was investigated at temperatures ranging from 600-700C, S/C ratio of 3:1 to 1:1 and at different pressures of 0-300 psig and the calcium looping process was found to produce high purity hydrogen with in-situ CO{sub 2} capture.

Nutritional, technological and managerial parameters for precision feeding to enhance feed nutrient utilization and productivity in different dairy cattle production systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van Empel, Mireille JM; Makkar, Harinder PS; Dijkstra, Jan

2016-01-01

Increased future demand of animal products as well as competition between food, feed and fuel, require efficient utilization of feed resources to strengthen environmental, economic and social sustainability of livestock systems. The objective of this review is to summarize current knowledge...... on precision feeding (PF) and the relevance of PF approaches in dairy cattle production systems in developing countries. The concept of PF aims at achieving balanced nutrition (matching animal requirements with nutrient supply, preferably from locally available feed resources) to improve animal productivity...... and to reduce both the cost of production and environmental pollution. In addition to the supply of proper amounts of nutrients to the dairy cow using various methodologies and tools, approaches that enhance overall nutrient digestion and availability to the animal are also discussed as an integral part of PF...

Topical Application of Propolis Enhances Cutaneous Wound Healing by Promoting TGF-Beta/Smad-Mediated Collagen Production in a Streptozotocin-Induced Type I Diabetic Mouse Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wael N. Hozzein

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Background/Aims: Impaired wound healing is considered to be one of the most serious complications associated with diabetes as it significantly increases the susceptibility of patients to infection. Propolis is a natural bee product used extensively in foods and beverages that has significant benefits to human health. In particular, propolis has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects that could be useful for improving wound healing. In this study, we investigated the effects of topical application of propolis on the healing and closure of diabetic wounds in a streptozotocin (STZ-induced type I diabetic mouse model. Methods: Sixty male mice were distributed equally into 3 experimental groups: group 1, non-diabetic control mice; group 2, diabetic mice; and group 3, diabetic mice treated daily with a topical application of propolis. Results: We found that diabetic mice exhibited delayed wound closure characterized by a significant decrease in the levels of TGF-β1 and a prolonged elevation of the levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α and MMP9 in wound tissues compared with control non-diabetic mice. Moreover, the wound tissues of diabetic mice showed a marked reduction in the phosphorylation of Smad2 and Smad3 as well as a marked reduction in collagen production. Interestingly, compared with untreated diabetic mice, topical application of propolis significantly enhanced the closure of diabetic wounds and decreased the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and MMP9 to near normal levels. Most importantly, compared with untreated diabetic mice, the treatment of diabetic mice with propolis significantly enhanced the production of collagen via the TGF-β1/Smad2,3 signaling axis in wounded tissues. Conclusion: Our findings reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying the improved healing and closure of diabetic wounds following topical propolis application.

Macroporous Inverse Opal-like MoxC with Incorporated Mo Vacancies for Significantly Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Feng; Zhao, Xianglong; Mahmood, Javeed; Okyay, Mahmut Sait; Jung, Sun-Min; Ahmad, Ishfaq; Kim, Seok-Jin; Han, Gao-Feng; Park, Noejung; Baek, Jong-Beom

2017-07-25

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is one of the most important pathways for producing pure and clean hydrogen. Although platinum (Pt) is the most efficient HER electrocatalyst, its practical application is significantly hindered by high-cost and scarcity. In this work, an Mo x C with incorporated Mo vacancies and macroporous inverse opal-like (IOL) structure (Mo x C-IOL) was synthesized and studied as a low-cost efficient HER electrocatalyst. The macroporous IOL structure was controllably fabricated using a facile-hard template strategy. As a result of the combined benefits of the Mo vacancies and structural advantages, including appropriate hydrogen binding energy, large exposed surface, robust IOL structure and fast mass/charge transport, the synthesized Mo x C-IOL exhibited significantly enhanced HER electrocatalytic performance with good stability, with performance comparable or superior to Pt wire in both acidic and alkaline solutions.

Enhancement of Th1 type cytokine production and primary T cell activation by PBI-1393.

Science.gov (United States)

Allam, Mustapha; Julien, Nathalie; Zacharie, Boulos; Penney, Christopher; Gagnon, Lyne

2007-12-01

In previous reports, we have shown that PBI-1393 (formerly BCH-1393), N,N-Dimethylaminopurine pentoxycarbonyl D-arginine, stimulates cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses both in vitro and in vivo in normal immune status and immunosuppressed mice. Additionally, PBI-1393 was tested for anticancer activity in syngeneic mouse experimental tumor models and it displayed significant inhibition of tumor outgrowths when given in combination with sub-therapeutic doses of cytotoxic drugs (cyclophosphamide, 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin and cis-platinum). However, the mechanism of action of PBI-1393 was still unknown. Here, we report that PBI-1393 enhances IL-2 and IFN-gamma production in human activated T cells by 51% and 46% respectively. PBI-1393 increases also IL-2 and IFN-gamma mRNA expression as shown by RT-PCR. The physiological relevance of IL-2 and IFN-gamma gene modulation by PBI-1393 is illustrated by the advantageous increase of T cell proliferation (39+/-0.3% above control) and human CTL response against prostate (PC-3) cancer cells (42+/-0.03%). The enhancement of human T cell proliferation and CTL activation by PBI-1393 demonstrates that this compound potentiates the immune response and in this regard, it could be used as an alternative approach to IL-2 and/or IFN-gamma therapy against cancer.

Comparative proteomics analysis of engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae with enhanced biofuel precursor production.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoling Tang

Full Text Available The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was metabolically modified for enhanced biofuel precursor production by knocking out genes encoding mitochondrial isocitrate dehydrogenase and over-expression of a heterologous ATP-citrate lyase. A comparative iTRAQ-coupled 2D LC-MS/MS analysis was performed to obtain a global overview of ubiquitous protein expression changes in S. cerevisiae engineered strains. More than 300 proteins were identified. Among these proteins, 37 were found differentially expressed in engineered strains and they were classified into specific categories based on their enzyme functions. Most of the proteins involved in glycolytic and pyruvate branch-point pathways were found to be up-regulated and the proteins involved in respiration and glyoxylate pathway were however found to be down-regulated in engineered strains. Moreover, the metabolic modification of S. cerevisiae cells resulted in a number of up-regulated proteins involved in stress response and differentially expressed proteins involved in amino acid metabolism and protein biosynthesis pathways. These LC-MS/MS based proteomics analysis results not only offered extensive information in identifying potential protein-protein interactions, signal pathways and ubiquitous cellular changes elicited by the engineered pathways, but also provided a meaningful biological information platform serving further modification of yeast cells for enhanced biofuel production.

The significance of presenteeism for the value of lost production: the case of rheumatoid arthritis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rikke Søgaard

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Rikke Søgaard1, Jan Sørensen1, Louise Linde2, Merete L Hetland2,31CAST – Centre for Applied Health Services Research and Technology Assessment, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark; 2Department of Rheumatology, Hvidovre and Glostrup Hospitals, Denmark; 3The DANBIO registry, Hvidovre and Glostrup Hospitals, DenmarkAbstract: Lost production can be due to individuals’ time lost to work (absenteeism, as well as their time at work with reduced productivity because of ill health (presenteeism. A sound methodological framework for the assessment of presenteeism remains to be established but given its significance, ignoring it would lead to severe underestimations, eg, in cost-of-illness studies. The objective of this study was to assess the empirical significance of absenteeism and presenteeism in terms of production loss using the case of rheumatoid arthritis (RA. Selected modules from the Health and Labor Questionnaire were applied in a cross-sectional study of 3,704 patients with RA. The costs of absenteeism and presenteeism were estimated using the Human Capital approach, and the impact of including multipliers adjusting for the productivity effect of a workers’ absence or impaired presenteeism on societal productivity was demonstrated. RA-related absenteeism over the last 14 days was 22.31 hours (standard deviation [SD], 26.51 with a resulting cost of €473 (SD, 575 and €762 (SD, 926 depending on whether a multiplier was included. Presenteeism was found to affect 7.98 (SD, 3.24 working days over the last 14 days with a resulting cost of €168 (SD, 203 and €203 (SD, 245, again depending on whether a multiplier was included. Overall, this article demonstrates that the value of lost production due to RA could be subject to an almost factor 2 increase if productivity effects of presenteeism and general multipliers are included.Keywords: work limitations, Health and Labor Questionnaire, productivity, production loss

Utilizing natural gas huff and puff to enhance production in heavy oil reservoir

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wenlong, G.; Shuhong, W.; Jian, Z.; Xialin, Z. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)]|[PetroChina Co. Ltd., Beijing (China); Jinzhong, L.; Xiao, M. [China Univ. of Petroleum, Beijing (China)

2008-10-15

The L Block in the north structural belt of China's Tuha Basin is a super deep heavy oil reservoir. The gas to oil ratio (GOR) is 12 m{sup 3}/m{sup 3} and the initial bubble point pressure is only 4 MPa. The low production can be attributed to high oil viscosity and low flowability. Although steam injection is the most widely method for heavy oil production in China, it is not suitable for the L Block because of its depth. This paper reviewed pilot tests in which the natural gas huff and puff process was used to enhance production in the L Block. Laboratory experiments that included both conventional and unconventional PVT were conducted to determine the physical property of heavy oil saturated by natural gas. The experiments revealed that the heavy oil can entrap the gas for more than several hours because of its high viscosity. A pseudo bubble point pressure exists much lower than the bubble point pressure in manmade foamy oils, which is relative to the depressurization rate. Elastic energy could be maintained in a wider pressure scope than natural depletion without gas injection. A special experimental apparatus that can stimulate the process of gas huff and puff in the reservoir was also introduced. The foamy oil could be seen during the huff and puff experiment. Most of the oil flowed to the producer in a pseudo single phase, which is among the most important mechanisms for enhancing production. A pilot test of a single well demonstrated that the oil production increased from 1 to 2 cubic metres per day to 5 to 6 cubic metres per day via the natural gas huff and puff process. The stable production period which was 5 to 10 days prior to huff and puff, was prolonged to 91 days in the first cycle and 245 days in the second cycle. 10 refs., 1 tab., 12 figs.

Further enhanced production of heterologous proteins by double-gene disruption (ΔAosedD ΔAovps10) in a hyper-producing mutant of Aspergillus oryzae.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Lin; Maruyama, Jun-ichi; Kitamoto, Katsuhiko

2013-07-01

The filamentous fungus Aspergillus oryzae is used as one of the most favored hosts for heterologous protein production due to its ability to secrete large amounts of proteins into the culture medium. We previously generated a hyper-producing mutant strain of A. oryzae, AUT1, which produced 3.2- and 2.6-fold higher levels of bovine chymosin (CHY) and human lysozyme (HLY), respectively, compared with the wild-type strain. However, further enhancement of heterologous protein production by multiple gene disruption is difficult because of the low gene-targeting efficiency in strain AUT1. Here, we disrupted the ligD gene, which is involved in nonhomologous recombination, and the pyrG gene to create uridine/uracil auxotrophy in strain AUT1, to generate a hyper-producing mutant applicable to pyrG marker recycling with highly efficient gene targeting. We generated single and double disruptants of the tripeptidyl peptidase gene AosedD and vacuolar sorting receptor gene Aovps10 in the hyper-producing mutant background, and found that all disruptants showed significant increases in heterologous protein production. Particularly, double disruption of the Aovps10 and AosedD genes increased the production levels of CHY and HLY by 1.6- and 2.1-fold, respectively, compared with the parental strain. Thus, we successfully generated a fungal host for further enhancing the heterologous protein production ability by combining mutational and molecular breeding techniques.

Problems concerning product quality enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marek Krynke

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In the article analysis of the discrepancies in the production process for selected products in a company producing candles was carried out. Using the Pareto-Lorenzdiagram and the FMEA method the most essential areas having influence on the production of candles were shown. Apart from factors connected with the manufacturing side of the process, factors of the labour organization and requirements concerning the quality of material were also noted. An appropriate quality of equipment constitutes one of the essential conditions of production process functioning and this directly influences manufacturing possibilities of the enterprise. A synthesis of immaterial factors that influence the production of the enterprise, taking into consideration conditions of functioning the production system, was also carried out. The set of factors selected for description was the fourteenth Toyota management principle. Respondents were asked to provide answers which could bring the best improvements.

Rainwater harvesting to enhance water productivity of rainfed agriculture in the semi-arid Zimbabwe

Science.gov (United States)

Kahinda, Jean-marc Mwenge; Rockström, Johan; Taigbenu, Akpofure E.; Dimes, John

Zimbabwe’s poor are predominantly located in the semi-arid regions and rely on rainfed agriculture for their subsistence. Decline in productivity, scarcity of arable land, irrigation expansion limitations, erratic rainfall and frequent dry spells, among others cause food scarcity. The challenge faced by small-scale farmers is to enhance water productivity of rainfed agriculture by mitigating intra-seasonal dry spells (ISDS) through the adoption of new technologies such as rainwater harvesting (RWH). The paper analyses the agro-hydrological functions of RWH and assesses its impacts (at field scale) on the crop yield gap as well as the Transpirational Water Productivity ( WPT). The survey in six districts of the semi-arid Zimbabwe suggests that three parameters (water source, primary use and storage capacity) can help differentiate storage-type-RWH systems from “conventional dams”. The Agricultural Production Simulator Model (APSIM) was used to simulate seven different treatments (Control, RWH, Manure, Manure + RWH, Inorganic Nitrogen and Inorganic Nitrogen + RWH) for 30 years on alfisol deep sand, assuming no fertiliser carry over effect from season to season. The combined use of inorganic fertiliser and RWH is the only treatment that closes the yield gap. Supplemental irrigation alone not only reduces the risks of complete crop failure (from 20% down to 7% on average) for all the treatments but also enhances WPT (from 1.75 kg m -3 up to 2.3 kg m -3 on average) by mitigating ISDS.

A novel medium for the enhanced cell growth and production of prodigiosin from Serratia marcescens isolated from soil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muthukumaran Geetha

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Prodigiosin produced by Serratia marcescens is a promising drug owing to its reported characteristics of having antifungal, immunosuppressive and antiproliferative activity. From an industrial point of view the necessity to obtain a suitable medium to simultaneously enhance the growth of Serratia marcescens and the pigment production was the aim of this work. The usage of individual fatty acid as substrate in industries would be cost-effective in the long run and this paved the way for us to try the effect of different fatty acid-containing seeds and oils of peanut, sesame and coconut as source of substrate. Results The addition of sugars only showed slight enhancement of prodigiosin production in nutrient broth but not in fatty acid containing seed medium. The powdered peanut broth had supported better growth of Serratia marcescens and higher yield of prodigiosin when compared with the existing nutrient broth and peptone glycerol broth. A block in prodigiosin production was seen above 30°C in nutrient broth, but the fatty acid seed medium used by us supported prodigiosin production upto 42°C though the yields were lower than what was obtained at 28°C. From the results, the fatty acid form of carbon source has a role to play in enhanced cell growth and prodigiosin production. Conclusion We conclude by reporting that the powdered and sieved peanut seed of different quality grades were consistent in yielding a fourty fold increase in prodigiosin production over the existing media. A literature survey on the composition of the different media components in nutrient broth, peptone glycerol broth and the fatty acid containing seeds and oils enabled us to propose that the saturated form of fatty acid has a role to play in enhanced cell growth and prodigiosin production. This work has also enabled us to report that the temperature related block of prodigiosin biosynthesis varies with different media and the powdered peanut broth

Effect of thermal, chemical and thermo-chemical pre-treatments to enhance methane production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rafique, Rashad; Nizami, Abdul-Sattar; Murphy, Jerry D.; Kiely, Gerard [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University College Cork (Ireland); Poulsen, Tjalfe Gorm [Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Aalborg University (Denmark); Asam, Zaki-ul-Zaman [Department of Civil Engineering, National University of Ireland Galway (Ireland)

2010-12-15

The rise in oil price triggered the exploration and enhancement of various renewable energy sources. Producing biogas from organic waste is not only providing a clean sustainable indigenous fuel to the number of on-farm digesters in Europe, but also reducing the ecological and environmental deterioration. The lignocellulosic substrates are not completely biodegraded in anaerobic digesters operating at commercial scale due to their complex physical and chemical structure, which result in meager energy recovery in terms of methane yield. The focus of this study is to investigate the effect of pre-treatments: thermal, thermo-chemical and chemical pre-treatments on the biogas and methane potential of dewatered pig manure. A laboratory scale batch digester is used for these pre-treatments at different temperature range (25 C-150 C). Results showed that thermo-chemical pretreatment has high effect on biogas and methane potential in the temperature range (25-100 C). Maximum enhancement is observed at 70 C with increase of 78% biogas and 60% methane production. Thermal pretreatment also showed enhancement in the temperature range (50-10 C), with maximum enhancement at 100 C having 28% biogas and 25% methane increase. (author)

Enhancing hospital productivity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Hulst, B.L.

2016-01-01

Healthcare expenditure in Western countries is substantial and outpaces economic growth, therefore cost containment in healthcare is high on the political agenda. One option is to increase productivity in healthcare, do more with less. This thesis uses the Dutch hospitals as a case-study and

Molecular improvement of alfalfa for enhanced productivity and adaptability in a changing environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Stacy D; Hannoufa, Abdelali; Acharya, Surya

2017-10-18

Due to an expanding world population and increased buying power, the demand for ruminant products such as meat and milk is expected to grow substantially in coming years, and high levels of forage crop production will therefore be a necessity. Unfortunately, urbanization of agricultural land, intensive agricultural practices, and climate change are all predicted to limit crop production in the future, which means that the development of forage cultivars with improved productivity and adaptability will be essential. Because alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the most widely cultivated perennial forage crops, it has been the target of much research in this field. In this review, we discuss progress that has been made towards the improvement of productivity, abiotic stress tolerance, and nutrient-use efficiency, as well as disease and pest resistance, in alfalfa using biotechnological techniques. Furthermore, we consider possible future priorities and avenues for attaining further enhancements in this crop as a means of contributing to the realization of food security in a changing environment. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Overexpression of the human BCL-2 gene product results in growth enhancement of Epstein-Barr virus-immortalized B cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsujimoto, Yoshihide

1989-01-01

The biological activity of the human BCL-2 gene product was analyzed in an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-infected human lymphoblastoid B-cell line transfected with BCL-2 sequences driven by the simian virus 40 promoter and enhancer. Overproduction of the BCL-2 protein conferred a selective growth advantage to the EBV-infected B cells as compared with control transfectants in low-serum medium and also after seeding at limiting dilution but did not render the cells tumorigenic in athymic nude mice. This growth enhancement was also seen in cells transfected with the BCL-2 gene with its own promoter juxtaposed to the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene enhancer, which represents the translocated form of the BCL-2 gene observed in follicular lymphomas with the t(14;18) translocation. The growth advantage of EBV-infected B cells overproducing the BCL-2 protein is neither due to the enhanced growth factor production nor due to an enhanced sensitivity of the BCL-2 transfectants to interleukins 1 or 6, although both lymphokines are known to stimulate proliferation of EBV-infected B-cell lines. The growth advantage of EBV-infected B-cell lines. The growth advantage of EBV-infected B cells by overproduction of the BCL-2 protein suggests the direct involvement of the BCL-2 gene product in the pathogenesis of follicular lymphoma

Biogas production from brewery spent grain enhanced by bioaugmentation with hydrolytic anaerobic bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Čater, Maša; Fanedl, Lijana; Malovrh, Špela; Marinšek Logar, Romana

2015-06-01

Lignocellulosic substrates are widely available but not easily applied in biogas production due to their poor anaerobic degradation. The effect of bioaugmentation by anaerobic hydrolytic bacteria on biogas production was determined by the biochemical methane potential assay. Microbial biomass from full scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor treating brewery wastewater was a source of active microorganisms and brewery spent grain a model lignocellulosic substrate. Ruminococcus flavefaciens 007C, Pseudobutyrivibrio xylanivorans Mz5(T), Fibrobacter succinogenes S85 and Clostridium cellulovorans as pure and mixed cultures were used to enhance the lignocellulose degradation and elevate the biogas production. P. xylanivorans Mz5(T) was the most successful in elevating methane production (+17.8%), followed by the coculture of P. xylanivorans Mz5(T) and F. succinogenes S85 (+6.9%) and the coculture of C. cellulovorans and F. succinogenes S85 (+4.9%). Changes in microbial community structure were detected by fingerprinting techniques. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biosurfactant production by Bacillus subtilis B30 and its application in enhancing oil recovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Wahaibi, Yahya; Joshi, Sanket; Al-Bahry, Saif; Elshafie, Abdulkadir; Al-Bemani, Ali; Shibulal, Biji

2014-02-01

The fermentative production of biosurfactants by Bacillus subtilis strain B30 and the evaluation of biosurfactant based enhanced oil recovery using core-flood were investigated. Different carbon sources (glucose, sucrose, starch, date molasses, cane molasses) were tested to determine the optimal biosurfactant production. The isolate B30 produced a biosurfactant that could reduce the surface tension and interfacial tension to 26.63±0.45 mN/m and 3.79±0.27 mN/m, respectively in less than 12h in both glucose or date molasses based media. A crude biosurfactant concentration of 0.3-0.5 g/l and critical micelle dilution (CMD) values of 1:8 were observed. The biosurfactants gave stable emulsions with wide range of hydrocarbons including light and heavy crude oil. The biosurfactants were partially purified and identified as a mixture of lipopeptides similar to surfactin, using high performance thin layer chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The biosurfactants were stable over wide range of pH, salinity and temperatures. The crude biosurfactant preparation enhanced light oil recovery by 17-26% and heavy oil recovery by 31% in core-flood studies. The results are indicative of the potential of the strain for the development of ex situ microbial enhanced oil recovery processes using glucose or date molasses based minimal media. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Productivity Enhancement of Solar Still with PV Powered Heating Coil and Chamber Step-Wise Basin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salah Abdallah

2018-03-01

Full Text Available There is a strong need to improve the productivity of single slope solar still. PV generator powered electrical heater and chamber step-wise design were introduced to the conventional solar still. An experimental study was performed to investigate the effect of adding the above mentioned modifications on the output parameters of the modified solar still. The inclusion of PV-powered heating coil and chamber step-wise design enhanced the productivity of distiller by up to 1098%.

Optimal scheduling for enhanced coal bed methane production through CO2 injection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Yuping; Zheng, Qipeng P.; Fan, Neng; Aminian, Kashy

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A novel deterministic optimization model for CO 2 -ECBM production scheduling. • Maximize the total profit from both sales of natural gas and CO 2 credits trading in the carbon market. • A stochastic model incorporating uncertainties and dynamics of NG price and CO 2 credit. - Abstract: Enhanced coal bed methane production with CO 2 injection (CO 2 -ECBM) is an effective technology for accessing the natural gas embedded in the traditionally unmineable coal seams. The revenue via this production process is generated not only by the sales of coal bed methane, but also by trading CO 2 credits in the carbon market. As the technology of CO 2 -ECBM becomes mature, its commercialization opportunities are also springing up. This paper proposes applicable mathematical models for CO 2 -ECBM production and compares the impacts of their production schedules on the total profit. A novel basic deterministic model for CO 2 -ECBM production including the technical and chemical details is proposed and then a multistage stochastic programming model is formulated in order to address uncertainties of natural gas price and CO 2 credit. Both models are nonlinear programming problems, which are solved by commercial nonlinear programming software BARON via GAMS. Numerical experiments show the benefits (e.g., expected profit gain) of using stochastic models versus deterministic models

Serum Advanced Oxidation Protein Products in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Possible Markers of Diagnostic Significance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abhishek Singh Nayyar

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Background: The aim of this study was to measure the concentrations (levels ofserum total proteins and advanced oxidation protein products as markers of oxidantmediated protein damage in the sera of patients with oral cancers.Methods: The study consisted of the sera analyses of serum total protein andadvanced oxidation protein products’ levels in 30 age and sex matched controls, 60patients with reported pre-cancerous lesions and/or conditions and 60 patients withhistologically proven oral squamous cell carcinoma. One way analyses of variance wereused to test the difference between groups. To determine which of the two groups’ meanswere significantly different, the post-hoc test of Bonferroni was used. The results wereaveraged as mean ± standard deviation. In the above test, P values less than 0.05 weretaken to be statistically significant. The normality of data was checked before thestatistical analysis was performed.Results: The study revealed statistically significant variations in serum levels ofadvanced oxidation protein products (P<0.001. Serum levels of total protein showedextensive variations; therefore the results were largely inconclusive and statisticallyinsignificant.Conclusion: The results emphasize the need for more studies with larger samplesizes to be conducted before a conclusive role can be determined for sera levels of totalprotein and advanced oxidation protein products as markers both for diagnosticsignificance and the transition from the various oral pre-cancerous lesions and conditionsinto frank oral cancers.

A Study on Strategies Applied for Enhancing Anthraquinones Production by Fusarium spp

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Fouly, M.Z.; Shahin, A.A.M.; El-Bialy, H.A.; Alsharqawey, A.A.A.; Hassan, E.A.; Ramadan, E.M.

2017-01-01

Sixty Fusarium isolates were selected from different isolation sources and screened for their ability to produce anthraquinones; seventeen of which showed high or a moderate ability to produce anthraquinones. Selected Fusarium isolates were screened for Fusaric acid production to exclude toxin synthesis isolates. F. arthosporoides and F. verticellioides showed the highest anthraquinones production since their production yields were 649.1 and 275.7 μg/g; respectively. The anthraquinones derivatives produced by selected Fusarium strains were characterized by HPLC and GC-MS. The optimization of fermentation conditions for F. arthosporoides revealed that the maximum anthraquinones titer was achieved at 10 days of incubation period, ph 6.5 and 30 ° C and under shaking and light conditions. For F. verticellioides, the highest anthraquinones yield was accomplished after the same incubation period at ph 6.0, 25 °C and under static and dark conditions. Results evaluated the positive effect of ionizing (gamma) and non ionizing (UV) irradiations on the anthraquinones production by F. verticellioides since 0.25 kGy and 50 J/m"2 enhanced the anthraquinone yield by nearly 30%. The antimicrobial and dyeing properties of the produced anthraquinone are also studied. The present study succeeded to reduce the cost of anthraquinones production by using kitchen garbage

Selective enhancement of scopadulcic acid B production in the cultured tissues of Scoparia dulcis by methyl jasmonate.

Science.gov (United States)

Nkembo, Kasidimoko Marguerite; Lee, Jung-Bum; Hayashi, Toshimitsu

2005-07-01

The effects of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) on isoprenoid production were evaluated in cultured tissues of Scoparia dulcis. It was found that MeJA suppressed the accumulation of chlorophylls, carotenoids, phytol and beta-sitosterol in the tissues. MeJA, however, remarkably enhanced the production of scopadulcic acid B (SDB), with 10 microM being optimal observed concentration for stimulation of SDB production. The maximum concentration of SDB was observed 6 d after MeJA treatment.

Thymus cells in myasthenia gravis selectively enhance production of anti-acetylcholine-receptor antibody by autologous blood lymphocytes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newsom-Davis, J.; Willcox, N.; Calder, L.

1981-01-01

We investigated the role of the thymus in 16 patients with myasthenia gravis without thymoma by studying the production of anti-acetylcholine-receptor antibody by thymic and blood lymphocytes cultured alone or together. In 10 responders (with the highest receptor-antibody titers in their plasma), cultured thymic cells spontaneously produced measurable receptor antibody. Receptor-antibody production by autologous blood lymphocytes was enhanced by the addition of responder's thymic cells, irradiated to abrogate antibody production and suppression (P<0.01). This enhancement was greater and more consistent than that by pokeweed mitogen; it depended on viable thymic cells, appeared to be selective for receptor antibody, and correlated with the ratio of thymic helper (OKT4-positive or OKT4+) to suppressor (OKT8+) T cells (P<0.01). These results suggest that myasthenic thymus contains cell-bound acetylcholine-receptor-like material or specific T cells (or both) that can aid receptor-antibody production. This may be relevant to the benefits of thymectomy in myasthenia and to the breakdown in self-tolerance in this and other autoimmune diseases

Thymus cells in myasthenia gravis selectively enhance production of anti-acetylcholine-receptor antibody by autologous blood lymphocytes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Newsom-Davis, J.; Willcox, N.; Calder, L.

1981-11-26

We investigated the role of the thymus in 16 patients with myasthenia gravis without thymoma by studying the production of anti-acetylcholine-receptor antibody by thymic and blood lymphocytes cultured alone or together. In 10 responders (with the highest receptor-antibody titers in their plasma), cultured thymic cells spontaneously produced measurable receptor antibody. Receptor-antibody production by autologous blood lymphocytes was enhanced by the addition of responder's thymic cells, irradiated to abrogate antibody production and suppression (P<0.01). This enhancement was greater and more consistent than that by pokeweed mitogen; it depended on viable thymic cells, appeared to be selective for receptor antibody, and correlated with the ratio of thymic helper (OKT4-positive or OKT4+) to suppressor (OKT8+) T cells (P<0.01). These results suggest that myasthenic thymus contains cell-bound acetylcholine-receptor-like material or specific T cells (or both) that can aid receptor-antibody production. This may be relevant to the benefits of thymectomy in myasthenia and to the breakdown in self-tolerance in this and other autoimmune diseases.

Microalgal hydrogen production - A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Khetkorn, Wanthanee; Rastogi, Rajesh P; Incharoensakdi, Aran; Lindblad, Peter; Madamwar, Datta; Pandey, Ashok; Larroche, Christian

2017-11-01

Bio-hydrogen from microalgae including cyanobacteria has attracted commercial awareness due to its potential as an alternative, reliable and renewable energy source. Photosynthetic hydrogen production from microalgae can be interesting and promising options for clean energy. Advances in hydrogen-fuel-cell technology may attest an eco-friendly way of biofuel production, since, the use of H 2 to generate electricity releases only water as a by-product. Progress in genetic/metabolic engineering may significantly enhance the photobiological hydrogen production from microalgae. Manipulation of competing metabolic pathways by modulating the certain key enzymes such as hydrogenase and nitrogenase may enhance the evolution of H 2 from photoautotrophic cells. Moreover, biological H 2 production at low operating costs is requisite for economic viability. Several photobioreactors have been developed for large-scale biomass and hydrogen production. This review highlights the recent technological progress, enzymes involved and genetic as well as metabolic engineering approaches towards sustainable hydrogen production from microalgae. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Brd3 promotes IL-6 production via enhancing acetylase CBP recruitment and histone 3 acetylation within IL6 promoter].

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Wenhui; Sun, Donghao; Wang, Chunmei; Li, Nan

2016-10-01

Objective To investigate the role of bromodomain containing 3 (Brd3) in LPS-triggered interleukin-6 (IL-6) production in macrophages and the underlying mechanism. Methods CRISPR-Cas9 technology was used to screen an RAW264.7 cell line with Brd3 knockout (Brd3 -/- ). The Brd3 -/- cells were used as an experimental group, and the parential cells expressing wide-type Brd3 as a control group. The IL-6 level in cell culture supernatant was detected by ELISA after 100 ng/mL LPS challenging. Effect of Brd3 knockout on the expression and activation of signal pathways involved in IL-6 expression, including the NF-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways were examined by Western blot analysis. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay was used to evaluate the recruitment of acetylase CREB-binding protein (CBP) to IL6 gene promoter and the acetylation level of histone 3 within IL6 gene promoter. Results LPS treatment significantly downregulated Brd3 expression in mouse peritoneal macrophages. LPS-induced production of IL-6 was significantly inhibited in Brd3 -/- macrophages. The expressions and activation of signal molecules within NF-κB and MAPK pathways were barely affected. Brd3 knockout significantly decreased the recruitment of acetylase CBP to IL6 gene promoter, and the acetylation level of histone3 within IL6 gene promoter was also repressed. Conclusion Brd3 promotes LPS-triggered IL-6 production via promoting the recruitment of CBP to IL6 promoter and enhancing the acetylation level of histone 3 within IL6 promoter.

Image enhancement filters significantly improve reading performance for low vision observers

Science.gov (United States)

Lawton, T. B.

1992-01-01

As people age, so do their photoreceptors; many photoreceptors in central vision stop functioning when a person reaches their late sixties or early seventies. Low vision observers with losses in central vision, those with age-related maculopathies, were studied. Low vision observers no longer see high spatial frequencies, being unable to resolve fine edge detail. We developed image enhancement filters to compensate for the low vision observer's losses in contrast sensitivity to intermediate and high spatial frequencies. The filters work by boosting the amplitude of the less visible intermediate spatial frequencies. The lower spatial frequencies. These image enhancement filters not only reduce the magnification needed for reading by up to 70 percent, but they also increase the observer's reading speed by 2-4 times. A summary of this research is presented.

Bioaggregate of photo-fermentative bacteria for enhancing continuous hydrogen production in a sequencing batch photobioreactor.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Guo-Jun; Liu, Bing-Feng; Wang, Rui-Qing; Ding, Jie; Ren, Hong-Yu; Zhou, Xu; Ren, Nan-Qi

2015-11-05

Hydrogen recovery through solar-driven biomass conversion by photo-fermentative bacteria (PFB) has been regarded as a promising way for sustainable energy production. However, a considerable fraction of organic substrate was consumed for the growth of PFB as biocatalysts, furthermore, these PFB were continuously washed out from the photobioreactor in continuous operation because of their poor flocculation. In this work, PFB bioaggregate induced by L-cysteine was applied in a sequencing batch photobioreactor to enhance continuous hydrogen production and reduce biomass washout. The effects of the hydraulic retention time (HRT), influent concentration and light intensity on hydrogen production of the photobioreactor were investigated. The maximum hydrogen yield (3.35 mol H2/mol acetate) and production rate (1044 ml/l/d) were obtained at the HRT of 96 h, influent concentration of 3.84 g COD/l, and light intensity of 200 W/m(2). With excellent settling ability, biomass accumulated in the photobioreactor and reached 2.15 g/l under the optimum conditions. Structural analysis of bioaggregate showed that bacterial cells were covered and tightly linked together by extracellular polymeric substances, and formed a stable structure. Therefore, PFB bioaggregate induced by L-cysteine is an efficient strategy to improve biomass retention capacity of the photobioreactor and enhance hydrogen recovery efficiency from organic wastes.

Bioaggregate of photo-fermentative bacteria for enhancing continuous hydrogen production in a sequencing batch photobioreactor

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Guo-Jun; Liu, Bing-Feng; Wang, Rui-Qing; Ding, Jie; Ren, Hong-Yu; Zhou, Xu; Ren, Nan-Qi

2015-11-01

Hydrogen recovery through solar-driven biomass conversion by photo-fermentative bacteria (PFB) has been regarded as a promising way for sustainable energy production. However, a considerable fraction of organic substrate was consumed for the growth of PFB as biocatalysts, furthermore, these PFB were continuously washed out from the photobioreactor in continuous operation because of their poor flocculation. In this work, PFB bioaggregate induced by L-cysteine was applied in a sequencing batch photobioreactor to enhance continuous hydrogen production and reduce biomass washout. The effects of the hydraulic retention time (HRT), influent concentration and light intensity on hydrogen production of the photobioreactor were investigated. The maximum hydrogen yield (3.35 mol H2/mol acetate) and production rate (1044 ml/l/d) were obtained at the HRT of 96 h, influent concentration of 3.84 g COD/l, and light intensity of 200 W/m2. With excellent settling ability, biomass accumulated in the photobioreactor and reached 2.15 g/l under the optimum conditions. Structural analysis of bioaggregate showed that bacterial cells were covered and tightly linked together by extracellular polymeric substances, and formed a stable structure. Therefore, PFB bioaggregate induced by L-cysteine is an efficient strategy to improve biomass retention capacity of the photobioreactor and enhance hydrogen recovery efficiency from organic wastes.

Glucose availability enhances lipopolysaccharide production and immunogenicity in the opportunistic pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossi, Elio; Longo, Francesca; Barbagallo, Marialuisa; Peano, Clelia; Consolandi, Clarissa; Pietrelli, Alessandro; Jaillon, Sebastian; Garlanda, Cecilia; Landini, Paolo

2016-01-01

Acinetobacter baumannii can cause sepsis with high mortality rates. We investigated whether glucose sensing might play a role in A. baumannii pathogenesis. We carried out transcriptome analysis and extracellular polysaccharide determination in an A. baumannii clinical isolate grown on complex medium with or without glucose supplementation, and assessed its ability to induce production of inflammatory cytokines in human macrophages. Growth in glucose-supplemented medium strongly enhanced A. baumannii sugar anabolism, resulting in increasing lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis. In addition, glucose induced active shedding of lipopolysaccharide, in turn triggering a strong induction of inflammatory cytokines in human macrophages. Finally, hemolytic activity was strongly enhanced by growth in glucose-supplemented medium. We propose that sensing of exogenous glucose might trigger A. baumannii pathogenesis during sepsis.

Critical variables in the performance of a productivity-enhanced solar still

KAUST Repository

Ayoub, George M.

2013-12-01

A new and sustainable modification has been introduced into the conventional solar still, considerably increasing its productivity. This enhancement in the solar still productivity is achieved without forsaking the basic features of the still such as low cost, ease of handling, sustainability, water quality, material availability, low maintenance and space conservation. The introduced modification is in the form of a slowly rotating hollow drum within the still cavity that allows the formation of thin water films, which evaporate rapidly. Several environmental and operational parameters attribute to the optimization of the new still design. Environmental factors refer primarily to weather conditions such as solar intensity, relative humidity, ambient temperature and wind speed and direction. Operational variables include drum speed, brine depth in the basin, cover cooling and other related parameters such as the materials used and the still configuration. The influence of these parameters is discussed and their impact on productivity is investigated in detailed order to identify existing correlations and optimize design and operation of the new system. An error analysis was conducted for all experimental data obtained from this study. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Exploring opportunities for enhancing innovation in agriculture: The case of oil palm production in Ghana

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Adjei-Nsiah, S.; Sakyi-Dawson, O.; Kuyper, T.W.

2012-01-01

We carried out a study using key informant interviews, focus group discussions and individual interviews to explore opportunities to enhance innovation in the oil palm sector in Ghana. Current technical innovations at the farm level are insufficient to promote sustainable oil palm production and to

Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE Enhancement in Manufacture of Electronic Components & Boards Industry through Total Productive Maintenance Practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fam Soo-Fen

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In an environment of intense global competition, both creative and proven strategies need to be considered in order to bring about the effectiveness and efficiency in manufacturing operation. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM is one of the effective maintenance strategy in enhancing the equipment effectiveness and to achieve a significant competitive advantage. This research paper addresses the impact of three TPM pillars namely planned maintenance (PM, autonomous maintenance (AM and focused maintenance (FM on overall equipment effectiveness (OEE of die attach equipment in the production line of semiconductor industry. The effect of TPM on the OEE is also investigated depending on the equipment types, in where die attach process consist of two models-CANON and ESEC. The primary data was collected from an organization's database and was analysed by SPSS V23. The preliminary results of the analysis showed that the performance of OEE in ESEC is better than the CANON after the implementation of TPM. The analysis also showed that out of the three TPM practices deployed, planned maintenance of equipment by production and maintenance team played the biggest role in increasing the equipment effectiveness. In conclusion, this study provides insights the importance of implementing TPM in order to succeed in a highly demanding market arena.

Development of an In Situ Biosurfactant Production Technology for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

M.J. McInerney; R.M. Knapp; Kathleen Duncan; D.R. Simpson; N. Youssef; N. Ravi; M.J. Folmsbee; T.Fincher; S. Maudgalya; Jim Davis; Sandra Weiland

2007-09-30

The long-term economic potential for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is large with more than 300 billion barrels of oil remaining in domestic reservoirs after conventional technologies reach their economic limit. Actual EOR production in the United States has never been very large, less than 10% of the total U. S. production even though a number of economic incentives have been used to stimulate the development and application of EOR processes. The U.S. DOE Reservoir Data Base contains more than 600 reservoirs with over 12 billion barrels of unrecoverable oil that are potential targets for microbially enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). If MEOR could be successfully applied to reduce the residual oil saturation by 10% in a quarter of these reservoirs, more than 300 million barrels of oil could be added to the U.S. oil reserve. This would stimulate oil production from domestic reservoirs and reduce our nation's dependence on foreign imports. Laboratory studies have shown that detergent-like molecules called biosurfactants, which are produced by microorganisms, are very effective in mobilizing entrapped oil from model test systems. The biosurfactants are effective at very low concentrations. Given the promising laboratory results, it is important to determine the efficacy of using biosurfactants in actual field applications. The goal of this project is to move biosurfactant-mediated oil recovery from laboratory investigations to actual field applications. In order to meet this goal, several important questions must be answered. First, it is critical to know whether biosurfactant-producing microbes are present in oil formations. If they are present, then it will be important to know whether a nutrient regime can be devised to stimulate their growth and activity in the reservoir. If biosurfactant producers are not present, then a suitable strain must be obtained that can be injected into oil reservoirs. We were successful in answering all three questions. The specific

Feeding enhances skeletal growth and energetic stores of an Atlantic coral under significantly elevated CO2

Science.gov (United States)

Drenkard, L.; Cohen, A. L.; McCorkle, D. C.; dePutron, S.; Zicht, A.

2011-12-01

Many corals living under the relatively acidic conditions of naturally high-CO2 reefs are calcifying as fast or faster than their conspecifics on naturally low CO2 reefs. These observations are inconsistent with most experimental work that shows a negative impact of ocean acidification on coral calcification. We investigated the link between coral nutritional (energetic) status and the calcification response to significantly elevated CO2. Juveniles of the Atlantic brooding coral, Favia fragum were reared for three weeks under fully crossed CO2 and feeding conditions: ambient (μar =1.6+-0.2) and high CO2 (μar =3.7+-0.3); fed and unfed. In most measured parameters, the effect of feeding is much stronger than the effect of CO2. Nutritionally enhanced (fed) corals, regardless of CO2 condition, have higher concentrations of total lipid and their skeletons are both significantly larger and more developmentally advanced than those of corals relying solely on autotrophy. In measurements of corallite weight, where the impact of CO2 is most apparent, no statistical difference is observed between unfed corals under ambient CO2 conditions and fed corals reared under 1600 ppm CO2. Our results suggest that coral energetic status, which can be enhanced by heterotrophic feeding but depleted by stressors such as bleaching, will play a key role in the coral response to ocean acidification and thus, in the resilience of reef ecosystems under climate change.

Functional genomic profiling of Aspergillus fumigatus biofilm reveals enhanced production of the mycotoxin gliotoxin.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruns, Sandra; Seidler, Marc; Albrecht, Daniela; Salvenmoser, Stefanie; Remme, Nicole; Hertweck, Christian; Brakhage, Axel A; Kniemeyer, Olaf; Müller, Frank-Michael C

2010-09-01

The opportunistic pathogenic mold Aspergillus fumigatus is an increasing cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised and in part immunocompetent patients. A. fumigatus can grow in multicellular communities by the formation of a hyphal network encased in an extracellular matrix. Here, we describe the proteome and transcriptome of planktonic- and biofilm-grown A. fumigatus mycelium after 24 and 48 h. A biofilm- and time-dependent regulation of many proteins and genes of the primary metabolism indicates a developmental stage of the young biofilm at 24 h, which demands energy. At a matured biofilm phase, metabolic activity seems to be reduced. However, genes, which code for hydrophobins, and proteins involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites were significantly upregulated. In particular, proteins of the gliotoxin secondary metabolite gene cluster were induced in biofilm cultures. This was confirmed by real-time PCR and by detection of this immunologically active mycotoxin in culture supernatants using HPLC analysis. The enhanced production of gliotoxin by in vitro formed biofilms reported here may also play a significant role under in vivo conditions. It may confer A. fumigatus protection from the host immune system and also enable its survival and persistence in chronic lung infections such as aspergilloma.

Enhancement of Phenolic Production and Antioxidant Activity from Buckwheat Leaves by Subcritical Water Extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dong-Shin; Kim, Mi-Bo; Lim, Sang-Bin

2017-12-01

To enhance the production of phenolic compounds with high antioxidant activity and reduce the level of phototoxic fagopyrin, buckwheat leaves were extracted with subcritical water (SW) at 100~220°C for 10~50 min. The major phenolic compounds were quercetin, gallic acid, and protocatechuic acid. The cumulative amount of individual phenolic compounds increased with increasing extraction temperature from 100°C to 180°C and did not change significantly at 200°C and 220°C. The highest yield of individual phenolic compounds was 1,632.2 μg/g dry sample at 180°C, which was 4.7-fold higher than that (348.4 μg/g dry sample) at 100°C. Total phenolic content and total flavonoid content increased with increasing extraction temperature and decreased with increasing extraction time, and peaked at 41.1 mg gallic acid equivalents/g and 26.9 mg quercetin equivalents/g at 180°C/10 min, respectively. 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing ability of plasma reached 46.4 mg ascorbic acid equivalents/g and 72.3 mmol Fe 2+ /100 g at 180°C/10 min, respectively. The fagopyrin contents were reduced by 92.5~95.7%. Color values L * and b * decreased, and a * increased with increasing extraction temperature. SW extraction enhanced the yield of phenolic compounds with high antioxidant activity and reduced the fagopyrin content from buckwheat leaves.

Electroactive biodegradable polyurethane significantly enhanced Schwann cells myelin gene expression and neurotrophin secretion for peripheral nerve tissue engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yaobin; Wang, Ling; Guo, Baolin; Shao, Yongpin; Ma, Peter X

2016-05-01

Myelination of Schwann cells (SCs) is critical for the success of peripheral nerve regeneration, and biomaterials that can promote SCs' neurotrophin secretion as scaffolds are beneficial for nerve repair. Here we present a biomaterials-approach, specifically, a highly tunable conductive biodegradable flexible polyurethane by polycondensation of poly(glycerol sebacate) and aniline pentamer, to significantly enhance SCs' myelin gene expression and neurotrophin secretion for peripheral nerve tissue engineering. SCs are cultured on these conductive polymer films, and the biocompatibility of these films and their ability to enhance myelin gene expressions and sustained neurotrophin secretion are successfully demonstrated. The mechanism of SCs' neurotrophin secretion on conductive films is demonstrated by investigating the relationship between intracellular Ca(2+) level and SCs' myelination. Furthermore, the neurite growth and elongation of PC12 cells are induced by adding the neurotrophin medium suspension produced from SCs-laden conductive films. These data suggest that these conductive degradable polyurethanes that enhance SCs' myelin gene expressions and sustained neurotrophin secretion perform great potential for nerve regeneration applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combination of platelet-rich plasma within periodontal ligament stem cell sheets enhances cell differentiation and matrix production.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Qiu; Li, Bei; Yuan, Lin; Dong, Zhiwei; Zhang, Hao; Wang, Han; Sun, Jin; Ge, Song; Jin, Yan

2017-03-01

The longstanding goal of periodontal therapy is to regenerate periodontal tissues. Although platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been gaining increasing popularity for use in the orofacial region, whether PRP is useful for periodontal regeneration is still unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a mixture of periodontal ligament stem cell (PDLSC) sheets and PRP promoted bone regeneration, one of the most important measurement indices of periodontal tissue regenerative capability in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we evaluated the effects of different doses of PRP on the differentiation of human PDLSCs. Then cell sheet formation, extracellular matrix deposition and osteogenic gene expression in response to different doses of PRP treatment during sheet grafting was investigated. Furthermore, we implanted PDLSC sheets treated with 1% PRP subcutaneously into immunocompromised mice to evaluate their bone-regenerative capability. The results revealed that 1% PRP significantly enhanced the osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs. Based on the production of extracellular matrix proteins, the results of scanning electron microscopy and the expression of the osteogenic genes ALP, Runx2, Col-1 and OCN, the provision of 1% PRP for PDLSC sheets was the most effective PRP administration mode for cell sheet formation. The results of in vivo transplantation showed that 1% PRP-mediated PDLSC sheets exhibited better periodontal tissue regenerative capability than those obtained without PRP intervention. These data suggest that a suitable concentration of PRP stimulation may enhance extracellular matrix production and positively affect cell behaviour in PDLSC sheets. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Bordetella bronchiseptica antigen enhances the production of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae antigen-specific immunoglobulin G in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Yim, Seol-Hwa; Hahn, Tae-Wook; Joo, Hong-Gu

2017-09-30

We previously demonstrated that Bordetella ( B .) bronchiseptica antigen (Ag) showed high immunostimulatory effects on mouse bone marrow cells (BMs) while Mycoplasma ( M .) hyopneumoniae Ag showed low effects. The focus of this study was to determine if B. bronchiseptica Ag can enhance the M. hyopneumoniae Ag-specific immune response and whether the host's immune system can recognize both Ags. MTT assay results revealed that each or both Ags did not significantly change BM metabolic activity. Flow cytometry analysis using carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester showed that B. bronchiseptica Ag can promote the division of BMs. In cytokine and nitric oxide (NO) assays, B. bronchiseptica Ag boosted production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in M. hyopneumoniae Ag-treated BMs, and combined treatment with both Ags elevated the level of NO in BMs compared to that from treatment of M. hyopneumoniae Ag alone. Immunoglobulin (Ig)G enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using the sera of Ag-injected mice clearly indicated that B. bronchiseptica Ag can increase the production of M. hyopneumoniae Ag-specific IgG. This study provided information valuable in the development of M. hyopneumoniae vaccines and showed that B. bronchiseptica Ag can be used both as a vaccine adjuvant and as a vaccine Ag.

Enhanced biological production off Chennai triggered by October 1999 super cyclone (Orissa)

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Madhu, N.V.; Maheswaran, P.A.; Jyothibabu, R.; Sunil, V.; Revichandran, C.; Balasubramanian, T.; Gopalakrishnan, T.C.; Nair, K.K.C.

COMMUNICATIONS CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 82, NO. 12, 25 JUNE 2002 *For correspondence. (e - mail: madhu@niokochi.org) Enhanced biological production off Chennai triggered by October 1999 super cyclone (Orissa) N. V. Madhu*, P. A. Maheswaran, R... in the world?s oceans typically have duration of only a few days, but the physical and biological effects due to this perturbation can last up to several weeks 1 ? 4 . The integrated effect from these storm events has the potential to account for a...

The significance of Campylobacter jejuni infection in poultry: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Shane, S M

1992-01-01

Campylobacter is a significant cause of enterocolitis in consumers of undercooked poultry meat. Campylobacter jejuni is the most significant of the three thermophilic Campylobacter species, and is responsible for intestinal colonization in poultry and food-borne enteritis in humans. Generally, C. jejuni is apathogenic in poultry, although newly hatched chicks and turkeys may develop a transient diarrhoea following infection. Modern intensive poultry production favours the introduction of infection into commercial growing units, resulting in intestinal colonization during the second to fourth weeks inclusive. Routes of infection include contaminated fomites, infected water supply, rodents, insects, and free-living birds. Vertical transmission is considered unlikely. Contamination of poultry meat is enhanced by deficiencies in transport and processing of broilers and turkeys. Scalding, defeathering and evisceration represent the significant points of cross-contamination during processing. Epidemiological correlation has been established between consumption of contaminated chicken and outbreaks of human campylobacteriosis. Amelioration of infection by application of improved standards of hygiene and decontamination is possible in the context of commercial poultry production. Improvement in washing of carcasses, and the application of chemical disinfectants and gamma irradiation have the potential to reduce the prevalence of C. jejuni contamination in poultry meat. These innovations, together with improved storage and handling of meat products, will reduce the risk of campylobacteriosis to consumers.

Temperature dependence of CO2-enhanced primary production in the European Arctic Ocean, supplement to: Holding, Johnna; Duarte, Carlos M; Sanz-Martín, Marina; Mesa, E; Arrieta, J M; Chierici, Melissa; Hendriks, Iris; García-Corral, L S; Regaudie-de-Gioux, A; Delgado, A; Reigstad, M; Wassmann, P; Agustí, Susana (2015): Temperature dependence of CO2-enhanced primary production in the European Arctic Ocean. Nature Climate Change, 5(12), 1079-1082

KAUST Repository

Holding, Johnna

2016-01-01

The Arctic Ocean is warming at two to three times the global rate and is perceived to be a bellwether for ocean acidification. Increased CO2 concentrations are expected to have a fertilization effect on marine autotrophs, and higher temperatures should lead to increased rates of planktonic primary production. Yet, simultaneous assessment of warming and increased CO2 on primary production in the Arctic has not been conducted. Here we test the expectation that CO2-enhanced gross primary production (GPP) may be temperature dependent, using data from several oceanographic cruises and experiments from both spring and summer in the European sector of the Arctic Ocean. Results confirm that CO2 enhances GPP (by a factor of up to ten) over a range of 145-2,099?µatm; however, the greatest effects are observed only at lower temperatures and are constrained by nutrient and light availability to the spring period. The temperature dependence of CO2-enhanced primary production has significant implications for metabolic balance in a warmer, CO2-enriched Arctic Ocean in the future. In particular, it indicates that a twofold increase in primary production during the spring is likely in the Arctic.

Expression of a maize Myb transcription factor driven by a putative silk-specific promoter significantly enhances resistance to Helicoverpa zea in transgenic maize.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Eric T; Berhow, Mark A; Dowd, Patrick F

2007-04-18

Hi II maize (Zea mays) plants were engineered to express maize p1 cDNA, a Myb transcription factor, controlled by a putative silk specific promoter, for secondary metabolite production and corn earworm resistance. Transgene expression did not enhance silk color, but about half of the transformed plant silks displayed browning when cut, which indicated the presence of p1-produced secondary metabolites. Levels of maysin, a secondary metabolite with insect toxicity, were highest in newly emerged browning silks. The insect resistance of transgenic silks was also highest at emergence, regardless of maysin levels, which suggests that other unidentified p1-induced molecules likely contributed to larval mortality. Mean survivor weights of corn earworm larvae fed mature browning transgenic silks were significantly lower than weights of those fed mature nonbrowning transgenic silks. Some transgenic pericarps browned with drying and contained similar molecules found in pericarps expressing a dominant p1 allele, suggesting that the promoter may not be silk-specific.

MR findings of medulloblastomas and the significance of contrast enhanced MR of brain and spine for the staging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, Jae Joon; Kim, Dong Ik; Chung, Tae Sub; Lee, Yeon Hee; Suh, Jung Ho

1994-01-01

The purpose of this study were to analyze the MR findings of medulloblastoma, and to evaluate the subarachnoid dissemination and the significance of contrast enhanced MR of brain and spine for tumor staging. The preoperative brain MR studies of 18 patients (9 males, 9 females; mean age, 9.4 years) with surgically proved medulloblastomas were retrospectively reviewed to characterize these neoplasms with regard to their location, size, MR signal intensity, appearance after contrast enhancement, presence of cyst and necrosis, subarachnoid dissemination, and other associated findings. In 14 patients postoperative spine MR studies were evaluated for staging and therapeutic planning. The most frequent location of medulloblastoma was the inferior vermis and the mean tumor size was 4.1 x 3.6 x 3.9 cm. On T1-weighted image, medulloblastomas generally had low to intermediate signal, predominantly hypointense relative to white matter. On T2-weighted image, medulloblastomas showed moderately high signal, hyperintense relative to white matter. Inhomogeneous contrast enhancement was demonstrated in 13 patients(72.2%) after injection of gadopentetate dimeglumine(Gadolinium). Cyst and necrosis within the tumor were visualized in 15 patients(83.3%). Subarachnoid disseminations of medulloblastomas were noted in 11 patients(61.1%), of which 6 demonstrated intracranial and 2 intraspinal dissemination. Three had both intracranial and intraspinal dissemination. In nine cases with intracranial lesions, there were intraparenchymal mass formation(7), subarachnoid nodules(5), infundibular lesions(2) and diffuse gyral enhancement(1). In five cases with intraspinal lesions, there were extramedullary intradural small nodules(3), central canal nodules(2), intradural masses(1) and fine nodular and sheet-like leptomeningeal enhancement(1). Other associated findings included intratumoral hemorrhage(11.1%), peritumoral edema(44.4%), tonsillar herniation(44.4%), hydrocephalus(88.9%) and

Potential for CO2 sequestration and Enhanced Coalbed Methane production in the Netherlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamelinck, C.N.; Faaij, A.P.C.; Ruijg, G.J.; Jansen, D.; Pagnier, H.; Van Bergen, F.; Wolf, K.H.; Barzandji, O.; Bruining, H.; Schreurs, H.

2001-03-01

The technical and economic feasibility of ECBM (Enhanced Coal Bed Methane) in the Netherlands are explored. The potential and the economic performance are worked out for several ECBM recovery concepts and technological issues are outlined. The research includes the following main activities: Inventory of CO2 sources in the Netherlands and techno-economic analysis of CO2 removal and transport. Several scenarios for CO2 transport of different capacities and distances will be assessed. ECBM production locations are determined by analysis of coal reserves and their characteristics. Four potential areas are assessed: one in eastern Gelderland, two in Limburg and one in Zeeland. Description of ECBM theory and production technology resulting in a time dependent model for ECBM production and CO2 injection. Selection and description of various ECBM production/CO2 sequestration systems. Systems considered include direct delivery of methane to the natural gas grid, production of power (on various scales) and hydrogen. Information from the location assessment is combined with modelling results. Costs of CO2 sequestration are calculated for various scales and configurations. Evaluation of main uncertainties, environmental impacts and sensitivity analyses. Comparison of CBM production systems with reference systems and exploration of potential implementation schemes in the Dutch context. 72 refs

Agonist anti-GITR antibody significantly enhances the therapeutic efficacy of Listeria monocytogenes-based immunotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Shrimali, Rajeev; Ahmad, Shamim; Berrong, Zuzana; Okoev, Grigori; Matevosyan, Adelaida; Razavi, Ghazaleh Shoja E; Petit, Robert; Gupta, Seema; Mkrtichyan, Mikayel; Khleif, Samir N

2017-08-15

We previously demonstrated that in addition to generating an antigen-specific immune response, Listeria monocytogenes (Lm)-based immunotherapy significantly reduces the ratio of regulatory T cells (Tregs)/CD4 + and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in the tumor microenvironment. Since Lm-based immunotherapy is able to inhibit the immune suppressive environment, we hypothesized that combining this treatment with agonist antibody to a co-stimulatory receptor that would further boost the effector arm of immunity will result in significant improvement of anti-tumor efficacy of treatment. Here we tested the immune and therapeutic efficacy of Listeria-based immunotherapy combination with agonist antibody to glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor-related protein (GITR) in TC-1 mouse tumor model. We evaluated the potency of combination on tumor growth and survival of treated animals and profiled tumor microenvironment for effector and suppressor cell populations. We demonstrate that combination of Listeria-based immunotherapy with agonist antibody to GITR synergizes to improve immune and therapeutic efficacy of treatment in a mouse tumor model. We show that this combinational treatment leads to significant inhibition of tumor-growth, prolongs survival and leads to complete regression of established tumors in 60% of treated animals. We determined that this therapeutic benefit of combinational treatment is due to a significant increase in tumor infiltrating effector CD4 + and CD8 + T cells along with a decrease of inhibitory cells. To our knowledge, this is the first study that exploits Lm-based immunotherapy combined with agonist anti-GITR antibody as a potent treatment strategy that simultaneously targets both the effector and suppressor arms of the immune system, leading to significantly improved anti-tumor efficacy. We believe that our findings depicted in this manuscript provide a promising and translatable strategy that can enhance the overall

Influence of Gibberellic Acid on Enhancement Growth of Aspergillus Niger for Chitosan Production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hazaa, M.M.; Shash, S.M.; Swailam, H.M.; Aziz, N.H.; Emam, D.A.

2013-01-01

Chitosan is obtained by chemical conversion of chitin, which is a constituent of the exoskeleton of crustacean and insects. An alternative source of chitosan is the cell wall of fungi. The waste biomass of Aspergillus niger, following citric acid production, was used as a source for fungal chitosan extraction. In this research we study the effect of different production media, different concentrations of molass, the effect of addition of gibberellic acid at different concentrations (1-5 mg/l) on mycelial growth and chitosan production from Aspergillus niger. Studying the effect of different incubation time. The results showed that, the best production medium was molass salt medium (MSM) with molass concentration 50 g/l and incubation time 48h. Maximum enhancement was observed at 2 mg gibberellic acid. Gibberellic acid at high concentrations inhibit both growth and chitosan content. The produced fungal chitosan was characterized with deacetylation degree of 81.3%, a molecular weight of 24.2 kDa and their FT-IR spectra were compared with that of shrimp chitosan.

Significant enhancement of metal heat dissipation from mechanically exfoliated graphene nanosheets through thermal radiation effect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junxiong Hu

2017-05-01

Full Text Available We demonstrate a facile approach to significantly enhance the heat dissipation potential of conventional aluminum (Al heat sinks by mechanically coating graphene nanosheets. For Al and graphene-coated Al heat sinks, the change in temperature with change in coating coverage, coating thickness and heat flux are studied. It is found that with the increase in coating coverage from 0 to 100%, the steady-state temperature is decreased by 5 °C at a heat flux of 1.8 W cm-1. By increasing the average thickness of graphene coating from 480 nm to 1900 nm, a remarkable temperature reduction up to 7 °C can be observed. Moreover, with the increase in heat flux from 1.2 W cm-1 to 2.4 W cm-1, the temperature difference between uncoated and graphene-coated samples increases from 1 °C to 6 °C. The thermal analysis and finite element simulation reveal that the thermal radiation plays a key role in enhancing the heat dissipation performance. The effect of heat convection remains weak owing to the low air velocity at surface-air boundary. This work provides a technological innovation in improving metal heat dissipation using graphene nanosheets.

Enhancing lutein productivity of an indigenous microalga Scenedesmus obliquus FSP-3 using light-related strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Shih-Hsin; Chan, Ming-Chang; Liu, Chen-Chun; Chen, Chun-Yen; Lee, Wen-Lung; Lee, Duu-Jong; Chang, Jo-Shu

2014-01-01

Lutein, one of the main photosynthetic pigments, is a promising natural product with both nutritional and pharmaceutical applications. In this study, light-related strategies were applied to enhance the cell growth and lutein production of a lutein-rich microalga Scenedesmus obliquus FSP-3. The results demonstrate that using white LED resulted in better lutein production efficiency when compared to the other three monochromatic LEDs (red, blue, and green). The lutein productivity of S. obliquus FSP-3 was further improved by adjusting the type of light source and light intensity. The optimal lutein productivity of 4.08 mg/L/d was obtained when using a TL5 fluorescent lamp at a light intensity of 300 μmol/m(2)/s, and this performance is better than that reported in most related studies. Moreover, the time-course profile of lutein accumulation in the microalga shows that the maximal lutein content and productivity were obtained at the onset of nitrogen depletion. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Absence of Protoheme IX Farnesyltransferase CtaB Causes Virulence Attenuation but Enhances Pigment Production and Persister Survival in MRSA.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Tao; Han, Jian; Zhang, Jia; Chen, Jiazhen; Wu, Nan; Zhang, Wenhong; Zhang, Ying

2016-01-01

The membrane protein CtaB in S. aureus is a protoheme IX farnesyltransferase involved in the synthesis of the heme containing terminal oxidases of bacterial respiratory chain. In this study, to assess the role of CtaB in S. aureus virulence, pigment production, and persister formation, we constructed a ctaB mutant in the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain USA500. We found that deletion of ctaB attenuated growth and virulence in mice but enhanced pigment production and formation of quinolone tolerant persister cells in stationary phase. RNA-seq analysis showed that deletion of ctaB caused decreased transcription of several virulence genes including RNAIII which is consistent with its virulence attenuation. In addition, transcription of 20 ribosomal genes and 24 genes involved in amino acid biosynthesis was significantly down-regulated in the ctaB knockout mutant compared with the parent strain. These findings suggest the importance of heme biosynthesis in virulence and persister formation of S. aureus .

Enhanced Oil Recovery with Application of Enzymes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Khusainova, Alsu

Enzymes have recently been reported as effective enhanced oil recovery (EOR) agents. Both laboratory and field tests demonstrated significant increase in the ultimate oil production. Up to16% of additional oil was produced in the laboratory conditions and up to 269 barrels of additional oil per day...... were recovered in the field applications. The following mechanisms were claimed to be responsible for the enhancement of the oil production due to enzymes: wettability improvement of the rock surface; formation of the emulsions; reduction of oil viscosity; and removal of high molecular weight paraffins....... However, the positive effect of enzymes on oil recovery is not that obvious. In most of the studies commercial enzyme products composed of enzymes, surfactants and stabilisers were used. Application of such samples makes it difficult to assign a positive EOR effect to a certain compound, as several...

Enhancing Environmental Communication and Products Through Qualitative Research

Science.gov (United States)

DeLorme, D.; Hagen, S. C.

2014-12-01

This presentation discusses two ongoing interdisciplinary case studies that are using qualitative research to design and enhance environmental communication and science products for outreach and decision making purposes. Both cases demonstrate the viability and practical value of qualitative social science methodology, specifically focus group interviews, to better understand the viewpoints of target audiences, improve deliverables, and support project goals. The first case is a NOAA-funded project to conduct process-based modeling to project impact from climate change in general and sea level rise in particular to the natural and built environment. The project spans the Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida Panhandle coasts with concentration on the three National Estuarine Research Reserves. As part of the broader project, four annual focus groups were conducted with a purposive sample of coastal resource managers to capture their perspectives and suggestions to better meet their informational and operational needs. The second case is a Florida Sea Grant-funded project that is developing, implementing, and testing a cohesive outreach campaign to promote voluntary careful and responsible recreational boating to help protect sensitive marine life and habitats (especially seagrasses and oyster reefs) in the Mosquito Lagoon. Six focus groups were conducted with a purposive sample of the target audience of boaters to gain insights, feedback, and ideas on the direction of the campaign and design of the messages and products. The campaign materials created include a branded website, Facebook page, mobile app, information packets, brochures, pledge forms, and promotional items. A comparison of these two case studies will be provided and will explain how the qualitative findings were/are being implemented to tailor and refine the respective communication strategies and techniques including the emerging outreach products. The resulting outcomes are messages and tools that are

Betaine and beet molasses enhance L-lactic acid production by Bacillus coagulans.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ke Xu

Full Text Available Lactic acid is an important chemical with various industrial applications, and it can be efficiently produced by fermentation, in which Bacillus coagulans strains present excellent performance. Betaine can promote lactic acid fermentation as an effective osmoprotectant. Here, positive effect of betaine on fermentation by B. coagulans is revealed. Betaine could enhance lactic acid production by protecting l-LDH activity and cell growth from osmotic inhibition, especially under high glucose concentrations and with poor organic nitrogen nutrients. The fermentation with 0.05 g/L betaine could produce 17.9% more lactic acid compared to the fermentation without betaine. Beet molasses, which is rich in sucrose and betaine, was utilized in a co-feeding fermentation and raised the productivity by 22%. The efficient lactic acid fermentation by B. coagulans is thus developed by using betaine and beet molasses.

Betaine and beet molasses enhance L-lactic acid production by Bacillus coagulans.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Ke; Xu, Ping

2014-01-01

Lactic acid is an important chemical with various industrial applications, and it can be efficiently produced by fermentation, in which Bacillus coagulans strains present excellent performance. Betaine can promote lactic acid fermentation as an effective osmoprotectant. Here, positive effect of betaine on fermentation by B. coagulans is revealed. Betaine could enhance lactic acid production by protecting l-LDH activity and cell growth from osmotic inhibition, especially under high glucose concentrations and with poor organic nitrogen nutrients. The fermentation with 0.05 g/L betaine could produce 17.9% more lactic acid compared to the fermentation without betaine. Beet molasses, which is rich in sucrose and betaine, was utilized in a co-feeding fermentation and raised the productivity by 22%. The efficient lactic acid fermentation by B. coagulans is thus developed by using betaine and beet molasses.

Novel thermostable clostridial strains through protoplast fusion for enhanced biobutanol production at higher temperature—preliminary study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Ferhan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study is to improve the thermal stability of clostridium strains for enhanced biobutanol production. Thermostable clostridia species were developed through protoplast fusion between mesophilic clostridial species (i.e., Clostridium beijerinckii and Clostridium acetobutylicum and thermophilic clostridial species (i.e., Clostridium thermocellum. Production of biobutanol was examined in the present preliminary study using the clostridium strains and their protoplast fusants using sugar mixture with composition identical to that of wheat straw acid hydrolysate. Maximum biobutanol production of 9.4 g/L was achieved by a fused strain at 45 °C with total sugar consumption of 66% compared to that at 35 °C (i.e., 8.4 g/L production and 64% total sugar consumption. Glucose and xylose uptake rates were generally higher compared to all other individual sugars in the feedstock. In general, average cell concentrations were in close proximity for all parenting and fused strains at 35 °C; i.e., in the range of 5.12 × 107 to 5.49 × 107 cells/mL. Average cell concentration of fusants between the mesophilic clostridial species and the thermophilic clostridial species slightly increased to ~ 5.62 × 107 cells/mL at a higher temperature of 45 °C. These results, in addition to the ones obtained for the butanol production, demonstrate enhanced thermal stability of both fusants at a higher temperature (45 °C.

Enhanced eicosapentaenoic acid production by a new deep-sea marine bacterium Shewanella electrodiphila MAR441T.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinwei Zhang

Full Text Available Omega-3 fatty acids are products of secondary metabolism, essential for growth and important for human health. Although there are numerous reports of bacterial production of omega-3 fatty acids, less information is available on the biotechnological production of these compounds from bacteria. The production of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5ω3 by a new species of marine bacteria Shewanella electrodiphila MAR441T was investigated under different fermentation conditions. This strain produced a high percentage (up to 26% of total fatty acids and high yields (mg / g of biomass of EPA at or below the optimal growth temperature. At higher growth temperatures these values decreased greatly. The amount of EPA produced was affected by the carbon source, which also influenced fatty acid composition. This strain required Na+ for growth and EPA synthesis and cells harvested at late exponential or early stationary phase had a higher EPA content. Both the highest amounts (20 mg g-1 and highest percent EPA content (18% occurred with growth on L-proline and (NH42SO4. The addition of cerulenin further enhanced EPA production to 30 mg g-1. Chemical mutagenesis using NTG allowed the isolation of mutants with improved levels of EPA content (from 9.7 to 15.8 mg g-1 when grown at 15°C. Thus, the yields of EPA could be substantially enhanced without the need for recombinant DNA technology, often a commercial requirement for food supplement manufacture.

Tunnel production enhances quality in organic carrot seed production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Deleuran, L C; Boelt, B

2009-01-01

production of open-pollinated carrot varieties increased the yield and germination percentages when compared with normal field conditions. Yield was in the range of 100-250 g and 2-17 g seeds m-2 respectively, and germination percentage was 84-95 and 43-55, respectively. However, hybrid carrot seed...... production showed lower yields than did their open-pollinated counterparts. Yields ranging from 60-123 g seeds m-2 can be obtained, but the production needs to be carefully planned and monitored. Different growing systems in tunnels have been studied in both open-pollinated and hybrid carrot (Daucus carota L......In Denmark, organic vegetable seed production is possible for some of the late-maturing species when the maturing is performed in lightweight tunnels which are also relevant for the isolation of small-scale production. The tunnel system offers several advantages, e.g., it is possible to control...

Endangered Right Whales Enhance Primary Productivity in the Bay of Fundy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joe Roman

Full Text Available Marine mammals have recently been documented as important facilitators of rapid and efficient nutrient recycling in coastal and offshore waters. Whales enhance phytoplankton nutrition by releasing fecal plumes near the surface after feeding and by migrating from highly productive, high-latitude feeding areas to low-latitude nutrient-poor calving areas. In this study, we measured NH4+ and PO43- release rates from the feces of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis, a highly endangered baleen whale. Samples for this species were primarily collected by locating aggregations of whales in surface-active groups (SAGs, which typically consist of a central female surrounded by males competing for sexual activity. When freshly collected feces were incubated in seawater, high initial rates of N release were generally observed, which decreased to near zero within 24 hours of sampling, a pattern that is consistent with the active role of gut microflora on fecal particles. We estimate that at least 10% of particulate N in whale feces becomes available as NH4+ within 24 hours of defecation. Phosphorous was also abundant in fecal samples: initial release rates of PO43- were higher than for NH4+, yielding low N/P nutrient ratios over the course of our experiments. The rate of PO43- release was thus more than sufficient to preclude the possibility that nitrogenous nutrients supplied by whales would lead to phytoplankton production limited by P availability. Phytoplankton growth experiments indicated that NH4+ released from whale feces enhance productivity, as would be expected, with no evidence that fecal metabolites suppress growth. Although North Atlantic right whales are currently rare (approximately 450 individuals, they once numbered about 14,000 and likely played a substantial role in recycling nutrients in areas where they gathered to feed and mate. Even though the NH4+ released from fresh whale fecal material is a small fraction of total whale

Enhancement of thermal photon production in event-by-event hydrodynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chatterjee, Rupa; Holopainen, Hannu; Renk, Thorsten; Eskola, Kari J.

2011-01-01

Thermal photon emission is widely believed to reflect properties of the earliest, hottest evolution stage of the medium created in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. Previous computations of photon emission have been carried out using a hydrodynamical medium description with smooth, averaged initial conditions. Recently, more sophisticated hydrodynamical models that calculate observables by averaging over many evolutions with event-by-event fluctuating initial conditions (ICs) have been developed. Given their direct connection to the early time dynamics, thermal photon emission appears to be an ideal observable to probe fluctuations in the medium initial state. In this work, we demonstrate that including fluctuations in the ICs may lead to an enhancement of the thermal photon yield of about a factor of 2 in the region 2 T <4 GeV/c (where thermal photon production dominates the direct photon yield) compared to a scenario using smooth, averaged ICs. Consequently, a much better agreement with PHENIX data is found. This can be understood in terms of the strong temperature dependence of thermal photon production, translating into a sensitivity to the presence of hotspots in an event and thus establishing thermal photons as a suitable probe to characterize IC fluctuations.

Hydrogen production through sorption-enhanced steam methane reforming and membrane technology: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barelli, L.; Bidini, G.; Gallorini, F.; Servili, S.

2008-01-01

With the rapid development of industry, more and more waste gases are emitted into the atmosphere. In terms of total air emissions, CO 2 is emitted in the greatest amount, accounting for 99 wt% of the total air emissions, therefore contributing to global warming, the so-called 'Greenhouse Effect'. The recovery and disposal of CO 2 from flue gas is currently the object of great international interest. Most of the CO 2 comes from the combustion of fossil fuels in power generation, industrial boilers, residential and commercial heating, and transportation sectors. Consequently, in the last years' interest in hydrogen as an energy carrier has significantly increased both for vehicle fuelling and stationary energy production from fuel cells. The benefits of a hydrogen energy policy are the reduction of the greenhouse effect, principally due to the centralization of the emission sources. Moreover, an improvement to the environmental benefits can be achieved if hydrogen is produced from renewable sources, as biomass. The present paper provides an overview of the steam methane reforming (SMR) process and methodologies for performances improvement such as hydrogen removal, by selective permeation through a membrane or simultaneous reaction of the targeted molecule with a chemical acceptor, and equilibrium shift by the addition of a CO 2 acceptor to the reactor. In particular, attention was focused on the sorption-enhanced steam methane reforming (SE-SMR) process in which sorbents are added in order to enhance the reactions and realize in situ CO 2 separation. The major operating parameters of SE-SMR are described by the authors in order to project and then realize the innovative carbonation reactor developed in previous studies

Visible light photocatalytic disintegration of waste activated sludge for enhancing biogas production.

Science.gov (United States)

Anjum, Muzammil; Al-Talhi, Hasan A; Mohamed, Saleh A; Kumar, Rajeev; Barakat, M A

2018-06-15

Biogas production using waste activated sludge (WAS) is one of the most demanding technologies for sludge treatment and generating energy in sustainable manner. The present study deals with the photocatalytic pretreatment of WAS using ZnO-ZnS@polyaniline (ZnO-ZnS@PANI) nanocomposite as means for increasing its degradability for improved biogas production by anaerobic digestion (AD). Photocatalysis accelerated the hydrolysis of WAS and increased the sCOD by 6.7 folds after 6 h and transform tCOD into bioavailable sCOD. After the AD of WAS, a removal of organic matter (60.6%) and tCOD (69.3%) was achieved in photocatalytic pretreated sludge. The biogas production was 1.6 folds higher in photocatalytic sludge with accumulative biogas up to 1645.1 ml L -1 vs after 45 days compared with the raw sludge (1022.4 ml L -1 VS ). Moreover, the photocatalysis decrease the onset of methanogenesis from 25 to 12 days while achieve the maximum conversion rate of reducing sugars into organic acids at that time. These results suggested that photocatalysis is an efficient pretreatment method and ZnO-ZnS@PANI can degrade sludge efficiently for enhance biogas production in anaerobic digestion process. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhancing the Production of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Biopolymer by Azohydromonas Australica Using a Simple Empty and Fill Bioreactor Cultivation Strategy

OpenAIRE

G. Gahlawat; A. K. Srivastava

2018-01-01

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable polymers which are considered as an effective alternative for conventional plastics due to their mechanical properties similar to the latter. However, widespread use of these polymers is still hampered due to their high cost of production. This shortcoming could partly be resolved by obtaining high yields and productivity. In the present study, a drain-and-fill strategy of repeated-batch cultivation was adopted for the enhanced production of p...

Enhancing the solar still using immersion type water heater productivity and the effect of external cooling fan in winter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Garni, Ahmed Z.

2012-01-01

In the present work an attempt is made to enhance the of double slope solar still productivity by an immersion type water heater using. The effect of using an external fan to cool the glass surface is also examined. Experiments were carried out for winter season in Saudi Arabian climatic conditions at latitude 26 degree N. A solar still with 35 degree glass slope angle is chosen in our study. Since the yield of a solar still is more for low water depths, the water level in the base tank was maintained at 1 cm. The experimental results showed that the productivity increased by a significant 370% when two water heaters each having 500 W capacities was used. When external cooling fan was used the productivity was found to decrease by 4 % and 8% for wind speeds of 7 m/s and 9 m/s respectively. Thermal modeling was also done by the heat and mass transfer relations using, and then numerical simulations were carried out to validate with the experimental results. A good agreement between experimental and numerical results was found. The present study is partial implementation of two patents submitted in this field. (authors)

Ergonomics productivity enhancement at government-owned sugar cane factories in east Java, Indonesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Manuaba, A

1995-06-01

To cope, both with the increasing demand for sugar and to win the global competition as well, government-owned sugar cane limited number xxi-xxii, has decided to enhance its productivity, among other things, by implementing ergonomics principles within their factories. In the execution, ergonomics application have been carried out since 1992, which resulted in safer, healthier, and more efficient working conditions and environment. Some of the improvements yielded economic gains through higher productivity via increased output, lower cost, faster processing, etc. Improvements related to cane transloading and unloading processes resulted in a higher amount of cane being transferred from the trucks to the lorries as well as from the lorries to the cane table. Fewer clinical visits, lower health care costs, more efficient inspection, and fewer fatigue complaints are also achieved by improvement steps, which increase the productivity as end results. With all those economic gains, full and long lasting management's concern and commitment could be created without a doubt.

Hierarchical Honeycomb Br-, N-Codoped TiO2 with Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic H2 Production.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chao; Zhou, Yuming; Bao, Jiehua; Sheng, Xiaoli; Fang, Jiasheng; Zhao, Shuo; Zhang, Yiwei; Chen, Wenxia

2018-06-06

The halogen elements modification strategy of TiO 2 encounters a bottleneck in visible-light H 2 production. Herein, we have for the first time reported a hierarchical honeycomb Br-, N-codoped anatase TiO 2 catalyst (HM-Br,N/TiO 2 ) with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic H 2 production. During the synthesizing process, large amounts of meso-macroporous channels and TiO 2 nanosheets were fabricated in massive TiO 2 automatically, constructing the hierarchical honeycomb structure with large specific surface area (464 m 2 g -1 ). cetyl trimethylammonium bromide and melamine played a key role in constructing the meso-macroporous channels. Additionally, HM-Br,N/TiO 2 showed a high visible-light H 2 production rate of 2247 μmol h -1 g -1 , which is far more higher than single Br- or N-doped TiO 2 (0 or 63 μmol h -1 g -1 , respectively), thereby demonstrating the excellent synergistic effects of Br and N elements in H 2 evolution. In HM-Br,N/TiO 2 catalytic system, the codoped Br-N atoms could reduce the band gap of TiO 2 to 2.88 eV and the holes on acceptor levels (N acceptor) can passivate the electrons on donor levels (Br donor), thereby preventing charge carriers recombination significantly. Furthermore, the proposed HM-Br,N/TiO 2 fabrication strategy had a wide range of choices for N source (e.g., melamine, urea, and dicyandiamide) and it can be applied to other TiO 2 materials (e.g., P25) as well, thereby implying its great potential application in visible-light H 2 production. Finally, on the basis of experimental results, a possible photocatalytic H 2 production mechanism for HM-Br,N/TiO 2 was proposed.

Growth Conditions and Gamma-Irradiation as Enhancers of Cellulase Production by Bacillus subtilis Using Solid State Fermentation of Banana Wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

EI Shafey, H.M.

2008-01-01

In the present investigation trials have been carried out to study the effect of growth conditions and y-irradiation on the enhancement of cellulases using banana wastes. Bacterial strains were isolated from degraded banana wastes. Using the plate screening medium, a hypercelIulolytic isolate was selected on the basis of the diameter of the hydrolysis zone surrounding the colonies, and identified as Bacillus subtilis. Three method of pretreatment or the substrate were applied and compared in order to increase the susceptibility of the substrate to biodegradation. The methods used were autoclaving at 121 degree C for 60 min, acid hydrolysis using 2 N HCI, and alkali hydrolysis using 2 M NaOH. Pretreatment of the substrate (banana wastes) by autoclaving at 121 degree C for 60 minutes yielded the highest carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase) and filter paper cellulase (FPase) enzyme activities in comparing with other methods. Production of CMCase and FPase was followed during changes of the growth conditions using solid state fermentation. Results showed that the two enzymes share the same growth factors for the maximum enzymatic production including 36 degree C incubation temperature, 72 hours incubation period, 60% moisture content, 20% v/w inoculum size, and initial ph 7.0. A gamma irradiation dose of 1.5 kGy was found to have an enhancing effect on the two enzymes production. Production of FPase enzyme was enhanced by 3.43 and 2.28% in pseudo stems and leaves, respectively. On the other hand, production of CMCase enzyme was slightly enhanced by 0.91 and 0.72% using pseudo stems and leaves respectively. Results also showed that banana leaves yielded higher CMCase and FPase enzymes than pseudo stems

Solid sand particle addition can enhance the production of resting cysts in dinoflagellates

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Aoao; Hu, Zhangxi; Tang, Yingzhong

2018-03-01

Resting cysts are an important part of the life cycle for many harmful algal bloom-forming dinoflagellates, and play vital roles in the recurrence and geographical spread of harmful algal blooms. Numerous factors have been suggested to regulate the formation of resting cysts, although only a few have been proven to be significant. Cyst formation can be induced by adverse environmental conditions such as drastic changes in temperature, light, salinity, and nutrient levels, and by biological interactions. In this study, we evaluated the ability of an artificial factor (fine sand particles) to enhance the formation of resting cysts. Fine sand particles were added to cultures of dinoflagellates that are known to produce cysts. The addition of fine sand particles significantly increased both the production rate and final yield of cysts in cultures of Scrippsiella trochoidea, Biecheleria brevisulcata, and Levanderina fissa (= Gymnodinium fissum, Gyrodinium instriatum, Gyrodinium uncatenum). The largest increase in the final yield (107-fold) of cysts as a result of sand addition was in S. trochoidea. However, addition of fine sand particles did not induce cyst formation, or barely affected cyst formation, in Akashiwo sanguinea, Cochlodinium polykrikoides and Pheopolykrikos hartmannii, which are also known to be cyst-producing species. We speculated that addition of sand significantly increased the chances of cell collision, which triggered cyst formation. However, further research is required to test this idea. Importantly, our findings indicate that the addition of fine sand particles is a useful method to obtain a large quantity of cysts in a short time for laboratory studies or tests; for example, if a cyst viability test is being used to assess the effectiveness of ships' ballast water treatment.

Type and amount of organic amendments affect enhanced biogenic methane production from coal and microbial community structure

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Katherine J.; Lu, Shipeng; Barnhart, Elliott P.; Parker, Albert E.; Fields, Matthew W.; Gerlach, Robin

2018-01-01

Slow rates of coal-to-methane conversion limit biogenic methane production from coalbeds. This study demonstrates that rates of coal-to-methane conversion can be increased by the addition of small amounts of organic amendments. Algae, cyanobacteria, yeast cells, and granulated yeast extract were tested at two concentrations (0.1 and 0.5 g/L), and similar increases in total methane produced and methane production rates were observed for all amendments at a given concentration. In 0.1 g/L amended systems, the amount of carbon converted to methane minus the amount produced in coal only systems exceeded the amount of carbon added in the form of amendment, suggesting enhanced coal-to-methane conversion through amendment addition. The amount of methane produced in the 0.5 g/L amended systems did not exceed the amount of carbon added. While the archaeal communities did not vary significantly, the bacterial populations appeared to be strongly influenced by the presence of coal when 0.1 g/L of amendment was added; at an amendment concentration of 0.5 g/L the bacterial community composition appeared to be affected most strongly by the amendment type. Overall, the results suggest that small amounts of amendment are not only sufficient but possibly advantageous if faster in situcoal-to-methane production is to be promoted.

Fast Pulling of n-Type Si Ingots for Enhanced Si Solar Cell Production

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Kwanghun; Park, Sanghyun; Park, Jaechang; Pang, Ilsun; Ryu, Sangwoo; Oh, Jihun

2018-03-01

Reducing the manufacturing costs of silicon substrates is an important issue in the silicon-based solar cell industry. In this study, we developed a high-throughput ingot growth method by accelerating the pulling speed in the Czochralski process. By controlling the heat flow of the ingot growth chamber and at the solid-liquid interfaces, the pulling speed of an ingot could be increased by 15% compared to the conventional method, while retaining high quality. The wafer obtained at a high pulling speed showed an enhanced minority carrier lifetime compared with conventional wafers, due to the vacancy passivation effect, and also demonstrated comparable bulk resistivity and impurities. The results in this work are expected to open a new way to enhance the productivity of Si wafers used for Si solar cells, and therefore, to reduce the overall manufacturing cost.

Enhanced ozone production in a pulsed dielectric barrier discharge plasma jet with addition of argon to a He-O2 flow gas

Science.gov (United States)

Sands, Brian; Ganguly, Biswa; Scofield, James

2013-09-01

Ozone production in a plasma jet DBD driven with a 20-ns risetime unipolar pulsed voltage can be significantly enhanced using helium as the primary flow gas with an O2 coflow. The overvolted discharge can be sustained with up to a 5% O2 coflow at pulse repetition frequency at 13 kV applied voltage. Ozone production scales with the pulse repetition frequency up to a ``turnover frequency'' that depends on the O2 concentration, total gas flow rate, and applied voltage. For example, peak ozone densities >1016 cm-3 were measured with 3% O2 admixture and discharge current and 777 nm O(5 P) emission, but decreased ozone production and is followed by a transition to a filamentary discharge mode. The addition of argon at concentrations >=5% reduces the channel conductivity and shifts the turnover frequency to higher frequencies. This results in increased ozone production for a given applied voltage and gas flow rate. Time-resolved Ar(1s5) and He(23S1) metastable densities were acquired along with discharge current and ozone density measurements to gain insight into the mechanisms of optimum ozone production.

Engineering the growth pattern and cell morphology for enhanced PHB production by Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Hong; Chen, Jinchun; Chen, Guo-Qiang

2016-12-01

E. coli JM109∆envC∆nlpD deleted with genes envC and nlpD responsible for degrading peptidoglycan (PG) led to long filamentous cell shapes. When cell fission ring location genes minC and minD of Escherichia coli were deleted, E. coli JM109∆minCD changed the cell growth pattern from binary division to multiple fissions. Bacterial morphology can be further engineered by overexpressing sulA gene resulting in inhibition on FtsZ, thus generating very long cellular filaments. By overexpressing sulA in E. coli JM109∆envC∆nlpD and E. coli JM109∆minCD harboring poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) synthesis operon phbCAB encoded in plasmid pBHR68, respectively, both engineered cells became long filaments and accumulated more PHB compared with the wild-type. Under same shake flask growth conditions, E. coli JM109∆minCD (pBHR68) overexpressing sulA grown in multiple fission pattern accumulated approximately 70 % PHB in 9 g/L cell dry mass (CDM), which was significantly higher than E. coli JM109∆envC∆nlpD and the wild type, that produced 7.6 g/L and 8 g/L CDM containing 64 % and 51 % PHB, respectively. Results demonstrated that a combination of the new division pattern with elongated shape of E. coli improved PHB production. This provided a new vision on the enhanced production of inclusion bodies.

Optimization of date syrup for enhancement of the production of citric acid using immobilized cells of Aspergillus niger

OpenAIRE

Mostafa, Yasser S.; Alamri, Saad A.

2012-01-01

Date syrup as an economical source of carbohydrates and immobilized Aspergillus niger J4, which was entrapped in calcium alginate pellets, were employed for enhancing the production of citric acid. Maximum production was achieved by pre-treating date syrup with 1.5% tricalcium phosphate to remove heavy metals. The production of citric acid using a pretreated medium was 38.87% higher than an untreated one that consumed sugar. The appropriate presence of nitrogen, phosphate and magnesium appear...

Diurnal sampling reveals significant variation in CO2 emission from a tropical productive lake.

Science.gov (United States)

Reis, P C J; Barbosa, F A R

2014-08-01

It is well accepted in the literature that lakes are generally net heterotrophic and supersaturated with CO2 because they receive allochthonous carbon inputs. However, autotrophy and CO2 undersaturation may happen for at least part of the time, especially in productive lakes. Since diurnal scale is particularly important to tropical lakes dynamics, we evaluated diurnal changes in pCO2 and CO2 flux across the air-water interface in a tropical productive lake in southeastern Brazil (Lake Carioca) over two consecutive days. Both pCO2 and CO2 flux were significantly different between day (9:00 to 17:00) and night (21:00 to 5:00) confirming the importance of this scale for CO2 dynamics in tropical lakes. Net heterotrophy and CO2 outgassing from the lake were registered only at night, while significant CO2 emission did not happen during the day. Dissolved oxygen concentration and temperature trends over the diurnal cycle indicated the dependence of CO2 dynamics on lake metabolism (respiration and photosynthesis). This study indicates the importance of considering the diurnal scale when examining CO2 emissions from tropical lakes.

Carbon-tuned bonding method significantly enhanced the hydrogen storage of BN-Li complexes.

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Qing-ming; Zhao, Lina; Luo, You-hua; Zhang, Meng; Zhao, Li-xia; Zhao, Yuliang

2011-11-01

Through first-principles calculations, we found doping carbon atoms onto BN monolayers (BNC) could significantly strengthen the Li bond on this material. Unlike the weak bond strength between Li atoms and the pristine BN layer, it is observed that Li atoms are strongly hybridized and donate their electrons to the doped substrate, which is responsible for the enhanced binding energy. Li adsorbed on the BNC layer can serve as a high-capacity hydrogen storage medium, without forming clusters, which can be recycled at room temperature. Eight polarized H(2) molecules are attached to two Li atoms with an optimal binding energy of 0.16-0.28 eV/H(2), which results from the electrostatic interaction of the polarized charge of hydrogen molecules with the electric field induced by positive Li atoms. This practical carbon-tuned BN-Li complex can work as a very high-capacity hydrogen storage medium with a gravimetric density of hydrogen of 12.2 wt%, which is much higher than the gravimetric goal of 5.5 wt % hydrogen set by the U.S. Department of Energy for 2015.

Enhanced isoprenoid production from xylose by engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwak, Suryang; Kim, Soo Rin; Xu, Haiqing; Zhang, Guo-Chang; Lane, Stephan; Kim, Heejin; Jin, Yong-Su

2017-11-01

Saccharomyces cerevisiae has limited capabilities for producing fuels and chemicals derived from acetyl-CoA, such as isoprenoids, due to a rigid flux partition toward ethanol during glucose metabolism. Despite numerous efforts, xylose fermentation by engineered yeast harboring heterologous xylose metabolic pathways was not as efficient as glucose fermentation for producing ethanol. Therefore, we hypothesized that xylose metabolism by engineered yeast might be a better fit for producing non-ethanol metabolites. We indeed found that engineered S. cerevisiae on xylose showed higher expression levels of the enzymes involved in ethanol assimilation and cytosolic acetyl-CoA synthesis than on glucose. When genetic perturbations necessary for overproducing squalene and amorphadiene were introduced into engineered S. cerevisiae capable of fermenting xylose, we observed higher titers and yields of isoprenoids under xylose than glucose conditions. Specifically, co-overexpression of a truncated HMG1 (tHMG1) and ERG10 led to substantially higher squalene accumulation under xylose than glucose conditions. In contrast to glucose utilization producing massive amounts of ethanol regardless of aeration, xylose utilization allowed much less amounts of ethanol accumulation, indicating ethanol is simultaneously re-assimilated with xylose consumption and utilized for the biosynthesis of cytosolic acetyl-CoA. In addition, xylose utilization by engineered yeast with overexpression of tHMG1, ERG10, and ADS coding for amorphadiene synthase, and the down-regulation of ERG9 resulted in enhanced amorphadiene production as compared to glucose utilization. These results suggest that the problem of the rigid flux partition toward ethanol production in yeast during the production of isoprenoids and other acetyl-CoA derived chemicals can be bypassed by using xylose instead of glucose as a carbon source. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2581-2591. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley

Enhancement of Palmarumycin C12 and C13 Production by the Endophytic Fungus Berkleasmium sp. Dzf12 in an Aqueous-Organic Solvent System.

Science.gov (United States)

Mou, Yan; Xu, Dan; Mao, Ziling; Dong, Xuejiao; Lin, Fengke; Wang, Ali; Lai, Daowan; Zhou, Ligang; Xie, Bingyan

2015-11-12

The endophytic fungus Berkleasmium sp. Dzf12, isolated from Dioscorea zingiberensis, was found to produce palmarumycins C12 and C13 which possess a great variety of biological activities. Seven biocompatible water-immiscible organic solvents including n-dodecane, n-hexadecane, 1-hexadecene, liquid paraffin, dibutyl phthalate, butyl oleate and oleic acid were evaluated to improve palmarumycins C12 and C13 production in suspension culture of Berkleasmium sp. Dzf12. Among the chosen solvents both butyl oleate and liquid paraffin were the most effective to improve palmarumycins C12 and C13 production. The addition of dibutyl phthalate, butyl oleate and oleic acid to the cultures of Berkleasmium sp. Dzf12 significantly enhanced palmarumycin C12 production by adsorbing palmarumycin C12 into the organic phase. When butyl oleate was fed at 5% (v/v) in medium at the beginning of fermentation (day 0), the highest palmarumycin C12 yield (191.6 mg/L) was achieved, about a 34.87-fold increase in comparison with the control (5.3 mg/L). n-Dodecane, 1-hexadecene and liquid paraffin had a great influence on the production of palmarumycin C13. When liquid paraffin was added at 10% (v/v) in medium on day 3 of fermentation, the palmarumycin C13 yield reached a maximum value (134.1 mg/L), which was 4.35-fold that of the control (30.8 mg/L). Application of the aqueous-organic solvent system should be a simple and efficient process strategy for enhancing palmarumycin C12 and C13 production in liquid cultures of the endophytic fungus Berkleasmium sp. Dzf12.

Enhancement of Palmarumycin C12 and C13 Production by the Endophytic Fungus Berkleasmium sp. Dzf12 in an Aqueous-Organic Solvent System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Mou

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The endophytic fungus Berkleasmium sp. Dzf12, isolated from Dioscorea zingiberensis, was found to produce palmarumycins C12 and C13 which possess a great variety of biological activities. Seven biocompatible water-immiscible organic solvents including n-dodecane, n-hexadecane, 1-hexadecene, liquid paraffin, dibutyl phthalate, butyl oleate and oleic acid were evaluated to improve palmarumycins C12 and C13 production in suspension culture of Berkleasmium sp. Dzf12. Among the chosen solvents both butyl oleate and liquid paraffin were the most effective to improve palmarumycins C12 and C13 production. The addition of dibutyl phthalate, butyl oleate and oleic acid to the cultures of Berkleasmium sp. Dzf12 significantly enhanced palmarumycin C12 production by adsorbing palmarumycin C12 into the organic phase. When butyl oleate was fed at 5% (v/v in medium at the beginning of fermentation (day 0, the highest palmarumycin C12 yield (191.6 mg/L was achieved, about a 34.87-fold increase in comparison with the control (5.3 mg/L. n-Dodecane, 1-hexadecene and liquid paraffin had a great influence on the production of palmarumycin C13. When liquid paraffin was added at 10% (v/v in medium on day 3 of fermentation, the palmarumycin C13 yield reached a maximum value (134.1 mg/L, which was 4.35-fold that of the control (30.8 mg/L. Application of the aqueous-organic solvent system should be a simple and efficient process strategy for enhancing palmarumycin C12 and C13 production in liquid cultures of the endophytic fungus Berkleasmium sp. Dzf12.

The whale pump: marine mammals enhance primary productivity in a coastal basin.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joe Roman

Full Text Available It is well known that microbes, zooplankton, and fish are important sources of recycled nitrogen in coastal waters, yet marine mammals have largely been ignored or dismissed in this cycle. Using field measurements and population data, we find that marine mammals can enhance primary productivity in their feeding areas by concentrating nitrogen near the surface through the release of flocculent fecal plumes. Whales and seals may be responsible for replenishing 2.3×10(4 metric tons of N per year in the Gulf of Maine's euphotic zone, more than the input of all rivers combined. This upward "whale pump" played a much larger role before commercial harvest, when marine mammal recycling of nitrogen was likely more than three times atmospheric N input. Even with reduced populations, marine mammals provide an important ecosystem service by sustaining productivity in regions where they occur in high densities.

Production of ethanol from winter barley by the EDGE (enhanced dry grind enzymatic process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kurantz M

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background US legislation requires the use of advanced biofuels to be made from non-food feedstocks. However, commercialization of lignocellulosic ethanol technology is more complex than expected and is therefore running behind schedule. This is creating a demand for non-food, but more easily converted, starch-based feedstocks other than corn that can fill the gap until the second generation technologies are commercially viable. Winter barley is such a feedstock but its mash has very high viscosity due to its high content of β-glucans. This fact, along with a lower starch content than corn, makes ethanol production at the commercial scale a real challenge. Results A new fermentation process for ethanol production from Thoroughbred, a winter barley variety with a high starch content, was developed. The new process was designated the EDGE (enhanced dry grind enzymatic process. In this process, in addition to the normal starch-converting enzymes, two accessory enzymes were used to solve the β-glucan problem. First, β-glucanases were used to hydrolyze the β-glucans to oligomeric fractions, thus significantly reducing the viscosity to allow good mixing for the distribution of the yeast and nutrients. Next, β-glucosidase was used to complete the β-glucan hydrolysis and to generate glucose, which was subsequently fermented in order to produce additional ethanol. While β-glucanases have been previously used to improve barley ethanol production by lowering viscosity, this is the first full report on the benefits of adding β-glucosidases to increase the ethanol yield. Conclusions In the EDGE process, 30% of total dry solids could be used to produce 15% v/v ethanol. Under optimum conditions an ethanol yield of 402 L/MT (dry basis or 2.17 gallons/53 lb bushel of barley with 15% moisture was achieved. The distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS co-product had extremely low β-glucan (below 0.2% making it suitable for use in both ruminant

Enhanced production of azadirachtin by hairy root cultures of Azadirachta indica A. Juss by elicitation and media optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Satdive, Ramesh K; Fulzele, Devanand P; Eapen, Susan

2007-02-01

Azadirachtin is one of the most potent biopesticides so far developed from a plant sources. Influence of different culture media and elicitation on growth and production of azadirachtin by hairy root cultures of Azadirachta indica was studied. Out of the three media tested, namely Ohyama and Nitsch, Gamborg's and Murashige and Skoog's basal media, hairy roots cultured on Ohyama and Nitsch's basal medium produced maximum yield of azadirachtin (0.0166% dry weight, DW). Addition of biotic elicitor enhanced the production of azadirachtin by approximately 5-fold (0.074% DW), while signal compounds such as jasmonic acid and salicylic acid showed a approximately 6 (0.095% DW) and approximately 9-fold (0.14% DW) enhancement, respectively, in the production of azadirachtin as compared to control cultures on Ohyama and Nitsch medium. Extracts from hairy roots were found to be superior to those from the leaves for antifeedant activity against the larvae of Spodoptera litura.

Engineering Enhanced Vaccine Cell Lines To Eradicate Vaccine-Preventable Diseases: the Polio End Game

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Sanden, Sabine M. G.; Wu, Weilin; Dybdahl-Sissoko, Naomi; Weldon, William C.; Brooks, Paula; O'Donnell, Jason; Jones, Les P.; Brown, Cedric; Tompkins, S. Mark; Oberste, M. Steven; Karpilow, Jon; Tripp, Ralph A.

2016-01-01

Vaccine manufacturing costs prevent a significant portion of the world's population from accessing protection from vaccine-preventable diseases. To enhance vaccine production at reduced costs, a genome-wide RNA interference (RNAi) screen was performed to identify gene knockdown events that enhanced

Generalized Enhanced Multivariance Product Representation for Data Partitioning: Constancy Level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tunga, M. Alper; Demiralp, Metin

2011-01-01

Enhanced Multivariance Product Representation (EMPR) method is used to represent multivariate functions in terms of less-variate structures. The EMPR method extends the HDMR expansion by inserting some additional support functions to increase the quality of the approximants obtained for dominantly or purely multiplicative analytical structures. This work aims to develop the generalized form of the EMPR method to be used in multivariate data partitioning approaches. For this purpose, the Generalized HDMR philosophy is taken into consideration to construct the details of the Generalized EMPR at constancy level as the introductory steps and encouraging results are obtained in data partitioning problems by using our new method. In addition, to examine this performance, a number of numerical implementations with concluding remarks are given at the end of this paper.

The ways of enhancement and optimization of production by separate types of meat on the basis of modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sulaymanova D.K.

2017-02-01

Full Text Available in this article the ways of optimization and enhancement of production of meat in the Kyrgyz Republic are considered. And also on the basis of statistical data and economic-mathematical modeling forecast calculations for the predicted years (2016–2020 are performed. Questions to increase the production volume by separate types of meat in the country are considered.

Genome-scale model guided design of Propionibacterium for enhanced propionic acid production.

Science.gov (United States)

Navone, Laura; McCubbin, Tim; Gonzalez-Garcia, Ricardo A; Nielsen, Lars K; Marcellin, Esteban

2018-06-01

Production of propionic acid by fermentation of propionibacteria has gained increasing attention in the past few years. However, biomanufacturing of propionic acid cannot compete with the current oxo-petrochemical synthesis process due to its well-established infrastructure, low oil prices and the high downstream purification costs of microbial production. Strain improvement to increase propionic acid yield is the best alternative to reduce downstream purification costs. The recent generation of genome-scale models for a number of Propionibacterium species facilitates the rational design of metabolic engineering strategies and provides a new opportunity to explore the metabolic potential of the Wood-Werkman cycle. Previous strategies for strain improvement have individually targeted acid tolerance, rate of propionate production or minimisation of by-products. Here we used the P. freudenreichii subsp . shermanii and the pan- Propionibacterium genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) to simultaneously target these combined issues. This was achieved by focussing on strategies which yield higher energies and directly suppress acetate formation. Using P. freudenreichii subsp . shermanii , two strategies were assessed. The first tested the ability to manipulate the redox balance to favour propionate production by over-expressing the first two enzymes of the pentose-phosphate pathway (PPP), Zwf (glucose-6-phosphate 1-dehydrogenase) and Pgl (6-phosphogluconolactonase). Results showed a 4-fold increase in propionate to acetate ratio during the exponential growth phase. Secondly, the ability to enhance the energy yield from propionate production by over-expressing an ATP-dependent phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and sodium-pumping methylmalonyl-CoA decarboxylase (MMD) was tested, which extended the exponential growth phase. Together, these strategies demonstrate that in silico design strategies are predictive and can be used to reduce by-product formation in

77 FR 21065 - Certain High Production Volume Chemicals; Test Rule and Significant New Use Rule; Fourth Group of...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-09

... 2070-AJ66 Certain High Production Volume Chemicals; Test Rule and Significant New Use Rule; Fourth... an opportunity to comment on a proposed test rule for 23 high production volume (HPV) chemical... necessary, to prohibit or limit that activity before it occurs. The opportunity to present oral comment was...

Preliminary experimental results of Sewage Sludge (SS) Co-digestion with Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) for Enhanced Biogas Production in Laboratory Scale Anaerobic Digester

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sivasankari, R; Kumaran, P; Normanbhay, Saifuddin; Shamsuddin, Abd Halim

2013-01-01

An investigation on the feasibility of co-digesting Sewage Sludge with Palm Oil Mill Effluent for enhancing the biogas production and the corresponding effect of the co-digestion substrate ratio on the biogas production has been evaluated. Anaerobic co-digestion of POME with SS was performed at ratios of 100:0, 70:30, 60:40 and 0:100 to find the optimum blend required for enhanced waste digestion and biogas production. Single stage batch digestion was carried out for 12 days in a laboratory scale anaerobic digester. Co-digestion of sludge's at the 70:30 proportion resulted in optimal COD and C: N ratio which subsequently recorded the highest performance with regards to biogas production at 28.1 L's compared to the 1.98 L's of biogas produced from digestion of SS alone. From the results obtained, it is evident that co-digestion of POME and SS is an attractive option to be explored for enhancement of biogas production in anaerobic digesters.

Significant enhancement in the photocatalytic activity of N, W co-doped TiO2 nanomaterials for promising environmental applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thind, Sapanbir S; Wu Guosheng; Tian Min; Chen Aicheng

2012-01-01

In this work, a mesoporous N, W co-doped TiO 2 photocatalyst was synthesized via a one-step solution combustion method, which utilized urea as the nitrogen source and sodium tungstate as the tungsten source. The photocatalytic activity of the N, W co-doped TiO 2 photocatalyst was significantly enhanced by a facile UV pretreatment approach and was evaluated by measuring the rate of photodegradation of Rhodamine B under both UV and visible (λ > 420) light. Following the UV pretreatment, the UV photocatalytic activity of the N, W co-doped TiO 2 was doubled. In terms of visible light activity, the UV pretreatment resulted in an extraordinary >12 fold improvement. In order to gain insight into this substantial enhancement, the N, W co-doped TiO 2 photocatalysts were studied using x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, N 2 physisorption, UV–vis absorbance spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy prior to and following the UV pretreatment. Our experimental results have revealed that this significant augmentation of photocatalytic activity may be attributed to several synergetic factors, including increase of the specific surface area, reduction of the band gap energy and the removal of carbon impurities. (paper)

Surfactant-enhanced recovery of dissolved hydrocarbons at petroleum production facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freeman, J.T.; Mayes, M.; Wassmuth, F.; Taylor, K.; Rae, W.; Kuipers, F.

1997-01-01

The feasibility and cost effectiveness of surfactant-enhanced pumping to reduce source concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons from contaminated soils was discussed. Light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPL) hydrocarbons are present beneath many petroleum production processing facilities in western Canada. Complete removal of LNAPLs from geologic materials is difficult and expensive. Treatment technologies include costly ex-situ methods such as excavation and in-situ methods such as physical extraction by soil venting and pumping, bioremediation, and combination methods such as bioventing, bioslurping or air sparging. Surfactant-aided pumping can reduce source hydrocarbon concentrations when used in conjunction with traditional pump and treat, or deep well injection. This study involved the selection of an appropriate surfactant from a wide variety of commercially available products. A site contaminated by hydrocarbons in Turner Valley, Alberta, was used for field scale testing. One of the major problems was quantifying the increase in the dissolved hydrocarbon concentrations in the recovered water once a surfactant was added. From the 30 surfactants screened in a series of washing and oil solubilization tests, two surfactants, Brij 97 and Tween 80, were selected for further evaluation. Increased hydrocarbon recovery was observed within 10 days of the introduction of the first surfactant. 2 refs., 7 figs

Significance of authenticity in meat and meat products in Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tahereh Rezazadeh

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The Authenticity of meat products is very important for religious and health reasons in Iran. According to legislation in Iran, the consumption and importation of pork, horse, donkey and cat products should be banned. Therefore, the identification of meat products cannot be judged solely by its appearance. This issue led to the authenticity of bovine, sheep, pig, horse, donkey, chicken and soya (Glycine max in raw and processed meat products.In this study, specific primers were designed for the identification of pig ( base pair, donkey (325 base pair, chicken (391 base pair, sheep (499 base pair, horse (607 base pair, soya (707 base pair and bovine (853 base pair by Polymerase chain reaction. Following PCR, expected,, , 499,,  and  base pair fragments were detectable in pig, donkey, chicken, sheep, horse, soya and bovine, respectively. This protocol can be used for identification of raw and processed meat products in various animal species for replication to regulatory obligations for meat species safety in Iran.

Manipulating environmental stresses and stress tolerance of microalgae for enhanced production of lipids and value-added products-A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bailing; Wan, Chun; Mehmood, Muhammad Aamer; Chang, Jo-Shu; Bai, Fengwu; Zhao, Xinqing

2017-11-01

Microalgae have promising potential to produce lipids and a variety of high-value chemicals. Suitable stress conditions such as nitrogen starvation and high salinity could stimulate synthesis and accumulation of lipids and high-value products by microalgae, therefore, various stress-modification strategies were developed to manipulate and optimize cultivation processes to enhance bioproduction efficiency. On the other hand, advancements in omics-based technologies have boosted the research to globally understand microalgal gene regulation under stress conditions, which enable further improvement of production efficiency via genetic engineering. Moreover, integration of multi-omics data, synthetic biology design, and genetic engineering manipulations exhibits a tremendous potential in the betterment of microalgal biorefinery. This review discusses the process manipulation strategies and omics studies on understanding the regulation of metabolite biosynthesis under various stressful conditions, and proposes genetic engineering of microalgae to improve bioproduction via manipulating stress tolerance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Finding Sales Promotion and Making Decision for New Product Based on Group Analysis of Edge-Enhanced Product Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yi; Tan, Jianbin; Wu, Bin

A novel method is proposed in this paper to find the promotive relationship of products from a network point of view. Firstly, a product network is built based on the dataset of handsets’ sale information collected from all outlets of a telecom operator of one province of China, with a period from Jan. 2006 to Jul. 2008. Then the edge enhanced model is applied on product network to divide all the products into several groups, according to which each outlet is assigned to class A or class B for a certain handset. Class A is defined as the outlet which sell the certain handset and contains all of handsets of its group, while other situation for class B which sell the certain handset too. It’s shown from the result of analysis on these two kinds of outlets that many handsets are sold better in outlets of class A than that of class B, even though the sales revenue of all these outlets in the time period is close. That is to say the handsets within a group would promote the sale for each other. Furthermore, a method proposed in this paper gives a way to find out the important attributes of the handsets which lead them to br divided into the same group, and it also explains how to add a new handset to an existing group and where would the new handset be sold best.

Phosphate enhances levan production in the endophytic bacterium Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus Pal5

Science.gov (United States)

Idogawa, Nao; Amamoto, Ryuta; Murata, Kousaku; Kawai, Shigeyuki

2014-01-01

Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus is a gram-negative and endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacterium that has several beneficial effects in host plants; thus, utilization of this bacterium as a biofertilizer in agriculture may be possible. G. diazotrophicus synthesizes levan, a D-fructofuranosyl polymer with β-(2→6) linkages, as an exopolysaccharide and the synthesized levan improves the stress tolerance of the bacterium. In this study, we found that phosphate enhances levan production by G. diazotrophicus Pal5, a wild type strain that showed a stronger mucous phenotype on solid medium containing 28 mM phosphate than on solid medium containing 7 mM phosphate. A G. diazotrophicus Pal5 levansucrase disruptant showed only a weak mucous phenotype regardless of the phosphate concentration, indicating that the mucous phenotype observed on 28 mM phosphate medium was caused by levan. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the effect of a high concentration of phosphate on exopolysaccharide production. PMID:24717418

Th-17 regulatory cytokines IL-21, IL-23, and IL-6 enhance neutrophil production of IL-17 cytokines during asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Halwani, Rabih; Sultana, Asma; Vazquez-Tello, Alejandro; Jamhawi, Amer; Al-Masri, Abeer A; Al-Muhsen, Saleh

2017-11-01

In a subset of severe asthma patients, chronic airway inflammation is associated with infiltration of neutrophils, Th-17 cells and elevated expression of Th-17-derived cytokines (e.g., interleukin [IL]-17, IL-21, IL-22). Peripheral neutrophils from allergic asthmatics are known to express higher IL-17 cytokine levels than those from healthy subjects, but the regulatory mechanisms involved are not well understood. We hypothesize that Th-17 regulatory cytokines could modulate IL-17 expression in neutrophils. Peripheral blood neutrophils isolated from asthmatics were stimulated with IL-21, IL-23, and IL-6 cytokines and their ability to produce IL-17A and IL-17F was determined relative to healthy controls. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) phosphorylation levels were measured in stimulated neutrophil using flow cytometry. The requirement for STAT3 phosphorylation was determined by blocking its activation using a specific chemical inhibitor. Stimulating asthmatic neutrophils with IL-21, 23, and 6 enhanced the production of IL-17A and IL-17F at significantly higher levels comparatively to healthy controls. Stimulating neutrophils with IL-21, IL-23, and IL-6 cytokines enhanced STAT3 phosphorylation, in all cases. Interestingly, inhibiting STAT3 phosphorylation using a specific chemical inhibitor dramatically blocked the ability of neutrophils to produce IL-17, demonstrating that STAT3 activation is the major factor mediating IL-17 gene expression. These findings suggest that neutrophil infiltration in lungs of severe asthmatics may represent an important source of pro-inflammatory IL-17A and -F cytokines, a production enhanced by Th-17 regulatory cytokines, and thus providing a feedback mechanism that sustains inflammation. Our results suggest that STAT3 pathway could be a potential target for regulating neutrophilic inflammation during severe asthma.

MEETING REPORT: OMG Technical Committee Meeting in Orlando, FL, sees significant enhancement to CORBA

Science.gov (United States)

1998-06-01

The Object Management Group (OMG) Platform Technology Committee (PTC) ratified its support for a new asynchronous messaging service for CORBA at OMG's recent Technical Committee Meeting in Orlando, FL. The meeting, held from 8 - 12 June, saw the PTC send the Messaging Service out for a final vote among the OMG membership. The Messaging Service, which will integrate Message Oriented Middleware (MOM) with CORBA, will give CORBA a true asynchronous messaging capability - something of great interest to users and developers. Formal adoption of the specification will most likely occur by the end of the year. The Messaging Service The Messaging Service, when adopted, will be the world's first standard for Message Oriented Middleware and will give CORBA a true asynchronous messaging capability. Asynchronous messaging allows developers to build simpler, richer client environments. With asynchronous messaging there is less need for multi-threaded clients because the Asynchronous Method Invocation is non-blocking, meaning the client thread can continue work while the application waits for a reply. David Curtis, Director of Platform Technology for OMG, said: `This messaging service is one of the more valuable additions to CORBA. It enhances CORBA's existing asynchronous messaging capabilities which is a feature of many popular message oriented middleware products. This service will allow better integration between ORBs and MOM products. This enhanced messaging capability will only make CORBA more valuable for builders of distributed object systems.' The Messaging Service is one of sixteen technologies currently being worked on by the PTC. Additionally, seventeen Revision Task Forces (RTFs) are working on keeping OMG specifications up to date. The purpose of these Revision Task Forces is to take input from the implementors of OMG specifications and clarify or make necessary changes based on the implementor's input. The RTFs also ensure that the specifications remain up to date

Play and Productivity: Enhancing the Creative Climate at Workplace Meetings with Play Cues

Science.gov (United States)

West, Samuel E.; Hoff, Eva; Carlsson, Ingegerd

2016-01-01

The authors investigate the links between playfulness and creative organizational climates established by other research, using play cues--objects and sweets--they provide participants halfway through workplace meetings. Their findings suggest such cues significantly enhance the creative climate and playfulness in workplace meetings without…

N-Acetylcysteine enhances the action of anti-inflammatory drugs as suppressors of prostaglandin production in monocytes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erica Hoffer

2002-01-01

Full Text Available The anti-inflammatory effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs is associated with inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX, the rate-limiting enzyme responsible for the synthesis of prostaglandins. Since oxygen free radicals can act as second cellular messengers, especially to modulate the metabolism of arachidonic acid and the prostaglandin tract, it seems plausible that antioxidants might affect the production of prostaglandin by activated cells. This research is focused on the effect of the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC on the inhibition of prostaglandin E2 formation in activated monocytes by specific and non-specific COX inhibitors. We found that lipopolysaccharide-induced prostaglandin E2 formation was significantly reduced by rofecoxib and by diclofenac, two NSAIDs. Addition of NAC to each of these drugs enhanced the effect of the NSAIDs. These results suggest that one might expect either a potentiation of the anti-inflammatory effect of COX inhibitors by their simultaneous administration with NAC, or obtaining the same anti-inflammatory at lower drug levels.

Effect of Discrete Fracture Network Characteristics on the Sustainability of Heat Production in Enhanced Geothermal Reservoirs

Science.gov (United States)

Riahi, A.; Damjanac, B.

2013-12-01

Viability of an enhanced or engineered geothermal reservoir is determined by the rate of produced fluid at production wells and the rate of temperature drawdown in the reservoir as well as that of the produced fluid. Meeting required targets demands sufficient permeability and flow circulation in a relatively large volume of rock mass. In-situ conditions such overall permeability of the bedrock formation, magnitude and orientation of stresses, and the characteristics of the existing Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) greatly affect sustainable heat production. Because much of the EGS resources are in formations with low permeability, different stimulation techniques are required prior to the production phase to enhance fluid circulation. Shear stimulation or hydro-shearing is the method of injecting a fluid into the reservoir with the aim of increasing the fluid pressure in the naturally fractured rock and inducing shear failure or slip events. This mechanism can enhance the system's permeability through permanent dilatational opening of the sheared fractures. Using a computational modeling approach, the correlation between heat production and DFN statistical characteristics, namely the fracture length distribution, fracture orientation, and also fracture density is studied in this paper. Numerical analyses were completed using two-dimensional distinct element code UDEC (Itasca, 2011), which represents rock masses as an assembly of interacting blocks separated by fractures. UDEC allows for simulation of fracture propagation along the predefined planes only (i.e., the trajectory of the hydraulic fracture is not part of the solution of the problem). Thus, the hydraulic fracture is assumed to be planar, aligned with the direction of the major principal stress. The pre-existing fractures were represented explicitly. They are discontinuities which deform elastically, but also can open and slip (Coulomb slip law) as a function of pressure and total stress changes. The fluid

Education and empowerment of the nursing assistant: validating their important role in skin care and pressure ulcer prevention, and demonstrating productivity enhancement and cost savings.

Science.gov (United States)

Howe, Lynn

2008-06-01

This article details an educational program designed to utilize nonlicensed personnel (certified nursing assistants [CNAs] and nursing assistants [NAs]) in the prevention of pressure ulcers and improved skin care in a 250-bed acute care facility in a suburban setting. The article is divided into 2 parts: A and B. Part A addresses the educational program, which was part of a major initiative for improving patient outcomes that included a review and standardization of skin care products and protocols. Part B addresses productivity enhancement and cost savings experienced because of changing bathing and incontinence care products and procedures. The educational program included instruction on time-saving methods for increasing productivity in bathing and incontinence care, and effectively promoted the importance of proper skin care and pressure ulcer prevention techniques. Methods incorporated into the educational training targeted different reading and comprehension levels, ranging from the use of PowerPoint slides, hands-on return demonstration, and group discussion related to pressure ulcer staging and wound treatment. These educational methods provided the participants with significant reinforcement of each day's learning objectives. Productivity enhancement and cost savings are addressed in part B, as well as the results of a time-motion study. Because of the program, CNAs/NAs were empowered in their integral caregiver roles. This program was part of a larger, major process improvement initiative, but the rate of acquired pressure ulcers declined from 2.17% in 2002 to 1.71% in 2003. This educational program was considered a contributor to the improved patient outcomes.

Design of a Production Process to Enhance Optical Performance of 3(omega) Optics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasad, R.R.; Bruere, J.R.; Halpin, J.; Lucero, P.; Mills, S.; Bernacil, M.; Hackel, R.P.

2003-01-01

Using the Phoenix pre-production conditioning facility we have shown that raster scanning of 3ω optics using a XeF excimer laser and mitigation of the resultant damage sites with a CO 2 laser can enhance their optical damage resistance. Several large-scale (43 cm x 43 cm) optics have been processed in this facility. A production facility capable of processing several large optics a week has been designed based on our experience in the pre-production facility. The facility will be equipped with UV conditioning lasers--351-nm XeF excimer lasers operating at 100 Hz and 23 ns. The facility will also include a CO 2 laser for damage mitigation, an optics stage for raster scanning large-scale optics, a damage mapping system (DMS) that images large-scale optics and can detect damage sites or precursors as small as ∼ 15 (micro)m, and two microscopes to image damage sites with ∼ 5 (micro)m resolution. The optics will be handled in a class 100 clean room, within the facility that will be maintained at class 1000

Intensity and Pattern of Enhancement on CESM: Prognostic Significance and its Relation to Expression of Podoplanin in Tumor Stroma - A Preliminary Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Luczynska, Elzbieta; Niemiec, Joanna; Heinze, Sylwia; Adamczyk, Agnieszka; Ambicka, Aleksandra; Marcyniuk, Paulina; Rudnicki, Wojciech; Mitus, Jerzy W; Dyczek, Sonia; Rys, Janusz; Sas-Korczynska, Beata

2018-02-01

It is possible that the degree of enhancement on contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM), a new diagnostic method, might provide prognostic information for breast cancer patients. Therefore, in a group of 82 breast cancer patients, we analyzed the prognostic significance of degree and pattern of enhancement on CESM as well as its relation to: (a) breast cancer immunophenotype (based on ER/PR/HER2 status) (b) podoplanin expression in cancer stroma (lymphatic vessel density plus podoplanin-positivity of cancer-associated fibroblasts), and (c) other histological parameters. For each tumor the intensity of enhancement on CESM was qualitatively assessed as strong or weak/medium, while the pattern - as homogenous and heterogenous. Herein we report, for the first time, that strong and heterogenous enhancement on CESM was related to unfavorable disease-free survival of breast cancer patients (p=0.005). Moreover, the strong enhancement was more frequent in large and node-positive tumors (pT>1, pN>0) (p=0.002), as well as in carcinomas with podoplanin-sparse stroma (p=0.008). Intensity and pattern of enhancement on CESM might provide (together with the results of other diagnostic imaging methods) not only the confirmation of presence or absence of tumor, but also prognostic information. Copyright© 2018, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.

Enhanced precipitation variability decreases grass- and increases shrub-productivity

Science.gov (United States)

Gherardi, Laureano A.; Sala, Osvaldo E.

2015-01-01

Although projections of precipitation change indicate increases in variability, most studies of impacts of climate change on ecosystems focused on effects of changes in amount of precipitation, overlooking precipitation variability effects, especially at the interannual scale. Here, we present results from a 6-y field experiment, where we applied sequences of wet and dry years, increasing interannual precipitation coefficient of variation while maintaining a precipitation amount constant. Increased precipitation variability significantly reduced ecosystem primary production. Dominant plant-functional types showed opposite responses: perennial-grass productivity decreased by 81%, whereas shrub productivity increased by 67%. This pattern was explained by different nonlinear responses to precipitation. Grass productivity presented a saturating response to precipitation where dry years had a larger negative effect than the positive effects of wet years. In contrast, shrubs showed an increasing response to precipitation that resulted in an increase in average productivity with increasing precipitation variability. In addition, the effects of precipitation variation increased through time. We argue that the differential responses of grasses and shrubs to precipitation variability and the amplification of this phenomenon through time result from contrasting root distributions of grasses and shrubs and competitive interactions among plant types, confirmed by structural equation analysis. Under drought conditions, grasses reduce their abundance and their ability to absorb water that then is transferred to deep soil layers that are exclusively explored by shrubs. Our work addresses an understudied dimension of climate change that might lead to widespread shrub encroachment reducing the provisioning of ecosystem services to society. PMID:26417095

Enhancing the light-driven production of D-lactate by engineering cyanobacterium using a combinational strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chao; Tao, Fei; Ni, Jun; Wang, Yu; Yao, Feng; Xu, Ping

2015-05-01

It is increasingly attractive to engineer cyanobacteria for bulk production of chemicals from CO2. However, cofactor bias of cyanobacteria is different from bacteria that prefer NADH, which hampers cyanobacterial strain engineering. In this study, the key enzyme D-lactate dehydrogenase (LdhD) from Lactobacillus bulgaricus ATCC11842 was engineered to reverse its favored cofactor from NADH to NADPH. Then, the engineered enzyme was introduced into Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 to construct an efficient light-driven system that produces D-lactic acid from CO2. Mutation of LdhD drove a fundamental shift in cofactor preference towards NADPH, and increased D-lactate productivity by over 3.6-fold. We further demonstrated that introduction of a lactic acid transporter and bubbling CO2-enriched air also enhanced D-lactate productivity. Using this combinational strategy, increased D-lactate concentration and productivity were achieved. The present strategy may also be used to engineer cyanobacteria for producing other useful chemicals.

A multi-phase approach to select new wine yeast strains with enhanced fermentative fitness and glutathione production.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonciani, Tommaso; De Vero, Luciana; Mezzetti, Francesco; Fay, Justin C; Giudici, Paolo

2018-03-01

The genetic improvement of winemaking yeasts is a virtually infinite process, as the design of new strains must always cope with varied and ever-evolving production contexts. Good wine yeasts must feature both good primary traits, which are related to the overall fermentative fitness of the strain, and secondary traits, which provide accessory features augmenting its technological value. In this context, the superiority of "blind," genetic improvement techniques, as those based on the direct selection of the desired phenotype without prior knowledge of the genotype, was widely proven. Blind techniques such as adaptive evolution strategies were implemented for the enhancement of many traits of interest in the winemaking field. However, these strategies usually focus on single traits: this possibly leads to genetic tradeoff phenomena, where the selection of enhanced secondary traits might lead to sub-optimal primary fermentation traits. To circumvent this phenomenon, we applied a multi-step and strongly directed genetic improvement strategy aimed at combining a strong fermentative aptitude (primary trait) with an enhanced production of glutathione (secondary trait). We exploited the random genetic recombination associated to a library of 69 monosporic clones of strain UMCC 855 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) to search for new candidates possessing both traits. This was achieved by consecutively applying three directional selective criteria: molybdate resistance (1), fermentative aptitude (2), and glutathione production (3). The strategy brought to the selection of strain 21T2-D58, which produces a high concentration of glutathione, comparable to that of other glutathione high-producers, still with a much greater fermentative aptitude.

Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production on three-dimensional gold butterfly wing scales/CdS nanoparticles

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Jing; Song, Guofen; Liu, Qinglei; Zhang, Wang; Gu, Jiajun; Su, Yishi; Su, Huilan; Guo, Cuiping; Zhang, Di

2018-01-01

Photocatalytic water splitting via utilizing various semiconductors is recognized as a promising way for hydrogen production. Plasmonic metals with sub-micrometer textures can improve the photocatalytic performance of semiconductors via a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) process. Moreover, arrays of multilayer metallic structures can help generate strong LSPR. However, artificial synthesis has difficulties in constructing novel multilayer metallic arrays down to nanoscales. Here, we use three dimensional (3D) scales from Morpho didius forewings (M) to prepare 3D Au-wings with intact hierarchical bio-structures. For comparison, we use Troides helena forewings (T) which are known for their antireflection quasi-honeycomb structures resulting in strong light absorbing ability. Results show that multilayer rib structures of Au-M can significantly amplify the LSPR of 3D Au and thus can efficiently help the photocatalytic process (9-fold increase). This amplification effect is obviously more superior to the straightforward enhancement of the absorption of incident light (Au-T, 5-fold increase). Thus, our study provides the possibility to prepare highly efficient plasmonic photocatalysts (possessing 3D multilayer rib structures) via an easy method. This work will also be revealing for plasmonic applications in other fields.

Optimization of aeration for biodiesel production by Scenedesmus obliquus grown in municipal wastewater.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Song-Fang; Jin, Wenbiao; Tu, Renjie; Abomohra, Abd El-Fatah; Wang, Zhi-Han

2016-07-01

Despite the significant breakthroughs in research on microalgae as a feedstock for biodiesel, its production cost is still much higher than that of fossil diesel. One possible solution to overcome this problem is to optimize algal growth and lipid production in wastewater. The present study examines the optimization of pretreatment of municipal wastewater and aeration conditions in order to enhance the lipid productivity of Scenedesmus obliquus. Results showed that no significant differences were recorded in lipid productivity of S. obliquus grown in primary settled or sterilized municipal wastewater; however, ultrasound pretreatment of wastewater significantly decreased the lipid production. Whereas, aeration rates of 0.2 vvm significantly increased lipid content by 51 %, with respect to the non-aerated culture, which resulted in maximum lipid productivity (32.5 mg L(-1) day(-1)). Furthermore, aeration enrichment by 2 % CO2 resulted in increase of lipid productivity by 46 % over the CO2 non-enriched aerated culture. Fatty acid profile showed that optimized aeration significantly enhanced monounsaturated fatty acid production, composed mainly of C18:1, by 1.8 times over the non-aerated S. obliquus culture with insignificant changes in polyunsaturated fatty acid proportion; suggesting better biodiesel characteristics for the optimized culture.

Impact of enhanced ultraviolet-B radiation on flower, pollen, and nectar production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sampson, B.J.; Cane, J.H.

1999-01-01

Intensified ultraviolet-B radiation or UV-B (wavelengths between 280 and 320 nm) can delay flowering and diminish lifetime flower production in a few plants. Here we studied the effects of enhanced UV-B on floral traits crucial to pollination and pollinator reproduction. We observed simultaneous flowering responses of a new crop plant, Limnanthes alba (Limnathaceae), and a wildflower, Phacelia campanularia (Hydrophyllaceae), to five lifetime UV-B dosages ranging between 2.74 and 15.93 kJ·m -2 ·d -1 . Floral traits known to link plant pollination with bee host preference, host fidelity and larval development were measured. Intensified UV-B had no overall effect on nectar and pollen production of L. alba and P. campanularia flowers. A quadratic relationship between UV-B and nectar sugar production occurred in P. campanularia and showed that even subambient UV-B dosages can be deleterious for a floral trait. Other floral responses to UV-B were more dramatic and idiosyncratic. As UV-B dosage increased, L. alba plants were less likely to flower, but suffered no delays in flowering or reductions to lifetime flower production for those that did flower. Conversely, an equal proportion of P. campanularia plants flowered under all UV-B treatments, but these same plants experienced delayed onset to bloom and produced fewer flowers at greater UV-B intensities. Therefore, intensified UV-B elicits idiosyncratic responses in flowering phenology and flower production from these two annual plants. Diurnal patterns in nectar and pollen production strongly coincided with fluctuating humidity and only weakly with UV-B dosage. Overall, our results indicated that intensified UVB can alter some flowering traits that impinge upon plant competition for pollinator services, as well as plant and pollinator reproductive success. (author)

Enhanced acetone-butanol-ethanol production from lignocellulosic hydrolysates by using starchy slurry as supplement.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Ming; Kuittinen, Suvi; Vepsäläinen, Jouko; Zhang, Junhua; Pappinen, Ari

2017-11-01

This study aims to improve acetone-butanol-ethanol production from the hydrolysates of lignocellulosic material by supplementing starchy slurry as nutrients. In the fermentations of glucose, xylose and the hydrolysates of Salix schwerinii, the normal supplements such as buffer, minerals, and vitamins solutions were replaced with the barley starchy slurry. The ABE production was increased from 0.86 to 14.7g/L by supplementation of starchy slurry in the fermentation of xylose and the utilization of xylose increased from 29% to 81%. In the fermentations of hemicellulosic and enzymatic hydrolysates from S. schwerinii, the ABE yields were increased from 0 and 0.26 to 0.35 and 0.33g/g sugars, respectively. The results suggested that the starchy slurry supplied the essential nutrients for ABE fermentation. The starchy slurry as supplement could improve the ABE production from both hemicellulosic and cellulosic hydrolysate of lignocelluloses, and it is particularly helpful for enhancing the utilization of xylose from hemicelluloses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biotin-independent strains of Escherichia coli for enhanced streptavidin production.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeschek, Markus; Bahls, Maximilian O; Schneider, Veronika; Marlière, Philippe; Ward, Thomas R; Panke, Sven

2017-03-01

Biotin is an archetypal vitamin used as cofactor for carboxylation reactions found in all forms of life. However, biotin biosynthesis is an elaborate multi-enzymatic process and metabolically costly. Moreover, many industrially relevant organisms are incapable of biotin synthesis resulting in the requirement to supplement defined media. Here we describe the creation of biotin-independent strains of Escherichia coli and Corynebacterium glutamicum through installation of an optimized malonyl-CoA bypass, which re-routes natural fatty acid synthesis, rendering the previously essential vitamin completely obsolete. We utilize biotin-independent E. coli for the production of the high-value protein streptavidin which was hitherto restricted because of toxic effects due to biotin depletion. The engineered strain revealed significantly improved streptavidin production resulting in the highest titers and productivities reported for this protein to date. Copyright © 2017 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Enhancement of Plant Productivity in the Post-Genomics Era.

Science.gov (United States)

Thao, Nguyen Phuong; Tran, Lam-Son Phan

2016-08-01

and larger scale. In their article, Onda and Mochida detailed how to use these technologies in fully characterizing the genetic diversity or multigenecity within a particular plant species. The authors discussed the constant innovation of sequencing platforms which has made sequencing technologies become more superior and more powerful than ever before. Additionally, the efforts result in not only further cut down of the sequencing cost and increase in the sequencing speed, but also improvement in sequencing accuracy and extended sequencing application to studies at both DNA and RNA levels. Such knowledge will help the scientists interpret, at least partially, how plants can adapt to various environmental conditions, or how different cultivars can respond differently to the same stress. Another article by Ong et al. also laid emphasis on the importance of various high-throughput sequencing platforms, thanks to which a large number of genomic databases supplied with detailed annotation and useful bioinformatics tools have been established to assist geneticists. Readers can find in this review the summary of available plant-specific genomic databases up-to-date and popular web-based resources that are relevant for comparative genomics, plant evolution and phylogenomics studies. These, along with other approaches, such as quantitative trait locus and genome-wide association study, will lay foundation for prediction and identification of genes or alleles responsible for valuable agronomic traits, contributing to the enhancement of plant productivity by genetic engineering approach. In this thematic issue, specific examples for crop improvement are also demonstrated. The first showcase is given by Nongpiur et al. who provided evidence that synergistic employment of genomics approaches and high-throughput gene expression methods have aided in dissecting the salinity-responsive signaling pathway, identifying genes involved in the stress response and selecting candidate genes

Salmonella contamination: a significant challenge to the global marketing of animal food products.

Science.gov (United States)

L Plym, Forshell; Wierup, M

2006-08-01

Salmonellosis is the most common food-borne bacterial disease in the world. Salmonella is a significant pathogen for food-producing animals and these animals are the primary source of salmonellosis. It is estimated that herd prevalence varies between 0% and 90%, depending on the animal species and region. The pathogen is spread by trade in animals and non-heated animal food products. The emergence of strains that are resistant to antimicrobials, often as a result of antimicrobial usage in animals, is a public health hazard of great concern. It is increasingly accepted that the prevalence of Salmonella in animal production must be decreased and, in the European Union, plans to achieve this are currently being implemented. In this paper, the authors propose various risk mitigation strategies. Successful control must focus on a range of preventive actions because there is no simple 'silver bullet' solution to reduce Salmonella contamination. The authors conclude that the key to controlling Salmonella is to follow the general rules that have been successfully applied to other infectious diseases.

Ultrasound pretreatment for enhanced biogas production from olive mill wastewater.

Science.gov (United States)

Oz, Nilgun Ayman; Uzun, Alev Cagla

2015-01-01

This study investigates applicability of low frequency ultrasound technology to olive mill wastewaters (OMWs) as a pretreatment step prior to anaerobic batch reactors to improve biogas production and methane yield. OMWs originating from three phase processes are characterized with high organic content and complex nature. The treatment of the wastewater is problematic and alternative treatment options should be investigated. In the first part of the study, OMW samples were subjected to ultrasound at a frequency of 20kHz with applied powers varying between 50 and 100W under temperature controlled conditions for different time periods in order to determine the most effective sonication conditions. The level of organic matter solubilization at ultrasound experiments was assessed by calculating the ratio of soluble chemical oxygen demand/total chemical oxygen demand (SCOD/TCOD). The results revealed that the optimum ultrasonic condition for diluted OMW is 20kHz, 0.4W/mL for 10min. The application of ultrasound to OMW increased SCOD/TCOD ratio from 0.59 to 0.79. Statistical analysis (Friedman's tests) show that ultrasound was significantly effective on diluted OMW (p0.05). For raw OMW, this increase has been found to be limited due to high concentration of suspended solids (SS). In the second part of the study, biogas and methane production rates of anaerobic batch reactor fed with the ultrasound pretreated OMW samples were compared with the results of control reactor fed with untreated OMW in order to determine the effect of sonication. A nonparametric statistical procedure, Mann-Whitney U test, was used to compare biogas and methane production from anaerobic batch reactors for control and ultrasound pretreated samples. Results showed that application of low frequency ultrasound to OMW significantly improved both biogas and methane production in anaerobic batch reactor fed with the wastewater (pbiogas and methane compared with the untreated one (control reactor). The

Enhancement of thioredoxin/glutaredoxin-mediated L-cysteine synthesis from S-sulfocysteine increases L-cysteine production in Escherichia coli

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Escherichia coli has two L-cysteine biosynthetic pathways; one is synthesized from O-acetyl L-serine (OAS) and sulfate by L-cysteine synthase (CysK), and another is produced via S-sulfocysteine (SSC) from OAS and thiosulfate by SSC synthase (CysM). SSC is converted into L-cysteine and sulfite by an uncharacterized reaction. As thioredoxins (Trx1 and Trx2) and glutaredoxins (Grx1, Grx2, Grx3, Grx4, and NrdH) are known as reductases of peptidyl disulfides, overexpression of such reductases might be a good way for improving L-cysteine production to accelerate the reduction of SSC in E. coli. Results Because the redox enzymes can reduce the disulfide that forms on proteins, we first tested whether these enzymes catalyze the reduction of SSC to L-cysteine. All His-tagged recombinant enzymes, except for Grx4, efficiently convert SSC into L-cysteine in vitro. Overexpression of Grx1 and NrdH enhanced a 15-40% increase in the E. coliL-cysteine production. On the other hand, disruption of the cysM gene cancelled the effect caused by the overexpression of Grx1 and NrdH, suggesting that its improvement was due to the efficient reduction of SSC under the fermentative conditions. Moreover, L-cysteine production in knockout mutants of the sulfite reductase genes (ΔcysI and ΔcysJ) and the L-cysteine synthase gene (ΔcysK) each decreased to about 50% of that in the wild-type strain. Interestingly, there was no significant difference in L-cysteine production between wild-type strain and gene deletion mutant of the upstream pathway of sulfite (ΔcysC or ΔcysH). These results indicate that sulfite generated from the SSC reduction is available as the sulfur source to produce additional L-cysteine molecule. It was finally found that in the E. coliL-cysteine producer that co-overexpress glutaredoxin (NrdH), sulfite reductase (CysI), and L-cysteine synthase (CysK), there was the highest amount of L-cysteine produced per cell. Conclusions In this work, we showed that Grx1 and

Synergistic enhancement of ethylene production and germination with kinetin and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic Acid in lettuce seeds exposed to salinity stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, A A; Huang, X L

1988-08-01

Relief of salt (0.1 molar NaCl) stress on germination of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L., cv Mesa 659) seeds occurred with applications of 0.05 millimolar kinetin (KIN) and 1 to 10 millimolar 1-aminocyclopropane 1-carboxylic acid (ACC). Treatment with KIN enhanced the pregermination ethylene production under saline condition. A synergistic or an additive enhancement of pregermination ethylene production and germination occurred under saline condition in the presence of KIN and a saturating dose (10 millimolar) of ACC. No KIN-ACC synergism was noted in ethylene production or germination under nonsaline condition. Addition of 1 millimolar aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) inhibited the KIN-enhanced pregermination ethylene production (85 to 89%) and germination (58%) under saline condition but not the synergistic effect of KIN + ACC on ethylene production. Under nonsaline condition, AVG had no effect on germination even though ethylene production was strongly inhibited. Alleviation of salt stress by KIN was inhibited in a competitive manner by 2,5-norbornadiene (NBD) (0.02-0.2 milliliter per liter), and the addition of ACC and/or ethylene reduced this inhibition. An increase in the pregermination ethylene production and germination occurred also by cotylenin E (CN) under saline condition. However, neither AVG (1 millimolar) nor NBD (0.02 to 0.2 milliliter per liter) prevented the relief of salt stress by CN. Thus, KIN may alleviate salt stress on germination by promoting both ACC production and its conversion to ethylene. Rapid utilization of ACC may be the basis for the synergistic or the additive effect of KIN plus ACC. The need for ethylene production and action for the relief of salt stress is circumvented by a treatment with CN.

Bee species diversity enhances productivity and stability in a perennial crop.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shelley R Rogers

Full Text Available Wild bees provide important pollination services to agroecoystems, but the mechanisms which underlie their contribution to ecosystem functioning--and, therefore, their importance in maintaining and enhancing these services-remain unclear. We evaluated several mechanisms through which wild bees contribute to crop productivity, the stability of pollinator visitation, and the efficiency of individual pollinators in a highly bee-pollination dependent plant, highbush blueberry. We surveyed the bee community (through transect sampling and pan trapping and measured pollination of both open- and singly-visited flowers. We found that the abundance of managed honey bees, Apis mellifera, and wild-bee richness were equally important in describing resulting open pollination. Wild-bee richness was a better predictor of pollination than wild-bee abundance. We also found evidence suggesting pollinator visitation (and subsequent pollination are stabilized through the differential response of bee taxa to weather (i.e., response diversity. Variation in the individual visit efficiency of A. mellifera and the southeastern blueberry bee, Habropoda laboriosa, a wild specialist, was not associated with changes in the pollinator community. Our findings add to a growing literature that diverse pollinator communities provide more stable and productive ecosystem services.

Bee species diversity enhances productivity and stability in a perennial crop.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, Shelley R; Tarpy, David R; Burrack, Hannah J

2014-01-01

Wild bees provide important pollination services to agroecoystems, but the mechanisms which underlie their contribution to ecosystem functioning--and, therefore, their importance in maintaining and enhancing these services-remain unclear. We evaluated several mechanisms through which wild bees contribute to crop productivity, the stability of pollinator visitation, and the efficiency of individual pollinators in a highly bee-pollination dependent plant, highbush blueberry. We surveyed the bee community (through transect sampling and pan trapping) and measured pollination of both open- and singly-visited flowers. We found that the abundance of managed honey bees, Apis mellifera, and wild-bee richness were equally important in describing resulting open pollination. Wild-bee richness was a better predictor of pollination than wild-bee abundance. We also found evidence suggesting pollinator visitation (and subsequent pollination) are stabilized through the differential response of bee taxa to weather (i.e., response diversity). Variation in the individual visit efficiency of A. mellifera and the southeastern blueberry bee, Habropoda laboriosa, a wild specialist, was not associated with changes in the pollinator community. Our findings add to a growing literature that diverse pollinator communities provide more stable and productive ecosystem services.

Significantly enhanced robustness and electrochemical performance of flexible carbon nanotube-based supercapacitors by electrodepositing polypyrrole

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yanli; Du, Lianhuan; Yang, Peihua; Sun, Peng; Yu, Xiang; Mai, Wenjie

2015-08-01

Here, we report robust, flexible CNT-based supercapacitor (SC) electrodes fabricated by electrodepositing polypyrrole (PPy) on freestanding vacuum-filtered CNT film. These electrodes demonstrate significantly improved mechanical properties (with the ultimate tensile strength of 16 MPa), and greatly enhanced electrochemical performance (5.6 times larger areal capacitance). The major drawback of conductive polymer electrodes is the fast capacitance decay caused by structural breakdown, which decreases cycling stability but this is not observed in our case. All-solid-state SCs assembled with the robust CNT/PPy electrodes exhibit excellent flexibility, long lifetime (95% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles) and high electrochemical performance (a total device volumetric capacitance of 4.9 F/cm3). Moreover, a flexible SC pack is demonstrated to light up 53 LEDs or drive a digital watch, indicating the broad potential application of our SCs for portable/wearable electronics.

Significant Enhancement of Thermal Conductivity in Nanofibrillated Cellulose Films with Low Mass Fraction of Nanodiamond.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Na; Cui, Siqi; Hou, Xingshuang; Ding, Peng; Shi, Liyi

2017-11-22

High thermal conductive nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) hybrid films based on nanodiamond (ND) were fabricated by a facile vacuum filtration technique. In this issue, the thermal conductivity (TC) on the in-plane direction of the NFC/ND hybrid film had a significant enhancement of 775.2% at a comparatively low ND content (0.5 wt %). The NFC not only helps ND to disperse in the aqueous medium stably but also plays a positive role in the formation of the hierarchical structure. ND could form a thermal conductive pathway in the hierarchical structures under the intermolecular hydrogen bonds. Moreover, the hybrid films composed of zero-dimensional ND and one-dimensional NFC exhibit remarkable mechanical properties and optical transparency. The NFC/ND hybrid films possessing superior TC, mechanical properties, and optical transparency can open applications for portable electronic equipment as a lateral heat spreader.

Alanine Enhances Aminoglycosides-Induced ROS Production as Revealed by Proteomic Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin-zhou Ye

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Metabolite-enabled killing of antibiotic-resistant pathogens by antibiotics is an attractive strategy to manage antibiotic resistance. Our previous study demonstrated that alanine or/and glucose increased the killing efficacy of kanamycin on antibiotic-resistant bacteria, whose action is through up-regulating TCA cycle, increasing proton motive force and enhancing antibiotic uptake. Despite the fact that alanine altered several metabolic pathways, other mechanisms could be potentially involved in alanine-mediated kanamycin killing of bacteria which remains to be explored. In the present study, we adopted proteomic approach to analyze the proteome changes induced by exogenous alanine. Our results revealed that the expression of three outer membrane proteins was altered and the deletion of nagE and fadL decreased the intracellular kanamycin concentration, implying their possible roles in mediating kanamycin transport. More importantly, the integrated analysis of proteomic and metabolomic data pointed out that alanine metabolism could connect to riboflavin metabolism that provides the source for reactive oxygen species (ROS production. Functional studies confirmed that alanine treatment together with kanamycin could promote ROS production that in turn potentiates the killing of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Further investigation showed that alanine repressed the transcription of antioxidant-encoding genes, and alanine metabolism to riboflavin metabolism connected with riboflavin metabolism through TCA cycle, glucogenesis pathway and pentose phosphate pathway. Our results suggest a novel mechanism by which alanine facilitates kanamycin killing of antibiotic-resistant bacteria via promoting ROS production.

Emulsion oil droplet size significantly affects satiety: A pre-ingestive approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Lett, Aaron M; Norton, Jennifer E; Yeomans, Martin R

2016-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that the manipulation of oil droplet size within oil-in-water emulsions significantly affects sensory characteristics, hedonics and expectations of food intake, independently of energy content. Smaller oil droplets enhanced perceived creaminess, increased Liking and generated greater expectations of satiation and satiety, indicating that creaminess is a satiety-relevant sensory cue within these systems. This paper extends these findings by investigating the effect of oil droplet size (d4,3: 2 and 50 μm) on food intake and appetite. Male participants (n = 34 aged 18-37; BMI of 22.7 ± 1.6 kg/m(2); DEBQ restricted eating score of 1.8 ± 0.1.) completed two test days, where they visited the laboratory to consume a fixed-portion breakfast, returning 3 h later for a "drink", which was the emulsion preload containing either 2 or 50 μm oil droplets. This was followed 20 min later with an ad libitum pasta lunch. Participants consumed significantly less at the ad libitum lunch after the preload containing 2 μm oil droplets than after the 50 μm preload, with an average reduction of 12% (62.4 kcal). Despite the significant differences in intake, no significant differences in sensory characteristics were noted. The findings show that the impact that an emulsion has on satiety can be enhanced without producing significantly perceivable differences in sensory properties. Therefore, by introducing a processing step which results in a smaller droplets, emulsion based liquid food products can be produced that enhance satiety, allowing covert functional redesign. Future work should consider the mechanism responsible for this effect. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biosurfactants production and possible uses in microbial enhanced oil recovery and oil pollution remediation: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banat, I.M.

1995-01-01

Surfactants are widely used for various purposes in industry, but for many years were mainly chemically synthesized. It has only been in the past few decades that biological surface-active compounds (biosurfactants) have been described. Biosurfactants are gaining prominence and have already taken over for a number of important industrial uses, due to their advantages of biodegradability, production on renewable resources and functionality under extreme conditions; particularly those pertaining during tertiary crude-oil recovery. Conflicting reports exist concerning their efficacy and the economics of both their production and application. The limited successes and applications for biosurfactants production, recovery, use in oil pollution control, oil storage tank clean-up and enhanced oil-recovery are reviewed from the technical point of view. (author)

4-Hydroxynonenal enhances MMP-9 production in murine macrophages via 5-lipoxygenase-mediated activation of ERK and p38 MAPK