Microalgae are recognized as a third generation feedstock for biofuel production due to its rapid growth rate and lignin-free characteristic. In this study, the lipid extracted microalgae biomass residues was used as the material to produce isoprene, α-pinene and β-pinene with the engineered E. coli strain. We adopted an optimal sulfuric acid hydrolysis method to convert holocellulose into fermentable sugar efficiently (6.37 g/L) and explored a novel detoxification strategy (phosphoric acid/calcium hydroxide) to remove inhibitors notably. 55.32 % acetic acid, 99.19 % furfural and 98.22 % 5-HMF were cut down with the phosphoric acid/calcium hydroxide method, and the fermentation concentration of isoprene (223.23 mg/L), α-pinene (382.21 μg/L) and β-pinene (17.4 mg/L) using the detoxified hydrolysate as the carbon source account for approximately 86.02 %, 90.16 % and 88.32 % of those produced by the engineered E. coli strain fermented on pure glucose, respectively.

Heat-stressed lactating dairy cattle exhibit unique metabolic symptoms; many of which are undoubtedly involved in heat-induced subfertility. Because of its known systemic effects, we hypothesized that γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) participates in the regulation of insulin and progesterone during heat stress. Multiparous lactating Holstein cows (n=6) were studied during four experimental periods: 1) thermoneutral (TN; d 1-5), 2) TN + hyperinsulinemic-hypoglycemic clamp (d 6-10), 3) heat stress (HS; d 16-20), and 4) HS + euglycemic clamp (d 21-25). Blood samples were collected once daily via coccygeal venipuncture into heparinized evacuated tubes. Analysis of GABA concentrations from all four treatment periods yielded no differences. In direct comparison to TN concentrations, plasma GABA tended to be decreased during HS (16.57±2.64 vs 13.87±2.28 ng/ml, respectively, P = 0.06). Both milk production and plasma insulin were moderately correlated with plasma GABA (r=0.35, P<0.01; r = -0.32, P<0.01). Plasma progesterone was correlated with plasma GABA concentrations during TN but not HS. These results are the first to indicate that peripheral GABA could be involved in regulating aspects of production and reproduction during heat stress. More research is needed to determine its precise role(s).

This study investigated the speciation, transformation and availability of P during indigenous vegetable production by employing a combination of chemical and spectroscopic techniques. The study focused upon sites in two ecozones of SSA, the Dry Savanna (lna, Benin Republic) and Rainforest (Ilesha, Nigeria). Both sites were cultivated with two indigenous vegetable species; local amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus (AV)) and African eggplant (Solanum macrocarpon (SM)). The soils were treated with 5 t/ha poultry manure and urea fertilizer at the rate of 0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 kg N/ha. Soil samples were collected before planting and after harvest. Phosphorus K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy was used to determine P speciation in these soils. Quantitative analysis showed that adsorbed and organic P were the two dominant P species in the manure amended Dry Savanna (DS) soils before planting and after harvest in soils cultivated with both AV and SM, with the addition of urea (40 kg N/ha) causing an increase in the organic P form in Dry Savanna soils cultivated with AV. Soils of the Rainforest (RF) cultivated with AV initially had large amounts of apatite P in the manure amended soils prior to planting which was transformed to adsorbed and organic P after harvest. Urea addition to the Rainforest soils shifted the dominant P species from organic P to adsorbed and apatite P, which is likely to limit P availability. Soils cultivated with SM had similar proportions of both organic and adsorbed P forms, with 40 kg N/ha addition slightly increased the proportion of adsorbed P.

This paper aims to study the performance of solar collectors with various sizes under different weather conditions of different Japanese cities, i.e. Kofu city, Nagoya city and Yamagata city. The heat generated from the solar collector was used to conduct a biogas dry reforming reactor in order to produce H2 to feed a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). This study has revealed that the output temperature of solar collector, Tfb in April and July was higher than that in January and October irrespective of city. The optimum length of absorber (dx) of the collector was 4 m irrespective of city. It was clarified that Tfb in Yamagata city in January and October, i.e. winter and autumn is lower than that in Kofu city and Nagoya city especially, which is influenced by the tendency of a solar intensity (I) strongly, not velocity of surrounding air (ua). On the other hand, Tfb is almost the same in April and July, i.e. spring and summer, irrespective of city. The amount of produced H2 from the biogas dry reforming reactor and the power generated by SOFC using H2 in spring and summer were higher compared to the other seasons irrespective of city. This study has revealed that the highest available households number per month was 4.7 according to the investigation in this study.

Hydrogen from natural gas reforming can be produced efficiently with a high CO2 capture rate. This can be achieved with oxygen-blown autothermal reforming as core technology combined with pressure-swing adsorption for hydrogen purification and refrigeration-based tail gas separation for CO2 capture and recirculation of residual hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane. The low-temperature tail gas separation section is presented in detail, and to quantify the exergy efficiency of this section, a detailed exergy analysis is conducted. The irreversibilities in 42 different process components are quantified. In order to provide a transparent verification of the consistency of exergy calculations, the total irreversibility rate is calculated by two independent approaches: Through the bottom-up approach, all individual irreversibilities are added to obtain the total irreversibility rate. Through the top-down approach, the total irreversibility rate is calculated solely by the exergy flows crossing the control volume boundaries. The consistency is verified as the comparison of results obtained by the two methods shows a relative deviation of 4·10-7. The exergy efficiency of the CO2 capture process is calculated based on two different definitions. Both methods give a baseline exergy efficiency of 58.38%, which indicates a high degree of exergy utilisation in the process.

The importance of oxygen role during aging process of wine has been long known. Many articles evaluating oxygen inlet for different wine stoppers have been published. However, none of these have studied the impact of the natural cork stoppers production process over oxygen inlet. At the moment, a standardized methodology widely accepted for measuring the oxygen transfer rate (OTR) and/or oxygen permeability of the stopper does not exist. Thus, this article is focused on the aging process (the final phase of the winemaking) and aims to test how some production process of natural cork stoppers impact on the stoppers permeability using chemiluminescence methodology and how also this affects wine ageing. In this study it has been seen that some of its processes such as the application of a surface treatment modify the permeability of the stopper. Surface plays an important role in the corks stoppers production and allows an easier insertion and extraction of the stopper into the bottle, avoiding leaks and homogenizing the stoppers. It was shown that the cork stoppers sample with surface treatment 1 had three times higher oxygen transfer rate than the cork stoppers sample with surface treatment 2 after one year of evolution. The two groups of stoppers had the same in terms of dimensions, density, visual class, batch and manufacture, the only difference between them was the surface treatment used. A red wine was corked with these two types of cork stoppers and its evolution was monitored up to 30 months of ageing. Differences were observed in the evolution of the wines both in certain oenological parameters such as the free SO2, the colour and the evolution of the polyphenols as well as at the sensory level. The wine corked with the stoppers of treatment 1 presented a faster evolution and a higher valuation in the sensory tastes of months 12th, while from the 18th month it presented an over evolution, and the score was below that of the wine with the corks of treatment 2.The data collected in this study shows that the differences observed with the chemiluminescence methodology of cork permeability test at a laboratory level are transferred to wine at the cellar. Therefore, it paves the way to standardize chemiluminescence as a methodology for permeability testing of cork stoppers. This opens a new field for the regulation of the permeability of natural cork stoppers by type of surface treatment applied.

This study evaluated five annual and eleven perennial Indian pasture legumes species for their nutritive value, dry matter, mineral contents and in vitro fermentation parameters, aiming to boost their potential as animal feed. Legume species significantly differed (p<0.05) in organic matter, crud protein (CP), ether extracts, fibres, and protein fractions. Clitoria ternatea (CT) a perennial had higher (p<0.05) buffer soluble protein (477), while neutral detergent soluble protein was highest in annually grown Lablab purpureus (420 g/kg CP). Atylosia scarabaeoides (AS) had higher NSC (392 g/kg DM) than SC (367 g/kg DM). Rapidly degradable fraction (51.7 g/kg tCHO) was lower (p<0.05) than other fractions of carbohydrate. Total digestible nutrients, digestible energy and metabolisable energy varied and values were higher for Desmenthus virgatus and lowest for Stylosanthas seabrana (SSe). The NE values for lactation (NEL), maintenance (NEM) and gain (NEG) were also higher for DV (6.6, 7.95 and 4.28) and lowest for SSe (3.54, 4.24 and 0.58 kJ/g DM), respectively. dry matter intake, digestible DM (DDM) and relative feed value of legumes differed (p<0.05) with mean values of 2.22% body weight, 592 g/kg DM and 102%, respectively. Annual grasses like Dolichos biflorus, Macroptilium atropurpureum, Rhynchosia minima (RM) were found better with micro minerals compared to other perennials. In vitro dry matter degradability, partition factor, short chain fatty acids and microbial protein production of legumes varied (P<0.05) and mean values were 578 g/kg DM, 5.61 mg DDM/mL, 2.42 mm/g and 352 mg/g, respectively. Gas and CH4 production (mL/g and mL/g DDM) varied (p<0.05) being lowest gas from AS (55.5) and highest from CT-blue (141), while CH4 production was lower (p<0.05) from CT-white and AS (8.24 and 9.14) and higher from Arachis glabrata (AG) and Arachis hagenbackii (AH) (15.2 and 15.1). Methane in total gas was low for DV, RM and CT-w (8.99, 9.72 and 9.51%) and loss of DE and ME as CH4 varied (P<0.05) amongst the legumes with mean values of 4.62 and 7.86%, respectively. Based on these findings, each legume offers unique benefits, allowing for tailored combinations of annual and perennial legumes to optimize rumen feed efficiency.

Aborycin is a type I lasso peptide with a stable interlocked structure, offering a favorable framework for drug development. The aborycin biosynthetic gene cluster gul from marine sponge-associated Streptomyces sp. HNS054 was cloned and integrated into the chromosome of S. coelicolor hosts with different copies. The 3-copy gul-integration strains S. coelicolor M1346::3gul showed better production than one-copy or 2-copy gul-integration strains, and the total titer reached approximately 10.4 mg/L, i.e., 2.1 times that of the native strain. Then, five regulatory genes, phoU (SCO4228), wblA (SCO3579), SCO1712, orrA (SCO3008) and gntR (SCO1678), which were reported to have negative effects on secondary metabolism, were further knocked out from the M1346::3gul genome by CRISPR/Cas9 technology. While the ΔSCO1712 mutant showed a significant decrease (4.6 mg/L) and the ΔphoU mutant showed no significant improvement (12.1 mg/L) in aborycin production, the ΔwblA, ΔorrA and ΔgntR mutations significantly improved the aborycin titers to approximately 23.6 mg/L, 56.3 mg/L and 48.2 mg/L, respectively, which were among the highest heterologous yields for lasso peptides in both Escherichia coli systems and Streptomyces systems. Thus, this study provided important clues for future studies on enhancing antibiotic production in Streptomyces systems.

The fishmeal production industry is essential for providing protein for animal feed in the aquaculture sector. However, the industry faces challenges related to energy consumption and environmental sustainability. This study evaluates the energy efficiency and environmental benefits of waste heat recovery (WHR) technologies in a fishmeal production plant in Vietnam. Data were collected from the plant between 2016 and 2022, and a specific energy consumption (SEC) indicator and a comprehensive methodology were utilized. Implementing an economizer as a WHR technology resulted in a 55.5% decrease in SEC compared to the state before installation. The enhanced energy efficiency also translated to reduced energy consumption per output unit. Moreover, the economizer contributed to annual energy savings of 4,537.57 GJ/year and cost savings of $26,474.49. Additionally, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with producing one ton of fishmeal decreased by 58.37%. These findings highlight the potential for WHR technologies to improve energy efficiency and reduce the environmental footprint of fishmeal production. The study's results provide valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers in promoting energy efficiency practices and reducing environmental impact in the industry.

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) is the second most important cereal grown in Eritrea after sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) grown under low input systems by small scale farmers. The crop utilizes soil moisture efficiently and has ability to tolerate soil toxicity and extreme temperatures than other cereals. It is a sustenance and food security crop important for its nutritive and cultural value and provides dietary energy and nutrition. However, despite the positive attributes and qualities of pearl millets for the present and future agriculture, production has been low. We attribute this to inadequate rainfall distribution, poor crop management by poorly resourced farmers, unavailability and high prices of farm inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides and low adoption of improved varieties by the farmers. This review outlines the constraints, interventions the government/ farmers have and can implement and the prospects of actions that can improve pearl millet production. As much as there have been efforts by the government and stakeholders to address these challenges and improve productivity of pearl millet, more needs to be done to meet the increasing demand of the increasing populations. This will enable farmers to intensify and diversify their agricultural systems and improve food security situation in the country. Unless a combined effort in soil fertility improvement, policies to promote use of modern varieties and conservation of and promotion of this crop biodiversity, the potential of this crop as famine and poverty alleviation among the rural poor will not be realized.

This study propounds a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based polyurethane (PU) foams aiming to curtail this nonrenewable resource's continued and uncontrolled use. Coconut fatty acid distillate (CFAD) and crude glycerol (CG), both wastes from vegetable oil processes, were utilized for bio-based polyol production for rigid PU foam application. The raw materials were subjected to catalyzed glycerolysis with alkaline-alcohol neutralization and bleaching. The resulting polyol possessed properties suitable for rigid foam application with an average OH number of 215 mg KOH/g, acid number of 7.2983 mg KOH/g, and Gardner color value of 18. The polyol was used to prepare rigid PU foam, and its properties were determined using FTIR, TGA/DTA, and UTM. Additionally, the cell foam morphology was investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) in which most of its structure revealed an open-celled network and quantified at 92.71% open cell content using pycnometric testing. The PU foam thermal and mechanical analysis results showed an average compressive strength of 70.59 kPa, thermal conductivity of 46.50 mWm-1K-1, and density of 32.79 kgm-3. These properties showed its applicability as thermal insulating foam, thus, demonstrating the potential use of CFAD and CG in commercial polyol and PU foam production.

The production of fuels and other industrial products from renewable sources has intensified the search for new substrates or for the expansion of the use of substrates already in use, as well as the search for microorganisms with different metabolic capacities. In the present work, we isolated and tested a yeast from the soil of sugarcane irrigated with vinasse, that is, with high mineral content and acidic pH. The strain of Meyerozyma caribbica URM 8365 was able to ferment glucose, but the use of xylose occurred when some oxygenation was provided. However, some fermentation of xylose to ethanol in oxygen limitation also occurs if glucose is present. This strain was able to produce ethanol from molasses substrate with 76% efficiency, showing its tolerance to possible inhibitors. High ethanol production efficiencies were also observed in acidic hydrolysates of each bagasse, sorghum, and cactus pear biomass. Mixtures of these substrates were tested and the best composition was found for the use of excess plant biomass in supplementation of primary substrates. It was also possible to verify the production of xylitol from xylose when the acetic acid concentration is reduced. Finally, the proposed metabolic model allowed calculating how much of the xylose carbon can be directed to the production of ethanol and/or xylitol in the presence of glucose. With this, it is possible to design an industrial plant that combines the production of ethanol and/or xylitol using combinations of primary substrates with hydrolysates of their biomass.

Transglutaminase 2 (TG2) is a critical cancer cell survival factor that activates several signaling pathways to foster drug resistance, cancer stem cell survival, metastasis, inflammation, epithelial mesenchymal transition, and angiogenesis. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and chemotherapy have been the standard treatments for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), but clinical studies have shown that arsenic trioxide (ATO), alone or in combination with ATRA, can improve outcomes. ATO exerts cytotoxic effects in a variety of ways by inducing oxidative stress, genotoxicity, altered signal transduction, and/or epigenetic modification. In the present study, we showed that ATO increased ROS production and apoptosis ratios in ATRA-differentiated NB4 leukemia cells and that these responses were enhanced when TG2 was deleted. The combined ATRA+ATO treatment also increased the amount of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) transcription factor, an adaptive regulator of cellular oxidative stress response, and proteolytic activity of calpain, resulting in TG2 degradation and reduced survival of WT leukemia cells. We further showed that upon ATO treatment, the induced TG2 protein expression was degraded in the MCF-7 epithelial cell line, and primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells, thereby sensitizing these cell types to apoptotic signals.

In response to the new concept of the impact of total climate production factors on plant phenology, this study will verify the feasibility of simulating plant phenology and triggering thresholds based on total climatic production factors by using the phenological and meteorological observation data of S. krylovii plant from 1985 to 2018 at the Xilinhot National Climate Observatory of China Meteorological Administration. The results indicate that the total climate production factors influencing plant phenological changes can be well used for phenological simulation and its triggering thresholds. The mutation of cumulative climate production potential based on total climate production factors can effectively indicate the green-up date and the wilting date of S. krylovii plant, and their triggering thresholds depend on the parameters of climate resource change and plant biology, which are (0.085, –5.363) and (0.086, –27.620), respectively. The cumulative climate production potential based on total climate production factors can effectively indicate the heading date of S. krylovii plant, and its triggering thresholds also depends on the parameters of climate resource change and plant biology, which is (394.632，–38026.268). Furthermore, the results support the viewpoint that the climate abrupt changes determine the beginning and the ending of plant growth, while the accumulative climate resources determine the other phenological dates. This study provides new ideas for the study of plant phenology.

Agroecology is a holistic approach to farming that emphasizes the use of local resources and ecological processes to increase productivity, reduce environmental impact, and enhance resilience. Despite its potential benefits, the adoption of agroecological practices in Sub-Saharan Africa has been slow. This paper examines the opportunities for promoting agroecology in the region, including the growing demand for organic and sustainable food, the availability of local knowledge and resources, and the potential for agroecology to improve rural livelihoods and support climate change adaptation. The premise is that the promotion of agroecology faces several challenges. which include, inadequate policy and institutional support, lack of access to credit and markets, limited extension services, and weak land tenure systems. The paper draws on case studies from across Sub-Saharan Africa to illustrate the opportunities and challenges of promoting agroecology in the region. These case studies highlight the diversity of agroecological practices and the importance of context-specific approaches. Overall, the paper maintains that agroecology has the potential to transform agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, but that realizing this potential will require concerted efforts from governments, civil society, and the private sector.

Reducing emissions from the iron and steel industry is essential to achieve the Paris climate goals. A new system to reduce the carbon footprint of steel production is proposed in this article by coupling hydrogen direct reduction of iron ore (H-DRI) and natural gas pyrolysis on liquid metal surface inside a bubble column reactor. If grid electricity from EU is used, the emissions would be 435 kg CO₂/tls without considering methane leakage from the extraction, storage and transport of natural gas. Solid carbon, produced as a by-product of natural gas decomposition, finds applications in many industrial sectors, including as a replacement for coal in coke ovens. Specific energy consumption (SEC) of the proposed system is approximately 6.3 MWh per ton of liquid steel(tls). It is higher than other competing technologies, 3.48 MWh/tls for water electrolysis based DRI, and, 4.3-4.5 MWh/tls for natural gas based DRI and blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) respectively. Utilization of large quantities of natural gas, where the carbon remains unused, is the major reason for high SEC. Preliminary analysis of the system revealed that it has the potential to compete with existing technologies to produce CO₂ free steel, if renewable electricity is used. Further studies on the kinetics of the bubble column reactor, H-DRI shaft furnace, design and sizing of components, along with building of industrial prototypes are required to improve the understanding of the system performance.

A novel nor-phragmalin-type limonoid, named carapanosin D (1), and two novel mexicanolide-type limonoids, carapanosins E (2) and F (3), were isolated from the seeds oil of Carapa guianensis AUBLET (andiroba), a traditional medicine in Brazil and Latin American countries. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analyses using 1D and 2D NMR techniques and HRFABMS. Compounds 1—3 were evaluated for their effects on the production of NO in LPS-activated mouse peritoneal macrophages. The NO inhibitory assay suggested that compound 2 may be valuable as potential inhibitors of macrophage activation.

This paper is a further development of our “Proposal of a new double-nozzle technique for in-gas-jet laser resonance ionization spectroscopy” published in journal Atoms earlier in this year. Here, we propose to equip the proposed double-nozzle technique with the RF-only funnel and RF-buncher placed in the gas-jet chamber at 70 mm distance downstream the double-nozzle exit. It allows for highly effective extraction into vacuum heavy ion beams, produced in two-steps laser resonance ionization in the argon supersonic jet. We explored the operation of this new full version of the double-nozzle technique through detailed gas dynamic and then Monte Carlo trajectory simulations, which results are presented and discussed. In particularly, we have shown by calculations that more than 80% of all nobelium-254 neutral atoms, extracted by argon flow from the gas stopping cell through the double-nozzle into the supersonic jet can be extracted into vacuum in a form of pulsed ion beam having low transverse and longitudinal emittance.s dynamic and Monte Carlo simulations

The objective of this was to evaluate the effects of organic fertilization on biomass production in Urochloa spp. pastures, and the soil biological and physical properties in the Colombian Amazon region. Three pastures crops (Urochloa decumbens, Urochloa humidicola and Urochloa brizantha) with 5 years old were examined in a hill landscape. A randomized complete blocks design covering an area of 5005 m2, with 1 m separation between units to minimize edge effects. Highly significant differences in Urochloa spp. biomass production were observed before and after organic fertilization (i.e., initial time: 992.19±97.66 kg DM ha-1 vs. final time: 1920.94±155.44 kg DM ha-1 vs.), but not between different fertilization treatments. The interaction between the treatment and time was significant for total density (p=0.0300) and richness (p=0.0300) of soil macrofauna. Furthermore, the interaction between treatment and soil depth was significant for bulk density (p=0.0187). The linear mixed effects analysis showed that soil bulk density and penetration resistance were lower in 0 - 10 cm depth than that observed in 10 - 20 depth and 20 - 30 cm depth. Overall, the application of organic fertilizers had a significant and positive effect on Urochloa spp. forage biomass and on the physical and biological properties of soils that had historically been affected by extensive livestock farming in a deforested hill landscape in the Colombian Amazon region.

The effect of the addition of fenugreek seed powder and Moringa oleifera leaf meal on the production performance and egg quality of Lohmann Brown laying hens was investigated. A total of 108 Lohmann-Brown layers, 48 weeks of age, were used and randomly assigned to six experimental groups of three replicates each in a randomized design. A control diet was supplemented with 3.6 g/hen/day of Moringa oleifera leaf meal and fenugreek seed powder alone or in various proportions as follows: control diet (T1), 100% Moringa oleifera leaf meal (T2), 25% fenugreek seed powder and 75% moringa oleifera leaf meal (T3), 50% fenugreek seed powder and 50% moringa oleifera leaf meal (T4), 75% fenugreek seed powder and 25% moringa oleifera leaf meal (T5) and 100% fenugreek seed powder (T6) were added on top of the control diet. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA by the general linear model method, using Tukey's multiple range tests to differentiate means. According to the results, fenugreek and moringa had a crude protein content of 25.17 and 27.8%, respectively. The groups administered T4 had significantly higher mean feed intake (120.75), feed conversion rate (2.315), egg production (77.22), and egg mass (52.08) than the others. Treatment 4 had a significant (P&lt;0.05) improvement in some egg quality traits such as shell weight, shell firmness, albumen weight, yolk weight, yolk color, and Haugh unit compared to the control. In summary, Treatment 4, a mixture of equal parts fenugreek seed powder and Moringa oleifera leaf meal, improved egg production performance and egg quality.

Currently, the Israeli energy industry faces the challenge of a considerable increase in solar electricity production. Being a relatively isolated system, the significant expansion of solar electricity may cause problems with electricity quality. The electrical storage installation can resolve this problem. In Israel's situation, the optimal solution can be the creation of a channel between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. The channel can solve three closely related problems: the increased production of desalinated water for domestic, industrial, and agricultural needs; the prevention of a permanent Dead Sea level decline and its imminent disappearance; the development of hydro-pumping electrical storage stations; and the creation of numerous PV facilities in the Negev area for national electricity generation. However, a detailed analysis should be done for the estimation of the possible increase of solar electric generation with the consideration of a stochastic PV outcome and a potential ability to use the Dead Sea for the brine discharge from electrical hydro-storage plants.

Two Iron Age settlements, Tuzusai and Taldy Bulak 2 (ca. 500 BCE to 1 CE), located in Southeastern Kazakhstan on the Talgar alluvial fan north of the Tian Shan range, have yielded a small collection of bone, antler/horn, bronze, and stone artifacts with affinity to nomadic art of the first millennium BCE. Both settlements date within the period of late Saka culture. Two pieces have decorative ornamentations with zoomorphic imagery: a small carved fragment of a with carved images of a wing and an ear and a perforated bone disk with the carving of three birds’ heads. The other artifacts include objects associated with Saka weaponry or nomadic economy such as the two antler/horn psalia (cheek pieces) and a bronze amulet. A carnelian bead will also be described as an imported object. These special finds are found on the occupation floors of mud brick houses and pit houses of settlements, not in grave or burial contexts. The objects are placed in stratigraphic sequence in the settlement sites. Then the method for placing these objects within the chronological framework of “animal-style art” is through comparisons with similar objects found throughout Eurasia—a method used in Soviet and Post-Soviet archaeology. The results show that functional and stylistic elements of the six objects indicate that the Talgar settlements were part of a larger world-system of trade and communication along the early Silk Route(s).

Food security relies mainly on a few major crop such as wheat, maize, rice and yam. Many of the cultivated plant such as Cyperus exculentus are still considered invasive plants and are neglected and underutilized. In the perspective to valorization of the species, this systematic review aimed at identifying the biology, production constraints and uses of tigernut for future research directions. Extensive searches were carried out and studies were screened and extracted using established systematic review methods. A total of 175 papers met the inclusion criteria. Approximately 52% and 21.71% of the studies were undertaken in Europe and Africa respectively. Most of the papers reviewed for the study were published between [2010-2015[. The review highlighted the critical research gaps in genetic diversity using SSR makers and evolutionary biology. Further, production constraints and solution approaches for the promotion of the species were the other gaps identified in the reviewed studies. Production constraints were specifically related to the insufficient mineral fertilizers and difficult in harvesting. Tigernut is used in more fields such as food, medicinal, cosmetic, biofuel and fishing and fish breeding. Such investigations would help in decision-making and elaboration of breeding strategies, and advancing steps towards sustainable use of the species.

This study had the objective to evaluate the effect of Piper betle L. powder (PP) at 5 different doses in substrate incubated by sunflower oil as secondary function of PUFA using in vitro gas production technique. The treatments of this study were run as a 2X5 factorial arrangement in a completely randomised design using the PROC GLM procedure of SAS 9.4: (1) control (S1) without supplementation of PP; (2) 15 mg PP (S2); (3) 30 mg PP (S3); (4) 45 mg PP (S4); and (5) 60 mg PP (S5), while sunflower oil was supplemented in all treatments: low 15 mg/incubation and high 30 mg/incubation. A 500 mg of TMR (hay: concentrate, 50:50) was assigned to basal substrate. The PP containing 1.84 mg/g DM quercetin and 1.00 mg/g DM eugenol altered rumen fermentation without change pH (p < 0.001) and methane production was lesser (p < 0.001) about -30% and -25% for DM and OM measurement, respectively. Gas kinetic, degradability, and ammonia level was significantly affected by supplementing PP (p < 0.01). Overall, this study suggested quercetin and eugenol deriving from PP acted three major accelerations: assembled carbon dioxide, behaved antimicrobial role and performed the balance water molecules in the rumen kinetic. This study suggests that PP promotes changing in vitro rumen fermentation and diminishing methane production within recommended doses, 0.1-15 mg/incubation in DM.

Abstract Sodium glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors are a new class of drugs acting on cardiovascular system, renal and metabolism in a multiple way. Indeed, even their principal action is on the transporter of sodium and glucose in the convoluted distal tubule, they have multiple actions as antifibrotic and endothelial protective action. Their principal mechanism consist in the loss of sodium and glucose. Therefore, they have effect on blood pressure and glucose metabolism. In a first period their use has been in the diabetic general population, later on some studies documented their activity in non-diabetic general population, in heart failure in chronic kidney disease. Only in recent years several small studies documented their efficacy in diabetic and non-diabetic kidney transplant patients, larger studies are few and very recent and open new ways for these drugs

This study analyzed the anaerobic co-digestion of Inoculum (I), Rubber Plant Effluent (RPE) and Gliricidia leaves (GLS) at different mixing ratios for the simultaneous production of methane and organic fertilizer. The results were analyzed for volatile fatty acids, pH, C/N ratio, and methane production. The organic quality of the substrate mixture before and after anaerobic digestion was analyzed for organic carbon, Kjeldahl nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus content. The study concluded that the inoculum, Rubber Plant Effluent (RPE), and Gliricidia leaves (GLS) mixed in the ratio of 10:2:2 showed higher methane production than other experiments conducted at different mixing ratios. The nitrogen, Potassium and phosphorus content of the substrates are increased after anaerobic digestion. However, the organic carbon content in the substrate decreased in all experiments. This research recommends the planting of rubber trees and Gliricidia maculata to promote economic development in Mauritania. Keywords: Biogas production; Gliricidia leaves; Methane; Rubber Plant Effluent; Organic Manure

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began in Jan. 2020 in Wuhan, China with a new coronavirus designated SARS-CoV-2. The principle cause of death from COVID-19 disease quickly emerged as Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). A key ARDS pathogenic mechanism is the “Cytokine Storm”. This is a dramatic increase in the blood of inflammatory cytokines. In the last 2 years of the pandemic new pathology has emerged in COVID-19 survivors in which a variety of long-term symptoms emerge. This condition is called “Long COVID”. The spike protein on the surface of the virus (target for the new mRNA/DNA vaccines) is composed of joined S1-S2 subunits. Upon S1 bind-ing to the human ACE2 receptor on cells, the S1 subunit is cleaved and the S2 subunit me-diates entry of the virus. The S1 protein is then released into the blood, which might be one of the pivotal triggers for initiation and/or perpetuation of the cytokine storm. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the spike S1 protein may activate inflammatory sig-naling and cytokine production independent of the virus. Our data support a potential role for spike S1 activation of inflammatory signaling and cytokine production in human lung and intestinal epithelial cells in culture. These data support a potential role for the SARS-CoV-2 spike S1 protein in COVID-19 pathogenesis.

The objective was to analyze the effects of adding anthocyanin delphinidin-3-O-sambubioside and cyanidin-3-O-sambubioside of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. in animal diets. Scientific articles published before 2021 in clinics, pharmacology, nutrition, and animal production were included. The grains/concentrate, metabolic exigency, and caloric stress contribute to increasing the reactive oxygen species (ROS); the excess of ROS unbalance the oxidants and antioxidants. Cyanidin-3-O-sambubioside and delphinidin-3-O-sambubioside have antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, and anthelmintic activities. In the rumen, anthocyanin might show interactions and/or synergisms with substrates, microorganisms, and enzymes which could reduce the fiber degradability, but increase the potential methane (CH4) emissions; since anthocyanin interferes in the biohydrogenation of fats, they increase the fat milk and meat quality. Anthocyanins reduce plasma oxidation and deposit in tissues, increasing the milk and meat antioxidant activities. Cyanidin-3-O-sambubioside and delphinidin-3-O-sambubioside act as inhibitors of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACEi) and rennin expression which may improve milk yield (there is not enough evidence in ruminants, though). Polyphenols affect the reproductive potential. Sub products of HS contain as many amounts of polyphenols as calyces, and their inclusion in diets would positively affect the average daily gain and fat meat quality. Including HS in ruminant diets can improve the meat and milk quality.

Purpose: The study investigates soil pores' impact on carbon dynamics and sequestration processes, examining their physical and chemical characteristics and their mechanisms for carbon sequestration.Research Method: Existing literature and research on soil pores, carbon dynamics, and carbon sequestration are analyzed. The interrelationships between soil pore structure, water movement, microbial activity, root penetration, carbon input, soil aggregation, and gas exchange are examined. Traditional techniques and advanced imaging methods are used to quantify and characterize soil pores.Findings: Soil pores play a critical role in facilitating carbon sequestration through various mechanisms. They affect water movement, microbial activity, root penetration, carbon input, soil aggregation, and gas exchange. Understanding these relationships is crucial for sustainable soil management.Research Limitations: This study relies on existing literature and research, which may have limitations and uncertainties. Further research is needed to address these gaps and enhance understanding.Originality Value: This research enhances the existing knowledge by comprehensively examining the significance of soil pores in carbon dynamics and sequestration. It incorporates both traditional and advanced methods, providing insights for soil management and contributing to climate change mitigation efforts.

The paper focuses on the application of a multilevel, integrative and territorial approach to the protection of cultural heritage through planning instruments in Serbia. It points out the problems of the sectoral approach and discusses international recommendations that can be integrated into the planning methodology. The case study is the area of Djerdap National Park, which has an already established international and national importance. The research suggests that the cultural heritage in the area, with the exception of the Roman limes, is still recognized at the level of individual localities. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning all levels of governance to safeguard the whole spatial entity rather than focusing solely on its particular areas. The interna-tional and national importance of the planning area contributes to the strengthening of awareness of heritage and its institutional protection. However, the vitality of the area, which is key to its sustainable development, comes from the local level. Planning documents contribute to the inte-gration of local values and local communities into development programs and projects.

Involving industrial waste into economic circulation, in particular flotation waste from coal enrichment, is an urgent task. The coal preparation waste of ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC was studied with a view to the possibility of using it as an alternative substitute for coke breeze in the sintering process. During a thermoanalytical study on a synchronous thermal analyzer STA 449 NETZSCH in dynamic mode with a heating rate of 10, 20, 30 °C/min in an air flow of 30 cm³/min in the temperature range 30–1000 °C, we determined the lower heat of combustion of carbon-containing material, change mass during calcination, change and rate of change in the mass of the sample, thermal effect of the process, the temperature of the beginning, end and maximum development of thermal effects. It has been established that the greatest mass loss is observed in the temperature range 580 °C- 610 °C, which is about 65–67% of the total mass of the organic component of coal. The maximum burnout rate corresponds to a temperature of 540–563 °C. The lowest calorific value of the studied waste was 15.9 MJ/kg. The results of thermal analytical research and technical analysis substantiate the possibility of using flotation waste in a mixture of up to 10% with coke breeze for combustion in the sintering layer for the production of sinter. Analysis of the composition of flotation waste showed that they have a high specific surface area (56.8∙10³ m²/kg), are highly dispersible, soggy, and capable of swelling, and the predominant amount of clay substance makes them a plastic material. The possibilities of using coal flotation waste as an alternative substitute for coke breeze have been studied after the regimes of its preparation for sintering have been developed and a rational regime of layer-by-layer combustion in the sintering layer has been established. The optimal ratio of coke and OPC in the fuel mixture of the sintering charge was determined.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are natural polyesters consisting of various chains of hydroxyalkanoates (HAs) produced by microorganisms; this polyestres has attention due environmentally friendly compounds from renewable sources as a substitute to conventional petroleum-based plastics. The objective of this study consisted in evaluating the Genotypic characterization and production of polimer of a halobacterium isolated from hypersaline ponds located at Las Coloradas (Yucatan, Mexico). Characterization of polymer produced by this strain was also performed. We concluded that, the analyzes obtained from this work demonstrated that the JCCOL25.2 strain has a 99% similarity with Halomonas gomseomensis, and is capable of using different carbon sources to synthesize PHAs. The physicochemical analyzes allowed the identification of the biopolymer produced and classifying it as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), because the characteristics of this biopolymer have been reported for similar polymers. PHB has various applications in the pharmaceutical, medical, food and agronomy areas. Likewise, PHB has interesting properties for use in food packaging, due to its characteristics such as biodegradability, optical activity and good barrier properties. Finally, the significance and impact of our study, there is only one study published on the biosynthesis of PHA’s by H. gomseomensis strains, although the characterization of the obtained polymer was not report.

Missouri Ozark woodlands are a unique but imperiled ecosystem type because of fragmentation, lack of proper management and a changing climate. Management, restoration and conservation of Ozark woodlands is a conservation priority. The ecosystem services provided by Ozark woodlands include carbon and nutrient sequestration via primary productivity. We have assessed over- and mid-story leaf production, collecting leaves in baskets every fall, in a 1,200ha conservation area in SW Missouri since 2000. Leaf production data from 2000 to 2020 was compared among sites; control, burned (periodically burned) and reference (continuously burned). Average oak leaf production was high in the burned while the other leaf production was high in control. Sapling density of oak was found high in the burned site compared to the other sites. We applied the regression among productivity, temperature, and precipitation. Reference site showed a statistical significance with the precipitation but not with the temperature. While other sites did not show any statistical significance with the precipitation. No statistically significance difference in effect was observed between the productivity and temperature on any sites. March-June, March-May and June-August precipitation showed a statistically significant difference with the productivity while the other average precipitation and temperature showed no statistical significance.

Chromosome elimination resulting in haploids is achieved by rapid loss of chromosomes from one parent during zygote stage, and is an important procedure to produce doubled haploid (DH) lines in plants. During crosses between an emasculated wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and a maize (Zea mays L.) as pollen donor, the complete loss of maize chromosomes results in wheat haploid embryos. Through embryo rescue and chromosome doubling process, pure lines with stable traits can be quickly obtained. We here term it as the maize-obligated wheat doubled haploids (mowDH). Although this technology is not new, it remains a practical approach to date. In order to optimize and improve this technology, and to achieve its maximum potential in the winter wheat area of China, this paper reviews the previous and on-going research, proposes a technical scheme for production of wheat DH lines via the maize pollen induction, and presents outlooks on DH research and its application in wheat breeding.

The study analyzed Ecuador's presence in the Web of Science (WoS) post-pandemic from a multivariate dynamic, highlighting a significant transformation in scientific communication towards open access (OA). The methodology integrated multivariate statistical techniques, using R and specialized tools, to process 9,085 relevant articles, 52% of the Ecuadorian publications in WoS between 2019 and 2021 were open access. This movement reflects a commitment to quality research and accessibility, showing an increase in publications and citations under OA. The research underscores the importance of establishing robust national OA policies in Ecuador to promote scientific collaboration and an equitable distribution of knowledge. Despite funding challenges and the lack of specific regulations, educational institutions in Ecuador have maintained a constant scientific output, adapting to the global environment and the demand for transparent information. The study concludes that there is an urgent need for a holistic approach to OA in the country, recognizing the progress made despite the difficulties.

The energy-intensive sector of the cement industry needs to find technologically advanced methods to produce cement with as little energy as possible, without polluting the environment and without sacrificing the quality (fineness) of the cement. In addition, the stress on the machines changes the behavior of the data. By combining the k-means method, two (2) feature selection methods, nine (9) machine learning methods, and the differential evolution (DE) method, a dynamic system is created where the user determines the key performance indicators (KPIs) each time. The user has the potential to control the distribution of the data, the input of machine learning models, and the ability to switch the system to the suggested values without damage. The selection of the best-performing models is based on the normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE). The DE method optimizes the dynamic objective function. The optimal values of the manipulated variables are evaluated compared to the value of the objective function from the actual values of the variables. In all experiments, the recommendations are acceptable. The final results show an improvement in the operation of both the cement mill and kiln compared to the current operating condition.

The article discusses the main technologies for processing titanium-containing raw materials, and the advantages and disadvantages of various technological solutions. The analysis of the literature review showed that the traditional schemes for the production of titanium products are mainly focused on the use of ilmenite concentrates. In connection with the depletion of ilmenite deposits, in the near future there will inevitably be a need to switch to the use of complex ores - titanomagnetites. The obtaining of titanium dioxide from titanomagnetite raw materials with a high content of impurity components requires an individual approach for each specific deposit. It is proposed to consider the possibilities of further improvement of the development of a technological process for low-temperature (1000-1200 oC) processing of titanomagnetite concentrates with the production of pure titanium dioxide.

Curdlan is a water-insoluble polymer that has structure and gelling properties useful in a wide variety of applications such as in medicine, cosmetics, packaging and the food and building industries. The capacity to produce curdlan has been detected in certain soil-dwelling bacteria of various phyla, although the role of curdlan in their survival remains unclear. One of the major limitations of the extensive use of curdlan in industry is the high cost of production during fermentation, partly because production involves specific nutritional requirements such as nitrogen limitation. Engineering of the industrially relevant curdlan-producing strain Agrobacterium sp. ATTC31749 is a promising approach that could decrease the cost of production. Here, during investigations on curdlan production, I found that curdlan was deposited as a capsule. Curiously, only a part of the bacterial population produced a curdlan capsule. This heterogeneous distribution appeared to be due to the activity of Pcrd, the native promoter responsible for the expression of the crdASC biosynthetic gene cluster. To improve curdlan production, Pcrd was replaced by a promoter (PphaP) from another Alphaproteobacterium, Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Compared to Pcrd, PphaP was stronger and only mildly affected by nitrogen levels. Consequently, PphaP dramatically boosted crdASC gene expression and curdlan production. Importantly, the genetic modification overrode the strict nitrogen depletion regulation that presents a hindrance for maximal curdlan production and from nitrogen rich, complex media, demonstrating excellent commercial potential for achieving high yields using cheap substrates under relaxed fermentation conditions.

The Cantareira Water Producer System (CWPS), which supplies water to the most populous Brazilian region, Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (MRSP), faces significant challenges due to climate change, threatening its water security. Climate change affects the hydrological cycle affecting water availability. The CWPS is vulnerable to periods of scarcity and instability due to increased climatic variability and increasing water consumption. Current water resource management systems do not consider the impacts of climate change, making it difficult to ensure water security in the future. This study analyzes the impact of climate change on the availability of CWPS using hydrological modeling approach with forecast precipitation data by CMIP6 and assessment of existing systems. The finds will provide a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by CWPS in the context of climate change, as well as support strategies and adaptive measures to ensure water security for MRSP.

This systematic literature review explores the burgeoning use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in manufacturing systems, in line with the principles of Industry 4.0 and the growth of smart factories. In this landscape, AI is crucial in addressing the complexity and dynamism of contemporary manufacturing processes, including machine breakdowns, fluctuating orders and unpredictable job arrivals. This systematic literature review, conducted using the Scopus database and bibliometric tools, pursues two primary objectives. First, it identifies the prevailing trends in solving scheduling problems with AI and identifies the most commonly used AI techniques in the literature. Secondly, it analyses how authors have successfully employed AI to address production scheduling challenges in real-world industrial settings and assesses the benefits obtained by companies. The dynamic nature of manufacturing systems requires adaptive scheduling paradigms. AI, including Particle Swarm Optimization, Neural Networks, and Reinforcement Learning, is applied to optimize production processes, predict machine failures, and achieve substantial benefits. In real-world applications, these AI-driven solutions have led to reduced production costs, enhanced energy efficiency, and more efficient scheduling processes. AI is increasingly recognized as an essential tool in addressing the evolving challenges of modern manufacturing environments.

In this paper we study a bilinear optimal control problem related to a 2D parabolic-elliptic chemo-repulsion system consider a nonlinear chemical signal production term. We prove the existence of global optimal solutions with bilinear control, and applying a result on the existence of Lagrange multipliers in Banach spaces, we derive an optimality system for a local optimal solution.

The sustainability of agroecological systems, biodiversity protection, animal welfare and consumer demand for higher-quality products from alternative and extensive farming methods, have reinforced interest in local breeds that are well adapted to low-input environments. However, food safety needs to be safeguarded to reinforce consumer confidence. The aim of this study was to conduct a preliminary investigation on the occurrence of Salmonella spp. in eggshells, hen’s cloaca and litter materials from autochthonous Portuguese laying hens raised in a semi-extensive system for small-scale production. A total of 279 samples were obtained, with 63 samples from the “Preta Lusitânica” breed, and 72 samples each from the remaining autochthonous breeds, namely “Branca”, “Amarela” and “Pedrês Portuguesa”. None (0%) of the samples analyzed were positive for Salmonella spp.. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first results of Salmonella evaluation from hen’s cloaca, eggshells, and litter materials in autochthonous Portuguese chickens, suggesting that a semi-extensive production system can contribute to better food security and a lower risk to public health and the environment.

Accurate prediction of crop production is essential in effectively managing agricultural countries' food security and economic resilience. This study evaluates the performance of statistical and machine learning-based methods for large-scale crop production forecasting. We predict the quarterly production of 325 crops (including fruits, vegetables, cereals, non-food, and industrial crops) across 83 provinces in the Philippines. Using a comprehensive dataset of 10,949 time series over 13 years, we demonstrate that a global forecasting approach using a state-of-the-art deep learning architecture, the transformer, significantly outperforms traditional local forecasting approaches built on statistical and baseline methods. By leveraging cross-series information, our proposed way is scalable and works well even with time series that are short, sparse, intermittent, or exhibit structural breaks/regime shifts. The results of this study further advance the field of applied forecasting in agricultural production and provide a practical and effective decision-support tool for policymakers that oversee the farm sector on a national scale.

The decentralized treatment of wastes is studied for an urban scenario considering a high-density population of 2500 inhab./km2. Food and garden waste were assumed to be treated in a co-digestion configuration using several mid-size digesters. In contrast biogas and digestate valorization were carried out in a centralized manner. Electricity and thermal energy were produced from this configuration, accounting for 1.3% of residential electricity demand and 3.2% of thermal demand when using double-turbocharged engines. However, the location of the treatment plants is a factor that may raise social discomfort. Rejection of locating the plant in specific sites close to residential neighbors, nuisance due to possible odor and gaseous emissions, and house market distortions are just a few of a long list of problematic aspects that may threaten the decentralized alternative. These factors are of great relevance and must be given a practical solution if the circular economic model is to be implemented by considering the insertion of waste streams into the production system and generating local energy sources and raw materials.

In this paper, the characterization of 3D printed materials that are considered in the design of multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for specialised purposes was carried out. The multirotor UAV system is briefly described, primarily from the aspect of system dynamics, considering that the airframe parts connect the UAV components, including the propulsion configuration, into a functional assembly. Three additive manufacturing (AM) technologies were discussed, and a brief overview was given of selective laser sintering (SLS), fused deposition modeling (FDM), and continuous fiber fabrication (CFF). Using hardware and related software, 12 series of specimens were produced which were experimentally tested utilizing a quasi-static uniaxial tensile test. The results of the experimental tests are given graphically with displacement-force characteristics. In this work, the focus is on CFF technology and the testing of materials that will be used in the production of mechanically loaded airframe parts of multirotor UAVs. Furthermore, an overview was given in such a way that the specimens were grouped, and the mean values of the maximum stress were presented, so that the tested materials could be more easily compared with conventional materials, such as aluminum alloys.

A numerical method using combined detached-eddy simulation (DES) and cavitation model considering the rotation effect is used for unsteady cavitation flow field of the centrifugal pump. Closed type pump test system was established to obtain the pump performance and pressure pulsation characteristics under different flow rates and cavitation condition, which provide boundary conditions and verification of calculations. Based on the calculation results of the unsteady flow field of the centrifugal pump cavitation, the entropy generation analysis of the flow field and the pressure fluctuation characteristics were carried out. Then the relationship between cavitation and the deterioration of the centrifugal pump performance and the generation of the unstable operation excitation force was tried to reveal. The internal energy loss is mainly concentrated in the impeller, volute, and pump cavity area, which accounts for more than 85% of the total entropy generation. The characteristic frequency of about 0.333 Strouhal Number appears at the volute tongue due to the cavitation flow spread downstream.

Raw rubber production is the sole foundation for the rubber product industry, rendering raw rubber to manufacture essential commodities to mankind such as tires, condoms, surgical gloves, and so forth. Raw rubber production involves various stakeholders; however, literature focusing on the social impacts of raw rubber production and its supply chain has hereto been limited. Social life cycle assessment, a popular tool to assess the social impacts of a product or process and was deployed herein to assess the social profiles of three Sri Lankan raw rubber supply chains (crepe rubber, concentrated latex, and ribbed smoked sheets). The Social Hotspots Database v4 on Sima Pro v9.3 was used for the analysis. Results indicated that Governance and Labour rights & decent work had been affected in its supply chain of fertilizers due to Corruption and Freedom of association & collective bargaining issues, mainly in Belarus, and China. Proposed improvement options to address these touchpoints were found to be effective. For instance, if the importation of K-fertilizer shifted into low risk countries, overall social risks associated with Corruption and Freedom of association & collective bargaining in the supply chains could be reduced by ca. 36% and 25%, respectively. As a result, social risks in the aforesaid impact categories, i.e., Governance and Labor rights & decent work, were reduced by ca. 35-41% and ca. 17-20%, respectively. Such improvements may help positioning the Sri Lankan rubber industry in the sustainability-conscious-world rubber market. Further, the methodical hierarchy developed herein is suggested to adopt in any industry to measure social sustainability subjected to the relevant refinements to the supply chains.

Remanufacturing is a way for product recovery initiative and maintaining sufficient production flow to satisfy customer demand through circular economy. Recently, manufacturers have been progressively incorporating remanufacturing processes, making their supply chain vulnerable to disruptions. Among the disruptions that usually occur is the shortage in spare parts supply, which causes unexpected delay in production and possible loss of sales. In the face of potential disruption, it is essential for remanufacturing facilities to manage their supply chains in an optimum manner as to decrease the adverse impact of disruptions to their business. In this study, a two-stage production-inventory system is analysed by developing a cost-minimisation model focusing on the recovery schedule after a disruption occurrence in sourcing spare parts for a remanufacturer’s production cycle. The developed model was solved using the branch and bound algorithm. Through numerical experiments, the results indicate that the optimal recovery schedule and the number of recovery cycles are significantly dependant on disruption time, lost sales and backorder costs. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis shows that the lost sales option seems to be more effective than the backorder option in optimising the system’s overall cost. The proposed model could assist managers in deciding the optimal production strategy while providing interesting managerial insights into vital spare parts recovery issues when disruption strikes.

At the LHC, the process of a Higgs boson decaying into bottom or charm quarks produced in association with a pair of top quarks, tt¯H, allows for an empirical exploration of the heavy-flavor quark Yukawa couplings to the Higgs boson. Accordingly, the cross sections for the tt¯ + heavy-flavor production without the appearance of the Higgs boson have been measured at the LHC in various phase spaces using data samples collected in pp collisions at s = 7, 8 and 13 TeV with the ATLAS and CMS experiments. Flavor ratios of cross sections of tt¯ + additional jets processes with different flavors are also measured. In this paper, the measured cross sections and ratios are reviewed and the prospects with more data are presented.

Ethiopia has 74.3 million hectares of arable land and an irrigation potential of 3,088,395 hectares. Despite the country's vast irrigation potential, it hasn’t benefited much. A huge percentage of Ethiopia’s population is currently food insecure and a very significant portion lives under the national poverty line. Studies have confirmed the role of irrigation in alleviating poverty and promoting food security. Irrigation plays a huge role in poverty reduction, especially in developing countries like Ethiopia where agriculture is the backbone of the economy and the major source of employment. Irrigation does so by boosting farmer incomes, improving crop productivity, providing more employment and better pay rate, and contributing to the national GDP in the long run. Irrigation also promotes food security by contributing to all the dimensions including, food availability, access to food, food utilization, and stability. Given such importance of irrigation in poverty and hunger alleviation, it’s believed that the development of the sector massively contributes to the realization of sustainable development goals (SDG). Hence, this article voices the need for exploiting the huge irrigation potential and improving the irrigation sector, in order for the country to pull its population out of the misery of hunger and poverty.

Rare diseases are characterized by a wide diversity of signs and symptoms and vary not only from disease to disease, but also from person to person, and living with a disease leads patients to peculiar experiences and treatments, without limits of time and space, as they extend to various environments and relationships of their lives. The objective of this study is the theoretical interaction between Value Co-creation (VC) and the Stakeholder Theory (ST) with the Shared Decision Making (SDM) health care theory. It is configured as a multiparadigmatic proposal by enabling the analysis of multiple perspectives of different stakeholders in health care. Thus, Co-created Decision Making (CDM) emerges in a logic dominated by service, with emphasis on intangible aspects and the interactivity of the relationships. It goes beyond the clinical office and the doctor-patient relationships, as studied in SDM, extending to all environments and interactions that add value to the patient's treatment. It was concluded that the essence of this new theory proposed here is neither in patient-centered care nor in patient self-care, but in co-created relationships with and between stakeholders in both directions, including non-health care environments that are important to the patient, such as relationships with friends, family, other patients with the same disease, social media, public policies, and the practice of pleasurable activities.

Background: Some viruses cause outbreaks which require immediate attention. Neutralizing antibodies could be developed for viral outbreak management. However, development of monoclonal antibodies is often long, laborious, and unprofitable. Here we report a Norwegian platform for development of chicken polyclonal neutralizing antibodies with powerful therapeutic potential. Methods: Layers were immunized twice with 14-day interval using purified RBD of SARS-CoV-2. Eggs were harvested 14 days after the second immunization. Polyclonal IgY antibodies were extracted. Binding of anti-RBD IgY to RBD was measured by indirect ELISA. Neutralization capacity of anti-RBD IgYs was measured in Vero-E6 cells infected with SARS-CoV-2-mCherry strain using fluorescence and cell viability assay. In addition, the effect of IgYs on the expression of SARS-CoV-2 and host cytokine genes in lungs of Syrian Golden hamsters was examined using qRT-PCR. Results: Anti-RBD IgYs efficiently bind RBD of S protein of SARS-CoV-2 in situ, neutralize the virus in vitro, and lower viral RNA amplification without significant alteration of virus-mediated immune gene expression in vivo. Conclusions: Altogether, our results indicated that chicken polyclonal IgYs can be attractive targets for pre-clinical and clinical development for rapid management of outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging viruses.

As recommended in the ICH Guidelines (S5-R2 and S6-R1), and based on bioethical concerns, we chose bovine embryos (BE) to check the in vitro embryo development considering the use of different amounts of rHGAL-1 as supplementations of in vitro embryo culture (IVP) mediums. Based on procedures for commercial BE in vitro production, using oocytes aspirated from slaughterhouse ovaries, the rHGAL-1 supplementation performed in two experiments (#01 on the oocyte maturation - IVM medium supplemented and experiment #2 on culture step IVC, supplemented SOF medium). There were IVP commercial procedures done, with 3 IVP batches per experiment and distributed the oocytes in four groups of treatment (one control group and three different dosages of rHGAL-1 to supplement both IVM and SOF mediums, using (2, 20 and 40µg.mL-1 respectively). A total of 962 (experiment 1) and 1,213 (experiment 2) oocytes were aspirated and submitted to IVP procedure. There was no damage to in vitro bovine embryos growth, considering cleavage percentage (%CLE), blastocysts development on day 7 (BlD7, BxD7, BhD7), or hatching blastocysts maturation on day 8 (BhD8%), regardless of rHGAL-1 supplementation. The immunohistochemistry assay with D8 embryos cultivated with rHGAL-1 supplementation on the culture medium (SOF medium) could demonstrate the presence of exogenous GAL-1, distributed in mass cell and trophoblastic cells, and the profile observed is dependent of exogenous supplementation and it was more evident in hatched embryos. The findings reassure the use of a reasonable amount of rHGAL-1 for in vitro embryonic development and make using rHGAL-1 in assisted reproduction in humans more reliable and safer.

CONTEXT– Energy is widely involved in human activity and corresponding emissions of SOX, NOX and CO2 from energy generation processes affect global climate change. Clean fuels are desired by society because of their reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrogen is once such candidate fuel. Much hydrogen is produced from fossil fuel, with biomass being an alternative process. OBJECTIVE– The project compared the environmental impact of hydrogen production by natural gas steam reforming vs. biomass gasification. METHOD–Environmental impact was calculated from the input and output data from life cycle inventory analysis. The impact assessment was focused on greenhouse gas emission, acidification, and eutrophication. Models of the two processes were developed and analysed in OpenLCA. The agribalyse database was used to connect inventory flow data to environmental impacts. FINDINGS– For all three metrics, biomass gasification had lower impacts than natural gas steam reforming, sometimes by large margins. For biomass gasification the silica sand production contributes most to all three impact categories, whereas for natural gas steam reforming it is the LPG extraction.

This article presents the integration of lean 6S methodologies and hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) in the food production sector. Through the study, it is seen that non-food industrial production is not very different from that of food and, in many cases, it assimilates protocols and ideas that are already working in the food industry; Such is the case of risk analysis, critical control points or hygiene, which are part of the food production protocol and, increasingly, of the industry in general. After the integrative analysis, the article proposes a common lean 6S - HACCP model, which can be used both in food production and in non-food industrial production.

Oil palm is one of the most important crops in Malaysia. Lately, the production of oil palm has been reduced due to a variety of factors, including the weather and climate. Temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, sunshine, and rainfall distribution all have an impact on palm tree growth and development, which in turn has an impact on oil palm production. This paper aims to investigate the effects of some weather elements (temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, sunshine, and rainfall) on oil palm production in Peninsular Malaysia. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 20.0 version), with descriptive statistics, and multiple linear regression (MLR). The MLR model determined the strength of the relationship between oil palm yield (dependent variable) and the changing variables of temperature, sunshine, wind speed, relative humidity, and rainfall (independent variables). The findings revealed that temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, sunshine, and rainfall have a low impact on oil palm production and yield turnover. The R2 value of 0.202 shows that the independent variables explained only 20.2% of the fluctuation in palm oil production. The study recommends working within an integrated approach involving scientific research, planting, improving variety, improving regional academic leadership, and engaging private and public stakeholders, emphasized collaborative efforts with researchers in consumer countries, and strengthening the capacity of growers to best agroecological practices.

The production of lithium-ion battery cells is characterized by a high degree of complexit due to numerous cause-effect relationships between process characteristics. Knowledge about the multi-stage production is spread among several experts, rendering tasks such as failure analysis challenging. In this paper, a method is presented, which includes expert knowledge acquisition in production ramp-up by combining Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) with a Bayesian Network. We show the effectiveness of this holistic method by building up a large scale, cross-process Bayesian Failure Network in lithium-ion battery production. Using this model, we are able to conduct root cause analyses as well as analyses of failure propagation. The former support operators in identifying root causes once a cell possesses a specific failure by calculating most-probable explanations matched to the individual battery cell data. The latter enable us to analyze propagation of failures and deviations in the production chain and thus provide support for placement of quality gates, leading to a significant reduction in scrap rate. Moreover, it gives an insight into which process steps are key drivers for which final product characteristics.

Here we review and describe a set of research priorities to meet present and future challenges posed to farmed animal production that build on progress, successes and resources from the Functional Annotation of ANimal Genomes (FAANG) project.

Over the last decades, microalgal biomass has gained a significant role in the development of different high-end (nutraceuticals, colorants, food supplements, and pharmaceuticals) and low-end products (biodiesel, bioethanol, and biogas) due to rapid growth and high carbon fixing efficiency. Therefore, microalgae are considered a useful and sustainable resource to attain energy security while reducing our current reliance on fossil fuels. From the technologies available for obtaining biofuels using microalgae biomass, thermochemical processes (pyrolysis, HTL, gasification) have proven to be processed with higher viability, because they use all biomass. However, because of the complexity of the biomass (lipids, carbohydrates , and proteins), the obtained biofuels from direct thermochemical conversion have large amounts of heteroatoms (oxygen, nitrogen , and sulfur). As a solution, catalyst-based processes have emerged as a sustainable solution for the increase in biocrude production. This paper's objective is to present a comprehensive review of recent developments on catalyst mediated conversion of algal biomass. Special attention will be given to operating conditions, strains evaluated, and challenges for the optimal yield of algal-based biofuels through pyrolysis and HTL.

Over the last decades, microalgal biomass has gained a significant role in the development of different high-end (nutraceuticals, colorants, food supplements, and pharmaceuticals) and low-end products (biodiesel, bioethanol, and biogas) due to rapid growth and high carbon fixing efficiency. Therefore, microalgae are considered a useful and sustainable resource to attain energy security while reducing our current reliance on fossil fuels. From the technologies available for obtaining biofuels using microalgae biomass, thermochemical processes (pyrolysis, HTL, gasification) have proven to be processed with higher viability, because they use all biomass. However, the biocrudes obtained from direct thermochemical conversion have substantial quantities of heteroatoms (oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur) due to the complexity of the biomass's content of chemical components (lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins). As a solution, catalyst-based processes have emerged as a sustainable solution for the increase in biocrude production. This paper's objective is to present a comprehensive review of recent developments on catalyst mediated conversion of algal biomass. Special attention will be given to operating conditions, strains evaluated, and challenges for the optimal yield of algal-based biofuels through pyrolysis and HTL.

A new covered yarn system is proposed in this manuscript by controlling the tension of the spandex elastic yarn drawing.. By analyzing the relationship between the draw ratio and yarn tension, it has been verified that the new tension controlled drawing system is feasible and results in yarns with superior quality and process stability.

Mammals have two insulin-like growth factors (IGF) that are key mediators of somatic growth, of tissue differentiation and cellular responses to stress. Thus, the mechanisms that regulate the bioavailability of IGFs are important in both normal and aberrant development. IGF-I levels are primarily controlled via the growth hormone-IGF axis, in response to nutritional status, and also reflect metabolic diseases and cancer. One mechanism that controls IGF bioavailablity is the binding of circulating IGF to a number of binding proteins that keep IGF in a stable, but receptor non-binding state. But even before IGF is released from the cells that produce it, it undergoes an obligatory association with a ubiquitous chaperone protein, GRP94. This binding is required for secretion of a properly folded, mature IGF. This chapter reviews the known aspects of the interaction and highlights the specificity issues yet to be determined. The IGF-GRP94 interaction provides a potential novel mechanism of idiopathic short stature, involving the obligatory chaperone and not just IGF gene expression. It also provides a novel target for cancer treatment, as GRP94 activity can be either inhibited or enhanced.

Yeast extract is widely used in different food industries as a flavoring agent or vitamin supplement. In this study, a process was optimized for the production of yeast extract from Baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). A glass vessel stirred fermenter was used for the cultivation of yeast biomass. The effect of various physical and chemical factors was evaluated on the production of yeast cells and optimum conditions for the production of maximum yeast biomass were determined. The optimum growth was obtained at 30ºC with pH 4.5 using molasses as a substrate supplemented with urea at 150rpm. Yeast cells were then separated by centrifugation and ruptured and autolysis was observed to be the most feasible method. Among various method employed to dry the yeast extract, spray dryer appeared as most efficient one. Yeast extract obtained after drying was subjected to different analyses and compared with commercial yeast extract. The produced yeast extract was applied in media preparation to grow different microorganisms including yeast, bacteria and fungi and considerable growth was observed. These results indicated that the developed process is a cost effective alternate approach for the production of yeast extract.

Solid state fermentation (SSF) is considered more sustainable than traditional fermentation because it uses low amounts of water and transforms agro-industrial residues into value added products. Enzymes, biofuels, nanoparticles and bioactive compounds can be obtained from SSF. The key factor in SSF processes is the choice of microorganisms and their substrates. Many fungal species can be used and are mainly used due their lower requirements of water, O2 and light. Residues rich in soluble and insoluble fiber are utilized by lignocellulolytic fungi because they have the enzymes that break fiber hard structure (lignases, celullases or hemicelullases). During the hydrolysis of lignin, some phenolic compounds are released but fungi also synthetize compounds such as mycophenolic acid, dicerandrol C, phenylacetates, anthraquinones, benzofurans and alkenyl phenols that have health beneficial effects such as antitumoral, antimicrobial, antioxidant and antiviral activities. Another important group of compounds synthetized by fungi during fermentation are polysaccharides that also have important health promoting properties. Fungal biofermentation has also proved to be a process which can release high contents of phenolics and it also increases the bioactivity of these compounds.

Graphite carbon nitride (g-C3N4) supported PtNi alloy nanoparticles (NPs) were fabricated via a facile and simple impregnation and chemical reduction method and explored their catalytic performance towards hydrogen evolution from ammonia borane (AB). Interestingly, the resultant Pt_0.5Ni₀.5/g-C₃N₄ catalyst affords superior performance, including 100% conversion, 100% H₂ selectivity, yielding the extraordinary initial total turnover frequency (TOF) of 250.8 mol_H2 min^-1 (mol_Pt)^-1 for hydrogen evolution from AB at 10 °C, a relatively low activation energy of 38.09 kJ mol⁻¹, and a remarkable reusability (at least 10 times), which surpass most of the noble metal heterogeneous catalysts. This notably improved activity is attributed to the charge interaction between PtNi NPs and g-C₃N₄ support. Especially, the nitrogen-containing functional groups on g-C₃N₄, serving as the anchoring sites for PtNi NPs, may be beneficial for becoming a uniform distribution and decreasing the particle size for the NPs. Our work not only provides a cost-effective route for constructing high-performance catalysts towards the hydrogen evolution of AB but also prompts the utilization of g-C₃N₄ in energy fields.

The production of fatty acids ethyl esters (FAEEs) to be used as biodiesel from oleaginous microalgae shows great opportunities as an attractive source for the production of renewable fuels without competing with human food. To ensure the economic viability and environmental sustainability of the microbial biomass as a raw material, the integration of its production and transformation into the biorefinery concept is required. In the present work, lipids from wet Isochrysis galbana microalga were extracted with ethyl acetate with and without drying the microalgal biomass (dry and wet extraction method, respectively). Then, FAEEs were produced by lipase-catalyzed transesterification and esterification of the extracted lipids with ethanol using lipase B from Candida antarctica (CALB) and Pseudomonas cepacia (PC) lipase supported on SBA-15 mesoporous silica functionalized with amino groups. The conversion to FAEEs with CALB (97 and 85.5 mol% for dry and wet extraction, respectively) and PS (91 and 87 mol%) biocatalysts reached higher values than those obtained with commercial Novozym 435 (75 and 69.5 mol%). Due to the heterogeneous nature of the composition of microalgae lipids, mixtures with different CALB:PC biocatalyst ratio were used to improve conversion of wet-extracted lipids. The results showed that a 25:75 combi-lipase produced a significantly higher conversion to FAEEs (97.2 mol%) than those produced by each biocatalyst independently from wet-extracted lipids and similar ones than those obtained by each lipase from the dry extraction method. Therefore, that optimised combi-lipase biocatalyst, along with achieving the highest conversion to FAEEs, would allow improving viability of a biorefinery since biodiesel production could be performed without the energy-intensive step of biomass drying.

The motivation of this work is to investigate experimentally the influence of non-thermal plasma (NTP) application on the reaction kinetics of atmospheric pressure steam gasification of charcoal using a thermostatically controlled drop tube reactor. A gliding-arc generator provides about 1 kW electrical power NTP. For comparison thermal gasification is investigated under comparable flow and specific energy input conditions providing additional heat to the steam. Optical temperature measurement 20 cm flow down of the NTP zone is utilized to characterize the specific enthalpy of the reactive flow. The composition of produced syngas is measured by a gas analyzer and used for the calculation of gas flow rates. The results show a NTP-enhancement on the production of individual syngas components (H2, CO, CH4), especially on hydrogen production by around 39%. The syngas-based carbon conversion and hydrogen release are calculated from the carbon and hydrogen balance between the correspondent content in syngas and in the feedstock. The NTP promoted the carbon conversion and hydrogen release by 25% and 31%, respectively. The first-order reaction kinetics are determined by data-fitting in an Arrhenius diagram. The plasma enhanced the reaction rate coefficients by 27%. Based on experimental results and other literature, possible plasma-induced reactions are proposed.

Parkia biglobosa (African locust bean) seed was fermented aerobically to produce a vegetable protein based condiment using various temperature differences and ambient temperature. The rate of fermentation was monitored using three (3) different methods namely: weight loss, pH and Carbon dioxide release. Samples were inoculated using Bacillus subtilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae as starter culture. During fermentation, several changes occur in the seeds of the African Locust bean. The difference in the weight loss (initial and final weight of the fermenting samples) were used to monitor the rate of fermentation of the African Locust bean (parkia biglobosa) seeds to vegetable protein called ‘Iru’. Fermentation of this seed to ‘Iru’ is an alkaline fermentation, which was confirmed by this work. As means of monitoring the rate of fermentation, the evolution of CO₂ was also monitored.

There is a growing interest in fibers supporting optoelectrical properties for textile and wearable display applications. Solution-processed electroluminescent (EL) material systems can be continuously deposited onto fiber or yarn substrates in a roll-to-roll process, making it easy to scale manufacturing. It is important to have precise control over layer deposition to achieve uniform and reliable light emission from these EL fibers. Slot-die coating offers this control and increases the rate of EL fiber production. Here, we report a highly adaptable, cost-effective 3D printing model for developing slot dies used in automatic coating systems. The resulting slot-die coating system enables rapid, reliable production of alternating current powder-based EL (ACPEL) fibers and can be adapted for many material systems. The benefits of this system over dip-coating for roll-to-roll production of EL fibers are demonstrated in this work.

In order to shorten the detection time and improve the average precision on embedded devices, A lightweight and high accuracy model is proposed for passion fruit in complex environments (backlight, occlusion, overlap, sunny, cloudy, rainy). Firstly, replacing the backbone network of YOLOv5 with a lightweight GhostNet model reduces the number of parameters and computation while improving detection speed. Secondly, a new feature branch is added to the GhostNet network, and the feature fusion layer in the neck network is reconstructed to effectively combine the lower-level and higher-level features, which not only improves the accuracy of the model but also maintains its lightweight. Finally, the knowledge distillation methods are used to transfer the knowledge from the more capable teacher model to the less capable student model, which significantly improving the detection accuracy. The improved model is denoted as G-YOLO-NK. The average accuracy of the G-YOLO-NK network is 96.00%, which is 1.00% higher than the original YOLOv5s model. Furthermore, the improved model size is 7.14MB, reduced to half of the original model, and the real-time detection frame rate is 11.25 FPS on the Jetson Nano. Compared to the state-of-the-art model, the proposed model outperforms them in terms of average precision and detection performance. The present work provides an effective model for real-time detection of passion fruits in complex orchard scenes, which can provide valuable technical support for the development of orchard picking robots and greatly improve the intelligence level of orchards.

The Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) scanner is an easy and portable Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data acquisition device. Its main output is a 3D point cloud covering the scanned scene. Regarding the importance of accuracy in the survey domain, this paper aims to assess the accuracy of two SLAM scanners: the NavVis VLX and the BLK2GO Scanner. This assessment is conducted for both outdoor and indoor environments. In this context, two types of reference data are used: the Total Station (TS) and the static scanner Z+F Imager 5016. To carry out the assessment, four comparisons are tested: cloud to cloud, cloud to mesh, mesh to mesh, and edge detection board assessment. However, the results of the assessments confirm that the accuracy of indoor SLAM scanner measurements (5 mm) is greater than that of outdoor ones (between 10 mm and 60 mm). Moreover, the comparison of cloud to cloud provides the best accuracy regarding direct accuracy measurement without manipulations. Finally, based on the high accuracy, scanning speed, flexibility, and the accuracy differences between tested cases, it is confirmed that SLAM scanners are effective tools for data acquisition.

The impact of interaction SS with MJO on rainfall along Java Island to East Nusa Tenggara has been studied using daily rainfall observation data from 2140 weather observation stations, which are also equipped with GSMaP, OLR, and ERA5 data. There were 61 SS events found, 17 during active MJO and 44 in inactive MJO. Rainfall increases more in the western study area when the active MJO and more in the eastern study area when the inactive MJO is due to SS. SS reduces rainfall in the Jakarta region, regardless of the activity or inactivity of the MJO. SS causes extreme rainfall to only occur in a small part of certain areas, so it tends to significantly reduce the possibility of extreme rainfall. In the southern part of the IMC, SS predominates over MJO in supporting increased water vapor transport. Large-scale synoptic circulations like the monsoon, SS, and MJO can interact with local land-sea wind circulation to produce spatiotemporal variability in rainfall on Java Island. Rainfall mostly increases in the afternoon and decreases in the morning when SS occurs, whether there is MJO or not. Convective instability analysis indicates that SS increases precipitation, most likely by lowering CIN and raising VIMFC.

Cereal wastes such as rice bran and cereal dust are valuable yet underutilised by-products of grain processing. This study aimed to bio-convert these wastes into bacterial cellulose (BC), an emerging sustainable and renewable biomaterial, via an inexpensive solid-state fermentation (SSF) pre-treatment using three mould isolates. Medium substitution by directly using untreated rice bran or cereal dust did not significantly increase the yield of bacterial cellulose produced by a novel Novacetimonas sp. isolate (NCBI accession number PP421219) compared to the standard Hestrin-Schramm (HS) medium. In contrast, rice bran fermented with Rhizopus oligosporus yielded the highest bacterial cellulose (1.55 ± 0.6 g/L dry weight) compared to the untreated control (0.45 ± 0.1 g/L dry weight), demonstrating up to 22 % increase in yield. Using the SSF process, the media production costs were reduced by up to 90% compared to standard HS medium. Physicochemical characterisation using SEM, EDS, FTIR, XPS, XRD, and TGA were performed to gain insights into the internal structure, morphology, and chemical bonding of different produced BC, which revealed comparable biopolymer properties between BC produced in standard and waste-based media. Hence, our findings demonstrate the effectiveness of fungal SSF for transforming abundant cereal waste into BC, providing a circular economy solution to reduce waste and convert them into by-products to enhance the sustainability of the cereal industry.

This study explores the potential of a deep-water hydroponic system integrated with Internet of Things (IoT) technology to enhance the production of Chinese celery (Apium graveolens), a popular leafy vegetable with culinary and medicinal properties. Traditional soil cultivation of Chinese celery can take 75-90 days and is susceptible to fungal diseases. To address these challenges, a 2 x 6 meter hydroponic greenhouse was designed and constructed to accommodate 1,000 plants. The study investigated the effects of two key factors on celery growth and yield: daily light exposure (660 nm wavelength, 6:00-11:00 p.m.) and internal temperature regulation using a fog sprayer when temperatures surpassed 35°C. The experiment was conducted in four separate hydroponic houses, each with different factor controls: House 1 (light and temperature), House 2 (temperature only), House 3 (light only), and House 4 (natural conditions). The IoT-based system maintained optimal water conductivity and pH levels, monitored through the Blynk application and regulated by an ESP32 microcontroller. Sensor data, including water conductivity, pH, internal temperature, humidity, and water temperature, were collected throughout the study. Results revealed significant differences in weight and final yield among the houses, with House 1 achieving the highest yield, 13.91% higher than House 4. A comparison between Houses 2 and 3 indicated that temperature played a more critical role than light in celery cultivation under similar conditions. An economic analysis demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of investing in the automated control system, with House 1 being 14% more profitable than House 4 and a breakeven point achieved at 27 months. This research highlights the benefits of IoT-controlled hydroponic systems in elevating Chinese celery production towards sustainable and efficient practices, offering valuable insights for modern agriculture.

This research paper presents a comprehensive study on the gasification of wheat straw pellets in a 10-kW fixed bed gasifier through a combination of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation and experimental validation. The developed 2D CFD model in ANSYS meshing simulates the gasification process in ANSYS Fluent software. The investigation evaluates key parameters such as equivalence ratio, higher heating value, and temperature distribution within the gasifier to enhance syngas production efficiency. The simulated results exhibit a noteworthy agreement with experimental data obtained from gasification. The impact of the equivalence ratio on gas production and lower heating value (LHV) is systematically explored, revealing that an equivalence ratio of 0.35 is optimal for syngas production. The resulting producer gas composition at this optimum condition includes CO (~27.67%), CH4 (~3.29%), CO2 (~11.09%), H2 (~11.09%), and N2 (~51%). The study further investigates the positive influence of reactor temperature on increasing syngas quantity while considering the uneven shape of the reactor and various thermal reactions affecting temperature, static pressure, velocity, and density. The findings contribute valuable insights to improve the efficiency of fixed-bed gasifiers, offering essential information on performance parameters for sustainable and optimized syngas production.

In the Lubumbashi charcoal production basin (LCPB) in south-eastern DR Congo, agricultural and charcoal production activities regularly give rise to fires that lead to considerable degradation of the miombo open forest. This study analyzes the drivers of the spatio-temporal distribution of active fires and burnt areas in the LCPB by processing MODIS and Landsat data. In addition, a Kernel density analysis method (KDE) was used to estimate fire risk, while the effect of the road network and dwellings on vegetation fires was highlighted in areas between 0-3000m radius. Obtained results revealed that fires in the LCPB generally occur between April and November mainly during the day, between 11am and 12pm. These fires are concentrated in the central and south-western part of the LCPB, more specifically in the savannahs and near roads. From 2002 to 2022, an average of 11,237 active fires and an average of 6,337 km2 of burnt areas were recorded in the LCPB. Each year, these fires peak in August, and despite their steady decline, the few fires that have affected the forests have caused more devastation (more than 2790 km2 / year) than those observed in the fields and savannah. These figures highlight the imperative need to put in place fire prevention and management measures in the LCPB, with particular emphasis on awareness, monitoring and fire-fighting measures.

Red fruits such as grapes and blueberries are known for their high content of bioactive compounds and antioxidants. In Mediterranean winemaking, traditional sun drying can be replaced by controlled airflow chamber drying which provides better quality, higher phenolic content, and increased antioxidants. This study aimed to increase the sugar content and phenolic compounds of the must by drying the fruits to 50% of their original moisture content. Two musts were prepared by combining fresh grapes and dried blueberries (M1), and the other using dried grapes and fresh blueberries (M2), followed by fermentation at 25 ºC with M05 Mead and X5 yeast strains. Must M2 showed the highest level of phenolic compounds, A520, total anthocyanins and antioxidant activity. During fermentation, the anthocyanin content increased mainly in the dried blueberry macerates, which raised between 4 to 5.5-fold. More bioactive compounds were extracted from wines produced by yeast inoculation despite shorter maceration times. Sensory analysis demonstrated consumer acceptance of the wines in terms of color, flavor and aroma. In conclusion, the use of red grapes in the production of blueberry red wine proved to be effective, providing sugars and higher must yields, while the dried fruits improved the fermentable sugar content and the levels of bioactive compounds, increasing the antioxidant capacity of the resulting red fruit wines.

In recent years the study of the teacher-student relationship in the teaching-learning processes in physical education has had great emphasis. Previous studies have shown that the use of the Spectrum of teaching Styles can enhance intrinsic motivation, enjoyment, adherence to physical activity and physical activity levels in children and adolescents. The present study aims to assess if a physical education (PE) intervention based on the variations in teaching styles, with reference to production ones, can also have positive effects on physical fitness. The sample involved 4 primary school classes (n = 124 children, mean age = 8-10 years) recruited from the SBAM (Health, Wellness, Food Education and Movement at School) Project in Apulia, Southern Italy. Classes were randomly assigned to Experimental Group (EG) and Control Group (CG). EG followed a 5months experimental intervention based on the variation of teaching styles, while CG performed regular PE lessons. Physical fitness test was assessed with Standing Long Jump (SLJ), Medicine Ball Throw 1kg (MBT), and 20m sprint (20m), while two validated questionnaires were used to evaluate physical self-perception (PSP) and enjoyment. A 2x2 (intervention group x time) ANOVA was carried out to assess significant difference and interaction effect pre (t0) and post (t1) intervention protocol. Data analysis showed a significant improvement of physical fitness in both EG and CG, while PSP and enjoyment increased only in EG. Moreover, significant interaction (p&lt;. 05) effects were found for 20m sprint, PSP and Enjoyment with low effect size (η2 ~. 20). The results of the present study highlight the effectiveness of a PE intervention based on the variation of teaching styles in improving physical fitness, self-perception, and enjoyment. Moreover, the use of production teaching styles significantly impacts self-perception and enjoyment, that are important mediating factors for guarantee better adherence to physical activity.

Influenced by historical background, regional economic development, and the frequent occurrence of armed conflict, the human–earth relationship in the Central and Southern Peninsula, which is located in a "fragmented zone", is characteristic of the region. The Indochina Peninsula has now become an area of interest for the study of spatial changes in production–living–ecological spaces (PLES). Taking the Indochina Peninsula as the study area, this paper explores the evolution of the spatio-temporal patterns of PLES and its driving mechanism in the Central and Southern Peninsula, from 2010 to 2020, based on the grid scale. Methods such as the land-use transition matrix, land-use dynamics index, and Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (GTWR) were used in our model. Our results show that, from 2010 to 2020, ecological space dominated the PLES pattern on the Indochina Peninsula but its area gradually decreased, accompanied by a sharp increase in the areas of productive and living spaces. The area of PLES interconversion on the Indochina Peninsula in 2010–2020 was 212818.70 km2, and it is characterized by the conversion of ecological space into productive space, as well as the interconversion of woodland ecological and grassland ecological spaces. In addition, the intertransfer of production and ecological spaces was distributed in a network-like manner throughout the Indochina Peninsula, while the transfer of living space was distributed in a point-like manner. The migration path of the center of gravity of PLES on the In-dochina Peninsula demonstrates a significant directional difference. The PLES’s pattern evolution was affected by the degree of multiple factors, with a significant spatial and temporal heterogeneity. The positive and negative feedback effects of the factors were distributed in different areas and in different transfer directions.

In this study, four experimental treatments were evaluated: (T1) alfalfa hay + concentrate, (50:50%, DM); (T2) alfalfa hay + Leucaena leucocephala + concentrate, (30:20:50%, DM); (T3) alfalfa hay + prickly pear + concentrate, (30:20:50%, DM); and (T4) alfalfa hay + Leucaena leucocephala + prickly pear + concentrate, (30:10:10:50%, DM). NH3-N concentrations in T2 and T4 decreased when replaced alfalfa hay in 20 and 10 %, respectively. Treatments did not affect the concentration of total volatile fatty acids (TVFA) between T3 and T4 (p>0.05); while the concentrations among T1 and T2 were different (P<0.05). T2 showed a reduction of 25.5 % in the methane production when compared to T1(p < 0.05).The lowest concentrations of protozoa were observed in T2 and T4, which contained Leucaena leucocephala (T2) and Leucaena leucocephala + prickly pear (T4) (p<0.05). The highest concentration of total methanogens was recorded in T1 and were different to T2, T3 and T4 (p<0.05). Leucaena leucocephala at a inclusion percentage of 20 % decreased the methane when compared to T1; whereas prickly pear there was not a positive effect the methane production.

The rye (Secale cereale L.) crop shows a high potential to collaborate in the sustainability of high Andean livestock because it supports the agroclimatic conditions and acid soils in the Peruvian Andes. The production of green forage, hay, and grain of the rye crop in acid soils was studied with the use of different levels of phosphorus and potassium fertilization in four local rye ecotypes (CBI-001, CSM-001, CJS-001, and CCE-001). The green forage yield (FV) ranged from 32.35 to 53.62 t ha-1, dry matter from 6.05 to 8.56 t ha-1, and hay from 7.0 to 10.36 t ha-1; nutritional levels ranged from 9.02 % to 13.56 % protein and 6.50 to 7.75 % ash levels, mainly with differences between ecotypes (p&lt;0.05). No differences existed between fertilization levels for the number of stems per plant, and flowering stems per plant, and grains per ear (p&gt;0.05). Also, CBI-001 and CCE-001 were superior with 1868.4 and 1797.8 kg ha-1 of grain, respectively (p=0.0072); the use of 60 kg ha of Nitrogen, 120 kg ha-1 of P2O5 and 80 kg ha-1 of K2O gave higher grain and residue yields. The high nutritional value and yield of the rye ecotypes studied in acid soil conditions and without irrigation can be an alternative for livestock feeding and grain production in the rainy season in the Andes as a dual-purpose crop.

The European Green Deal has set a concrete strategic plan to increase farm sustainability. At the same time, the current global challenges, due to climate change and fuels and commodity market crisis, combined with the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine, comprise the need for quality food, but also the reduction of negative external effects of agricultural production, with fair remuneration for the farmers. In response, precision agriculture has great potential to contribute to the sustainable development. Precision agriculture is a farming management that provides a holistic system approach to managing the spatial and temporal crop and soil variability within a field to improve the farm’s performance and sustainability. However, farmers are still hesitant to adopt it. On these premises, the study aims to evaluate the impacts of precision agriculture technologies on farm profitability, agronomic and environmental management by farmers adopting (or not) these technologies, using the case study method. In detail, the work focuses on the period 2014-2022 for two farms that cultivate durum wheat in Central Italy. The results suggest that the implementation of precision technologies can guarantee economic and agri-environmental efficiency. Results could serve as a basis for developing a program to start training in farms as well as suggest policy strategies.

This study aimed to determine the pathogenicity of the bacteria isolated and characterized from the kpètè kpètè used to produce two fermented beers in Benin. Species were identified by specific biochemical tests such as catalase, coagulase, and API 20 E. Antibiotic sensitivity was tested according to the French Society of Microbiology Antibiogram Committee. The crystal violet microplate technique and conventional PCR evaluated biofilm production to identify genes encoding virulence and macrolide resistance. Our data shows that Kpètè Kpètè used to produce beers are contaminated by Enterobacteriaceae species (Klebsiella terrigena, Enterobacter aerogens, Providencia rettgeri, Chryseomonas luteola, Serratia rubidae, and Enterobacter cloacae) and Staphylococcus spp. These multidrug-resistant strains can produce biofilms with a strong predominance of Enterobacter aerogens, Klebsiella terrigena (100%), and Staphylococcus spp (60%). Enterobacter cloacae (4%) and Coagulase negative Staphylococcus (5.55%) harbor the macrolide resistance gene. For other strains, these genes were not detected. Foods contaminated with bacteria resistant to antibiotics and carrying a virulence gene could constitute a potential public health problem. There is a need to increase awareness campaigns on hygiene rules in preparing and selling these traditional beers.

Although the vegetative stage of indoor cannabis production can be relatively short in duration, there is a high energy demand due to higher light intensities (LI) than the clonal propagation stage and longer photoperiods than the flowering stage (i.e., 16 – 24 hours vs. 12 hours). While electric lighting is a major component of both energy consumption and overall production costs, there is a lack of scientific information to guide cultivators in selecting a LI that corresponds to their vegetative stage production strategies. To determine the vegetative plant responses to LI, clonal plants of ‘Gelato’ were grown for 21 days with canopy-level photosynthetic photon flux densities (PPFD) ranging between 135 and 1430 µmol·m^-2·s^-1 on a 16-hour photoperiod (i.e., daily light integrals of ≈ 8 to 80 mol·m^-2·d^-1). Plant height and growth index responded quadratically; the number of nodes, stem thickness, and aboveground dry weight increased asymptotically; and internode length and water content of aboveground tissues decreased linearly with increasing LI. Foliar attributes had varying responses to LI. Chlorophyll content index increased asymptotically, leaf size decreased linearly and specific leaf weight increased linearly with increasing LI. Generally, PPFD levels of ≈ 900 µmol·m^-2·s^-1 produced compact, robust plants that are commercially relevant, while PPFD levels of ≈ 600 µmol·m^-2·s^-1 promoted plant morphology with more open architecture – to increase airflow and reduce the potential foliar pests in compact (i.e., indica-dominant) genotypes.

In the present study, we isolated and screened thirty strains of GABA-producing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from Indonesian traditional fermented foods. Two strains were able to convert monosodium glutamate (MSG) to GABA after 24 h of cultivation at 37oC based on thin layer chromatography (TLC) screening. 16S rDNA sequencing and proteomic identification using MALDI-TOF MS identified these two strains as Lactobacillus plantarum designated as L. plantarum FNCC 260 and L. plantarum FNCC 343. The highest yield of GABA production obtained from the fermentation of L. plantarum FNCC 260 was 809.2 mg/l of culture medium after 60 h of cultivation. Supplementation of 0.6 mM pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP) and 0.1 mM pyridoxine led to the increase in GABA production to 945.3 mg/l and 969.5 mg/l, respectively. The highest GABA production of 1226.5 mg/l of culture medium was obtained with 100 mM initial concentration of MSG added in the cultivation medium. The open reading frame (ORF) of 1410 bp of the gadB gene from L. plantarum FNCC 260 encodes 469 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 53.57 kDa. The production of GABA via enzymatic conversion of monosodium glutamate (MSG) using purified recombinant glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) from L. plantarum FNCC 260 expressed in Escherichia coli was found to be more efficient (5-fold higher within 6 h) than the production obtained from fermentation. L. plantarum FNCC 260 could be of interest for the synthesis of GABA.

COVID-19 pandemic provoked a number of restrictive measures, such as the closure or severe restriction of border transit for international trading traffic, quarantines and self-isolation. This caused a series of interrelated consequences that not only prevent or slow down the spread of disease, but also impact the medical systems’ capability to treat the patients and help their recovery. In particular, steeply growing demand for medical safety goods cannot be satisfied by regular suppliers due to the shortage of raw materials originating from other countries or remotely located national sources, under conditions of quarantined manpower. The current context inevitably brings back memories (and records!) of the situation 80 years ago, when WWII necessitated major effort directed at the rapid build-up of low cost mass production to satisfy all aspects of war-time need. In the present short report we document a successful case of fast mass-production of light transparent medical safety face shields (thousands per day) realized in Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) fabrication laboratory (FabLab). The demand for safety face shields by tens of hospitals in Moscow City and Region rapidly ramped up due to the need to protect medical staff during patient collection and transportation to hospitals, and within both the infected (“red”) and uninfected (“green”) zones. Materials selection for sterilizable transparent materials was conducted based on the analysis of merit indices, namely, minimal weight at given stiffness and minimal cost at given stiffness. Due to the need for permanent wear, design was motivated by low weight and comfortable head fixation, along with high production efficiency. The selection of minimal tooling in University fabrication workshops and the use of distributed volunteer labor are discussed.

This study aims to determine the protective effects of red seaweed Eucheuma cottonii (EC) ethanol extract on acute colitis disease in mice. Male BALB/c mice used for acute colitis disease model by induced 2.5% (w/v) of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) for 7 days for all groups, except control group. The DSS-induced mice then treated by three different doses of EC extracts (0.35, 0.70, 1.75 g/kg body weight), curcumin (as a positive control, 0.10 g/kg), and a group was orally only by water. In 8^th day, the mice sacrificed and collected the blood, then measured the body weight, colon weight, and colon length. Disease activity index (DAI), pro-inflammatory such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6, as well as IL-10 as anti-inflammatory were measured. The results showed that after treatment for 7 days, EC extract protected the weight loss and decreased the colon weight per length ratio. In addition, EC extract also decreased the pro-inflammatory cytokines expression in serum and increased the IL-10. Moreover, EC extract protected the colonic tissue damage. According to this results, the EC ethanol extract might be can used for the treatment of colitis disease.

Glycosidic linkage analysis was conducted on the unfractionated polysaccharides in the alcohol-insoluble residues (AIRs) prepared from six red seaweeds (Gracilariopsis sp., Prionitis sp., Mastocarpus papillatus, Callophyllis sp., Mazzaella splendens, and Palmaria palmata) using GC-MS/FID analysis of partially methylated alditol acetates (PMAAs). The cell walls of P. palmata primarily contained mixed-linkage xylans and small amounts of sulfated galactans and cellulose. In contrast, the unfractionated polysaccharides of the other five species were rich in galactans displaying diverse 3,6-anhydro-galactose and galactose linkages with varied sulfation patterns. Different levels of cellulose were also observed. This glycosidic linkage method offers advantages for cellulose analysis over traditional monosaccharide analysis that is known for underrepresenting glucose in crystalline cellulose. Relative linkage compositions calculated from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements showed that anhydro sugar linkages generated more response in the latter detection method. This improved linkage workflow presents a useful tool for studying polysaccharide structural variations across red seaweed species. Furthermore, for the first time, relative linkage compositions from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements, along with normalized FID and total ion current (TIC) chromatograms without peak assignments, were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) as a proof-of-concept demonstration of the technique's potential to differentiate various red seaweed species.

Background: Educating college students about the importance of good sleep habits could lead to the adoption of healthier sleep routines, including sufficient sleep duration and sleep quality. The current pre-post study examines the impact of completing a sleep education program called “Sleep 101” on (1) sleep hygiene practices, (2) sleep quality, and (3) weekday and weekend sleep behaviors among college students. “Sleep 101” is an interactive online course developed to educate college students about the importance of sleep by addressing basic sleep physiology, the impact of sleep on mood, academic and physical performance, the interactions between sleep and various substances, and common sleep disorders. Methods: 338 college students were recruited from a midsized public university in the US and invited to participate in “Sleep 101”, of which 25 participants completed the baseline and post-intervention questionnaire. The Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) was utilized to evaluate sleep hygiene practices, while standard questions were employed to assess weekday and weekend sleep behaviors and overall sleep quality. Results: Those who completed the study demonstrated a significant increase in weekday sleep duration and were less likely to engage in negative prior bedtime activities. In addition, 40% of those who completed baseline and post-intervention assessments noticed improvements in their sleep quality. Conclusion: These findings suggest that a brief online program is beneficial in improving sleep behaviors among college and could be a scalable approach to addressing current sleep issues and preventing future sleep problems in college students.

To study the spatial accessibility of healthcare services in cities on the Tibetan Plateau, this paper proposes an improved 3SFCA method in the main urban area of Xining City. The improved 3SFCA method incorporates both selection weights from the Huff model and the M2SFCA approach to addressing suboptimal allocation of supply resources. Results show that the accessibility of healthcare for the main urban area of Xining City decreases in a circle to four axes, with good accessibility in the east and center but poor accessibility in the north. And there is a positive spatial relationship between population and accessibility. Besides, this paper proposes a framework for studying the spatial accessibility of healthcare on the Tibetan Plateau.

The profile of secondary metabolites occurring in apple cuticular layer is not only characteristic for particular apple cultivar, but also dynamically reflects various external factors in growing environment. In this study, the possibility to authenticate apple samples based on analysis of their cuticular layer extracts was investigated. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) was employed for obtaining metabolomic fingerprints. In total, 274 authentic apple samples, four cultivars harvested within the seasons 2020 to 2022 in the Czech Republic and Poland were analysed. The generated complex data processed by univariate and multivariate statistical methods enabled to build classification models for discrimination of apple cultivars as well as their geographical origin. The models showed very good performance in differentiation of Czech and Polish samples for three of four cultivars: ‘Gala’, ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Idared’, moreover, the validity of the models was verified over harvest seasons. The diagnostic markers, besides metabolites of triterpene biosynthetic pathway, mainly represented wax esters. ‘Jonagold’, which is known to be susceptible to mutations, was the only cultivar for which the unambiguous classification of geographical origin was not possible.

The methanation of CO2 is of great interest in power-to-gas systems and contributes to the mitigation of climate change through carbon dioxide capture and the subsequent production of high value-added products. This study investigated CO2 methanation with three Ni catalysts supported on Al2O3 and ZrO2, which were simulated using a mathematical model of a packed bed reactor designed based on their chemical kinetics reported in the literature. The simulated reactive system was fed with syngas obtained from residual coffee pulp, obtained after solvent phytochemical extraction process, under several gasification conditions. The results reflect a high incidence of catalyst support, preparation method, and syngas composition on CO2 conversion and CH4 selectivity. For all the syngas compositions, Ni/ZrO2 catalysts show the best values for CO2 conversion and CH4 selectivity for Ni/Al2O3 catalyst.

In the present study pomegranate peels and avocado peels and seeds vacuum microwave extraction solid by-products were supplemented in corn silage in order to investigate the effects on meat quality and growth rate in broiler chicken. 50 broilers were divided in two groups treated with experimental or usual fed for 43 days (group A: 25 broilers fed with avocado and pomegranate by-products and group B: 25 broilers fed with corn-silage used as control). The results showed that broiler chickens fed with diet supplemented with a mixture of pomegranate avocado by-products (group A) shown significant differences in chicken leg meat quality improving in significant level the proteins and fatty acids contents in breast and leg meat respectively. More specific ω3 and ω6 fatty acids contents were three times higher than in group B. Moreover protective effect on the decomposition of polyunsaturated fatty acids induced by free radicals presented in chicken meat based on the evaluation of lipid peroxidation by measuring thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. Pomegranate peels, avocado peels and seeds by-products appeared slight reduction on meat production while it was found to improve the qualitative chicken meat characteristics. Regarding the production costs, it was calculated that the corn-silage supplementation used in this study lead to a 75% lower cost than the commercial corn-silage used for the breeding of broilers.

Superior fiber quality is one of the most important objectives in cotton breeding. To detect the genetic basis underlying fiber quality, an F2 population containing 413 plants was constructed by crossing Jifeng 914 and Jifeng 173, both of which have superior fiber quality, with Jifeng 173 being better. Five fiber quality traits were investigated in the F2, F2:3, F2:4, and F2:5 populations. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping was conducted based on a high-density genetic map containing 11,488 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and spanning 4,202.12 cM in length. Transgressive segregation patterns and complex correlations in the five tested traits were observed. A total of 108 QTLs were found, including 27 for fiber length (FL), 16 for fiber strength (FS), 24 for micronaire (MC), 17 for fiber uniformity (FU), and 24 for fiber elongation rate (FE). Chromosome A7 contained 12 QTL, ranking the first. No QTL was found on chromosome D1 and D11. Each QTL contributed 1.98%–21.45% to the phenotypic variation (PV), including 13 major effect QTLs that contributed more than 10% toward PV. Two QTLs could be repeatedly detected in three populations, including qFL-D3-2 in F2, F2:4, and F2:5 with 9.18%–21.45% of PV, qFS-A11-1 in F2:3, F2:4 and F2:5 with 6.05%–10.41% of PV. Another seven stable QTLs could be detected in two populations, including four major effect QTLs: qFL-A12-3, qFS-D10-2, qMC-D6-2, and qMC-D8-1. Fourteen QTL-overlapping regions were found, which might explain the complex correlations among the five phenotypic traits. Four regions on chromosome A11, D3, D6, and D10 covered by both stable and major effect QTLs are promising for further fine mapping. The genomic regions of the two QTLs detected in three populations and the four major effect QTLs contain 810 genes. Gene functional analysis revealed that the annotated genes are mainly involved in protein binding and metabolic pathways. Fifteen candidate genes in the qFL-D3-2 region are highly expressed in fiber or ovules during fiber initiation, elongation, secondary cell wall thickening, or maturation stages. qRT-PCR revealed that Ghir_D03G005440.1 and Ghir_D03G011310.1 may play a role in promoting fiber initiation, Ghir_D03G006470.1 may be beneficial for promoting fiber elongation. This study provides more information for revealing the molecular genetic basis underlying cotton fiber quality.

Currently there are fewer depth models applied to pepper picking detection, while the existing generalized neural networks have problems such as large model parameters, long training time, and low model accuracy.In order to solve the above problems, this paper proposes a Yolo-chili target detection algorithm for chili pepper detection. First, the classical target detection algorithm yolov5 is used as a benchmark model, and an adaptive spatial feature pyramid structure combining the attention mechanism and the idea of multi-scale prediction is introduced to improve the model's detection effect on occluded peppers and small target peppers. Secondly, a three-channel attention mechanism module is introduced to improve the algorithm's long-distance recognition ability and reduce the interference of redundant testers. Finally, the quantized pruning method is used to reduce the model parameters and realize the lightweight processing of the model. Applying the method to the homemade chili pepper dataset, the AP value of chili pepper reaches 93.11%; the accuracy rate is 93.51% and the recall rate is 92.55%.The experimental results show that yolo-chili is able to achieve accurate and real-time pepper detection under complex orchards.

The temporary immersion system bioreactor named GreenTray®[2], [3]presents advantages over the existing ones. Firstly, there is no need to use forceps to move the shoots or plantlets in or out of the recipient, neither the use of scalpel to divide them. Secondly, the basis of the shoot can remain in the GreenTray® and can sprout again in several cycles of growth. These two characteristics reduce the costs in the process of micropropagation. Besides, shoots or plantlets development is enhanced by the aeration of the recipient, thus enriching with CO2 the recipient atmosphere. The chapter describes and provides images and values of interest in (1) the micropropagation process of some commercial Prunus or Pyrus rootstocks; (2) the plantlet growth under autotrophic conditions; and (2) the inoculation of plants with pathogens that reproduce in vitro the symptoms observed in vivo, using the GreenTray® bioreactor.

Aiming at the problems of inaccurate segmentation of long object and information loss of small object in real-time semantic segmentation algorithm, this paper proposes a lightweight multi-branch real-time semantic segmentation network based on BiseNetV2. The new auxiliary branch makes full use of spatial details and context information to cover the long object in the field of view. Meanwhile, in order to ensure the inference speed of the model, the asymmetric convolution is used in each stage of the auxiliary branch to design a structure with low computational complexity. In the multi-branch fusion stage, the alignment and fusion module is designed to provide guidance information for deep and shallow feature mapping, so as to make up for the problem of feature misalignment in the fusion of information at different scales, and thus reduce the loss of small target information. In order to further improve the model’s awareness of key information, a global context module is designed to capture the most important features in the input data. The proposed network uses NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU experiment, on the road street view data set Cityscapes and CamVid average occurring simultaneously ratio reached 77.1% and 78.4% respectively, with running speed of 127 frames/s respectively and 112 frames/s. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve real-time segmentation and improve the accuracy significantly, showing good semantic segmentation performance

The main apple production areas of the Loess Plateau, China limited information on soil and leaf K, Ca, Mg, and micronutrients and their relationships in these orchards. Therefore, we collected soil and leaf samples from the main apple production areas of the Loess Plateau and analyzed them to assess soil and leaf K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Fe as well as to visualize their relationships. The investigated apple orchards in the Loess Plateau exhibited low soil Mn, moderate soil K, Zn, Fe, and high Cu and deficiency of leaf Fe, Moderate of leaf K, Cu, and Zn, high of leaf Ca, Mg, and excessive in leaf Mn. Moreover, soil pH negatively correlated with soil K, Cu, Zn, and Fe and positively related to exchangeable Mg, leaf Mg, and leaf Ca. Exchangeable Ca was negatively related to soil Mg, Cu, Mn, and Fe. Meanwhile, exchangeable K also negative correlation with leaf Mg, indicating the importance of soil pH and exchangeable Ca as an indication of apple produc-tion. In addition, available Zn also negative correlation with leaf Ca and leaf Zn. Soil micronu-trient contents in Shaanxi province trend lower than in other provinces, suggesting that soil Mn and Zn deficiency may be a limiting factor for apple production. Consequently, it is suggested that the soil pH be reduced in the Loess Plateau, replenishing soil organic matter and micronutrients, controlling soil Ca and Mg, and the Loess Plateau must pay attention to controlling K fertilizer application to avoid soil exchangeable cation and enhancing organic fertilizer application to improve soil micronutrients (Zn, Mn, and Fe) are highly necessary and it is necessary to enhance leaf Fe.

According to this study, approximately half of Africa's forests are utilized primarily or partially for the production of wood and non-wood commodities. Aims to evaluate Africa's forestry and forest products, namely Wood Forest Products (WFPs) and Non-wood Forest Products (NWFPs) in the sixteen (16) West African countries. While adhering to the following guidelines: wood extraction and preparation, analyzing wood primarily used as an energy source in Africa, identifying non-wood forest products in Africa, the state of export, trade, and customs procedures in West Africa, and examining the role of forests and forest stakeholders in Africa's low-carbon economy transition. An exploratory literature review of selected wood forest products and non-wood forest products (plants and animals) in West Africa identifying the country, the natural land area with the natural habitat issues of the forest, the species most harvested and traded in the West African sub-region. The study reemphasized some government legislation, policies, and market trade failures and limitations while also stating that trees may help in the low-carbon revolution through interventions aimed at maintaining, improving, and restoring natural capital have demonstrated that high environmental requirements of sustainable forest management (SFM) may be met in both natural and planted forests. The study identified a systematic assessment of the most common forest products (wood and non-wood forest products) considering the available data on the national forest reserves of the selected countries in West Africa. The study also revealed the need for biodiversity conservation of the available forest reserves to help mitigate the impact of global warming targeting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 13- Climate Action. Which is focused on integrating climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning signs into the national policies, improving forest planning and management education, awareness-raising, and institutional capacity within the sub-region.

In this article, we introduce a new approach to human movement by defining the movement as a static object or a super object in one two-dimensional image. This method can allow researchers to label and describe the total movement as an object isolated from a reference video. This ap-proach allows us to perform various tasks, including finding similar movements in a video, measuring, and comparing movements, generating new similar movements, and defining chore-ography by controlling specific parameters in the human body skeleton. As a result of the pre-sented approach, we can eliminate the need to label images manually, disregard the problem of finding the beginning and the end of a movement, overcome synchronization issues between movements, and perform any deep learning network-based operation that processes super objects in images in general. As part of this article, we will demonstrate two application use cases: one il-lustrates how to verify and score a requested movement. In contrast, the other illustrates how to generate similar movements in the human skeleton space by addressing the challenge of supply-ing sufficient training data for deep learning applications (DL). A Variational Auto Encoder (VAE) simulator and an EfficientNet-B7 classifier architecture embedded within a Siamese twin neural network are presented in this paper in order to demonstrate two use cases. These use cases demonstrated the versatility of our innovative concept in measuring, categorizing, inferring hu-man behavior, and generating gestures for other researchers.