Dead Material Research Articles

The Communicative Shape of Liveness: A Case Study of When Dylan Covered the Dead

ABSTRACT This paper provides a roadmap for the application of dialectics to the study of liveness. The roadmap incorporates the utterance chain from relational dialectics theory to describe live performance in terms of the discursive interplay it generates which gives it meaning. As such, this paper addresses a stated need in the literature on liveness for theoretical development and refinement. The paper also positions itself in approaches to liveness that emphasize relational and communicative elements of performance. It is presented as a case study of Bob Dylan’s Rough and Rowdy Ways World-Wide Tour where he surprised audiences by performing Grateful Dead material.

Design and Fabrication of Cost-Effective Composting for Easy Decomposing of Home Wastes

The primary objective is to develop a Household waste Decomposer that not only composting thee kitchen waste but also ensures quick decomposition while minimizing odors. Our design integrates innovative features, such as a compact and user-friendly composting unit, utilizing a controlled aeration system to accelerate the composting process. This aeration system promotes optimal conditions for microbial activity, enhancing the breakdown of organic matter Another one method added to using decomposer sand. Decomposition sand is a biological process that includes the physical breakdown and biochemical transformation of complex organic molecules of dead material into simpler organic and inorganic molecules. There are two effective system used in Household waste Decomposer. This composting process create a bad smell , so that we are using high suction power exhaust fan. In this suction fans is pull a Odorant particles throw out to the atmospheric air Food waste and decomposer sand ismixed well before pouring in top of the hopper. Food waste and decomposer mixer breakdown the particles like (leaf and tomato and other kitchen veg, waste food) using grinding method Traditional composting methods are slow decomposing and high level of odor form. Now odor free decomposer and quick decomposer at a same time cost effective home decomposing.Household waste Decomposer suitable for trace garden

Reading tea leaves worldwide: Decoupled drivers of initial litter decomposition mass-loss rate and stabilization.

The breakdown of plant material fuels soil functioning and biodiversity. Currently, process understanding of global decomposition patterns and the drivers of such patterns are hampered by the lack of coherent large-scale datasets. We buried 36,000 individual litterbags (tea bags) worldwide and found an overall negative correlation between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization factors of plant-derived carbon, using the Tea Bag Index (TBI). The stabilization factor quantifies the degree to which easy-to-degrade components accumulate during early-stage decomposition (e.g. by environmental limitations). However, agriculture and an interaction between moisture and temperature led to a decoupling between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization, notably in colder locations. Using TBI improved mass-loss estimates of natural litter compared to models that ignored stabilization. Ignoring the transformation of dead plant material to more recalcitrant substances during early-stage decomposition, and the environmental control of this transformation, could overestimate carbon losses during early decomposition in carbon cycle models.

Lean Six Sigma to Reduce Dead Stock at PT Globalindo Intimates

PT Globalindo Intimates is a manufacturing company that produces underwear in the garment sector. In the long run, the accumulation of dead stock in the warehouse becomes an unused company asset, making inventory management ineffective and efficient. This study aims to identify and analyze the factors that cause dead stock materials and provide solutions as an improvement effort in minimizing dead stock in the future to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of PT Globalindo Intimates. The method used is Lean Six Sigma with the DMAIC approach model. The data collection technique is done by observation, interview, and documentation. The results of this study explain that the factors that cause dead stock materials are man, method, environment, and material factors, the causes of which include less careful human resources, lack of understanding related to material handling, less than optimal ordering practices, overstock, damaged / defective goods, poor material storage, and low demand. The improvement efforts that can be made to minimize the occurrence of dead stock in the future so that it is not sustainable include making regulations related to the management and handling of dead stock, managing the inventory management system more effectively, optimizing the application of 5S practices in the warehouse, and conducting training for employees

Impacts of grazing management strategies on forage canopy structure in multi-species pastures during the wet-dry transition period

The condition of pastures during the wet-dry transition period reduces livestock production since there is an increase in dead material and a reduction in green tissues. This study evaluated the influence of grazing management strategies on the structure of the forage canopy during the wet-dry transition period. The pastures were composed of Aruana guineagrass (Megathyrsus maximum Syn. Panicum maximum cv. Aruana) and three legumes: Macrotyloma (Macrotyloma axillare), Calopo (Calopogoinum mucunoides), and Stylo (Stylosanthes macrocephala + Stylosanthes capitata). The treatments corresponded to four forage canopy heights (15, 30, 45, and 60 cm), and the grazing management strategies involved steady or variable stocking rates with sheep. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with four replications totaling 16 experimental units (paddocks). The masses of grass leaf blades and stems were higher at heights of 45 and 60 cm (P = 0.002), while the proportion of dead material was smaller in these than in the short pastures (15 and 30 cm) (P = 0.0497). There was an increase in the proportion of dead material over the dry-water transition period. The presence of grass and legume leaves was higher in the upper stratum of tall pastures (45 and 60 cm) and the proportion of legumes did not differ between grazing management strategies (P > 0.05). These strategies were represented by canopy heights of 45 to 60 cm and showed more leaf mass, less dead material, and better pasture structure, so these parameters can be used during the wet-dry transition period. 

Evaluation of marandu palisadegrass regrowth intervals in silvopastoral and monoculture systems

Silvopastoral systems (SPS) offer a sustainable alternative for animal production in tropical ecosystems. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of deferment days on herbage accumulation, plant-part composition, and canopy structural characteristics of Marandu palisadegrass (Urochloa brizantha Hochst. ex A. Rich.) in SPS with Eucalyptus urophylla and monoculture (MC). The experiment was conducted using a randomized block design, with each system individually allocated at the center of each plot in a 3 x 4 factorial arrangement, consisting of three systems: monoculture, and silvopastoral systems with tree row spacings of 12 m and 18 m, and tree intra-row spacing of 2 m, across four regrowth periods (60, 90, 120, and 150 days), each with three replications. Increasing deferment days reduced the proportion of green components in the forage, affecting tiller population density (TPD), leaf dry mass (LDM), and leaf/stem ratio. Maximum LDM production occurred at approximately 88 days with 0.63 Mg ha-1, while peak green dry mass (GDM) was at 94 days, reaching 1.11 Mg ha-1. Both dead material dry mass (DMDM) and total dry mass (TDM) increased linearly with regrowth periods, although TDM comprised about 47% dead forage. A regrowth period of 94 days from March is feasible for Marandu palisadegrass in SPS with 12 m and 18 m between tree rows, demonstrating that this spacing does not hinder forage production.

Ungulates mitigate the effects of drought and shrub encroachment on the fire hazard of Mediterranean oak woodlands.

Climate change is increasing the frequency of droughts and the risk of severe wildfires, which can interact with shrub encroachment and browsing by wild ungulates. Wild ungulate populations are expanding due, among other factors, to favorable habitat changes resulting from land abandonment or land-use changes. Understanding how ungulate browsing interacts with drought to affect woody plant mortality, plant flammability, and fire hazard is especially relevant in the context of climate change and increasing frequency of wildfires. The aim of this study is to explore the combined effects of cumulative drought, shrub encroachment, and ungulate browsing on the fire hazard of Mediterranean oak woodlands in Portugal. In a long-term (18 years) ungulate fencing exclusion experiment that simulated land abandonment and management neglect, we investigated the population dynamics of the native shrub Cistus ladanifer, which naturally dominates the understory of woodlands and is browsed by ungulates, comparing areas with (no fencing) and without (fencing) wild ungulate browsing. We also modeled fire behavior in browsed and unbrowsed plots considering drought and nondrought scenarios. Specifically, we estimated C. ladanifer population density, biomass, and fuel load characteristics, which were used to model fire behavior in drought and nondrought scenarios. Overall, drought increased the proportion of dead C. ladanifer shrub individuals, which was higher in the browsed plots. Drought decreased the ratio of live to dead shrub plant material, increased total fuel loading, shrub stand flammability, and the modeled fire parameters, that is, rate of surface fire spread, fireline intensity, and flame length. However, total fuel load and fire hazard were lower in browsed than unbrowsed plots, both in drought and nondrought scenarios. Browsing also decreased the population density of living shrubs, halting shrub encroachment. Our study provides long-term experimental evidence showing the role of wild ungulates in mitigating drought effects on fire hazard in shrub-encroached Mediterranean oak woodlands. Our results also emphasize that the long-term effects of land abandonment can interact with climate change drivers, affecting wildfire hazard. This is particularly relevant given the increasing incidence of land abandonment.

Stereo Camera Setup for 360° Digital Image Correlation to Reveal Smart Structures of Hakea Fruits.

About forty years after its first application, digital image correlation (DIC) has become an established method for measuring surface displacements and deformations of objects under stress. To date, DIC has been used in a variety of in vitro and in vivo studies to biomechanically characterise biological samples in order to reveal biomimetic principles. However, when surfaces of samples strongly deform or twist, they cannot be thoroughly traced. To overcome this challenge, different DIC setups have been developed to provide additional sensor perspectives and, thus, capture larger parts of an object's surface. Herein, we discuss current solutions for this multi-perspective DIC, and we present our own approach to a 360° DIC system based on a single stereo-camera setup. Using this setup, we are able to characterise the desiccation-driven opening mechanism of two woody Hakea fruits over their entire surfaces. Both the breaking mechanism and the actuation of the two valves in predominantly dead plant material are models for smart materials. Based on these results, an evaluation of the setup for 360° DIC regarding its use in deducing biomimetic principles is given. Furthermore, we propose a way to improve and apply the method for future measurements.

Hepatogenic photosensitization in lambs supplemented with different levels of extruded urea in Brachiaria spp. pastures in the Brazilian Cerrado: Case report

The aim was to report cases and risk factors for hepatogenous photosensitization in lambs kept on Brachiaria spp. pastures and supplemented with levels of extruded urea (EU). The herd consisted of 69 Texel crossbred lambs with known parentage (fathers and mothers adapted to the consumption of forage of the genus Brachiaria), randomly divided into 5 groups and distributed in individual paddocks for each group. The animals were supplemented with increasing levels of EU (Amireia® 200S): 0, 6, 12, 18, and 24 g of EU per 100 kg−1 of body weight (BW). The concentration of protodioscin was estimated in the mixed pastures of Brachiaria spp. (cv. Marandu and cv. Basilisk), structural components (leaf, stem, and dead material), samples of each cultivar, and in the months of December (2018), February, and April (2019). The animals were examined daily, and when behavioral changes were identified, they underwent clinical examinations and anamnesis. Weighing was performed every 14 days, followed by necropsy and serum biochemical analysis, including gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). The highest concentrations of protodioscin (p < 0.0001) were found in the pastures used by animals supplemented without extruded urea (7.07 ± 0.56), in the Basilisk cultivar (11.35 ± 0.06), in the leaf blade components (2.08 ± 0.05), and thatch (2.20 ± 0.00), and in the month of April (7.34 ± 0.29) (the month with the lowest rainfall), respectively. Fourteen (20.29%) cases of photosensitization were observed in lambs, of which six recovered, and eight died. Serum GGT levels ranged from 42.2 to 225 IU/L; however, in animals that died, values ranged from 209.4 to 225 IU/L. The use of levels 12 g and 18 g per 100 kg−1 of body weight of extruded urea may contribute to the lower occurrence of photosensitization, as the animals selected pastures with lower protodioscin content, presenting a smaller number of cases.

Behavioural responses of beef cattle to different grazing systems and the influence of these responses on water productivity of livestock in a tropical savannah

Environmental conditions and available forage on pastures greatly differ between different farming systems, which can affect the behaviour of grazing cattle. The interplay between environment-, forage-, and animal-related variables may affect the use of feed and water resources in grazing-based systems. Hence, our objectives were (i) to study the differences between grazing-based systems and seasons in environment- and pasture-related variables as well as the behaviour, feed intake, performance, and water productivity of Nellore heifers, and (ii) to understand the interrelationships between these variables. The measurements were performed in a conventional grazing system (CON), an integrated crop-livestock (ICL), and a crop-livestock-forestry (ICLF) systems in the Brazilian Cerrado during the rainy and dry seasons. Ambient temperature and relative air humidity were hourly measured in both seasons. Forage biomass and sward height were determined every month. Forage samples were taken to determine the proportions of alive leaves, alive stems, and dead plant material and to analyse their nutritive value. Forage intake, drinking water intake, and liveweight changes were quantified in 12 Nellore heifers per system and season. Feeding behaviour was recorded by chewing sensors on nine continuous days in each season. Drinking water intake was measured by water meters attached to drinking water troughs, whereby trial cameras at the troughs recorded the frequency of drinking events of individual animals. Feed conversion efficiency and water productivity were estimated. The ICLF reduced the exposure time to high ambient temperatures so that heifers even grazed during the hottest hours. Forage biomass in ICL and CON had greater proportions of stem and dead plant material than in ICLF. Forage intake rate was greater and grazing events were longer for animals in ICLF than those in CON, whereas the daily number of grazing events was greater in CON. Feed conversion efficiency and water productivity were greater in integrated systems than in CON. Amongst studied variables, thermal environment and forage canopy structure with its proportions of dead plant material are the main driving factors for animal behaviour, forage intake rate, and animal performance. These variables reduce feed conversion efficiency and water productivity in grazing cattle. Further research should analyse strategies for promoting thermal comfort for the animals, increasing the proportions of alive biomass, and enhancing the nutritional value of pastures for more efficient use of forage and water resources in grazing-based systems.

Energy harvesting from plants using hybrid microbial fuel cells; potential applications and future exploitation.

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC) can be fuelled using biomass derived from dead plant material and can operate on plant produced chemicals such as sugars, carbohydrates, polysaccharides and cellulose, as well as being "fed" on a regular diet of primary biomass from plants or algae. An even closer relationship can exist if algae (e.g., prokaryotic microalgae or eukaryotic and unicellular algae) can colonise the open to air cathode chambers of MFCs driving photosynthesis, producing a high redox gradient due to the oxygenic phase of collective algal cells. The hybrid system is symbiotic; the conditions within the cathodic chamber favour the growth of microalgae whilst the increased redox and production of oxygen by the algae, favour a more powerful cathode giving a higher maximum voltage and power to the photo-microbial fuel cell, which can ultimately be harvested for a range of end-user applications. MFCs can utilise a wide range of plant derived materials including detritus, plant composts, rhizodeposits, root exudates, dead or dying macro- or microalgae, via Soil-based Microbial Fuel Cells, Sediment Microbial Fuel Cells, Plant-based microbial fuel cells, floating artificial islands and constructed artificial wetlands. This review provides a perspective on this aspect of the technology as yet another attribute of the benevolent Bioelectrochemical Systems.

Analysis of the growth of Chetumal grass established in a tropical climate

Objective: To evaluate the growth of Chetumal grass (Urochloa humidicola CIAT 679), in order to determine the optimal moment for the first harvest.&#x0D; Design/Methodology/Approach: A completely randomized experimental block design, with measurements repeated over time, and three repetitions was used. Morphological composition (MC), growth rate (GR), plant height (PH), intercepted radiation (IR), leaf:stem ratio (L:S), leaf:no-leaf ratio (L:NL), and aerial biomass (AB) —as well as leaf biomass (LB), stem biomass (SB), dead material (DM), net growth (NG), and total biomass (TB)— were evaluated every fifteen days, except for the two first samplings, which were carried out on a monthly basis. Data were analyzed using the GLM procedure of the SAS software and Tukey’s mean comparison test (α£0.05).&#x0D; Results: The morphological composition (MC) of the Chetumal grass was statistically different (p&lt;0.05), during the different growth ages. The maximum accumulation of total biomass (TB) (13,324 kg DM ha-1), leaf biomass (LB) (2,569 kg DM ha-1), and growth rate (GR) (99 kg DM ha-1 d-1) was reached at 135 DAS. On that day, the prairie reached a 68 cm plant height (PH) and 100% intercepted radiation (IR). The L:S ratio decreased from 1.62 to 0.31, while L:NL ratio changed from 1.62 to 0.22.&#x0D; Study Limitations/Implications: The Brachiaria humidicola cv. Chetumal grass reached its highest potential during the rainy season.&#x0D; Findings/Conclusions: The first cut of the Urochloa humidicola cv. Chetumal grass can be carried out at 135 DAS, when the highest accumulation of total biomass (TB), leaf biomass (LB), and growth rate (GR) is recorded.

The Web of Life: A Critique of Nature, Wilderness, Gaia and the «Common Household»

A two-word summary of the following article might be «Words matter». It matters whether we conceive of the non-built world as nature, as «wilderness», as Gaia/Mother Earth, or as «our common home». We analyze the emergence of each of these four notions. Nature, by far the most multi-layered of the words, has a complex history rooted in the Greek word phusis. Nature is problematic because of its opposites: supernatural; nurture, culture and civilization. Nature seems to require dualism. Wilderness started out as something terrifying (the realm of the wild beasts), later acquiring a specific American understanding of an area conserved for recreation, of nature partially preserved, all desirable goals inspired by John Muir. In the Scriptures, wilderness becomes filled by promise. Gaia is short for the Gaia hypothesis of Earth as a living, self-regulating organism. It was coined by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis and discussed critically by Bruno Latour. Compared with the view of the Earth as dead matter, «Gaia» is conducive to respect for all living beings. When it is coupled with Mother Earth, the concept becomes problematic from a feminist point of view. The common home or household stem from the teachings of Pope Francis. Although Laudato si’ is rightly viewed as a prophetic text regarding ecology and spirituality, «common home» implies a domestication of all that lives in a worldview that remains anthropocentric (homes are artefacts). A better concept is the «web of life» of which humankind is a part, but not the master. It is such a decentering that may herald hope for the Earth.

A Sea of Carbon

There is more to the sea than what you can see! Did you know that when you swim in the sea, you are actually swimming in a soup of carbon? The ocean has many carbon-containing things. Some are large like fish, whales, and shells, but most of them are too small to be seen unless we use microscopes. Some of these minuscule particles are living organisms, while the rest are their remains as they decompose. When land creatures die, they decompose into soil. In the ocean, creature remains are gradually dissolved in seawater. All this dead material contains the element carbon, which, at some point in time, was carbon dioxide in the air. The ocean stores a large portion of the carbon on our planet. In this article, we explain how all this carbon ends up in the ocean and how human activities affect the carbon cycle in the sea.

“We Have to Convince Them Whatever it Takes”: The Climate Necropolitics of Energy Transitions in India and Zambia

Sixty-five million years into the era of New Life (the Cenozoic), we find ourselves in what might be the Cenozoic’s last epoch, the Necrocene. To mitigate the crises provoked by exhuming and burning dead matter (i.e. fossil fuels) from the depths of the earth, the industrialized world has reached a consensus to build massive infrastructures for lower-carbon energy and rapidly electrify all sectors. Through international agreements that take a techno-managerial approach to decarbonization, nation-states have committed to solutions that require an unprecedented demand for the extraction of transition materials (e.g. cobalt, copper, manganese), alongside the appropriation of land used for centuries by agropastoralists for subsistence and the more-than-human as a habitat, with the moral rectitude of taking climate action. Despite a deluge of scholarly work illustrating the futility of decoupling such transitions from environmental destruction, climate mitigation through technological substitution continues its march toward economic growth, fed by the logic of “green” extractivism. In this study, we interrogate the utopian discourses of energy transitions by drawing from fieldwork examining the implementation of industrial-scale solar plants in Rajasthan, India, and on a potential resource frontier in Luapula, Zambia for the high-grade manganese required in electric vehicle batteries. We ask whether lower-carbon energy transitions create conditions of precarity and death. The two case studies reveal a trajectory that exacerbates precarity and hastens social and premature death in deeply unequal ways, underpinned by ongoing climate coloniality: the essence of electrified Necropolitics in the Necrocene.

Ancient insect vision tuned for flight among rocks and plants underpins natural flower colour diversity.

Understanding the origins of flower colour signalling to pollinators is fundamental to evolutionary biology and ecology. Flower colour evolves under pressure from visual systems of pollinators, like birds and insects, to establish global signatures among flowers with similar pollinators. However, an understanding of the ancient origins of this relationship remains elusive. Here, we employ computer simulations to generate artificial flower backgrounds assembled from real material sample spectra of rocks, leaves and dead plant materials, against which to test flowers' visibility to birds and bees. Our results indicate how flower colours differ from their backgrounds in strength, and the distributions of salient reflectance features when perceived by these key pollinators, to reveal the possible origins of their colours. Since Hymenopteran visual perception evolved before flowers, the terrestrial chromatic context for its evolution to facilitate flight and orientation consisted of rocks, leaves, sticks and bark. Flowers exploited these pre-evolved visual capacities of their visitors, in response evolving chromatic features to signal to bees, and differently to birds, against a backdrop of other natural materials. Consequently, it appears that today's flower colours may be an evolutionary response to the vision of diurnal pollinators navigating their world millennia prior to the first flowers.

“Vile Matter”

Rivers Solomon’s Sorrowland (2021) can be read as a Gothic novel about Black trauma, and while this is certainly true, such an assessment overlooks its anarchist dimension and emancipatory potential. As articulated by Solomon, Black anarchism overcomes the limitations of white, European anarchism from within by contesting its attachment to the dualisms of modernity: as in New Materialist philosophies, the boundaries between human and nonhuman, and living and dead matter, are blurred. Through its queer Black protagonist, Vern, and her alliance with her Indigenous lover, Gogo, Sorrowland attacks the modernist drive to classify everything into strict dichotomies—a process which inevitably also seeks racial and sexual “purity.”

Taxonomic List of Macro Benthic Polychaetes of Kanyakumari Coast

Polychaetes are one of the most important macro-invertebrate species found in marine benthic habitats. India is foremost in terms of polychaete fauna biodiversity, followed by the Kanyakumari coast. According to the whole study's findings, the sandy, rocky and muddy substratum the establishment of benthic polychaete species appears to be most favorable in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea area. The distribution of polychaetes along the Kanyakumari coast reveals the diversity of large species identified 27 species in east coast and 31 species in estuaries on the southwest coast. About 58 species of polychaetes belonging to 22 families and 46 genera are known to transpire. An attempt was made to identify the polychaete species found in the study area between 2021 and 2023. The families Eunicidae and Nereidae were found to have higher diversity than Nephtyidae, Spionidae, and Capitellidae. Around 58 distinct polychaete species such as Nereis indica, Capitella capitata, Heteromastus similis, Paraprionospio pinnata, and Malacocerous indica were seemed as prevalent species and plays as pollution indicator as well. These diverse marine invertebrates’ habitats widely in sediments (Capitella capitata, Heteromastus similis, Paraprionospio pinnata) and Malacocerous indica certain were found in both muddy and rocky environments (Nereis indica). It consumes dead matters of marine creatures as primary feed and this distinct five species can be used as indirect pollution monitors of hydrocarbon and heavy metal pollution of harbor sites as well estuaries near by the coconut coir retting area hence found dominantly found in pollution sites further helps to surveying the coastal health moreover can also be used for bio-remediation of organic and inorganic pollutants.   

New applications for point intercept methods: Replacing manual sorting of current-year herbaceous biomass

Productivity is a primary indicator when assessing plant communities or their responses to various stimuli, but it can be difficult and costly to determine. Adding to this complication is the retention of standing litter from previous years’ growth intermingled with current-year biomass. The most accurate and commonly applied method for estimating productivity is to clip and manually sort vegetation to separate current-year and previous years’ growth. Because sorting is costly, it is often only done for subsamples or not done at all. Without accounting for previous years’ growth, productivity estimates will be biased upward for conditions that accumulate more standing dead material, which is problematic when comparing treatments such as fire or different levels of herbivory. We tested whether line-point intercept methods could be adapted to determine proportions of current-year and older vegetation and estimate current-year biomass directly or by calculating the product of percent current-year intercepts and total standing crop. Data were collected by seven observers across four years and five experiments in northern mixed prairie using a total of 306 plots. Point-intercept transects with 20-cm spacing between points were used to determine number of intercepts for current-year and older vegetation and compared with data derived by clipping, manually sorting and weighing herbaceous vegetation. Regression analyses were used to test relationships between 1) total standing crop and total point intercepts; 2) current-year biomass and current-year point intercepts; 3) percent current-year biomass based on manual sorting versus point intercept methods; and 4) sorted current-year biomass and point intercept-derived current-year biomass. Number of intercepts per 100 points was positively related to total standing crop and current-year biomass, but r2 values were only 0.49 and 0.53. The relationship between manually-sorted current-year biomass and that derived from the product of point-intercept percentages and total standing crop was positive, explained 96 % of the variation, and had a mean absolute error of 122 kg ha−1. Point-intercept sampling is more efficient than manual sorting and can provide more indicators, including cover and diversity. Data indicate point intercept methods are accurate and can replace manual sorting of current-year herbaceous biomass.

&lt;i&gt;In Vitro&lt;/i&gt; Pharmacological Evaluation of Fulvic Acid and Humic Acid Novel Combination in Amyloid Beta Intoxicated SH-SY5Y Cell Lines Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is the most widespread advancing neurodegenerative disorder, and it is estimated that more than 50 million people have been affected worldwide. It is characterized by dementia, loss of sensory and motor function and difficulty in performing work. NMDA antagonists and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are currently being used as treatment options for AD, but the treatment would not decline the disease progression as well as neurodegeneration. We used a unique humic acid and Fulvic acid mixture in the current investigation for the treatment of amyloid-β intoxicated Alzheimer’s in vitro model in SH-SY5Y cell line. Humic acid and fulvic acids are organic substances which will be produced by microorganism from the biomass such as dead matter of animal as well as plants. Both the components were used in the 1:1 ratio against AD induced cell line with optimum concentration 50μM/ml of each compound. The inflammatory mediators like Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) were estimated using flow cytometry - H2DCFDA staining assay and cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-1β levels were estimated using ELISA. The results obtained from present study implicating that the humic acid and fulvic acids and their novel combinations lessen the ROS, cytokines level and decreased the apoptosis levels there by it exhibiting the neuro-protective mechanism via inhibiting neuro-inflammatory pathway in AD.