Essential Raw Material Research Articles

Point defects in VS2 monolayer towards NH3 synthesis

Ammonia is essential raw material for producing fertilizers, plastics and dynamites. The traditional Haber-Bosch process for ammonia production is hindered by high demand for energy and heavy pollution. Defective transition metal dichalcogenides have been comprehensively investigated for catalyzing some hydrogenation reactions. However, less attention was paid to ammonia synthesis. In this work, the catalysis performance of point defects in VS2 monolayer was evaluated using the density functional theory. The S vacancy in 1H-VS2 has good activity for electrocatalysis of synthesizing ammonia. For gas phase N2, the potential-determining step (PDS) is found to be 0.538 eV at S vacancy. The V adatom defect is more attractive to N2 molecule with a slightly higher PDS. A water solution environment has minor effect on the PDS for S vacancy. But the N2 adsorption energy on the V adatom is reduced. Low formation energies and high catalysis activity make the defective VS2 a very promising catalyst in ammonia production.

Bottlenecks in continuous hops drying with conveyor-belt dryer

Hops are an essential raw material in beer brewing, providing typical flavor and aroma characteristics to beer. Freshly harvested hop cones must be dried immediately. While conveyor-belt dryers are widely used, their operation is largely based on operator experience, which leads to energy-intensive operation whilst adversely affecting the quality. This work identifies the bottlenecks in hops drying by summarizing the results of previous studies, and experimentally analyzing an industrial dryer. Heterogeneous air-distribution, uneven drying and suboptimal control-strategies were identified as key issues which can be battled with accurate model-based process analysis and smart control systems, both of which need further research.

Measuring productivity in the extractive industries. Evidence from Spanish fluorite mining

The extractive industries, as the suppliers of essential raw materials, carry out activities that are fundamental to the development of modern societies. Therefore, how they are managed and administered is of the utmost importance. Optimizing these management procedures is often difficult, however, due to the highly specific nature of the extraction of non-renewable resources.The sustainable management of the process should begin on the extraction stage to efficiently utilize said resources. Total productivity indices are good indicators for measuring efficiency. This work proposes the construction of total productivity indices that break down productivity growth into its principal determinants. The elaboration of these indices takes into consideration the idiosyncratic nature of the industry, how the gradual depletion of the resources impacts upon productivity, and scenarios in which more than one principal output is generated.The methodology which is proposed in this paper is used to analyse fluorite mining in Spain. Based on the empirical analysis, the study shows how the depletion of resources and countervailing technological advances serve to determine the levels of productivity within the industry. In light of these results, policy implications are then discussed.

Boosting Efficient Ammonia Synthesis over Atomically Dispersed Co-Based Catalyst via the Modulation of Geometric and Electronic Structures

Boosting Efficient Ammonia Synthesis over Atomically Dispersed Co-Based Catalyst via the Modulation of Geometric and Electronic Structures

Medicinal and Aromatic plants: “Natural bio-chemicals and medicine factories”

Since thousands years back approximately around 900 BC, medicinal plants are considered as a source of many biomolecules with therapeutic potential. Herbal medicines are considered as safer, better, physiologically compatible and costeffective. The oldest evidence of medicinal and aromatic plants depicts that with the emergence of human civilization, plants have been considered as the main source to heal and cure various serious ailments. It has been proven that the secondary metabolites e.g. alkaloid, glycosides, flavonoides, steroids etc present in the medicinal plants possesses ability to prevent occurrence of some of the diseases, means medicinal plants acts as a “preventive medicine”. Medicinal plants have a paramount importance and a great interest due to its pharmaceutical, cosmetic and nutritional values. Some plants are also considered as an important source of nutrition and are known to have a variety of compounds with potential therapeutic properties. India is the principal repository of large number of medicinal and aromatic plants or we can say India is one of the rich mega-biodiversity countries of the world. Medicinal plants are “backbone” of traditional medicinal system (TMS). Crude drugs are usually dried parts of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) such as roots, stems, wood, bark, seeds, fruits, flowers, leaves, rhizomes, whole plant etc. that form the essential raw material for the production of medicines in various systems of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Tibatian, Tribal and Homeopathy. According to the survey of the World Health Organization (WHO), about 80% of the world population are using herbs and other traditional medicines for their primary healthcare and have established three kinds of herbal medicines: raw plant material, processed plant material, and herbal products. Now days, variety of available herbs are used throughout the world and they continue to promote good health. As the benefits from medicinal and aromatic plants are recognized, these plants will have a special role for humans in the future. The present review on medicinal and aromatic plants revealed similar combination of studies.

Chemical monitoring of baru (dipteryx alata vog.) pulp fermented beverage

Considering that the consumption of baru is not yet fully diffused among humans, it is possible to perceive the need for its greater use, mainly because it is a natural source of sugars, essential raw material for the production of various products, such as beverages fermented. In view of the above, the objective of this work was to develop fermented alcoholic beverage from the pulp of baru, chemically monitoring the fermentation and aging process. Throughout the processing, the fermented presented behavior as expected, as a decrease of sugars ensuring an effective fermentation without interferents, as high amounts of acetic acid and propagation of deteriorating organisms. With this, it was possible to develop and chemically accompany the alcoholic beverage from pulp of baru, obtaining results that met the brazilian legislation in force for fruit fermented, providing a new source of exploitation of this raw material little explored.

Study of rare earth elements potential in acid mine drainage from coal mine: a case study

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is one of the crucial impacts of coal mining activities. This issue is becoming increasingly important because acid mine drainage will become a burden in the post-mining period if not appropriately managed. AMD can leach side materials, causing an increase in dissolved heavy metals, including Rare Earth Elements. REE is an essential raw material for applying modern technology whose demand is increasing globally from year to year. Until 2019, 77% of REE production came from China. The combination of scarce supply and high demand has encouraged various studies to evaluate alternative REE resources. In Indonesia, there is few research about the presence of REE in AMD from coal mine. The objective of this study to determine the amount, characteristics and enrichment mechanisms of REE in AMD, moreover this research is a preliminary study on the alternatives of REE resources. Five water samples were subjected to physical tests well as analysis of IC and ICP-MS. The water sample was 5 had a low pH of 2.90 - 3.82. The concentration of Total REE (not include Lu and Tb) from samples ranged from 0.1032 - 0.6174 ppm with an average Total REE of 0.4810−3 ppm.

Complete‐Lifecycle‐Available, Lightweight and Flexible Hierarchical Structured Bi2WO6/WO3/PAN Nanofibrous Membrane for X‐Ray Shielding and Photocatalytic Degradation

AbstractFaced with the presence of radiation sources in many different areas, researchers are beginning to focus on the development of personal protective equipment. The design and manufacture of lightweight, lead‐free, and flexible X‐ray shielding materials have recently become a challenge in materials science, whereas, high‐Z materials, which are essential raw materials for high‐performance X‐ray protective fillers, are non‐renewable, and their exploitation and utilization usually require long‐term planning. In this study, a new route is demonstrated to the preparation of multifunctional polymer/high‐Z material nanofibrous membrane through electrospinning and subsequent solvothermal processes. The resultant Bi2WO6/WO3/polyacrylonitrile hybrid nanofibrous membrane possesses a remarkable X‐ray attenuating property with an attenuation rate of 90.10% at 30 keV and a mass attenuation coefficient of 2.97 cm2 g−1 at 83 keV. In addition, the freestanding hybrid nanofibrous membrane also possesses excellent photocatalytic activities for the degrading of cationic water pollutants, showing promising potential in industrial wastewater treatment, and providing a new strategy for the design and applications of multifunctional and recyclable shielding materials.

Economics of poultry manure utilization in land quality improvement among integrated poultry-maize-farmers in South western Nigeria

The rapid growth of Nigerian's poultry has made it more advantageous in terms of providing the essential raw material for soil fertility enhancement than other livestock. This paper evaluates the benefits of poultry manure use among integrated poultry-maize farmers in Ekiti and Osun States of Nigeria for improved land quality and continuous food production. Data were collected using Structured survey questionnaires administered on 500 randomly selected respondents in the two States. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics and costs and returns techniques. Respondents were small holders, with land area grown to mazie varying between 0.01 and 3.00 hectare. Majority of the respondents have personal farms but applied poultry manure only on small portions (25%) of the total cropped area of their farmlands. On the average, 53% of the respondents used poultry manure on their farms. Respondents were fairly literate with a mean age of 43 years. Major constraints to poultry manure use include odour, transportation, scarcity, wetness, bulkiness and time wastage in descending order of importance. While odour and transportation were identified as common problems among poultry manure users in Ekiti and Osun States, bulkiness was an additional constraint for non-user respondents in both states. Poultry manure material constituted about 91% of the total cost of inputs; transportation cost was 8% while labour cost averaged 2%. The mean net income earned per annum by poultry manure users was 1.40 times higher than that for non-users. The difference in mean net income users and non-users of poultry manure constitutes an important land improvement technique capable of enhancing farm production and income levels. Thus, technologies aimed at packaging it in such a way as to remove the associated social constraints to its use by farmers need be put in place.

A study on Australian sorghum grain fermentation performance and the changes in Zaopei major composition during solid-state fermentation

Sorghum is an essential raw material traditionally used for baijiu production by solid-state fermentation (SSF). China imports Australian sorghum for animal feed and for baijiu production. Determination of the sorghum characteristics specific for baijiu production will enable target breeding for such purpose. This study used five Australian grain sorghum varieties and one Chinese variety for baijiu solid-state fermentation in order to determine the grain sorghum properties most suitable for ethanol production. Ethanol content was highly correlated with the grain total starch content (TS) (r = 0.675, p < 0.05), amylopectin (AP) content (r = 0.590, p < 0.05), C/N ratio (r = 0.837, p < 0.001) and crude protein content (r = −0.813, p < 0.01). This study concluded that the grain sorghum variety that produced high ethanol content, had higher TS, AP and C/N ratio but lower crude protein content. Changes in grain composition during fermentation was also studied. SSF involved the consumption of mainly amylopectin instead of amylose and non-resistant starch instead of resistant starch irrespective of sorghum variety. All fermented samples were found to have increased protein content.

Analysis of Youth Participation in Hides and Skin Processing and Marketing in Sokoto-Metropolis, Sokoto State, Nigeria

Livestock breeding with other related activities the most important sectors of agriculture provide the population with food and essential raw materials. The aim of this study is to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the youth participating in hide and skin processing and marketing in the study area, and to describe the level of youth participation in hide and skin processing and marketing; with view to determine the cost and return in hide and skin processing and marketing; as well as to evaluate the constraint encountered by youth involved in hide and skin processing and marketing in the study area. A total number of 100 samples were collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire. The information was collected based on socio-demography, hide and skin processing methods practiced by respondents, and constraints faced by the processor in the study area. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data collected, which involves the use of measures of central tendency such as means, frequency distributions and percentages to describe the socio-economic characteristics of leather processors in the study area and the constraint confronting the leather processing and marketers. It was found that quality control assessment of the product, poor extension services, lack of protective wears, expose to dangerous chemicals were seen to have a significant effect on the participation of youth in hide and skin processing and marketing. Age, marital status, household size, and training experience had no effect on the youth's participation in the hide and skin processing and marketing. The study also found that despite the constraint youth experienced in the study area, they still contributed greatly to tanning activities and were willing to continue with tanning activities as a profession.

New mobile sectional device for vapour distillation of essential oil raw materials

New mobile sectional device for vapour distillation of essential oil raw materials

The economic relationships of essential oil production as a basis for supply chain modeling

This article reveals that essential oil production is a complex system with a large number of economic ties arising in the process of growing and processing as well as distribution of products made from essential oils raw materials. Multileveled manufacturing process of essential oils products requires coordination of all the elements to reduce costs in the entire supply chain. It is proposed to use mathematical modeling of the supply chain based on the method of main faces, which allows to take into account the specifics of the problem and makes it possible to use a variety of combinatorial and heuristic algorithms.

Analyzing Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) of the Bioactive Compound of Javanese Long Pepper (Piper retrofractum Vahl.) Essential Oils

Piper has an economically high commercial value because it is an aromatic compound that is widely used as a spice, an essential raw material for medicine, aromatic, antifungal, antiviral, insecticide and others. One species of Piper is Piper retrofractum Vahl. This herb is useful for treating fever, hypotension, abdominal pain, beriberi, cholera, non-perspiration, and anthelmintic. The study of bioactive compounds from essential oils of P. retrofractum is crucial to be revealed, especially regarding variations in chemical compounds present in these oils because of the enormous benefits in human life. The purpose of this study was to characterize the composition of bioactive compounds from essential oils P. retrofractum from Kediri, East Java Province, Indonesia. The essential oil component of P. retrofractum distilled-fruit was then analyzed using GC-MS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry) with GC-MS SHIMADZU QP2010 Plus specifications. The results of the GC-MS analysis showed that there were 28 compounds present in the fruit of P. retrofractum. The compounds consisted of terpenoids (monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes), fatty alcohols, alkene hydrocarbons, cyclic hydrocarbons, carbon alkene, and others. The research results of several researchers indicated that these compounds have great potential as bioactive compounds and useful in the pharmaceutical, health, cosmetics industries, and can utilize to increase the added value of food products.

A review on role of sulphur nutrition in oilseed crops

India is the world's biggest vegetable oil manufacturer and buyer. Oilseeds play an important role in agricultural economy of India. Oil derived from oilseed crops is considered as essential raw material for many industries. Sulphur (S) plays an important role in determining the quality of oil derived from these crops. Sulphur is required for the formation of proteins, vitamins and chlorophyll. Use of sulphur free fertilizers is one of the main reason for the shortage of sulphur in Indian soils. A balanced fertilization which includes sulphur is necessary for the quality growth of oilseed crops. Range of 30-60 kg S/ha significantly influenced crop growth, yield, nutrient uptake and economics of oilseeds. This review provides an insight about the recent research works carried out on oilseeds in terms of sulphur application.

Intelligent Classification of Cocoa Bean using E-nose

Cocoa bean (Theobrama cacao) is an essential raw material in the manufacture of chocolate, and their classification is crucial for the synthesis of good chocolate flavour. Cocoa beans appear to be very similar to one another when visualised. Hence, an electronic device named the electronic nose (E-Nose) is used to classify the odor of cocoa beans to give the best cocoa bean quality. E-nose is a set of an array of chemical sensors used to sense the gas vapours produced by the cocoa bean and the raw data collected was kept in Microsoft Excel, and the classification took place in Octave. They then underwent normalisation technique to increase classification accuracy, and their features were extracted using mean calculation. The features were classified using CBR, and the similarity value is obtained. The results show that CBR's classification accuracy, specificity and sensitivity are all 100%.

HbCOI1 perceives jasmonate to trigger signal transduction in Hevea brasiliensis.

Natural rubber, a strategically essential raw material used in manufacturing throughout the world, is produced from coagulated and refined latex of rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis). It is known that phytohormone jasmonate (JA) plays an essential role in regulating latex biosynthesis. However, it is unclear how the JA signal is sensed in a rubber tree. Here, we showed that H. brasiliensis CORONATINE-INSENSITIVE 1 (HbCOI1) acts as a receptor that perceives JA to recruit H. brasiliensis JASMONATE ZIM DOMAIN1 (HbJAZ1) for signal transduction. We found that HbCOI1 restores male sterility and JA responses of the coi1-1 mutant in Arabidopsis. The identification of a JA receptor in the rubber tree is essential for elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying JA-regulated latex biosynthesis. Our results elucidate the mechanism of JA perception in H. brasiliensis and also provide an efficient strategy to identify JA receptors in woody plants.

Surface defect detection of steel strips based on classification priority YOLOv3-dense network

ABSTRACT The steel strip is an essential raw material in the machinery industry. Besides, the surface defects of the steel strip directly determine its performance. To achieve rapid and effective detection of the defects, a CP-YOLOv3-dense (classification priority YOLOv3 DenseNet) neural network was proposed in the present study. The model used YOLOv3 as basic network, implemented priority classification on the images, and then replaced the two residual network modules with two dense network modules. Therefore, the network can receive the multi-layer convolution features output by the dense connection block before making predictions, consequently enhancing the reuse and fusion of features. Finally, the six kinds of surface defects were detected by the improved network. According to the results, the detection precision of the CP-YOLOv3-dense network is 85.7%, the recall rate is 82.3%, the mean average precision is 82.73%, and the detection time of each image is 9.68 ms.

Pharmacoinformatics and hypothetical studies on allicin, curcumin, and gingerol as potential candidates against COVID-19-associated proteases

Medicinal plants have been known to provide the essential raw material for the majority of antiviral drugs. This study demonstrated the putative inhibitory potential of curcumin, allicin, and gingerol towards cathepsin K, COVID-19 main protease, and SARS-CoV 3 C-like protease. The pharmacokinetic properties were predicted through the SwissADME server while the corresponding binding affinity of the selected phytocompounds towards the proteins was computed using PyRx-Python Prescription 0.8 and the binding free energy were computed based on conventional molecular dynamics using LARMD server. The ADMET properties revealed all the drugs possess drug-like properties. Curcumin has the highest binding affinities with all the selected proteases while allicin has the lowest binding affinities towards the proteases. Moreover, it was observed that curcumin exhibited the highest binding free energy of −17.90 ± 0.23, −18.21 ± 0.25, and −9.67 ± 0.08 kcal/mol for Cathepsin K, COVID-19 main protease, and SARS-CoV 3 C-like protease, respectively. Based on the activities of the phytocompounds against coronavirus target proteases involved in the viral entry as evident from the results, the study, therefore, suggests that these phytocompounds could be valuable for the development of drugs useful for the prevention of coronavirus entry and replication. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Human Platelet Lysate Supports Efficient Expansion and Stability of Wharton's Jelly Mesenchymal Stromal Cells via Active Uptake and Release of Soluble Regenerative Factors.

Manufacturing of mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC)-based therapies for regenerative medicine requires the use of suitable supply of growth factors that enhance proliferation, cell stability and potency during cell expansion. Human blood derivatives such as human platelet lysate (hPL) have emerged as a feasible alternative for cell growth supplement. Nevertheless, composition and functional characterization of hPL in the context of cell manufacturing is still under investigation, particularly regarding the content and function of pro-survival and pro-regenerative factors. We performed comparative analyses of hPL, human serum (hS) and fetal bovine serum (FBS) stability and potency to support Wharton’s jelly (WJ) MSC production. We demonstrated that hPL displayed low inter-batch variation and unique secretome profile that was not present in hS and FBS. Importantly, hPL-derived factors including PDGF family, EGF, TGF-alpha, angiogenin and RANTES were actively taken up by WJ-MSC to support efficient expansion. Moreover, hPL but not hS or FBS induced secretion of osteoprotegerin, HGF, IL-6 and GRO-alpha by WJ-MSC during the expansion phase. Thus, hPL is a suitable source of factors supporting viability, stability and potency of WJ-MSC and therefore constitutes an essential raw material that in combination with WJ-MSC introduces a great opportunity for the generation of potent regenerative medicine products.