Widespread Source Research Articles

Optimization Studies on Acid Hydrolysis of Pretreated Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch for Production of Xylose by Application of Response Surface Methodology

Oil palm empty fruit bunch is a lignocellulosic material from palm oil plantations. It is a potential source of xylose which can be used as a raw material for production of xylitol. Using of lignocellulosic waste for bioconversion to fuels and chemicals is justifiable as these materials are low cost, renewable and widespread sources of sugars. The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of H2SO4 concentration, reaction temperature and reaction time for acid hydrolysis of pretreated OPEFB, pretreated OPEFB with reaction temperature, reaction time and NaOH concentration were 130 °C, 40 min and 15% (w/v), respectively to achieve high xylose yield. Batch reactions were carried out under various reaction temperature, reaction time and H2SO4 concentration. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was followed to optimize acid hydrolysis in order to obtain high yield of xylose. The optimum reaction temperature, reaction time and H2SO4 concentration were found to be 140 °C, 90 min and 7% (w/v), respectively. The maximum value of xylose was obtained 56.39 g/l by using the above condition. The best result of xylose yield obtained was 126%.

BLIP-II Is a Highly Potent Inhibitor of Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase (KPC-2)

β-Lactamase inhibitory protein II (BLIP-II) is a potent inhibitor of class A β-lactamases. KPC-2 is a class A β-lactamase that is capable of hydrolyzing carbapenems and has become a widespread source of resistance to these drugs for Gram-negative bacteria. Determination of association and dissociation rate constants for binding between BLIP-II and KPC-2 reveals a very tight interaction with a calculated (koff/kon) equilibrium dissociation constant of 76 fM (76 × 10(-15) M).

Xylitol production from non-detoxified corncob hemicellulose acid hydrolysate by Candida tropicalis

The interest on use of lignocellulose for producing chemicals is increasing as these feedstocks are low cost, renewable and widespread sources of sugars. Corncob is an attractive raw material for xylitol production due to its high content of xylan. In this study, hemicellulose hydrolysate from corncobs without detoxification was used for xylitol production by Candida tropicalis CCTCC M2012462. Compared with prepared xylose medium, xylitol production with dilute acid hydrolysate medium does not seem to influence specific xylose reductase activity. The decrease in xylitol productivity with dilute acid hydrolysate medium is a result of a lower biomass concentration and lag-phase time. It appears that biomass growth rate is essential for xylitol production. In xylitol fermentation with a low initial inhibitors concentration and substrate feeding strategy, a maximal xylitol concentration of 38.8gl−1 was obtained after 84h of fermentation, giving a yield of 0.7gg−1 xylose and a productivity of 0.46gl−1h−1.

Cortical Sources of Resting State EEG Rhythms are Sensitive to the Progression of Early Stage Alzheimer's Disease

Cortical sources of resting state electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythms are abnormal in subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we tested the hypothesis that these sources are also sensitive to the progression of early stage AD over the course of one year. The resting state eyes-closed EEG data were recorded in 88 mild AD patients at baseline (Mini Mental State Evaluation, MMSE I = 21.7 ± 0.2 standard error, SE) and at approximately one-year follow up (13.3 months ± 0.5 SE; MMSE II = 20 ± 0.4 SE). All patients received standard therapy with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. EEG recordings were also performed in 35 normal elderly (Nold) subjects as controls. EEG rhythms of interest were delta (2-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha 1 (8-10.5 Hz), alpha 2 (10.5-13 Hz), beta 1 (13-20 Hz), beta 2 (20-30 Hz), and gamma (30-40 Hz). Cortical EEG sources were estimated by low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA). Compared to the Nold subjects, the mild AD patients were characterized by a power increase of widespread delta sources and by a power decrease of posterior alpha sources. In the mild AD patients, the follow-up EEG recordings showed increased power of widespread delta sources as well as decreased power of widespread alpha and posterior beta 1 sources. These results suggest that the resting state EEG sources were sensitive, at least at group level, to the cognitive decline occurring in the mild AD group over a one-year period, and might represent cost-effective and non-invasive markers with which to enrich cohorts of AD patients that decline faster for clinical studies.

Piezoelectric Energy Harvester for Wireless Sensors

For the advantage that working without the need for battery replacement and maintenance, the wireless sensor which harvests energy from ambient sources to power itself attracts numerous researches and becomes a focus in sensors. Piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting has the widespread and stable source, higher efficiency and convenient electromechanical coupling. Therefore it becomes prominent in powering wireless sensors. The piezoelectric energy harvester which is used to power wireless sensors is systematically studied in this thesis.

Enteroccoccus in Water, Sediment and Clams in a Tropical Environment,Maracaibo Lake, Venezuela

The genus Enterococcus has widespread extra enteric sources and reservoirs. It has been suggested that coastal and Great Lakes States adopt enterococci as an alternative indicator for the monitoring of recreational water quality. Limited information, however, is available about the presence of enterococci in Lake Maracaibo, which is an important estuary in Venezuela, with the income and interchange of the Caribbean Sea, and is used by the people for recreational purposes and the culture of marine organisms. In this study, the density and species composition of enterococci in sediment, clams and water were examined at Lake Maracaibo.Enterococci was enumerated by the Most Probable Number Technique (MPN), and isolated by standard methods. Results obtained by MPN analyses indicated that enterococci were present in all samples, and their densities were generally higher in clams than sediment and water with means of 1.0x106 MPN/100 g, 2.1x103 MPN/100 g, and 6.0x101 MPN/100 ml, respectively. Dominant Enterococcus species were E. faecalis (65%), E. casseliflavus (20%), E. sanguinicola (5%), E. faecium (5%), and unidentified strains (5%). Results suggest that some enterococci are able to persist in Lake Maracaibo, especially in clams and sediment, for a prolonged amount of time after being introduced.

Clinical Detoxification: Elimination of Persistent Toxicants from the Human Body

Clinical Detoxification: Elimination of Persistent Toxicants from the Human Body

Population parameters incorporated into genome-wide tagSNP selection

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most widespread source of variation in genomes. While the very large number of SNPs allows for a very precise description of genetic variation, it impedes data processing and significantly increases analysis time. Many of the SNPs located close to each other frequently carry the same or similar information. This problem can be solved by selecting the most informative SNPs (tagSNPs) using linkage disequilibrium information by identifying a set of tagSNPs representative for a chromosome fragment. The goal of this study is to check whether the genetic structure of a population, expressed by relationship and inbreeding coefficients, affects tagSNP selection. Six subsets of 450 bulls are selected out of the 1228 Polish Holstein-Friesian bulls genotyped by the Illumina BovineSNP50 Bead Chip. TagSNPs are selected for each of the subsets, as well as for the whole data set. The average reduction of the SNP number is 77.2% and is very similar in each sub-population. Differences in tagSNP selection between sub-populations are small. On average, 93.88% of the tagSNPs overlap between subsets. The study showed that differences in the genetic structure of the reference population have little influence on tagSNP selection.

Optimizing Alkali Pretreatment of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch for Ethanol Production by Application of Response Surface Methodology

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is a potential source of cellulose which can serve as a promising raw material for the production of ethanol. The increasing interest on use of lignocellulosic waste for bioconversion to fuels and chemicals are justifiable as these materials are low cost, renewable and widespread sources of sugars. The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of NaOH concentration, reaction temperature and reaction time for alkali pretreatment to increase the amount of cellulose for hydrolysis to achieve high glucose yield. Batch reactions were carried out under various reaction temperature, reaction time and NaOH concentration. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was followed to optimize the alkali pretreatment in order to obtain high amount of cellulose (%). The optimum reaction temperature, reaction time and NaOH concentration were found to be 130 ˚c, 40 min and 15% (w/v), respectively. The maximum value of cellulose was obtained 68.8% by using the above condition. 19.96 g/L glucose was achieved when reaction was carried out at 130 ˚c for time period of 90 min when 6% (w/v) of H2SO4 concentration maintained.

Use of mobile phones and cordless phones is associated with increased risk for glioma and acoustic neuroma

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) at WHO evaluation of the carcinogenic effect of RF-EMF on humans took place during a 24–31 May 2011 meeting at Lyon in France. The Working Group consisted of 30 scientists and categorised the radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from mobile phones, and from other devices that emit similar non-ionising electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF), as Group 2B, i.e., a ‘possible’, human carcinogen. The decision on mobile phones was based mainly on the Hardell group of studies from Sweden and the IARC Interphone study. We give an overview of current epidemiological evidence for an increased risk for brain tumours including a meta-analysis of the Hardell group and Interphone results for mobile phone use. Results for cordless phones are lacking in Interphone. The meta-analysis gave for glioma in the most exposed part of the brain, the temporal lobe, odds ratio (OR)=1.71, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.04–2.81 in the ≥10 years (>10 years in the Hardell group) latency group. Ipsilateral mobile phone use ≥1640h in total gave OR=2.29, 95% CI=1.56–3.37. The results for meningioma were OR=1.25, 95% CI=0.31–4.98 and OR=1.35, 95% CI=0.81–2.23, respectively. Regarding acoustic neuroma ipsilateral mobile phone use in the latency group ≥10 years gave OR=1.81, 95% CI=0.73–4.45. For ipsilateral cumulative use ≥1640h OR=2.55, 95% CI=1.50–4.40 was obtained. Also use of cordless phones increased the risk for glioma and acoustic neuroma in the Hardell group studies. Survival of patients with glioma was analysed in the Hardell group studies yielding in the >10 years latency period hazard ratio (HR)=1.2, 95% CI=1.002–1.5 for use of wireless phones. This increased HR was based on results for astrocytoma WHO grade IV (glioblastoma multiforme). Decreased HR was found for low-grade astrocytoma, WHO grades I–II, which might be caused by RF-EMF exposure leading to tumour-associated symptoms and earlier detection and surgery with better prognosis. Some studies show increasing incidence of brain tumours whereas other studies do not. It is concluded that one should be careful using incidence data to dismiss results in analytical epidemiology. The IARC carcinogenic classification does not seem to have had any significant impact on governments’ perceptions of their responsibilities to protect public health from this widespread source of radiation.

Latitudinal distribution of reactive iodine in the Eastern Pacific and its link to open ocean sources

Abstract. Ship-based Multi-Axis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy measurements of iodine monoxide (IO) and atmospheric and seawater Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer observations of methyl iodide (CH3I) were made in the Eastern Pacific marine boundary layer during April 2010 as a part of the HaloCarbon Air Sea Transect-Pacific (HaloCAST-P) scientific cruise. The presence of IO in the open ocean environment was confirmed, with a maximum differential slant column density of 5 × 1013 molecules cm−2 along the 1° elevation angle (corresponding to approximately 1 pptv) measured in the oligotrophic region of the Southeastern Pacific. Such low IO mixing ratios and their observed geographical distribution are inconsistent with satellite estimates and with previous understanding of oceanic sources of iodine. A strong correlation was observed between reactive iodine (defined as IO + I) and CH3I, suggesting common sources. In situ measurements of meteorological parameters and physical ocean variables, along with satellite-based observations of Chlorophyll a (Chl a) and Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) were used to gain insight into the possible sources of iodine in this remote environment. Surprisingly, reactive iodine showed a negative correlation (> 99% confidence) to Chl a and CDOM across the cruise transect. However, a significant positive correlation (> 99% confidence) with sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity instead suggests a widespread abiotic source related to the availability of aqueous iodine and to temperature.

Effect of Magnesium Sulfate on the Unconfined Compressive Strength of Cement-Treated Soils

Abstract Cement-treated soil is widely used as highway base, subbase, and roadbed material because there is a widespread source, and it has low cost and high compression strength. However, there are cases where an area using the cement-treated soil may be affected by corrosive ions, such as sulfate ion (SO42−), chloride ion (Cl−), magnesium ion (Mg2+), etc., because of industrial-activity-induced ground contamination, as well as seawater intrusion. In this paper, the effect of magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) on the unconfined compression strength (qu) of cement-treated soil has been investigated experimentally under two conditions: (a) the sample is steeped in MgSO4 solution, and (b) MgSO4 is added into the sample. The main control parameters in this research include cement content (10 %, 15 %, 20 %, and 25 %), concentration of MgSO4 (0.01 mol/l, 0.05 mol/l, and 0.1 mol/l) and curing time (7 days, 14 days, and 28 days). The test results show that the effect of MgSO4 on the qu value is greater when the sample was steeped in MgSO4 solution than by adding MgSO4 into the sample. When the sample was steeped into MgSO4 solution with a concentration of 0.05 mol/l, the qu value was increased, and further increased the concentration-reduced qu value. Also, the test results indicate that qu increased with the increase of cement content. The variation tendencies of the qu value with curing time are different for two different testing conditions.

Calculation of Theoretical Model on Balanced Fertilization in Soil

All quotas fertifization formula in domestic and foreign, does not have consideration correctly exchange using the soil extraneous－N quantity outside fertifization and works as the season fertilizer to the soil nutrient. Calculates low 1~5 times of use factor works as season by constructed ten kinds of fertifization pattern according to works as season surface phenomenon. This will cause assumes counter-related. That both has wasted the massive fertilizers, and becomes the most widespread surface source pollution. At present, proposed the fertilizer use factor law and the entire quota fertifization pattern after inferential reasoning strictly.Hope it becomes the necessary general equation in quota fertifization.

Enterococci in the Environment

Enterococci are common, commensal members of gut communities in mammals and birds, yet they are also opportunistic pathogens that cause millions of human and animal infections annually. Because they are shed in human and animal feces, are readily culturable, and predict human health risks from exposure to polluted recreational waters, they are used as surrogates for waterborne pathogens and as fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in research and in water quality testing throughout the world. Evidence from several decades of research demonstrates, however, that enterococci may be present in high densities in the absence of obvious fecal sources and that environmental reservoirs of these FIB are important sources and sinks, with the potential to impact water quality. This review focuses on the distribution and microbial ecology of enterococci in environmental (secondary) habitats, including the effect of environmental stressors; an outline of their known and apparent sources, sinks, and fluxes; and an overview of the use of enterococci as FIB. Finally, the significance of emerging methodologies, such as microbial source tracking (MST) and empirical predictive models, as tools in water quality monitoring is addressed. The mounting evidence for widespread extraenteric sources and reservoirs of enterococci demonstrates the versatility of the genus Enterococcus and argues for the necessity of a better understanding of their ecology in natural environments, as well as their roles as opportunistic pathogens and indicators of human pathogens.

A Note on Blast-Monitor and Conventional Seismic Network Recordings of Moderate-Sized Earthquakes in the Central United States

Abstract Since the mid 1980s small and moderate‐sized earthquakes in the Ohio and Wabash River valleys of the central United States (CUS) have been digitally recorded by seismographs, called blast monitors, deployed to detect and characterize vibrations from explosions associated with regional mining and quarrying. Because there were relatively few conventional networked strong‐motion and broadband instruments for this area between 1980 and the early 2000s, the more than 200 collected observations have provided a widespread source of digital earthquake ground motions. Additional deployment of networked instrumentation during the last decade and their numerous recordings of the 18 April 2008 Mt. Carmel Illinois earthquake sequence have provided the first effective means for comparing free‐field blast‐monitor and conventional network ground motion observations. The peak ground motion characteristics for both data sets relative to a common predictive relationship are similar, suggesting that blast monitor observations compliment conventional network data for small and moderate‐sized ( M

Model-Free Trajectory Optimisation for Unmanned Aircraft Serving as Data Ferries for Widespread Sensors

Given multiple widespread stationary data sources such as ground-based sensors, an unmanned aircraft can fly over the sensors and gather the data via a wireless link. Performance criteria for such a network may incorporate costs such as trajectory length for the aircraft or the energy required by the sensors for radio transmission. Planning is hampered by the complex vehicle and communication dynamics and by uncertainty in the locations of sensors, so we develop a technique based on model-free learning. We present a stochastic optimisation method that allows the data-ferrying aircraft to optimise data collection trajectories through an unknown environment in situ, obviating the need for system identification. We compare two trajectory representations, one that learns near-optimal trajectories at low data requirements but that fails at high requirements, and one that gives up some performance in exchange for a data collection guarantee. With either encoding the ferry is able to learn significantly improved trajectories compared with alternative heuristics. To demonstrate the versatility of the model-free learning approach, we also learn a policy to minimise the radio transmission energy required by the sensor nodes, allowing prolonged network lifetime.

Generation and expansion of laser-induced plasma as a spectroscopic emission source

Laser-induced plasma represents today a widespread spectroscopic emission source. It can be easily generated using compact and reliable nanosecond pulsed laser on a large variety of materials. Its application for spectrochemical analysis for example with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has become so popular that one tends to forget the complex physical and chemical processes leading to its generation and governing its evolution. The purpose of this review article is to summarize the backgrounds necessary to understand and describe the laser-induced plasma from its generation to its expansion into the ambient gas. The objective is not to go into the details of each process; there are numerous specialized papers and books for that in the literature. The goal here is to gather in a same paper the essential understanding elements needed to describe laser-induced plasma as results from a complex process. These elements can be dispersed in several related but independent fields such as laser-matter interaction, laser ablation of material, optical and thermodynamic properties of hot and ionized gas, or plasma propagation in a background gas. We believe that presenting the ensemble of understanding elements of laser-induced plasma in a comprehensive way and in limited pages of this paper will be helpful for further development and optimized use of the LIBS technique. Experimental results obtained in our laboratory are used to illustrate the studied physical processes each time such illustration becomes possible and helpful.

External adjustment for unmeasured confounders improved drug–outcome association estimates based on health care utilization data

ObjectivesHealth care utilization (HCU) databases are widespread sources of data for pharmacoepidemiologic investigations. Possible confounders are typically not measured in such databases. We show how to assess the impact of confounders in a study aimed at comparing cardiovascular (CV) risk according to drug regimen prescribed at starting antihypertensive therapy, nominally one agent (monotherapy) or a combination of agents in a unique tablet (fixed-dose combination) or in at least two distinct tablets (extemporaneous combination). Study Design and SettingsA nested case–control study was carried out by including the 209,650 patients from Lombardy (Italy) newly treated between 2000 and 2001. Cases were the 10,688 patients who were hospitalized for CV disease until 2007. Three controls were selected for each case. Logistic regression was used to model the CV risk associated with initial therapeutic regimen. A Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis was performed for accounting unmeasured confounders (hypertension severity and chronic disease score) by means of external adjustment with medical record (MR) data. ResultsCompared with patients on fixed-dose combination, those on extemporaneous combination or monotherapy, respectively, had CV risk increased to 15% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3%, 29%) or 17% (95% CI: 8%, 26%). External adjustment did not modify the risk associated with monotherapy. In contrast, the excess of risk associated with extemporaneous combination was annulled when external adjustment was applied. ConclusionMR data can be used to assess confounding bias unmeasured from HCU database. Starting antihypertensive therapy with a combination of agents probably reduces the CV risk with respect to monotherapy, even in the setting of primary prevention.

Urinary p-cresol in autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder with onset during early childhood and life-long consequences in most cases. It is characterized by impairment in social interaction and communication, as well as by restricted patterns of interest and stereotyped behaviors. The etiology of autism is highly heterogeneous, encompassing a large range of genetic and environmental factors. Several lines of evidence suggest that, in addition to broader diagnostic criteria and increased awareness, also a real increase in incidence primarily due to greater gene–environment interactions may also be occurring. Environmental exposure to the organic aromatic compound p-cresol (4-methylphenol) is relatively common and occurs through the skin, as well as the gastrointestinal and respiratory systems. However, the largest and most widespread source of this compound is represented by some gut bacteria which express p-cresol synthesizing enzymes not found in human cells. Urinary p-cresol and its conjugated derivative p-cresylsulfate have been found elevated in an initial sample and recently in a replica sample of autistic children below 8years of age, where it is associated with female sex, greater clinical severity regardless of sex, and history of behavioral regression. Potential sources of p-cresol excess in ASD, such as gut infection, chronic constipation, antibiotics, abnormal intestinal permeability, and environmental exposure, are being investigated. P-cresol may contribute to worsen autism severity and gut dysfunction, often present in autistic children. It may also contribute to a multibiomarker diagnostic panel useful in small autistic children.

First record of an indoor pest sawtoothed grain beetle <i>Oryzaephilus surinamensis</i> (Coleoptera: Silvanidae) from wild outdoor wood ant nest

Alive individual adult sawtoothed grain beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis (Linnaeus, 1758) was discovered inside a nest mound of the red wood ant Formica rufa Linnaeus, 1758 during a survey of myrmecophilous invertebrates. The sawtoothed grain beetle is a widespread indoor pest that has not previously been found in an ant nest. It is one of the most common pests in stored grain and cereal products, but the natural life-style of the species is not known. As the site of discovery was exceptional, we verified the species identification using the DNA barcode. If the sawtoothed grain beetle can live in mounds of red wood ants, the mounds may become widespread source habitats for the future infestations of this serious stored product pest.