scholarly journals Plastic Degradation by Extremophilic Bacteria

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5610
Author(s):  
Nikolina Atanasova ◽  
Stoyanka Stoitsova ◽  
Tsvetelina Paunova-Krasteva ◽  
Margarita Kambourova
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperatures ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Psychrophilic Bacteria ◽  
Intensive Exploitation ◽  
Extremophilic Microorganisms ◽  
Plastic Degradation ◽  
Future Technologies ◽  
The Impact

Intensive exploitation, poor recycling, low repeatable use, and unusual resistance of plastics to environmental and microbiological action result in accumulation of huge waste amounts in terrestrial and marine environments, causing enormous hazard for human and animal life. In the last decades, much scientific interest has been focused on plastic biodegradation. Due to the comparatively short evolutionary period of their appearance in nature, sufficiently effective enzymes for their biodegradation are not available. Plastics are designed for use in conditions typical for human activity, and their physicochemical properties roughly change at extreme environmental parameters like low temperatures, salt, or low or high pH that are typical for the life of extremophilic microorganisms and the activity of their enzymes. This review represents a first attempt to summarize the extraordinarily limited information on biodegradation of conventional synthetic plastics by thermophilic, alkaliphilic, halophilic, and psychrophilic bacteria in natural environments and laboratory conditions. Most of the available data was reported in the last several years and concerns moderate extremophiles. Two main questions are highlighted in it: which extremophilic bacteria and their enzymes are reported to be involved in the degradation of different synthetic plastics, and what could be the impact of extremophiles in future technologies for resolving of pollution problems.

Simulation of the Impact of Higher Ammonia Recycle Loads Caused by Upgrading Anaerobic Sludge Digesters

2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy T. Kraemer ◽  
David M. Bagley
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Content Increase ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Dynamic Simulations ◽  
Treatment Train ◽  
Temperature Liquid ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Upgrading conventional single-stage mesophilic anaerobic digestion to an advanced digestion technology can increase sludge stability, reduce pathogen content, increase biogas production, and also increase ammonia concentrations recycled back to the liquid treatment train. Limited information is available to assess whether the higher ammonia recycle loads from an anaerobic sludge digestion upgrade would lead to higher discharge effluent ammonia concentrations. Biowin, a commercially available wastewater treatment plant simulation package, was used to predict the effects of anaerobic digestion upgrades on the liquid train performance, especially effluent ammonia concentrations. A factorial analysis indicated that the influent total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and influent alkalinity each had a 50-fold larger influence on the effluent NH3 concentration than either the ambient temperature, liquid train SRT or anaerobic digestion efficiency. Dynamic simulations indicated that the diurnal variation in effluent NH3 concentration was 9 times higher than the increase due to higher digester VSR. Higher recycle NH3 loads caused by upgrades to advanced digestion techniques can likely be adequately managed by scheduling dewatering to coincide with periods of low influent TKN load and ensuring sufficient alkalinity for nitrification.

Psychological Impacts of COVID-19 During the First Nationwide Lockdown in Vietnam: Web-Based, Cross-Sectional Survey Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khanh Ngoc Cong Duong ◽  
Tien Nguyen Le Bao ◽  
Phuong Thi Lan Nguyen ◽  
Thanh Vo Van ◽  
Toi Phung Lam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
General Population ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Event Scale ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND The first nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic was implemented in Vietnam from April 1 to 15, 2020. Nevertheless, there has been limited information on the impact of COVID-19 on the psychological health of the public. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of psychological issues and identify the factors associated with the psychological impact of COVID-19 during the first nationwide lockdown among the general population in Vietnam. METHODS We employed a cross-sectional study design with convenience sampling. A self-administered, online survey was used to collect data and assess psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and stress of participants from April 10 to 15, 2020. The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) were utilized to assess psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and stress of participants during social distancing due to COVID-19. Associations across factors were explored using regression analysis. RESULTS A total of 1385 respondents completed the survey. Of this, 35.9% (n=497) experienced psychological distress, as well as depression (n=325, 23.5%), anxiety (n=195, 14.1%), and stress (n=309, 22.3%). Respondents who evaluated their physical health as average had a higher IES-R score (beta coefficient [B]=9.16, 95% CI 6.43 to 11.89), as well as higher depression (B=5.85, 95% CI 4.49 to 7.21), anxiety (B=3.64, 95% CI 2.64 to 4.63), and stress (B=5.19, 95% CI 3.83 to 6.56) scores for DASS-21 than those who rated their health as good or very good. Those who self-reported their health as bad or very bad experienced more severe depression (B=9.57, 95% CI 4.54 to 14.59), anxiety (B=7.24, 95% CI 3.55 to 10.9), and stress (B=10.60, 95% CI 5.56 to 15.65). Unemployment was more likely to be associated with depression (B=3.34, 95% CI 1.68 to 5.01) and stress (B=2.34, 95% CI 0.84 to 3.85). Regarding worries about COVID-19, more than half (n=755, 54.5%) expressed concern for their children aged <18 years, which increased their IES-R score (B=7.81, 95% CI 4.98 to 10.64) and DASS-21 stress score (B=1.75, 95% CI 0.27 to 3.24). The majority of respondents (n=1335, 96.4%) were confident about their doctor’s expertise in terms of COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment, which was positively associated with less distress caused by the outbreak (B=–7.84, 95% CI –14.58 to –1.11). CONCLUSIONS The findings highlight the effect of COVID-19 on mental health during the nationwide lockdown among the general population in Vietnam. The study provides useful evidence for policy decision makers to develop and implement interventions to mitigate these impacts. CLINICALTRIAL

scholarly journals Reciprocal hemizygosity analysis reveals that the Saccharomyces cerevisiae CGI121 gene affects lag time duration in synthetic grape must

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Runze Li ◽  
Rebecca C Deed
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Low Temperatures ◽  
Lag Time ◽  
Lag Phase ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Time Duration ◽  
Phase Duration ◽  
Grape Must ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Reciprocal Hemizygosity Analysis

Abstract It is standard practice to ferment white wines at low temperatures (10-18 °C). However, low temperatures increase fermentation duration and risk of problem ferments, leading to significant costs. The lag duration at fermentation initiation is heavily impacted by temperature; therefore, identification of Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes influencing fermentation kinetics is of interest for winemaking. We selected 28 S. cerevisiae BY4743 single deletants, from a prior list of open reading frames (ORFs) mapped to quantitative trait loci (QTLs) on chromosomes VII and XIII, influencing the duration of fermentative lag time. Five BY4743 deletants, Δapt1, Δcgi121, Δclb6, Δrps17a, and Δvma21, differed significantly in their fermentative lag duration compared to BY4743 in synthetic grape must (SGM) at 15 °C, over 72 h. Fermentation at 12.5 °C for 528 h confirmed the longer lag times of BY4743 Δcgi121, Δrps17a, and Δvma21. These three candidate ORFs were deleted in S. cerevisiae RM11-1a and S288C to perform single reciprocal hemizygosity analysis (RHA). RHA hybrids and single deletants of RM11-1a and S288C were fermented at 12.5 °C in SGM and lag time measurements confirmed that the S288C allele of CGI121 on chromosome XIII, encoding a component of the EKC/KEOPS complex, increased fermentative lag phase duration. Nucleotide sequences of RM11-1a and S288C CGI121 alleles differed by only one synonymous nucleotide, suggesting that intron splicing, codon bias, or positional effects might be responsible for the impact on lag phase duration. This research demonstrates a new role of CGI121 and highlights the applicability of QTL analysis for investigating complex phenotypic traits in yeast.

scholarly journals Using Satellite Data for CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) Threat Detection, Monitoring, and Modelling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Sutlieff ◽  
Lucy Berthoud ◽  
Mark Stinchcombe
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Data ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Chemical Detection ◽  
List Type ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Future Technologies ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Near Future

Abstract CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) threats are becoming more prevalent, as more entities gain access to modern weapons and industrial technologies and chemicals. This has produced a need for improvements to modelling, detection, and monitoring of these events. While there are currently no dedicated satellites for CBRN purposes, there are a wide range of possibilities for satellite data to contribute to this field, from atmospheric composition and chemical detection to cloud cover, land mapping, and surface property measurements. This study looks at currently available satellite data, including meteorological data such as wind and cloud profiles, surface properties like temperature and humidity, chemical detection, and sounding. Results of this survey revealed several gaps in the available data, particularly concerning biological and radiological detection. The results also suggest that publicly available satellite data largely does not meet the requirements of spatial resolution, coverage, and latency that CBRN detection requires, outside of providing terrain use and building height data for constructing models. Lastly, the study evaluates upcoming instruments, platforms, and satellite technologies to gauge the impact these developments will have in the near future. Improvements in spatial and temporal resolution as well as latency are already becoming possible, and new instruments will fill in the gaps in detection by imaging a wider range of chemicals and other agents and by collecting new data types. This study shows that with developments coming within the next decade, satellites should begin to provide valuable augmentations to CBRN event detection and monitoring. Article Highlights There is a wide range of existing satellite data in fields that are of interest to CBRN detection and monitoring. The data is mostly of insufficient quality (resolution or latency) for the demanding requirements of CBRN modelling for incident control. Future technologies and platforms will improve resolution and latency, making satellite data more viable in the CBRN management field

scholarly journals The impact of environmental variables on the spread of COVID-19 in the Republic of Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Kwan Lim ◽  
Oh Joo Kweon ◽  
Hye Ryoun Kim ◽  
Tae-Hyoung Kim ◽  
Mi-Kyung Lee
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Republic Of Korea ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Ozone Level ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Impact

AbstractCorona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been declared a global pandemic and is a major public health concern worldwide. In this study, we aimed to determine the role of environmental factors, such as climate and air pollutants, in the transmission of COVID-19 in the Republic of Korea. We collected epidemiological and environmental data from two regions of the Republic of Korea, namely Seoul metropolitan region (SMR) and Daegu-Gyeongbuk region (DGR) from February 2020 to July 2020. The data was then analyzed to identify correlations between each environmental factor with confirmed daily COVID-19 cases. Among the various environmental parameters, the duration of sunshine and ozone level were found to positively correlate with COVID-19 cases in both regions. However, the association of temperature variables with COVID-19 transmission revealed contradictory results when comparing the data from SMR and DGR. Moreover, statistical bias may have arisen due to an extensive epidemiological investigation and altered socio-behaviors that occurred in response to a COVID-19 outbreak. Nevertheless, our results suggest that various environmental factors may play a role in COVID-19 transmission.

scholarly journals The Impact of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias on Dental Care Utilization and Costs in Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 800-800
Author(s):  
Sam Li ◽  
Isaac Donkor ◽  
Liang Hong ◽  
Kevin Lu ◽  
Bei Wu
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Dental Care ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Care Utilization ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Dental Care Utilization ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Care Costs

Abstract There is limited information on the impact of cognition function on dental care utilization and costs. This study used the Medicare current beneficiaries survey in 2016 and included 4,268 participants 65+. Dental care utilization and costs were measured by self-report and included preventive and treatment events. Negative binomial regression and generalized linear regression were used to examine the impact of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementia (RD) on dental care utilization and costs. We found that AD was not associated with dental care utilization, but RD was associated with a lower number of total treatment dental care visits (IRR: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.37~0.98). RD was not associated with dental care costs, but AD was associated with higher total dental care costs (estimate: 1.08; 95% CI: 0.14~2.01) and higher out-of-pocket costs (estimate: 1.25; 95% CI: 0.17~2.32). AD and RD had different impacts on different types of dental care utilization and costs. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Oral Health Interest Group.

scholarly journals The Impact of Interruptions on Feature Change Detection within Dynamic Scenes

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 1430-1434
Author(s):  
Kimberly N. Perry ◽  
Mark W. Scerbo
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Situation Awareness ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Dynamic Scenes ◽  
Feature Change ◽  
Activation Level ◽  
Level 1 ◽  
Perceptual Changes ◽  
The Impact

The goal of the present study was to examine how interruptions occurring in dynamic scenes affect the ability to detect perceptual changes during level 1 situation awareness (SA). Undergraduates were asked to watch 24 brief videos (half with interruptions) including 8 with perceptual feature changes. All videos were unique and contained multiple dynamic objects. Three different sets of instructions regarding the changes were given to successive groups: no information, limited information, and feature specific information. Of the eight changes, half occurred during a visual interruption and half with no interruption. Results showed that participants detected few changes, but detections increased when given more information about the nature of the changes in the absence of interruptions. The findings suggest that interruptions may facilitate the decay of an objects’ activation level in working memory and that level 1 SA may be particularly fragile when the visual scene is interrupted.

Analysis of Ferroelectric Microcapacitors by Scanning Probe Microscope

2004 ◽  
Vol 811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuhiro Kin ◽  
Koichiro Honda
Keyword(s):  
High Temperatures ◽  
Low Temperatures ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Ferroelectric Material ◽  
Scanning Probe Microscope ◽  
Scanning Probe ◽  
Electrical Heater ◽  
Device Processing ◽  
Probe Microscope ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTTo develop higher density FRAM requires reducing cell size. Therefore, the size effects resulting from device processing and the material's physical properties must be measured. Therefore, analyzing the electric characteristics of a single bit cell capacitor has become important. Two known characteristics of ferroelectric material are that the Vc increases at low temperatures, and the Pr falls at high temperatures. To further evaluate the impact of temperature on ferroelectrics, we constructed a new evaluation system based on a scanning probe microscope, that can measure the electric characteristics of a single bit cell capacitor. This system can be used in the temperature range from −120 degrees to 300 degrees C. We accomplished this by circulating liquid nitrogen around a SPM stage and by using an electrical heater. We measured the electrical properties of ferroelectric microcapacitors by using a sample with IrOx/PZT/Pt structure. Our measurements revealed that 2Pr really increases at low temperatures, and Pr decreases at high temperatures. That is, we have shown that Vc increases 30% at low temperatures and Pr decreases 10% also in an actual FRAM single bit cell capacitor.

scholarly journals The Impact of Sampling Season and Catching Site (Wild and Aquaculture) on Gut Microbiota Composition and Diversity of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Negash Kabtimer Bereded ◽  
Getachew Beneberu Abebe ◽  
Solomon Workneh Fanta ◽  
Manuel Curto ◽  
Herwig Waidbacher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Nile Tilapia ◽  
Alpha Diversity ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Illumina Miseq ◽  
Microbial Composition ◽  
Lake Tana ◽  
Future Work ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sampling Season

The gut microbiota of fishes is known to play an essential role in diverse aspects of host biology. The gut microbiota of fish is affected by various environmental parameters, including temperature changes, salinity and diet. Studies of effect of environment on gut microbiota enables to have a further understanding of what comprises a healthy microbiota under different environmental conditions. However, there is insufficient understanding regarding the effects of sampling season and catching site (wild and aquaculture) on the gut microbiota of Nile tilapia. This study characterised gut microbial composition and diversity from samples collected from Lake Tana and the Bahir Dar aquaculture facility centre using 16S rDNA Illumina MiSeq platform sequencing. Firmicutes and Fusobacteria were the most dominant phyla in the Lake Tana samples, while Proteobacteria was the most dominant in the aquaculture samples. The results of differential abundance testing clearly indicated significant differences for Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria across sampling months. However, Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Fusobacteria and Cyanobacteria were significantly enriched in the comparison of samples from the Lake Tana and aquaculture centre. Significant differences were observed in microbial diversity across sampling months and between wild and captive Nile tilapia. The alpha diversity clearly showed that samples from the aquaculture centre (captive) had a higher diversity than the wild Nile tilapia samples from Lake Tana. The core gut microbiota of all samples of Nile tilapia used in our study comprised Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Fusobacteria. This study clearly showed the impact of sampling season and catching site (wild and aquaculture) on the diversity and composition of bacterial communities associated with the gut of Nile tilapia. Overall, this is the first study on the effects of sampling season and catching site on the gut microbiota of Nile tilapia in Ethiopia. Future work is recommended to precisely explain the causes of these changes using large representative samples of Nile tilapia from different lakes and aquaculture farms.

scholarly journals Influence of the Anthocyanin and Cofactor Structure on the Formation Efficiency of Naturally Derived Pyranoanthocyanins

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 6708
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Miyagusuku-Cruzado ◽  
Danielle M. Voss ◽  
M. Monica Giusti
Keyword(s):  
Caffeic Acid ◽  
Chemical Structure ◽  
Sinapic Acid ◽  
Molar Ratio ◽  
Tandem Mass ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Formation Efficiency ◽  
The Impact ◽  
And Storage ◽  
H 20

Pyranoanthocyanins are anthocyanin-derived pigments with higher stability to pH and storage. However, their slow formation and scarcity in nature hinder their industrial application. Pyranoanthocyanin formation can be accelerated by selecting anthocyanin substitutions, cofactor concentrations, and temperature. Limited information is available on the impacts of the chemical structure of the cofactor and anthocyanin; therefore, we evaluated their impacts on pyranoanthocyanin formation efficiency under conditions reported as favorable for the reaction. Different cofactors were evaluated including pyruvic acid, acetone, and hydroxycinnamic acids (p-coumaric, caffeic, ferulic, and sinapic acid) by incubating them with anthocyanins in a molar ratio of 1:30 (anthocyanin:cofactor), pH 3.1, and 45 °C. The impact of the anthocyanin aglycone was evaluated by incubating delphinidin, cyanidin, petunidin, or malvidin derivatives with the most efficient cofactor (caffeic acid) under identical conditions. Pigments were identified using UHPLC-PDA and tandem mass spectrometry, and pyranoanthocyanin formation was monitored for up to 72 h. Pyranoanthocyanin yields were the highest with caffeic acid (~17% at 72 h, p < 0.05). When comparing anthocyanins, malvidin-3-O-glycosides yielded twice as many pyranoanthocyanins after 24 h (~20%, p < 0.01) as cyanidin-3-O-glycosides. Petunidin- and delphinidin-3-O-glycosides yielded <2% pyranoanthocyanins. This study demonstrated the importance of anthocyanin and cofactor selection in pyranoanthocyanin production.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document