Mining for novel cyclomaltodextrin glucanotransferases unravels the carbohydrate metabolism pathway via cyclodextrins in Thermoanaerobacterales

Carbohydrate metabolism via cyclodextrins (CM-CD) is an uncommon starch-converting pathway that thoroughly depends on extracellular cyclomaltodextrin glucanotransferases (CGTases) to transform the surrounding starch substrate to α-(1,4)-linked oligosaccharides and cyclodextrins (CDs). The CM-CD pathway has emerged as a convenient microbial adaptation to thrive under extreme temperatures, as CDs are functional amphipathic toroids with higher heat-resistant values than linear dextrins. Nevertheless, although the CM-CD pathway has been described in a few mesophilic bacteria and archaea, it remains obscure in extremely thermophilic prokaryotes (Topt ≥ 70 °C). Here, a new monophyletic group of CGTases with an exceptional three-domain ABC architecture was detected by (meta)genome mining of extremely thermophilic Thermoanaerobacterales living in a wide variety of hot starch-poor environments on Earth. Functional studies of a representative member, CldA, showed a maximum activity in a thermoacidophilic range (pH 4.0 and 80 °C) with remarkable product diversification that yielded a mixture of α:β:γ-CDs (34:62:4) from soluble starch, as well as G3–G7 linear dextrins and fermentable sugars as the primary products. Together, comparative genomics and predictive functional analysis, combined with data of the functionally characterized key proteins of the gene clusters encoding CGTases, revealed the CM-CD pathway in Thermoanaerobacterales and showed that it is involved in the synthesis, transportation, degradation, and metabolic assimilation of CDs.

Small and Medium Enterprises in Bolivia, a Look Back to the Future, 1900 - 2020

The main objective of this article is to analyze Bolivian small and medium enterprises (SMEs), their evolution, and their contribution to the country's economy. The globalization of markets is currently a reality to which companies are exposed for their survival, growth and development. In developing countries such as the plurinational State of Bolivia, this reality becomes more relevant due to the socioeconomic characteristics of the country, where the main economic activity is dependent on the export of non-renewable natural resources (natural gas and minerals), and to a lesser extent the export of primary products. In this context, the article shows that SMEs struggle to consolidate their position in local markets, and have a low participation in global markets. The article reviews relevant secondary and primary literature, and concludes that SMEs require public and private support to contribute to the promotion of entrepreneurial culture, enter into global production chains, develop technological and innovation capabilities, and achieve growth in a sustainable manner and with high levels of competitiveness. The research method used is the review of relevant primary and secondary bibliographic sources of information about the origins, evolution and current situation of SMEs in Bolivia, and about possible alternatives for growth and development.

Neuromarketing: The Philosophy and Culture of Consumerism in Indonesia

Neuromarketing is a revolutionary idea, which combines several disciplines such as psychology, economics, and neuroscience. Indonesia as a developing country that has experienced a fairly rapid economic escalation in the past decade, with the potential for a consumer culture as well as a large purchasing capacity, is a viable market for the application of neuromarketing which is also developing in the world. This review aims to learn more about the idea of neuromarketing, its relation to consumerism culture, and its opportunities in the Indonesian market. For the relevance of the study, this review has also involved the field of neuroscience to discuss philosophical approaches from the use of the subconscious mind, consumerism culture, and the application of neuromarketing in Indonesia today which are known to have successfully utilized neuromarketing principles to boost their sales. However, this technique is not without challenges. In this study, we identified at least some problems, both related to ethics, effectiveness for primary products, to expensive research tools. However, despite these problems, we consider that the use of neuromarketing still has good potential to be applied more widely in Indonesia.

World Trade Flows in XX Century

International trade represents the exchange of goods and services across state borders. In most countries, it forms a significant part of Gross Domestic Products (GDP). Although international trade has been presented throughout history, its economic, social, and political importance has increased in recent centuries, mainly due to industrialization, transport development, globalization, and multinational corporations. The work is planned methodologically to be explored through the graphic method, the method of index numbers and the average annual rate of change, and the trend method. The analysis of work is divided over the period. The first period is considered from 1948-1999, the second period from 1980-1999. In the 20th century, there were significant changes in the structure of international trade. By the 1960s, dominant products in international trade were primary products (raw materials), while from that period the international trade was dominated by industrial products.

CONTROL AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF EXTRACTION PROCESS IN INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY OF BETA-CAROTINE FROM BLAKESLEA TRISPORA

The technological parameters, namely temperature and duration of β-carotene extraction process from the biomass of filamentous fungus Blakeslea trispora with vegetable oils of various fatty acid compositions and with various contents of natural antioxidants (refined deodorized sunflower, viso-oleic sunflower, corn and sesame) have been investigated. Statistical models of dependences of β-carotene, as well as analytical numbers, characterizing the content of free fatty acids (acid number) and primary products of lipid oxidation (peroxide number) content, in oil extracts of the specified refined deodorized oils, from temperature and extraction duration have been built. Rational parameters of β-carotene extraction from Blakeslea trispora biomass with selected extractants (refined deodorized sunflower, high oleic sunflower, corn and sesame oils) have been determined for the extracts technological properties control. It has been proven that the use of these refined deodorized oils as extractants practically does not affect the content of the target product in oil extracts of biomass, but it does affect the analytical numbers of extracts characterizing the content of free fatty acids, peroxides and hydroperoxides. The highest content of free fatty acids in β-carotene containing biomass extraction with sunflower oil has been observed. The minimum content of free fatty acids in extracts with corn and sesame oils using has been be achieved. The highest content of primary products of lipid oxidation (peroxides and hydroperoxides) during β-carotene containing biomass extraction by sunflower oil has been observed. The minimum content of free fatty acids in extracts with sesame oil using has been achieved. It is possible to predict β-carotene content, as well as acid and peroxide numbers of oil extracts from biomass in specified refined deodorized oils, depending on temperature and extraction process duration using the obtained approximation dependences.

Aprecierea unor indici de calitate la fructele de prun, crescute direcționat pentru păstrare

Foliar treatments of plum trees with the natural growth regulator Reglalg and microelements B, Zn, Mn, Mo stimulate photosynthetic activity and the accumulation of assimilates in trees and plum fruits, participates in the formation of organic compounds in plants. Our investigations demonstrate that the use of these preparations favored the accumulation of dry matter, total carbohydrates, primary products of the photosynthesis process, and the achievement of balanced taste harmony, characteristic for the studied va-rieties at the time of harvest. In the maturity stage of fruits, the variant with the application of SBA Re-glalg with m.e. B, Zn, Mn, Mo proved to be more resultant in relation to the control variant, a fact regis-tered for both varieties.

Synergy of Single Atoms Pd and Oxygen Vacancies on In2O3 for Highly Selective C1 Oxygenates Production from Methane under Visible Light

Methane (CH4) oxidation to high value chemicals under mild conditions through photocatalysis is a sustainable and appealing pathway, nevertheless confronting the critical issues on both conversion and selectivity. Herein, under visible irradiation (420 nm), the synergy of palladium (Pd) atom cocatalyst and oxygen vacancies (OVs) on In2O3 nanorods enabled superior photocatalytic CH4 activation by O2. The optimised catalyst reached ca. 100 µmol·h− 1 of C1 oxygenates, with a selectivity of primary products (CH3OH and CH3OOH) up to 82.5 %. Mechanism investigation elucidated that such superior photocatalysis was induced by the dedicated function of Pd single atoms and oxygen vacancies on boosting hole and electron transfer pathway, respectively. O2 was proven to be the only oxygen source for CH3OH production, while H2O acted as the promoter for efficient CH4 activation through ·OH production and facilitated product desorption as indicated by DFT modelling. This work thus provides new understandings on simultaneous regulation of activity and selectivity by the significant synergy of single atom cocatalysts and oxygen vacancies.

The Impact of Terms of Trade on the Export Structure of Manufactured Products in Different Economic Developing Status

The Prebisch-Singer Hypothesis states that in structural time series analysis, the terms of trade between primary products and manufacturers have a negative deterministic trend. Many researchers argued that the deterioration in trade is the type of country in which the products are exported, regardless of whether the types of products exported by such countries are primary or manufactured products. This paper employs a development-differentiated model to analyze the correlation between various terms of trade and the export proportion of manufactured products on different economies of development status. In the long run, stable co-integration relations exist between terms of trade and the export proportion of manufactured products for development status. Furthermore, the increased proportion of manufactured products exports is the Granger casualty for the worse terms of trade for several economies of development status. The results demonstrated that changing the terms of trade is significantly influenced by structured changes in the export proportion of manufactured products for the development status of economies.

Digital banking in the complex of marketing and human resource management: improving the approach to the assessment as an innovative component

The research evaluates the activity of using digital banking in components of the marketing mix of Ukrainian banks, such as «product», «place», «promotion», and «price». The developed methodological approach is based on the analysis of traditional bank's marketing mix elements and their innovative components, mainly digital banking. It has been established that banks, offering a generally standard set of primary products, introduce product innovations quite unevenly. According to the «place» component of the marketing mix, it has been noted that the pace of traditional marketing replacement by banking innovations marketing is slow. Regarding the «promotion» component of the marketing mix, the distribution of the indicators of the bank's activity in the use of social networks is uneven. Facebook is more used than Instagram, and not all banks use YouTube's capabilities. Banks are market leaders that use social networks and the Internet most actively.