Fabrication technique of composite chitosan/alginate membrane module for greywater treatment

A novel chitosan/alginate composite membrane is proposed for the application of greywater treatment. In particular, the effect of stirring speed of mixing chitosan and alginate solution was investigated in this study. The study revealed that 150CSAL and 210CSAL membranes swell significantly compared to CS membrane due to the porous structure of composite membrane. The FTIR spectra revealed that the mixing speed has no influence in terms of molecular interaction between CS and AL due to fixed CS and AL concentrations used in this study. On the other hand, the complexation of AL with CS made outstanding improvement to the dense structure of CS where 180CSAL membrane has UP water flux as high as 90 L/m2h at 2 bar. All membranes have the capability to remove the pollutants present in GW and the COD removal was further improved up to 7% using CSAL membranes. In addition, increasing mixing speed improved the pathogen removal efficiency compared to CS membrane. The treated GW met the non-potable GW reuse standard for turbidity<5 NTU and TSS<20 mg/L. To summarize, the proposed fabrication technique on CSAL membrane showed improved characteristics to CS membrane and has significant performance on GW treatment.

Genetic improvement of wheat - A review

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plays a major role among the few crop species being extensively grown as staple food sources. As the human population grows, new methods and approaches must be found to attain wheat cultivars with improved characteristics. The challenge now is to produce higher-yielding varieties with good technological quality that are resistant or tolerant to a wide range of biotic and abiotic stresses. However, because of the critical nutritional status of human population, there is an urgent need for development of such wheat varieties that would be more nutritious (with improved protein, zinc, iron, etc. value), meeting our health demands. This article summarises present status in this field.

Synthetic Biology-Based Approaches for Microalgal Bio-Removal of Heavy Metals From Wastewater Effluents

Heavy metal polluted wastewater from industries is currently one of the major environmental concerns leading to insufficient supply of clean water. Several strategies have been implemented to overcome this challenge including the use of microalgae as heavy metal bio-removers. However, there are still limitations that prevent microalgae to function optimally. Synthetic biology is a new biological discipline developed to solve challenging problems via bioengineering approaches. To date, synthetic biology has no universally affirmed definitions; however, it is uncontroversial that synthetic biology utilizes a constructive library of genetic standardized parts to create new biological systems or to redesign existing ones with improved characteristics. In this mini-review, we present state-of-the-art synthetic biology-based approaches that can be used to enhance heavy metal bio-removal from wastewater effluents by microalgae with a narrative synthetic biology workflow (Design-Build-Test-Learn cycle) to guide future developments of more advanced systems. We also provide insights into potent genes and proteins responsible for the bio-removal processes for stepwise developments of more advanced systems. A total of 49 unique genes and proteins are listed based on their eight heavy metals (Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Hg, and Pb) bio-removal functions in transport system, cellular tolerance, synthesis of key players in heavy metal bio-removal, biotransformation of heavy metals, and gene expression regulation. Thus, with our library, genetic parts are ready to be recruited for any synthetic biology-based designs. Thereby, this mini-review identifies potential avenues of future research and maps opportunities to unleash more potential of microalgae as heavy metal bio-removers with synthetic biology.

Field Emergence Affected by Zea Mays L. Cultivars and Seed Soaking in Acids of Ascorbic, Citric and Humic

A field experiment was carried out during the spring season 2019 and 2020 to obtain a fast, uniform, and high field emergence ratio of maize seeds under a wide range of environmental conditions. Randomize complete block design in the split-plot arrangement was used with three replications. The first factor in the main plots was cultivars (5018, Baghdad3 and Sumer). The second factor in the sub-plots was seeds soaking with ascorbic and citric acids (100 mg L−1) each and humic (1 ml L−1) in addition to control treatment (seeds soaking with distilled water only). Results showed the superiority of soaking with humic acid significantly, as means of characteristics of field emergence in both seasons, respectively, were as follows: Last day of field emergence (12.4 and 12.6 days), time spread of field emergence (4.4 and 4.6 days), emergence at first and final counts (62.4 and 34.4 %) and (95.8 and 88.0 %), daily emergence rate (8.0 and 7.3 % day−1), mean field emergence time (8.7 and 9.3 days), emergence index rate (11.1 and 9.7 % day−1), velocity coefficient of field emergence (11.4 and 10.8) and emergence index (407.6 and 333.3). Cultivars didn’t differentiate among themselves, with the effect of seeds soaking in most traits. It can be concluded that seeds soaking with humic acid improved characteristics of emergence and seedlings, so it can be recommended to soaking maize seeds with humic acid at the concentration (1 ml L−1) when planting them in the spring season.

Xanthone Glucosides: Isolation, Bioactivity and Synthesis

Xanthones are secondary metabolites found in plants, fungi, lichens, and bacteria from a variety of families and genera, with the majority found in the Gentianaceae, Polygalaceae, and Clusiaceae. They have a diverse range of bioactivities, including anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-malarial, anti-tuberculosis, and cytotoxic properties. Xanthone glucosides are a significant branch of xanthones. After glycosylation, xanthones may have improved characteristics (such as solubility and pharmacological activity). Currently, no critical review of xanthone glucosides has been published. A literature survey including reports of naturally occurring xanthone glucosides is included in this review. The isolation, structure, bioactivity, and synthesis of these compounds were all explored in depth.

Study on the Effects of Heat Treatments on the Physical and Mechanical Characteristics of 1.4301 Stainless Steel

The 1.4301 stainless steel is part of the category of austenitic stainless steels, steels which do no undergo heat treatments in general, as they are intended for hot plastic deformation in particular. The aim of the research presented in this paper was to obtain significantly improved characteristics of the resistance properties in relation to the values obtained under classical conditions, by applying heat treatments. Samples taken from the delivery state material underwent annealing, quenching and ageing heat treatments. Subsequently, the samples thus treated were subjected to tests enabling the determination of the correlations between the heat treatment parameters, the structure and the properties.

Development of technology for producing flour with improved characteristics

The article discusses the ways to improve wheat flour, including by adding coconut flour, which can reduce the gluten content and increase the amount of fiber, as well as improve the taste of baked goods made from this composite flour.