Optimization of a Two-Species Microbial Consortium for Improved Mcl-PHA Production From Glucose–Xylose Mixtures

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have attracted much attention as a good substitute for petroleum-based plastics, especially mcl-PHA due to their superior physical and mechanical properties with broader applications. Artificial microbial consortia can solve the problems of low metabolic capacity of single engineered strains and low conversion efficiency of natural consortia while expanding the scope of substrate utilization. Therefore, the use of artificial microbial consortia is considered a promising method for the production of mcl-PHA. In this work, we designed and constructed a microbial consortium composed of engineered Escherichia coli MG1655 and Pseudomonas putida KT2440 based on the “nutrition supply–detoxification” concept, which improved mcl-PHA production from glucose-xylose mixtures. An engineered E. coli that preferentially uses xylose was engineered with an enhanced ability to secrete acetic acid and free fatty acids (FFAs), producing 6.44 g/L acetic acid and 2.51 g/L FFAs with 20 g/L xylose as substrate. The mcl-PHA producing strain of P. putida in the microbial consortium has been engineered to enhance its ability to convert acetic acid and FFAs into mcl-PHA, producing 0.75 g/L mcl-PHA with mixed substrates consisting of glucose, acetic acid, and octanoate, while also reducing the growth inhibition of E. coli by acetic acid. The further developed artificial microbial consortium finally produced 1.32 g/L of mcl-PHA from 20 g/L of a glucose–xylose mixture (1:1) after substrate competition control and process optimization. The substrate utilization and product synthesis functions were successfully divided into the two strains in the constructed artificial microbial consortium, and a mutually beneficial symbiosis of “nutrition supply–detoxification” with a relatively high mcl-PHA titer was achieved, enabling the efficient accumulation of mcl-PHA. The consortium developed in this study is a potential platform for mcl-PHA production from lignocellulosic biomass.

Optimizing the Experimental Method for Stomata-Profiling Automation of Soybean Leaves Based on Deep Learning

Stomatal observation and automatic stomatal detection are useful analyses of stomata for taxonomic, biological, physiological, and eco-physiological studies. We present a new clearing method for improved microscopic imaging of stomata in soybean followed by automated stomatal detection by deep learning. We tested eight clearing agent formulations based upon different ethanol and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) concentrations in order to improve the transparency in leaves. An optimal formulation—a 1:1 (v/v) mixture of 95% ethanol and NaOCl (6–14%)—produced better quality images of soybean stomata. Additionally, we evaluated fixatives and dehydrating agents and selected absolute ethanol for both fixation and dehydration. This is a good substitute for formaldehyde, which is more toxic to handle. Using imaging data from this clearing method, we developed an automatic stomatal detector using deep learning and improved a deep-learning algorithm that automatically analyzes stomata through an object detection model using YOLO. The YOLO deep-learning model successfully recognized stomata with high mAP (~0.99). A web-based interface is provided to apply the model of stomatal detection for any soybean data that makes use of the new clearing protocol.

Optimization of Blended Guava and Fluted Pumpkin Leaves extract as corrosion inhibitor of mild steel in 0.5 m hydrochloric acid

There are many plant extracts that have been studied for possible use as corrosion inhibitors in the oil and gas industries. Hence, this work is focused on optimization of blended Guava and Fluted Pumpkin Leaves extract as corrosion inhibitor of mild steel in HCI using Weight loss method. Response Surface Methodology of Design Expert trial version 12 StatEase was used to design and analyze the result of the 35-run experiments. Three factor-three level was adopted in the design. Time, Temperature and Inhibitor Quantity were the independent variables, while the acid concentration of 0.5M was constant throughout the experiments and Inhibition Efficiencies were measured using IE formula. Intervals of 1 hr, 0.2g, and 10°C were chosen for the immersion time, inhibitor quantity and temperature, respectively. Phytochemical analysis carried out on the Guava and Fluted Pumpkin Leaves shows that each leaf extract contains phytochemicals which are responsible for inhibiting corrosion. Weight loss result shows that the Blended extract reduces the corrosion rate of mild steel in 0.5M HCl. Additionally, 4 experiments for Blended Extract, Fluted Pumpkin, Guava Extract and Industrial Inhibitor were carried out at optimal conditions as predicted by the software at time 4.036 hr, temperature 49.5°C, inhibitor quantity 0.487g and ratio of 59.21GE:FP40.79 Inhibition Efficiencies of the Blended, Fluted Pumpkin, Guava Extracts and Industrial Inhibitor were 93.70%, 78.14%, 63.7% and 95.18%, respectively. The results show that the blended and Industrial Inhibitor compared well with the software predicted IE of 96.085%. Therefore, the blended extract could serve as good substitute to the industrial inhibitor.

Potential of a mixed culture of microalgae for accumulation of beta-carotene under different stress conditions

Beta-carotene, a pigment found in plants, is mainly produced by microalgae. Nevertheless, this production has only been investigated in pure cultures. Beta-carotene production through mixed culture eliminates the costly procedure of sterilization and contamination prevention needed for pure cultures. In this study, for the first time, the growth, beta-carotene, and chlorophyll production of a mixed culture of microalgae from Caspian Sea was investiagted under different stress conditions. At the condition of tripled light intensity and nitrogen starvation, beta-carotene content increased from 18.03 to 43.8 and 46.5 mol beta-carotene g−1 protein, respectively. However, the salinity of 4 mol L−1 caused the beta-carotene content to fall to zero. The blank sample reached a constant value of 23 mol beta-carotene g−1protein. The comparable results with the specific monoculture species exhibit the high potential of a mixed culture of microalgae for beta-carotene production without need of the high sterilization cost. Nevertheless, more research is needed for where it can be a good substitute for pure culture.

Fanwing Aircraft- Scope as an Agricultural Aircraft

The objective of this paper is to apply the concept of fan wing to agricultural aircrafts which are conventionally fixed wings aircrafts or multi-rotor drones. Fan wing is capable of producing good amount of lift at a sufficiently low speed without stalling, thus is apt for agricultural processes of irrigation, spraying pesticides, etc. Fan wing has a special ability that it doesn’t stalls (for the practical range of AOA), making this spraying method reliable. A fanwing aircraft is modelled using CATIA V5 and the flow visualizations for the same are performed on the ANSYS. This aircraft is then compared with three different existing agricultural aircrafts on different parameters, namely payload capacity, work efficiency and ease of operation. The comparison shows that such fanwing vehicle is a good substitute over the conventional fixed wings and multi-rotor drones.

IMPACT AND SATISFACTION WITH E-CONSULTATION: A PERCEPTION OF ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The havoc caused by COVID-19 leads to have an adverse impact on medical priorities for consultation however e-consultation has been used widely by practitioners to aid the patient and healthcare providers. METHODOLOGY A cross-sectional survey was conducted on allied health professionals, considering physical and occupational therapists. A self-administered questionnaire regarding impact assessment and level of attained satisfaction was distributed to participants in Google Docs via email or Whatsapp groups. RESULTS A total number of 109 responses obtained from the participants showed (34.9%) were agreed to understand the completed condition of the patient, (38.5%) but (41.3%) disagreed to treat the patient same as physical appointment and (35.58%) disagreed to work more productively. Only (32.1%) were agreed to be satisfied during their consultation, (49.5%) agreed that e-consultation can never be adopted as a good substitute of physical appointments. CONCLUSION It was concluded that limited number of therapists were satisfied with their e-consultation services while majority were agreed that the service cannot be a good substitute for a physical appointment. Therefore, further trials needs to be conducted to evaluate the factors causing hindrance in healthcare delivery.

Performance Studies on Low GWP Refrigerants as Eco-friendly Alternatives for R134a in Household Refrigerator

Climate changes are a significant environmental issue and rises global temperature. The key environmental objectives are to reduce carbon emissions and to mitigate the climate change impacts. The household refrigerator is the most important emitter of greenhouse gases because they use high global warming potential refrigerants. The Kyoto Protocol states that the power consumption and environmental effects of household refrigerators must be reduced. In the development of future household refrigerator, the replacement of existing refrigerants and enhance its energy efficiency will play an important role. Therefore, the performance of a household refrigerator operating with various environmentally friendly refrigerant mixtures was investigated using analytical methods. This simulation was carried out using MATLAB software, and the REFPROP database was used to obtain thermophysical properties of the refrigerants. The findings have shown that the COP of HFO mixtures is drops from 4–20% compared to R134a. The R1234ze/R134a (90/10) is a better mixture, with its estimated COP and energy efficiency 3.7–16.4% and 4–16% respectively above the other mixtures considered in this analysis and its performance is very similar to the R134a. It could be a good substitute for R134a in the refrigerator to satisfy the Montreal and Kyoto Protocol expectations.

Experimental Investigation Of Potentiality Of Nano fluids In Enhancing The Performance Of Hybrid Pvt System

The power from sun caught by earth is nearby 1.8 × 1011MW which is obtained by utilizing sun’s energy by photovoltaic cells appears to be a good substitute then the conventional fuels. The efficiency of the system declines due to the heat confined in photovoltaic cells throughout the operation [1]. Enhancing the efficiency of Sun power generation by engaging nanofluids in PV/T systems is achieved by recent improvement in the nanotechnology field. In our work Nano fluids are employed as coolants to lower the PV panel temperatures and thus the system efficiency increases. This study comprehensively analyses the effectiveness of Zinc nanoparticles in different base fluids i.e. water, water (75%) & ethylene glycol (25%) and water (75%) & propylene glycol (25%) to enhance the electrical and thermal efficiency of the PV/T system. Other parameters like flow rate, concentration of nanoparticles by volume and sonication time are kept constant throughout the experiment. The experiments were performed on an indoor setup and to replicate the solar irradiance a solar simulator was engaged as per previous year’s metrological data. It is perceived that the extreme change in electrical efficiency is 2.6% and maximum change in thermal efficiency observed is 31% as compared to conventional system.