Study on Sustainable Recovery and Extraction of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) Produced by Cupriavidus necator Using Waste Glycerol for Medical Applications

The current study shows that Cupriavidus necator has the ability to grow on waste glycerol as carbon source, and can synthesize a highly thermostable copolymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate). Batch cultivation on waste glycerol showed accumulation of 6.76 g L–1 biomass containing 4.84 g L–1 poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) copolymer with 3-hydroxyvalerate content of 24.6 mol%. A novel recovery strategy was developed for the extraction of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) copolymer from Cupriavidus necator using recyclable solvents, i.e., propylene carbonate, butyl acetate, isoamyl alcohol, and ethyl acetate. Propylene carbonate demonstrated the recovery efficiency of 90 % and polymer purity of 95 %, at 120 °C after 30 min. Ethyl acetate exhibited a higher efficiency than butyl acetate in terms of recovering the copolymer from cells. Ethyl acetate extraction demonstrated a recovery yield of 96 % and purity of 93 % at 100 °C. Efficacy of an anionic surfactant, linear alkylbenzene sulfonic acid (LAS), was also tested for extraction, and it showed maximum yield of 84 % and purity of 90 % at 80 °C and pH 5.0. Extraction of copolymer using these solvents could help in replacing generally used chlorinated toxic solvents, such as 1,2 dichloroethane and chloroform. Further, GPC, TGA and DSC analysis revealed that the thermo-physical properties were not significantly affected by the extraction method. However, the molecular weight distribution of the polymer showed a variation depending on the type of solvent used for extraction. Subsequently, endotoxins were removed efficiently to less than 5 EU g–1 of copolymer using alkali at optimized conditions of 6 h digestion time and 2.5 N NaOH concentration for medical applications

Capacity Benefits of Operation Over C+L Band Elastic Optical Network in the Indian Network Scenario

Introduction of high data rate services has increased the traffic load on the backhaul network. In order to cater more demands, the operators are looking for solutions to minimize spectral wastage and to extend their network operations beyond the C-band, especially for inter-city networks. This paper highlights the advantages of operating over C+L band as compared to operations over C band in a large Indian network. The physical model factors in the non-linear interference (NLI) due to inter-channel stimulated Raman scattering (ISRS) and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise while estimating the optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) of a network lightpath. The OSNR estimation model can dynamically account for the NLI as compared to the conventional worst case assumption. The capacity benefits for the Indian network over the C+L band for channel power -1.5 dBm are about 108.67% for channel bandwidth 50 GHz and 103.98% for channel bandwidth 37.5 GHz until 10% of the demands are blocked

Differential expression of Toll-like receptor genes (TLR2 and TLR4) across different tissues of riverine buffalo

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are one of the important pattern recognizing receptors which are responsible for the induction of innate as well as adaptive immune response against a wide range of microbial components. Among different TLRs, TLR2 and TLR4 are expressed on the cell surface identifying Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial components. The present study was undertaken to analyze the expression of TLR2 and TLR4 genes in different buffalo tissues by using highly sensitive real-time PCR technique. Although the expression of both the genes was observed in all the 8 different tissues taken for the present study, the maximum expression of TLR2 was seen in blood followed by skin, lungs and spleen and the lowest expression was found in the uterus. TLR4 showed maximum expression in blood followed by skin, lungs, mammary gland of non-lactating, lactating buffalo and heifer and the lowest expression was seen again in the uterus.The findings suggest both the genes having important functions in blood and skin, the first line of protection for pathogenic challenge apart from other organs in buffalo

Extending the Absorption Limit of BiVO4 Photoanodes with Hydrogen Sulfide Treatment

Bismuth vanadate is a promising photoanode material for photoelectrochemical water splitting due to its relative stability, low cost, and nontoxic properties. However, its performance is limited by the large bandgap Eg of 2.4 amp; 8201;eV, and the record photocurrent is already within 90 of its theoretical limit. Further photocurrent enhancement could only be obtained by increasing its optical absorption, for example, by reducing Eg. Herein, sulfur incorporated bismuth vanadate S BiVO4 thin films are synthesized via spray pyrolysis combined with post treatment in hydrogen sulfide environment. Under optimal H2S treatment conditions, sulfur can be incorporated successfully into the BiVO4 lattice, without the formation of any secondary phases. The use of reactive H2S, instead of solid sulfur powders, allows us to decrease the required annealing temperature and increase the kinetics for sulfur incorporation into BiVO4. The Eg of the resulting S BiVO4 films is decreased by gt;200 amp; 8201;meV vs. pristine BiVO4 , which theoretically corresponds to a 20 increase in the theoretical photocurrent limit. Finally, the stability limitation of S BiVO4 is overcome by introducing pulsed laser deposited NiOx protection layers. The modified S BiVO4 NiOx film exhibits higher photocurrent density with no reduction of photocurrent during the 9 amp; 8201;h stability test with AM1.5 illuminatio

Atlantic salmon cardiac primary cultures:An in vitro model to study viral host pathogen interactions and pathogenesis

Development of Salmon Cardiac Primary Cultures (SCPCs) from Atlantic salmon pre-hatch embryos and their application as in vitro model for cardiotropic viral infection research are described. Producing SCPCs requires plating of trypsin dissociated embryos with subsequent targeted harvest from 24h up to 3 weeks, of relevant tissues after visual identification. SCPCs are then transferred individually to chambered wells for culture in isolation, with incubation at 15-22°. SCPCs production efficiency was not influenced by embryo's origin (0.75/ farmed or wild embryo), but mildly influenced by embryonic developmental stage (0.3 decline between 380 and 445 accumulated thermal units), and strongly influenced by time of harvest post-plating (0.6 decline if harvested after 72 hours). Beating rate was not significantly influenced by temperature (15-22°) or age (2-4 weeks), but was significantly lower on SCPCs originated from farmed embryos with a disease resistant genotype (F = 5.3, p<0.05). Two distinct morphologies suggestive of an ex vivo embryonic heart and a de novo formation were observed sub-grossly, histologically, ultra-structurally and with confocal microscopy. Both types contained cells consistent with cardiomyocytes, endothelium, and fibroblasts. Ageing of SCPCs in culture was observed with increased auto fluorescence in live imaging, and as myelin figures and cellular degeneration ultra-structurally. The SCPCs model was challenged with cardiotropic viruses and both the viral load and the mx gene expression were measurable along time by qPCR. In summary, SCPCs represent a step forward in salmon cardiac disease research as an in vitro model that partially incorporates the functional complexity of the fish heart

Production of ethanol from tuberous plant (sweet potato) using Saccharomyces cerevisiae MTCC-170

The aim of this work was to research a bioprocess for bioethanol production at laboratory scale from raw sweet potato using Saccharomyces cerevisiae MTCC-170. In order to obtain maximum conversion of starch into fermentable sugar, optimum parameters for the liquefaction were determined as 104 to 105°C, 0.15% v/w of α-amylase enzyme solution (300 U/ml) and 30 g dry-weight sweet potato mash/100 ml distilled water, respectively with a 74.38% loss in dry weight during the process. For saccharification process, the optimum dose of amyloglucosidase was 0.25% v/w (300 U/ml) with 16.82% glucose production at pH 5.0 and temperature 60°C after 1 h. The fermentation parameters like inoculum size, temperature, pH and different concentrations of nutrients were also determined. The maximum ethanol concentration, that is, 7.95% (v/v) was obtained with 10% inoculum size at pH 6.0 after 48 h. Furthermore, out of the three nitrogen sources (yeast extract, peptone and ammonium sulphate) tested for ethanol production, peptone at a concentration of 1.5 g/L was found to be best (7.93%). From the present study, it may be concluded that sweet potato can be an attractive feedstock for bioethanol production from both the economic stand points and environment friendly.Keywords:  Sweet potato starch, ethanol, liquefaction, saccharification, Saccharomyces cerevisiae MTCC-170African Journal of Biotechnology, Vol 13(28) 2874-288

Digital interoperability and transformation using Industry 4.0 technologies in the dairy industry:An SLR and bibliometric analysis

Background: The dairy industry has gradually adopted cutting-edge technology in the past few years. This review explores the evolution and interventions of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Industry 4.0 in the dairy industry through a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis.Methods: The Web of Science, Scopus, etc. databases were used for bibliometric analysis from 1999 to 2022 related to the role of technology in the dairy industry. Analysis shows the tremendous growth in technology adoption after 2015, including Industry 4.0, blockchain, and traceability, which have recently emerged in the dairy industry.Results: The findings suggest that traceability, data management, environmental impacts, and dairy supply chain operations need further exploration. A technological intervention wheel has been generated based on findings from the dairy sector. The current analysis demonstrates that such a bibliometric analysis and a systematic study were previously missing in the dairy industry, especially in a technological context.Conclusions: This review paves the way for future research on emerging technologies such as traceability, blockchain, and Industry 4.0 in the dairy industry. The impacts of technological intervention on the circular economy and sustainable practices in the dairy industry are a potential area of future research

Prospective study on role of folic acid and vitamin B12 in early pregnancy and spontaneous abortion

Background: Vitamin B12 maintains normal folate metabolism during pregnancy. Maternal folate status has been associated with various adverse pregnancy outcomes. The aim of this study is to predict the risk of abortion in early pregnancy by studying the relation between folate, Vitamin B12 levels, and rate of abortion. This prospective, observational study was carried out on 100 pregnant women with singleton pregnancy of 6–12 weeks of gestation. Methods: The patients were divided into three groups, namely, Group 1 (control group) comprising of 30 normal pregnant women with no history of abortion; Group 2 (control group) comprising of 35 pregnant females with history of previous abortion; and Group 3 (study group) comprising of 35 pregnant women were coming with chief complaint of bleeding per vaginum. About 5 ml blood was taken and serum was separated using centrifugation. Serum folate and Vitamin B12 levels were estimated by chemiluminescence. Data so obtained were computed as mean + standard deviation and SPSS/ANOVA was applied. Results: Serum folate and Serum B12 levels were comparable in all the three groups and the difference was statistically significant. 26.66%, 37.13%, and 31.42% patients had folate deficiency in Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Out of which, 3.33%, 5.71%, and 5.71% patients aborted from folate deficient Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Thus, folate deficiency was not found to be associated with abortion (P = 0.944). Patients with Vitamin B12 deficiency were 73.33%, 82.85%, and 37.13% in Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively; out of which 3.33% patients from Group 1, 8.57% from Group 2, and 2.85% patients from Group 3 were aborted. Correlation between maternal serum B12 deficiency and abortion was found to be insignificant (P = 0.551). Conclusion: A positive correlation was seen between serum folate and B12 levels. All females planning for conception should be given folate and Vitamin B12 supplementation