Ethanol production from Sorghum bicolor using both separate and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation in batch and fed batch systems

The objective of this work was to find the best combination of different experimental conditions during pre-treatment, enzymatic saccharification, detoxification of inhibitors and fermentation of Sorghum bicolor straw for ethanol production. The optimization of pre-treatment using different concentrations of dilute sulfuric acid, various temperatures and residence times was achieved at 121°C, 1% acid concentration, 60 min residence time and enzyme saccharification using cellulase (celluclast 1.5 L) and -glucosidase (Novozyme 188) at 50°C and pH 4.8 for 48 h. Different surfactants were used in order toincrease the monomeric sugar during enzymatic hydrolysis and it has been observed that the addition of these surfactants contributed significantly in cellulosic conversion but no effect was shown onhemicellulosic hydrolysis. Fermentability of hydrolyzate was tested using Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ethanol RedTM and it was observed that simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) with bothbatch and fed batch resulted in better ethanol yield as compared to separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF). Detoxification of furan during SHF facilitated reduction in fermentation time from 96to 48 h. 98.5% theoretical yield was achieved in SHF with detoxification experiment attaining an ethanol concentration and yield of 23.01 gL-1 and 0.115 gg-1 DM respectively. During the SSF batch and fed batch fermentation, the maximum yields of ethanol per gram of dry matter were 0.1257 and 0.1332 g respectively

Private reputation retrieval in public - a privacy-aware announcement scheme for VANETs

An announcement scheme is a system that facilitates vehicles to broadcast road-related information in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) in order to improve road safety and efficiency. Here, the authors propose a new cryptographic primitive for public updating of reputation score based on the Boneh–Boyen–Shacham short group signature scheme. This allows private reputation score retrieval without a secure channel. Using this, the authors devise a privacy-aware announcement scheme using reputation systems which is reliable, auditable, and robust

Non-obstructive azoospermia: current and future perspectives.

Infertility affects 1 in 6 couples, and male factor infertility has been implicated as a cause in 50% of cases. Azoospermia is defined as the absence of spermatozoa in the ejaculate and is considered the most extreme form of male factor infertility. Historically, these men were considered sterile but, with the advent of testicular sperm extraction and assisted reproductive technologies, men with azoospermia are able to biologically father their own children. Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) occurs when there is an impairment to spermatogenesis. This review describes the contemporary management of NOA and discusses the role of hormone stimulation therapy, surgical and embryological factors, and novel technologies such as proteomics, genomics, and artificial intelligence systems in the diagnosis and treatment of men with NOA. Moreover, we highlight that men with NOA represent a vulnerable population with an increased risk of developing cancer and cardiovascular comorbodities

What are the differences in protective characteristics of orthodontic mouthguards? An in vitro study

BACKGROUND Orthodontic patients wearing fixed appliances are susceptible to traumatic dental injuries during contact-sport. This laboratory study investigated the protective qualities of orthodontic mouthguards using impact-testing to a typodont fitted with a fixed appliance through peak load transfer and retention of the mouthguard. METHODS Seven orthodontic mouthguards [three custom-made (Medium-CM, Heavy-CM, Heavy-pro-CM); three commercially-available mouth-formed (Shock-Doctor® Ultra Braces, Opro® Ortho-Gold Braces, Opro® Ortho-Bronze Braces) and a Shock-Doctor® Instant-Fit] were fitted to a maxillary arch typodont bonded with a fixed appliance and impact-tested using 0.5 or 1 Joule (J) energy via hockey-ball, cricket-ball or steel-ball projectile. A load-cell recorded peak load transfer through mouthguard to typodont with retention scored in a binary manner dependent upon any displacement following impact. Differences across mouthguards were calculated with ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test for normal and non-normal data, respectively. Post hoc comparisons across mouthguards were conducted via Dunnett's test with Sidak correction. RESULTS Only the three custom-made and Opro® Ortho-Gold Braces were not displaced by impact-testing. For these, Opro® Ortho-Gold Braces transferred the smallest load for 3/6 impact-tests, followed by Medium-CM. Heavy-pro-CM performed poorly, ranking penultimate or worst for all impact-tests. Significant differences were found between mouthguards for cricket-ball and steel-ball set-ups. The Opro® Ortho-Gold Braces performed better than the Heavy and Heavy-pro-CM for 0.5 J cricket-ball impact-test (P < 0.05), whilst Medium-CM performed better than Heavy-pro-CM. For 1 J cricket-ball, there were significant differences between Medium-CM and Heavy-pro-CM (P < 0.05). For 0.5 J steel-ball, the Medium-CM performed significantly better than both Heavy-pro-CM and Opro® Ortho-Gold Braces (P < 0.05), whilst Heavy-CM performed better than the Heavy-pro-CM (P < 0.05). For the 1 J steel-ball, Medium and Heavy-CM performed better than Opro® Ortho-Gold Braces (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Opro® Ortho-Gold and Medium-CM mouthguards offer the best protection for low-impact sports, whilst Medium or Heavy-CM mouthguards are recommended for high-impact sport

Medication Administration Errors Evaluation in Pediatric Ward by Pharmacist

Study was designed to value the medication administrating mistakes frequency and prevention strategy in a pediatric ward. The study was prospective observational based. Assessment of all the treatment chart of admitted patients by Pharmacist throughout the study duration and analyzed the administration mistakes in medicine as per WHO guidelines. Data was collected from pediatric ward of (BMCH) Bolan Medical Complex Hospital, Quetta from the period of October - November 2015 in a data collection form. Descriptive statistical data was analyzed, interpreted and the related samples Cochran’s-Q test was applied and analyzed by SPSS 22. The 287 patient’s treatment chart were assessed and the total drug administration were 8179, out of which drug administration to male patients were 5156 (63%) and female patients 3023 (37%). The total administration errors in medication were recorded 6718 (82.13%), which include 6607 (98.34% of total errors) were omission errors, followed by 43 (0.64%) wrong time error, 41 (0.61%) un-authorized drug error wrong frequency error 13 (0.19%), wrong dose error 11 (0.16%), incorrect dosage form error 02 (0.02%) and wrong error route 01 (0.01%). There was a high percentage of administration mistakes in pediatric ward in which omission error was most frequent administration error made by nurses throughout the practice of medicines administration. Nurses mentioned a multiplicity of issues as causative to errors but the utmost common issues associated to the fact that medications were administered in a busy, noisy surroundings to problematic, troubled patients, workload, occasionally by fewer than best staffing levels, individual issues; such as feeling exhausted, unsupported, distressed and deficiency of awareness in nurses about medication administration process. These features have been acknowledged as relevant to error relationship in practice of nursing. &nbsp

Soil-Applied boron combined with Boron-Tolerant Bacteria (Bacillus sp. MN54) improve root proliferation and nodulation, yield and agronomic grain biofortification of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Chickpea is widely cultivated on calcareous sandy soils in arid and semi-arid regions of Pakistan; however, widespread boron (B) deficiencies in these soils significantly decreases its productivity. Soil application of B could improve chickpea yield and grain-B concentration. However, optimizing suitable B level is necessary due to a narrow deficiency and toxicity range of B. Nonetheless, the co-application of B-tolerant bacteria (BTB) and synthetic B fertilizer could be helpful in obtaining higher chickpea yields and grain-B concentration. Therefore, this study optimized the level of soil applied B along with BTB, (i.e., Bacillus sp. MN54) to improve growth, yield and grain-B concentrations of chickpea. The B concentrations included in the study were 0.00 (control), 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00 mg B kg−1 soil combined with or without Bacillus sp. MN54 inoculation. Soil application of B significantly improved root system, nodulation, yield and grain-B concentration, and Bacillus sp. MN54 inoculation further improved these traits. Moreover, B application at a lower dose (0.25 mg B kg−1 soil) with BTB inoculation recorded the highest improvements in root system (longer roots with more roots’ proliferation), growth, nodulation and grain yield. However, the highest grain-B concentration was recorded under a higher B level (0.75 mg B kg−1 soil) included in the study. Soil application of 0.25 mg B kg−1 with Bacillus sp. MN54 inoculation improved growth and yield-related traits, especially nodule population (81%), number of pods plant−1 (38%), number of grains plant−1 (65%) and grain yield (47%) compared with control treatment. However, the grain-B concentration was higher under the highest B level (1.00 mg kg−1 soil) with Bacillus sp. MN54 inoculation. In conclusion, soil application of 0.25 mg B kg−1 with Bacillus sp. MN54 inoculation is a pragmatic option to improve the root system, nodule population, seedling growth, yield and agronomic grain-B biofortification of chickpea

Kaposi`s sarcoma associated herpesvirus infection among female sex workers and general population women in Shanghai, China: a cross-sectional study

Background: Limited information on epidemiologic patterns of KSHV, with none focusing on heterosexual transmission, is available in mainland China. To clarify this, a cross-sectional study was conducted among a group of female sex workers (FSW) and general population women (GW) in Shanghai, China. Methods: An anonymous questionnaire interview was administrated among 600 FSW and 600 GW. Blood samples were collected and tested for antibodies to KSHV, HSV-2, HIV, syphilis and HBsAg. Correlates of KSHV and HSV-2 were examined using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: None of the study participants were tested positive for HIV. The seroprevalence of KSHV, HSV-2 , HBV and syphilis was 10.0%, 52.2%, 12.3% and 10.5%, respectively for FSW, and was 11.0%, 15.3%, 9.8% and 2.8%, respectively for GW. KSHV seropositivity was not associated with syphilis and HSV-2 infection as well as sexual practices among either FSW or GW. Nevertheless, HSV-2 infection among FSW was independently associated with being ever married (OR = 1.59; 95%CI: 1.04-2.45), \u3e5 years of prostitution (OR = 2.06; 95%CI: 1.16-3.68) and being syphilis positive (OR = 2.65; 95%CI: 1.43-4.93). HSV-2 infection among GW was independently associated with an age of \u3e35 years (OR = 2.29; 95%CI: 1.07-4.93), having had more than 2 sex partners in the prior 12 months (OR = 6.44; 95%CI: 1.67-24.93) and being syphilis positive (OR = 3.94; 95%CI: 1.38-11.23). A gradual increase of prevalence with the prostitution time group was also detected for HSV-2 and syphilis, but not for KSHV. Conclusions: KSHV is moderately and equivalently prevalent among FSW and GW. Heterosexual contact is not a predominant route for KSHV transmission among Chinese women

An overview of the utilisation of microalgae biomass derived from nutrient recycling of wet market wastewater and slaughterhouse wastewater

Microalgae have high nutritional values for aquatic organisms compared to fish meal, because microalgae cells are rich in proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. However, the high cost for the commercial production of microalgae biomass using fresh water or artificial media limits its use as fish feed. Few studies have investigated the potential of wet market wastewater and slaughterhouse wastewater for the production of microalgae biomass. Hence, this study aims to highlight the potential of these types of wastewater as an alternative superior medium for microalgae biomass as they contain high levels of nutrients required for microalgae growth. This paper focuses on the benefits of microalgae biomass produced during the phycore-mediation of wet market wastewater and slaughterhouse wastewater as fish feed. The extraction techniques for lipids and proteins as well as the studies conducted on the use of microalgae biomass as fish feed were reviewed. The results showed that microalgae biomass can be used as fish feed due to feed utilisation efficiency, physiological activity, increased resistance for several diseases, improved stress response, and improved protein retention