Life cycle analysis of fermentative production of succinic acid from bread waste

According to the US Department of Energy, succinic acid (SA) is a top platform chemical that can be produced from biomass. Bread waste, which has high starch content, is the second most wasted food in the UK and can serve as a potential low cost feedstock for the production of SA. This work evaluates the environmental performance of a proposed biorefinery concept for SA production by fermentation of waste bread using a cradle-to-factory gate life cycle assessment approach. The performance was assessed in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and non-renewable energy use (NREU). Waste bread fermentation demonstrated a better environmental profile compared to the fossil-based system, however, GHG emissions were about 50% higher as compared to processes using other biomass feedstocks such as corn wet mill or sorghum grains. NREU for fermentative SA production using waste bread was significantly lower than fossil-based system and about the same as that of established biomass-based processes, thus proving the great potential of waste bread as a valuable feedstock for bioproduction of useful chemicals. The results show that steam and heating oil used in the process were the biggest contributors to the NREU and GHG emissions. Sensitivity analyses highlighted the importance of the solid biomass waste generated in the process which can potentially be used as fish feed. The LCA analysis can be used for targeted optimization of SA production from bread waste, thereby enabling the utilization of an otherwise waste stream and leading to the establishment of a circular economy

A combined light regime and carbon supply regulation strategy for microalgae-based sugar industry wastewater treatment and low-carbon biofuel production to realise a circular economy

The replacement of fossil fuels with clean and renewable biofuels is of both research and market interest for realising a circular economy. However, microalgae-based biofuels have shown promise as alternative low-carbon biofuels to other crop-based biofuels, some key obstacles in their production remain to be addressed, such as high costs and low lipid productivity. In this study, a Chlorella sp. CSH4 was cultivated using a combined light regime and carbon supply regulation strategy to enhance sugar industrial wastewater bioremediation, biomass accumulation and lipid production. Blue light irradiance of 200 μmol photons m -2 s-1 together with 10 g/L glucose and 9.2 g/L glycerol supply was found to effectively enhance the biomass accumulation and pollutant-removal capacity of Chlorella sp. during the growth phase and its lipid production during the stationary phase. Furthermore, the biodiesel properties of the lipid retrieved from Chlorella sp., as demonstrated by its fatty acid profile, were found to be suitable for commercial application. Possible mechanisms were explored to explain how this combined strategy caused this microalga to exhibit highly efficient biomass and lipid production together with efficient pollutant removal. Moreover, upscaled semi-continuous treatment using both sugar industry wastewater and negligible carbon sources (e.g., food waste hydrolysate and crude glycerol) with a mass balance analysis was conducted to initially validate the feasibility of applying our combined strategy for microalgae based wastewater treatment. In sum, this study demonstrated the feasibility of cultivating a microalga using a combined strategy comprising a light regime and carbon supply regulation to achieve both wastewater treatment and low-carbon biofuel production.peer-reviewe

LAMOST Experiment for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (LEGUE) The survey science plan

We describe the current plans for a spectroscopic survey of millions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy using the Guo Shou Jing Telescope (GSJT, formerly the Large Area Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope - LAMOST). The survey will obtain spectra for 2.5 million stars brighter than $r<19$ during dark/grey time, and 5 million stars brighter than $r<17$ or $J<16$ on nights that are moonlit or have low transparency. The survey will begin in fall of 2012, and will run for at least four years. The telescope design constrains the optimal declination range for observations to $10^\circ<\delta<50^\circ$, and site conditions lead to an emphasis on stars in the direction of the Galactic anticenter. The survey is divided into three parts with different target selection strategies: disk, anticenter, and spheroid. The resulting dataset will be used to study the merger history of the Milky Way, the substructure and evolution of the disks, the nature of the first generation of stars through identification of the lowest metallicity stars, and star formation through study of open clusters and the OB associations. Detailed design of the LEGUE survey will be completed after a review of the results of the pilot survey in summer 2012.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in RA

Corrigendum to: The TianQin project: current progress on science and technology

In the originally published version, this manuscript included an error related to indicating the corresponding author within the author list. This has now been corrected online to reflect the fact that author Jun Luo is the corresponding author of the article

Methylprednisolone as Adjunct to Endovascular Thrombectomy for Large-Vessel Occlusion Stroke

Importance It is uncertain whether intravenous methylprednisolone improves outcomes for patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large-vessel occlusion (LVO) undergoing endovascular thrombectomy. Objective To assess the efficacy and adverse events of adjunctive intravenous low-dose methylprednisolone to endovascular thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke secondary to LVO. Design, Setting, and Participants This investigator-initiated, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was implemented at 82 hospitals in China, enrolling 1680 patients with stroke and proximal intracranial LVO presenting within 24 hours of time last known to be well. Recruitment took place between February 9, 2022, and June 30, 2023, with a final follow-up on September 30, 2023.InterventionsEligible patients were randomly assigned to intravenous methylprednisolone (n = 839) at 2 mg/kg/d or placebo (n = 841) for 3 days adjunctive to endovascular thrombectomy. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary efficacy outcome was disability level at 90 days as measured by the overall distribution of the modified Rankin Scale scores (range, 0 [no symptoms] to 6 [death]). The primary safety outcomes included mortality at 90 days and the incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage within 48 hours. Results Among 1680 patients randomized (median age, 69 years; 727 female [43.3%]), 1673 (99.6%) completed the trial. The median 90-day modified Rankin Scale score was 3 (IQR, 1-5) in the methylprednisolone group vs 3 (IQR, 1-6) in the placebo group (adjusted generalized odds ratio for a lower level of disability, 1.10 [95% CI, 0.96-1.25]; P = .17). In the methylprednisolone group, there was a lower mortality rate (23.2% vs 28.5%; adjusted risk ratio, 0.84 [95% CI, 0.71-0.98]; P = .03) and a lower rate of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (8.6% vs 11.7%; adjusted risk ratio, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.55-0.99]; P = .04) compared with placebo. Conclusions and Relevance Among patients with acute ischemic stroke due to LVO undergoing endovascular thrombectomy, adjunctive methylprednisolone added to endovascular thrombectomy did not significantly improve the degree of overall disability.Trial RegistrationChiCTR.org.cn Identifier: ChiCTR210005172

Dynamic Target Tracking and Ingressing of a Small UAV Using Monocular Sensor Based on the Geometric Constraints

In many applications of airborne visual techniques for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), lightweight sensors and efficient visual positioning and tracking algorithms are essential in a GNSS-denied environment. Meanwhile, many tasks require the ability of recognition, localization, avoiding, or flying pass through these dynamic obstacles. In this paper, for a small UAV equipped with a lightweight monocular sensor, a single-frame parallel-features positioning method (SPPM) is proposed and verified for a real-time dynamic target tracking and ingressing problem. The solution is featured with systematic modeling of the geometric characteristics of moving targets, and the introduction of numeric iteration algorithms to estimate the geometric center of moving targets. The geometric constraint relationships of the target feature points are modeled as non-linear equations for scale estimation. Experiments show that the root mean square error percentage of static target tracking is less than 1.03% and the root mean square error of dynamic target tracking is less than 7.92 cm. Comprehensive indoor flight experiments are conducted to show the real-time convergence of the algorithm, the effectiveness of the solution in locating and tracking a moving target, and the excellent robustness to measurement noises

Effect of uterine anomalies on pregnancy rates and reproductive outcomes in women undergoing artificial insemination by husband

Objective: Congenital uterine anomalies are common; however, their effects on artificial insemination by husband (AIH) and the period during which AIH is converted to in vitro fertilization (IVF) are unclear. We examined the influence of uterine malformations on reproductive outcomes following AIH and the optimum number of AIH cycles before resorting to IVF-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). Methods: We retrospectively recruited 168 patients with uterine malformations (anomalous group) undergoing AIH between January 2011 and December 2016. Meanwhile, 168 patients with infertility but with normal uteri (normal group) were matched as controls according to age. Results: The clinical pregnancy rate was similar in both groups (12.4% vs. 12.3%, P = 0.950); the cancellation (21.6% vs. 4.4%, P < 0.001), early pregnancy loss (35.7% vs. 11.4%, P = 0.032), and preterm birth rates (21.4% vs. 2.9%, P = 0.038) were higher in the anomalous group, resulting in lower term birth (32.1% vs. 74.3%, P = 0.001) and live birth rates (50.0% vs. 77.1%, P = 0.034). After two AIH cycles, the clinical pregnancy rate was lower (3.6% vs. 23.1%, P = 0.037) among women with uterine anomalies than among those with normal uteri. There was no difference in the pregnancy rates (52.5% vs. 53.7%, P = 0.908) between the two groups of patients with unsuccessful AIH who then underwent IVF-ET. Conclusions: IVF-ET can be performed immediately after two unsuccessful AIH cycles in patients with uterine malformations. In patients undergoing AIH or IVF, uterine malformations increase the risk of adverse obstetric outcomes

Deep-4mCGP: A Deep Learning Approach to Predict 4mC Sites in <i>Geobacter pickeringii</i> by Using Correlation-Based Feature Selection Technique

4mC is a type of DNA alteration that has the ability to synchronize multiple biological movements, for example, DNA replication, gene expressions, and transcriptional regulations. Accurate prediction of 4mC sites can provide exact information to their hereditary functions. The purpose of this study was to establish a robust deep learning model to recognize 4mC sites in Geobacter pickeringii. In the anticipated model, two kinds of feature descriptors, namely, binary and k-mer composition were used to encode the DNA sequences of Geobacter pickeringii. The obtained features from their fusion were optimized by using correlation and gradient-boosting decision tree (GBDT)-based algorithm with incremental feature selection (IFS) method. Then, these optimized features were inserted into 1D convolutional neural network (CNN) to classify 4mC sites from non-4mC sites in Geobacter pickeringii. The performance of the anticipated model on independent data exhibited an accuracy of 0.868, which was 4.2% higher than the existing model