Acidification and solar drying of manure-based digestate to produce improved fertilizing products

The increase in energy and fertilizer consumption makes it necessary to develop sustainable alternatives for agriculture. Anaerobic digestion and digestates appeared to be suitable options. However, untreated digestates still have high water content and can increase greenhouse gas emissions during storage and land application. In this study, manure-derived digestate and solid fraction of digestate after separation were treated with a novel solar drying technology to reduce their water content, combined with acidification to reduce the gaseous emissions. The acidified digestate and acidified solid fraction of digestate recovered more nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen than their respective non-acidified products (1.5–1.3 times for TN; 14 times for TAN). Ammonia and methane emissions were reduced up to 94% and 72% respectively, compared to the non-acidified ones, while N2O increased more than 3 times. Dried digestate and dried acidified digestate can be labeled as NPK organic fertilizer regarding the European regulation, and the dried solid fraction and the improved dried acidified solid fraction can be labeled as N or P organic fertilizer. Moreover, plant tests showed that N concentrations in fresh lettuce leaves were within the EU limit with all products in all the cases. However, zinc concentration appeared to be a limitation in some of the products as their concentration exceeded the European legal limitsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bim: the setback or solution to project cost issues in Malaysia construction industry?

Malaysia is progressing into Industry Revolution (IR) 4.0 which emphasizes more onto digital, data and artificial intelligence where everything is expected to be automated. However, cost tends to be a major issue at the pioneer stage of embracing technology where Building Information Modelling (BIM) for example tends to be a cost tussle for the current construction industry. Yet, research has shown that BIM is arguably one of the technology platforms in combating the costing issue considering that BIM enables 3D model elements to link to cost and auto-generate quantities which potentially achieve cost-effective project. Due to the conflicting perspectives of how BIM affects project cost issues, it is imperative to investigate the cost-related issues in implementing BIM in the project and to determine how BIM in general positively influences the overall project cost. Qualitative research is adopted in this study. A semi-structured interview was conducted among four professionals who employs BIM in their project. They consist of the assistant manager, senior manager and chief executive officer. The data collected is analysed by utilising Matrix Table for better organisation. The scope of the study is in the Selangor state in which the local construction industry had applied BIM in their construction industry up to the 3D stage. The results showed that the BIM implementation cost is not too burdensome as it is only a one-time cost and does not vary throughout the project period. In addition, the BIM influence on the overall cost of the project is beneficial to the industry. It improves workflow and cost management. In conclusion, BIM is beneficial to the construction industry in the long term. It is important to resolve the costrelated issues for implement BIM and hence, encourage the usage of BIM, especially in the IR 4.0 ecosyste

Quantum Computing and Quantum Simulation with Group-II Atoms

Recent experimental progress in controlling neutral group-II atoms for optical clocks, and in the production of degenerate gases with group-II atoms has given rise to novel opportunities to address challenges in quantum computing and quantum simulation. In these systems, it is possible to encode qubits in nuclear spin states, which are decoupled from the electronic state in the $^1$S$_0$ ground state and the long-lived $^3$P$_0$ metastable state on the clock transition. This leads to quantum computing scenarios where qubits are stored in long lived nuclear spin states, while electronic states can be accessed independently, for cooling of the atoms, as well as manipulation and readout of the qubits. The high nuclear spin in some fermionic isotopes also offers opportunities for the encoding of multiple qubits on a single atom, as well as providing an opportunity for studying many-body physics in systems with a high spin symmetry. Here we review recent experimental and theoretical progress in these areas, and summarise the advantages and challenges for quantum computing and quantum simulation with group-II atoms.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, review for special issue of "Quantum Information Processing" on "Quantum Information with Neutral Particles

Early blood stream infection after BMT is associated with cytokine dysregulation and poor overall survival

The key complications of allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) remain graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and opportunistic infection. We have analyzed the blood stream infections (BSI) occurring between day -7 and day 100 in a cohort of 184 adult patients undergoing allogeneic BMT in our center. 167 of the 184 patients (91%) had blood cultures collected, and 69 (38%) patients had a confirmed BSI. Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus spp. and viridans Streptococcus spp. were the most commonly isolated organisms. Gender, conditioning (myeloablative vs. reduced intensity) and donor type (sibling vs. unrelated) did not differ significantly between those with and without confirmed BSI. Elevated temperature (>38°C) at the time of culture collection was associated with an almost 2-fold increased likelihood of returning a positive blood culture. The absence of a BSI was associated with a significant improvement in overall survival at 2 years, due to a significant reduction in non-relapse mortality predominantly unrelated to the primary BSI. The presence of a BSI prior to engraftment was associated with the dysregulation of IL-6 and IL-8. Our findings suggest that BSI early after BMT defines a group of high-risk patients with enhanced cytokine dysregulation and poor transplant outcome

Genetically manipulated phages with improved pH resistance for oral administration in veterinary medicine

Orally administered phages to control zoonotic pathogens face important challenges, mainly related to the hostile conditions found in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). These include temperature, salinity and primarily pH, which is exceptionally low in certain compartments. Phage survival under these conditions can be jeopardized and undermine treatment. Strategies like encapsulation have been attempted with relative success, but are typically complex and require several optimization steps. Here we report a simple and efficient alternative, consisting in the genetic engineering of phages to display lipids on their surfaces. Escherichia coli phage T7 was used as a model and the E. coli PhoE signal peptide was genetically fused to its major capsid protein (10A), enabling phospholipid attachment to the phage capsid. The presence of phospholipids on the mutant phages was confirmed by High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography, Dynamic Light Scattering and phospholipase assays. The stability of phages was analysed in simulated GIT conditions, demonstrating improved stability of the mutant phages with survival rates 102107 pfu.mL1 higher than wild-type phages. Our work demonstrates that phage engineering can be a good strategy to improve phage tolerance to GIT conditions, having promising application for oral administration in veterinary medicine.This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and under the scope of the Project PTDC/BBB-BSS/6471/2014 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016678). Franklin L. Nobrega and Ana Rita Costa acknowledge FCT for grants SFRH/BD/86462/2012 and SFRH/BPD/94648/2013, respectively. Melvin F. Siliakus acknowledges funding from the Biobased Ecologically Balanced Sustainable Industrial Chemistry (BE-BASIC) foundation. Electron microscopy work was performed at the Wageningen Electron Microscopy Centre (WEMC) of Wageningen University

Fostering Professional Ethical Competence During Teacher Training Practice

Professionals who have undergone their training at university should possess not only the knowledge-base necessary to practice in their chosen profession, but also the ethical principles that ensure responsible professional practice and the corresponding benefits for society. The research project addressed in the present article aimed to contribute to fostering ethical competence and commitment amongst future teachers. During the experience the participants had the opportunity to design tasks that stimulated reflection, critique and ethical awareness.Specialistai, įgiję universitetinį išsilavinimą, turi būti sukaupę ne tik žinių, kurios būtinos profesinėje veikloje, bet ir gebėti vadovautis etikos principais, kurie užtikrintų atsakingą ir visuomenės gerovei reikalingą profesinę veiklą. Tyrime, pristatomame šiame straipsnyje, analizuojamos būsimųjų mokytojų etinės kompetencijos plėtros ir atsidavimo darbui problemos. Tyrimo dalyviai turėjo galimybę kurti užduotis, kurios skatino refleksiją, kritiką ir etinį sąmoningumą.Les professionnels ayant reçu leur formation auprès des Universités disposeront, non seulement des connaissances de base nécessaires à l'exercice de leur métier, mais aussi les principes éthiques garantissant un exercice professionnel responsable portant bénéfice sur la société. Le projet de recherche présenté sous ce titre a comme objectif la contribution à la favorisation de la compétence éthique et de l'engagement parmi les futurs enseignants. Lors de cette expérience, les participants ont eu l'occasion d'élaborer des tâches favorisant la réflexion, la critique et la pensée critique.Профессионалы, получившие университетское образование, не только получают основные знания для работы по своей профессии, но и моральные принципы, которые обеспечивают ответственную профессиональную работу и соответствующую выгоду для общества. Целью исследовательского проекта,представленного под этим именем, является участие в стимуляции профессиональной этики и компромисса среди будущих преподавателей. Во время проведения эксперимента, участники получили возможность разработать задания, стимулирующие размышление, критику и критичиское сознание.Los profesionales que han recibido su formación en la Universidad, poseerán no solo el conocimiento base necesario para la práctica en su profesión, sino también los principios éticos que aseguran la práctica profesional responsable y el correspondiente beneficio para la sociedad. El proyecto de investigación presentado con este título tiene como objetivo contribuir a estimular la competencia ética y el compromiso entre los futuros docentes. Durante la experiencia, los participantes tuvieron la oportunidad de diseñar tareas que estimularan la reflexión, la crítica y la conciencia crítica

Stability mechanisms of a thermophilic laccase probed by molecular dynamics.

Laccases are highly stable, industrially important enzymes capable of oxidizing a large range of substrates. Causes for their stability are, as for other proteins, poorly understood. In this work, multiple-seed molecular dynamics (MD) was applied to a Trametes versicolor laccase in response to variable ionic strengths, temperatures, and glycosylation status. Near-physiological conditions provided excellent agreement with the crystal structure (average RMSD ∼0.92 Å) and residual agreement with experimental B-factors. The persistence of backbone hydrogen bonds was identified as a key descriptor of structural response to environment, whereas solvent-accessibility, radius of gyration, and fluctuations were only locally relevant. Backbone hydrogen bonds decreased systematically with temperature in all simulations (∼9 per 50 K), probing structural changes associated with enthalpy-entropy compensation. Approaching T opt (∼350 K) from 300 K, this change correlated with a beginning "unzipping" of critical β-sheets. 0 M ionic strength triggered partial denucleation of the C-terminal (known experimentally to be sensitive) at 400 K, suggesting a general salt stabilization effect. In contrast, F(-) (but not Cl(-)) specifically impaired secondary structure by formation of strong hydrogen bonds with backbone NH, providing a mechanism for experimentally observed small anion destabilization, potentially remedied by site-directed mutagenesis at critical intrusion sites. N-glycosylation was found to support structural integrity by increasing persistent backbone hydrogen bonds by ∼4 across simulations, mainly via prevention of F(-) intrusion. Hydrogen-bond loss in distinct loop regions and ends of critical β-sheets suggest potential strategies for laboratory optimization of these industrially important enzymes

The LHS 1678 system : two earth-sized transiting planets and an astrometric companion orbiting an M dwarf near the convective boundary at 20 pc

Funding: The MEarth Team gratefully acknowledges funding from the David and Lucile Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering (awarded to D.C.). This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants AST-0807690, AST-1109468, AST-1004488 (Alan T. Waterman Award), and AST-1616624, and upon work supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Grant No. 80NSSC18K0476 issued through the XRP Program. This work is made possible by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. N. A.-D. acknowledges the support of FONDECYT project 3180063. TD acknowledges support from MIT’s Kavli Institute as a Kavli postdoctoral fellow. KH acknowledges support from STFC grant ST/R000824/1. E.A.G. thanks the LSSTC Data Science Fellowship Program, which is funded by LSSTC, NSF Cybertraining Grant #1829740, the Brinson Foundation, and the Moore Foundation; The material is based upon work supported by NASA under award number 80GSFC21M0002. This work was supported by the lead author’s appointment to the NASA Postdoctoral Program at the Goddard Space Flight Center, administered by Universities Space Research Association under contract with NASAWe present the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovery of the LHS 1678 (TOI-696) exoplanet system, comprised of two approximately Earth-sized transiting planets and a likely astrometric brown dwarf orbiting a bright (VJ = 12.5, Ks = 8.3) M2 dwarf at 19.9 pc. The two TESS-detected planets are of radius 0.70 ± 0.04 R⊕ and 0.98 ± 0.06 R⊕ in 0.86 day and 3.69 day orbits, respectively. Both planets are validated and characterized via ground-based follow-up observations. High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher RV monitoring yields 97.7 percentile mass upper limits of 0.35 M⊕ and 1.4 M⊕ for planets b and c, respectively. The astrometric companion detected by the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory/Small and Moderate Aperture Telescope System 0.9 m has an orbital period on the order of decades and is undetected by other means. Additional ground-based observations constrain the companion to being a high-mass brown dwarf or smaller. Each planet is of unique interest; the inner planet has an ultra-short period, and the outer planet is in the Venus zone. Both are promising targets for atmospheric characterization with the James Webb Space Telescope and mass measurements via extreme-precision radial velocity. A third planet candidate of radius 0.9 ± 0.1 R⊕ in a 4.97 day orbit is also identified in multicycle TESS data for validation in future work. The host star is associated with an observed gap in the lower main sequence of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. This gap is tied to the transition from partially to fully convective interiors in M dwarfs, and the effect of the associated stellar astrophysics on exoplanet evolution is currently unknown. The culmination of these system properties makes LHS 1678 a unique, compelling playground for comparative exoplanet science and understanding the formation and evolution of small, short-period exoplanets orbiting low-mass stars.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Human cytomegalovirus latency-associated proteins elicit immune-suppressive IL-10 producing CD4⁺ T cells.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a widely prevalent human herpesvirus, which, after primary infection, persists in the host for life. In healthy individuals, the virus is well controlled by the HCMV-specific T cell response. A key feature of this persistence, in the face of a normally robust host immune response, is the establishment of viral latency. In contrast to lytic infection, which is characterised by extensive viral gene expression and virus production, long-term latency in cells of the myeloid lineage is characterised by highly restricted expression of viral genes, including UL138 and LUNA. Here we report that both UL138 and LUNA-specific T cells were detectable directly ex vivo in healthy HCMV seropositive subjects and that this response is principally CD4⁺ T cell mediated. These UL138-specific CD4⁺ T cells are able to mediate MHC class II restricted cytotoxicity and, importantly, show IFNγ effector function in the context of both lytic and latent infection. Furthermore, in contrast to CDCD4⁺ T cells specific to antigens expressed solely during lytic infection, both the UL138 and LUNA-specific CD4⁺ T cell responses included CD4⁺ T cells that secreted the immunosuppressive cytokine cIL-10. We also show that cIL-10 expressing CD4⁺ T-cells are directed against latently expressed US28 and UL111A. Taken together, our data show that latency-associated gene products of HCMV generate CD4⁺ T cell responses in vivo, which are able to elicit effector function in response to both lytic and latently infected cells. Importantly and in contrast to CD4⁺ T cell populations, which recognise antigens solely expressed during lytic infection, include a subset of cells that secrete the immunosuppressive cytokine cIL-10. This suggests that HCMV skews the T cell responses to latency-associated antigens to one that is overall suppressive in order to sustain latent carriage in vivo