Functional Characterization of Glutamate Carboxypeptidase II in Caenorhabditis elegans

Glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII) is a transmembrane zinc metalloprotease expressed in a number of organisms: from yeast to worm to humans. In humans, GCPII has been observed as a multifunctional protein and expressed in prostate, intestine, kidney, brain, tumor-associated neovasculature and other tissues as five paralogs. In the human small intestine, hGCPII is proposed to facilitate the folate absorption by cleaving terminal glutamate residues in dietary folates. Folates act as a cofactor in one-carbon metabolic pathways such as nucleotide synthesis, amino acid synthesis, DNA repair, and consequently involved in cell division and growth. The hGCPII homolog is found in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (cGCPII) as three paralogs and shares a high structural similarity with hGCPII. In this study, the C. elegans strains: wild-type (N2), and gcp-2 deletion mutant strains: RB1055 (gcp-2.1), TM6632 (gcp-2.2) and TM5414 (gcp-2.3) were used to investigate the role of gcp-2 in folate metabolism. This study shows that the gcp-2.1 and gcp-2.2 paralogs play a significant role in folate metabolism, reproduction, and embryonic and post-embryonic development in C. elegans. When the gcp-2 mutant worms were fed with a folate-deficient diet, it showed folate deficient phenotypes, infertility and growth retardation, as observed in mice and humans. This work establishes, for the first time, the relationship between GCPII and folate metabolism in C. elegans as proposed for human folate metabolism. This study demonstrates that C. elegans can be used as a genetically tractable model organism to invetigate the tissue-specific multifunctional roles of GCPII in development and reproduction of a multicellular organsim

Removal of Phosphorus from Municipal Wastewater

This study focused on the performance of phosphorus removal from municipal wastewater with chemical coagulation using alum. The best conditions for phosphorus removal was evaluated through bench scale laboratory studies using wastewater obtained from a wastewater treatment plant and laboratory prepared synthetic wastewater. The effect of various parameters including initial pH of the solutions, different alum dosing regimes, effect of DOC and alum dose on the efficiency of phosphorus removal was successfully evaluated

Monitoring Online Operating Fuel Management System

Online fuel station management system makes it easy to manage their work systematically. We used the mern stack to develop this system. In this web application admin can log in to the system and manage functions like employee management, fuel management, order management, inventory management, weekly fuel queue management, supply fuel management, payment management, and vehicle management. Only the admin can log in to the system. Admin can add employee profiles, and employee can see their profile. Also, the user can create a fuel pass and log in to the fuel pass page. Users can see relevant fuel passes and qr codes. They can download and print fuel passes, and users can see how many fuel liters they can get. Users can also order special fuel orders and see order status. In vehicle management, the admin can manage vehicles. Also, the user can see fuel details and new prices. Admin manages inventory and storage of fuel tanks. Also, admin and user are very easy to use in this system

Soil Water Measurement Using Actively Heated Fiber Optics at Field Scale

Several studies have demonstrated the potential of actively heated fiber optics (AHFO) to measure soil water content (SWC) at high spatial and temporal resolutions. This study tested the feasibility of the AHFO technique to measure soil water in the surface soil of a crop grown field over a growing season using an in-situ calibration approach. Heat pulses of five minutes duration were applied at a rate of 7.28 W m−1 along eighteen fiber optic cable transects installed at three depths (0.05, 0.10 and 0.20 m) at six-hour intervals. Cumulative temperature increase (Tcum) during heat pulses was calculated at locations along the cable. While predicting commercial sensor measurements, the AHFO showed root mean square errors (RMSE) of 2.8, 3.7 and 3.7% for 0.05, 0.10 and 0.20 m depths, respectively. Further, the coefficients of determination (R2) for depth specific relationships were 0.87 (0.05 m depth), 0.46 (0.10 m depth), 0.86 (0.20 m depth) and 0.66 (all depths combined). This study showed a great potential of the AHFO technique to measure soil water at high spatial resolutions (<1 m) and to monitor soil water dynamics of surface soil in a crop grown field over a cropping season with a reasonable compromise between accuracy and practicality

Factors affecting the use of soil conservation practices on non-industrial private forest lands in East Texas

Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to [email protected], referencing the URI of the item.Bibliography: leaves 107-110.Not availabl

Actively heated fiber optics technique to quantify spatio-temporal dynamics of soil water from point to field scale

A lack of soil water sensing techniques which measure soil water content (SWC) at high spatial and temporal resolutions has limited the ability to quantify spatiotemporal dynamics of soil water at the field scale. This research aimed to develop a sensing technique based on the actively heated fiber optics (AHFO) to measure SWC at high spatial and temporal resolutions and to quantify the soil water dynamics at point and field scales. The AHFO technique was tested in the laboratory and field. The results from the laboratory studies demonstrated the AHFO technique's ability to measure soil water accurately (root mean square error-RMSE- 2 - 4 %) irrespective of soil type and quantify the spatiotemporal dynamics at soil column scale. The third study took the results of the laboratory experiments and extended the technique to the field scale. The AHFO technique was shown to measure soil water accurately (RMSE -3 – 4 %) at high spatial (0.5 m) and temporal (6 h) resolutions throughout a cropping season. In comparison to the point-based soil water sensors, the new sensing technique was shown to provide a more accurate estimate of the averaged SWC at field scale and significantly reduce the error in water balance and estimated evapotranspiration particularly during wet periods of the season. Further, the wavelet coherency analysis examined the scale and locations dependency of the similarity of the spatial patterns of soil water storage (SWS) over time. Unlike the dry period of summer, spatial patterns of SWS were not similar across all scales and locations during the wet period of autumn and thus, it required many sampling locations to get an accurate field average of SWC. Overall, the research demonstrated the successful development of the AHFO technique through laboratory and field calibration and validation and its ability to accurately measure SWC from point and field scales at high spatial and temporal resolutions. The AHFO technique showed a great potential to bridge the measurement gap between point and large scales and it will potentially improve our understanding of spatiotemporal dynamics of soil water at the field scale.L'absence de techniques de détection de l'eau du sol permettant de mesurer la teneur en eau du sol (CES) à des résolutions spatiales et temporelles élevées a limité la capacité de quantifier la dynamique spatio-temporelle de l'eau du sol à l'échelle du champ. Cette recherche visait à développer une technique de détection basée sur la fibre optique à chauffage actif (AHFO) pour mesurer le SWC à des résolutions spatiales et temporelles élevées et pour quantifier la dynamique de l'eau du sol à des échelles de point et de champ. La technique AHFO a été testée en laboratoire et sur le terrain. Les résultats des études de laboratoire ont démontré la capacité de la nouvelle technique de détection à mesurer avec précision l'eau du sol (erreur quadratique moyenne - RMSE- 2 - 4%) indépendamment du type de sol et à quantifier la dynamique spatio-temporelle à l'échelle de la colonne de sol. La troisième étude a pris les résultats des expériences de laboratoire et a étendu la technique à l'échelle du terrain. Il a été démontré que la technique AHFO permet de mesurer avec précision l'eau du sol (RMSE -3 - 4%) à des résolutions spatiales élevées (0,5 m) et temporelles (6 h) tout au long d'une saison de culture. Comparativement aux capteurs ponctuels d'eau du sol, il a été démontré que la nouvelle technique de détection fournissait une estimation plus précise du CES moyen à l'échelle du terrain et réduisait considérablement l'erreur dans le bilan hydrique et l'évapotranspiration estimée, en particulier pendant les périodes humides de la saison. En outre, l'analyse de cohérence en ondelettes a examiné la dépendance à l'échelle et à l'emplacement de la similarité des modèles spatiaux de stockage de l'eau dans le sol (SWS) au fil du temps. Contrairement à la période sèche d'été, les modèles spatiaux de SWS n'étaient pas identiques à toutes les échelles et à tous les endroits pendant la période humide d'automne et ont donc nécessité de nombreux sites d'échantillonnage pour obtenir une moyenne de CFC sur le terrain précise. Dans l'ensemble, la recherche a démontré que la technique AHFO avait été mise au point avec succès par des étalonnages et des validations en laboratoire et sur le terrain, ainsi que par sa capacité à mesurer avec précision le SWC, du point à le champ, à des résolutions spatiales et temporelles élevées. La technique AHFO a montré un grand potentiel pour combler le fossé de mesure entre les point et les grandes échelles et améliorerait potentiellement notre compréhension de la dynamique spatiotemporelle de l'eau du sol à l'échelle du champ

Functional Characterization of Glutamate Carboxypeptidase II in Caenorhabditis elegans

Glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII) is a transmembrane zinc metalloprotease expressed in a number of organisms: from yeast to worm to humans. In humans, GCPII has been observed as a multifunctional protein and expressed in prostate, intestine, kidney, brain, tumor-associated neovasculature and other tissues as five paralogs. In the human small intestine, hGCPII is proposed to facilitate the folate absorption by cleaving terminal glutamate residues in dietary folates. Folates act as a cofactor in one-carbon metabolic pathways such as nucleotide synthesis, amino acid synthesis, DNA repair, and consequently involved in cell division and growth. The hGCPII homolog is found in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (cGCPII) as three paralogs and shares a high structural similarity with hGCPII. In this study, the C. elegans strains: wild-type (N2), and gcp-2 deletion mutant strains: RB1055 (gcp-2.1), TM6632 (gcp-2.2) and TM5414 (gcp-2.3) were used to investigate the role of gcp-2 in folate metabolism. This study shows that the gcp-2.1 and gcp-2.2 paralogs play a significant role in folate metabolism, reproduction, and embryonic and post-embryonic development in C. elegans. When the gcp-2 mutant worms were fed with a folate-deficient diet, it showed folate deficient phenotypes, infertility and growth retardation, as observed in mice and humans. This work establishes, for the first time, the relationship between GCPII and folate metabolism in C. elegans as proposed for human folate metabolism. This study demonstrates that C. elegans can be used as a genetically tractable model organism to invetigate the tissue-specific multifunctional roles of GCPII in development and reproduction of a multicellular organsim

Hot water extraction, ultrasound, microwave and pectinase-assisted extraction of anthocyanins from blue pea flower

This study investigated the hot water extraction, ultrasound, microwave, and pectinase-assisted extraction of anthocyanin pigments from petals of blue pea flowers. The effect of substrate: solvent ratio, extraction time, and extraction temperature on the extraction yield, total anthocyanin content (TAC), and total phenolic content (TPC) of the anthocyanin extracts obtained from hot water extraction were determined. Substrate: solvent ratio of 1:15 at 50 °C for 30 min was the best extraction condition to obtain an anthocyanin extract with high extraction yield, TAC, and TPC. With these conditions, the extraction yield, TAC and TPC of the anthocyanin extract of blue pea flower were 56.9 ± 5.85%, 6.74 ± 0.21 mg cyanidin-3-O-glucoside/g (mg CGE/g) and 81.1 ± 3.82 mg gallic acid equivalent/g (mg GAE/g), respectively. Microwave-assisted extraction was the best method to obtain an anthocyanin extract with high extraction yield, TAC, TPC, and good antioxidant activity. Delphinidin-3-(trans-p-coumaroyl)-glucoside was the most prominent anthocyanin in the anthocyanin extracts

Thermal and pH stability of natural anthocyanin colourant preparations from black goji berry

This study investigated the pH and thermal stability of black goji berry anthocyanins and compared them to purple sweet potato anthocyanins for application as natural colourants. The effect of pH (3, 4, 5, and 6) treatment followed by storage at 4 and 26 °C for 30 days and thermal treatments (60, 80, and 100 °C) for 10 and 30 min on the stability of colourant preparations from black goji berry and purple sweet potato were determined. The total anthocyanin content, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and colour were measured after thermal treatment and at 6 days intervals for 30 days storage after pH treatments. LC-MS analysis was carried out at the end of each treatment. Petunidin-3-O-rutinoside(trans-p-coumaroyl)-5-O-glucoside accounted for 71% of identified anthocyanins. The colourant preparations from black goji berry demonstrated high stability at 60 °C for 10 and 30 min and high storage stability at pH 3 at 4 °C storage for 30 days. The colourant preparations from black goji berry had higher colour stability than purple sweet potato upon thermal treatments but lower stability during storage at 4 and 26 °C. This study demonstrated the potential of anthocyanins from black goji berry as a natural colourant

Effect of hot water, ultrasound, microwave, and pectinase-assisted extraction of anthocyanins from black goji berry for food application

Lycium ruthenicum, commonly known as black goji berry, is a rich anthocyanin source containing a high amount of monoacylated anthocyanins. This study investigates the effect of different extraction methods to extract anthocyanins from black goji berry for food application. Different hot water extraction conditions were applied to investigate the effect of specific substrate: solvent ratio (1:15 and 1:20 (w/v)), extraction time (30 and 60 min) and extraction temperature (40, 50 and 60 °C) on the extraction yield, total anthocyanin content (TAC) and the total phenolic content (TPC) of the anthocyanin extracts. Best hot water extraction conditions for obtaining an anthocyanin extract with high TAC (13.8 ± 1.14 mg CGE/g), TPC (69.7 ± 2.50 mg of GAE/g), and extraction yield (48.3 ± 3.25%) consuming less solvent, time and heat were substrate: solvent ratio of 1: 15 (w/v), extraction temperature of 50 °C, and extraction time of 30 min. The effect of pectinase, ultrasound, and microwave on hot water extraction of anthocyanins from black goji berry was investigated using the best conditions for hot water extraction. Pectinase-assisted extraction [1.5% (w/v) pectinase, substrate: solvent ratio of 1:15 (w/v) at 50 °C for 30 min] was the best extraction method to extract black goji berry anthocyanins demonstrating higher extraction yield, TAC, TPC, and the highest percentage of petunidin-3-O-(trans-p-coumaroyl)-rutinoside-5-O-glucoside