Endo-pectinase Production by Bacillus pumilus NRRL B-212 and Optimization by RSM using Sugar Beet Pulp

The present study aimed at optimization of culture conditions for endo-pectinase production by Bacillus pumilus NRRL B-212. In the first stage of the study, submerged fermentation experiments were performed to investigate effects of initial pH, carbon and nitrogen sources, salts and phosphate on endo-pectinase activity and maximum enzyme production was at pH: 8. The effect of initial pectin concentration on enzyme production was examined, and 1 % (w/v) pectin concentration was selected as the optimum pectin concentration. Yeast extract, (NH4)2SO4, and peptone were used as nitrogen sources, and the medium containing 0.05 % (w/v) ammonium sulphate was the medium where maximum activity was achieved. In the experiments investigating the effect of salts, the maximum activity value was determined in the medium containing 0.02 % NaCl. In addition, the effect of phosphate concentration on enzyme production was investigated, and the highest endo-pectinase activity was determined in medium containing 0.3 % K2HPO4 + 0.15 % KH2PO4. In the second stage of the study, solid-state fermentation studies were performed, and sugar beet pulp was used as agricultural waste. In order to obtain maximum endo-pectinase production and reveal the parameters influencing enzyme activity using sugar beet pulp, a Central Composite Design (CCD) was applied. The highest endo-pectinase activity was obtained as 147.75 U mL–1 in medium containing 6.78 % sugar beet pulp, 0.48 % (NH4)2SO4 and 0.12 % yeast extract. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

The Comparative Study on the Influence of Early Architectural Design Decisions on Energy Demand: A Case Study in Turkey

The early design process has the most salient design decisions for architects. It is crucial to observe the impact of these design decisions in terms of performance-based design. However, because of the large amount of variance of the performance criteria in the early design parameters, the decision-making is highly arduous. The current study proposes a method to quantify output uncertainty and presents the relationship between independent and dependent variables for providing insight into the decisionmaking process. The energy simulations for hypothetical office building based on TS-825 requirements were executed with cooling and heating demand (kWh/m2 -year) outputs for two different regions, i.e., Erzurum as a cold climate and Izmir as a hot-humid climate. Researchers computed the input parameters' impact on building performance with quasi-random statistical sampling and filtering techniques. Respectively, ineffective parameters eliminated with factor fixing and factor prioritization (i.e., first-order) was realized to sort the most effective parameters with Morris Local Sensitivity Analysis. The interaction (i.e., second-order) between independent variables was analyzed using Global Sensitivity Analysis of Sobol'. The output weighting process was applied for rating each result combining the performance based on output variablesfor the factor mapping. It is the presentation of 100 best solutions in the aspect of the effective range of the input parameters for the mostsignificant reduction in the variance of the output variables. The results were presented with Parallel Coordinate Plot (PCP) for each climate as a comparison. Consequently, the study showed how climate conditions are essential for building energy demand, and design options could be analyzed based on the impact of design decisions

The Influence of Immediate Urban Surroundings on Energy Performance of Historical Buildings

High-density urban areas contain large number of historical buildings whose structures and artistic values are protected by regulations. This restricts the improvements can be made to building envelope to reduce energy demand of historical buildings. Therefore, immediate urban surroundings (IUS) may play a central role on energy performance of historical buildings (EPHB). Yet, literature has provided little or no evidence, so far. To address the gap, the current experimental inquiry aims to test the significance of IUS’s influence on the EPHB. To achieve, historical structure in hothumid climate was selected and surveyed thoroughly. Control and intervention cases were considered to measure the influence IUS. The control case corresponds to the former state of IUS; whereas the intervention described as the IUS which includes a recently built office block with reflective glass façade. The numerical result obtained from computational thermal simulations were used for comparison. Accordingly, the increase in heating demand substantially surpassed the decrease in cooling demand for the case under study. Therefore, a significant increase in total energy demand was observed in the presence of intervention. In addition, the energy performance of the individual volumes located in the lower floors presented higher fluctuations due to intervention’s shading effect

A Novel Framework to Evaluate the Performance of Responsive Kinetic Shading Devices

Determining control parameters of kinetic shading devices introduces a dynamic problem to designers, which can best be tackled by computational tools. Yet, excessive computational cost inherits in reaching near optimum solutions led to exclusion of many design alternatives and weather conditions. Addressing the issue, the current study aims to explore the design space adequately and evaluate the performance of responsivekinetic shading devices (RKSD) by proposing a novel framework. Current framework adopts a surrogatebased technique for multiobjective optimization of control parameters of a RKSD on randomly sampled daylight hours. To test the plausibility of any results obtained by the proposed framework, a controlled experiment is designed. Empirical evidences suggest RKSD outperforms the static one in daylighting and view performance metrics. However, considering indoor temperature no significant differences observed

The Impacts of Early Architectural Design Decisions on Building Performance

The early architectural design involves the most salient decisions. However, because of the large amount of variance, the decision-making is highly arduous. This article presents a methodology to enable the most effective design variables to be selected within the most effective value range by presenting a method that allows the measurement of output uncertainty depending on the impact of design decisions on outputs. The methodology was tested with different building functions and climate regions using two-phase sensitivity analysis. The values of design variables were generated with quasi-random sampling. They were sorted with factor prioritization. Ineffective variables were eliminated with factor fixing. Advanced global sensitivity analyses were performed for the total effect. Factor mapping was applied with the output weighting. The results were presented with Parallel Coordinate Plot (PCP). The designers can make selections from alternatives with PCP. Finally, the study demonstrated how climate and building functions should be considered for building performance

THE CHALLENGES FACED BY SCHOOL COUNSELLORS IN THE REPORTING OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

Identifying and reporting sexually abused children is one of the most important responsibilities of school counsellors. In this study, we aimed to determine the challenges of reporting child sexual abuse. We used a questionnaire form that was prepared by reviewing the literature about reporting sexual abuse. Participants were asked to state their level of knowledge of child sexual abuse, whether they had encountered such cases, whether they faced any challenges when notifying to authorities, and the possible solutions to problems encountered during this process. Of the school counsellors contacted, 40.9% of the participants stated that they encountered a claim of child sexual abuse at least once, but the majority of them (47.4%) could not report it to judicial authorities because of various reasons; such as being unsure whether the event was really happening, anticipating reactions towards them or school management, and fearing the school’s loss of reputation in the case of disclosure.  Article visualizations

\u27Vitamin D and cognition in older adults\u27: updated international recommendations.

BACKGROUND: Hypovitaminosis D, a condition that is highly prevalent in older adults aged 65 years and above, is associated with brain changes and dementia. Given the rapidly accumulating and complex contribution of the literature in the field of vitamin D and cognition, clear guidance is needed for researchers and clinicians. METHODS: International experts met at an invitational summit on \u27Vitamin D and Cognition in Older Adults\u27. Based on previous reports and expert opinion, the task force focused on key questions relating to the role of vitamin D in Alzheimer\u27s disease and related disorders. Each question was discussed and voted using a Delphi-like approach. RESULTS: The experts reached an agreement that hypovitaminosis D increases the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older adults and may alter the clinical presentation as a consequence of related comorbidities; however, at present, vitamin D level should not be used as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker of Alzheimer\u27s disease due to lack of specificity and insufficient evidence. This population should be screened for hypovitaminosis D because of its high prevalence and should receive supplementation, if necessary; but this advice was not specific to cognition. During the debate, the possibility of \u27critical periods\u27 during which vitamin D may have its greatest impact on the brain was addressed; whether hypovitaminosis D influences cognition actively through deleterious effects and/or passively by loss of neuroprotection was also considered. CONCLUSIONS: The international task force agreed on five overarching principles related to vitamin D and cognition in older adults. Several areas of uncertainty remain, and it will be necessary to revise the proposed recommendations as new findings become available

The Effects of Vitamin D Receptor Silencing on the Expression of LVSCC-A1C and LVSCC-A1D and the Release of NGF in Cortical Neurons

Recent studies have suggested that vitamin D can act on cells in the nervous system. Associations between polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor (VDR), age-dependent cognitive decline, and insufficient serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D(3) levels in Alzheimer's patients and elderly people with cognitive decline have been reported. We have previously shown that amyloid β (Aβ) treatment eliminates VDR protein in cortical neurons. These results suggest a potential role for vitamin D and vitamin D-mediated mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and neurodegeneration. Vitamin D has been shown to down-regulate the L-type voltage-sensitive calcium channels, LVSCC-A1C and LVSCC-A1D, and up-regulate nerve growth factor (NGF). However, expression of these proteins when VDR is repressed is unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate LVSCC-A1C, LVSCC-A1D expression levels and NGF release in VDR-silenced primary cortical neurons prepared from Sprague-Dawley rat embryos.qRT-PCR and western blots were performed to determine VDR, LVSCC-A1C and -A1D expression levels. NGF and cytotoxicity levels were determined by ELISA. Apoptosis was determined by TUNEL. Our findings illustrate that LVSCC-A1C mRNA and protein levels increased rapidly in cortical neurons when VDR is down-regulated, whereas, LVSCC-A1D mRNA and protein levels did not change and NGF release decreased in response to VDR down-regulation. Although vitamin D regulates LVSCC-A1C through VDR, it may not regulate LVSCC-A1D through VDR.Our results indicate that suppression of VDR disrupts LVSCC-A1C and NGF production. In addition, when VDR is suppressed, neurons could be vulnerable to aging and neurodegeneration, and when combined with Aβ toxicity, it is possible to explain some of the events that occur during neurodegeneration

Predictive Models for the Diagnostic of Human Visceral Leishmaniasis in Brazil

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a neglected tropical disease endemic to 65 countries, including Brazil, where the disease frequently occurs in remote locations and treatment is often performed on the basis of clinical suspicion. Predictive models based on scoring systems could be a helpful tool for the clinical management of VL. Based on clinical signs and symptoms, and five different serological tests of 213 patients with parasitologically confirmed (cases) and 119 with clinical suspicion of VL but with another confirmed etiology (non-cases), twelve prediction models using logistic regression and classification and regression trees (CART) for VL diagnosis were developed. The model composed of the clinical-laboratory variables and the rk39 rapid test showed the best performance in both logistic regression and CART (Sensitivity of 90.1% and specificity ranging from 97.2–97.4%). The scoring system is simple and based on the clinical-laboratory findings that are easily available in most clinical settings. The results suggest that those models might be useful in locations where access to available diagnostic methods is difficult, contributing to more efficient and more rational allocation of healthcare resources