Bioconversion of industrial hemp biomass for bioethanol production: A review

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) with robust drought-resistant features has excellent agronomic and pharmaceutical characteristics. As the federal prohibition on hemp cultivation was lifted, its valorization in various aspects is highly required. This review aims to summarize the potential of hemp biomass for bioethanol production. Chemical compositions of hemp biomass were evaluated as compared with those of corn fiber, corn stover, and sorghum bagasse. Several representative pretreatment technologies used for hemp biomass were summarized in terms of sugar recoveries, lignin removal, and sugar and ethanol yields. This review presents numerous technical barriers attributed to insufficient fermentable sugar and ethanol concentration during the conversion processes. Also, innovative research approaches (pretreatment optimization, co-fermentation of hexose and pentose, increasing potential sugar loading) in overcoming these challenges were critically reviewed. This review would promote future research on the utilization of hemp biomass for biofuel applications

Effect of genotype on the physicochemical, nutritional, and antioxidant properties of hempseed

Hempseed products has been used as nutraceutical supplements and pharmaceutical products. However, hempseed has been underutilized as a food crop for human consumption. To fill the gap of limited knowledge of the variation of hempseed for food consumption, thirteen hemp varieties were selected to evaluate the effect of genotype on the physicochemical, nutritional, and antioxidant properties of hempseed. The tested hempseed contains 26.48–32.03% crude protein with average of 28.48%, 28.03–33.23% crude oil with average of 29.54%, 28.78–36.55% crude fiber with average of 33.49%, and 5.43%–6.32% ash with average of 5.89. Average test weight of 36.85 lbs/bu was relatively low compared to the standard test weight of 44 lbs/bu. Hempseed oil contained high portions of about 80% unsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic and α-linolenic acid. The DPPH scavenging activities varied greatly (0.37–28.78%) for the hydrolysates from different hempseed varieties. This study provides comprehensive understanding of the nutritional value of hempseed for human food and potential of a new crop in agricultural food system

NEW LATE JURASSIC PALEOMAGNETIC RESULTS FROM SHARILYN FORMATION, SOUTHERN MONGOLIA, AMURIA BLOCK, AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE TECTONIC EVOLUTION OF THE MONGOL–OKHOTSK SUTURE

The Amuria block occupies the eastern part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt between the Siberia craton and the North China block (NCB) and bears important information to understand the evolution of the MongolOkhotsk suture and the amalgamation of East Asia. However, the paleomagnetic database of Amuria remains very poor.The Amuria block occupies the eastern part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt between the Siberia craton and the North China block (NCB) and bears important information to understand the evolution of the MongolOkhotsk suture and the amalgamation of East Asia

Tunable magnetic domains in ferrimagnetic MnSb2_2Te4_4

Highly tunable properties make Mn(Bi,Sb)$_2$Te$_4$ a rich playground for exploring the interplay between band topology and magnetism: On one end, MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ is an antiferromagnetic topological insulator, while the magnetic structure of MnSb$_2$Te$_4$ (MST) can be tuned between antiferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic. Motivated to control electronic properties through real-space magnetic textures, we use magnetic force microscopy (MFM) to image the domains of ferrimagnetic MST. We find that magnetic field tunes between stripe and bubble domain morphologies, raising the possibility of topological spin textures. Moreover, we combine in situ transport with domain manipulation and imaging to both write MST device properties and directly measure the scaling of the Hall response with domain area. This work demonstrates measurement of the local anomalous Hall response using MFM, and opens the door to reconfigurable domain-based devices in the M(B,S)T family

Static coupling effect of a two-degree-of-freedom direct drive induction motor

Two-degree-of-freedom motors are capable of producing linear, rotary, and helical motion, and thus have widespread applications in special industries. In this study, a new concept- static coupling effect is studied in the two-degree-of-freedom direct-drive induction motor (2DoFDDIM). The proposed approach is based on the image method and the three-dimensional (3D) finite-element method. The image method model is established to analyse its reasons and predict the main effects, which are then verified by the proposed 3D finite-element static coupling model and experiments. The induced voltages and currents are produced in the static part and induced torque or force is obtained, even though the static part is not energised. It is concluded that the static coupling effect increases with the supply frequency and is influenced by the stator winding configuration. Thus, the existence of the static coupling effect is confirmed, which must be taken into account in future optimisation and precise control of the 2DoFDDIM

Reduced Dynamic Interactions Within Intrinsic Functional Brain Networks in Early Blind Patients

Neuroimaging studies in early blind (EB) patients have shown altered connections or brain networks. However, it remains unclear how the causal relationships are disrupted within intrinsic brain networks. In our study, we used spectral dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to estimate the causal interactions using resting-state data in a group of 20 EB patients and 20 healthy controls (HC). Coupling parameters in specific regions were estimated, including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and inferior parietal lobule (IPC) in the default mode network (DMN); dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and bilateral anterior insulae (AI) in the salience network (SN), and bilateral frontal eye fields (FEF) and superior parietal lobes (SPL) within the dorsal attention network (DAN). Statistical analyses found that all endogenous connections and the connections from the mPFC to bilateral IPCs in EB patients were significantly reduced within the DMN, and the effective connectivity from the PCC and lIPC to the mPFC, and from the mPFC to the PCC were enhanced. For the SN, all significant connections in EB patients were significantly decreased, except the intrinsic right AI connections. Within the DAN, more significant effective connections were observed to be reduced between the EB and HC groups, while only the connections from the right SPL to the left SPL and the intrinsic connection in the left SPL were significantly enhanced. Furthermore, discovery of more decreased effective connections in the EB subjects suggested that the disrupted causal interactions between specific regions are responsive to the compensatory brain plasticity in early deprivation

The Immungenicity and Cross-Neutralizing Activity of Enterovirus 71 Vaccine Candidate Strains

This study aimed to evaluate enterovirus 71 (EV-A71) vaccine candidate strains, including their genotypes, immunogenicity and cross-neutralization capacity. From clinical samples, EV-A71 strains were separated by using Vero cells. Six strains were chosen for vaccine candidates, and the sequences were analyzed. To detect the immunogenicity of the strains, we used them to immunize NIH mice at 0 and 14 days. Cytopathic effects (CPE) were examined to determine the EV-A71 neutralizing antibody (NTAb) titer 14 d after the first and second inoculations. To evaluate the cross-neutralizing capacity of the EV-A71 vaccine candidate strains, we tested serum immunized mice with ten EV-A71 genotype strains. Six EV-A71 vaccine candidate strains were identified, all belonging to sub-genotype C4, the prevalent genotype in China. The sequence similarity of the VP1 regions of the six candidate vaccine strains and three approved inactivated vaccines was 97.58%–97.77%, and the VP1 amino acid similarity was 98.65%–99.33%. Experiments were performed to evaluate the immunogenicity and cross-neutralizing activity of the EV-A71 vaccine candidate strains. The strains had good immunogenicity 14 d after two immunizations, inducing an NTAb titer ranging from 1:94 to 1:346. The NTAb seroconversion rates 14 d after one immunization were above 80% (except HB0007), and significantly increased immunogenicity of EV-A71 strains was observed post-inoculation. Furthermore, our candidate vaccine strains had broad cross-neutralizing activity after challenge with ten sub-genotypes of EV-A71. The highest NTAb titer/lowest NTAb titer ratios of sera against EV-A71 sub-genotypes were 8.0 (JS0002), 8.0 (JS0005), 21.3 (HB0005), 21.3 (HB0007), 10.7 (HB0040) and 8.0 (GD0002), respectively. Our EV-A71 strains had good immunogenicity and cross-neutralization activity, and have the potential to serve as vaccine strains for multivalent hand, foot and mouth disease vaccines

Hypoglycemia and Death in Mice Following Experimental Exposure to an Extract of Trogia venenata Mushrooms

BACKGROUND: Clusters of sudden unexplained death (SUD) in Yunnan Province, China, have been linked to eating Trogia venenata mushrooms. We evaluated the toxic effect of this mushroom on mice. METHODS: We prepared extracts of fresh T. venenata and Laccaria vinaceoavellanea mushrooms collected from the environs of a village that had SUD. We randomly allocated mice into treatment groups and administered mushroom extracts at doses ranging from 500 to 3500 mg/kg and water (control) via a gavage needle. We observed mice for mortality for 7 days after a 3500 mg/kg dose and for 24 hours after doses from 500 to 3000 mg/kg. We determined biochemical markers from serum two hours after a 2000 mg/kg dose. RESULTS: Ten mice fed T. venenata extract (3500 mg/kg) died by five hours whereas all control mice (L. vinaceoavellanea extract and water) survived the seven-day observation period. All mice died by five hours after exposure to single doses of T. venenata extract ranging from 1500 to 3000 mg/kg, while the four mice exposed to a 500 mg/kg dose all survived. Mice fed 2000 mg/kg of T. venenata extract developed profound hypoglycemia (median= 0.66 mmol/L) two hours after exposure. DISCUSSION: Hypoglycemia and death within hours of exposure, a pattern unique among mushroom toxicity, characterize T. venenata poisoning