Effects of Plant Growth Hormones on Mucor indicus Growth and Chitosan and Ethanol Production

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and kinetin (KIN) on Mucor indicus growth, cell wall composition, and ethanol production. A semi-synthetic medium, supplemented with 0–5 mg/L hormones, was used for the cultivations (at 32 °C for 48 h). By addition of 1 mg/L of each hormone, the biomass and ethanol yields were increased and decreased, respectively. At higher levels, however, an inverse trend was observed. The glucosamine fraction of the cell wall, as a representative for chitosan, followed similar but sharper changes, compared to the biomass. The highest level was 221% higher than that obtained without hormones. The sum of glucosamine and N-acetyl glucosamine (chitin and chitosan) was noticeably enhanced in the presence of the hormones. Increase of chitosan was accompanied by a decrease in the phosphate content, with the lowest phosphate (0.01 g/g cell wall) being obtained when the chitosan was at the maximum (0.45 g/g cell wall). In conclusion, IAA and KIN significantly enhanced the M. indicus growth and chitosan production, while at the same time decreasing the ethanol yield to some extent. This study shows that plant growth hormones have a high potential for the improvement of fungal chitosan production by M. indicus.     

Experimental investigation into Fe3O4/SiO2 nanoparticle performance and comparison with other nanofluids in enhanced oil recovery

Nanofluids because of their surface characteristics improve the oil production from reservoirs by enabling different enhanced recovery mechanisms such as wettability alteration, interfacial tension (IFT) reduction, oil viscosity reduction, formation and stabilization of colloidal systems and the decrease in the asphaltene precipitation. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the synthesis of a new nanocomposite has been studied in this paper for the first time. It consists of nanoparticles of both SiO₂ and Fe₃O₄. Each nanoparticle has its individual surface property and has its distinct effect on the oil production of reservoirs. According to the previous studies, Fe₃O₄ has been used in the prevention or reduction of asphaltene precipitation and SiO₂ has been considered for wettability alteration and/or reducing IFTs in enhanced oil recovery. According to the experimental results, the novel synthesized nanoparticles have increased the oil recovery by the synergistic effects of the formed particles markedly by activating the various mechanisms relative to the use of each of the nanoparticles in the micromodel individually. According to the results obtained for the use of this nanocomposite, understanding reservoir conditions plays an important role in the ultimate goal of enhancing oil recovery and the formation of stable emulsions plays an important role in oil recovery using this method.     

Blood Clots versus PRF: Activating TGF-β Signaling and Inhibiting Inflammation In Vitro

The preparation of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) requires blood centrifugation to separate the yellow plasma from the red erythrocyte fraction. PRF membranes prepared from coagulated yellow plasma are then transferred to the defect sites to support tissue regeneration. During natural wound healing, however, it is the unfractionated blood clot (UBC) that fills the defect site. It is unclear whether centrifugation is necessary to prepare a blood-derived matrix that supports tissue regeneration. The aim of the present study was to compare lysates prepared from PRF and UBC based on bioassays and degradation of the respective membranes. We report here that lysates prepared from PRF and UBC membranes similarly activate TGF-β signaling, as indicated by the expression of interleukin 11 (IL-11), NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX-4) and proteoglycan 4 (PRG4) in gingival fibroblasts. Consistently, PRF and UBC lysates stimulated the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of Smad3 in gingival fibroblasts. We further observed that PRF and UBC lysates have comparable anti-inflammatory activity, as shown by the reduction in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced IL-6, inducible nitric oxidase synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) expression in RAW264.7 cells. Moreover, inflammation induced by Poly (1:C) HMW and FSL-1, which are agonists of Toll-like receptor (TLR) 3 and 2/6, respectively, was reduced by both PRF and UBC. PRF and UBC lysates reduced the nuclear translocation of p65 in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. In contrast to the similar activity observed in the bioassays, UBC membranes lack the structural integrity of PRF membranes, as indicated by the rapid and spontaneous disintegration of UBC membranes. We show here that the lysates prepared from PRF and UBC possess robust TGF-β and anti-inflammatory activity. However, visual inspection of the PRF and UBC membranes confirmed the negative impact of erythrocytes on the structural integrity of membranes prepared from whole blood. The data from the present study suggest that although both UBC and PRF have potent TGF-β and anti-inflammatory activity, UBC does not have the strength properties required to be used clinically to prepare applicable membranes. Thus, centrifugation is necessary to generate durable and clinically applicable blood-derived membranes.     

Ghezeljeh nanoclay as a new natural adsorbent for the removal of copper and mercury ions:Equilibrium,kinetics and thermodynamics studies

Heavy metal determination was carried out by applying the solid phase extraction (SPE) method in batch mode followed by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrosco-py (ICP-AES) from aqueous solutions using Ghezeljeh montmoril onite nanoclay as a new natural adsorbent. The Ghezeljeh clay is characterized by using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Mi-croscopy–Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (SEM–EDS) and X-ray Diffractometry (XRD) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF). The results of XRD and FT-IR of nanoclay confirm that montmoril onite is the dominant mineral phase. Based on SEM images of Ghezeljeh clay, it can be seen that the distance between the plates is Nano. The effects of varying parameters such as initial concentration of metal ions, pH and type of buffer solutions, amount of ad-sorbent, contact time, and temperature on the adsorption process were examined. The effect of various interfer-ing ions was studied. The adsorption data correlated with Freundlich, Langmuir, Dubinin–Radushkevich (D–R), and Temkin isotherms. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms showed the best fit to the equilibrium data for Hg(I ), but the equilibrium nature of Cu(II) adsorption has been described by the Langmuir isotherm. The kinetic data were described with pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and double-exponential models. The adsorp-tion process follows a pseudo-second-order reaction scheme. Calculation ofΔG0,ΔH0 andΔS0 showed that the nature of Hg(II) ion sorption onto the Ghezeljeh nanoclay was endothermic and was favored at higher temper-ature, and the nature of Cu(II) ion sorption was exothermic and was favored at lower temperature.     

A pseudo‐differential current‐reuse structure for opamp‐sharing pipelined analog‐to‐digital converters

In this paper, a power efficient pseudo‐differential (PD) current‐reuse structure is presented to alleviate the memory effects of opamp‐sharing in pipelined analog‐to‐digital converters. To implement the PD current‐reuse structure, a switched‐capacitor circuit is introduced for multiplying digital‐to‐analog converter, which has a slight modification compared with the conventional switching scheme with no power penalty. In the proposed multiplying digital‐to‐analog converter circuit, the common‐mode offset amplification of the PD structures is eliminated. Moreover, a PD current‐reuse amplifier is developed from the telescopic structure with an inverter‐based gain‐boosting circuit. The effectiveness of the proposed structure is evaluated in comparison with existing current‐reuse techniques. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recycling value of building materials in building assessment systems

The selection of green building materials and products is by far the most controversial task in sustainable construction. Determining the merits of building materials and products in terms of their recycling value, which seems to be a simple matter, is a very controversial topic in building assessment systems. This paper suggests a method to assess energy savings by recycling building materials, which can be a potential indicator of recycling worth. The method takes account of material selection, construction and deconstruction technologies, and the frequency of recycling. The result of this study can be used in assessment tools as a factor separate from the embodied energy. Since embodied energy affects the potential recycling energy, another factor is defined, based on these two factors, in order to make it possible to compare and select materials correctly, based on their embodied energy and recycling potential.     

Microparticles containing erlotinib-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with sensitizing mutations in the exons 18–21 of the epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene show increased kinase activity of EGFR. Hence, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as erlotinib (ETB) have commonly been used as the second line therapeutic option for the treatment of metastatic NSCLC. While the ETB is available as an oral dosage form, the local delivery of this TKI to the diseased cells of the lung may ameliorate its therapeutic impacts. In the current study, we report on the development of ETB-loaded solid lipid nanoparticle (SLN) based formulation of dry powder inhaler (ETB-SLN DPI). ETB-SLNs were formulated using designated amount of compritol/poloxamer 407. The engineered ETB-SLNs showed sub-100?nm spherical shape with an encapsulation efficiency of 78.21%. MTT assay and DAPI staining revealed that the ETB-SLNs enhanced the cytotoxicity of cargo drug molecules in the human alveolar adenocarcinoma epithelial A549 cells as a model for NSCLC. To attain the ETB-SLN DPI, the ETB-SLNs were efficiently spray dried into microparticles (1–5?μm) along with mannitol. The ETB-SLN DPI powder displayed suitable flowability and aerodynamic traits. The Carr's Index, Hausner ratio and Next Generation Impactor (NGI) analyses confirmed deep inhalation pattern of the formulation. Based on these findings, we propose the ETB-SLN DPI as a promising treatment modality for the NSCLC patients.     

A Long‐Cycle‐Life Lithium–CO2 Battery with Carbon Neutrality

Lithium–CO₂ batteries are attractive energy‐storage systems for fulfilling the demand of future large‐scale applications such as electric vehicles due to their high specific energy density. However, a major challenge with Li–CO₂ batteries is to attain reversible formation and decomposition of the Li₂CO₃ and carbon discharge products. A fully reversible Li–CO₂ battery is developed with overall carbon neutrality using MoS₂ nanoflakes as a cathode catalyst combined with an ionic liquid/dimethyl sulfoxide electrolyte. This combination of materials produces a multicomponent composite (Li₂CO₃/C) product. The battery shows a superior long cycle life of 500 for a fixed 500 mAh g^?1 capacity per cycle, far exceeding the best cycling stability reported in Li–CO₂ batteries. The long cycle life demonstrates that chemical transformations, making and breaking covalent C? O bonds can be used in energy‐storage systems. Theoretical calculations are used to deduce a mechanism for the reversible discharge/charge processes and explain how the carbon interface with Li₂CO₃ provides the electronic conduction needed for the oxidation of Li₂CO₃ and carbon to generate the CO₂ on charge. This achievement paves the way for the use of CO₂ in advanced energy‐storage systems.     

The increasing dominance of science in the economy: Which nations are successful?

Scientometrics - We analyzed breakthrough patents that serve as the basis of emerging technological trajectories and paradigm over 25-years. The results showed that although technological fields...