Bacillus subtilis: As an Efficient Bacterial Strain for the Reclamation of Water Loaded with Textile Azo Dye,Orange II

The azo dye orange II is used extensively in the textile sector for coloring fabrics. High concentrations of it are released into aqueous environments through textile effluents. Therefore, its removal from textile wastewater and effluents is necessary. Herein, initially, we tested 11 bacterial strains for their capabilities in the degradation of orange II dye. It was revealed in the preliminary data that B. subtilis can more potently degrade the selected dye, which was thus used in the subsequent experiments. To achieve maximum decolorization, the experimental conditions were optimized whereby maximum degradation was achieved at: a 25 ppm dye concentration, pH 7, a temperature of 35 °C, a 1000 mg/L concentration of glucose, a 1000 mg/L urea concentration, a 666.66 mg/L NaCl concentration, an incubation period of 3 days, and with hydroquinone as a redox mediator at a concentration of 66.66 mg/L. The effects of the interaction of the operational factors were further confirmed using response surface methodology, which revealed that at optimum conditions of pH 6.45, a dye concentration of 17.07 mg/L, and an incubation time of 9.96 h at 45.38 °C, the maximum degradation of orange II can be obtained at a desirability coefficient of 1, estimated using the central composite design (CCD). To understand the underlying principles of degradation of the metabolites in the aliquot mixture at the optimized condition, the study steps were extracted and analyzed using GC-MS(Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry), FTIR(Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), ¹H and carbon 13 NMR(Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy). The GC-MS pattern revealed that the original dye was degraded into o-xylene and naphthalene. Naphthalene was even obtained in a pure state through silica gel column isolation and confirmed using ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopic analysis. Phytotoxicity tests on Vigna radiata were also conducted and the results confirmed that the dye metabolites were less toxic than the parent dye. These results emphasize that B. subtilis should be used as a potential strain for the bioremediation of textile effluents containing orange II and other toxic azo dyes.     

Green Tea Catechins: Nature’s Way of Preventing and Treating Cancer

Green tea’s (Camellia sinensis) anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects are well-known. Catechins are the most effective antioxidants among the physiologically active compounds found in Camellia sinesis. Recent research demonstrates that the number of hydroxyl groups and the presence of specific structural groups have a substantial impact on the antioxidant activity of catechins. Unfermented green tea is the finest source of these chemicals. Catechins have the ability to effectively neutralize reactive oxygen species. The catechin derivatives of green tea include epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin gallate (ECG) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG has the greatest anti-inflammatory and anticancer potential. Notably, catechins in green tea have been explored for their ability to prevent a variety of cancers. Literature evidence, based on epidemiological and laboratory studies, indicates that green tea catechins have certain properties that can serve as the basis for their consideration as lead molecules in the synthesis of novel anticancer drugs and for further exploration of their role as pharmacologically active natural adjuvants to standard chemotherapeutics. The various sections of the article will focus on how catechins affect the survival, proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis of tumors by modulating cellular pathways.     

Gene subset selection using an iterative approach based on genetic algorithms

Microarray data are expected to be useful for cancer classification. However, the process of gene selection for the classification contains a major problem due to properties of the data such as the small number of samples compared with the huge number of genes (higher-dimensional data), irrelevant genes, and noisy data. Hence, this article aims to select a near-optimal (small) subset of informative genes that is most relevant for the cancer classification. To achieve this aim, an iterative approach based on genetic algorithms has been proposed. Experimental results show that the performance of the proposed approach is superior to other previous related work, as well as to four methods tried in this work. In addition, a list of informative genes in the best gene subsets is also presented for biological usage.     

Design of dual‐band microstrip patch antenna with right‐angle triangular aperture slot for energy transfer application

This work focusing on the dual‐band antenna design with rectifying circuit for energy transfer system technology for enhancement gain performance. The air gap technique is applied on this microstrip antenna design work to enhance the antenna gain. The work begins with designing and analyzing the antenna via the CST Microwave Studio software. After validation on acceptable performance in simulation side is obtained, the return loss, S₁₁ of the antenna is measured using vector network analyzer equipment. The rectifier circuit is used to convert the captured signal to DC voltage. This projected dual‐band antenna has successfully accomplished the target on return loss of ?44.707 dB and ?32.163 dB at dual resonant frequencies for 1.8 GHz and 2.4 GHz, respectively. This proposed antenna design benefits in low cost fabrication and has achieved high gain of 6.31 dBi and 7.82 dBi for dual‐band functioning frequencies.     

Ergogenic Attributes of Young and Mature Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) Water Based on Physical Properties,Sugars and Electrolytes Contents

The present work aimed to compare the main ergogenic attributes of two commercialized stages (young and mature) of coconut water (CW) obtained from four coconut varieties. The changes of electrolytes and sugars in CW upon maturation were quantified by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer and high-performance liquid chromatography, respectively. Based on the electrolyte profiling, potassium yielded the highest amount (ranging from 237.41 to 361.20 mg/100 mL) followed by sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese, copper, selenium, and zinc across all the maturity stages tested. For sugars, there were lower amounts of fructose and glucose, but a higher amount of sucrose with the maturation of the fruits. In conclusion, the amount of beneficial nutrients in the form of sugars and minerals was higher than that of young CW, and the ergogenic attributes of mature CW especially from MATAG variety (M-MATAG) were the best to be exploited further in the development of natural energy drinks.     

Occurrence of phthalate metabolites in human urine from several Asian countries

The occurrence of 14 phthalate metabolites was found in human urine samples collected from seven Asian countries: China, India, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Phthalate metabolites were found in all samples, indicating widespread exposure of humans to phthalates in these Asian countries. The highest total (the sum of 14 phthalates) phthalate metabolite concentrations were found in samples collected from Kuwait (median: 1050 ng/mL), followed in decreasing order by samples from India (389 ng/mL), China (234 ng/mL), Vietnam (133 ng/mL), Japan (120 ng/mL), Korea (117 ng/mL), and Malaysia (94.9 ng/mL). The creatinine-adjusted median concentrations of total phthalates for urine samples from Kuwait, India, China, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, and Malaysia were 692, 506, 289, 119, 103, 104, and 169 μg/g creatinine, respectively. Monomethyl phthalate (mMP), monoethyl phthalate (mEP), mono (2-isobutyl phthalate) (miBP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (mBP), and metabolites of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were the dominant compounds, collectively accounting for >95% of the total concentrations in the samples from the seven countries. The profiles of urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations varied among the samples collected from the seven countries. Urine samples from Kuwait contained the highest concentrations of mEP (median: 391 ng/mL), mBP (94.1 ng/mL), and the metabolites of DEHP (202 ng/mL), whereas samples from China and Japan contained the highest concentrations of miBP (50.8 ng/mL) and mMP (17.5 ng/mL), respectively. mEP was the predominant metabolite in urine samples from India and Kuwait (accounting for 49% of the total), mBP and miBP were the predominant compounds in samples from China (52%), and DEHP metabolites were the predominant compounds in samples from Korea (46%) and Vietnam (52%). Based on the urinary concentrations of mEP, mBP, miBP, and DEHP metabolites of the samples from the seven Asian countries, we estimated daily intake rates of diethyl phthalate (DEP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and DEHP. The results indicated that people in the seven Asian countries are exposed to DEP, DBP, and DEHP at levels well below the reference doses (RfD) suggested as unsafe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The estimated exposure doses to DEHP in Kuwait, however, were above the RfD recommended by the EPA.     

Mechanism of action of Melaleuca armillaris (Sol. Ex Gaertu) Sm. essential oil on six LAB strains as assessed by multiparametric flow cytometry and automated microtiter-based assay

Little is known concerning the effects of essential oils (EOs) against lactic acid bacteria (LAB), either of the human gastrointestinal microflora or those involved in industrial processes. GC and GC/MS analysis of Melaleuca armillaris EO resulted in the identification of 68 compounds comprising 99.6% of the oil. Eucalyptol (1,8-cineole) was the major compound (68.9%) and the composition was largely dominated by the oxygenated monoterpenes fraction (77.3%). The anti-LAB activities of the EO were first checked by the disc diffusion assay. In a second phase, time-survival kinetics of each strain incubated with increasing concentrations of the EO (0.25, 2.5, 5 and 25 μg/ml) were established using an automated microtiter assay (Bioscreen C). Bacteriostatic or bactericidal effects were noticed depending on the studied strain and on the applied concentration of the EO. The mathematical modelling of the kinetics showed that in presence of increasing concentrations of M. armillaris EO, the lag phases of growth were extended (0.69%–97.5%) and both the growth rate and final cell density were reduced. Variations depending on the strain were noticed.     

Geological Engineering,Civil Engineering,Traffic and Transportation Engineering Electrical capacitance volume tomography for measurement soil water infiltration in vessel experiments简

Electrical capacitance volume tomography （ECVT） is a recently-developed technique for real-time, non-invasive 3D monitoring of processes involving materials with strong contrasts in dielectric permittivity. This work is first application of the method to visualization of water flow in soil. We describe the principles behind the method, and then demonstrate its use with a simple laboratory infiltration experiment. 32 ECVT sensors were installed on the sides of an empty PVC column. Water was poured into the column at a constant rate, and ECVT data were collected every second. The column was then packed with dry sand and again supplied with water at a constant rate with data collected every second. Data were analyzed to give bulk average water contents, which proved consistent with the water supply rates. Data were also analyzed to give 3D images （216 voxels） allowing visualization of the water distribution during the experiments. Result of this work shows that water infiltration into the soil, wall flow, progress of the unstable wetting front and the final water distribution are clearly visible.     

Hierarchical steganography using novel optimum quantization technique

Security and imperceptibility are fundamental issues for steganography. This paper presents a multi-level steganography system based on concealing and deception. Basically, the secret image is embedded in a cover image, which in turn is embedded in another higher-level cover image. Each steganography level provides additional security, with lower levels implemented using stronger steganography methods. Furthermore, in the event that the higher level steganography is compromised, it would include misleading information to deceive the attacker that he/she is successfully eavesdropping. One challenge of hierarchical system is retaining hidden data in lower level in a higher level stenographic technique. To mitigate this issue, we designed a novel technique which combines discrete cosine transform and least significant bit (LSB). The technique objective is to maximize the capacity and invisibility of the secret image with minimal modification to the cover image (at most k-bits per block). The performance (capacity and peak signal-to-noise ratio) of the proposed method has superior performance compared with LSB since it combines the benefits of 1-bit and 3-bit LSBs. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates that the secret message is successfully embedded and extracted in two-level steganography system with peak signal-to-nose ratio greater than 20 dB.