As an exogenous substance, bulking agent plays a considerable role in dewatered sludge (DS) biodrying by affecting the organics degradation and water migration. Meanwhile, biodried product needs to be further dried because its final moisture content (MC) is usually too high for direct incineration. In this study, the influence of adding different bulking agents on organics decomposition and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) release during DS biodrying, and thermal drying characteristics of the biodrying mixtures was investigated. Results showed that spent coffee ground (SCG), corncob (CC) and wheat husk (WH) improved water removal ratios of DS biodrying. SCG contributed various types of organic matter to the biodrying matrix, thus attaining the longest high-temperature period (4.5 days). Meanwhile, SCG contributed lipids, which have high calorific value, to the biodrying pile, leading to the highest biodrying index (3.70) among all treatments. SCG, CC and WH also accelerated EPS... [more]

It has been estimated and demonstrated that the antioxidant capacity of proteins is increased as a result of digestion in the gastrointestinal tract, which can be contributed by denaturation and digestion. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of denaturation and proteolytic digestion on the antioxidant activity of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and chicken egg white proteins in model systems. Denaturation with an anionic detergent (sodium dodecyl sulfate) and digestion with papain and trypsin increased the antioxidant activity/capacity of the proteins, apparently due to the increased exposure of amino acid residues responsible for the antioxidant activity of proteins (tyrosine, tryptophan, cysteine, histidine, arginine, and cystine in the ABTS● decolorization assay; cysteine, tryptophan, tyrosine, and cystine in the FRAP assay). As the increase in the protein antioxidant activity/capacity was limited in extent, it does not invalidate the use of the antioxidant capacity of proteins to be... [more]

This study addressed the effect of microbial methane production on the physical properties of a coal reservoir. Two kinds of coal samples before and after anaerobic degradation were tested by a low-temperature liquid nitrogen adsorption test and an isothermal adsorption and diffusion coefficient test. The influence of the characteristics of microbial gas production on the coal physical properties was analyzed. Due to the differences in the physical properties of the coal samples, the effect of microbial production is different. Coal is a macromolecular organic compound, mainly aromatic and lignin derivatives, containing carbon and nitrogen sources that can be used by microorganisms. Microorganisms secrete extracellular enzymes to decompose covalent bonds and functional groups of macromolecules in coal and eventually produce methane, which will change the physical properties of coal. It was found that microbial anaerobic degradation could increase the content of coalbed methane, change... [more]

Lung cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortalities globally. Failure in diagnosis at early stages and limited effective chemotherapeutics has severely impeded the clinical management of patients suffering from lung carcinoma. At present, researchers across the world are focused on exploring biologically active natural products for treating various cancers, which can thus be further investigated for their chemotherapeutical potential. Coleus aromaticus is a common herb used in culinary practices and has previously been shown to possess various medicinal characteristics. In the present study, the anti-cancer effects of ethanolic extract of C. aromaticus leaves (EtOH-LCa) against non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) A549 cells were screened. It was observed that EtOH-LCa reduced the viability of A549 cells and obstructed the cell cycle progression in a concentration-dependent manner. Importantly, EtOH-LCa succeeded in instigating the production of reactive oxygen speci... [more]

This work aimed to evaluate the chemical composition of essential oils from Catha edulis Forsk collected in the Day Forest of the Republic of Djibouti. Additionally, in vivo toxicity studies, biochemical profiling, and hematological tests were conducted to determine the biological activity of the investigated essential oils. Finally, in vitro tests were performed to investigate the antibacterial activity of the essential oils. The essential oils were obtained at yields of 0.75%. Chromatographic analysis identified 39 compounds, of which cathinone (81.4%) and cathine (10.55%) were determined as the two major components, representing 91.95% of the total composition. Catha edulis essential oil had a rat LD50 of 2500 mg/kg, indicating very low toxicity. Chronic exposure studies revealed that use of the essential oil in rats resulted in persistent stimulant action at dosages of 100 and 200 mg/kg, whereas the weight gain of control rats was faster than that of the essential oil-treated rats.... [more]

This work focuses on introducing new sustainable chemicals in the wool grease removal processes by aiming to understand the effect of an eco-friendly solvent, cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME), in solvent-based wool grease extraction and, in addition, the impact of the wool protein hydrolyzate (WPH) as a biosurfactant derived from green hydrolysis in the wool scouring process. In the green solvent extraction process assisted using solvent CPME, the effect of CPME on grease extraction and the presence of four primary fatty acids were evaluated and compared with conventional solvents. The quantity of grease extracted using green solvent CPME was more significant than the conventional solvents. An extraction using green solvent CPME resulted in 11.95% extracted wool grease, which is more when compared with 8.19% hexane and 10.28% diethyl ether. The total quantity of four fatty acids was analyzed and found to be ~15% for CPME ~17% for Hexan compared with ~20% for commercial lanolin. FTIR of... [more]

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of free nitrous acid (FNA) and free ammonia (FA) on the anoxic phosphorus uptake rate (PUR) of polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) via the utilization of nitrite. With this goal, upon developing a PAO-enriched culture in a sequential batch reactor, a series of batch experiments were conducted to examine the effects of nitrite and ammonium on the anoxic phosphorus uptake rate at different pH levels. According to the results, both free nitrous acid and free ammonia were found to inhibit anoxic PUR to a degree similar to their respective effects on aerobic PUR reported in previous studies, suggesting that phosphorus removal via the anoxic pathway may be just as susceptible as that via the aerobic pathway. The effect of FNA on anoxic PUR is optimally described by a non-competitive inhibition model with a KiFNA value of 1.6 μg N L−1, while the Levenspiel model with an SFA* value of 37 mg N L−1 provided the best fit for the FA ef... [more]

The aim of the study was to define whether changes in psychophysical performance will occur after the exposure to light of a specific color during the early afternoon decrease in work capacity. The evaluation of psychophysical performance was carried out on a group of 50 subjects using the following tools: Grandjean Scale, Attention and Perceptiveness Test (TUS), and GONOGO test. The study was performed for exposure to reference light, white light enriched by blue light (WBL), and white light enriched by red light (WRL). The analysis of psychophysical performance results indicates the positive influence of a specific color of light on different factors of psychophysical performance. Exposure to WRL among participants from the 22−34 subgroup contributed to an increase in the number of correct tests and the speed of work as well as a decrease in the number of mistakes, less boredom, and higher performance. The exposure to WBL among participants from the 55+ subgroup decreased the number... [more]

A potential based on a bond dipole representation of electrostatics is reported for peptides. Different from those popular force fields using atom-centered point-charge or point-multipole to express the electrostatics, our peptide potential uses the chemical bond dipole−dipole interactions to express the electrostatic interactions. The parameters for permanent and induced bond dipoles are derived from fitting to the MP2 three-body interaction energy curves. The parameters for van der Waals are taken from AMBER99sb and further refined from fitting to the MP2 stacking interaction energy curve. The parameters for bonded terms are taken from AMBER99sb without any modification. The scale factors for intramolecular dipole−dipole interactions are determined from reproducing the highly qualified ab initio conformational energies of dipeptides and tetrapeptides. The resulting potential is validated by use to evaluate the conformational energies of polypeptides containing up to 15 amino acid res... [more]

The extract of P. amygdalus var. amara is known for its health benefits, which include lowering diabetes and heart disease risks. In eight human tumor cell lines, P. amygdalus var. amara demonstrated potent anti-cancer activity, including NB4, Huh-7, A-549, SKOV-3, PC-3, T-24, U937, and Hep-2. There was a notable change in the morphology of nearly all cancer cell lines, and cancer cells continued to exist. Incubation for 12 h, 24 h, 48 h, or 72 h resulted in the lowest viable cell concentration at 48 h, which was 34.65% lower than that of the non-treated cells. During exposure to the extract, the majority of cells lost their typical morphology and shrank in size. According to the cell viability data, the P. amygdalus var. amara treatment significantly decreased the cancer cells’ growth in most cancer cell lines when doses and time were taken into consideration.

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of thermal treatment and ultrasound on the activity of β-glucosidase and lipoxygenase, enzymes that determine the phenolic composition and sensory profile of virgin olive oil. Enzyme activity was determined spectrophotometrically in model systems consisting of commercial enzymes and their substrates. Thermal treatment was performed by tempering the enzymes and substrates at temperatures between 15 and 40 °C. Enzyme activity was measured 1 min after reaction and again after the additional incubation of the reaction mixture at 25 °C for 30 min to simulate the behavior of the enzymes during the malaxation process. Ultrasonic treatment of the model solutions was performed at 128, 320, and 640 W of the ultrasonic bath power for 1, 5, and 12 min. Enzyme activity was determined immediately after treatment and again after incubation at 25 °C for 30 min. The higher temperatures during thermal treatment increased the activity of both enzymes... [more]

is a bacterium that causes various diseases in humans. Cold plasma is found to be an alternative to eliminate S. aureus. Most studies of cold plasma on S. aureus mainly focus on the physiochemical changes of the cells. So far, biological responses of S. aureus to cold plasma treatment under different treatment durations have not yet been evaluated. In this study, the results showed that the cold plasma was effective in eliminating S. aureus. At the initial exposure (1 min), the treated cells showed gene upregulations of stress proteins, antioxidants, nitrosative stress, and transporter proteins, but no significant change in other biological processes, such as cell membrane synthesis, DNA repairing, transcription, and translation. This indicated that the cells actively countered the damage from cold plasma. In contrast, during the prolonged treatment (3 and 5 min), biological processes related to central dogma were affected, including the DNA repairing mechanism, transcription, and tran... [more]

Kenaf or Hibiscus cannabinus is an annual herbaceous crop that grows well in temperate regions with high rainfall and abundant solar radiation. This Malvaceae member is famously known for its high-quality fibre that is directly retrieved from its dried stem materials and is useful in various industries, mainly in paper and pulp, bio-composite, textiles and manufacturing. With recent discoveries, kenaf can now be regarded as a multipurpose crop as its usage has been extended beyond its traditional applications, which include applications within the medicinal, pharmaceutical and food industries since its extracts possess several bioactivities that include anticancer, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, antidiabetic and antithrombotic abilities along with many more. The plant’s versatile applications and pharmaceutical activities come from its different plant parts such as its leaves, seeds, flowers and stems. This demonstrates that kenaf can also be safely regarded as a zero-waste crop, whi... [more]

Chemical investigations of L. stoechas subsp. luisieri and L. pedunculata essential oils were analyzed by GC-MS, and the antimicrobial activity was performed against bacteria and fungi isolated from food sources. The cytotoxicity of the essential oil was performed in NHDF cells using the MTT method. According to the results, the main compounds of L. stoechas subsp. luisieri essential oil were trans-α-necrodyl acetate (40.2%), lavandulyl acetate (11%), and trans-α-necrodol (10.4%), while fenchone (50.5%) and camphor (30.0%) in L. pedunculata essential oil. The antifungal activity of essential oils was confirmed with MIC values ranging from 1.2 to 18.7 µL/mL; for bacteria, it ranged from 4.7 to 149.3 µL/mL. Both the Lavandula species tested showed low or equal MIC and MBC/MFC values for L. stoechas subsp. luisieri essential oil, revealing greater efficacy in antimicrobial activity. The L. stoechas subsp. luisieri essential oil revealed cytotoxic effects (30 ± 2% of cell viability) in NHD... [more]

Soaking is an important step in making tempeh. Tempeh fermentation normally involves the natural presence of proteolytic bacteria capable of producing protease enzymes to break down peptide bonds in protein molecules. This study evaluated the protein and amino acid content of Jack bean tempeh (Canavalia ensiformis) soaked in distilled water during natural fermentation for 12, 24, 36, and 48 h. In this study, the crude proteins were determined using the Kjeldahl technique, amino acids were determined from protein hydrolysis, and proteolytic bacteria were enumerated for Total Plate Counts and further identified using Vitek 2.0 Compact System. The results showed that soaked Jack beans have higher protein and amino acid content, with sixteen essential and non-essential amino acids required for human bodies. The protein content of soaked Jack beans varied from 35% at 12 h to 32% at 24 and 36 h and 33% at 48 h. Soaking for 12 h yielded the highest amino acid concentration of 38,000 mg/kg L-g... [more]

A green method for hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin-glycerol-assisted extraction (HCGAE) of bioactive phenolics from S. montana, Lamiaceae was optimized using Box-Behnken design and response surface methodology and compared conventional water/ethanol-based extraction. The procedure was aimed at obtaining extracts with the maximum content of total phenols (TP), flavonoids (TF), dihydroxycinnamic acids (TDCA), rosmarinic acid (RA), and luteolin 7-O-glucoside (LG). The impact of glycerol content (0−70%), 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin content (0−0.4 mmol), temperature (20−70 °C), herbal material weight (0.3−0.8 g), extraction duration (5−25 min), and ultrasound power (144−720 W) on the extraction efficiency was analyzed. Four extracts with maximum amounts of target phenols, OPT-TP (5.93 mg/mL), OPT-TDCA-RA (4.17 mg/mL and 1.16 mg/mL, respectively), OPT-TF (0.99 mg/mL), and OPT-LG (0.28 mg/mL) were prepared. Comparison of the content of TDCA, TF, RA, and LG with those obtained in water/ethanol... [more]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers in the world. When treating patients, therapeutic agents have side effects; hence, the use of natural compounds found in medicinal plants including pomegranate. Ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) is a new technique evolving to the detriment of traditional methods such as maceration. In this study, we investigated the antioxidant and anticancer effect of pomegranate peel extracts obtained by maceration and UAE at three different ultrasonic power levels (P1 = 10 W; P2 = 50 W; P3 = 100 W) on HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells. Phytochemical screening highlighted the presence of primary and secondary metabolites in pomegranate peels. In addition, the ethanolic extract obtained by UAE at 50 W was shown to be the most concentrated in phenolic and flavonoid compounds and have the most powerful antioxidant activity, which reached a maximum activity of 92% as determined by DPPH test. Similarly, the MTT cell viability test showed that the... [more]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different types of powder additions on the properties of corn extrudates. The following ingredients, which are good sources of bioactive compounds, were used to substitute corn flour: legume protein sources (2% pea, 5% broccoli, and 5% lucerne), plants (15% beetroot and 15% rosehip), and condiments (2% chili, 2% turmeric, 2% paprika, and 2% basil). The total polyphenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (AA) increased when the corn flour was replaced with the different types of ingredients. The highest TPC was found for rosehip followed by the beet, basil, and broccoli additions. Compared to the raw formulations, all the extrudates, except the rosehip extrudate, showed a decrease in the TPC ranging from 11 to 41%, with the smallest loss (11%) occurring for basil and the highest loss (41%) occurring for the control extrudate, respectively. The same observation was recorded for the AA. For the extrudate enriched with rosehi... [more]

One of the most advanced systems of microbial fuel cells is the benthic microbial fuel cell (BMFC). Despite several developments, this strategy still has a number of significant flaws, such as instable organic substrate. Waste material (sugarcane) is used as a substrate in this work to address the organic substrate instability. The process was operated continuously for 70 days. A level of 300 mV was achieved after 33 days of operation, while the degradation efficiencies of Pb (II), Cd (II), and Cr (III) were more than 90%. More than 90% of the removed chemical oxygen demand (COD) was also recorded. The measured power density was 3.571 mW/m2 at 1000 external resistance with 458 internal resistance. This demonstrates that electrons are effectively transported throughout the operation. The Bacillus strains are the most dominant bacterial community on the surface of the anode. This research’s mechanism, which involves metal ion degradation, is also explained. Finally, parameter optimizatio... [more]

Accurate polyp segmentation is of great importance for the diagnosis and treatment of colon cancer. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have made significant strides in the processing of medical images in recent years. The limited structure of convolutional operations prevents CNNs from learning adequately about global and long-range semantic information interactions, despite the remarkable performance they have attained. Therefore, the GCCSwin-UNet framework is suggested in this study. Specifically, the model utilizes an encoder−decoder structure, using the patch-embedding layer for feature downsampling and the CSwin Transformer block as the encoder for contextual feature extraction. To restore the feature map’s spatial resolution during upsampling operations, a symmetric decoder and patch expansion layer are also created. In order to help the backbone module to do better feature learning, we also create a global context module (GCM) and a local position-enhanced module (LPEM). We co... [more]

Significant efforts have been made toward developing sustainable reduction reactions of organic and bioorganic compounds. In these studies, the selection of reagents and solvents has played a very important role in the development of environment-friendly methodologies. In this context, the reducing agent Cp2TiCl/H2O has been introduced as a safe, efficient, selective, and low-cost reagent, and thus as a sustainable alternative for the reduction of organic compounds. To facilitate understanding of the reductions mediated by this system, in this study we focus on describing the intermediates, mechanisms, and representative examples. Finally, a reflection is made on the future perspectives of this reducing agent, including its analog Cp2TiCl/D2O as a powerful tool for the preparation of deuterated phenols, which can be successfully used as an internal standard for analyzing bioactive phenols in olive oil.

is a halophyte indigenous to marine coastal areas and salt fields and has been used as a traditional remedy for diarrhea, abdominal pain, constipation, and indigestion. Its component isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside (IR3G) may have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-adipogenic properties. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the anti-obesity effect of S. herbacea extract and IR3G on mouse 3T3-L1 adipocytes and db/db obesity mice. S. herbacea extract and IR3G inhibited lipase in a concentration-dependent manner. Oil Red O staining disclosed that S. herbacea extract and IR3G significantly suppressed lipid accumulation and adipogenesis and also inhibited the expression of the C/EBPα in the 3T3-L1 adipocytes. In experiments using db/db mice, administering of S. herbacea extract limited body weight gain and significantly reduced feed efficiency and adipose tissue weight. Moreover, analyzing blood triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotei... [more]

Cellulases are enzymes that are attracting worldwide attention because of their ability to degrade cellulose in the lignocellulosic biomass and transform it into highly demanded bioethanol. The enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose by cellulases into fermentable sugars is a crucial step in biofuel production, given the complex structure of lignocellulose. Due to cellulases’ unique ability to hydrolyze the very recaltricant nature of lignocellulosic biomass, the cellulase market demand is rapidly growing. Although cellulases have been used in industrial applications for decades, constant effort is being made in the field of enzyme innovation to develop cellulase mixtures/cocktails with improved performance. Given that the main producers of cellulases are of microbial origin, there is a constant need to isolate new microorganisms as potential producers of enzymes important for biofuel production. This review provides insight into current research on improving microbial cellulase production a... [more]

The dewatering process reduces the water quantity in sludge, allowing the decrease in its volume, which facilitates its storage, transport, stabilization, and improves the post-treatment efficiency. Chemical polymers including aluminum sulphate and polyaluminum chloride were applied as flocculants in the conditioning process in order to prepare sludge for dewatering. However, these synthetic polymers may cause risks for human health, and should be substituted with ecofriendly and safe materials. These materials include plant-based flocculants, animal-based flocculants, and microbial-based flocculants. Sludge dewaterability was evaluated by considering many parameters, such as moisture content (MC), dry solids (DS), specific resistance to filtration (SRF), capillary suction time (CST), and sludge volume index (SVI). The use of microorganisms for sludge dewatering is an available option, since many strains (R. erythropolis, A. ferrooxidans, P. mirabilis, T. flavus, etc.) demonstrated the... [more]

The existence of a growing myopia pandemic is an unquestionable fact for health authorities around the world. Different possible causes have been put forward over the years, such as a possible genetic origin, the current excess of children’s close-up work compared to previous stages in history, insufficient natural light, or a multifactorial cause. Scientists are looking for different possible solutions to alleviate it, such as a reduction of time or a greater distance for children’s work, the use of drugs, optometric correction methods, surgical procedures, and spending more time outdoors. There is a growing number of articles suggesting insufficient natural light as a possible cause of the increasing levels of childhood myopia around the globe. Technological progress in the world of lighting is making it possible to have more monochromatic LED emission peaks, and because of this, it is possible to create spectral distributions of visible light that increasingly resemble natural light... [more]