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The present study examines the use of waste cooking oil (WCO) as a substrate for medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHA) production by Pseudomonas rhizophila S211. The genome analysis revealed that the S211 strain has a mcl-PHA cluster (phaC1ZC2DFI) encoding two class II PHA synthases (PhaC1 and PhaC2) separated by a PHA depolymerase (PhaZ), a transcriptional activator (PhaD) and two phasin-like proteins (PhaFI). Genomic annotation also identified a gene encoding family I.3 lipase that was able to hydrolyze plant oils and generate fatty acids as favorable carbon sources for cell growth and PHA synthesis via β-oxidation pathway. Using a three-variable Doehlert experimental design, the optimum conditions for mcl-PHA accumulation were achieved in 10% of WCO-based medium with an inoculum size of 10% and an incubation period of 48 h at 30 °C. The experimental yield of PHA from WCO was 1.8 g/L close to the predicted yield of 1.68 ± 0.14 g/L. Moreover, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis confirmed the extracted mcl-PHA. Overall, this study describes P. rhizophila as a cell factory for biosynthesis of biodegradable plastics and proposes green and efficient approach to cooking oil waste management by decreasing the cost of mcl-PHA production, which can help reduce the dependence on petroleum-based plastics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the current growing interest in new and improved enzymes for use in a variety of applications, the present study aimed to characterize a novel detergent-stable serine alkaline protease from the extremophilic actinobacterium Microbacterium metallidurans TL13 (MmSP) using a combined in silico and experimental approach. The MmSP showed a close phylogenetic relationship with high molecular weight S8 peptidases of Microbacterium species. Moreover, its physical and chemical parameters computed using Expasy's ProtParam tool revealed that MmSP is hydrophilic, halophilic and thermo-alkali stable. 3D structure modelling and functional prediction of TL13 serine protease resulted in the detection of five characteristic domains: [catalytic subtilase domain, fibronectin (Fn) type-III domain, peptidase inhibitor I9, protease-associated (PA) domain and bacterial Ig-like domain (group 3)], as well as the three amino acid residues [aspartate (D182), histidine (H272) and serine (S604)] in the catalytic subtilase domain. The extremophilic strain TL13 was tested for protease production using agricultural wastes/by-products as carbon substrates. Maximum enzyme activity (390 U/gds) was obtained at 8th day fermentation on potato peel medium. Extracellular extract was concentrated and partially purified using ammonium sulfate precipitation methodology (1.58 folds purification fold). The optimal pH, temperature and salinity of MmSP were 9, 60 °C and 1 M NaCl, respectively. The MmSP protease showed broad pH stability, thermal stability, salt tolerance and detergent compatibility. In order to achieve the maximum stain removal efficacy by the TL 13 serine protease, the operation conditions were optimized using a Box–Behnken Design (BBD) with four variables, namely, time (15–75 min), temperature (30–60 °C), MmSP enzyme concentration (5–10 U/mL) and pH (7–11). The maximum stain removal yield (95 ± 4%) obtained under the optimal enzymatic operation conditions (treatment with 7.5 U/mL of MmSP during 30 min at 32 °C and pH9) was in good agreement with the value predicted by the regression model (98 ± %), which prove the validity of the fitted model. In conclusion, MmSP appears to be a good candidate for industrial applications, particularly in laundry detergent formulations, due to its high hydrophilicity, alkali-halo-stability, detergent compatibility and stain removal efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plant cell wall degradation by extremophilic bacteria is an interesting biological process that is highly relevant for biofuel generation from agrowastes. The halotolerant actinobacterium Microbacterium metallidurans TL13, previously isolated from a tannery wastewater, was studied for its capacity to degrade cellulose and hemicellulose based on genomic and experimental enzymatic analyses. Genome annotation of TL13 strain in dbCAN 2 meta server revealed a total of 158 genes encoding CAZymes including 83 glycosidic hydrolases (GH), 6 carbohydrate esterases, and 25 carbohydrate-binding proteins. Cooperative hydrolytic enzymes required for cellulose degradation such as GH1 and GH3 β-glucosidases and GH6 endo-β-1,4-glucanase were found in TL13 genome. For hemicellulases involved in xylan backbone degradation, the related genes were annotated as endo-1,4-β-xylanase, β-xylosidase, α-arabinofuranosidase, acetyl xylan esterase, and α-galactosidase. In TL13 strain, osmoprotectants are taken up by the ProU (ProVWX) transport systems. The synthesis of the powerful compatible solute glycine betaine, which protects the actinobacterium against the high-osmolarity stress, proceeds by the action of three enzymes consisting of choline high‐affinity transport system (BetT), choline dehydrogenase (BetA), and betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BetB). The presence of genes encoding enzymes involved in osmoadaptation and cellulose/hemicellulose degradation in the TL13 genome is well synchronized with the enzymatic assays, in which CMCase, β-glucosidase, and xylanase activities were slightly higher under saline conditions compared to controls. Furthermore, the polysaccharide-degrading enzymes of TL13 strain revealed an efficient hydrolysis of untreated Posidonia oceanica waste into fermentable sugars compared to commercial enzymes. The bioethanol production reached 33.35% of the theoretical maximum yield. These genomic and experimental findings make Microbacterium biocatalysts promising green tools for seagrass-based biorefinery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The treatment of textile wastewater (TWW) loaded with recalcitrant azo dyes in bioelectrochemical systems (BES) rather than in physicochemical processes is a low-cost and environmentally friendly process. The main objective of this study is to investigate the potential of different saline sediments collected from extreme Tunisian environments for the formation of bioanodes capable ofsimultaneous azo dyes degradation and electric current generation in synthetic (STWW) and real textile wastewaters (RTWW) characterized by a varied composition of azo dyes and a high salinity. The obtained bioanodes and anolytes were studied comparatively by electrochemical, microscopic, analytical, and molecular tools.Based on the UV–visible spectra analysis, the breakdown of the azo bond was confirmed. With RTWW, the BES achieved a chemical oxygen demand (COD) abatement rate of 85%with a current density of 2.5 A/m2. Microbial community analysis indicated that a diverse community of bacteria was active for effluent treatment coupled with energy production. At the phylum level, the electrodes were primarily colonized by proteobacteria and firmicutes, which are the two phyla most involved in bioremediation. The analysis of the microbial community also showed the abundance of Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus and Marinobacter sp. species characterized by their high metabolic capacity, tolerance to extremophilic conditions, and role in hydrocarbon degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decades, losses of bee populations have been observed worldwide. A panoply of biotic and abiotic factors, as well as the interplay among them, has been suggested to be responsible for bee declines, but definitive causes have not yet been identified. Among pollinators, the honeybee Apis mellifera is threatened by various diseases and environmental stresses, which have been shown to impact the insect gut microbiota that is known to be fundamental for host metabolism, development and immunity. Aimed at preserving the gut homeostasis, many researches are currently focusing on improving the honeybee health through the administration of probiotics e.g., by boosting the innate immune response against microbial infections. Here, we review the knowledge available on the characterization of the microbial diversity associated to honeybees and the use of probiotic symbionts as a promising approach to maintain honeybee fitness, sustaining a healthy gut microbiota and enhancing its crucial relationship with the host immune system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection and quantification of Indole -3 Acetic Acid (IAA) produced by Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) rely on a standard well-documented assay, which remains time-consuming, laborious, and costly. These drawbacks led to sway interest to economic and reliable assays. The aim of this work is to validate and standardize a fast, reliable, and cost-effective microassay to quantify IAA produced by bacteria with an easy microplate method. In order to validate the accuracy of the IAA microplate assay, bacterial samples from different genera were assayed using two methods: the conventional IAA estimation assay and the IAA micro- assay. The microassay shows a prominent reduction in used bacterial supernatant volume as well as Salkowski reagent volume of about 92.5%. It is considerably cheaper than the conventional one of around 56%. The newly performed microplate assay is 23 times faster. The result of IAA quantitative analysis for 13 bacterial strains showed that Bacillus muralis and Bacillus toyonensis produced the highest IAA concentration (23.64±0.003μg/ml and 23.35±0.006μg/ml, respectively). The obtained data from both methods were highly correlated with an R-value of 0.979. The microassay offers the ability to read the optical density of all samples simultaneously since used volumes of bacterial supernatants and Salkowski reagent were minimized to place the mixture in 96-well microplates, which reduces greatly required labor. Furthermore, the application of the IAA micro-plate assay reduces drastically the reagent waste and toxicity hazard of Salkowski reagent in the environment, thus, we can classify it as eco-friendly respecting the Green Chemistry concept according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The IAA microassay is a, reliable, rapid and cost-effective and eco-friendly method to screen plant growth promoting potential of more than 23 bacterial strains by microplate. It could be an alternative for the conventional IAA assay as a routine research tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a comparative study of the steady-state and transient behaviors of three-level neutral-point clamped (3L-NPC) inverter-fed induction motor (IM) drives under the control of three predictive torque control (PTC) schemes: the conventional one (C-PTC) and two new strategies involving selected stator voltage vectors (SVs), namely: (SV-PTC1) and (SV-PTC2). Compared to the C-PTC, the latter enable a reduction of the number of voltage vectors as well as the weighting factors. The introduced PTCs mainly differ by the cost function, which is more simple in the case of SV-PTC2. However, SV-PTC1 allows a systematic clamping of each stator phase to the DC bus voltage, at a low level of 60 degrees, and a high level at 60 degrees per cycle, while such a clamping is arbitrary in the case of SV-PTC2. Simulations prove the higher performances of the introduced SV-PTCs over the C-PTC ones, in terms of the reduction of the current distortion and of the torque ripple. Simulation results were validated by the experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tree wormwood (Artemisia arborescens L.; family Asteraceae) is an endangered medicinal and ornamental plant with industrial and ecological potentials. Here, we report an efficient micropropagation method for the in vitro regeneration of this species. Initiation culture was established from nodal segments in basic Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium. Shoot induction and elongation were assessed in MS medium supplemented with different concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP; 0–1.5 mg/L) in combination with indole 3-acetic acid (IAA; 0–0.4 mg/L). The growth regulators combination of 0.5 mg/L BAP + 0.1 mg/L IAA gave the best result with a 100% shoot induction rate and morphologically stable vitroplants without callogenesis. The half-strength MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/L indole 3-butyric acid (IBA) resulted in the highest rooting rate, the maximum root number, and the highest root length. Rooted plantlets were successfully acclimatized with a 70% survival rate. The phytochemical analyses revealed enhanced total phenolic and flavonoid contents in the micropropagated plants compared to the mother plant. However, no significant fluctuations were recorded for the condensed tannins and essential oil contents between the micropropagated plants and the mother plant. The GC-MS analysis revealed that, except for some minor compounds which showed significant variation between the in vitro regenerated plants and the mother plant, contents of the main essential oil components were unchanged. This simple and rapid in vitro regeneration protocol through direct organogenesis could be applied both for ex situ and in situ conservation programs and for the sustainable production of tree wormwood bioactive phytochemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern road vehicles are more and more often being equipped with electric actuators. These are intended to play critical roles in passengers comfort and safety. Among the electrified components onboard road vehicles, one can distinguish electric power steering (EPS) systems, which have been the subject of intensive investigations covering both design and control aspects. The abilities of several AC motor topologies to fulfil the EPS systems' requirements have been assessed by a large scientific community in both academia and industry. The present work was aimed at the prediction of the electromagnetic features of the flux-switching permanent magnet machines (FSPMMs), with an emphasis on the air gap flux density. The latter was firstly formulated while neglecting the slotting effect at both sides of the air gap. Then, stator and rotor permeance functions, taking into account the slotting effect and the PM flux concentrating arrangement, were incorporated into the derived flux density spatial repartition. Moreover, the accuracy of the latter was improved through two dedicated correction functions that take into account the rotor position and the magnetic saturation. The last part of the paper presents a simple approach to enhance the developed torque of FSPMMs in an attempt to meet the EPS requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) to produce ammonia (NH3) is one of the key mechanisms for the growth and development of plants. Ammonia spectrophotometric quantification assay using Nessler's reagent remains laborious and seems to be not suitable for large-scale PGP screening assay. Here, we performed a new accurate, easy, and cost-effective micro-plate protocol for large-scale ammonia quantification in bacterial supernatants as an alternative to the spectrophotometric method. In order to validate the accuracy of our innovative microplate assay, 9 bacterial strains were explored for their ability to produce ammonia using both the conventionally described assay and the newly performed micro-plate one. The ammonia 96-well microplate assay was successfully performed by scaling down the spectrophotometric methods to reduce the volume of bacterial supernatant as well as Nessler's reagent. The reduction was estimated to 90%of the total used volume in comparison to the conventional test. The micro-test is 10-fold cheaper and 26 times faster than the conventional method. All bacterial isolates were positive for ammonia production. Bacillus inaquorsum and Bacillus mojavensis produced the highest ammonia concentration of about 371 and 370μM respectively. Furthermore, the application of the ammonia micro-plate assay reduces drastically the reagent waste and toxicity hazard of K2HgI4 (Nessler's reagent) in the environment, thus, we can classify it as eco-friendly respecting the Green Chemistry concept according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The statistical data obtained from both assays are significantly correlated (r = 0.985, R squared = 0.9329, and p < 0.001) proving the accuracy of the micro-plate assay. The proposed NH3 micro-assay is a reliable, rapid, eco-friendly, and cost-effective method to screen plant growth-promoting potential of more than 25 bacterial strains in one micro-plate. It could be an alternative for the conventional NH3 assay as a routine research tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large medium-voltage electric machine stators are usually equipped with form wound coils made of flat conductors (strands) and embedded in open (rectangular) slots. Air-gap magnetic flux lines can enter the slot and, sweeping the strands placed nearest the slot opening, induce eddy currents in them. Such eddy currents cause additional losses which can be much higher than usual skin-effect and proximity losses. In order to avoid dangerous overheating and hot spots, the additional losses in question need to be carefully predicted in the design stage. Time-stepping finite-element analysis (TSFEA) can be used for the purpose, which however implies a large computational burden and requires the machine geometry to be modeled in detail. This article proposes alternative methods based on time-harmonic finite-element analysis (THFEA) simulations performed on highly simplified machine models and with no need to take rotor motion into account. The proposed methods are shown to produce very accurate results, compared to TSFEA, but with very significant time and computational savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioremediation offers a viable alternative for the reduction of contaminants from the environment, particularly petroleum and its recalcitrant derivatives. In this study, the ability of a strain of Pseudomonas BUN14 to degrade crude oil, pristane and dioxin compounds, and to produce biosurfactants, was investigated. BUN14 is a halotolerant strain isolated from polluted sediment recovered from the refinery harbor on the Bizerte coast, north Tunisia and capable of producing surfactants. The strain BUN14 was assembled into 22 contigs of 4,898,053 bp with a mean GC content of 62.4%. Whole genome phylogeny and comparative genome analyses showed that strain BUN14 could be affiliated with two validly described Pseudomonas Type Strains, P. kunmingensis DSM 25974T and P. chloritidismutans AW-1T. The current study, however, revealed that the two Type Strains are probably conspecific and, given the priority of the latter, we proposed that P. kunmingensis DSM 25974 is a heteronym of P. chloritidismutans AW-1T. Using GC-FID analysis, we determined that BUN14 was able to use a range of hydrocarbons (crude oil, pristane, dibenzofuran, dibenzothiophene, naphthalene) as a sole carbon source. Genome analysis of BUN14 revealed the presence of a large repertoire of proteins (154) related to xenobiotic biodegradation and metabolism. Thus, 44 proteins were linked to the pathways for complete degradation of benzoate and naphthalene. The annotation of conserved functional domains led to the detection of putative genes encoding enzymes of the rhamnolipid biosynthesis pathway. Overall, the polyvalent hydrocarbon degradation capacity of BUN14 makes it a promising candidate for application in the bioremediation of polluted saline environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a context of growing awareness regarding environmental protection, biomass valorization is gaining a lot of attention. The byproducts volumes generated by agro-industry are massive and, left to decay, can constitute environmental pollutions. Use of agro-industrial wastes and solid-state fermentation (SSF) technology offers advantages to produce value-added products such as antibiotics, pigments, aromas and enzymes of industrial interest like cellulases, chitinases, amylases, etc. Several studies have already demonstrated the advantages of SSF for the production of fungal metabolites, yet the optimal conditions for metabolites production strongly depend on the culture conditions and microbial strain utilized. Therefore, the aim of this study was to improve the conidia, lytic enzymes (cellulase, lipase and amylase), and antifungal—6-pentyl-alpha-pyrones (6-PP)—production by three Trichoderma asperellum strains cultivated using SSF. Designs of experiments have been achieved in order to identify influential factors on 6-PP, conidia and enzymes (cellulase, lipase, and amylase) production by the fungal culture. A significantly enzymes activities, conidiation and 6-PP production were observed on mix of substrates: vine shoots, potatoes flour, jatropha, olive pomace and olive oil on high carbon/nitrogen ratio 37 which was used by T. asperellum TV104 as a source of nutrients and also as a matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the production of biopesticides has gained great attention in the scientific word because it is an important alternative to replace the much debated chemical pesticides used on the field crops. Fungal lytic enzymes, conidia and secondary metabolites like 6 pentyl-alpha-pyrone (6-PP) play a very important role in the biological control of pests. On the present study, the influence of application of air through a solid-state fermentation using three Trichoderma asperellum strains to produce conidia, 6-PP and essential enzymes were evaluated. A mix of vine shoots, potatoes flour, jatropha, olive pomace and olive oil as substrates was used. T. asperellum TV104 showed the best 6-PP production (3.06 ± 0.15 mg g DM−1), cellulases activities (34.3 ± 0.4 U g−1), and amylase activity (46.3 ± 0.6 U g−1) however, T. asperellum TF1 produced the higher levels of lipase (30.6 ± 0.3 U g−1), under air conditions. The production of these same enzymes was less efficient without the application of forced aeration. The forced aeration increased the conidia production, the best value was observed with T. asperellum TF1 (2.23 ± 0.07 × 109 g DM−1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the operation of electric drives under standard operating cycles is mandatory in production lines of electric vehicles drivetrains. This article presents a technique dedicated to the performance assessment of electric powertrains for automotive applications. A numerically controlled experimental setting is developed, including a power system made up of two dc–ac converters with their ac sides connected through chokes and a control system implemented in a national instrument PCI eXtensions for instrumentation (NI PXI) hardware-in-the-loop testing system. This system emulates the dynamic behavior of the electric vehicle and of its powertrain. System analysis is used to assess the stability conditions and to calculate the current ripple and the optimal values of the chokes. The experimental emulation of automotive driving cycles in two case studies highlights the effectiveness of the developed automotive testing system. The power flow is analyzed during the motoring and the regenerative braking phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interior permanent magnet (IPM) machines with spoke-type design are very attractive for several applications, including vehicle traction, which requires a good flux weakening performance to achieve high speed. For this purpose, a high demagnetizing current is usually injected to reduce the machine flux at high speed, with detrimental effect in terms of efficiency. This problem can be mitigated by equipping the rotor with a mechanical flux weakening device, which activates during high-speed operation by centrifugal force. This paper addresses the analytical modeling of this special kind of IPM motor through a simplified magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) approach, which incorporates saturation and slotting effects as well as the flux weakening device operation. It is shown how the MEC model can effectively describe the IPM machine behavior despite its simplicity. Results are successfully validated by comparison both with finite element analysis, which requires much more computational resources, and with measurements from laboratory prototype testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present work was the development of a new biological method for the treatment of textile industry effluents, which is cheaper, more profitable, and eco-friendly. This method is essentially based on the synthesis of dye-fixing peptides. The use of peptides synthesized via a solid-phase synthesis to fix a reference textile dye like "Cibacron blue" (CB) and the performance analysis of binding assays were the main objectives of this study. For this reason, two peptides P1 (NH2-C-G-G-W-R-S-Q-N-Q-G-NH2) and P2 (NH2-C-G-G-R-R-Y-Q-P-D-S-NH2) binding with the CB dye were synthesized by the solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) technique. The obtained results showed significant fixation yields of CB-peptides of 91.5% and 45.9%, respectively, and consequently, their interesting potential as a tool for a new biochemical method in the pollution prevention of textile wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polyketide, 6-pentyl-alpha-pyrone (6-PP), has a characteristic coconut aroma and is produced by many Trichoderma species. In this study, we screened formerly isolated Trichoderma strains for 6-PP production grown using solid-state fermentation (SSF). Sugarcane bagasse supplemented with a nutrient solution was used as the support material for the culture. We detected outstandingly strong 6-PP production in the case of two Trichoderma strains in this experiment. The strains were identified based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence analysis as Trichoderma asperellum (G7 and G18). We also investigated the production of 6-PP in the case of the best Trichoderma strain selected (T. asperellum G7) from two types of cultivation (SSF and liquid cultivation (LC)). The same liquid medium was used to impregnate sugarcane bagasse. Results led to a 6-PP production 80 times higher (85.11 μg·g·DM−1) in SSF than that found in LC (10.00 μg·L−1) after eight days of cultivation. For this, the SSF is the best option to produce 6-PP compared to liquid cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Mentha rotundifolia L. (Lamiaceae family), is a medicinal herb used since the ancient times as an antiseptic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent. In the present work, metabolomic profiling of two Mentha rotundifolia L. ecotypes leaf tissues spontaneously growing in the North of Tunisia was achieved. Methods: Phenolic contents (TPC, TFC and TTC) were assessed using colorimetric methods. Metabolomic profiling of leaf tissues extracts was assessed based on Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. The antioxidant ability of M. rotundifolia extracts was achieved based on two test systems namely DPPH and FRAP assays. Antimicrobial activity against a set of Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria was estimated by measuring ID, MIC and MBC values. Results: Fifty metabolites were identified as belonging mainly to phenolics, fatty acids, terpenes, steroids and aldehydes classes with qualitative and quantitative variability. Most of the identified compounds are reputed bioactive with potent antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory among others effects. To confirm these findings common in vitro biological activities were achieved. The investigated extracts showed significant antioxidant abilities based on both 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) assays. Furthermore, the extracts revealed promising antimicrobial ability against tested Gram+ and Gram- bacterial strains (ID: 12.5–14.5 mm, MIC: 3.125–25 (µg/mL), MBC: 6.25–100 (µg/mL)). Conclusions: Based on our findings Mentha rotundifolia L. leaves extracts present a potential source of natural antioxidants and diverse bioactive compounds which could be used in green pharmacy, food preservation, alternative medicine and natural therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress are involved in neurodegenerative diseases associated with an enhancement of lipid peroxidation products such as 7β-hydroxycholesterol (7β-OHC). It is, therefore, important to study the ability of 7β-OHC to trigger mitochondrial defects, oxidative stress, metabolic dysfunctions and cell death, which are hallmarks of neurodegeneration, and to identify cytoprotective molecules. The effects of biotin were evaluated on 158N murine oligodendrocytes, which are myelin synthesizing cells, exposed to 7β-OHC (50 µM) with or without biotin (10 and 100 nM) or α-tocopherol (positive control of cytoprotection). The effects of biotin on 7β-OHC activities were determined using different criteria: cell adhesion; plasma membrane integrity; redox status. The impact on mitochondria was characterized by the measurement of transmembrane mitochondrial potential (ΔΨm), reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction, mitochondrial mass, quantification of cardiolipins and organic acids. Sterols and fatty acids were also quantified. Cell death (apoptosis, autophagy) was characterized by the enumeration of apoptotic cells, caspase-3 activation, identification of autophagic vesicles, and activation of LC3-I into LC3-II. Biotin attenuates 7β-OHC-induced cytotoxicity: loss of cell adhesion was reduced; antioxidant activities were normalized. ROS overproduction, protein and lipid oxidation products were decreased. Biotin partially restores mitochondrial functions: attenuation of the loss of ΔΨm; reduced levels of mitochondrial O2•− overproduction; normalization of cardiolipins and organic acid levels. Biotin also normalizes cholesterol and fatty acid synthesis, and prevents apoptosis and autophagy (oxiapoptophagy). Our data support that biotin, which prevents oligodendrocytes damages, could be useful in the treatment of neurodegeneration and demyelination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present investigation reports the isolation, molecular identification and structure elucidation of antibacterial produced by two thermophilic spore-forming bacteria from hot spring (98 °C) of Guelma (Algeria). Morphological, biochemical and physiological characteristics were carried out. The molecular identification by 16S rRNA and 16-23S rRNA ITS-PCR sequencing identified the thermophilic strains as Bacillus licheniformis with 99% of similarity with GenBank accession numbers KX100031 and KX100032. Phenotypic characterization has mentioned several differences between thermophilic isolates and Bacillus licheniformis ATCC 14580. The ability of the thermophilic spore- forming bacteria to produce antibacterial compounds against two multidrug resistance bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NR_0754828.1) and Staphylococcus aureus (NR_075000.1) in pure and mixed culture was investigated by Radial Diffusion Assay at 55 °C. Structural elucidation of actives compounds was carried out using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses. Antibacterial potency of the thermophilic isolates might be due to the association between two phenolic compounds: 2,4-Di-tert-butyl-phenol as principal active compound and p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene as prodrugs comparing between gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of pure and mixed extract. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report showing production of p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene and 2,4-Di-tert-butyl-phenol as extremolytes compounds from thermophilic Bacillus licheniformis at 55 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with an investigation of the steady-state and transient performance of the direct rotor flux-oriented control (RFOC) strategies implemented in symmetrical two-phase induction motors (2PIMs). Such an investigation is structured within a comparison study considering: 1) the case of a two-leg voltage source inverter (B4-inverter), and 2) the case of a three-leg voltage source inverter (B6-inverter), in the stator of the 2PIM. Following a presentation of both drives, the principle of the RFOC is briefly recalled. Then, a special attention is paid to the implementation of the direct RFOC on current-regulated B4- and B6-inverters. The control of the power switches is achieved by two two-level hysteresis regulators in the B4-inverter rather than three in the B6-inverter. Initiated by a simulation-based analysis of the selected steady-state features of both 2PIM drives under direct RFOC strategies, the comparison study is then extended to a deep experimental investigation of the steady-state operation with emphasis on the dc-link capacitor voltages, the stator line-to-line and phase voltages, stator phase currents, the rotor flux, and the electromagnetic torque. The established results reveal three major limitations of the B4-inverter fed 2PIM drive, such as: 1) unbalanced dc-link capacitor voltages at low speeds; 2) a reduced speed range due to the low level of the phase voltages; and 3) an injection of harmonics due to the $d$ – $q$ transformation. While the B6-inverter exhibits balanced dc-link capacitor voltages in the total constant torque region with higher ripple of the stator phase currents and of the electromagnetic torque, the experiment-based comparison is achieved by an investigation of the dynamic behaviors of both drives under step- and ramp-shaped reversals of the reference speed. It highlights the poor dynamic behavior of the B4-inverter fed 2PIM drive under both shapes of speed reversal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with a novel DTC strategy dedicated to B6-inverter fed two-phase induction motor (2PIM) drives. It considers a bus-clamping-based approach in the synthesis of the vector selection table, leading to the “bus-clamping DTC” (BC-DTC). The study is initiated by a presentation of the B6-inverter fed 2PIM drive and a recall of the DTC background. Then, a special attention is paid to the design of the BC-DTC vector selection tables. For the sake of comparison, a conventional DTC strategy, inspired from the Takahashi one, is also considered. A simulation-based comparison of selected steady-state features is carried out. Then, a validation of the simulation results allied to an extension of the investigation is experimentally treated. The comparison is achieved by an investigation of the drive dynamic behavior under step- and ramp-shaped reversals of the reference speed. It is shown that the BC-DTC enables reductions of the switching frequency and of the torque ripple. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Milk and dairy products harbor a wide variety of bacterial species that compete for both limited resources and space. Under these competitive conditions, bacteria develop specialized mechanisms to protect themselves during niche colonization and nutrient acquisition processes. The bacterial antagonism mechanisms include the production of antimicrobial agents ormolecules that facilitate competitor dispersal. In the present work, a bacterial strain designated RC6 was isolated from Ricotta and identified as Bacillus cereus. It generates antimicrobial peptide (AMP) when grown in the presence of casein. The AMP was active against several species of Bacillus and Listeria monocytogenes. MALDI-TOF analysis of the RP-HPLC purified fractions and amino acid sequencing revealed a molecular mass of 751 Da comprised of a 6-residue sequence, YPVEPF. BLAST analysis showed that the AMP corresponds to the fractions 114-119 of bovine b-casein and represents the product of a specific proteolysis. Analysis of the purified proteolytic fractions from the B. cereus RC6 culture supernatant indicated that the presence of at least two different endoproteases is crucial for the generation of the AMP. Indeed, we were able to identify two new candidate endoproteases by means of genome sequencing and functional assignment using a 3D structural model and molecular docking of misannotated hypothetical proteins. In this light, the capacity of B. cereus RC6 to generate antimicrobial peptides from casein, through the production of extracellular enzymes, presents a newmodel of antagonistic competition leading to niche colonization. Hence, as a dairy product contaminant, this strategy may enable proteolytic B. cereus RC6 niche specialization in milk matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the self-interference (SI) cancellation for full-duplex operation in the presence of imperfect radio-frequency (RF) components. In particular, we develop a new scheme to jointly estimate and cancel the in-phase/quadrature mixer imbalance, power amplifier nonlinearities, up-/down-conversion phase noise, and the SI channel. First, we develop a detailed baseband model that captures the most significant transceiver RF imperfections, for both separate- and common-oscillator structures used in the up- and down-conversions. Then, a basis expansion model is derived to approximate the time-varying phase noise and to transform the problem of estimating the time-varying phase noise into the estimation of a set of time-invariant coefficients. Subsequently, the likelihood function is derived in the presence of the unknown intended signal to formulate the joint estimation of the intended channel, SI channel, nonlinear impairments, and phase noise, under the maximum likelihood (ML) criterion. An iterative procedure is developed to find the ML estimate of the different parameters based on the known transmitted data, the known pilot symbols, and the statistics of the unknown intended signal received from the intended transmitter. The full use of the received signal significantly reduces the required number of pilot symbols as compared to training-based techniques. We consider the two pilot-insertion structures used in LTE for the frequency-multiplexed pilots and the time-multiplexed pilots. Simulation results indicate that the proposed ML algorithms can offer a superior SI-cancellation performance with the resulting intended-signal-to-SI-and-noise ratio very close to the intended-signal-to-noise ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a sizing approach dedicated to the reduction of the harmonic content of the air gap flux density of interior permanent magnet tubular-linear synchronous machines (IPM T-LSMs) based on pole shaping. The study is initiated by a formulation of the air gap flux density of conventional IPM T-LSMs equipped with flat-shaped poles. In the second step, the established model is reformulated with emphasis on the pole shape variation characterized by two parameters: the pole air gap radial width and the pole head opening. Following its experimental validation, the resulting model is applied to the sizing of the pole shape in an attempt to reduce the harmonic content of the air gap flux density. The developed sizing procedure considers the effect of the above-defined parameters on the harmonic content of both the radial and axial components of the air gap flux density. The study is achieved by the selection of a set of parameters for which both radial and axial components of the air gap flux density exhibit their lowest spatial harmonic distortion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we address the problem of time delay estimation (TDE) from single-carrier (SC) or multi-carrier (MC) direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) multipath transmissions in the presence of multiple transmit and/or receive antennas that will characterize future 5G radio interface technologies (RITs), such as coded-domain nonorthogonal multiple access. We derive for the first time a closed-form expression for the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) and develop two maximum likelihood (ML) multipath TDEs for SC DSSS single-input multiple-output (SIMO) in the non-data-aided (NDA) case. The first TDE, based on iterative expectation maximization (EM), provides accurate estimates whenever a good initial guess of the parameters is available at the receiver. The second TDE implements the ML criterion in a non-iterative way and finds the global maximum of the compressed likelihood function using the importance sampling (IS) technique without requiring any initialization. We also extend both the SC DSSS SIMO CRLB and the two new SC DSSS SIMO ML NDA TDEs to MC DSSS RITs and to multiple-input multiple-output structures with any diversity versus multiplexing pre-coding type before generalizing them all to the data-aided (DA) case. Simulations suggest that the EM TDE is suitable for large observation in space, time, and/or frequency, whereas the IS TDE is preferred in the opposite case of very short data records. Moreover, we show in the NDA case, both analytically and by simulations, that spatial (transmit and receive), temporal, and frequency samples interchangeably have the same impact on estimation accuracy and performance bound regardless of the channel correlation type and amount present in each dimension. Furthermore, we are able to properly cope with such channel correlations that do indeed arise in practice and, hence, become very challenging both in estimation and CRLB derivation in the DA case, but that have been so far overlooked in previous works. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The study is aimed at a lumped circuit‐based sizing of tubular‐linear synchronous machines (T‐LSMs) equipped by quasi‐Halbach magnetised PMs in the mover. The proposed approach is initiated by the synthesis the T‐LSM lumped circuit, taking into account: (i) the saturation of the magnetic circuit, (ii) the leakage fluxes, (iii) the armature magnetic reaction, and (iv) the variation of the mover position. Then, formulations of different no‐load and load operation features are derived in terms of selected variables yielded by the proposed lumped circuit. Among these features, the main value of the developed force is selected as a sizing criterion whose variation with respect to different influent design parameters is investigated along with the armature current density. The lumped circuit‐based sizing approach enables the selection of a set of appropriate design parameters for which the formulated no‐load and load operation features are predicted. A dual validation of the obtained results by an analytical model based on the air gap flux density formulation on one hand, and a 2D finite element analysis on the other hand, proves the effectiveness of the proposed sizing approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the self-interference (SI) cancellation at baseband for full-duplex MIMO communication systems in consideration of practical transmitter imperfections. In particular, we develop a subspace-based algorithm to jointly estimate the SI and intended channels and the nonlinear distortions. By exploiting the covariance and pseudo-covariance of the received signal, we can increase the dimension of the received signal subspace while keeping the dimension of the signal subspace constant, and hence, the proposed algorithm can be applied to most of full-duplex MIMO configurations with arbitrary numbers of transmit and receive antennas. The channel coefficients are estimated, up to an ambiguity term, without any knowledge of the intended signal. A joint detection and ambiguity identification scheme is proposed. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can properly estimate the channel with only one pilot symbol and offers superior SI cancellation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the no-load and the on-load behavior of a fractional-slot tubular-linear permanent magnet synchronous machine (T-LPMSM). The study is initiated by the selection of the machine slot-pole combination. To do so, a formulation of the air gap flux density, based on the solution of the magnetic potential vector equation in the air gap and in the PM regions, is derived. The electromagnetic model allows the prediction of the phase back electromotive forces (EMFs) and of the cogging force. The effect of the slot-pole combination on these features is then considered to the aim of the optimal selection of the slot per pole and per phase. A case study considering the optimized slot per pole and per phase number is treated where the analytically predicted no-load features are validated by finite element analysis (FEA). The investigation is extended to the on-load characteristic which is predicted by FEA and is validated by experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a two-stage self-interference (SI) cancelation for full-duplex multi-input–multi-output (MIMO) communications systems. By exploiting the SI channel sparsity, a compressed-sensing-based SI channel estimation technique is developed and used in the first SI-cancelation radio-frequency (RF) stage to reduce the SI power prior to the receiver low-noise amplifier (LNA) and the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to avoid overloading. Subsequently, a subspace-based algorithm is proposed to jointly estimate the coefficients of both the residual SI and intended channels and transceiver impairments for the second SI-cancelation baseband stage to further reduce the residual SI. Unlike other previous works, the intended signal is taken into consideration during the estimation process to reduce the overhead. It is demonstrated that the SI channel coefficients can be perfectly estimated with no knowledge of the intended signal, and only a few training symbols are needed for ambiguity removal in intended-channel estimation. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithms outperform the least square (LS) algorithms and offer the remarkable signal-to-residual-SI-and-noise ratio (SINR) approaching the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper is devoted to the prediction followed by the enhancement of the no-load features of tubular linear synchronous machines (T-LSMs) with quasi-Halbach magnetized PMs in the mover. The study is initiated by the prediction of the spatial repartition of the no-load air gap flux density. Then, a formulation of the back-EMF and the cogging force, based on the predicted spatial repartition of the no-load air gap flux density, is developed, considering 1) the case of an infinite length machine and 2) the case of a finite length one. A case study, corresponding to an initial concept, is treated with the prediction of its no-load features. The study is extended to the enhancement of these features with emphasis on the effects of two influent sizing parameters, assuming an infinite length machine. This enables the identification of a preoptimized concept. The back-EMF and the cogging force of this latter are then predicted in the case of a finite length machine. A further enhancement of these features is gained, thanks to a quasicancellation of the end effect. The prediction of the back-EMF and the cogging force of the optimized T-LSM with quasi-Halbach magnetized PMs has clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]