Lignin/Carbohydrate Complex Isolated from Posidonia oceanica Sea Balls (Egagropili): Characterization and Antioxidant Reinforcement of Protein-Based Films

A lignin fraction (LF) was extracted from the sea balls of Posidonia oceanica (egagropili) and extensively dialyzed and characterized by FT-IR and NMR analyses. LF resulted water soluble and exhibited a brownish-to-black color with the highest absorbance in the range of 250–400 nm, attributed to the chromophore functional groups present in the phenylpropane-based polymer. LF high-performance size exclusion chromatography analysis showed a highly represented (98.77%) species of 34.75 kDa molecular weight with a polydispersity index of 1.10 and an intrinsic viscosity of 0.15. Quantitative analysis of carbohydrates indicated that they represented 28.3% of the dry weight of the untreated egagropili fibers and 72.5% of that of LF. In particular, eight different monosaccharides were detected (fucose, arabinose, rhamnose, galactose, glucose, xylose, glucosamine and glucuronic acid), glucuronic acid (46.6%) and rhamnose (29.6%) being the most present monosaccharides in the LF. Almost all the phenol content of LF (113.85 ± 5.87 mg gallic acid eq/g of extract) was water soluble, whereas around 22% of it consisted of flavonoids and only 10% of the flavonoids consisted of anthocyanins. Therefore, LF isolated from egagropili lignocellulosic material could be defined as a water-soluble lignin/carbohydrate complex (LCC) formed by a phenol polymeric chain covalently bound to hemicellulose fragments. LCC exhibited a remarkable antioxidant activity that remained quite stable during 6 months and could be easily incorporated into a protein-based film and released from the latter overtime. These findings suggest egagropili LCC as a suitable candidate as an antioxidant additive for the reinforcement of packaging of foods with high susceptibility to be deteriorated in aerobic conditions.     

Composition,Cytotoxic and Antimicrobial Activities of Satureja intermedia C.A.Mey Essential Oil

In this study, the essential oil (EO) constituents from the aerial parts of Satureja intermedia C.A.Mey were detected by GC and GC/MS. The antimicrobial activity of EO on oral pathogens and its cytotoxicity to human cancer cells were determined by the microbroth dilution method and the crystal violet staining method, respectively. Thirty-nine compounds were identified and the main EO constituents were γ-terpinene (37.1%), thymol (30.2%), p-cymene (16.2%), limonene (3.9%), α-terpinene (3.3%), myrcene (2.5%), germacrene B (1.4%), elemicine (1.1%) and carvacrol (0.5%). The S. intermedia EO showed a concentration-dependent decrease in viability of Hep-G2 (hepatocellular carcinoma) and MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma) human cancer cell lines (p < 0.05). Antimicrobial screening of S. intermedia EO demonstrated slight antibacterial and antifungal activities against Streptococcus mutants, S. salivarius, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans and C. glabrata. Further preclinical studies are needed to assess the efficacy and safety of S. intermedia EO as a new promising anticancer agent.     

AQM controller design for networks supporting TCP vegas: a control theoretical approach

In this paper, a mathematical model and control theoretical framework for designing AQM controllers in networks supporting TCP Vegas is introduced. We have emphasized on a modified TCP Vegas algorithm that can respond to congestion signals through explicit congestion notification (ECN). The overall nonlinear delayed differential equations of the dynamics model of closed loop system have been derived based on TCP Vegas model. The model is then linearized to derive a transfer function representation between the packet marking probability and the bottleneck router queue length as the input and output of the modified TCP Vegas/AQM system. The model properties have been then examined especially for the case of single bottleneck homogeneous network which is closely investigated. Finally an AQM controller based on Coefficient Diagram Method (CDM) has been designed for the system and its performance has been compared with some other AQM controllers. CDM is a new indirect pole placement method that considers the speed, stability and robustness of the closed loop system in terms of time domain specifications. In order for synthesizing the simulation scenarios, our campus router traffic has been studied experimentally for a sample period of one hour and the corresponding parameters has been extracted. The simulation results are representative of good performance of developed TCP Vegas/AQM structure for different simulated scenarios.     

Fingerprinting Positioning in Distributed Massive MIMO Systems Using Affinity Propagation Clustering and Gaussian Process Regression

Wireless Personal Communications - Massive multiple-input multiple-output (M-MIMO) systems improve positioning accuracy besides enhancing communication performance. Fingerprinting (FP) method is...     

Integration of GaN analog building blocks on p-GaN wafers for GaN Ics

We demonstrate the key module of comparators in GaN ICs,based on resistor-transistor logic(RTL)on E-mode wafers in this work.The fundamental inverters in the comparator consist of a p-GaN gate HEMT and a 2DEG resistor as the load.The function of the RTL comparators is finally verified by a undervoltage lockout(UVLO)circuit.The compatibility of this cir-cuit with the current p-GaN technology paves the way for integrating logic ICs together with the power devices.     

Correction to: Novel dynamic load balancing algorithm for cloud‑based big data analytics

The Journal of Supercomputing -     

Concentrations and Source Identification of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Mangrove Sediments from North of Persian Gulf

The concentrations of 16 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) priority polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were quantified in surface sediments from Hormozgan Province mangroves, south of Iran in dry and wet seasons. Sampling stations were selected in Laft and Khamir mangroves with international importance. Polyaromatic hydrocarbons varied from 75.24 ± 11.24 to 581.94 ± 637.39 ng/g dry weight basis. Pollution sources and their contribution for polyaromatic hydrocarbons pollution in sediments of Hormozgan mangroves were appointed based on molecular ratios and statistical methods, including principal components analysis (PCA) and multiple linear regression/principal components analysis (PCA/MLR) tests. Both of pyrogenic and petrogenic sources contributed in detected concentrations of PAHs. Contribution percentages of pyrogenic and petrogenic origins were estimated at 73.20 and 26.79%, respectively. Temporal variations showed that sediments contained higher levels of ∑PAHs in wet season than dry time. However, the mean detected ∑PAHs was lower than international quality guidelines; the high concentration of PAHs was found in Laft mangrove, suggesting the presence of PAH polluted localized area.     

Investigation of the photocatalytic activity of magnesium-doped Viburnum Opulus-like nickel oxide microstructure under visible light irradiation

In this study, the Viburnum Opulus-like NiO microstructure was synthesized by doping with various levels of Mg (1, 2, 3, 7, and 13 wt%) with the hydrothermal method. The X-ray diffraction analysis showed the tensile lattice strain and dispersion of Mg dopants in prepared samples. The cubic phase was observed in NiO and NiO with 13 wt% Mg-doping and phase change to rhombohedral was appeared in 1–3 and 7 wt% Mg-doping samples. According to the Urbach energy value, lattice disorder was reduced in 1–3 wt% Mg-doping. The sample with 13 wt% Mg-doping exhibited 3.1 times higher Urbach energy value compared to NiO. The degradation efficiency of the Methylene blue was approximately 92.98% for Mg-doped NiO with 13 wt% Mg in 105?min due to the charge trapping by localized states and reduction of recombination of charges. The photoluminescence showed the efficient electron–hole separation for all Mg-doped samples. The excellent durability and recyclability of photocatalyst over four cycles are representing that this material has a potential application in water remediation.