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Excessive alcohol intake will aggravate the health risk between the liver and intestine and affect the multi-directional information exchange of metabolites between host cells and microbial communities. Because of the side effects of clinical drugs, people tend to explore the intervention value of natural drugs on diseases. As a flavor substance, spices have been proven to have medicinal value, but they are still rare in treating hepatointestinal diseases caused by alcohol. This paper summarized the metabolic transformation of alcohol in the liver and intestine and summarized the potential value of various perfume active substances in improving liver and intestine diseases caused by alcohol. It is also found that bioactive substances in spices can exert antioxidant activity in the liver and intestine environment and reduce the oxidative stress caused by diseases. These substances can interfere with fatty acid synthesis, promote sugar and lipid metabolism, and reduce liver injury caused by steatosis. They can effectively regulate the balance of intestinal flora, promote the production of SCFAs, and restore the intestinal microenvironment.

Response and recovery times are among the most important parameters for gas sensors. Their optimization has been pursued through several strategies, including the control over the morphology of the sensitive material. The effectiveness of these approaches is typically proven by comparing different sensors studied in the same paper under the same conditions. Additionally, tables comparing the results of the considered paper with those available in the literature are often reported. This is fundamental to frame the results of individual papers in a more general context; nonetheless, it suffers from the many differences occurring at the experimental level between different research groups. To face this issue, in the present paper, we adopt a statistical approach to analyze the response and recovery times reported in the literature for chemiresistors based on pure SnO 2 for ethanol detection, which was chosen as a case study owing to its available statistic. The adopted experimental setup (of the static or dynamic type) emerges as the most important parameter. Once the statistic is split into these categories, morphological and sensor-layout effects also emerge. The observed results are discussed in terms of different diffusion phenomena whose balance depends on the testing conditions adopted in different papers.

This paper discusses the epochal change in the reputation of carbon dioxide, which is now considered as a raw material alternative to fossil C for the synthesis of chemicals, materials and fuels, as opposed to a waste material that must be confined underground. In particular, its use as renewable C is compared to biomass. In this paper, a specific point is discussed: is ethanol (or any fuel) produced via the catalytic conversion of atmospheric CO 2 different from the relevant biomass-sourced product(s)? The answer to this question is very important because it ultimately determines whether or not fuels derived from atmospheric CO 2 (either e-fuels or solar fuels) have the right to be subsidized in the same way that biofuels are. Conclusions are drawn demonstrating that ethanol derived from atmospheric CO 2 deserves the same benefits as bio-ethanol, with the additional advantage that its synthesis can be less pollutant than its production via the fermentation of sugars. The same concept can be applied to any fuel derived from atmospheric CO 2 .

This paper compared the effects of A. indica plant proteins over chemical methods in the morphology of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) prepared by a co-precipitation method, and ethanol sensing performance of prepared thin films deposited over a fluorene-doped tin oxide (FTO) bind glass substrate using spray pyrolysis technique. The average crystallite sizes and diameters of the grain-sized cluster ZnO NPs were 25 and (701.79 ± 176.21) nm for an undoped sample and 20 and (489.99 ± 112.96) nm for A. india dye-doped sample. The fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis confirmed the formation of the Zn-O bond at 450 cm -1 , and also showed the presence of plant proteins due to A. indica dye extracts. ZnO NPs films exhibited good response (up to 51 and 72% for without and with A. indica dye-doped extracts, respectively) toward ethanol vapors with quick response-recovery characteristics at a temperature of 250 °C for undoped and 225 °C for A. indica dye-doped ZnO thin films. The interaction of A. indica dye extracts helps to decrease the operating temperature and increased the response and recovery rates of the sensor, which may be due to an increase in the specific surface area, resulting in adsorption of more oxygen and hence high response results.

Nowadays, more and more attention is paid to the development and the intensification of the use of renewable energy sources. Hemp might be an alternative plant for bioenergy production. In this paper, four varieties of Polish industrial hemp (Białobrzeskie, Tygra, Henola, and Rajan) were investigated in order to determine which of them are the most advantageous raw materials for the effective production of bioethanol. At the beginning, physical and chemical pretreatment of hemp biomass was carried out. It was found that the most effective is the alkaline treatment with 2% NaOH, and the biomasses of the two varieties were selected for next stages of research: Tygra and Rajan. Hemp biomass before and after pretreatment was analyzed by FTIR and SEM, which confirmed the effectiveness of the pretreatment. Next, an enzymatic hydrolysis process was carried out on the previously selected parameters using the response surface methodology. Subsequently, the two approaches were analyzed: separated hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process. For Tygra biomass in the SHF process, the ethanol concentration was 10.5 g∙L -1 (3.04 m 3 ·ha -1 ), and for Rajan biomass at the SSF process, the ethanol concentration was 7.5 g∙L -1 (2.23 m 3 ·ha -1 ). In conclusion, the biomass of Polish varieties of hemp, i.e., Tygra and Rajan, was found to be an interesting and promising raw material for bioethanol production.

In this paper, we report the fabrication and characterization of a portable transdermal alcohol sensing device via a human finger, using tin dioxide (SnO 2 ) chemoresistive gas sensors. Compared to conventional detectors, this non-invasive technique allowed us the continuous monitoring of alcohol with low cost and simple fabrication process. The sensing layers used in this work were fabricated by using the reactive radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technique. Their structure and morphology were investigated by means of X-ray spectroscopy (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The results indicated that the annealing time has an important impact on the sensor sensitivity. Before performing the transdermal measurements, the sensors were exposed to a wide range of ethanol concentrations and the results displayed good responses with high sensitivity, stability, and a rapid detection time. Moreover, against high relative humidity (50% and 70%), the sensors remained resistant by showing a slight change in their gas sensing performances. A volunteer (an adult researcher from our volunteer group) drank 50 mL of tequila in order to realize the transdermal alcohol monitoring. Fifteen minutes later, the volunteer's skin started to evacuate alcohol and the sensor resistance began to decline. Simultaneously, breath alcohol measurements were attained using a DRAGER 6820 certified breathalyzer. The results demonstrated a clear correlation between the alcohol concentration in the blood, breath, and via perspiration, which validated the embedded transdermal alcohol device reported in this work.

A significant increase in the production of plastic materials and the expansion of their areas of application contributed to the accumulation of a large amount of waste of polymeric materials. Most of the polymer composition is made up of plasticizers. Phthalate plasticizers have been recognized as potentially hazardous to humans and the environment due to the long period of their biodegradation and the formation of persistent toxic metabolites. It is known that the industrial plasticizer dioctyl adipate is characterized by reduced toxicity and a short biodegradation period. The paper describes the synthesis of a number of new asymmetric esters based on adipic acid and ethoxylated butanol by azeotropic esterification. The receipt of the products was confirmed by IR spectra. The physicochemical properties of the synthesized compounds were investigated. The glass transition temperatures of PVC composites plasticized with alkyl butoxyethyl adipates were determined using DSC analysis. The ecological safety of esters was assessed by the phytotesting method. Samples of adipates were tested for fungal resistance, and the process of their biodegradation in soil was also studied. It is shown that the synthesized esters have good plasticizing properties and are environmentally safe. When utilized under natural conditions, they can serve as a potential source of carbon for soil microorganisms and do not form stable toxic metabolites; therefore, they are not able to accumulate in nature; when the plasticizers under study are disposed of in the soil, toxic substances do not enter.

In this paper, the first phytochemical analysis of the ethanolic extract of Daphne sericea Vahl flowering aerial parts collected in Italy and its biological activities were reported. Eleven compounds were identified i.e., α-linolenic acid ( 1 ), tri-linoleoyl- sn -glycerol ( 2 ), pheophorbide a ethyl ester ( 3 ), pilloin ( 4 ), sinensetin ( 5 ), yuanhuanin ( 6 ), rutamontine ( 7 ), syringin ( 8 ), p -coumaric acid ( 9 ), p -anisic acid ( 10 ) and caffeic acid ( 11 ). To the best of our knowledge, compounds ( 1 - 4 , 7-8 and 10 ) were isolated from D. sericea for the first time during this work, whereas sinensetin ( 5 ) represents a newly identified component of the entire Thymelaeaceae family. The extract was found to possess radical scavenging against both DPPH • and 2,2'-azino- bis (3-thylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS •+ ) radicals, with at least a 40-fold higher potency against the latter. Moreover, chelating abilities against both ferrous and ferric ions have been highlighted, thus suggesting a possible indirect antioxidant power of the extract. Although the precise bioactive compounds remain to be discovered, the polyphenolic constituents, including phenolic acids, tannins and flavonoids, seem to contribute to the antioxidant power of the phytocomplex. In addition, the extract produced cytotoxic effects in MDA-MB-231 and U87-MG cancer cell lines, especially at the concentration of 625 μg/mL and after 48-72 h. Further studies are required to clarify the contribution of the identified compounds in the bioactivities of the extract and to support possible future applications.

Porous carbon has been widely used for many applications e.g., adsorbents, catalysts, catalyst supports, energy storage and gas storage due to its outstanding properties. In this paper, characteristics of porous carbon prepared by carbonization of lignin from various biomasses are presented. Various biomasses, i.e., mangosteen peel, corncob and coconut shell, were processed using ethanol as an organosolv solvent. The obtained lignin was characterized using a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometer and a viscosimeter to investigate the success of extraction and lignin properties. The results showed that high temperature is favorable for the extraction of lignin using the organosolv process. The FTIR spectra show the success of lignin extraction using the organosolv process because of its similarity to the standard lignin spectra. The carbonization process of lignin was performed at 600 and 850 °C to produce carbon from lignin, as well as to investigate the effect of temperature. A higher pyrolysis temperature will produce a porous carbon with a high specific surface area, but it will lower the yield of the produced carbon. At 850 °C temperature, the highest surface area up to 974 m 2 /g was achieved.

In this paper, the production of a second-generation bioethanol from lignocellulosic vineyard cutting wastes was investigated in order to define the optimal operating conditions of the autohydrolysis pretreatment, chlorite delignification and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). The autohydrolysis of vine-shoot wastes resulted in liquors containing mainly a mixture of monosaccharides, degradation products and spent solids (rich in cellulose and lignin), with potential utility in obtaining valuable chemicals and bioethanol. The autohydrolysis of the vine-shoot wastes was carried out at 165 and 180 °C for 10 min residence time, and the resulted solid and liquid phases composition were analysed. The resulted liquid fraction contained hemicellulosic sugars as a mixture of alpha (α) and beta (β) sugar anomers, and secondary by-products. The solid fraction was delignified using the sodium chlorite method for the separation of lignin and easier access of enzymes to the cellulosic sugars, and then, converted to ethanol by the SSF process. The maximum bioethanol production (6%) was obtained by autohydrolysis (165 °C), chlorite delignification and SSF process at 37 °C, 10% solid loading, 72 h. The principal component analysis was used to identify the main parameters that influence the chemical compositions of vine-shoot waste for different varieties., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

In this work, lignin fractionation is proposed as an effective approach to reduce the heterogeneity of lignin and improve the adsorption and recycle performances of lignin as a cationic dye adsorbent. By stepwise dissolution of enzymatic hydrolysis lignin in 95% and 80% ethanol solutions, three lignin subdivisions (95% ethanol-soluble subdivision, 80% ethanol-soluble subdivision, and 80% ethanol-insoluble subdivision) were obtained. The three lignin subdivisions were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), FTIR, 2D-NMR and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and their adsorption capacities for methylene blue were compared. The results showed that the 80% ethanol-insoluble subdivision exhibited the highest adsorption capacity and its value (396.85 mg/g) was over 0.4 times higher than that of the unfractionated lignin (281.54 mg/g). The increased adsorption capacity was caused by the enhancement of both specific surface area and negative Zeta potential. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 80% ethanol-insoluble subdivision by adsorption kinetics and isotherm studies was found to be 431.1 mg/g, which was much higher than most of reported lignin-based adsorbents. Moreover, the 80% ethanol-insoluble subdivision had much higher regeneration yield (over 90% after 5 recycles) compared with the other two subdivisions. Consequently, the proposed fractionation method is proved to be a novel and efficient non-chemical modification approach that significantly improves adsorption capacity and recyclability of lignin.

Inflammation is a fundamental process for defending against foreign antigens that involves various transcriptional regulatory processes as well as molecular signaling pathways. Despite its protective roles in the human body, the activation of inflammation may also convey various diseases including autoimmune disease and cancer. Sorbaria kirilowii is a plant originating from Asia, with no anti-inflammatory activity reported. In this paper, we discovered an anti-inflammatory effect of S. kirilowii ethanol extract (Sk-EE) both in vivo and in vitro. In vitro effects of Sk-EE were determined with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells, while ex vivo analysis was performed using peritoneal macrophages of thioglycollate (TG)-induced mice. Sk-EE significantly reduced the nitric oxide (NO) production of induced macrophages and inhibited the expression of inflammation-related cytokines and the activation of transcription factors. Moreover, treatment with Sk-EE also decreased the activation of proteins involved in nuclear factor (NF)-κB signaling cascade; among them, Src was a prime target of Sk-EE. For in vivo assessment of the anti-inflammatory effect of Sk-EE, HCl/EtOH was given by the oral route to mice for gastritis induction. Sk-EE injection dose-dependently reduced the inflammatory lesion area of the stomach in gastritis-induced mice. Taking these results together, Sk-EE exerts its anti-inflammatory activity by regulating intracellular NF-κB signaling pathways and also shows an authentic effect on reducing gastric inflammation.

This paper discusses how the assembly of pro-caspase-1 and apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase-recruitment domain (ASC) in macromolecular protein complexes, inflammasomes, activates caspase-1. The present study investigates the molecular mechanisms of inflammasome activation in HepG2 cells and examines how short exposures to ethanol (EtOH) affect inflammasome activation. HepG2 cells were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), ATP or nigericin (NIG) in a two-step model. After LPS priming, ATP or NIG were added. As inhibitors, sodium orthovanadate (general inhibitor of tyrosine phosphatases), AC-YVAD-CMK (caspase-1 inhibitor) or AZ10606120 (purinergic receptor P2X7R inhibitor) were applied after LPS priming. To monitor the inflammasome activation, the caspase-1 activity, ASC speck formation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cell death were analyzed. To elucidate the mechanistical approach of EtOH to the inflammasome assembly, the cells were treated with EtOH either under simultaneous LPS administration or concurrently with ATP or NIG application. The co-stimulation with LPS and ATP induced a significant ASC speck formation, caspase-1 activation, cell death and ROS generation. The inhibition of the ATP-dependent purinoreceptor P2X7 decreased the caspase-1 activation, whereas sodium orthovanadate significantly induced caspase-1. Additional treatment with EtOH reversed the LPS and ATP-induced caspase-1 activation, ASC speck formation and ROS production. The ASC speck formation and caspase-1 induction require a two-step signaling with LPS and ATP in HepG2 cells. Inflammasome activation may depend on P2X7. The molecular pathway of an acute effect of EtOH on inflammasomes may involve a reduction in ROS generation, which in turn may increase the activity of tyrosine phosphatases., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The study describes sulfuric acid pretreatment of straw from Secale cereale L. (rye straw) to evaluate the effect of acid concentration and treatment time on the efficiency of biofuel production. The highest ethanol yield occurred after the enzyme treatment at a dose of 15 filter paper unit (FPU) per gram of rye straw (subjected to chemical hydrolysis with 2% sulfuric acid (SA) at 121 °C for 1 h) during 120 h. Anaerobic digestion of rye straw treated with 10% SA at 121 °C during 1 h allowed to obtain 347.42 L methane/kg volatile solids (VS). Most hydrogen was released during dark fermentation of rye straw after pretreatment of 2% SA, 121 °C, 1 h and 1% SA, 121 °C, 2 h-131.99 and 134.71 L hydrogen/kg VS, respectively. If the rye straw produced in the European Union were processed into methane, hydrogen, ethanol, the annual electricity production in 2018 could reach 9.87 TWh (terawatt-hours), 1.16 TWh, and 0.60 TWh, respectively., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest

This paper evaluates, for the first time, the effects of ethanol concentration on the dynamics of oral (immediate and prolonged) aroma release after wine consumption. To do this, the intraoral aroma release of 10 panelists was monitored at two sampling points (0 and 4 min) after they rinsed their mouths with three rosé wines with different ethanol content (0.5% v / v , 5% v / v and 10% v / v ) that were aromatized with six fruity esters (ethyl butanoate, isoamyl acetate, ethyl pentanoate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate and ethyl decanoate). Overall, the results indicated that the extent of the effects of ethanol content on the oral aroma release were influenced by the subject, the ethanolconcentration and the type of aroma compound. This effect was also different in the immediate than in the prolonged aroma release. In the first in-mouth aroma monitoring, an increase in the ethanol content provoked a higher release of the more polar and volatile esters (ethyl butanoate, ethyl pentanoate), but a lower release for the more apolar and less volatile esters (ethyl octanoate, ethyl decanoate). Regarding the prolonged oral aroma release, an increase of ethanol content in wine increased the oral aroma release of the six esters, which might also increase the fruity aroma persistence in the wines. Future works with a higher number of individuals will be needed to understand the mechanisms behind this phenomenon.

This paper deals with the development of a citrus peel waste (CPW) biorefinery that employs low environmental impact technologies for production of ethanol and methane. Three major yeasts were compared for ethanol production in batch fermentations using CPW pretreated through acid hydrolysis and a combination of acid and enzyme hydrolysis. The most efficient conditions for production of CPW-based hydrolyzates included processing at 116 °C for 10 min. Pichia kudriavzevii KVMP10 achieved the highest ethanol production that reached 30.7 g L -1 in fermentations conducted at elevated temperatures (42 °C). A zero-waste biorefinery was introduced by using solid biorefinery residues in repeated batch anaerobic digestion fermentations achieving methane formation of 342 mL g VS -1 (volatile solids). Methane production applying untreated and dried CPW reached a similar level (339-356 mL g VS -1 ) to the use of the side stream, demonstrating that the developed bioprocess constitutes an advanced alternative to energy intensive methods for biofuel production.

Consumption of alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) has been associated with various alcohol-related consequences among college students. However, more information is required to assess how this relationship is affected by sociodemographic and environmental factors. This paper investigates the association between AmED consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences while (1) stratifying AmED users by sex, (2) examining a range of outcomes specific to the college context (e.g., missing class), and (3) controlling for drinking frequency and amount. We surveyed and analyzed the data of 4592 students in a nationally representative sample of 82 colleges in South Korea. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify the association between AmED use and a number of alcohol-related consequences (ranging from a score of 0⁻12) while adjusting for covariates, including drinking frequency and intake per drinking session. Of our study population, 22.0% of alcohol-consuming men and 13.4% of alcohol-consuming women reported AmED consumption in the past 12 months. AmED users experienced a greater number of alcohol-related consequences (e.g., missing class, engaging in unplanned sexual activity) than non-AmED users (men β: 0.804, p ≤ 0.0001; women β: 0.522, p ≤ 0.0001). Male AmED users consuming alcohol once a month (β: 1.155, p ≤ 0.0001) and female users consuming less than once a month (β: 1.019, p ≤ 0.0001) experienced the greatest number of consequences compared to non-users, as did AmED users consuming 3⁻4 drinks per drinking session (men β: 1.012, p ≤ 0.0001; women β: 0.993, p ≤ 0.0001). Our findings reveal that both male and female college students who consume AmED experience a greater number of negative alcohol-related consequences than those who do not. Rather than high-risk drinkers, moderate drinkers who consume alcohol infrequently and/or in low amounts may experience more consequences when consumers of AmED.

Several economies around the world are using second-generation (2G) ethanol produced from agricultural residues, like sugarcane straw and bagasse, as a sustainable solution to replace petroleum products. Since first-generation (1G) ethanol uses the sugars of sugarcane, an integrated 1G⁻2G production would enable the production of more ethanol from the same amount of sugarcane without leading to increased use of arable land. The ethanol production process is complex, involving different high-energy consumption operations such as evaporation and distillation. The economic competitiveness of this process depends heavily on the amount of thermal and electrical energy produced using sugarcane straw and bagasse as input. Thus, the objective of this study was to use the mean-variance methodology to determine the optimal allocation of residual sugarcane biomass between 2G ethanol and bioelectricity productions, with simultaneous objectives of maximizing the return and minimizing the risk for investors of this sector. In this paper, four scenarios are analyzed. The first one is the base scenario that represents the current state of production costs and investments. scenarios 2, 3, and 4 considered four cuts of 10%, 20%, and 40% in the production cost of ethanol 2G, respectively. The results show the optimum biomass allocations and the growth rates of returns as a function of risk growth. It can be concluded that from scenario 4, the production of 2G ethanol becomes financially advantageous for the investor, presenting greater returns with smaller risks.

It was already demonstrated by our research group that a direct catalytic methanol (or ethanol) fuel cell (DMFC) device can be used also for analytical purposes, such as the determination of ethanol content in beverages. In the present research we extended the application to the analysis of several ethanol-based pharmaceutical products, i.e., pharmaceutical tinctures (dyes) and disinfectants. In recent work we have also shown that the use of alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme as a component of the anodic section of a direct catalytic methanol (or ethanol) fuel cell significantly improves the performance of a simple DMFC device, making it more suitable to measure ethanol (or methanol) in real samples by this cell. At the same time, we have also shown that DMFC can respond to certain organic compounds that are more complex than methanol and ethanol and having R(R')CH-OH group in the molecule. Firstly, pharmaceutical dyes were analyzed for their ethanol content using the simple catalytic DMFC device, with good accuracy and precision. The results are illustrated in the present paper. Additionally, a detailed investigation carried out on commercial denatured alcoholic samples evidenced several interferences due to the contained additives. Secondly, we hypothesized that by using the enzymatic fuel cell it would be possible to improve the determination, for instance, of certain antibiotics, such as imipenem, or else carry out determinations of ethanol content in saliva and serum (simulating forensic tests, correlated to drivers "breath test"); even if this has already been hypothesized in previous papers, the present study is the first to perform them experimentally, obtaining satisfactory results. In practice, all of the goals which we proposed were reached, confirming the remarkable opportunities of the enzymatic (or non-enzymatic) DMFC device.

In order to improve the low temperature sensitivity of conventional sensors, a plasmonic multifunction temperature sensor with high sensitivity is proposed and investigated systematically in this paper. The sensor consists of two metal layers and two ethanol-sealed elliptical resonators connected to a straight waveguide by two rectangular tubes. We numerically analyzed the transmission characteristics of the Nano-device to assess its performance with the finite element method and achieved great optical properties. The results show that an obvious blue shift of the transmission spectrum appears by varying temperatures, exhibiting a great sensing effect. Sensitivity of the sensor reaches -3.64 nm/°C, far greater than conventional temperature sensors. Our research also demonstrates that the transmission spectrum could be modulated efficiently by the ratio of semi-short axis to semi-major axis of the ellipse resonators and the width of two same rectangular tubes. Furthermore, the Nano-device has a filtering characteristic. The transmittances of pass-band and stop-band are 96.1% and 0.1%, respectively. The results of this study can pave the way for low-cost sensing application in high-density photonic circuits and biosensors.

Breath alcohol screening is important for traffic safety, access control and other areas of health promotion. A family of sensor devices useful for these purposes is being developed and evaluated. This paper is focusing on algorithms for the determination of breath alcohol concentration in diluted breath samples using carbon dioxide to compensate for the dilution. The examined algorithms make use of signal averaging, weighting and personalization to reduce estimation errors. Evaluation has been performed by using data from a previously conducted human study. It is concluded that these features in combination will significantly reduce the random error compared to the signal averaging algorithm taken alone.

Hepatitis C and alcohol are the most widespread causes of liver disease worldwide. Approximately 80% of patients with a history of hepatitis C and alcohol abuse develop chronic liver injury. Alcohol consumption in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients exacerbates liver disease leading to rapid progression of fibrosis, cirrhosis and even hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatocytes are the main sites of HCV-infection and ethanol metabolism, both of which generate oxidative stress. Oxidative stress levels affect HCV replication and innate immunity, resulting in a greater susceptibility for HCV-infection and virus spread in the alcoholic patients. In this review paper, we analyze the effects of ethanol metabolism and other factors on HCV replication. In addition, we illustrate the mechanisms of how HCV hijacks innate immunity and how ethanol exposure regulates this process. We also clarify the effects of HCV and ethanol metabolism on interferon signaling-a crucial point for activation of anti-viral genes to protect cells from virus-and the role that HCV- and ethanol-induced impairments play in adaptive immunity which is necessary for recognition of virally-infected hepatocytes. In conclusion, ethanol exposure potentiates the suppressive effects of HCV on innate immunity, which activates viral spread in the liver and finally, leads to impairments in adaptive immunity. The dysregulation of immune response results in impaired elimination of HCV-infected cells, viral persistence, progressive liver damage and establishment of chronic infection that worsens the outcomes of chronic hepatitis C in alcoholic patients.

Bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol has shown environmental, economic and energetic advantages in comparison to bioethanol produced from sugar or starch. However, the pretreatment process for increasing the enzymatic accessibility and improving the digestibility of cellulose is hindered by many physical-chemical, structural and compositional factors, which make these materials difficult to be used as feedstocks for ethanol production. A wide range of pretreatment methods has been developed to alter or remove structural and compositional impediments to (enzymatic) hydrolysis over the last few decades; however, only a few of them can be used at commercial scale due to economic feasibility. This paper will give an overview of extrusion pretreatment for bioethanol production with a special focus on twin-screw extruders. An economic assessment of this pretreatment is also discussed to determine its feasibility for future industrial cellulosic ethanol plant designs.

This paper reviews the role of the catabolism of HCV and signaling proteins in HCV protection and the involvement of ethanol in HCV-proteasome interactions. HCV specifically infects hepatocytes, and intracellularly expressed HCV proteins generate oxidative stress, which is further exacerbated by heavy drinking. The proteasome is the principal proteolytic system in cells, and its activity is sensitive to the level of cellular oxidative stress. Not only host proteins, but some HCV proteins are degraded by the proteasome, which, in turn, controls HCV propagation and is crucial for the elimination of the virus. Ubiquitylation of HCV proteins usually leads to the prevention of HCV propagation, while accumulation of undegraded viral proteins in the nuclear compartment exacerbates infection pathogenesis. Proteasome activity also regulates both innate and adaptive immunity in HCV-infected cells. In addition, the proteasome/immunoproteasome is activated by interferons, which also induce "early" and "late" interferon-sensitive genes (ISGs) with anti-viral properties. Cleaving viral proteins to peptides in professional immune antigen presenting cells and infected ("target") hepatocytes that express the MHC class I-antigenic peptide complex, the proteasome regulates the clearance of infected hepatocytes by the immune system. Alcohol exposure prevents peptide cleavage by generating metabolites that impair proteasome activity, thereby providing escape mechanisms that interfere with efficient viral clearance to promote the persistence of HCV-infection.

Ethyl alcohol may be considered one of the most widespread central nervous system (CNS) depressants in Western countries. Because of its toxicological and neurobiological implications, the detection of ethanol in brain extracellular fluid (ECF) is of great importance. In a previous study, we described the development and characterization of an implantable biosensor successfully used for the real-time detection of ethanol in the brain of freely-moving rats. The implanted biosensor, integrated in a low-cost telemetry system, was demonstrated to be a reliable device for the short-time monitoring of exogenous ethanol in brain ECF. In this paper we describe a further in-vitro characterization of the above-mentioned biosensor in terms of oxygen, pH and temperature dependence in order to complete its validation. With the aim of enhancing ethanol biosensor performance, different enzyme loadings were investigated in terms of apparent ethanol Michaelis-Menten kinetic parameters, viz. IMAX, KM and linear region slope, as well as ascorbic acid interference shielding. The responses of biosensors were studied over a period of 28 days. The overall findings of the present study confirm the original biosensor configuration to be the best of those investigated for in-vivo applications up to one week after implantation.

Sulfonated carbonaceous material useful as a solid acid catalyst was prepared from lignosulfonate, a waste of the paper-making industry sulfite pulping process, and characterized by 13C-NMR, FT-IR, TGA, SEM and elemental analysis, etc. The sulfonic acid group density and total density of all acid groups in the sulfonated carbonaceous material was determined by titration to be 1.24 mmol/g and 5.90 mmol/g, respectively. Its catalytic activity in the esterification of cyclohexanecarboxylic acid with anhydrous ethanol was shown to be comparable to that of the ionic exchange resin Amberlyst-15, when they were used in the same amount. In the meantime, the sulfonic acid group was found to be leached out by 26%-29% after it was exposed to hot water (95 °C) for 5 h. The catalytic usefulness of the prepared carbonaceous material was investigated by performing esterifications.

A sensitive volatile organic vapor sensor based on the LSPR properties of silver triangular nanoprisms is proposed in this paper. The triangular nanoprisms were fabricated by a nanosphere lithography (NSL) method. They have sharp vertices and edges, and are arranged in an ideal hexangular array. These characteristics ensure that they exhibit an excellent LSPR spectrum and a high sensitivity to the exterior environment changes. The LSPR spectra responding to ethanol vapor and four other volatile organic vapors-acetone, benzene, hexane and propanol-were measured with a UV-vis spectrometer in real time. Compared with the other four vapors, ethanol exhibits the highest sensitivity (∼0.1 nm/mg L(-1)) and the lowest detection limit (∼10 mg/L) in the spectral tests. The ethanol vapor test process is also fast (∼4 s) and reversible. These insights demonstrate that the triangular nanoprism based nano-sensor can be used in ethanol vapor detection applications.

A series of Ni-based catalysts were prepared using hydrogen reduction of Ni/Al hydrotalcite-like compounds (Ni/Al HTlcs) synthesized by coprecipitation. The physico-chemical properties of Ni/Al hydrotalcite-like compounds and the corresponding Ni-based catalysts were characterized using inductively coupled plasma (ICP), BET surface areas, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The results indicated that Ni/Al HTlcs with layered structures could be successfully prepared by the coprecipitation method, and the characteristic HTlcs reflections were also observed in the XRD analysis. The NiO and Ni0 phases were identified in all Ni-based catalysts, which displayed randomly interconnected pores and no layer structures. In addition, the studies also found the Ni/Al HTlcs and Ni-based catalysts had high specific surface areas, low pore volumes and low pore diameters. The catalytic hydrogenation of ethyl acetate to ethanol with Ni-based catalysts was also investigated. Among the studied catalysts, RE1NASH-110-3 showed the highest selectivity and yield of ethyl acetate to ethanol, which were 68.2% and 61.7%, respectively. At the same time, a major by-product, butyl acetate, was formed due to an ester-exchange reaction. A proposed hydrogenation pathway for ethyl acetate over Ni-based catalysts was suggested.