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Eucalyptus globulus(EGB) is well suited for kraft pulping due to its physicochemical properties, whereas more recalcitrant woods require harsher thermochemical conditions to attain identical delignification levels. The pulp and paper industry is increasingly seeking solutions to efficiently explore recalcitrant feedstocks while reducing chemical usage during pulping and bleaching. The present work aimed at assessing whether biological and mild alkali pretreatments are able to reduce eucalypt wood recalcitrance and increase kraft pulping and bleaching efficiency. EGB, Eucalyptus nitens(ENT), and Eucalyptus urograndis(EUG) woodchips were pretreated with white-rot fungi (WRF) and/or 0.1 M NaOH. Results suggested that these pretreatments mainly act by breaking ester bonds involved in cell wall polymer cross-linking, promoting deacetylation, lignin detachment, increased cellulose accessibility, and woodchip impregnation during pulping. Combined WRF and mild alkali pretreatments substantially reduced wood recalcitrance and improved pulp properties. Residual lignin content (K#) was reduced by up to 9% in EGB, 15% in ENT, and 16% in EUG, whereas ClO2consumption during bleaching was reduced by up to 16% in EGB, 19% in ENT, and 13% in EUG. These pretreatments can substantially reduce chemical requirements and lead to higher relative yields, ultimately reducing costs and environmental impacts of kraft pulping and bleaching.

Objectives: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, much in-person data collection has been suspended or become tele-remote. However, tele-remote methods often exclude marginalized groups, including people who use drugs, many of whom lack the technology to participate. To inform future surveillance and research during the pandemic and other public health disasters, we report methods and lessons learned from an in-person survey of people who use opioids conducted by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) during the COVID-19 pandemic.Materials and Methods: This public health surveillance was a component of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Overdose Data to Action initiative and aimed to inform overdose prevention efforts. Survey domains inquired about participants’ drug use patterns, risk behaviors, overdose history, and service use.Results: From June 16 through September 9, 2020, DOHMH staff members conducted 329 surveys with participants from 4 syringe service programs (n = 148, 44.9%) and via street intercept (n = 81, 55.1%). To survey participants safely and effectively, it was important to build rapport upfront so that requests to maintain distance were not perceived as stigmatizing. DOHMH staff members offered all participants, regardless of survey eligibility, Narcan and hygiene products, including face masks and soap.Practice Implications: Surveys administered outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic should be limited to 30 minutes. Although conducting in-person surveys poses unique challenges, this method should be considered so marginalized populations are included in data collection and public health responses.

Microwave heating technology has attracted great attention in biorefineries to generate biofuels and biomass-derived chemicals. NaOH and H2SO4pretreatments are often applied to improve the process efficiency. Traditional heating pretreatments require long reaction times and contribute to rapid sugar degradation. Although effective, H2SO4pretreatment suffers from the disadvantages of equipment corrosion, inhibitors generation, and waste water production. Herein, we performed NaOH, H2SO4, and FeCl3pretreatments on sugar cane bagasse under microwave heating, and compared their effects on the biomass physical features, chemical compositions, and sugar release during pretreatment process. Our results showed that high amounts of sugar were obtained, and xylose and glucose were selectively recovered in the pretreatment liquor within 5–10 min of microwave heating by changing pretreatment media. NaOH efficiently fractionated biomass, generated xylose as the major product in pretreatment liquor, and left the solid residue more digestible. H2SO4and FeCl3effectively degraded both the hemicellulose and cellulose, producing glucose as the major product in the pretreatment liquor. Compared with H2SO4, FeCl3pretreatment more efficiently removed lignin and recovered 48% glucose within only 5 min. Biomass chemical composition and morphological characteristics were studied and compared, confirming that microwave assisted FeCl3pretreatment is a new and feasible approach to replace H2SO4for biofuel and biomass-derived chemicals production.

El uso de inhibidor de TNF-α tipo adalimumab en la colitis ulcerosa constituye una alternativa de tratamiento en los estadios moderado a grave de la enfermedad. En la actualidad se ha demostrado que el uso de adalimumab es eficaz frente a las terapias convencionales, impactando en la remisión de la enfermedad y en la calidad de vida. Su uso es cada vez más frecuente. Cabe destacar que los fármacos biológicos presentan efectos secundarios como infecciones, neoplasias y enfermedades desmielinizantes. El mecanismo aún no está claro, pero se cree que la activación de una infección latente y el desarrollo de un proceso autoinmune están relacionados. El caso reportado informa de un síndrome de Guillain-Barré como manifestación tardía del tratamiento con adalimumab.

Autophagy is important for cell survival during stress and nutrient recycle. However, the mechanisms involved in regulating autophagy in cucumber have not been determined. Here, we analyzed the transcript abundance of key autophagy genes in the conjugation pathway including ATG3, ATG4, ATG5, ATG7, ATG8, ATG10, ATG12and ATG16in response to nitrogen deficiency, pathogen infection and oxidative stress in Cucumis sativus. ATG8 protein abundance was analyzed using immunoblot analysis. Seven out of 13 autophagy genes studied have splice variances including ATG3, ATG4, ATG5, ATG8b, ATG8c, ATG8eand ATG10. All except ATG5have changes in transcript variances abundance upon nitrogen starvation, indicating regulation via alternative splicing is pervasive in autophagy genes. This is the first report of alternative splicing in autophagy genes in cucumbers. However, transcription control is also important, especially in ATG4, and those without transcript variances. Moreover, different environment cues regulate autophagy genes through different mechanisms. The ATG8 protein tag was also regulated at the protein level through post-translational modification and blockage of degradation. This work shows that the regulation of autophagy in cucumber is complex and involves many mechanisms. Better understanding of autophagy regulation would thus help breeding plants that perform better even under environmental stresses.

Cocoa pod husk (CPH) is the main by-product (ca. 70–75% weight of whole fruit) of the cocoa harvest, an important and economic crop in developing countries. It is a rich source of minerals (particularly potassium), fibre (including lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin) and antioxidants (e.g. phenolic acids). An existing practise is the return of CPH to soil with potential benefits (or disadvantages) for cocoa productivity and soil sustainability that have not been fully characterised. Currently, alternative low-value applications of CPH include its use as animal feed, as a starting material for soap making and activated carbon. Other biotechnological valorisation potentials for CPH and its fractions include the production of bio-fuels and their incorporation in food systems. Physical, chemical or biological pre-treatment approaches are needed in order to achieve desirable fractions in a cost-effective and sustainable manner for novel applications in food and non-food sectors.

Multi-gate and "Gate-all-around" (GAA) MOSFETs are attractive for deeply-scaled CMOS as their geometry improves electrostatic control, which promises enhanced scalability, and enables lower channel doping, reducing random dopant fluctuations which are a significant source of variation for scaled bulk planar CMOS. Performance boosters such as the use of strain and alternate channel materials to improve carrier transport are essential for future CMOS technologies. In this evening panel discussion we present prospects and challenges for top-down fabricated uniaxial strained nanowire MOSFETs.

Suspended strained-Si nano-wires (NWs) were fabricated from a highly biaxially strained-Si substrate (with an initial stress of 2.16 GPa). Using e-beam lithography, ~25nm thick NWs with the widths in the range of 20 to 80 nm were fabricated and the stress was investigated by UV micro-Raman spectroscopy. Suspended NWs are strained to an average uniaxial tensile stress level of ~2.1 GPa which is almost independent of NW width, in the range studied in this work. Ultra-dense (25 NWs per micron) sub-20 nm suspended strained-Si NWs were fabricated using resolution-enhanced lithography to improve the Raman signal-to-noise ratio. A tensile in-plane stress level of 1.7GPa was measured for 18 nm-wide NWs at 40 nm pitch. Gate-all-around n-MOSFETs were fabricated based on these strained-Si NWs. Electrical measurements on these MOSFETs demonstrate near ideal subthreshold behavior, very high on-to-off ratio and current drive and transconductance enhancement of ~2X over unstrained NWs.

Multi-gate and "Gate-all-around" (GAA) MOSFETs are attractive for deeply-scaled CMOS as their geometry improves electrostatic control, which promises enhanced scalability, and enables lower channel doping, reducing random dopant fluctuations which are a significant source of variation for scaled bulk planar CMOS. Performance boosters such as the use of strain and alternate channel materials to improve carrier transport are essential for future CMOS technologies. In this evening panel discussion we present prospects and challenges for top-down fabricated uniaxial strained nanowire MOSFETs.

Suspended strained-Si nano-wires (NWs) were fabricated from a highly biaxially strained-Si substrate (with an initial stress of 2.16 GPa). Using e-beam lithography, ~25nm thick NWs with the widths in the range of 20 to 80 nm were fabricated and the stress was investigated by UV micro-Raman spectroscopy. Suspended NWs are strained to an average uniaxial tensile stress level of ~2.1 GPa which is almost independent of NW width, in the range studied in this work. Ultra-dense (25 NWs per micron) sub-20 nm suspended strained-Si NWs were fabricated using resolution-enhanced lithography to improve the Raman signal-to-noise ratio. A tensile in-plane stress level of 1.7GPa was measured for 18 nm-wide NWs at 40 nm pitch. Gate-all-around n-MOSFETs were fabricated based on these strained-Si NWs. Electrical measurements on these MOSFETs demonstrate near ideal subthreshold behavior, very high on-to-off ratio and current drive and transconductance enhancement of ~2X over unstrained NWs.