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Heavy metal pollution in the soil environment is a worldwide environmental problem as it has negative effects on both human health and the environment. Remediation of heavy metal-contaminated soil is essential to improve soil quality, provide land resources for agricultural production, and protect human and animal health and the ecological environment. There is the possibility of remediating these contaminated soils through the use of several heavy metal absorbing plants and Superabsorbent polymers. Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) are 3D polymer networks having hydrophilic nature, which can swell, absorb and hold a large amount of water or aqueous solutions in their network. This study evaluates the effect of superabsorbent polymer on Pb absorption capacity of Vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides.L) that was grown on contaminated soil in Trai Cau iron ore dumpsite, Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province. The experiment was designed with five recipes and three replicates. The contents of SAP studied were 0, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 g/kg of soil. Uncontaminated soil was used as the control treatment. In the supplemented recipe of SAP, Vetiver showed better Pb treatment efficiency than the recipes without adding polymers. After 120 days of planting, SAP increased the tolerance and Pb absorption of Vetiver, improving soil properties. The best Pb treatment efficiency is achieved when using SAP with content from 0.8-1.0 g/kg soil.

In recent years, computer-aided automatic polyp segmentation and neoplasm detection have been an emerging topic in medical image analysis, providing valuable support to colonoscopy procedures. Attentions have been paid to improving the accuracy of polyp detection and segmentation. However, not much focus has been given to latency and throughput for performing these tasks on dedicated devices, which can be crucial for practical applications. This paper introduces a novel deep neural network architecture called BlazeNeo, for the task of polyp segmentation and neoplasm detection with an emphasis on compactness and speed while maintaining high accuracy. The model leverages the highly efficient HarDNet backbone alongside lightweight Receptive Field Blocks and a feature aggregation mechanism for computational efficiency. An auxiliary training strategy is proposed to take full advantage of the training data for the segmentation quality. Our experiments on a challenging dataset show that BlazeNeo achieves improvements in latency and model size while maintaining comparable accuracy against state-of-the-art methods. We obtain over 155 fps while outperforming all compared models in terms of accuracy in INT8 precision when deploying on a dedicated edge device with a conventional configuration.

Transient simulation of two-phase gas-liquid flow in pipes requires considerable computational efforts. Until recently, most available commercial codes are based on two-fluid models which include one momentum conservation equation for each phase. However, in normal pipe flow, especially in oil and gas transport, the transient response of the system proves to be relatively slow. Thus, it is reasonable to think that simpler forms of the transport equations might suffice to represent transient phenomena. Furthermore, these types of models may be solved using less time-consuming numerical algorithms. La simulation transitoire des écoulements diphasiques gaz-liquide dans les conduites requiert des efforts de calcul considérables. Jusqu'à récemment, la plupart des codes de simulation commercialement disponibles étaient basés sur des modèles à deux fluides mettant en Suvre une équation de conservation de la quantité de mouvement pour chaque phase. Toutefois, dans les processus normaux de transport pétrolier dans les conduites, et spécialement de transport de pétrole ou de gaz, la réponse transitoire du système se révèle être relativement lente. Ainsi, il est raisonnable de penser qu'une forme simplifiée des équations de transport pourrait être suffisante pour reproduire de tels phénomènes transitoires. De plus, ce type de modèle pourrait être résolu numériquement au moyen d'algorithmes moins coûteux en temps calcul.

Dengue has become a global public health problem and a sensitive diagnostic test for early phase detection can be life saving. An internally controlled, generic real-time PCR was developed and validated by testing serial dilutions of a DENV positive control RNA in the presence of a fixed amount of IC with results showing a good linearity (R2=0.9967) and a LOD of at least 1.95×104 copies/mL. Application of the generic PCR on 136 patient samples revealed a sensitivity of 95.8% and specificity of 100%. A newly developed multiplex real-time PCR with serotype-specific probes allowed the serotyping of DENV for 80 out of 92 (87%) generic real-time PCR positive patients. Combined these real-time PCRs offer a convenient diagnostic tool for the sensitive and specific quantification of DENV in clinical specimens with the possibility for serotyping.

The brown alga Padina boryana Thivy has been studied for its bioactive properties. This study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant, anticancer, alpha-glucosidase inhibitory, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and hepatoprotective activities of Padina boryana extracts. The antioxidant activity was investigated using DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging, and ferric reducing power assays. The anticancer activity was determined via cytotoxic activity on human lung carcinoma (A549) and human embryonic kidney (HEK 293) cancer cell lines. Alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity was determined using standard method, anti-inflammatory activity was assessed via nitric oxide (NO) inhibition assay, antimicrobial activity was assessed using the broth microdilution assay, and the hepatoprotective activity was evaluated using CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in HepG2 cells. Results showed that the algal extracts have low DPPH scavenging activity, but effective ABTS scavenging activity with EC50 value of 52.09 µg/mL for the ethyl acetate (EA) extract. The EA extract had the highest ferric-reducing power with EC50 of 61.7 µg/mL. The petroleum ether (PE) extract had the highest cytotoxic effect with EC50 values of 38.19 µg/mL and 33.28 µg/mL against A549, and HEK 293 cells, respectively. All extracts showed significant alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity, with EA being the most potent (IC50 = 3.01 µg/mL). The PE extract showed notable NO inhibitory activity with IC50 of 50.91 µg/mL. No significant antimicrobial activity was observed except for EtOH and PE extracts, which inhibited Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. The extracts did not demonstrate significant hepatoprotective effect. These findings highlight the potential of Padina boryana as a valuable source of natural therapeutic agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blumea balsamifera L. essential oil (EO) has been known for its diverse antimicrobial activities. This study aimed to determine the antibacterial activity of Blumea balsamifera EO against two strains of pathogenic bacteria (Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus pneumoniae) through in vitro and in silico methods. The phytochemical screening of the EO and other physicochemical properties (DFT, ADMET, and drug-likeness) were determined using standard protocols. In vitro results show that the EO possesses promising antibacterial properties with inhibition zone diameters (IZDs) of 10 ± 2 and 18 ± 2 mm, respectively, for S. pyogenes and S. pneumoniae; MICs 2.50 and 1.25 μL.mL-1; MBC/MIC ratios 1 and 2. GC-MS characterization of the EO identified 17 constituents (1-17). The binding affinity of the compounds against the target proteins are in the following order: 16-P0C0C7 (-9.4 kcal.mol-1) > 4-P0C0C7 (-9.3 kcal.mol-1) > 15-P0C0C7 ≈ 17-P0C0C7 (-9.2 kcal.mol-1); 3-Q8DQF8 (-9.0 kcal.mol-1) > 4-Q8DQF8 (-8.9 kcal.mol-1) > 15-Q8DQF8 (-8.7 kcal.mol-1); 16-6LU7 (-9.0 kcal.mol-1) ≈ 17-6LU7 (-9.1 kcal.mol-1). The phytochemicals potentiality derived from quantum calculation were 3 (3.40 Debye), 15 (2.47 Debye), and 5 (2.03 Debye). The suitability for physicochemical and pharmacokinetic applications was assessed via reference to Lipinski's rule of five and Pires' interpretations, respectively. The analysis shows that (+)-2-Bornanone (3; 58.00 %) was the primary bioactive component responsible for the observable antibacterial activities given by its predominant content and favorable predictions. Compound 3 could further be investigated for its antibacterial activity by isolating and characterizing its pure form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]