Valorization of Macroalgae through Fermentation for Aquafeed Production: A Review

The increased development of aquaculture has resulted in increased demand for high-protein aquafeed. An increased demand for high-protein aquafeed means an increase in exploitation of unsustainable protein sources such as fishmeal for aquafeed production. Thus, alternative protein sources such as fermented macroalgae is explored. Fermented macroalgae had been tested as aquaculture diets in some studies, but with limited coverage in relation to aquaculture. Therefore, this review provides a new perspective regarding their nutritional qualities as aquaculture diets, and their impacts on growth performances of aquaculture animals.

Water Security: A Geospatial Framework for Urban Water Resilience

Urban water issues impacting sustainable development can be analyzed, modeled, and mapped through cutting-edge geospatial technologies; however, the water sector in developing countries suffers various spatial data-related problems such as limited coverage, unreliable data, limited coordination, and sharing. Available spatial data is limited to the aggregate level (i.e., National, State, and District level) and lacks details to make informed policy decisions and allocations. Despite significant advancements in geospatial technologies, its application and integration at the policy and decision-making level are seldom. The current research provides a unique, holistic Geospatial Framework to measure and monitor water security through geospatial technologies. The study demonstrates the application of the proposed Geospatial Framework from technical and institutional perspectives in water-stressed zones in Pune city showing where and how to solve problems and where proposed actions can have the most impact on creating a sustainable water-secured future. The research encourages cross-disciplinary collaboration, decentralized activity, employing traditional and indigenous knowledge, green infrastructure, watershed management, and nature-based solutions through Geospatial Framework to solve the primary challenges of water and build our cities' resilience. The current research can collaborate with Municipal Corporation mutually beneficial and work towards open-linked geospatial data for water security.

Listening to speech in noisy scenes: Antithetical contribution of primary and non-primary auditory cortex

Invasive and non-invasive electrophysiological measurements during cocktail-party-like listening indicate that neural activity in human auditory cortex (AC) tracks the envelope of relevant speech. Due to the measurement s limited coverage and/or spatial resolution, however, the distinct contribution of primary and non-primary auditory areas remains unclear. Using 7-Tesla fMRI, here we measured brain responses of participants attending to one speaker, without and with another concurrent speaker. Using voxel-wise modeling, we observed significant speech envelope tracking in bilateral Heschl s gyrus (HG) and middle superior temporal sulcus (mSTS), despite the sluggish fMRI responses and slow temporal sampling. Neural activity was either positively (HG) or negatively (mSTS) correlated to the speech envelope. Spatial pattern analyses indicated that whereas tracking in HG reflected both relevant and (to a lesser extent) non-relevant speech, right mSTS selectively represented the relevant speech signal. These results indicate that primary and non-primary AC antithetically process ongoing speech suggesting a push-pull of acoustic and linguistic information.

Energy-Saving D2D Wireless Networking Based on ACO and AIA Fusion Algorithm

Lower energy consumption and higher data rate have been becoming the key factors of modern wireless mobile communication for the improvement of user experiences. At present, the commercialization of 5G communications is gradually promoting the development of Internet of things (IoT) techniques. Due to the limited coverage capability of direct wireless communications, the indirect device-to-device (D2D) communications using information relay, in addition to the single 5G base station deployment, have been introduced. Along with the increase of information nodes, the relay devices have to undertake the nonnegligible extra data traffic. In order to adjust and optimize the information routing in D2D services, we present an algorithmic investigation referring to the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm and the artificial immune algorithm (AIA). By analyzing the characteristics of these algorithms, we propose a combined algorithm that enables the improved the iterative convergence speed and the calculation robustness of routing path determination. Meanwhile, the D2D optimization pursuing energy saving is numerically demonstrated to be improved than the original algorithms. Based on the simulation results under a typical architecture of 5G cellular network including various information nodes (devices), we show that the algorithmic optimization of D2D routing is potentially valid for the realization of primitive wireless IoT networks.

Across the Universe: Policy Support for Employment and Revenue in the Pandemic Recession

Using data from 14 government sources, we develop comprehensive estimates of U.S. economic activity by sector, legal form of organization, and firm size to characterize how four government direct lending programs—the Paycheck Protection Program, the Main Street Lending Program, the Corporate Credit Facilities, and the Municipal Lending Facilities—related to these classes of economic activity in the United States. The classes targeted by these programs are vast—accounting for 97 percent of total U.S. employment—though entity-specific financial criteria limited coverage within specific programs. We relate our estimates to those from timely alternative data sources, which do not typically cover the majority of the economic universe.

Machine Learning Prediction of Food Processing

Despite the accumulating evidence that increased consumption of ultra-processed food has adverse health implications, it remains difficult to decide what constitutes processed food. Indeed, the current processing-based classification of food has limited coverage and does not differentiate between degrees of processing, hindering consumer choices and slowing research on the health implications of processed food. Here we introduce a machine learning algorithm that accurately predicts the degree of processing for any food, indicating that over 73% of the U.S. food supply is ultra-processed. We show that the increased reliance of an individual's diet on ultra-processed food correlates with higher risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, angina, elevated blood pressure and biological age, and reduces the bio-availability of vitamins. Finally, we find that replacing foods with less processed alternatives can significantly reduce the health implications of ultra-processed food, suggesting that access to information on the degree of processing, currently unavailable to consumers, could improve population health.

Nutrition Education Toolbox for Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Diet has been shown to influence disease activity in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). Modification of dietary intake is the most commonly used lifestyle intervention in HS, and patients frequently report HS improvement after implementing dietary changes. Providing nutrition education may be perceived as not feasible within the time constraints of an outpatient office visit, and many physicians may also not feel equipped to do this. In addition, most insurances have limited coverage for nutrition visits. However, dietary changes may be employed as a low-cost adjunctive treatment option that can be combined with conventional medical treatment to mitigate HS symptoms. Though dietary modification has been increasingly recognized as a commonly used and influential factor in HS management, there is no comprehensive HS nutritional guide. Herein, we provide tools for both physicians and patients to facilitate evidence-based nutrition education in HS through collaboration with dermatologists specializing in HS, a registered dietitian, and a culinary specialist.