Thermal pretreatment of Lantana camara for improved biogas production: Process parameter studies for energy evaluation.

The rigid lignocellulosic structure of Lantana camara impedes the hydrolysis phase and reduces the biogas production during anaerobic digestion of Lantana camara. Hence, the current study focuses on the impact of various heating pretreatment techniques, viz., hot air oven (HAO), autoclave (ATC), hot water bath (HWB), and microwave (MCW) on L. camara to speed up hydrolysis and boost up biogas production. ATC pretreatment of L. camara was witnessed to be most efficient compared to HAO, MCW, and HWB pretreatment. ATC pretreatment enhanced the solubilization (45.44%), and an increment in volatile fatty acids (VFA) was observed (56.75%) at 110 °C for 80 min when correlated to the untreated (control). Cumulative methane production following ATC pretreatment had risen to 3656 mL in 5 weeks from 2895 mL in 7 weeks. Thermal pretreatment of Lantana camara broke down the rigid lignocellulosic structure, accelerating the hydrolysis stage and improving biogas production simultaneously. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first thermal pretreatment study conducted on Lantana camara for biogas production.

Automated neuronal reconstruction with super-multicolour Tetbow labelling and threshold-based clustering of colour hues.

Fluorescence imaging is widely used for the mesoscopic mapping of neuronal connectivity. However, neurite reconstruction is challenging, especially when neurons are densely labelled. Here, we report a strategy for the fully automated reconstruction of densely labelled neuronal circuits. Firstly, we establish stochastic super-multicolour labelling with up to seven different fluorescent proteins using the Tetbow method. With this method, each neuron is labelled with a unique combination of fluorescent proteins, which are then imaged and separated by linear unmixing. We also establish an automated neurite reconstruction pipeline based on the quantitative analysis of multiple dyes (QDyeFinder), which identifies neurite fragments with similar colour combinations. To classify colour combinations, we develop unsupervised clustering algorithm, dCrawler, in which data points in multi-dimensional space are clustered based on a given threshold distance. Our strategy allows the reconstruction of neurites for up to hundreds of neurons at the millimetre scale without using their physical continuity.

Anaerobic biodegradability test for Lantana camara to optimize the appropriate food to microorganism (F/M) ratio.

Invasion of Lantana camara all over the world and its management is a global problematic issue. Its rapid growth and competition with natural resources such as space, water, and nutrients of other plants, reasons for the demand to manage this noxious weed. This study was done to optimize the ideal food to microorganism (F/M) ratio. Different food to microorganism (F/M) ratios of 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 were studied along with one control where only cow dung was kept. Highest methane production was obtained from the F/M ratio of 1.5 (195.5 ± 8 mL CH4/g VS) and cumulative methane production from it was 4801.5 mL followed by ratios 2 and 2.5 respectively. In control, methane production was relatively low as compared to all the F/M ratios (2151.5 ± 8 mL). 20 L capacity batch reactor was performed with a working volume of 15.5 L where substrate and cow dung were fed according to the best ratio found during biochemical methane potential trial (BMP). Maximum methane yield was observed on the 19th day (2650 ± 18 ml CH4/g VS). Maximum volatile solids (VS) reduction was observed in the F/M ratio 1.5 (49.63%) followed by 2 and 2.5 respectively. The maximum amount of volatile fatty acid (VFA) was produced in F/M ratio 1.5 (715 ± 10) and 2 (715 ± 15) followed by ratios 2.5 and 1 respectively. Maximum soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) was found in F/M ratio 1.5 (8000 mg/L). Morphological changes were captured in FESEM and XRD.

Vermicomposting and anaerobic digestion - viable alternative options for terrestrial weed management - A review.

The management of terrestrial weed is of great concern for the scientific community as these weeds cause adverse effect in different ecosystems like forest, agriculture and urban. The widespread of these weeds by their adaptive capability and morphological advancement is difficult to control. Parthenium hysterophorous, Lantana camara, Saccharum spontaneum, Ageratum conyzoides are the weeds that spread all over the world. There are various management practices employed for the control of this weeds. But all of these practices have some drawbacks those are neither environment friendly nor economical. In this paper a review has been done to evaluate various alternative management practices for these terrestrial weeds and to analyze their feasibility. Vermicomposting and anaerobic digestion can be viable alternative option which is cost effective as well. There are few studies regarding vermicomposting and anaerobic digestions of terrestrial weeds are done.