Probiotics are living microorganisms when administered in adequate amounts confer health benefits to the host. In the present study, a soil isolate was identified as Bacillus subtilis based on the 16S rRNA sequencing. In probiotic functional characterization (in vitro), B. subtilis SKB/2074 produced 10 different enzymes, was stable under simulated gastric conditions (pH 2.5/1-3 hr), bile salt (0.05-0.3% w/v), and temperature (40-90 degrees C) conditions. B. subtilis SKB/2074 cells were non-hemolytic, found susceptible to the 30 antibiotics, and showed antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, and Clostridium perfringens. In in vivo studies, B. subtilis SKB/2074 demonstrated encouraging results to reverse E. coli and castor oil incited diarrhea in Wistar rats and Albino mice, respectively. Histopathological studies exhibited restoration of damaged mucosal epithelium cells and recovers veracity of goblet cells (colon). B. subtilis SKB/2074 exhibited immunomodulatory effects (increased immunoglobulins in blood and weight of spleen and thymus) and significant antioxidant activity (84.14%), reducing capacity and ascorbate auto-oxidation inhibition effect (95.13%). In poultry field studies, B. subtilis SKB/2074 significantly improved growth performance and lowered mortality rate in broiler chickens. Based on these preliminary scientific assessments B. subtilis SKB/2074 is likely to be used as potential probiotic and antidiarrheal agent in humans and animal healthcare.

The use of biochar in agriculture is associated with the concepts of carbon sink and carbon negative, which will constitute additional income for farms in the near future and may provide them with a key role in the fight against global warming. The existing model in the Scandinavian countries is one of the first to combine biochar with carbon dioxide biosequestration. Fertilizers with excessive nutrient content, salinity issues, impurities, or irregular pH levels can induce phytotoxicity, damaging plant health and growth. Torrefied woody biomass can work as a bulking agent, carbon carrier, or as an amendment for composting materials containing high amounts of water and/or nitrogen contents. Superheated steam torrefaction as a valorization process increases the amount of pores in which minerals can be stored and the plant will grow faster and bigger by using these pores agglomerated minerals. The torrefaction process was conducted using the DynTHERM TG Rubotherm high-temperature and high-pressure thermogravimetric analysis apparatus under conditions of superheated steam flow. Various residence times (10, 20, and 40 min) and torrefaction temperatures (250, 275, and 300 degrees C) were explored to assess their efficacy in reducing the phytotoxicity of torrefied spruce. To confirm this assumption, a toxicity test with Lemna minor L. was carried out according to Radi & cacute; et al. (2011) and extended to the determination of chlorophyll index and chlorophyll fluorescence to assess the physiological status of the plants after treatment with different doses of spruce wood biocarbon. Research indicates that biochar positively impacts soil quality and plants. Thanks to its unique properties, biochar provides nutrients, enhancing fertilization efficiency [1]. Biochar, after concentrating and adsorbing the nutrients from the wastewater, can be used as a soil amendment or fertilizer. Biochar blended with organic residues full of nutrients is more effective in improving soil properties and crop yields than the exclusive application of pure biochar or other fertilizers. Traditional chemical fertilizers have drawbacks, such as rapid nutrient leaching, severe environmental pollution, and high costs. Therefore, biochar is gaining increasing recognition worldwide.

To ensure the mud discharge performance of the atmospheric cutterhead and reduce the risk of clogging, it is necessary to consider the distribution of soil in the cutterhead opening under different tunneling parameters. Taking the Haizhuwan tunnel project as an example, the rheological properties of soil and slurry samples were collected and analyzed. The full-scale mud discharge model of cutterhead was established for the first time by using the Euler multiphase flow model. By examining the pressure value of the monitoring point of the excavation chamber, the simulation parameters agree with the field-measured data. The simulation results show that the soil content in the center area and the edge area of the cutterhead is more than 60% and 15% respectively, which is much higher than that in other areas. The mathematical model of soil content and tunneling parameters was established, and the measures to reduce the soil content were explored. By comprehensively analyzing the variation law of soil content in the central and edge areas, it is beneficial to improve the mud discharge performance of the cutterhead by reducing the penetration rate and increasing the cutterhead rotation speed and grouting rate.

When tunnelling in difficult ground conditions, shield machine would inevitably produce significant ground loss and vibration, which may disturb the ground ahead of the tunnel face. In this paper, discrete element models calibrated by model tests were established to investigate the response of tunnel face under the coupling effects of unloading and cutterhead vibrations. The results show that the friction angle reduction under cyclic loading and vibration attenuation in the sandy ground are significant and can be estimated by the fitted exponential functions. Under cutterhead vibration, the tunnel face stability is undermined and the limit support pressure (LSP) increases to 1.4 times as that in the static case with the growth of frequency and amplitude. Meanwhile, the loosening zone becomes wider and the arching effect is weakened with the reduction of peak horizontal stress and the increase of vertical stress above the tunnel. Based on the numerical results, a pseudo-static method was introduced into the limit equilibrium analysis of the wedge-prism model for calculating the LSP under vibration. With an error rate less than 5.2%, the proposed analytical method is well validated. Further analytical calculation reveals that the LSP would increase with the growth of vibration amplitude, vibration frequency and covered depth but decrease with the increase of friction angle. This study can not only lay a solid foundation for the further investigation of ground loss, ground water and soft-hard heterogeneous ground under cutterhead vibration, but also provide meaningful references for the control of environmental disturbance in practice.

Climate change still adversely affects agriculture in the sub-Saharan Africa. There is need to strengthen early action to bolster livelihoods and food security. Most governments use pre- and post-harvest field surveys to capture statistics for National Food Balance Sheets (NFBS) key in food policy and economic planning. These surveys, though accurate, are costly, time consuming, and may not offer rapid yield estimates to support governments, emergency organizations, and related stakeholders to take advanced strategic decisions in the face of climate change. To help governments in Kenya (KEN), Zambia (ZMB), and Malawi (MWI) adopt digitally advanced maize yield forecasts, we developed a hybrid model based on the Regional Hydrologic Extremes Assessment System (RHEAS) and machine learning. The framework is set-up to use weather data (precipitation, temperature, and wind), simulations from RHEAS model (soil total moisture, soil temperature, solar radiation, surface temperature, net transpiration from vegetation, net evapotranspiration, and root zone soil moisture), simulations from DSSAT (leaf area index and water stress), and MODIS vegetation indices. Random Forest (RF) machine learning model emerged as the best hybrid setup for unit maize yield forecasts per administrative boundary scoring the lowest unbiased Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 0.16 MT/ha, 0.18 MT/ha, and 0.20 MT/ha in Malawi's Karonga district, Kenya's Homa Bay county, and Zambia's Senanga district respectively. According to relative RMSE, RF outperformed other hybrid models attaining the lowest score in all countries (ZMB: 25.96%, MWI: 28.97%, and KEN: 27.54%) followed by support vector machines (ZMB: 26.92%, MWI: 31.14%, and KEN: 29.50%), and linear regression (ZMB: 29.44%, MWI: 31.76%, and KEN: 47.00%). Lastly, the integration of VI and RHEAS information using hybrid models improved yield prediction. This information is useful for NFBS bulletins forecasts, design and certification of maize insurance contracts, and estimation of loss and damage in the advent of climate justice.

Ozone is known to be present within the surface ice of Jupiter's moon Ganymede as well as Saturn's moons Dione and Rhea. Given the ubiquity of solar photons incident on these water-ice-dominated surfaces, experiments were conducted to better understand the photochemistry of ozone-water ice mixtures. Samples were deposited as thin films in a vacuum chamber under temperature and pressure conditions relevant to satellites in the outer solar system. Chemical changes in the ices were monitored with infrared spectroscopy as they were exposed to ultraviolet light at 116.5/123.6, 147, and 254 nm emitted from Kr, Xe, and Hg resonant lamps, respectively. In all instances, hydrogen peroxide formed after ultraviolet irradiation, while the amount of ozone present decreased. Of the wavelengths tested, irradiation at 254 rim induced the most rapid change both in terms of irradiation time and number of incident photons. This work emphasizes the importance of wavelengths longer than the vacuum ultraviolet in the chemical evolution of ozone on Ganymede, Dione, and Rhea.