A LAPS-Based Differential Sensor for Parallelized Metabolism Monitoring of Various Bacteria

Monitoring the cellular metabolism of bacteria in (bio)fermentation processes is crucial to control and steer them, and to prevent undesired disturbances linked to metabolically inactive microorganisms. In this context, cell-based biosensors can play an important role to improve the quality and increase the yield of such processes. This work describes the simultaneous analysis of the metabolic behavior of three different types of bacteria by means of a differential light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) set-up. The study includes Lactobacillus brevis, Corynebacterium glutamicum, and Escherichia coli, which are often applied in fermentation processes in bioreactors. Differential measurements were carried out to compensate undesirable influences such as sensor signal drift, and pH value variation during the measurements. Furthermore, calibration curves of the cellular metabolism were established as a function of the glucose concentration or cell number variation with all three model microorganisms. In this context, simultaneous (bio)sensing with the multi-organism LAPS-based set-up can open new possibilities for a cost-effective, rapid detection of the extracellular acidification of bacteria on a single sensor chip. It can be applied to evaluate the metabolic response of bacteria populations in a (bio)fermentation process, for instance, in the biogas fermentation process.

Download Full-text

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES, PARTICLE SHAPE, AND SIZE OF FERMENTED LOCAL WHITE CORN FLOUR OF ANOMAN FS VARIETY

Jurnal Teknologi ◽

10.11113/jt.v80.11017 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 80 (5) ◽

Author(s):

Rahmawati Rahmawati ◽

Rijanti Rahaju Maulani ◽

Dede Saputra

Keyword(s):

Fermentation Process ◽

Ph Value ◽

Chemical Properties ◽

Chemical Characteristics ◽

Corn Flour ◽

Fermentation Processes ◽

Toxic Culture ◽

Indigenous Yeast ◽

Shape And Size ◽

Chemical Contents

This research aims to study the chemical characteristics, the shape and size of the particles from local white corn flour fermented with indigenous yeast and mold. The fermentation processes studied are 1) fermentation with the addition of complete yeast and mold at 0 hour of fermentation and addition of amylolitic cultures at 16 hours of fermentation (AC1); 2) fermentation with the addition of complete yeast and mold at 0 hour, amylolitic cultures at 16 hours and 32 hours (AC2); and 3) fermentation with the addition of non-toxic culture at 0 hour, amylolitic cultures at 16 hours and 32 hours (NTS). Observations are conducted at 36, 48, 60, and 72 hours of fermentation. The results show that the addition of AC1, AC2, and NTS starters during fermentation generally lowers the moisture, ash, protein, fat, and amylose and pH value of the corn flour. Lowered chemical contents of local white corn flour due to the fermentation process is beneficial, both in terms of nutritional contents and functional properties. Another advantage is that the flour does not smell sour. All of the flours have the same granule shape as the control has, but addition of the starter AC1, AC2, and NTS makes smaller corn flours than the control.

Download Full-text

Investigation of nitrite pathways in sugar beet extraction

Sugar Industry ◽

10.36961/si15940 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 626-635 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Florian Emerstorfer ◽

Christer Bergwall ◽

Walter Hein ◽

Mats Bengtsson ◽

John P. Jensen

Keyword(s):

Sugar Beet ◽

Laboratory Experiments ◽

Ph Value ◽

Full Scale ◽

Chemical Effect ◽

Spectrophotometric Detection ◽

Sugar Factory ◽

Chemical Effects ◽

Set Up ◽

Nitrate And Nitrite

The investigations presented in this work were carried out in order to further deepen the knowledge about nitrite pathways in the area of sugar beet extraction. The article consists of two parts with different experimental set-up: the first part focuses on laboratory trials in which the fate of nitrate and nitrite was studied in a so-called mini-fermenter. These trials were carried out using juice from the hot part of the cossette mixer of an Agrana sugar factory in Austria. In the experiments, two common sugar factory disinfectants were used in order to study microbial as well as microbial-chemical effects on nitrite formation and degradation caused by bacteria present in the juice. The trials demonstrated that the direct microbial effect (denitrification) on nitrite degradation is more pronounced than the indirect microbial-chemical effect coming from pH value decrease by these bacteria and subsequent nitrite loss. The second part describes the findings from laboratory experiments and full scale factory trials using a mobile laboratory set-up based on insulated stainless steel containers and spectrophotometric detection of nitrite in various factory juices. The trials were made at two Nordzucker factories located in Finland (factory A) and Sweden (factory B). The inhibiting effect of the two common sugar factory disinfectants on nitrite formation was evaluated in laboratory trials, whereas the full scale trials focused on one disinfectant. Other trials to evaluate potential contamination sources of thermophilic nitrite producing bacteria to the extraction system, reactivation of nitrite producing bacteria in raw juice and the effect of a pH gradient on bacterial nitrite activity in cossette mixer juice are also reported.

Download Full-text

Environmental Engineering Techniques to Restore Degraded Posidonia oceanica Meadows

Water ◽

10.3390/w13050661 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 661

Author(s):

Luigi Piazzi ◽

Stefano Acunto ◽

Francesca Frau ◽

Fabrizio Atzori ◽

Maria Francesca Cinti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Natural Habitat ◽

Cost Benefit ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Posidonia Oceanica ◽

Environmental Engineering ◽

Bottom Surface ◽

Sessile Invertebrates ◽

Set Up ◽

Short Time

Seagrass planting techniques have shown to be an effective tool for restoring degraded meadows and ecosystem function. In the Mediterranean Sea, most restoration efforts have been addressed to the endemic seagrass Posidonia oceanica, but cost-benefit analyses have shown unpromising results. This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of environmental engineering techniques generally employed in terrestrial systems to restore the P. oceanica meadows: two different restoration efforts were considered, either exploring non-degradable mats or, for the first time, degradable mats. Both of them provided encouraging results, as the loss of transplanting plots was null or very low and the survival of cuttings stabilized to about 50%. Data collected are to be considered positive as the survived cuttings are enough to allow the future spread of the patches. The utilized techniques provided a cost-effective restoration tool likely affordable for large-scale projects, as the methods allowed to set up a wide bottom surface to restore in a relatively short time without any particular expensive device. Moreover, the mats, comparing with other anchoring methods, enhanced the colonization of other organisms such as macroalgae and sessile invertebrates, contributing to generate a natural habitat.

Download Full-text

K-seq, an affordable, reliable, and open Klenow NGS-based genotyping technology

Plant Methods ◽

10.1186/s13007-021-00733-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Peio Ziarsolo ◽

Tomas Hasing ◽

Rebeca Hilario ◽

Victor Garcia-Carpintero ◽

Jose Blanca ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cost Effective ◽

Genetic Distances ◽

Set Design ◽

Special Equipment ◽

Genetic Studies ◽

Set Up ◽

Genomic Regions ◽

Biology Laboratory ◽

Genotyping Technology ◽

Genetic Results

Abstract Background K-seq, a new genotyping methodology based on the amplification of genomic regions using two steps of Klenow amplification with short oligonucleotides, followed by standard PCR and Illumina sequencing, is presented. The protocol was accompanied by software developed to aid with primer set design. Results As the first examples, K-seq in species as diverse as tomato, dog and wheat was developed. K-seq provided genetic distances similar to those based on WGS in dogs. Experiments comparing K-seq and GBS in tomato showed similar genetic results, although K-seq had the advantage of finding more SNPs for the same number of Illumina reads. The technology reproducibility was tested with two independent runs of the tomato samples, and the correlation coefficient of the SNP coverages between samples was 0.8 and the genotype match was above 94%. K-seq also proved to be useful in polyploid species. The wheat samples generated specific markers for all subgenomes, and the SNPs generated from the diploid ancestors were located in the expected subgenome with accuracies greater than 80%. Conclusion K-seq is an open, patent-unencumbered, easy-to-set-up, cost-effective and reliable technology ready to be used by any molecular biology laboratory without special equipment in many genetic studies.

Download Full-text

Sustainable Ventilation Strategies for a Medium-Sized Space with Regional Effect

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13094651 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 4651

Author(s):

Ming-Lun Alan Fong

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Life Cycle Cost ◽

Co2 Emission ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Regional Effect ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Ventilation Strategies ◽

Set Up

The analysis of ventilation strategies is fundamentally affected by regional climate conditions and local cost databases, in terms of energy consumption, CO2 emission and cost-effective analysis. A systematic approach is covered in this paper to estimate a local economic and environmental impact on a medium-sized space located in two regions during supply-and-installation and operation phases. Three ventilation strategies, including mixing ventilation (MV), displacement ventilation (DV) and stratum ventilation (SV) were applied to medium-sized air-conditioned space with this approach. The trend of the results for three ventilation systems in the life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost (LCC) analysis is SV < DV < MV. The result of CO2 emission and regional LCC shows that SV is the lowest one in both regional studies. In comparison with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) during 20 Service years, the case analysis demonstrates that the percentage differences in LCC analysis of MV, DV & SV in Guangdong are less than 20.5%, 19.4% and 18.82% respectively. Their CO2 emission of MV, DV and SV in Guangdong are more than HKSAR in 10.69%, 11.22% and 12.05%, respectively. The present study could provide information about regional effects in the LCA and LCC analysis of three ventilation strategies emissions, and thereby help set up models for decision-making on high efficiency and cost-effective ventilation strategy plans.

Download Full-text

Cost Effective Swath Bathymetry

Marine Technology Society Journal ◽

10.4031/002533201788057982 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 35 (4) ◽

pp. 33-45 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Peter Hogarth

Keyword(s):

Processing Time ◽

Cost Effective ◽

High Accuracy ◽

High Coverage ◽

Swath Bathymetry ◽

World Survey ◽

Set Up ◽

Very High ◽

Harbor Area ◽

Wide Swath

Between 23rd and 25th July 2001 GeoSwath, a high specification shallow water wide swath bathymetry system, was used to survey the entire Portsmouth NH Harbor area. This paper deals with the results of this survey, illustrating the potential for significant reductions in the high costs, which have prevented widespread proliferation of Swath Bathymetry systems to date. Data, including a complete DTM gridded to 1 m resolution, will be presented and discussed in detail. These results show that the system is very easy to set up and use, requires greatly reduced boat and processing time, whilst offering high accuracy and very high coverage and resolution when used in a real-world survey of a dynamic harbor environment.

Download Full-text

Accurate Molecular Diagnosis of Gaucher Disease Using Clinical Exome Sequencing as a First-Tier Test

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22115538 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (11) ◽

pp. 5538

Author(s):

Stefania Zampieri ◽

Silvia Cattarossi ◽

Eleonora Pavan ◽

Antonio Barbato ◽

Agata Fiumara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Exome Sequencing ◽

Molecular Diagnosis ◽

Gaucher Disease ◽

Novel Mutation ◽

Large Deletion ◽

Clinical Exome Sequencing ◽

Number Variation ◽

Long Range Pcr ◽

Set Up ◽

Beta Glucosidase

Gaucher disease (GD) is an autosomal recessive lysosomal disorder due to beta-glucosidase gene (GBA) mutations. The molecular diagnosis of GD is complicated by the presence of recombinant alleles originating from a highly homologous pseudogene. Clinical exome sequencing (CES) is a rapid genetic approach for identifying disease-causing mutations. However, copy number variation and recombination events are poorly detected, and further investigations are required to avoid mis-genotyping. The aim of this work was to set-up an integrated strategy for GD patients genotyping using CES as a first-line test. Eight patients diagnosed with GD were analyzed by CES. Five patients were fully genotyped, while three were revealed to be homozygous for mutations that were not confirmed in the parents. Therefore, MLPA (multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification) and specific long-range PCR were performed, and two recombinant alleles, one of them novel, and one large deletion were identified. Furthermore, an MLPA assay performed in one family resulted in the identification of an additional novel mutation (p.M124V) in a relative, in trans with the known p.N409S mutation. In conclusion, even though CES has become extensively used in clinical practice, our study emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive molecular strategy to provide proper GBA genotyping and genetic counseling.

Download Full-text

Innovation Pathways in the NHS: An Introductory Review

Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science ◽

10.1007/s43441-021-00304-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anmol Arora ◽

Andrew Wright ◽

Mark Cheng ◽

Zahra Khwaja ◽

Matthew Seah

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

National Health ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

New Technologies ◽

Care Delivery ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Care Models ◽

Set Up ◽

The Uk ◽

Introductory Review

AbstractHealthcare as an industry is recognised as one of the most innovative. Despite heavy regulation, there is substantial scope for new technologies and care models to not only boost patient outcomes but to do so at reduced cost to healthcare systems and consumers. Promoting innovation within national health systems such as the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom (UK) has been set as a key target for health care professionals and policy makers. However, while the UK has a world-class biomedical research industry, several reports in the last twenty years have highlighted the difficulties faced by the NHS in encouraging and adopting innovations, with the journey from idea to implementation of health technology often taking years and being very expensive, with a high failure rate. This has led to the establishment of several innovation pathways within and around the NHS, to encourage the invention, development and implementation of cost-effective technologies that improve health care delivery. These pathways span local, regional and national health infrastructure. They operate at different stages of the innovation pipeline, with their scope and work defined by location, technology area or industry sector, based on the specific problem identified when they were set up. In this introductory review, we outline each of the major innovation pathways operating at local, regional and national levels across the NHS, including their history, governance, operating procedures and areas of expertise. The extent to which innovation pathways address current challenges faced by innovators is discussed, as well as areas for improvement and future study.

Download Full-text

Mg/Al double-metal hydroxide regeneration of anion exchange resin by electric field intensification

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2016.588 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 75 (6) ◽

pp. 1309-1318 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ying Wang ◽

Zhun Li ◽

Yansheng Li ◽

Zhigang Liu

Keyword(s):

Electric Field ◽

Anion Exchange ◽

Exchange Resin ◽

Ph Value ◽

Anion Exchange Resin ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Regenerative Capacity ◽

Metal Hydroxides ◽

Anion Exchange Resins ◽

Exchange Resins

Fouled anion exchange resins were regenerated by electric field intensification of Mg/Al double-metal hydroxides. Regenerative experiments were performed with varying voltages (10–30 V) and dosages of Mg/Al hydroxides (0.045–0.135 mol and 0.015–0.045 mol, respectively) for 1–5 h. Optimal results were obtained under the following regenerative conditions: 20 V, 4 h, and 0.09/0.03 mol of Mg/Al hydroxides. The maximum regenerative capacity of resins was increased to 41.07%. The regenerative mechanism was presented by Fourier-transform infrared spectrum of resins and Mg/Al hydroxides, and the regenerative degree was analyzed with respect to conductivity, pH value, and electric current. Mg/Al hydroxides were also recycled after the regeneration. This method was proven to be cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

Download Full-text

The effect of bacterial inoculant supplementation on the fermentation process of crushed maize ears in laboratory silos

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis ◽

10.11118/actaun200553040033 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 53 (4) ◽

pp. 33-42

Author(s):

Petr Doležal ◽

Dušan Kořínek ◽

Jan Doležal ◽

Václav Pyrochta

Keyword(s):

Lactic Acid ◽

Ph Value ◽

Lactobacillus Rhamnosus ◽

Lactobacillus Brevis ◽

Water Soluble ◽

Bacterial Strains ◽

Total Acid ◽

Ethanol Content ◽

Fermentation Quality ◽

Biological Additive

In the experiment was the effect of biological additive on the fermentation quality of crushed maize ears of two hybrids by comparing with the untreated control. The bacterial inoculant „A“ contained selected bacterial strains of Lactobacillus rhamnosus (NCIMB 30121) and Enterococcus faecium (NCIMB 30122). As effective substances of bacterial water–soluble inoculant „B“ were selected bacterial strains of Lactobacillus rhamnosus (NCIMB 30121), Lactobacillus plantarum (DSM 12836), Lactobacillus brevis (DSM 12835), Lactobacillus buchneri (DSM 12856), Pediococcus acidialactici (P. pentosaceus) (DSM 12834). The addition of inoculant „A“ in our experiment conditions increased statistically significantly (P<0.01) the pH value (4.09±0.01), resp. 4.02±0.02 in second trial with Pedro hybrid. The bacterial inoculant „B“ increased significantly (P<0.01) the contents of lactic acid (50.95±0.1.87 g/kg DM), acetic acid (18.61±0.34 g/kg DM), sum of acids (69.55±1.62 g/kg DM) and decreased (P<0.01) in the first trial the ethanol content (5.41±0.45 g/kg DM). The highest DM content (P<0.01) was in all experimental inoculated silages with additive „A“ (54.26±0.86%, and 53.56±0.54%, resp.). The bacterial inoculant „A“ increased significantly (P<0.01) in comparison with control silage in the second trial the content of lactic acid (34.66Ī2.81 g/kg DM), sum of acids (44.68±3.54 g/kg DM), the total acids content (32.87±2.88 g/kg DM), and ethanol content (17.33±0.79 g/kg DM). The inoculation positive effect was demonstrated in reduction of ethanol amount and of total acid production. The pH value of inoculated silages was not significantly lower than that in the control silage.

Download Full-text