Comparison of Bacterial and Archaeal Microbiome in Two Bioreactors Fed with Cattle Sewage and Corn Biomass

The bacterial and archaeal communities of two full-scale biogas producing plants (P1 and P2), associated with a 999 kW cogeneration unit, both located in North Italy, were analyzed at start up and fully operating phases, by means of various molecular approaches: (i) Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis; (ii) cloning and sequencing of PCR amplicons of archaeal genes 16Srrna and mcrA; (iii) 16S rDNA high throughput next generation sequencing. P1 and P2 use the same technology and both were fed with cattle manure and corn silage. During the study of P1 also the post digester (fed with pig manure) was analyzed. The aim of this research was to characterize the bacterial and archaeal communities in two very similar plants to profile the core microbiota. The results of this analysis highlighted that the two plants (producing comparable quantities of volatile fatty acids, biogas, and energy) differed in anerobic microbiota (Bacteria and Archaea). Notably the methanogenic community of P1 was dominated by the strict acetoclastic Methanosaeta (Methanothrix) (up to 23.05%) and the unculturable Candidatus Methanofastidiosum (up to 32.70%), while P2 was dominated by the acetoclastic, but more substrate-versatile, Methanosarcina archaeal genus (49.19%). The data demonstrated that the performances of plants with identical design, in similar operating conditions, yielding comparable amount of biogas (average of 7237 m3 day−1 and 7916 m3 day−1 respectively for P1 and P2), VFA (1643 mg L− 1 and 1634 mg L−1) and energy recovery (23.90–24 MWh day−1), depend on the stabilization of effective and functionally optimized methanogenic communities, but these communities aretaxonomically different in the two biodigesters

Integrating Academic Journal Review Assignments Into A Graduate Business Leadership Course

Graduate course assignments that are pragmatic, challenging, scaffold prior learning, and support academic career aspirations can be difficult to create and even more problematic to assess for even the most experienced faculty.  This paper presents a class assignment that incorporated a real-world journal reviewing assignment into an elective doctoral leadership seminar.  This manuscript presents an overview of the assignment, journal editor perceptions of the experience, and recommendations for best practices

RAPD and SCAR markers as potential tools for detection of milk origin in dairy products: adulterant sheep breeds in Serra da Estrela cheese production

Available online 17 May 2016Serra da Estrela Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheese is the most famous Portuguese cheese and has a high commercial value. However, the adulteration of production with cheaper/lower-quality milks from non-autochthones ovine breeds compromises the quality of the final product and undervalues the original PDO cheese. A Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method was developed for efficient detection of adulterant breeds in milk mixtures used for fraudulent production of this cheese. Furthermore, Sequence Characterized Amplified Region (SCAR) markers were designed envisioning the detection of milk adulteration in processed dairy foods. The RAPD-SCAR technique is here described, for the first time, to be potentially useful for detection of milk origin in dairy products. In this sense, our findings will play an important role on the valorization of Serra da Estrela cheese, as well as on other high-quality dairy products prone to adulteration, contributing to the further development of the dairy industry.This work was financially supported by the project ‘‘Valor Queijo” (CENTRO-07-0202-FEDER-030372) funded by FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) and co-funded by ‘‘Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional” (FEDER) through ‘‘COMPETE – Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade” (POFC). This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the Strategic Project of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145- FEDER-006684) and the project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462)

The CIRCORT database: Reference ranges and seasonal changes in diurnal salivary cortisol derived from a meta-dataset comprised of 15 field studies

Diurnal salivary cortisol profiles are valuable indicators of adrenocortical functioning in epidemiological research and clinical practice. However, normative reference values derived from a large number of participants and across a wide age range are still missing. To fill this gap, data were compiled from 15 independently conducted field studies with a total of 104,623 salivary cortisol samples obtained from 18,698 unselected individuals (mean age: 48.3 years, age range: 0.5–98.5 years, 39% females). Besides providing a descriptive analysis of the complete dataset, we also performed mixed-effects growth curve modeling of diurnal salivary cortisol (i.e., 1–16 h after awakening). Cortisol decreased significantly across the day and was influenced by both, age and sex. Intriguingly, we also found a pronounced impact of sampling season with elevated diurnal cortisol in spring and decreased levels in autumn. However, the majority of variance was accounted for by between-participant and between-study variance components. Based on these analyses, reference ranges (LC/MS–MS calibrated) for cortisol concentrations in saliva were derived for different times across the day, with more specific reference ranges generated for males and females in different age categories. This integrative summary provides important reference values on salivary cortisol to aid basic scientists and clinicians in interpreting deviations from the normal diurnal cycle

Decreto di Cleonimo sulla raccolta del tributo

Nella tarda estate del 426 a.C., nel pieno della guerra del Peloponneso, la boule e il demos di Atene vararono un decreto riguardante la raccolta del tributo pagato dalle diverse città della Lega delio-attica. Il suo scopo era assicurare che le somme dovute da ogni comunità alleata fossero raccolte con successo. Questo provvedimento è costituito da due distinti decreti, entrambi proposti dal consigliere Cleonimo e votati dall’assemblea in due giornate successive. Esso prevede che ciascuna città tributaria selezioni un gruppo di suoi cittadini, che saranno responsabili della corretta raccolta della somma dovuta ad Atene. Si prevede inoltre la registrazione di quelle città che avranno regolarmente effettuato il pagamento annuale e di quelle ancora debitrici; i nomi delle comunità di entrambe le categorie verranno elencati di fronte all’assemblea. Inoltre, un gruppo di cinque cittadini ateniesi verrà inviato a sollecitare il pagamento presso le città debitrici. La seconda parte del testo, che registra la decisione presa in assemblea il giorno seguente la prima votazione, si occupa di organizzare l’iter giudiziario in caso di tentativi di appropriazione di denaro da parte sia di alleati sia di cittadini ateniesi

The IGCyr project. Encoding Codes, Translating Rules, Communicating Stones in Ptolemaic Cyrene and in Contemporary Bologna.

The paper draws a parallel between the work of a bononiensis epigraphist involved in the international Inscriptions of Greek Cyrenaica project (IGCyr) \u2013 which is included in the broader Inscriptions of Libya project \u2013 and the historical patterns of (epigraphic) communication between central and local power in Ptolemaic Cyrene. In the first part, by Alice Bencivenni, the analogy of functions is used to introduce the project\u2019s specifics; afterwards a brief survey of codes and rules adopted to shape stones for communication gives some suggestions concerning digital text transcription as a desired outcome. The second part, by Simone Agrimonti, presents HELLAS UniBo, a markup laboratory set up in Bologna in June 2013 and based on user engagement

Gene expression during transition from dormancy to sprouting in potato tubers.

In: Benkeblia N, Tennant P (Eds) Potato I