Functional Attributes and Health Benefits of Novel Prebiotic Oligosaccharides Derived from Xylan, Arabinan, and Mannan

Prebiotic oligosaccharides are produced from many different sources, with substantial differences in chemical structure, bonds between subunits, and degree of polymerization. These structural differences can materially affect microbial utilization and the dose required for efficacy. Most prebiotic oligosaccharides are based on subunits comprised of 6-carbon sugars such as glucose/fructose and alpha bonds. Newer/novel oligosaccharides are derived from 5 carbon sugars and/or connected via beta bonds. Clinical trials with xylooligosaccharides, arabinoxylanoligosaccharides, and mannooligosaccharides have shown improvements in lipids, cholesterol, management of blood glucose, weight management, and laxation, at doses typically ranging from 1 to 4 g per day. Mannooligosaccharides are also showing promise for animal health, with the potential to reduce antibiotic use. These novel prebiotics are showing promise due to greater selectivity and their ability to deliver health benefits at a lower dose compared to conventional prebiotics

Environmental and financial implications of ethanol as a bioethylene feedstock versus as a transportation fuel

Bulk chemicals production from biomass may compete with biofuels for low-cost and sustainable biomass sources. Understanding how alternative uses of biomass compare in terms of financial and environmental parameters is therefore necessary to help ensure that efficient uses of resources are encouraged by policy and undertaken by industry. In this paper, we compare the environmental and financial performance of using ethanol as a feedstock for bioethylene production or as a transport fuel in the US life cycle-based models are developed to isolate the relative impacts of these two ethanol uses and generate results that are applicable irrespective of ethanol production pathway. Ethanol use as a feedstock for bioethylene production or as a transport fuel leads to comparable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fossil energy consumption reductions relative to their counterparts produced from fossil sources. By displacing gasoline use in vehicles, use of ethanol as a transport fuel is six times more effective in reducing petroleum energy use on a life cycle basis. In contrast, bioethylene predominately avoids consumption of natural gas. Considering 2013 US ethanol and ethylene market prices, our analysis shows that bioethylene is financially viable only if significant price premiums are realized over conventional ethylene, from 35% to 65% depending on the scale of bioethylene production considered (80 000 t yr−1 to 240 000 t yr−1). Ethanol use as a transportation fuel is therefore the preferred pathway considering financial,GHGemissions, and petroleum energy use metrics, although bioethylene production could have strategic value if demand-side limitations of ethanol transport fuel markets are reached

Impacts of pre-treatment technologies and co-products on greenhouse gas emissions and energy use of lignocellulosic ethanol production

Life cycle environmental performance of lignocellulosic ethanol produced through different production pathways and having different co-products has rarely been reported in the literature, with most studies focusing on a single pre-treatment and single co-product (electricity). The aim of this paper is to understand the life cycle energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions implications of alternative pre-treatment technologies (dilute acid hydrolysis, ammonia fiber expansion and autohydrolysis) and co-products (electricity, pellet, protein and xylitol) through developing a consistent life cycle framework for ethanol production from corn stover. Results show that the choices of pre-treatment technology and co-product(s) can impact ethanol yield, life cycle energy use and GHG emissions. Dilute acid pathways generally exhibit higher ethanol yields (20 to 25%) and lower net total energy use (15 to 25%) than the autohydrolysis and ammonia fiber expansion pathways. Similar GHG emissions are found for the pre-treatment technologies when producing the same co-product. Xylitol co-production diverts xylose from ethanol production and results in the lowest ethanol yield (200 litres per dry t of stover). Compared to producing only electricity as a co-product, the co-production of pellets and xylitol decreases life cycle GHG emissions associated with the ethanol, while protein production increases emissions. The life cycle GHG emissions of blended ethanol fuel (85% denatured ethanol by volume) range from -38.5 to 37.2 g CO2eq/MJ of fuel produced, reducing emissions by 61% to 141% relative to gasoline. All ethanol pathways result in major reductions of fossil and petroleum energy use relative to gasoline, at least 47% and 67%, respectively. Pathways with electricity as the sole co-product use the least fossil energy All ethanol pathways studied meet the USA Energy Information and Security Act requirement of a 60% reduction in GHG emissions compared to gasoline for classification as a cellulosic biofuel; however, greater reductions are achievable through strategic selection of co-products

Environmental and financial implications of ethanol as a bioethylene feedstock versus as a transportation fuel

Bulk chemicals production from biomass may compete with biofuels for low-cost and sustainable biomass sources. Understanding how alternative uses of biomass compare in terms of financial and environmental parameters is therefore necessary to help ensure that efficient uses of resources are encouraged by policy and undertaken by industry. In this paper, we compare the environmental and financial performance of using ethanol as a feedstock for bioethylene production or as a transport fuel in the US life cycle-based models are developed to isolate the relative impacts of these two ethanol uses and generate results that are applicable irrespective of ethanol production pathway. Ethanol use as a feedstock for bioethylene production or as a transport fuel leads to comparable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fossil energy consumption reductions relative to their counterparts produced from fossil sources. By displacing gasoline use in vehicles, use of ethanol as a transport fuel is six times more effective in reducing petroleum energy use on a life cycle basis. In contrast, bioethylene predominately avoids consumption of natural gas. Considering 2013 US ethanol and ethylene market prices, our analysis shows that bioethylene is financially viable only if significant price premiums are realized over conventional ethylene, from 35% to 65% depending on the scale of bioethylene production considered (80 000 t yr−1 to 240 000 t yr−1). Ethanol use as a transportation fuel is therefore the preferred pathway considering financial,GHGemissions, and petroleum energy use metrics, although bioethylene production could have strategic value if demand-side limitations of ethanol transport fuel markets are reached

Exploring impacts of process technology development and regional factors on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn stover ethanol

This paper examines impacts of regional factors affecting biomass and process input supply chains and ongoing technology development on the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of ethanol production from corn stover in the U.S. Corn stover supply results in GHG emissions from -6 gCO2eq./MJ ethanol (Macon County, Missouri) to 13 gCO2eq./MJ ethanol (Hardin County, Iowa), reflecting location-specific soil carbon and N2O emissions responses to stover removal. Biorefinery emissions based on the 2011 National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) process model are the single greatest emissions source (18 gCO2eq./MJ ethanol) and are approximately double those assessed for the 2002 NREL design model, due primarily to the inclusion of GHG-intensive inputs (caustic, ammonia, glucose). Energy demands of on-site enzyme production included in the 2011 design contribute to reducing the electricity co-product and associated emissions credit, which is also dependent on the GHG-intensity of regional electricity supply. Life cycle emissions vary between 1.5 and 22 gCO2eq./MJ ethanol (2011 design) depending on production location (98% to 77% reduction vs. gasoline). Using system expansion for co-product allocation, ethanol production in studied locations meet the Energy Independence and Security Act emissions requirements for cellulosic biofuels; however, regional factors and on-going technology developments significantly influence these results

Comparison of the Safety and Pharmacokinetics of ST-246® after IV Infusion or Oral Administration in Mice, Rabbits and Monkeys

ST-246® is an antiviral, orally bioavailable small molecule in clinical development for treatment of orthopoxvirus infections. An intravenous (IV) formulation may be required for some hospitalized patients who are unable to take oral medication. An IV formulation has been evaluated in three species previously used in evaluation of both efficacy and toxicology of the oral formulation. plasma concentrations. These effects were eliminated using slower IV infusions. associated toxicity. Shorter infusions at higher doses in NHP resulted in decreased clearance, suggesting saturated distribution or elimination. Elimination half-lives in all species were similar between oral and IV administration. The administration of ST-246 was well tolerated as a slow IV infusion

Examining the generalizability of research findings from archival data

This initiative examined systematically the extent to which a large set of archival research findings generalizes across contexts. We repeated the key analyses for 29 original strategic management effects in the same context (direct reproduction) as well as in 52 novel time periods and geographies; 45% of the reproductions returned results matching the original reports together with 55% of tests in different spans of years and 40% of tests in novel geographies. Some original findings were associated with multiple new tests. Reproducibility was the best predictor of generalizability—for the findings that proved directly reproducible, 84% emerged in other available time periods and 57% emerged in other geographies. Overall, only limited empirical evidence emerged for context sensitivity. In a forecasting survey, independent scientists were able to anticipate which effects would find support in tests in new samples

Principles of Renal Function Measurement (Limitations of Gotch’s Kt/V)

Kt/V is a nondimensional number and a scaling parameter that has, with arbitrary definitions, been recast as a measure of dialysis by Gotch and Lysaght. This editorial discusses the concept of nondimensional numbers within the context of dialysis measurement, modeling, and medical evidence. It concludes that Gotch’s Kt/V, Lysaght’s Kt/V, and standardized Kt/V are not well suited to measure dialysis. An ideal dialysis measure would be proportional to toxins cleared by the kidney, portable with regard to dialysis modality, practical (largely devoid of calculations) and reflective of the pathology/physiology