Energy Cane Usage for Cellulosic Ethanol: Estimation of Feedstock Costs

Cellulosic Ethanol, Energy Cane, Sugarcane, Farm Management, Production Economics,

A Comparison of Pricing Strategies for Cellulosic Ethanol Processors: A Simulation Approach

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Breaking into the Cellulosic Ethanol Market: Capacity and Storage Strategies

This paper examines the possibilities of breaking into the cellulosic ethanol market in south Louisiana via strategic feedstock choices and the leveraging of the area’s competitive advantages. A small plant strategy is devised whereby the first-mover problem might be solved, and several scenarios are tested using Net Present Value analysis.cellulosic ethanol, sugarcane, energy cane, sweet sorghum, bagasse, ethanol, biofuel, bioethanol, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The Economics of Processing Ethanol at Sugarmills: A Simulation Approach

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Determining the Optimal Location for Collocating a Louisiana Sugar Mill and a New Cellulosic Ethanol Plant

This paper examines the possibility of collocating a cellulosic ethanol processing plant with certain Louisiana sugar mills, chosen based on their strategic locations and cane grinding capacity. The prospective plants are compared based on transportation costs and overall economic performance.cellulosic ethanol, advanced biofuels, sugarcane, energy cane, bioenergy, Agribusiness, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, q16, q42,

Comparative genomics of Shiga toxin encoding bacteriophages

Background Stx bacteriophages are responsible for driving the dissemination of Stx toxin genes (stx) across their bacterial host range. Lysogens carrying Stx phages can cause severe, lifethreatening disease and Stx toxin is an integral virulence factor. The Stx-bacteriophage vB_EcoP-24B, commonly referred to as 24B, is capable of multiply infecting a single bacterial host cell at a high frequency, with secondary infection increasing the rate at which subsequent bacteriophage infections can occur. This is biologically unusual, therefore determining the genomic content and context of 24B compared to other lambdoid Stx phages is important to understanding the factors controlling this phenomenon and determining whether they occur in other Stx phages. Results The genome of the Stx2 encoding phage, 24B was sequenced and annotated. The genomic organisation and general features are similar to other sequenced Stx bacteriophages induced from Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), however 24B possesses significant regions of heterogeneity, with implications for phage biology and behaviour. The 24B genome was compared to other sequenced Stx phages and the archetypal lambdoid phage, lambda, using the Circos genome comparison tool and a PCR-based multi-loci comparison system. Conclusions The data support the hypothesis that Stx phages are mosaic, and recombination events between the host, phages and their remnants within the same infected bacterial cell will continue to drive the evolution of Stx phage variants and the subsequent dissemination of shigatoxigenic potentia

Cavity-enhanced absorption using an atomic line source: application to deep-UV measurements

Optical cavities are commonly used to increase the sensitivity of absorption measurements, but have not been extensively used below 300 nm, mainly owing to the limited light sources at these wavelengths. While some progress has been made using cavity ring-down spectroscopy, these systems rely on complex and expensive lasers. Here we investigate an approach combining Cavity-Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy (CEAS) with an inexpensive low vapour pressure mercury lamp for sensitive absorption measurements at 253.7 nm. We demonstrate that the CEAS absorption in our system is 50 times greater than the absorption found in a single-pass configuration; using this approach, we obtained limits of detection of 8.1 pptv (66 ng m(-3)) for gaseous elemental mercury and 8.4 ppbv for ozone. We evaluate the performance of the system and discuss potential improvements and applications of this approach

Advanced Biofuel Production in Louisiana Sugar Mills: an Application of Real Options Analysis

In order to more fully study the risks and uncertainty involved in cellulosic ethanol production, we examine a simulated plant in South Louisiana using Real Options Analysisreal options, risk, uncertainty, cellulosic ethanol, energy cane, sorghum, bagasse, simulation, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, q42, q14, q16, d81, g31,

Characterization of Pro-Inflammatory Flagellin Proteins Produced by Lactobacillus ruminis and Related Motile Lactobacilli

peer-reviewedLactobacillus ruminis is one of at least twelve motile but poorly characterized species found in the genus Lactobacillus. Of these, only L. ruminis has been isolated from mammals, and this species may be considered as an autochthonous member of the gastrointestinal microbiota of humans, pigs and cows. Nine L. ruminis strains were investigated here to elucidate the biochemistry and genetics of Lactobacillus motility. Six strains isolated from humans were non-motile while three bovine isolates were motile. A complete set of flagellum biogenesis genes was annotated in the sequenced genomes of two strains, ATCC25644 (human isolate) and ATCC27782 (bovine isolate), but only the latter strain produced flagella. Comparison of the L. ruminis and L. mali DSM20444T motility loci showed that their genetic content and gene-order were broadly similar, although the L. mali motility locus was interrupted by an 11.8 Kb region encoding rhamnose utilization genes that is absent from the L. ruminis motility locus. Phylogenetic analysis of 39 motile bacteria indicated that Lactobacillus motility genes were most closely related to those of motile carnobacteria and enterococci. Transcriptome analysis revealed that motility genes were transcribed at a significantly higher level in motile L. ruminis ATCC27782 than in non-motile ATCC25644. Flagellin proteins were isolated from L. ruminis ATCC27782 and from three other Lactobacillus species, while recombinant flagellin of aflagellate L. ruminis ATCC25644 was expressed and purified from E. coli. These native and recombinant Lactobacillus flagellins, and also flagellate L. ruminis cells, triggered interleukin-8 production in cultured human intestinal epithelial cells in a manner suppressed by short interfering RNA directed against Toll-Like Receptor 5. This study provides genetic, transcriptomic, phylogenetic and immunological insights into the trait of flagellum-mediated motility in the lactobacilli.This work was supported by a Principal Investigator Award (07/IN.1/B1780) from Science Foundation Ireland to PWOT. BAN was the recipient of an Embark studentship from the Irish Research Council for Science Engineering and Technology. TD and KN were supported by the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, funded by Science Foundation Ireland

Urban football narratives and the colonial process in Lourenço Marques

Support for Portuguese football teams, in Mozambique as well as in other former Portuguese colonies, could be interpreted either as a sign of the importance of a cultural colonial heritage in Africa or as a symbol of a perverse and neo-colonial acculturation. This article, focused on Maputo, the capital of Mozambique – formerly called Lourenc¸o Marques – argues that in order to understand contemporary social bonds, it is crucial to research the connection between the colonial process of urbanisation and the rise of urban popular cultures. Despite the existence of social discrimination in colonial Lourenc¸o Marques, deeply present in the spatial organisation of a city divided between a ‘concrete’ centre and the immense periphery, the consumption of football, as part of an emergent popular culture, crossed segregation lines. I argue that football narratives, locally appropriated, became the basis of daily social rituals and encounters, an element of urban sociability and the content of increasingly larger social networks. Therefore, the fact that a Portuguese narrative emerged as the dominant form of popular culture is deeply connected to the growth of an urban community