Decolouring bloodmeal: Consumption and potential recycling of peracetic acid

A method of deodorizing and decolouring bloodmeal using an equilibrium mixture of peracetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, acetic acid and water has been developed to improve its marketability as a source of protein for bioplastics. The objective of this study was to determine what quantity of peracetic acid is required to give reasonable bleaching of the bloodmeal and determine whether there is potential for the wastewater to be recycled. This was carried out by measuring the quantity of chemical species in the initial equilibrium mixture and the resulting wastewater upon bleaching using volumetric analysis. Bleaching efficacy was determined after exposing 100 g bloodmeal to 1.1, 2.5, 3.6, 4.5 and 5.6 wt% peracetic acid solutions as either 300 g total solution or a constant molar equivalent of 2.2 mmol peracetic acid/g bloodmeal and using a chromameter to measure colour change. Addition of 300 g 5.6 wt% peracetic acid solution resulted in effective bleaching. This represented a ratio of 2.20 mmol peracetic acid/g bloodmeal of which 1.4 mmol peracetic acid/g bloodmeal was consumed (63%). If 300 g 300 g of <2.5 wt% solution is added such that there is still 2.2 mmol peracetic acid/g bloodmeal, bleaching is still insufficient. These results suggest that an excess of peracetic is required for bleaching to occur, and that its concentration is paramount to bleaching efficacy. Due to the excess of peracetic acid used in the bleaching process, there is potential for wastewater recycling to be carried out provided that the wastewater is not diluted

Breeding sheep for worm resistance

Sheep production os one of Western Australia\u27s most important agricultural industries. However, it is faced with the serious threat of sheep worm populations becoming increasingly resistant to the available drenches. Although it\u27s not a \u27quick fix\u27 solution, part of the long term answer may be selection for sheep with greater resistance to worms

Temporal patterns of happiness and information in a global social network: Hedonometrics and Twitter

Individual happiness is a fundamental societal metric. Normally measured through self-report, happiness has often been indirectly characterized and overshadowed by more readily quantifiable economic indicators such as gross domestic product. Here, we examine expressions made on the online, global microblog and social networking service Twitter, uncovering and explaining temporal variations in happiness and information levels over timescales ranging from hours to years. Our data set comprises over 46 billion words contained in nearly 4.6 billion expressions posted over a 33 month span by over 63 million unique users. In measuring happiness, we use a real-time, remote-sensing, non-invasive, text-based approach---a kind of hedonometer. In building our metric, made available with this paper, we conducted a survey to obtain happiness evaluations of over 10,000 individual words, representing a tenfold size improvement over similar existing word sets. Rather than being ad hoc, our word list is chosen solely by frequency of usage and we show how a highly robust metric can be constructed and defended.Comment: 27 pages, 17 figures, 3 tables. Supplementary Information: 1 table, 52 figure

The prevalence and associations of radiographic diagnostic signs indicating possible pre-eruptive canine ectopia: The results of a mixed dentition radiographic survey

Maxillary canine ectopia is an anomaly of the mixed dentition which can and should be diagnosed early and treated interceptively wherever possible. Various radiographic markers have been associated with canine ectopia, and these are significant aids to a thorough clinical examination, in order to diagnose ectopia. A cross sectional study was carried out on a sample of 465 mixed dentition panoramic radiographs in order to establish the prevalence of maxillary canine ectopia according to a set of radiographic markers. The sample of radiographs included patients with dental ages between 10 and 12 years of age. 404 radiographs displayed signs of canine ectopia according to the markers studied. Non- resorption of the root of the primary canine was the most common marker (63%) found. This was followed by overlap in 25.2% of cases, whilst increased angulation of the developing canine was the least prevalent (4.7%). Non-resorption showed a statistically significant association with distal overlap and overlap over the pulp chamber. Increased angulation was significantly associated with non-resorption in all degrees of overlap. Unilateral increased size of the mandibular canine showed a significant association with cases displaying a mesial overlap (p= 0.027). Dental age is an important aspect of predicting canine ectopia. Non-resorption of the roots of the primary canine must be viewed with caution at the dental age of 10 years. Enlargement of the mandibular canine maybe viewed as a potential early warning sign for maxillary canine ectopia

Maternal Exercise Improves the Metabolic Health of Adult Offspring through Adaptations to Breastmilk

The presentation of this thesis earned third place in the Health Insights and Interventions category.Maternal exercise has been shown to improve metabolic health of adult offspring through improvements to glucose tolerance, increased insulin sensitivity, decreased adiposity and other physiological changes. Maternal exercise also negates the deleterious effects of a high fat diet in both male and female offspring. In a world with a growing diabetes and obesity epidemic, it is key to elucidate how these improvements are taking place to develop new therapies and standards of care for pregnant mothers. We hypothesized that maternal exercise alters the composition of breastmilk, which in turn leads to he observed improvements in metabolic health of offspring. To investigate the role of breastmilk, a cross-fostering experiment was performed. Offspring from high-fat fed sedentary dams were crossed with offspring from high-fat fed trained dams (housed in open-wheel cages two weeks prior to and during gestation), forty-eight hours after birth. Both male and female offspring from sedentary dams placed with exercised dams saw improved glucose tolerance, insulin tolerance, decreased adiposity, and reduced body weight through 52 weeks compared to the offspring from trained dams placed with sedentary dams, indicating that the milk from a trained mother plays a significant role in the metabolic improvements in the offspring. Milk samples were then collected from chow fed and high-fat fed, sedentary and exercise-trained dams 7 days after delivering pups and HPLC analysis was performed. The milk oligosaccharide 3’Siallylactose (3’SL) was significantly increased in the exercise-trained dams regardless of their diet, and significantly decreased in the high-fat fed dams. To determine the responsibility of 3’SL in the metabolic improvements in offspring, offspring from sedentary high-fat fed dams were supplemented with either 3’SL or a vehicle during the weaning period. Female 3’SL supplemented offspring had significantly improved glucose tolerance compared to the vehicle fed offspring. To determine if 3’SL was the exercise induced component of responsible for the metabolic health improvements in the offspring, 3’SL-/- mice were exercise-trained. Six-week old female mice were split into four groups: wild-type sedentary, wild-type trained, 3SL-/- trained, and 3SL-/- sedentary. Each exercise-trained mouse completed a treadmill training regimen of one hour at 6.0 m/min and 10% incline 5 days a week, starting two weeks prior to breeding and during gestation. Adult offspring from wild-type exercise-trained dams had improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity compared to adult offspring from sedentary dams. However, there was no difference in metabolic health in offspring from sedentary 3’SL-/- dams compared to exercise-trained 3’SL-/- mice. These exciting data indicate that 3’SL is indeed a key player in propagating the effect of maternal exercise to offspring. Translating these findings to humans could have vast effects to reduce the risk for development of type 2 diabetes.National Institutes of Health Grant K01-DK-105109 and R01-HL-138738 (to K.I.S.)No embargoAcademic Major: Biochemistr

Radiographic assessment of developing maxillary canine ectopia and its association with dental anomalies in the mixed dentition

Reciprocal associations have been found to exist between various dental anomalies.1-14 Maxillary canine ectopia may, however, occur in dentitions without any anomalies

The implications of K-Ar glauconite dating of the Diest Formation on the paleogeography of the Upper Miocene in Belgium

The glauconite-rich Diest Formation in central and north Belgium contains sands in the Campine subsurface and the hilly Hageland area that can be distinguished from each other. The Hageland Diest Sands member contains no stratigraphically relevant fossils while in the Campine subsurface dinoflagellate cysts are common and show a stratigraphic range covering the entire Tortonian stage. K-Ar dates were determined for glauconite from 13 selected samples spread over both areas. A glauconite date corresponding to the earliest Tortonian indicates newly formed glauconite was incorporated into a greensand at the base of the Diest Formation in the central Campine area. All other dates point at reworked glauconite and can be organized in two groups, one reflecting a Burdigalian age and another reflecting a Langhian age. These data and the thickness and glauconite content of the Diest Formation imply massive reworking of older Miocene deposits. The paleogeographic implications of these data lead to the tentative recognition of two Tortonian sedimentary sequences. An older one corresponding to dinoflagellate biochron DN8 comprises the Deurne Member, part of the Dessel Member, the Hageland Diest member, the eastern Campine Diest member and some basal sands of the Diest Formation in the central Campine. A younger sequence corresponding to dinoilagellate biochrons DN9 and 10 was strongly influenced by the prograding proto-Rhine delta front in the Roer Valley Graben to the northeast. The subsiding Campine basin was filled from east to west during this second cycle

Aminoglycoside-induced hearing loss: South Africans at risk

South Africa is currently experiencing a TB epidemic with an estimated incidence of 940/100 000 population/year, and the country has been ranked 4th among the 22 high-burden TB countries worldwide by the World Health Organization (WHO). A potentially devastating threat to TB control is the emergence of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and, more recently, extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), mainly as a result of poor drug adherence by TB patients and incorrect management or treatment regimens by health providers; however, direct transmission of drug-resistant strains also plays an important role. The MDR/XDR-TB strains necessitate prolonged chemotherapy for up to 2 years or more, and the use of more toxic second-line drugs including the aminoglycoside (streptomycin, kanamycin and amikacin) and polypeptide (capreomycin) antibiotics. In South Africa, in accordance with WHO guidelines, streptomycin is used for retreatment of TB while kanamycin, amikacin and capreomycin are used to treat MDR/XDR-TB