Fungal growth on coffee husks and spent ground under solidstatecultivation conditions

The processing of coffee generates significant amounts of agricultural wastes. Coffee husks, comprised of dry outer skin, pulp and parchment, are probably the major residues from the handling and processing of coffee (1). Coffee spent ground is the main coffee industry residue obtained during the processing of raw coffee powder to prepare instant coffee. Coffee husks and spent ground are generated in more than two millions tons yearly (2), and the major problem encountered by the industries is the disposal of these residues, since they contain some amount of caffeine, polyphenols and tannins, which makes them toxic in nature (3). Filamentous fungi are microorganisms able to growth over complex substrates behind minimal conditions, and play an important role in the generation of natural compounds with high commercial interest. Therefore, the aim of the present work was to evaluate the ability of some fungal strains to growth on coffee husks (basically the parchment skin the hull that surrounds the coffee bean), and spent grounds, as an alternative to add value to these toxic residues. Strains from the genus Aspergillus, Penicillium, Mucor and Neurospora were used. Microbial growth was carried out in Petri plates containing 30% of coffee husks or spent ground and 70% of CzapekDox saline media, pH 5.0. The plates were inoculated with a suspension containing 5´106 spores/g dry residue, and maintained at 28ºC for 5 days. The spore suspension was prepared by scrap down the spores from PDA plates with a sterilized solution of 0.2% Tween 80, and counted in a Neubauer chamber. Cultivations were done in duplicate to each fungal in each different substrate. Radial growth rate (Ur, mm/h) was monitored kinetically measuring colony diameters every 12h. All the evaluated fungal strains showed mycelium presence over both residues. For almost all the strains, the invasion capacity was higher in coffee spent ground than in coffee husks. Highest growth rates were obtained with Neurospora crassa, with values of 0.99 and 0.76 mm/h for spent ground and husks, respectively. It was thus concluded that coffee husks and spent grounds can be successfully used as substrate for fungal strains growth. Among the evaluated strains Neurospora crassa gave the best results and could be thus evaluated in solidstate fermentation processes for the obtainment of compounds with commercial interest from these two agroindustrial residues

Solid-state fermentation: a strategy for biological detoxification of coffee industry residues

Coffee is the second largest traded commodity in the world, after petroleum, and therefore, the coffee industry is responsible for the generation of large amount of residues. Among these residues, coffee silverskin (CS) and spent coffee grounds (SCG) are generated in significant amounts and merit special attention. Despite the large generation, most of these residues are unutilized, being discharged to the environment or burned for elimination, which are not environmentally friendly techniques. The discharge to the environment cause severe contamination and environmental pollution problems due to their toxic nature (presence of polyphenols, caffeine, and tannins), and burning results in the production of carbon dioxide, the green house gas. If the toxic constituents present in these materials could be removed, or, at least degraded to a reasonably low level, it would open new opportunities for the utilization of these residues. Therefore, the development of methods to decrease their toxicity or to utilize them as raw material for the production of value added compounds is of great relevance. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) can be defined as the growth of microorganisms on moistened solid substrate, in which enough moisture is present to maintain microbial growth and metabolism, but there is no free-moving water. In recent years, SSF has received more interest from researchers since several studies have demonstrated that this process may lead to higher yields and productivities or better product characteristics than submerged fermentation systems. Based on the above mentioned aspects, the present study consisted in evaluating the ability of seven different fungal strains from the genus Aspergillus, Mucor, Penicillium, and Neurospora, to grow and release phenolic compounds from CS and SCG under solid-state cultivation conditions, as an alternative for biological detoxification of these residues. The biomass production and content of phenolic compounds released from the substrates were monitored during the cultivations. According to the results, Penicillium purpurogenum, Neurospora crassa and Mucor released the highest amount of phenolic compounds from the materials, contributing thus for their detoxification, since phenolic compounds are closely related to the material toxicity. Biological detoxification of CS and SCG provides environmental benefits for the disposal of these residues, as well as economical benefits for the conversion of them to value added products that can be industrially applied

Valorization of sugarcane bagasse ash: Producing glass-ceramic materials

Some aluminosilicates, for example mullite and wollastonite, are very important in the ceramic and construction industries. The most significant glass-ceramic for building applications has wollastonite as the main crystal phase. In this work we report on the use of sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) to produce glass-ceramics with silicates as the major crystalline phases. The glasses (frits) were prepared by mixing ash, limestone (calcium and magnesium carbonates) and potassium carbonate as the fluxing agent. X-ray fluorescence was used to determine the chemical composition of the glasses and their crystallization was assessed by using thermal analysis (DTA/DSC/TGA) and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that glass-ceramic material can be produced with wollastonite as the major phase, at a temperature lower than 900 °C.We are grateful to PROPE/UNESP/SANTANDER for the post-doctoral scholarship awarded to Dr. Teixeira, to FAPESP (2008/04368-4) for financial support of this project and also to FUNDUNESP for financial aid.Peer reviewe

μ−e\mu-e conversion in nuclei within the CMSSM seesaw: universality versus non-universality

In this paper we study $\mu-e$ conversion in nuclei within the context of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, enlarged by three right handed neutrinos and their supersymmetric partners, and where the neutrino masses are generated via a seesaw mechanism. Two different scenarios with either universal or non-universal soft supersymmetry breaking Higgs masses at the gauge coupling unification scale are considered. In the first part we present a complete one-loop computation of the conversion rate for this process that includes the photon-, $Z$-boson, and Higgs-boson penguins, as well as box diagrams, and compare their size in the two considered scenarios. Then, in these two scenarios we analyse the relevance of the various parameters on the conversion rates, particularly emphasising the role played by the heavy neutrino masses, $\tan \beta$, and especially $\theta_{13}$. In the case of hierachical heavy neutrinos, an extremely high sensitivity of the rates to $\theta_{13}$ is indeed found. The last part of this work is devoted to the study of the interesting loss of correlation between the $\mu-e$ conversion and $\mu \to e \gamma$ rates that occurs in the non-universal scenario. In the case of large $\tan \beta$ and light $H^0$ Higgs boson an enhanced ratio of the $\mu-e$ to $\mu \to e \gamma$ rates, with respect to the universal case is found, and this could be tested with the future experimental sensitivities.Comment: 48 pages, 15 figures. Minor typos corrected and some references adde

An integrated view on monitoring and compensation for dynamic optical networks: from management to physical layer

A vertical perspective, ranging from management and routing to physical layer options, concerning dynamic network monitoring and compensation of impairments (M&C), is given. Feasibility, reliability, and performance improvements on reconfigurable transparent networks are expected to arise from the consolidated assessment of network management and control specifications, as a more accurate evaluation of available M&C techniques. In the network layer, physical parameters aware algorithms are foreseen to pursue reliable network performance. In the physical layer, some new M&C methods were developed and rating of the state-of-the-art reported in literature is given. Optical monitoring implementation and viability is discussed.Publicad

BMP2/BMP4 colorectal cancer susceptibility loci in northern and southern european populations

Genome-wide association studies have successfully identified 20 colorectal cancer susceptibility loci. Amongst these, four of the signals are defined by tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on regions 14q22.2 (rs4444235 and rs1957636) and 20p12.3 (rs961253 and rs4813802). These markers are located close to two of the genes involved in bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling (BMP4 and BMP2, respectively). By investigating these four SNPs in an initial cohort of Spanish origin, we found substantial evidence that minor allele frequencies (MAFs) may be different in northern and southern European populations. Therefore, we genotyped three additional southern European cohorts comprising a total of 2028 cases and 4273 controls. The meta-analysis results show that only one of the association signals (rs961253) is effectively replicated in the southern European populations, despite adequate power to detect all four. The other three SNPs (rs4444235, rs1957636 and rs4813802) presented discordant results in MAFs and linkage disequilibrium patterns between northern and southern European cohorts. We hypothesize that this lack of replication could be the result of differential tagging of the functional variant in both sets of populations. Were this true, it would have complex consequences in both our ability to understand the nature of the real causative variants, as well as for further study designs

Natural history of progression of HPV infection to cervical lesion or clearance: analysis of the control arm of the large, randomised PATRICIA study

Background: The control arm of PATRICIA (PApillomaTRIal against Cancer In young Adults, NCT00122681) was used to investigate the risk of progression from cervical HPV infection to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or clearance of infection, and associated determinants. Methods and Findings: Women aged 15-25 years were enrolled. A 6-month persistent HPV infection (6MPI) was defined as detection of the same HPV type at two consecutive evaluations over 6 months and clearance as ≥2 type-specific HPV negative samples taken at two consecutive intervals of approximately 6 months following a positive sample. The primary endpoint was CIN grade 2 or greater (CIN2+) associated with the same HPV type as a 6MPI. Secondary endpoints were CIN1+/CIN3+ associated with the same HPV type as a 6MPI; CIN1+/CIN2+/CIN3+ associated with an infection of any duration; and clearance of infection. The analyses included 4825 women with 16,785 infections (3363 womenwith 6902 6MPIs). Risk of developing a CIN1+/CIN2+/CIN3+ associated with same HPV type as a 6MPI varied with HPV type and was significantly higher for oncogenic versus non-oncogenic types. Hazard ratios for development of CIN2+ were 10.44 (95% CI: 6.96-15.65), 9.65 (5.97-15.60), 5.68 (3.50-9.21), 5.38 (2.87-10.06) and 3.87 (2.38-6.30) for HPV-16, HPV-33, HPV-31, HPV-45 and HPV-18, respectively. HPV-16 or HPV-33 6MPIs had ~25-fold higher risk for progression to CIN3+. Previous or concomitant HPV infection or CIN1+ associated with a different HPV type increased risk. Of the different oncogenic HPV types, HPV-16 and HPV-31 infections were least likely to clear. Conclusions: Cervical infections with oncogenic HPV types increased the risk of CIN2+ and CIN3+. Previous or concomitant infection or CIN1+ also increased the risk. HPV-16 and HPV-33 have by far the highest risk of progression to CIN3+, and HPV-16 and HPV-31 have the lowest chance of clearance

Toxic but Drank: Gustatory Aversive Compounds Induce Post-ingestional Malaise in Harnessed Honeybees

BACKGROUND: Deterrent substances produced by plants are relevant due to their potential toxicity. The fact that most of these substances have an unpalatable taste for humans and other mammals contrasts with the fact that honeybees do not reject them in the range of concentrations in which these compounds are present in flower nectars. Here we asked whether honeybees detect and ingest deterrent substances and whether these substances are really toxic to them. RESULTS: We show that pairing aversive substances with an odor retards learning of this odor when it is subsequently paired with sucrose. Harnessed honeybees in the laboratory ingest without reluctance a considerable volume (20 µl) of various aversive substances, even if some of them induce significant post-ingestional mortality. These substances do not seem, therefore, to be unpalatable to harnessed bees but induce a malaise-like state that in some cases results in death. Consistently with this finding, bees learning that one odor is associated with sugar, and experiencing in a subsequent phase that the sugar was paired with 20 µl of an aversive substance (devaluation phase), respond less than control bees to the odor and the sugar. Such stimulus devaluation can be accounted for by the malaise-like state induced by the aversive substances. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that substances that taste bitter to humans as well as concentrated saline solutions base their aversive effect on the physiological consequences that their ingestion generates in harnessed bees rather than on an unpalatable taste. This conclusion is only valid for harnessed bees in the laboratory as freely-moving bees might react differently to aversive compounds could actively reject aversive substances. Our results open a new possibility to study conditioned taste aversion based on post-ingestional malaise and thus broaden the spectrum of aversive learning protocols available in honeybees

The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010: Interpretation and Implications for the Neglected Tropical Diseases

This article analyzes the "Global Burden of Disease Study 2010" and examines the study's implications for neglected tropical diseases

Poor Regenerative Outcome after Skeletal Muscle Necrosis Induced by Bothrops asper Venom: Alterations in Microvasculature and Nerves

artículo (arbitrado) -- Universidad de Costa Rica, Instituto de Investigaciones Clodomiro Picado. 2011Background: Viperid snakebite envenoming is characterized by prominent local tissue damage, including muscle necrosis. A frequent outcome of such local pathology is deficient skeletal muscle regeneration, which causes muscle dysfunction, muscle loss and fibrosis, thus provoking permanent sequelae that greatly affect the quality of life of patients. The causes of such poor regenerative outcome of skeletal muscle after viperid snakebites are not fully understood. Methodology/Principal Findings: A murine model of muscle necrosis and regeneration was adapted to study the effects of the venom and isolated toxins of Bothrops asper, the medically most important snake in Central America. Gastrocnemius muscle was injected with either B. asper venom, a myotoxic phospholipase A2 (Mtx), a hemorrhagic metalloproteinase (SVMP), or saline solution. At various time intervals, during one month, tissue samples were collected and analyzed by histology, and by immunocytochemical and immunohistochemical techniques aimed at detecting muscle fibers, collagen, endothelial cells, myoblasts, myotubes, macrophages, TUNEL-positive nuclei, and axons. A successful regenerative response was observed in muscle injected with Mtx, which induces myonecrosis but does not affect the microvasculature. In contrast, poor regeneration, with fibrosis and atrophic fibers, occurred when muscle was injected with venom or SVMP, both of which provoke necrosis, microvascular damage leading to hemorrhage, and poor axonal regeneration. Conclusions/Significance: The deficient skeletal muscle regeneration after injection of B. asper venom is likely to depend on the widespread damage to the microvasculature, which affects the removal of necrotic debris by phagocytes, and the provision of nutrients and oxygen required for regeneration. In addition, deficient axonal regeneration is likely to contribute to the poor regenerative outcome in this model.This study was supported by NeTropica (grant 2-N-2008), by Vicerrectoría de Investigación, Universidad de Costa Rica (project 741-A7-604). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP