The Confounding Effects of Particle Size and Substrate Bulk Density on \u3cem\u3ePhanerochaete chrysosporium\u3c/em\u3e Pretreatment on \u3cem\u3ePanicum virgatum\u3c/em\u3e

Phanerochaete chrysosporium treatment is less effective as a biological pretreatment on feedstock with larger particle sizes. We hypothesized that the improved effectiveness of the pretreatment when smaller particle sizes are used may be due to the inherently higher bulk density with smaller particle sizes. The effects of substrate bulk density and particle size on the efficacy of P. chrysosporium pretreatment of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) was tested experimentally. Phanerochaete chrysosporium was grown on senesced switchgrass (2 different particle sizes) with various bulk densities. In all treatments, the fungal-pretreated samples released more glucose during enzymatic saccharification than the control sample. Substrate bulk density was a statistically significant factor in explaining the variation in the amount of glucose released per gram of substrate used. However, the particle size was not found to be a significant factor. On-farm switchgrass pretreatment may not require particle size reduction if the switchgrass is supplied in high-density bales

Stored Grain Volume MeasurementUsing a Low Density Point Cloud

Citation: Turner, A. P., Jackson, J. J., Koeninger, N. K., McNeill, S. G., Montross, M. D., Casada, M. E., . . . Thompson, S. A. (2017). STORED GRAIN VOLUME MEASUREMENT USING A LOW DENSITY POINT CLOUD. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 33(1), 105-112. doi:10.13031/aea.11870This technical note presents the development of a new apparatus and data processing method to accurately estimate the volume of stored grain in a bin. Specifically, it was developed to account for the variability in surface topography that can occur in large diameter bins when partially unloaded. This was accomplished using a laser distance meter to create a low density point cloud, from which a surface was interpolated using ArcMap geoprocessing tools. The manually controlled and portable system was designed to hold the laser distance meter and provided a common reference point. The data from the laser distance meter was transmitted to a tablet PC via Bluetooth. Measurement of an empty hopper bottom bin (4.6 m in diameter and 6.5 m tall) demonstrated that the system was able to measure a known volume within 0.02%, and repeated measures of an empty flat bottom bin (1.8 m in diameter, and 5.7 m tall) were within 0.29% of the known volume. Two applications are presented which highlight the system's ability to capture complex surfaces, as well as limitations that result from fill scenarios where the field of view was limited

Sex and the city: Differences in disease- and disability-free life years, and active community participation of elderly men and women in 7 cities in Latin America and the Caribbean

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The world's population is ageing, and four of the top 10 most rapidly ageing developing nations are from the region of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).</p> <p>Although an ageing population heralds likely increases in chronic disease, disability-related dependence, and economic burden, the societal contribution of the chronically ill or those with disability is not often measured.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We calculated country-specific prevalences of 'disability' (difficulty with at least one activity of daily living), 'disease' and 'co-morbidity' (presence of at least one, and at least two, of seven chronic diseases/conditions, respectively), and 'active community engagement' (using five levels of community participation, from less than weekly community contact to voluntary or paid work) in seven LAC cities. We estimated remaining life expectancy (LE) with and without disability, disease and co-morbidity, and investigated age, sex, and regional variations in disability-free LE. Finally, we modeled the association of disease, co-morbidity and disability with active community participation using an ordinal regression model, adjusted for depression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, 77% of the LAC elderly had at least one chronic disease/condition, 44% had co-morbidity and 19% had a disability. The proportion of disability-free LE declined between the youngest (60–64 years) and the eldest (90 years and over) age-groups for both men (from 85% to 55%) and women (from 75% to 45%). Disease-free and co-morbidity-free LE, however, remained at approximately 30% and 62%, respectively, for men (20% and 48% for women), until 80–84 years of age, then increased. Only Bridgetown's participants had statistically significantly longer disability-free LE than the regional average (IRR = 1.08; 95%CI 1.05–1.10; p < 0.001). Only Santiago's participants had disability-free LE which was shorter than the regional average (IRR = 0.94; 95%CI 0.92–0.97; p < 0.001). There was 75% active community participation overall, with more women than men involved in active help (49% vs 32%, respectively) and more men involved in voluntary/paid work (46% vs 25%, respectively). There was either no, or borderline significance in the association between having one or more diseases/conditions and active community engagement for both sexes. These associations were limited by depression (odds ratio [OR] reduced by 15–17% for men, and by 8–11% for women), and only remained statistically significant in men. However, disability remained statistically significantly associated with less community engagement after adjusting for depression (OR = 0.58, 95%CI 0.49–0.69, p < 0.001 for women and OR = 0.50, 95%CI 0.47–0.65, p < 0.001 for men).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is an increasing burden of disease and disability with older age across the LAC region. As these nations cope with resulting social and economic demands, governments and civic societies must continue to develop and maintain opportunities for community participation by this increasingly frail, but actively engaged group.</p

Glucose Recovery from Different Corn Stover Fractions Using Dilute Acid and Alkaline Pretreatment Techniques

Background: Limited availability of corn stover due to the competing uses (organic manure, animal feed, bio-materials, and bioenergy) presents a major concern for its future in the bio-economy. Furthermore, biomass research has exhibited different results due to the differences in the supply of enzymes and dissimilar analytical methods. The effect of the two leading pretreatment techniques (dilute acid and alkaline) on glucose yield from three corn stover fractions (cob, stalk, and leaf) sourced from a single harvest in Uganda were studied at temperatures 100, 120, 140, and 160 °C over reaction times of 5, 10, 30, and 60 min. Results: From this study, the highest glucose concentrations obtained from the dilute acid (DA) pretreated cobs, stalks, and leaves were 18.4 g/L (66.8% glucose yield), 16.2 g/L (64.1% glucose yield), and 11.0 g/L (49.5% glucose yield), respectively. The optimal pretreatment settings needed to obtain these yields from the DA pretreated samples were at a temperature of 160 °C over an incubation time of 30 min. The highest glucose concentrations obtained from the alkaline (AL) pretreated cobs, stalks, and leaves were 24.7 g/L (81.73% glucose yield), 21.3 g/L (81.23% glucose yield), and 15.0 g/L (51.92% glucose yield), respectively. To be able to achieve these yields, the optimal pretreatment settings for the cobs and stalks were 140 °C and for a retention time of 30 min, while the leaves require optimal conditions of 140 °C and for a retention time of 60 min. Conclusions: The study recommends that the leaves could be left on the field during harvesting since the recovery of glucose from the pretreated cobs and stalks is higher

High and low levels of an NTRK2-driven genetic profile affect motor- and cognition-associated frontal gray matter in prodromal Huntington’s disease

This study assessed how BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and other genes involved in its signaling influence brain structure and clinical functioning in pre-diagnosis Huntington’s disease (HD). Parallel independent component analysis (pICA), a multivariate method for identifying correlated patterns in multimodal datasets, was applied to gray matter concentration (GMC) and genomic data from a sizeable PREDICT-HD prodromal cohort (N = 715). pICA identified a genetic component highlighting NTRK2, which encodes BDNF’s TrkB receptor, that correlated with a GMC component including supplementary motor, precentral/premotor cortex, and other frontal areas (p < 0.001); this association appeared to be driven by participants with high or low levels of the genetic profile. The frontal GMC profile correlated with cognitive and motor variables (Trail Making Test A (p = 0.03); Stroop Color (p = 0.017); Stroop Interference (p = 0.04); Symbol Digit Modalities Test (p = 0.031); Total Motor Score (p = 0.01)). A top-weighted NTRK2 variant (rs2277193) was protectively associated with Trail Making Test B (p = 0.007); greater minor allele numbers were linked to a better performance. These results support the idea of a protective role of NTRK2 in prodromal HD, particularly in individuals with certain genotypes, and suggest that this gene may influence the preservation of frontal gray matter that is important for clinical functioning.This project was supported by 1U01NS082074 (V.C. and J.T., co-principal investigators) from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The PREDICT-HD study was supported by NIH/NINDS grant 5R01NS040068 awarded to J.P.; CHDI Foundation, Inc., A3917 and 6266 awarded to J.P.; Cognitive and Functional Brain Changes in Preclinical Huntington’s Disease (HD) 5R01NS054893 awarded to J.P.; 4D Shape Analysis for Modeling Spatiotemporal Change Trajectories in Huntington’s 1U01NS082086; Functional Connectivity in Premanifest Huntington’s Disease 1U01NS082083; and Basal Ganglia Shape Analysis and Circuitry in Huntington’s Disease 1U01NS082085 awarded to Christopher A. Ross

Plakophilin-3 Is Required for Late Embryonic Amphibian Development, Exhibiting Roles in Ectodermal and Neural Tissues

The p120-catenin family has undergone a significant expansion during the evolution of vertebrates, resulting in varied functions that have yet to be discerned or fully characterized. Likewise, members of the plakophilins, a related catenin subfamily, are found throughout the cell with little known about their functions outside the desmosomal plaque. While the plakophilin-3 (Pkp3) knockout mouse resulted in skin defects, we find larger, including lethal effects following its depletion in Xenopus. Pkp3, unlike some other characterized catenins in amphibians, does not have significant maternal deposits of mRNA. However, during embryogenesis, two Pkp3 protein products whose temporal expression is partially complimentary become expressed. Only the smaller of these products is found in adult Xenopus tissues, with an expression pattern exhibiting distinctions as well as overlaps with those observed in mammalian studies. We determined that Xenopus Pkp3 depletion causes a skin fragility phenotype in keeping with the mouse knockout, but more novel, Xenopus tailbud embryos are hyposensitive to touch even in embryos lacking outward discernable phenotypes, and we additionally resolved disruptions in certain peripheral neural structures, altered establishment and migration of neural crest, and defects in ectodermal multiciliated cells. The use of two distinct morpholinos, as well as rescue approaches, indicated the specificity of these effects. Our results point to the requirement of Pkp3 in amphibian embryogenesis, with functional roles in a number of tissue types

The Confounding Effects of Particle Size and Substrate Bulk Density on Phanerochaete chrysosporium Pretreatment of Panicum virgatum

Phanerochaete chrysosporium treatment is less effective as a biological pretreatment on feedstock with larger particle sizes. We hypothesized that the improved effectiveness of the pretreatment when smaller particle sizes are used may be due to the inherently higher bulk density with smaller particle sizes. The effects of substrate bulk density and particle size on the efficacy of P. chrysosporium pretreatment of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) was tested experimentally. Phanerochaete chrysosporium was grown on senesced switchgrass (2 different particle sizes) with various bulk densities. In all treatments, the fungal-pretreated samples released more glucose during enzymatic saccharification than the control sample. Substrate bulk density was a statistically significant factor in explaining the variation in the amount of glucose released per gram of substrate used. However, the particle size was not found to be a significant factor. On-farm switchgrass pretreatment may not require particle size reduction if the switchgrass is supplied in high-density bales