Constructing better piggery buildings by identifying factors contributing to improved thermal control under hot climatic conditions

External and internal air temperatures were measured continuously for one year (between January 1999 and December 1999) in 48 piggery buildings in South Australia using self contained data-loggers with built-in sensors. Data was consolidated to correspond with the four seasons. Regression values between the external and internal temperatures were calculated for individual buildings for each season. Data was also collected on major housing features, including configuration of the buildings and management factors employed in them. The information collected was then analysed to quantify the effects of housing and management factors on the resulting environmental control using a multi-factorial statistical model. The overall mean air temperatures in all buildings corresponding to the four seasons were; 24°C (summer), 20°C (autumn), 18°C (winter), 21°C (spring) across all buildings. The regression values between external and internal temperatures were affected by the season, type of insulation material used in the buildings, the availability of extra heating or cooling equipment, height of buildings, roof pitch (angle), type of ridge ventilation control employed, stocking density, age of buildings and number of pigs housed per building. The effects of housing and management factors on thermal control capacity of buildings were quantified. These findings should aid the construction of better designed livestock buildings resulting in improved welfare and production efficiency in piggery buildings

Microbial applications of Single Use bioreactor systems

This work describes the ongoing assessment of single use bioreactors (SUBs) and their suitability for culturing microbial expression systems. Microbial expression systems are responsible for significant revenues as part of the biotechnology industry, in fact, their projected value for 2016 is in excess of $250 billion [1]. This promotes further interest in the area, with novel expression systems and pathways constantly under construction for the generation of bulk and high value chemicals. The advantages offered by single use bioreactor technology has lead to increased adoption in many areas of bioprocessing [2], and microbial fermentation is no different. Applications include simple fermentation, but additionally areas such as whole cell bioconversions, which can further increase the challenges already presented to single use systems. Arguably the greatest of these challenges is providing sufficient oxygen mass transfer [3], not only to support the culturing of microbial expression systems, but also for use as a substrate during processing with whole cell oxidative bioconversions. In order to facilitate the processing of microbial whole cell oxidative bioconversions in single use bioreactor technology, a whole cell P450 bioconversion was optimized at small scale using multifactorial statistical methods and characterized in a traditional bench top stirred tank bioreactor (STR). Characterisation of this elevated oxygen requirement, as a result of growth and the bioconversion forms the basis for understanding the demands that will be placed on SUBs. The process of characterizing the oxygen mass transfer capabilities of a range of SUB systems is also underway. This is being done using static and dynamic methods, but also by modeling the influence of a range of key process factors. This characterisation is being carried out in bag type systems, as well as in more rigid technologies, which more closely resemble traditional STRs such as the Ambr250

Local Music in Cultural Heritage Institutions: Research from the Sounds of Home Projec

Local music collections inform national histories, represent the musical diversity of our communities, and provide evidence of musical and social developments. This presentation discusses efforts to connect local music collections beyond the walls of the library – through outreach, marketing, research, and online platforms - and invites consideration of their significance to regional, national and international audiences. Sean Luyk (University of Alberta) provides an overview of current research from the Sounds of Home local music research project, including a summary and analysis of the findings of an online questionnaire distributed in 2018, initial findings from interviews conducted with local music collectors, and current experimentation with geovisualization methods to map local music collections (this portion of the presentation completed by Carolyn Doi and Sara Rutley, University of Saskatchewan)

Evaluation of Single-Use Bioreactors for Rapid Development of Industrial Fermentation Processes

Microbial fermentation and whole cell biocatalysis have long been used in an industrial context for the generation of commercially valuable biomolecules. There is significant further potential if they can be made as economically attractive as competing chemical process routes. Improvements in genetic engineering techniques such as those pioneered in the area of synthetic biology, have provided access to novel products including therapeutic proteins and enzymes. In order to capitalise on these advances, there remains a requirement for rapid bioprocess development and scale up. Here, single use bioreactors are of interest due to the advantages over traditional stainless steel technologies. These include reduced need for validation and turnaround times, a reduction in capital expenditure and increased facility flexibility. To date, however, they have not been thoroughly investigated for use with microbial expression systems. The aim of this thesis is to; (i) evaluate the oxygen transfer capabilities of different single-use bioreactors with a view to determining suitability for microbial fermentation, and (ii) to define appropriate scale-up bases from high throughput microwell to laboratory and pilot scale bioreactors. Initial work focused on the characterisation, optimisation and scale-up of a whole cell P450 monooxygenase bioconversion in Escherichia coli. Three rounds of optimisation using a Design of Experiments (DoE) methodology resulted in a 3.3 fold increase in the bioconversion of 7-ethoxycoumarin to 7-hydroxycoumarin. Results from the 96 deep square well (DSW) plates were then scaled-up to a traditional, pilot scale stirred tank bioreactor, increasing titres 25 times over a 3000-fold scale increase. Peak oxygen demands of 25.8 mmolL-1min-1 were shown, with clear differences in oxygen consumption as a result of feeding and bioconversion during fermentation. The inability of microwell systems to support high biomass concentrations and oxidative bioconversion was also demonstrated. In addition, these studies helped provide fundamental insights into the mechanism for oxygen utilisation during microbial whole cell bioconversions. Prioritisation of oxygen utilisation for biomass accumulation over supplementary cellular activities such as bioconversion was seen in all cases. In some cases, oxygen demand as a result of growth was approximately 4 times greater than other contributions. This had previously been hypothesised in literature but not demonstrated. In order to better characterise oxygen mass transfer in microwell plate geometries, an improved method for quantification of the volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient (kLa) and oxygen uptake rate (OUR), based on the dynamic gassing out method, was subsequently developed. This method determines oxygen mass transfer parameters (kLa and OUR) during a fermentation to provide more representative values for OUR. Models for OUR and kLa were built in 24 DSW plates with maximum values of over 600 mgO2L-1h-1 and 103.5 h-1 respectively. The established models enable equivalent operating conditions for the different plate geometries to be determined. The applicability of two commercially available single use bioreactors (the Ambr®250 and the XDR-10) for microbial fermentation was evaluated, using a traditional pilot scale STR for comparison. This included building models which consider a number of factors likely to influence oxygen mass transfer simultaneously, as opposed to the empirical correlations which have been developed traditionally. The Ambr®250 was demonstrated as having similar oxygen mass transfer capability to the STR across the majority of the experimental ranges, reaching maximum kLa values of > 600 h-1. Analysis of a large number of industrial microbial fermentations (approximately 300) demonstrated that the Ambr®250 is capable of supporting microbial fermentation and bioconversion (or recombinant protein expression) in each, where the XDR-10 would not be suitable. After demonstrating the applicability of the Ambr®250 system for industrial microbial fermentation, a modelling tool was developed in the Python programming language capable of evaluating the cost and resource requirements of an Ambr®250 bioprocess development run. Preliminary sensitivity analysis highlights labour as the main influence on cost, followed by the replacement of single use bioreactors, each responsible for more than one third of the total run cost. Overall this work has established original, quantitative insights into oxygen utilisation in microbial expression systems and established engineering criteria for the selection and use of single-use bioreactor technologies for microbial cultivation. The methodologies developed here are considered generic and applicable to other expression systems with high specific oxygen demands such as yeast and heterotrophically cultured microalgae

Seroprevalence and potential risk factors associated with neospora spp. Infection among asymptomatic horses in Jordan

This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence and to identify risk factors associated with Neospora spp. infection in horses in Jordan. Management related data were collected from each farm and individual horses. Sera from 227 horses from 5 of 6 climatic regions in Jordan were analyzed for the presence of antibodies to Neospora spp. by ELISA kit. The study was performed during spring of 2010. The association between seropositivity and risk factors was analyzed. A total of 7 (3%) of 227 sera had antibodies for Neospora spp. There was a significant regional difference (P=0.018) between the 5 climatic regions. Positive cases were located in Amman and Irbid, while the other regions (Zarqa, Jordan Valley, and Wadi Mousa) had zero prevalence. The use of anthelmintics at least once a year resulted in a significant reduction of the seroprevalence to Neospora spp. (1.6% vs 9.8%). However, this might be a phenomenon by chance and a better hygiene since owners can invest in anthelmintics. Other risk factors such as age, gender, breed, usage, body condition score, grazing, presence of other animals mixed with the horses in the same property, and a history of previous diseases were not significantly associated with the seroprevalence to Neospora spp. infection. This is the first study to report on the presence of Neospora seropositive horses in Jordan. Further studies are warranted to better understand the role of certain risk factors in the transmission of Neospora spp. among horse population and to determine which Neospora spp. are responsible for the infection.Abdelsalam Q. Talafha, Sameeh M. Abutarbush, David L. Rutle

Characterization of novel pollen-expressed transcripts reveals their potential roles in pollen heat stress response in Arabidopsis thaliana

Key message: Arabidopsis pollen transcriptome analysis revealed new intergenic transcripts of unknown function, many of which are long non-coding RNAs, that may function in pollen-specific processes, including the heat stress response. Abstract: The male gametophyte is the most heat sensitive of all plant tissues. In recent years, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as important components of cellular regulatory networks involved in most biological processes, including response to stress. While examining RNAseq datasets of developing and germinating Arabidopsis thaliana pollen exposed to heat stress (HS), we identified 66 novel and 246 recently annotated intergenic expressed loci (XLOCs) of unknown function, with the majority encoding lncRNAs. Comparison with HS in cauline leaves and other RNAseq experiments indicated that 74% of the 312 XLOCs are pollen-specific, and at least 42% are HS-responsive. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 96% of the genes evolved recently in Brassicaceae. We found that 50 genes are putative targets of microRNAs and that 30% of the XLOCs contain small open reading frames (ORFs) with homology to protein sequences. Finally, RNAseq of ribosome-protected RNA fragments together with predictions of periodic footprint of the ribosome P-sites indicated that 23 of these ORFs are likely to be translated. Our findings indicate that many of the 312 unknown genes might be functional and play a significant role in pollen biology, including the HS response

Evaluating the effects of bilingual traffic signs on driver performance and safety

Variable Message Signs (VMS) can provide immediate and relevant information to road users and bilingual VMS can provide great flexibility in countries where a significant proportion of the population speak an alternative language to the majority. The study reported here evaluates the effect of various bilingual VMS configurations on driver behaviour and safety. The aim of the study was to determine whether or not the visual distraction associated with bilingual VMS signs of different configurations (length, complexity) impacted on driving performance. A driving simulator was used to allow full control over the scenarios, road environment and sign configuration and both longitudinal and lateral driver performance was assessed. Drivers were able to read one and two-line monolingual signs and two-line bilingual signs without disruption to their driving behaviour. However, drivers significantly reduced their speed in order to read four-line monolingual and four-line bilingual signs, accompanied by an increase in headway to the vehicle in front. This implies that drivers are possibly reading the irrelevant text on the bilingual sign and various methods for reducing this effect are discussed

Development of Training Programs to Optimize Planetary Ambulation

Astronauts experience disturbances in functional mobility following their return to Earth due to adaptive responses that occur during exposure to the microgravity conditions of space flight. Despite significant time spent performing in-flight exercise routines, these training programs have not been able to mitigate postflight alterations in postural and locomotor function. Therefore, the goal of our two inter-related projects (NSBRI-ground based and ISS flight study, "Mobility") is to develop and test gait training programs that will serve to optimize functional mobility during the adaptation period immediately following space flight, thereby improving the safety and efficiency of planetary ambulation. The gait training program entails manipulating the sensory conditions of treadmill exercise to systematically challenge the balance and gait control system. This enhances the overall adaptability of locomotor function enabling rapid reorganization of gait control to respond to ambulation in different gravitational environments. To develop the training program, we are conducting a series of ground-based studies evaluating the training efficacy associated with variation in visual flow, body loading, and support surface stability during treadmill walking. We will also determine the optimal method to present training stimuli within and across training sessions to maximize both the efficacy and efficiency of the training procedure. Results indicate that variations in both visual flow and body unloading during treadmill walking leads to modification in locomotor control and can be used as effective training modalities. Additionally, the composition and timing of sensory challenges experienced during each training session has significant impact on the ability to rapidly reorganize locomotor function when exposed to a novel sensory environment. We have developed the capability of producing support surface variation during gait training by mounting a treadmill on a six-degree-of-freedom motion device. This hardware development will allow us to evaluate the efficacy of this type of training in conjunction with variation in visual flow and body unloading