Drying Kinetics of Macroalgae as a Function of Drying Gas Velocity and Material Bulk Density, Including Shrinkage

Macroalgae have many potential applications and can make important contributions to sustainability and circular economy objectives. Macroalgae are degradable high-moisture biomaterials and drying is a necessary step, but drying is an energy and capital-intensive part of their production process. This study presents convective drying curves for commercially promising fresh and saltwater species (U. ohnoi and O. intermedium), obtained over a range of industry-relevant drying gas velocities (0.3–2 m/s) and material bulk densities (33–100 kg/m3). Pragmatic diffusion-based drying models that account for the influence of drying gas velocity, material bulk density, and material shrinkage are presented. Results provide critical insights into the validity of diffusion model assumptions for compressible biomaterials and new mechanisms describing gas penetration into such materials are proposed. The drying models provided in this work demonstrate a high degree of accuracy for both species

Senior Recital: Craig Sheehan, Euphonium

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Music Education. Mr. Sheehan studies euphonium with Jason Casanova.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/2280/thumbnail.jp

Equilibrium moisture and drying kinetics modelling of macroalgae species Ulva ohnoi and Oedogonium intermedium

Algae-based products have applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries, bioremediation of waste streams and biofuel production. Drying has been recognised to constitute the largest energy cost in algae processing, yet there is limited data or modelling characterising the drying kinetics of macroalgae. This research modelled the equilibrium moisture content of two macroalgae species, Ulva ohnoi, a saltwater alga and Oedogonium intermedium, a freshwater alga. The Guggenheim–Anderson–de Boer model was found to best represent experimental equilibrium moisture contents. Drying rate curves obtained under both convective and radiative conditions were fitted to an analytical solution of Fick’s second law, including the modelled equilibrium moisture values. Effective diffusivity values for the two species are presented

A packaged mindset:How elongated packages induce healthy mindsets

Product packaging is an important instrument for marketers to draw consumer attention to specific product information and influence product perceptions. The purpose of this research is to investigate whether exposure to a product's packaging can also activate specific mindsets that, once activated, alter consumers' food perceptions. The results of three experiments demonstrate that elongated containers activate a health mindset that influences both consumers' perception of the packaged food product but also their health perceptions of subsequently encountered food. Specifically, foods in elongated containers lead consumers to think of concepts related to healthiness, which have differentiable effects on subsequent healthy and unhealthy food products

Risk and Protective Factors associated with Bullying among Vermont Students

Background: Recent research has linked depressive episodes and behavior to bullying victimization, adding to a decade of research associating bullying victimization with multiple risk and protective factors. Objective: We aimed to determine how risk and protective factors differ among Vermont high school students who are bullied electronically as compared to in-person. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional analysis and applied descriptive and logistic regression on the 2015 Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n=20,013). Results: We found that students who reported depression, suicide attempts, or physical fighting were more likely to report both in-person and electronic bullying victimization, compared to those who only reported one form of bullying or those who did not report bullying at all. Additionally, students who were bullied and reported feeling disengaged within their community were less likely to report depression, suicide attempts, and physical violence than students who reported community engagement. Conclusions: Students who experienced both in-person and electronic bullying were associated with higher levels of depression, suicide attempts, and physical violence. While students who were disengaged within their community reported higher levels of bullying. Other risk factors that may have contributed to this association should be explored further. The relationship between the risk and protective factors associated with bullying and community engagement have important implications for public health in Vermont

Status Review for Anadromous Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) in the United States

https://digitalmaine.com/commerce_feddocs/1003/thumbnail.jp

Analysis of epigenetic changes in survivors of preterm birth reveals the effect of gestational age and evidence for a long term legacy

BACKGROUND: Preterm birth confers a high risk of adverse long term health outcomes for survivors, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear. We hypothesized that effects of preterm birth can be mediated through measurable epigenomic changes throughout development. We therefore used a longitudinal birth cohort to measure the epigenetic mark of DNA methylation at birth and 18 years comparing survivors of extremely preterm birth with infants born at term. METHODS: Using 12 extreme preterm birth cases and 12 matched, term controls, we extracted DNA from archived neonatal blood spots and blood collected in a similar way at 18 years of age. DNA methylation was measured at 347,789 autosomal locations throughout the genome using Infinium HM450 arrays. Representative methylation differences were confirmed by Sequenom MassArray EpiTYPER. RESULTS: At birth we found 1,555 sites with significant differences in methylation between term and preterm babies. At 18 years of age, these differences had largely resolved, suggesting that DNA methylation differences at birth are mainly driven by factors relating to gestational age, such as cell composition and/or maturity. Using matched longitudinal samples, we found evidence for an epigenetic legacy associated with preterm birth, identifying persistent methylation differences at ten genomic loci. Longitudinal comparisons of DNA methylation at birth and 18 years uncovered a significant overlap between sites that were differentially-methylated at birth and those that changed with age. However, we note that overlapping sites may either differ in the same (300/1,555) or opposite (431/1,555) direction during gestation and aging respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We present evidence for widespread methylation differences between extreme preterm and term infants at birth that are largely resolved by 18 years of age. These results are consistent with methylation changes associated with blood cell development, cellular composition, immune induction and age at these time points. Finally, we identified ten probes significantly associated with preterm individuals and with greater than 5% methylation discordance at birth and 18 years that may reflect a long term epigenetic legacy of preterm birth

Exercise Programming for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Recommendations for Strength and Conditioning Specialists

The purpose of this article is to introduce strength and conditioning specialists to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to identify the many benefits of delivering exercise programs to children with ASD. Additionally, the manuscript aims to inform strength and conditioning specialists on how to minimize some of the inherent challenges associated with the delivery of such programs by highlighting critical issues for practitioners to consider when designing and implementing exercise programs for children with ASD