Data deposit of algal growth data and aqueous chemistry data during mineral-hydogel composite treatment for Mineral-Hydrogel Composites for Mitigating Harmful Algal Bloom and Supplying Phosphorous for Photo-biorefineries published in Science of the Total Environment

Data associated with and used to generate figures for Mineral-Hydrogel Composites for Mitigating Harmful Algal Bloom and Supplying Phosphorous for Photo-biorefineries . DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.15753

Implementation of the parallel mean shift-based image segmentation algorithm on a GPU cluster

The mean shift image segmentation algorithm is very computation-intensive. To address the need to deal with a large number of remote sensing (RS) image segmentations in real-world applications, this study has investigated the parallelization of the mean shift algorithm on a single graphics processing unit (GPU) and a task-scheduling method with message passing interface (MPI)+OpenCL programming model on a GPU cluster platform. This paper presents the test results of the parallel mean shift image segmentation algorithm on Shelob, a GPU cluster platform at Louisiana State University, with different datasets and parameters. The experimental results show that the proposed parallel algorithm can achieve good speedups with different configurations and RS data and can provide an effective solution for RS image processing on a GPU cluster

mNGS-based dynamic pathogen monitoring for accurate diagnosis and treatment of severe pneumonia caused by fungal infections

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) has been widely applied to identify pathogens associated with infectious diseases. However, limited studies have explored the use of mNGS-based dynamic pathogen monitoring in intensive care unit patients with severe pneumonia. Here, we present a clinical case of an 86-year-old male patient with severe pneumonia caused by a fungal infection. During the clinical treatment, four mNGS analyses were performed within two consecutive weeks. Various respiratory fungal pathogens, including Candida orthopsilosis, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus fumigatus were detected by mNGS of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Based on conventional pathogen identification and clinical symptoms, the patient was diagnosed with severe pneumonia caused by a fungal infection. The abundance of fungal species decreased gradually in response to antifungal and empirical therapies, and the fungal infections were effectively controlled. In summary, our results demonstrated that mNGS could effectively identify pathogens in patients with severe pneumonia. Additionally, dynamic pathogen monitoring based on mNGS could assist in the precise diagnosis of complex infections and may facilitate rapid induction of the most appropriate therapy

Photobiological production of high-value pigments via compartmentalized co-cultures using Ca-alginate hydrogels

Engineered cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus can use light and CO2 to produce sucrose, making it a promising candidate for use in co-cultures with heterotrophic workhorses. However, this process is challenged by the mutual stresses generated from the multispecies microbial culture. Here we demonstrate an ecosystem where S. elongatus is freely grown in a photo-bioreactor (PBR) containing an engineered heterotrophic workhorse (either β-carotene-producing Yarrowia lipolytica or indigoidine-producing Pseudomonas putida) encapsulated in calcium-alginate hydrogel beads. The encapsulation prevents growth interference, allowing the cyanobacterial culture to produce high sucrose concentrations enabling the production of indigoidine and β-carotene in the heterotroph. Our experimental PBRs yielded an indigoidine titer of 7.5 g/L hydrogel and a β-carotene titer of 1.3 g/L hydrogel, amounts 15-22-fold higher than in a comparable co-culture without encapsulation. Moreover, 13C-metabolite analysis and protein overexpression tests indicated that the hydrogel beads provided a favorable microenvironment where the cell metabolism inside the hydrogel was comparable to that in a free culture. Finally, the heterotroph-containing hydrogels were easily harvested and dissolved by EDTA for product recovery, while the cyanobacterial culture itself could be reused for the next batch of immobilized heterotrophs. This co-cultivation and hydrogel encapsulation system is a successful demonstration of bioprocess optimization under photobioreactor conditions