The incidence of scarring on the dorsum of the hand

When undertaking image comparison of the hand between accused and perpetrator, it is not unusual for scars to be identified on the back of the hand. To investigate the occurrence of scarring in a discreet sample, a database of 238 individuals was examined, and the dorsum of the right and left hands was gridded for each individual. The position, size and type of scar were recorded within each grid. It was found that, in general, males exhibited a higher incidence of scarring than females. However, males were more likely to show scarring on their left hand whereas females were more likely to exhibit scarring on their right hand. Contrary to the literature, scarring was not most prevalent along the borders of the hand but occurred more frequently in association with the index and middle finger corridor regions. Surgical scars were rare as were large scars whereas linear scars smaller than 6 mm were the most frequently identified. Close to half of the sample did not exhibit scarring on one hand. The importance of understanding the pattern of scarring on the back of the hand is discussed in the light of forensic image comparison analysis

Metabolic profiling and cold-starvation stress response of oxygen-tolerant Lactobacillus gasseri strains cultured in batch bioreactor

Phenotypic and genotypic evidence indicates that many LAB strains can grow in presence of oxygen and can shift from fermentative to aerobic and/or respiratory metabolism. The aerobic and respiratory growth of several LAB species have been studied, allowing the selection of strains showing improved biomass production, long-term survival, and resistance under oxygen and stress conditions. The aim of this work was to observe the adaptation of two Lactobacillus gasseri strains, described in a previous work, to aerobic (air injection) and respiratory (air injection plus hemin and menaquionone) conditions obtained in a batch bioreactor. One strain showed the higher biomass production and oxygen consumption as well as the lower acidification in respiratory condition. Instead, the other one grew better in aerobic condition, even though the higher resistance to cold-starvation stress was registered in respiratory condition. In silico analysis revealed notable differences between AL3 and AL5 genomes and that of the type strain. This work contributes to understanding the adaptation response of lactobacilli to aerobic and respiratory metabolism. We demonstrated that the supposed activation of respiratory metabolism may provide several modifications to cell physiology. These features may be relevant in some technological and health-promoting applications, including starter and probiotic formulations

The effect of bacterial and archaeal populations on anaerobic process fed with mozzarella cheese whey and buttermilk

Dairy wastes can be conveniently processed and valorized in a biorefinery value chain since they are abundant, zero-cost and all year round available. For a comprehensive knowledge of the microbial species involved in producing biofuels and valuable intermediates from dairy wastes, the changes in bacterial and archaeal population were evaluated when H2, CH4 and chemical intermediates were produced. Batch anaerobic tests were conducted with a mixture of mozzarella cheese whey and buttermilk as organic substrate, inoculated with 1% and 3% w/v industrial animal manure pellets. The archaeal methanogens concentration increased in the test inoculated at 3% (w/v) when H2 and CH4 production occurred, being 1 log higher than that achieved in the test inoculated at 1% (w/v). Many archaeal species, mostly involved in the production of CH4, were identified by sequencing denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) bands. Methanoculleus, Methanocorpusculum and Methanobrevibacter genera were dominant archaea involved in the anaerobic process for bioenergy production from mozzarella cheese whey and buttermilk mixture

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from dairy wastewater effluent: bacterial accumulation, structural characterization and physical properties

Background: To establish bioplastics as a real alternative to conventional plastics, high production costs must be constrained by using different kinds of wastewater streams as organic substrates and novel microbial strains as material-accumulating bacteria with high performance. Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) from the effluent of dairy wastewater biodigestion represent a new and inexpensive feedstock, which was used in this study for biopolymer production through microbial processes. Results: Cupriavidus necator DSM 13513 was particularly able to accumulate PHAs when operating in fed-batch mode by limiting the oxygen level together with intermittent feeding of a carbon source; maximum poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) accumulation was achieved in 48 h without compromising microbial growth. The complex VFAs mixture from the digestate did not influence PHA homopolymer accumulation. In fact, structural characterization by NMR analysis revealed PHB synthesis by C. necator DSM 13513 grown with different VFAs mixtures. Moreover, the bioplastic disk obtained from C. necator DSM 13513 cells grown on VFAs from digested dairy wastewater effluent presented good thermic properties and low affinity to water. Conclusions: Overall, the results make digested dairy wastewater effluent suitable for PHB production for specific biobased industrial applications. [Figure not available: see fulltext.