Bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass by the black soldier fly in combination with solid state fermentation for biofuel and larval biomass production

The digestion of wheat dried distiller’s grains with solubles (DDGS) by the black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) was investigated. DDGS is a high carbohydrate, high protein by-product of grain ethanol fermentation. Around ten percent of the dry weight of DDGS is cellulose, and a further five percent is starch which together represents a large fraction of glucans that escaped the ethanol fermentation process. Digestion by BSFL was expected to result in the degradation of DDGS constituent matrices, particularly fiber, which would increase the recovery of glucose from DDGS to be used in further bioethanol fermentation. Additionally, proteins and digestible carbohydrates could be recovered as BSFL biomass. We considered two studies based on this hypothesis: enzyme and microbial investigation in BSFL culture; and microbiological aids in the BSFL degradation of DDGS. Secretion of enzymes from the BSFL into their feed bed can potentially contribute to the insects DDGS digestive capabilities along with symbiotic bacteria associated with the BSFL. The nutrient composition of the BSFL's diet may impact their digestive capabilities. To investigate this hypothesis, and specifically the effect of the fiber content of the feed, we first analyzed enzyme activities in feed beds which varied in cellulose content using food commodities (corn meal, DDGS, and whole milk powder) containing complex matrices to evaluate the effect of cellulose content directly. Enzyme activities in spent larval feeds were shown to decrease as the cellulose content of the feed increased. From these BSFL spent feeds, bacteria associated with BSFL were isolated and included Lactobacillus plantarum, Sphingomonas melonis, Psuedomonas sp., and Klebsiella pneumoniae. These bacteria should have originated from the digestive system of the BSFL, which were hypothesized to play a role in the BSFL’s digestive capabilities. The contribution of these isolates in enzyme activities were also analyzed, and Lactobacillus plantarum showed the greatest overall enzyme activity based on protease, cellulase, amylase, and lipase assays of the isolated bacteria. Because the digestive capabilities of BSFL were shown to decrease as the cellulose content of their feed increases in this study, we further hypothesized that fermentation of cellulosic materials prior to BSFL digestion can assist the contribution of the larvae in glucose recovery from the cellulosic materials. It is investigated whether the use of solid state fermentation (SSF) could degrade DDGS fiber matrices and improve the overall nutrient profile for BSFL culture and recovery of fermentable sugars. The following fungal strains, chosen for their cellulolytic ability: Trichoderma koningii, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Phanerochaete chrysosporium; and Lactobacillus plantarum isolated from the BSFL, were used in SSF of DDGS, prior to larval digestion. SSF was shown to open the DDGS structure; reduce the cellulose content by around 5 percent; decrease the total carbohydrate content by up to 13 percent; and increase the protein concentration by up to 8 percent. While all fungal SSF treatments showed positive changes to DDGS nutrient composition, SSF using Aspergillus niger had the greatest effect on DDGS, reducing the carbohydrate content by 13 percent, and increasing the protein content by 8 percent. Following this analysis, we investigated whether fermented DDGS was suitable for larval feeding, and the effect that BSFL digestion had on the fermentable sugar recovery from DDGS. In order to analyze the susceptibility of DDGS cellulose into glucose, a two-step hydrolysis assay was employed. Dilute acid hydrolysis was utilized as an initial hydrolysis, which hydrolyzed primarily amorphous cellulose along with starches and bound glucose into monomeric glucose. Then, the solid matter from dilute acid hydrolysis was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis as the second step of sugar liberation, where cellulases hydrolyzed the remaining crystalline cellulose into monomeric glucose. Digestion of fermented DDGS by BSFL reduced the dry matter of the substrate and incorporated it into a high protein (37% dwb), high fat (23% dwb) larval biomass. Considering DDGS contains very low fat (2%), the significant fat recovery/yields can be achieved though SSF-BSFL treatment. When untreated DDGS was given to BSFL, the larvae incorporated 43.7 % of dry mass of DDGS; whereas SSF DDGS was incorporated up to 80.4% after the digestion by a combination of SSF and BSFL culture. The relative carbohydrate contents of the substrates were increased during larval digestion which, along with opening of the DDGS constituent matrices during treatments, allowed for increased glucose liberation from the substrates in spent feeds. Optimization of hydrolysis conditions, including higher temperatures, pressure, and substrate loading concentration, further provided large increases in total glucose yields compared to unfermented DDGS (8 % of dry weight of DDGS carbohydrates), particularly for Lactobacillus plantarum SSF (16% of dry weight of DDGS carbohydrates)

Assessment of a University Faculty Development Program on Speaking and Writing Pedagogy Through Direct Measurement of Student Learning Outcomes

The purpose of this study was to assess a faculty development program through direct measurement of student learning outcomes through investigating the relationship between participation in a faculty development program on speaking and writing pedagogy and student learning outcomes in oral and written communication. Faculty and students enrolled in senior capstone courses in Spring 2011 were asked to participate as part of requirements for internal assessment and external accreditation. Of the 1,448 students enrolled in capstone courses that semester, 1,002 papers and 727 recordings were received, representing 69% and 50% of those enrolled respectively. A sample of 400 papers and 400 presentations were randomly selected, with approximately 80 papers and 80 presentations from each of the University’s five colleges. To gain a representative sample, the number of artifacts from each course was based on the proportion of students that comprised the total enrollment of capstone courses for that semester, representing 41 courses and 47 faculty members in the speaking assessment and 47 courses and 60 faculty members in the writing assessment. After replacement of personal identifiers with unique codes, each paper and presentation in the sample was rated twice using locally developed rubrics based on student learning outcomes for oral and written communication. The two ratings for each artifact were then averaged to obtain a final rating. Logs of faculty development participation were then used to determine whether the artifact was from a course taught by an instructor who had participated in a faculty development offering or not and the scores compared using Mann-Whitney U analysis. The results of the study indicated that student papers in courses led by instructors participating in faculty development had statistically significant higher scores for every category of the writing rubric: purpose and content, reasoning, structure, language, audience, documentation, and the overall score. Rubric scores of student presentations were statistically higher in courses led by instructors participating in faculty development than in those who had not participated in the areas of audience, vocal delivery, nonverbal delivery, and overall with no statistically significant differences in purpose and content, support for reasoning, structure, language, or audio-visual aids

Heresy and Error

From its inception the early Christian Church sought to suppress books believed to contain heretical or erroneous teachings. With the development of the printing press during the latter half of the fifteenth century, Christian authorities in Europe became increasingly aware of the need to control the mass production of unfamiliar and potentially unacceptable texts. Initially, censorship of the press was enforced locally. However, with the spread of the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church required a more centralized and organized approach. Thus, the Council of Trent (1545–1563) ratified the Index librorum prohibitorum(“Index of Prohibited Books”), which listed individual banned titles as well as authors whose writings had been condemned outright. Catholic officials also published lists of expurgations, which identified specific passages to be deleted from every copy of an edition. From the sixteenth century well into the nineteenth, the censorship of books remained a primary, if not entirely effective, means of eradicating heresy and error. It is unusual for Bridwell Library to showcase its damaged volumes. In this exhibition, however, it is necessary to focus not on handsomely preserved rare books, but on the historical evidence offered by the intentional alteration and suppression of books by Christian censors during past centuries. Of the sixty-two books and broadsides in this exhibition, thirty-seven were prohibited, enduring either physical expurgation or the threat of destruction. The remainder are publications that assisted the Church in its battle against heresy and error: several are indexes of prohibited books or expurgations, while others were written in defense of ecclesiastical censorship. Combined, the exhibited books and broadsides contribute to a fuller understanding of the role of post-publication censorship in the religious controversies of the past

Relationships of Expressed Goals and Perceived Performance of Schools as Reported by Teachers and Community Members in Three Oklahoma School Districts

Elementary Educatio

Case Study of the Impact of a Volunteer Program for Misdemeanants on the Offenders and the Court

Sociolog

Exposure to a low dose of bisphenol A during fetal life or in adulthood alters maternal behavior in mice.

Maternal behavior in mammals is the result of a complex interaction between the lactating dam and her developing offspring. Slight perturbations of any of the components of the mother-infant interaction may result in alterations of the behavior of the mother and/or of the offspring. We studied the effects of exposure of female CD-1 mice to the estrogenic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) during fetal life and/or in adulthood during the last part of pregnancy on subsequent maternal behavior. Pregnant females were fed daily doses of corn oil (controls) or 10 microg/kg body weight BPA during gestation days 14-18. As adults, the prenatally treated female offspring were time-mated and again fed either corn oil (controls) or the same doses of BPA on gestation days 14-18, resulting in four treatment groups: controls, prenatal BPA exposure, adult BPA exposure, and both prenatal and adult BPA exposure. Maternal behavior was then observed on postnatal days 2-15 and reflex responses were examined in the offspring. Dams exposed to BPA either as fetuses or in adulthood spent less time nursing their pups and more time out of the nest compared with the control group. Females exposed to BPA both as fetuses and in adulthood did not significantly differ from controls. No alterations in postnatal reflex development were observed in the offspring of the females exposed to BPA. The changes seen in maternal behavior may be the result of a direct effect of BPA on the neuroendocrine substrates underlying the initiation of maternal behavior

Exposure to a Low Dose of Bisphenol A during Fetal Life or in Adulthood Alters Maternal Behavior in Mice

Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives.Maternal behavior in mammals is the result of a complex interaction between the lactating dam and her developing offspring. Slight perturbations of any of the components of the mother-infant interaction may result in alterations of the behavior of the mother and/or of the offspring. We studied the effects of exposure of female CD-1 mice to the estrogenic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) during fetal life and/or in adulthood during the last part of pregnancy on subsequent maternal behavior. Pregnant females were fed daily doses of corn oil (controls) or 10 μg/kg body weight BPA during gestation days 14-18. As adults, the prenatally treated female offspring were timemated and again fed either corn oil (controls) or the same doses of BPA on gestation days 14-18, resulting in four treatment groups: controls, prenatal BPA exposure, adult BPA exposure, and both prenatal and adult BPA exposure. Maternal behavior was then observed on postnatal days 2-15 and reflex responses were examined in the offspring. Dams exposed to BPA either as fetuses or in adulthood spent less time nursing their pups and more time out of the nest compared with the control group. Females exposed to BPA both as fetuses and in adulthood did not significantly differ from controls. No alterations in postnatal reflex development were observed in the offspring of the females exposed to BPA. The changes seen in maternal behavior may be the result of a direct effect of BPA on the neuroendocrine substrates underlying the initiation of maternal behavior.This research was supported by grants from NIEHS, NIH (ES08293), to F.V.S. and from the Italian Ministry of University and Scientific Research (MURST-COFIN2000), the University of Parma, and CNR (National Council for Research) to P.P

Bisphenol A Is Released from Used Polycarbonate Animal Cages into Water at Room Temperature

doi:10.1289/ehp.5993Bisphenol A (BPA) is a monomer with estrogenic activity that is used in the production of food packaging, dental sealants, polycarbonate plastic, and many other products. The monomer has previously been reported to hydrolyze and leach from these products under high heat and alkaline conditions, and the amount of leaching increases as a function of use. We examined whether new and used polycarbonate animal cages passively release bioactive levels of BPA into water at room temperature and neutral pH. Purified water was incubated at room temperature in new polycarbonate and polysulfone cages and used (discolored) polycarbonate cages, as well as control (glass and used polypropylene) containers. The resulting water samples were characterized with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and tested for estrogenic activity using an MCF-7 human breast cancer cell proliferation assay. Significant estrogenic activity, identifiable as BPA by GC/MS (up to 310 µg/L), was released from used polycarbonate animal cages. Detectable levels of BPA were released from new polycarbonate cages (up to 0.3 µg/L) as well as new polysulfone cages (1.5 µg/L), whereas no BPA was detected in water incubated in glass and used polypropylene cages. Finally, BPA exposure as a result of being housed in used polycarbonate cages produced a 16% increase in uterine weight in prepubertal female mice relative to females housed in used polypropylene cages, although the difference was not statistically significant. Our findings suggest that laboratory animals maintained in polycarbonate and polysulfone cages are exposed to BPA via leaching, with exposure reaching the highest levels in old cages.Support during the preparation of this manuscript was provided by grants from the National Institutes of Health (CA50354) and the University of Missouri (VMFC0018) to W.V.W., NIH (ES08293 and ES11283) to F.v.S., and the U.S.G.S