Understanding the Intersection of Climate/Environmental Change, Health, Agriculture, and Improved Nutrition: A Case Study on Micronutrient Nutrition and Animal Source Foods.

With a growing global population, the demand for high-quality food to meet nutritional needs continues to increase. Our ability to meet those needs is challenged by a changing environment that includes constraints on land and water resources and growing concerns about the impact of human activity including agricultural practices on the changing climate. Adaptations that meet food/nutritional demands while avoiding unintended consequences including negatively affecting the environment are needed.

A rapid, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction test for the identification of pathogens in bronchoalveolar lavage samples.

Background: Standard bacteriologic culture techniques offer results within 2 days to 3 days, precluding a focused and timely antibiotic therapy in ventilated trauma patients. Our laboratory developed a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) test that can detect 25 different bacteria and fungi and methicillin resistance and offers results within 3 hours. The objective of this study was to compare the qPCR method to standard culture techniques.

Separation and purification of xylose oligomers using centrifugal partition chromatography.

Xylose oligomers, which have a prebiotic effect, have been used as additives to human and animal food. These oligomers are also the primary intermediate in hemicellulose degradation during the pretreatment of biomass. Centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) was used in this study to separate and purify xylan-derived oligomers from birchwood xylan.

A simple substrate feeding strategy using a pH control trigger in fed-batch fermentation.

A simple automated glucose feeding strategy based on pH control was developed to produce high-cell-density fed-batch fermentation. In this strategy, the pH control scheme utilized an acidified concentrated glucose solution to lower the pH. The frequency of glucose addition to the fermentor is determined by the culture's growth kinetics.

Gas-lift digester configuration effects on mixing effectiveness.

Computational fluid dynamics simulations were used to study the effect of bottom configuration and a hanging baffle on the mixing inside a gas-lift digester filled with non-Newtonian sludge. The Navier-Stokes and continuity equations were solved numerically using commercially available finite element method-based solver. The results from this simulation were found to be in good agreement with previously reported experimental findings.