Serological evidence of zoonotic filovirus exposure among bushmeat hunters in Guinea.

Human Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreaks caused by persistent EBOV infection raises questions on the role of zoonotic spillover in filovirus epidemiology. To characterise filovirus zoonotic exposure, we collected cross-sectional serum samples from bushmeat hunters (n = 498) in Macenta Prefecture Guinea, adjacent to the index site of the 2013 EBOV-Makona spillover event. We identified distinct immune signatures (20/498, 4.

Life cycle and economic assessment of sugarcane bagasse valorization to lactic acid.

In this work, detailed life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) of a novel lactic acid (LA) production process from sugarcane bagasse is performed, with the objective of identifying process improvement opportunities. Moreover, this is first such study in the Indian context. Experimental data generated at the Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) for upstream processes is combined with ASPEN Plus simulation of the downstream steps for a commercial plant producing 104 tonnes per day of LA.

The Meningitis Vaccine Project.

Epidemic meningococcal meningitis is an important public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Current control measures rely on reactive immunizations with polysaccharide (PS) vaccines that do not induce herd immunity and are of limited effectiveness in those under 2 years of age. Conversely, polysaccharide conjugate vaccines are effective in infants and have consistently shown an important effect on decreasing carriage, two characteristics that facilitate disease control.

Optimization of bioreactor using metabolic control analysis approach.

A new methodology based on a metabolic control analysis (MCA) approach is developed for the optimization of continuous cascade bioreactor system. A general framework for representation of a cascade bioreactor system consisting of a large number of reactors as a single network is proposed. The kinetic and transport processes occurring in the system are represented as a reaction network with appropriate stoichiometry.