Hydrolysis of citrus peel waste with recombinant rhamnosidase for bioenergy generation

Large amounts of Citrus peel (rich in poly-phenolic compounds) are generated as a by-product of the juice processing industry. Development of alternative, higher valued products utilizing peel waste from grapefruit, oranges, Valencia and other citrus fruit would benefit citrus juice processors by providing them with means to profitably process their peel waste and to avoid environmentally hazardous dumping. Citrus peel waste [CPW, comprised of peel, membranes and juice vesicles] contains a high level of polyphenols and has been used for the production of animal feed, single-cell protein, fibre, enzyme(s), immobilization support & bio-sorbent for heavy metal removal. Naringin (a major tri-hydroxy flavonoid glycoside) is available in large amounts in citrus peel, processed juice and can be extracted from citrus peel waste1. The extracted naringin is further hydrolysed by rhamnosidase to produce D-rhamnose for the production of ethanol and other fermentation products. We have produced a recombinant enzyme2 that has the ability to catalyse the cleavage of terminal rhamnoside groups from naringin to prunin and rhamnose. We have recovered important sugar “D-rhamnose” from the processed waste which would be utilized for ethanol production3. This presentation will summarize current efforts to develop an enzymatic treatment which would facilitate the economical processing of citrus waste for bioenergy generation.

Knowledge development, social capital and alliance learning

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to elucidate information on what creates the different types of knowledge.

Design/methodology/approach – In the conceptual model it is argued that the concept of social capital provides an interesting view on the creation of market-specific and firm-specific knowledge.

Findings – The major finding from the paper is that knowledge is an important by-product of an alliance forming process, a process commonly termed as alliance learning.

Research limitations/implications – Both market-specific and firm-specific knowledge have implications on two main types of alliance learning, that of mutual and non-mutual learning.

Practical implications – Alliance managers need to be aware that knowledge is a key driver as well as a beneficial outcome in the formation of alliances.

Originality/value – This paper examines how the different types of knowledge evolve and how these different types of knowledge impact upon alliance learning.

Individual factors associated with investigative interviewers' use of non-leading open-ended questions

This thesis represents one of the first research papers to examine individual factors and their association with best-practice investigative interviewing. Findings indicate that adherence to open-ended questioning (arguably one of the most important skills in child abuse interviewing) is largely the by-product of good training rather than personal attributes or job experience per se. maximising interviewer performance is crucial if the quality of evidence obtained from child witnesses is to improve on a global level.

Effect of coagulants on the fouling and performance of ultrafiltration (UF) membranes

The combined coagulation and ultrafiltration (UF) system (C-UF system) is an advanced technology to treat natural organic matter (NOM) present in water. Traditional coagulants — prehydrolyzed inorganic coagulants, organic coagulants and composite coagulants were chosen to treat synthetic water containing humic acid (HA) in order to find an efficient coagulant that could remove NOM from the water effectively. The fouling, removal efficiency of UF and the chlorine decay in the permeate were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the coagulants. The initial UV254 absorption of the tested water samples were from 0.208 to 0.234, and the UV254 after coagulation was from 0.05 to 0.184. The UV254 did not increase after coagulation. Since the humic acid used was soluble, the initial turbidity of the tested water samples were very close to zero. The turbidity increased after coagulation, as the coagulants react with humic acid to form micro-flocs, which cannot be removed fully by sedimentation. The results showed that polyferric chloride could not remove humic acid efficiently during coagulation process, but removed the humic acid well when used in the C-UF system. Moreover, for polyferric chloride and UF system, the concentration of organic compounds in permeates were minimal indicating very low levels of disinfection by-product formation, if chlorinated.

A novel sensing technique for monitoring pitting corrosion of stainless steel type 316L

A novel electrochemically integrated multi-electrode array namely the wire beam electrode(WBE) in combination with noise signatures analysis has been designed to monitor pittingcorrosion of one of the best corrosion resistance ferrous alloys, stainless steel type 316L.From the direct correlation of electrochemical potential noise signatures and galvanic currentdistribution maps during pitting corrosion processes, two characteristic noise patterns wereobserved prior to stable pit formation: (i) the characteristic ‘peak’ of rapid potential transient,towards less negative direction, followed by recovery (termed noise signature I) was found tocorrelate with the disappearance of unstable anode; (ii) the characteristic noise pattern ofquick potential changes towards less negative direction followed by no recovery (termed noisesignature II) was found to correspond with the massive disappearance of minor anodes leadingto formation of highly localized major anodes in the galvanic current distribution maps.

Large-scale statistical modeling of motion patterns : a Bayesian nonparametric approach

We propose a novel framework for large-scale scene understanding in static camera surveillance. Our techniques combine fast rank-1 constrained robust PCA to compute the foreground, with non-parametric Bayesian models for inference. Clusters are extracted in foreground patterns using a joint multinomial+Gaussian Dirichlet process model (DPM). Since the multinomial distribution is normalized, the Gaussian mixture distinguishes between similar spatial patterns but different activity levels (eg. car vs bike). We propose a modification of the decayed MCMC technique for incremental inference, providing the ability to discover theoretically unlimited patterns in unbounded video streams. A promising by-product of our framework is online, abnormal activity detection. A benchmark video and two surveillance videos, with the longest being 140 hours long are used in our experiments. The patterns discovered are as informative as existing scene understanding algorithms. However, unlike existing work, we achieve near real-time execution and encouraging performance in abnormal activity detection.

RGB Wattle Park chalet

New technologies have arguably displaced the hegemony of painting within the hierarchies of contemporary art. Projectors and other digital imaging technologies in particular continue to expand the contemporary artist’s aesthetic and conceptual possibilities beyond canvas, paper, and stone. Yet painting - the practice of smearing coloured mud about - far from being superseded, simply continues to cannibalise these powerful technologies extruding them into its own analogue processes. Whether intentionally or as an by-product of this cannibalisation, painting tends to create a critical distance in which the tacit aspects of these technologies – their representational language and ‘special effects’ - are made fully visible. Of course 'easel' painting practices persist not only to critique new technologies. Rather new technologies inevitably fold back into the now souped-up vocabularies of contemporary painting, expanding the medium’s physical boundaries, formal strategies, and modes of display.

YGR Fontainebleau

New technologies have arguably displaced the hegemony of painting in the hierarchies of contemporary art. Projectors and other digital imaging tools in particular continue to expand the artist’s aesthetic and conceptual possibilities beyond canvas, paper, and stone. Yet painting, (the practice of smearing coloured mud about) far from being marginalised, simply continues to cannibalise these new technologies extruding them into its own analogue processes. Whether intentionally or as a by-product of this cannibalisation, painting creates a critical distance in which the tacit aspects of these technologies – their representational language and ‘special effects’ - are made fully visible. Of course ‘traditional’ easel painting practices persist not just to critique new technologies. Digital imaging technologies inevitably feed back into the souped-up vocabularies of contemporary painting, expanding the medium’s physical boundaries, formal strategies, and modes of display. The work for this project explores the ways in which projection and virtual geographical mapping invite new configurations for the practice of landscape painting.

YGR Warrandyte

New technologies have arguably displaced the hegemony of painting in the hierarchies of contemporary art. Projectors and other digital imaging tools in particular continue to expand the artist’s aesthetic and conceptual possibilities beyond canvas, paper, and stone. Yet painting, (the practice of smearing coloured mud about) far from being marginalised, simply continues to cannibalise these new technologies extruding them into its own analogue processes. Whether intentionally or as an by-product of this cannibalisation, painting creates a critical distance in which the tacit aspects of these technologies – their representational language and ‘special effects’ - are made visible. Of course ‘traditional’ easel painting practices persist not just to critique new technologies. Digital imaging technologies inevitably feed back into the souped-up vocabularies of contemporary painting, expanding the medium’s physical boundaries, formal strategies, and modes of display. The work for this project explores the ways in which projection and virtual geographical mapping invite new configurations for the practice of landscape painting.

What helps children to move more at school recess and lunchtime? Mid-intervention results from Transform-Us! cluster-randomised controlled trial

Background 

Real-time measurement of phloem turgor pressure in Hevea brasiliensis with a modified cell pressure probe

Background: Although the pressure flow theory is widely accepted for the transport of photoassimilates in phloem sieve elements, it still requires strong experimental validation. One reason for that is the lack of a precise method for measuring the real-time phloem turgor pressure from the sink tissues, especially in tree trunks. Results: Taking the merits of Hevea brasiliensis, a novel phloem turgor pressure probe based on the state of the art cell pressure probe was developed. Our field measurements showed that the phloem turgor pressure probe can sensitively measure the real-time variation of phloem turgor pressure in H. brasiliensis but the calculation of phloem turgor pressure with xylem tension, xylem sap osmotic potential and phloem sap osmotic potential will under-estimate it. The measured phloem turgor pressure gradient in H. brasiliensis is contrary to the Münch theory. The phloem turgor pressure of H. brasiliensis varied from 8-12 bar as a consequence of water withdrawal from transpiration. Tapping could result in a sharp decrease of phloem turgor pressure followed by a recovery from 8-45 min after the tapping. The recovery of phloem turgor pressure after tapping and its change with xylem sap flow suggest the importance of phloem water relationship in the phloem turgor pressure regulation. Conclusion: The phloem turgor pressure probe is a reliable technique for measuring the real-time variation of phloem turgor pressures in H. brasiliensis. The technique could probably be extended to the accurate measurement of phloem turgor pressure in other woody plants which is essential to test the Münch theory and to investigate the phloem water relationship and turgor pressure regulation. © 2014 An et al.

Among- and within-individual correlations between basal and maximal metabolic rates in birds

The aerobic capacity model proposes that endothermy is a by-product of selection favouring high maximal metabolic rates (MMR) and its mechanistic coupling with basal metabolic rate (BMR). Attempts to validate this model in birds are equivocal and restricted to phenotypic correlations (rP), thus failing to distinguish among- and within-individual correlations (rind and re). We examined 300 paired measurements of BMR and MMR from 60 house sparrows before and after two levels of experimental manipulation - testosterone implants and immune challenge. Overall, repeatability was significant in both BMR (R=0.25±0.06) and MMR (R=0.52±0.06). Only the testosterone treatment altered the rP between BMR and MMR, which resulted from contrasting effects on rind and re. While rind was high and significant (0.62±0.22) in sham-implanted birds, re was negative and marginally non-significant (-0.15±0.09) in testosterone-treated birds. Thus, the expected mechanistic link between BMR and MMR was apparent, but only in birds with low testosterone levels.

Recent insights into microbial catalases: isolation, production and purification

Catalase, an oxidoreductase enzyme, works as a detoxification system inside living cells against reactive oxygen species formed as a by-product of different metabolic reactions. The enzyme is found in a wide range of aerobic and anaerobic organisms. Catalase has also been employed in various analytical and diagnostic methods in the form of biosensors and biomarkers in addition to its other applications in textile, paper, food and pharmaceutical industries. New applications for catalases are constantly emerging thanks to their high turnover rate, distinct evolutionary origin, relatively simple and well-defined reaction mechanisms. The following review provides comprehensive information on isolation, production and purification of catalases with different techniques from various microbial sources along with their types, structure, mechanism of action and applications.

On the asymptotic distribution of the Dickey Fuller-GLS test statistic

In a very influential paper, Elliott et al. [Efficient tests for an autoregressive unit root. Econometrica. 1996;64:813–836] show that no uniformly most powerful test for the unit root testing problem exits, derive the relevant power envelope and characterize a family of point-optimal tests. As a by-product, they also propose a ‘generalized least squares (GLS) detrended’ version of the conventional Dickey–Fuller test, denoted DF-GLS, that has since then become very popular among practitioners, much more so than the point-optimal tests. In view of this, it is quite strange to find that, while conjectured in Elliott et al. [Efficient tests for an autoregressive unit root. Econometrica. 1996;64:813–836], so far there seems to be no formal proof of the asymptotic distribution of the DF-GLS test statistic. By providing three separate proofs, the current paper not only substantiates the required result, but also provides insight regarding the pros and cons of different methods of proof.