Bio-hydrogen production from food waste through anaerobic fermentation

In order to protect our planet and ourselves from the adverse effects of excessive CO2 emissions and to prevent an imminent non-renewable fossil fuel shortage and energy crisis, there is a need to transform our current ‘fossil fuel dependent’ energy systems to new, clean, renewable energy sources. The world has recognized hydrogen as an energy carrier that complies with all the environmental quality and energy security, demands. This research aimed at producing hydrogen through anaerobic fermentation, using food waste as the substrate. Four food waste substrates were used: Rice, fish, vegetable and their mixture. Bio-hydrogen production was performed in lab scale reactors, using 250 mL serum bottles. The food waste was first mixed with the anaerobic sewage sludge and incubated at 37°C for 31 days (acclimatization). The anaerobic sewage sludge was then heat treated at 80°C for 15 min. The experiment was conducted at an initial pH of 5.5 and temperatures of 27, 35 and 55°C. The maximum cumulative hydrogen produced by rice, fish, vegetable and mixed food waste substrates were highest at 37°C (Rice =26.97±0.76 mL, fish = 89.70±1.25 mL, vegetable = 42.00±1.76 mL, mixed = 108.90±1.42 mL). A comparative study of acclimatized (the different food waste substrates were mixed with anaerobic sewage sludge and incubated at 37°C for 31days) and non-acclimatized food waste substrate (food waste that was not incubated with anaerobic sewage sludge) showed that acclimatized food waste substrate enhanced bio-hydrogen production by 90 - 100%.

Porosity: Establishing the relationship between drying parameters and dried food quality [SpringerBriefs in Food, Health, and Nutrition]

The preservation technique of drying offers a significant increase in the shelf life of food materials, along with the modification of quality attributes due to simultaneous heat and mass transfer. Variations in porosity are just one of the microstructural changes that take place during the drying of most food materials. Some studies found that there may be a relationship between porosity and the properties of dried foods. However, no conclusive relationship has yet been established in the literature. This paper presents an overview of the factors that influence porosity, as well as the effects of porosity on dried food quality attributes. The effect of heat and mass transfer on porosity is also discussed along with porosity development in various drying methods. After an extensive review of the literature concerning the study of porosity, it emerges that a relationship between process parameters, food qualities, and sample properties can be established. Therefore, we propose a hypothesis of relationships between process parameters, product quality attributes, and porosity.

Food structure : its formation and relationships with other properties

Food materials are complex in nature as it has heterogeneous, amorphous, hygroscopic and porous properties. During processing, microstructure of food materials changes which significantly affects other properties of food. An appropriate understanding of the microstructure of the raw food material and its evolution during processing is critical in order to understand and accurately describe dehydration processes and quality anticipation. This review critically assesses the factors that influence the modification of microstructure in the course of drying of fruits and vegetables. The effect of simultaneous heat and mass transfer on microstructure in various drying methods is investigated. Effects of changes in microstructure on other functional properties of dried foods are discussed. After an extensive review of the literature, it is found that development of food structure significantly depends on fresh food properties and process parameters. Also, modification of microstructure influences the other properties of final product. An enhanced understanding of the relationships between food microstructure, drying process parameters and final product quality will facilitate the energy efficient optimum design of the food processor in order to achieve high-quality food

A micro-level investigation of the solid displacement method for porosity determination of dried food

Porosity is one of the key parameters of the macroscopic structure of porous media, generally defined as the ratio of the free spaces occupied (by the volume of air) within the material to the total volume of the material. Porosity is determined by measuring skeletal volume and the envelope volume. Solid displacement method is one of the inexpensive and easy methods to determine the envelope volume of a sample with an irregular shape. In this method, generally glass beads are used as a solid due to their uniform size, compactness and fluidity properties. The smaller size of the glass beads means that they enter into the open pores which have a larger diameter than the glass beads. Although extensive research has been carried out on porosity determination using displacement method, no study exists which adequately reports micro-level observation of the sample during measurement. This study set out with the aim of assessing the accuracy of solid displacement method of bulk density measurement of dried foods by micro-level observation. Solid displacement method of porosity determination was conducted using a cylindrical vial (cylindrical plastic container) and 57 µm glass beads in order to measure the bulk density of apple slices at different moisture contents. A scanning electron microscope (SEM), a profilometer and ImageJ software were used to investigate the penetration of glass beads into the surface pores during the determination of the porosity of dried food. A helium pycnometer was used to measure the particle density of the sample. Results show that a significant number of pores were large enough to allow the glass beads to enter into the pores, thereby causing some erroneous results. It was also found that coating the dried sample with appropriate coating material prior to measurement can resolve this problem.

Food neophobia and its association with diet quality and weight in children aged 24 months : a cross sectional study

Background Food neophobia, the rejection of unknown or novel foods, may result in poor dietary patterns. This study investigates the cross-sectional relationship between neophobia in children aged 24 months and variety of fruit and vegetable consumption, intake of discretionary foods and weight. Methods Secondary analysis of data from 330 parents of children enrolled in the NOURISH RCT (control group only) and SAIDI studies was performed using data collected at child age 24 months. Neophobia was measured at 24 months using the Child Food Neophobia Scale (CFNS). The cross-sectional associations between total CFNS score and fruit and vegetable variety, discretionary food intake and BMI (Body Mass Index) Z-score were examined via multiple regression models; adjusting for significant covariates. Results At 24 months, more neophobic children were found to have lower variety of fruits (β=-0.16, p=0.003) and vegetables (β=-0.29, p<0.001) but have a greater proportion of daily energy from discretionary foods (β=0.11, p=0.04). There was no significant association between BMI Z-score and CFNS score. Conclusions Neophobia is associated with poorer dietary quality. Results highlight the need for interventions to (1) begin early to expose children to a wide variety of nutritious foods before neophobia peaks and (2) enable health professionals to educate parents on strategies to overcome neophobia.

Exploring urban consumers’ attitudes and intentions to purchase local food in Chile

Although local food consumption is growing in importance there remains a lack of research addressing local food consumption preferences in less-developed countries. This paper aims to examine the drivers of local food purchase intentions for Chilean consumers. A model of local food behavioral intention was developed from consumer behavior theory. The model was tested using structural equation modeling with data from Chilean shoppers located in Santiago (n=283). The analysis revealed that Chilean consumers are willing to purchase local food based on their positive attitude towards buying local food and their feelings of connectedness with the environment, but not because they have a desire to support local businesses. These findings have implications for retailers, marketers and food producers.

Mobile interaction design approaches for reducing domestic food waste

This thesis is a trans-disciplinary study of domestic food waste in Australia. Firstly, it examines why consumers are prone to waste food. Secondly, it explores several situated design interventions to reduce domestic food waste by informing consumer food supply and location awareness, and improving the level of food literacy among consumers. The thesis outcomes have implications for academic and industry domains within the fields of Human-Computer Interaction, urban informatics, environmental sustainability, food security and public health.

Evolution of the docklands food hub : a design-led innovation approach to food sovereignty through local food systems

Access to nutritious, safe and culturally appropriate food is a basic human right (Mechlem, 2004). Food sovereignty defines this right through the empowerment of the people to redefine food and agricultural systems, and through ecologically sustainable production methods. At the heart of the food sovereignty movement are the interests of producers, distributors and consumers, rather than the interests of markets and corporations, which dominate the current globalized food system (Hinrichs, 2003). Food sovereignty challenges designers to enable people to innovate the food system. We are yet to develop economically viable solutions for scaling projects and providing citizens, governments and business with tools to develop and promote projects to innovate food systems and promote food sovereignty (Meroni, 2011; Murray, Caulier-Grice and Mulgan, 2010). This article examines how a design-led approach to innovation can assist in the development of new business models and ventures for local food systems: this is presented through an emerging field of research ‘Design-Led Food Communities’. Design-Led Food Communities enables citizens, governments and business to innovate local food projects through the application of design. This article reports on the case study of the Docklands Food Hub Project in Melbourne, Australia. Preliminary findings demonstrate valued outcomes, but also a deficiency in the design process to generate food solutions collaboratively between government, business and citizens.

Design of coreless PCB transformers for power and signal isolation in a modular ADC system for power quality data acquisition

Available industrial energy meters offer high accuracy and reliability, but are typically expensive and low-bandwidth, making them poorly suited to multi-sensor data acquisition schemes and power quality analysis. An alternative measurement system is proposed in this paper that is highly modular, extensible and compact. To minimise cost, the device makes use of planar coreless PCB transformers to provide galvanic isolation for both power and data. Samples from multiple acquisition devices may be concentrated by a central processor before integration with existing host control systems. This paper focusses on the practical design and implementation of planar coreless PCB transformers to facilitate the module's isolated power, clock and data signal transfer. Calculations necessary to design coreless PCB transformers, and circuits designed for the transformer's practical application in the measurement module are presented. The designed transformer and each application circuit have been experimentally verified, with test data and conclusions made applicable to coreless PCB transformers in general.

The cultures of Restaurant Australia: epicurean food experiences for tourists in south east Queensland

Tourism Australia’s launch of the ‘Restaurant Australia’ marketing campaign in 2014 is aimed at changing perceptions of the ‘prawn on the barbeque’ image of Australian culinary culture. The campaign is the government's response to global research that reveals that tourists want ‘good’ food and wine experiences (in Australia?). In effect, ‘Restaurant Australia’, and the AUS$10 million supporting it, is promoting? the notion that Australian tourism should provide epicurean food experiences associated with high quality and ‘authentic cultural’ tourism, rather than contrived versions of national identity articulated via stereotypical notions of national cuisine. This paper adopts a cultural tourism approach, especially in relation to theories of authenticity and the relationship of post-tourists, cultural tourists, and tactical tourists to examine two very different areas of wine and food production in Australia in the context of the Restaurant Australia campaign. In particular, it considers issues associated with defining Australian cuisine and the development of a narrative about Australia as a epicurean destination.

Household food insecurity, diet, and weight status in a disadvantaged district of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: A cross-sectional study

Background Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, economic and socially acceptable access to safe, sufficient, and adequately nutritious food in order to meet their dietary needs for an active and healthy life. For high income countries and those experiencing the nutrition transition, food security is not only about the quantity of available food but also the nutritional quality as related to over- and under-nutrition. Vietnam is currently undergoing this nutrition transition, and as a result the relationship between food insecurity, socio-demographic factors and weight status is complex. The primary objective of this study was to therefore measure the prevalence of household food insecurity in a disadvantaged urban district in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in Vietnam using a more comprehensive tool. This study also aims to examine the relationships between food insecurity and socio-demographic factors, weight status, and food intakes. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted using multi-stage sampling. Adults who were mainly responsible for cooking were interviewed in 250 households. Data was collected on socioeconomic and demographic factors using previously validated tools. Food security was assessed using the Latin American and Caribbean Household Food Security Scale (ELCSA) tool and households were categorized as food secure or mildly, moderately or severely food insecure. Questions regarding food intake were based on routinely used and validated questions in HCMC, weight status was self-reported. Results Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.87, showing the ELCSA had a good internal reliability. Approximately 34.4% of households were food insecure. Food insecurity was inversely related to total household income (OR = 0.09, 95% CI = 0.04 - 0.22) and fruit intakes (OR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.31 - 4.22). There was no association between weight and food security status. Conclusions Despite rapid industrialization and modernization, food insecurity remains an important public health issue in large urban areas of HCMC, suggesting that strategies to address food insecurity should be implemented in urban settings, and not just rural locations. Fruit consumption among food insecure households may be compromised because of financial difficulties, which may lead to poorer health outcomes particularly related to non-communicable disease prevention and management.

Growing food in the city : Design ideations for urban residential gardeners

Urban agriculture refers to the production of food in urban and peri-urban spaces. It can contribute positively to health and food security of a city, while also reducing ‘food miles.’ It takes on many forms, from the large and organised community garden, to the small and discrete backyard or balcony. This study focuses on small-scale food production in the form of residential gardening for home or personal use. We explore opportunities to support people’s engagement in urban agriculture via human-computer interaction design. This research presents the findings and HCI design insights from our study of residential gardeners in Brisbane, Australia. By exploring their understanding of gardening practice with a human-centred design approach, we present six key themes, highlighting opportunities and challenges relating to available time and space; the process of learning and experimentation; and the role of existing online platforms to support gardening practice. Finally we discuss the overarching theme of shared knowledge, and how HCI could improve community engagement and gardening practice.

The impact of intense training on endogenous estrogen and progesterone concentrations and bone mineral acquisition in adolescent rowers

The effect of 18 months of training on the ovarian hormone concentrations and bone mineral density (BMD) accrual was assessed longitudinally in 14 adolescent rowers and 10 matched controls, aged 14–15 years. Ovarian hormone levels were assessed by urinary estrone glucuronide (E1G) and pregnanediol glucuronide (PdG) excretion rates, classifying the menstrual cycles as ovulatory or anovulatory. Total body (TB), total proximal femur (PF), femoral neck (FN) and lumbar spine (LS) (L2–4) bone mass were measured at baseline and 18 months using dual-energy X-ray densitometry. Results were expressed as bone mineral content (BMC), BMD and bone mineral apparent density (BMAD). Five rowers had anovulatory menstrual cycles compared with zero prevalence for the control subjects. Baseline TB BMD was significantly higher in the ovulatory rowers, with PF BMD, FN BMD and LS BMD similar for all groups. At completion, the LS bone accrual of the ovulatory rowers was significantly greater (BMC 8.1%, BMD 6.2%, BMAD 6.2%) than that of the anovulatory rowers (BMC 1.1%, BMD 3.9%, BMAD 1.6%) and ovulatory controls (BMC 0.5%, BMD 1.1%, BMAD 1.1%). No difference in TB, PF or FN bone accrual was observed among groups. This study demonstrated an osteogenic response to mechanical loading, with the rowers accruing greater bone mass than the controls at the lumbar spine. However, the exercise-induced osteogenic benefits were less when rowing training was associated with low estrogen and progesterone metabolite excretion.

Food futures: Three provocations to challenge HCI interventions

Our contemporary concerns about food range from food security to agricultural sustainability to getting dinner on the table for family and friends. This book investigates food issues as they intersect with participatory Internet culture--blogs, wikis, online photo- and video-sharing platforms, and social networks in efforts to bring about a healthy, socially inclusive, and sustainable food future. Focusing on our urban environments provisioned with digital and network capacities, and drawing on such "bottom-up" sociotechnical trends as DIY and open source, the chapters describe engagements with food and technology that engender (re-)creative interactions.

Molecular analysis of asymptomatic bacteriuria escherichia coli strain VR50 reveals adaptation to the urinary tract by gene acquisition

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infectious diseases of humans, with Escherichia coli responsible for >80% of all cases. One extreme of UTI is asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU), which occurs as an asymptomatic carrier state that resembles commensalism. To understand the evolution and molecular mechanisms that underpin ABU, the genome of the ABU E. coli strain VR50 was sequenced. Analysis of the complete genome indicated that it most resembles E. coli K-12, with the addition of a 94-kb genomic island (GI-VR50-pheV), eight prophages, and multiple plasmids. GI-VR50-pheV has a mosaic structure and contains genes encoding a number of UTI-associated virulence factors, namely, Afa (afimbrial adhesin), two autotransporter proteins (Ag43 and Sat), and aerobactin. We demonstrated that the presence of this island in VR50 confers its ability to colonize the murine bladder, as a VR50 mutant with GI-VR50-pheV deleted was attenuated in a mouse model of UTI in vivo. We established that Afa is the island-encoded factor responsible for this phenotype using two independent deletion (Afa operon and AfaE adhesin) mutants. E. coli VR50afa and VR50afaE displayed significantly decreased ability to adhere to human bladder epithelial cells. In the mouse model of UTI, VR50afa and VR50afaE displayed reduced bladder colonization compared to wild-type VR50, similar to the colonization level of the GI-VR50-pheV mutant. Our study suggests that E. coli VR50 is a commensal-like strain that has acquired fitness factors that facilitate colonization of the human bladder.