Potential application of Ganoderma lucidum in solid state fermentation of primary sludge and wheat straw

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Horace W. Slocum Journals - Accession 23

The Horace W. Slocum Journals include handwritten and typewritten accounts of Mr. Slocum’s journeys through South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Illinois, New Hampshire, and other states in search of rocks and minerals. Of special interest are photographs and maps of geological and mining sites in the typewritten, edited version of the journals. There is also a map index. The journals extend mainly from 1938 to 1956.

Banks Presbyterian Church History - Accession 195 - M87 (111)

The Banks Presbyterian Church History is a history written by Mrs. Lena P. Kell entitled “The Early History of Banks Presbyterian Church” describing the history of the church from 1870s to 1947. The church is located in Waxhaw, North Carolina near Fort Mill. (Photocopies)

Alexander Samuel Salley Letters - Accession 45 - M20 (30)

The Alexander Samuel Salley Letters consist of a 1930 letter concerning Salley’s comments on the exchange between South and North Carolina of two strips of land that led to the King’s Mountain becoming a part of South Carolina in 1772, eight years before the battle and a 1921 letter in which Salley addresses various historical songs of South Carolina and his reputation as an historian.

Robert Philips Lane Papers - Accession 108

The Robert Philips Lane Papers consist of lecture notes, term papers, examinations, class rolls, seating charts, speech notes and papers relating to Dr. Lane’s career as an English professor at Winthrop. Comprising a significant portion of the collection are research notes, writings, research papers, and other notes on literary figures and genres while Dr. Robert Philip Lane was a student at Thayer Academy, Harvard University, and the University of North Carolina.

Variation of Environmental Regulation Stringency Among the Top Ten U.S. Hog Producing States

The U.S. hog industry, once primarily made up of small owner-operated crop-hog farms, has become dominated by large specialized operations characterized by low costs and improved technologies in livestock management. Such changes have triggered concerns over the dangers large Hog Feeding Operations (HFOs) are likely to pose to the environment. In 2007, the top ten states accounted for more than 85 percent of total U.S. hog production (Iowa (IA), North Carolina (NC), Minnesota (MN), Illinois (IL), Nebraska (NE), Indiana (IN), Missouri (MO), Oklahoma (OK), Ohio (OH), and Kansas (KS)). With such domination on production, these states are often the subject of environmental debate relating to hog production. When farmers are required to incorporate environmental measures in hog production, their costs of production increase. Metcalfe (2001) found that small HFOs have found it difficult to cope with such costs and many have exited the industry, while large operations have not been affected at the same level. Due to the variation of environmental regulations among states, other operations moved to states with lax regulations (e.g. NC prior to the late 1990s). Such regulations appear to have played a major role in shaping the structure of the hog industry.

Cultivating Dreams - Harvesting Profits, Women In Agriculture 2009

The University of Nebraska!Lincoln Department of Agricultural Economics hosted the 24th Women in Agriculture (WIA) Conference February 26-27, 2009. Over 350 women participated in the event. A majority came from across the great state of Nebraska, but there were a few individuals that made the trip from California, Colorado, North Carolina, Kansas, Iowa and South Dakota. For some women, this was their first time experiencing the conference and for others it was their 24th time. Average attendance among the women was approximately 6.5 times. The main goal of the conference was to heighten the womens’ skills and gain knowledge to take back to their agricultural operations.

Showing that Early Childhood Education Works: Lessons from Italy, China, and the USA

Lessons from around the world; What does it matter about early childhood education? Why the controversy about public support for early childhood education? What process or system should be used to determine what works in early education? Can the same process be used to improve services? What is the role of government? Alternatives: 1. Consumers should determine… (What happens when private choices drive the market for early childhood services?) Observed quality of care in four Midwestern states; Parent data: “All things considered, how would you grade the quality of the care your child is receiving from his/her current caregiver?” Role of government What is a Quality Rating System? Ten states have implemented statewide systems (e.g. Colorado, Kentucky, Oklahoma, North Carolina) Findings 2. Objective science should determine… Firm findings from empirical research 3. Something else is needed: Some differences between Italian and American models. Teacher action research (and documentation) from a Reggio-inspired preschool in South Korea by Misuk Kim. Teacher Action Research at the Ruth Staples CDL. Can we now answer our opening questions? What process or system should be used to determine what is best for young children? Can the same process be used to improve the quality of services? Conclusions: The free market does not work well to determine quality in early education and care; Licensing, accreditation, and quality rating systems can help improve the market; Empirical research is useful for measuring what works; Teacher action research (reflective practice) is necessary for fostering continuous quality improvement. The tower of quality.

Creating a Diversity Movement in the University

What kind of actions can a university take to create a diversity movement within its confines? Taking recent work at North Carolina State University as the prototype, this session will be used to outline and discuss the characteristics of administrative action that can lead to a comprehensive and programmatic diversity movement within any college or university.

The Probe, Issue 223 – July/August 2002

• Suburban Invasion! By Wildlife? -- Michelle L. Shuey, Southwest Texas State University • What are the health risks of consuming meat from deer or elk infected with Chronic Wasting Disease ? • The 68th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference is set for March 26-30, 2003, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina • Book Review: Living in the Shadows: How to Help the Stray Cat in Your Life (Without Adding to the Problem) by Ann K. Fisher.--“I was impressed with her chapter on taming feral cats. It would certainly take a dedicated soul to put that much work into taming a cat.” • Goose School: the first National Goose Management Training Academy in Indianapolis, Indiana (June 8 & 9, 2002) -- Larry Sullivan • The California Contractors State License Board, (CSLB), recently approved a new sub-classification in its Non-Specialty Contractors License category. The new license is listed as C-61/D-64 "Animal Damage and Bird Control". • Los Angeles animal control recently approved increased efforts to control coyotes in residential areas by using traditional deterrent programs. • Identifying Predator Kills: Texas A&M has a website with some excellent photos to help identify predator kills of livestock. See http://texnat.tamu.edu/ranchref/predator/p-gen.htm • History of Wolf Attacks in Europe and Asia -- Barton Stam, Utah State University

LYOCELL AND COTTON FIBERS AS REINFORCEMENTS FOR A THERMOSET POLYMER

Cellulose fibers obtained from the textile industry (lyocell) were investigated as a potential reinforcement for thermoset phenolic matrices, to improve their mechanical properties. Textile cotton fibers were also considered. The fibers were characterized in terms of their chemical composition and analyzed using TGA, SEM, and X-ray. The thermoset (non-reinforced) and composites (phenolic matrices reinforced with randomly dispersed fibers) were characterized using TG, DSC, SEM, DMTA, the Izod impact strength test, and water absorption capacity analysis. The composites that were reinforced with lyocell fibers exhibited impact strengths of nearly 240 Jm(-1), whereas those reinforced with cotton fibers exhibited impact strengths of up to 773 Jm(-1). In addition to the aspect ratio, the higher crystallinity of cotton fibers compared to lyocell likely plays a role in the impact strength of the composite reinforced by the fibers. The SEM images showed that the porosity of the textile fibers allowed good bulk diffusion of the phenolic resin, which, in turn, led to both good adhesion of fiber to matrix and fewer microvoids at the interface.

Switching the mode of sucrose utilization by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract Background Overflow metabolism is an undesirable characteristic of aerobic cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during biomass-directed processes. It results from elevated sugar consumption rates that cause a high substrate conversion to ethanol and other bi-products, severely affecting cell physiology, bioprocess performance, and biomass yields. Fed-batch culture, where sucrose consumption rates are controlled by the external addition of sugar aiming at its low concentrations in the fermentor, is the classical bioprocessing alternative to prevent sugar fermentation by yeasts. However, fed-batch fermentations present drawbacks that could be overcome by simpler batch cultures at relatively high (e.g. 20 g/L) initial sugar concentrations. In this study, a S. cerevisiae strain lacking invertase activity was engineered to transport sucrose into the cells through a low-affinity and low-capacity sucrose-H+ symport activity, and the growth kinetics and biomass yields on sucrose analyzed using simple batch cultures. Results We have deleted from the genome of a S. cerevisiae strain lacking invertase the high-affinity sucrose-H+ symporter encoded by the AGT1 gene. This strain could still grow efficiently on sucrose due to a low-affinity and low-capacity sucrose-H+ symport activity mediated by the MALx1 maltose permeases, and its further intracellular hydrolysis by cytoplasmic maltases. Although sucrose consumption by this engineered yeast strain was slower than with the parental yeast strain, the cells grew efficiently on sucrose due to an increased respiration of the carbon source. Consequently, this engineered yeast strain produced less ethanol and 1.5 to 2 times more biomass when cultivated in simple batch mode using 20 g/L sucrose as the carbon source. Conclusion Higher cell densities during batch cultures on 20 g/L sucrose were achieved by using a S. cerevisiae strain engineered in the sucrose uptake system. Such result was accomplished by effectively reducing sucrose uptake by the yeast cells, avoiding overflow metabolism, with the concomitant reduction in ethanol production. The use of this modified yeast strain in simpler batch culture mode can be a viable option to more complicated traditional sucrose-limited fed-batch cultures for biomass-directed processes of S. cerevisiae.

Distribution of nitrogen fixation and nitrogenase-like sequences amongst microbial genomes

Abstract Background The metabolic capacity for nitrogen fixation is known to be present in several prokaryotic species scattered across taxonomic groups. Experimental detection of nitrogen fixation in microbes requires species-specific conditions, making it difficult to obtain a comprehensive census of this trait. The recent and rapid increase in the availability of microbial genome sequences affords novel opportunities to re-examine the occurrence and distribution of nitrogen fixation genes. The current practice for computational prediction of nitrogen fixation is to use the presence of the nifH and/or nifD genes. Results Based on a careful comparison of the repertoire of nitrogen fixation genes in known diazotroph species we propose a new criterion for computational prediction of nitrogen fixation: the presence of a minimum set of six genes coding for structural and biosynthetic components, namely NifHDK and NifENB. Using this criterion, we conducted a comprehensive search in fully sequenced genomes and identified 149 diazotrophic species, including 82 known diazotrophs and 67 species not known to fix nitrogen. The taxonomic distribution of nitrogen fixation in Archaea was limited to the Euryarchaeota phylum; within the Bacteria domain we predict that nitrogen fixation occurs in 13 different phyla. Of these, seven phyla had not hitherto been known to contain species capable of nitrogen fixation. Our analyses also identified protein sequences that are similar to nitrogenase in organisms that do not meet the minimum-gene-set criteria. The existence of nitrogenase-like proteins lacking conserved co-factor ligands in both diazotrophs and non-diazotrophs suggests their potential for performing other, as yet unidentified, metabolic functions. Conclusions Our predictions expand the known phylogenetic diversity of nitrogen fixation, and suggest that this trait may be much more common in nature than it is currently thought. The diverse phylogenetic distribution of nitrogenase-like proteins indicates potential new roles for anciently duplicated and divergent members of this group of enzymes.

Older Breast Cancer Survivors: Geriatric Assessment Domains Are Associated With Poor Tolerance of Treatment Adverse Effects and Predict Mortality Over 7 Years of Follow-Up

Purpose To evaluate geriatric assessment (GA) domains in relation to clinically important outcomes in older breast cancer survivors. Methods Six hundred sixty women diagnosed with primary breast cancer in four US geographic regions (Los Angeles, CA; Minnesota; North Carolina; and Rhode Island) were selected with disease stage I to IIIA, age ≥ 65 years at date of diagnosis, and permission from attending physician to contact. Data were collected over 7 years of follow-up from consenting patients' medical records, telephone interviews, physician questionnaires, and the National Death Index. Outcomes included self-reported treatment tolerance and all-cause mortality. Four GA domains were described by six individual measures, as follows: sociodemographic by adequate finances; clinical by Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) and body mass index; function by number of physical function limitations; and psychosocial by the five-item Mental Health Index (MHI5) and Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS). Associations were evaluated using t tests, χ2 tests, and regression analyses. Results In multivariable regression including age and stage, three measures from two domains (clinical and psychosocial) were associated with poor treatment tolerance; these were CCI ≥ 1 (odds ratio [OR] = 2.49; 95% CI, 1.18 to 5.25), MHI5 score less than 80 (OR = 2.36; 95% CI, 1.15 to 4.86), and MOS-SSS score less than 80 (OR = 3.32; 95% CI, 1.44 to 7.66). Four measures representing all four GA domains predicted mortality; these were inadequate finances (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.89; 95% CI, 1.24 to 2.88; CCI ≥ 1 (HR = 1.38; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.88), functional limitation (HR = 1.40; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.93), and MHI5 score less than 80 (HR = 1.34; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.85). In addition, the proportion of women with these outcomes incrementally increased as the number of GA deficits increased. Conclusion This study provides longitudinal evidence that GA domains are associated with poor treatment tolerance and predict mortality at 7 years of follow-up, independent of age and stage of disease.

Longitudinal patterns in survival, comorbidity, healthcare utilization and quality of care among older women following breast cancer diagnosis

OBJECTIVES To compare longitudinal patterns of health care utilization and quality of care for other health conditions between breast cancer-surviving older women and a matched cohort without breast cancer. DESIGN Prospective five-year longitudinal comparison of cases and matched controls. SUBJECTS Newly identified breast cancer patients recruited during 1997–1999 from four geographic regions (Los Angeles, CA; Minnesota; North Carolina; and Rhode Island; N = 422) were matched by age, race, baseline comorbidity and zip code location with up to four non-breast-cancer controls (N = 1,656). OUTCOMES Survival; numbers of hospitalized days and physician visits; total inpatient and outpatient Medicare payments; guideline monitoring for patients with cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and bone density testing and colorectal cancer screening. RESULTS Five-year survival was similar for cases and controls (80% and 82%, respectively; p = 0.18). In the first follow-up year, comorbidity burden and health care utilization were higher for cases (p < 0.01), with most differences diminishing over time. However, the number of physician visits was higher for cases (p < 0.01) in every year, driven partly by more cancer and surgical specialist visits. Cases and controls adhered similarly to recommended bone density testing, and monitoring of cardiovascular disease and diabetes; adherence to recommended colorectal cancer screening was better among cases. CONCLUSION Breast cancer survivors’ health care utilization and disease burden return to pre-diagnosis levels after one year, yet their greater use of outpatient care persists at least five years. Quality of care for other chronic health problems is similar for cases and controls.