Can the environmental benefits of biomass support agriculture?—The case of cereals for electricity and bioethanol production in Northern Spain

Recent policy documents, such as the EC Communication on an Energy Policy for Europe (January 2007) make emphasis on the opportunities that energy applications can offer certain agricultural commodities, especially in the framework of a progressive dismantling of the Common Agricultural Policy. This paper analyses whether this can be true for wheat and barley farmers, using the real example of a straw-based power plant in Northern Spain and a theoretical factory for bioethanol production fed with cereal grain. The outcomes of such an exercise, in which their relative environmental benefits vis-à-vis fossil fuel alternatives are worked out with the aid of a simplified life-cycle approach, show that the characteristics of the electricity and biomass markets, the baseline scenario and the fuel prices are crucial for the future of the sector.     

Massive mesh hole repair minimizing user intervention

In constructing a model of a large twelfth century monument, we face the repair of a huge amount of small to medium-sized defects in the mesh. The total size of the mesh after registration was in the vicinity of 173M-triangles, and presented 14,622 holes of different sizes. Although other algorithms have been presented in the literature to fix these defects, in this case a fully automatic algorithm able to fix most of the defects is needed. In this paper we present the algorithms developed for this purpose, together with examples and results to measure the final surface quality. The algorithm is based on the iteration of smoothing and fitting steps on a uniform B-Spline defined on a 3D box domain bounding the hole. Tricubic and trilinear B-Splines are compared and the respective effectiveness is discussed.     

Diagnosis of Boards for Realistic Interconnect Shorts

Original algorithms and tools for generating diagnostic test setsfor board interconnect shorts, and assessing their diagnostic resolution areproposed. The test sets are derived from a representation of realisticshorts, extracted from the board layout. Diagnostic resolution isstatistically evaluated by simulating diagnosis of a sample of realisticshorts. The overall methodology is based on a new theoretical framework thataccounts for the probabilities of shorts, according to their multiplicityand possible logic behaviour. Results on real board layouts show that,compared to the traditional schemes, our test sets have higher diagnosticresolution, shorter test vectors, and can be produced efficiently.     

Comparative study of DNA extraction methods for soybean derived food products

The present work describes the comparison of four DNA extraction methods applied to a wide range of soybean derived food products. The methods included the commercial kits NucleoSpin and GeneSpin, the CTAB, and the Wizard methods. The protocols have been compared for their extraction efficiency, evaluated by the determination of yield and purity of DNA extracts, as well as amplifiability. All the methods produced DNA suitable for PCR amplification for the majority of analysed foods, with the exception of soybean sauces and some processed foods. The NucleoSpin and GeneSpin methods showed the best results for DNA yield and purity, when applied to soybean flours and protein isolates. The CTAB and Wizard methods were generally well suited to all kind the food matrices tested. The extraction of processed foods, such as drinks, desserts or vegetarian foods was better achieved with the CTAB or the Wizard methods as both produced high number of amplifiable extracts. The four methods showed similar performances for real-time PCR amplification.     

The hydroxyl of threonine 13 of the bovine 70-kDa heat shock cognate protein is essential for transducing the ATP-induced conformational change

The mechanism by which ATP binding transduces a conformational change in 70-kDa heat shock proteins that results in release of bound peptides remains obscure. Wei and Hendershot demonstrated that mutating Thr37 of hamster BiP to glycine impeded the ATP-induced conformational change, as monitored by proteolysis [(1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 26670-26676]. We have mutated the equivalent resitude of the bovine heat shock cognate protein (Hsc70), Thr13, to serine, valine, and glycine. Solution small-angle X-ray scattering experiments on a 60-kDa fragment of Hsc70 show that ATP binding induces a conformational change in the T13S mutant but not the T13V or T13G mutants. The kinetics of ATP-induced tryptophan fluorescence intensity changes in the 60-kDa proteins is biphasic for the T13S mutant but monophasic for T13V or T13G, consistent with a conformational change following initial ATP binding in the T13S mutant but not the other two. Crystallographic structures of the ATPase fragments of the T13S and T13G mutants at 1.7 A resolution show that the mutations do not disrupt the ATP binding site and that the serine hydroxyl mimics the threonine hydroxyl in the wild-type structure. We conclude that the hydroxyl of Thr13 is essential for coupling ATP binding to a conformational change in Hsc70. Molecular modeling suggests this may result from the threonine hydroxyl hydrogen-bonding to a gamma-phosphate oxygen of ATP, thereby inducing a structural shift within the ATPase domain that couples to its interactions with the peptide binding domain.     

Severe acute liver failure as the initial manifestation of haematological malignancy

Acute liver failure is rarely secondary to lymphoma or leukaemia and it is extremely uncommon as the initial presentation of malignancy. We report a case of a young adult patient with severe acute liver failure referred for liver transplant, in which a Burkitt acute lymphoblastic leukaemia was diagnosed by bone marrow examination. A complete recovery and long remission were obtained with chemotherapy.     

The use of olive mill wastewater by wild type Yarrowia lipolytica strains: medium supplementation and surfactant presence effect

BACKGROUND: The aim of this work was to study the ability of two different wild type strains of the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica to grow on olive mill wastewater (OMW) and their potential to produce high‐value products such as lipases. Factors that affect cellular growth and OMW degradation were studied, such as nitrogen supplementation, cells concentration and surfactant addition. RESULTS: Both strains, W29 and IMUFRJ 50682, were able to grow in OMW with 19 g L^?1 of COD and approximately 800 mg L^?1 of total phenols concentration. The strain W29 presented the highest potential for extracellular lipase production in OMW medium. Lipase productivity was improved by the medium supplementation with ammonium sulphate up to 6 g L^?1, leading to 80% of COD degradation and 70% of total phenols reduction. The surfactant Tween 80 enhanced cell growth and COD degradation, but had a negative effect on lipase activity. CONCLUSIONS Y. lipolytica has a great potential for OMW valorisation by its use as culture medium for biomass and enzymes production. The operating conditions that favoured lipase production differ from the conditions that improve COD reduction. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

PCR-based methodology for the authentication of grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) in commercial fish fillets

In an attempt to authenticate commercial frauds in fish fillets of grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) by being substituted with those of Nile perch (Lates niloticus) and wreck fish (Polyprion americanus), a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, based on the design of specific primers of these species was explored here. The oligonucleotides, which were designed from the 12S ribosomal RNA gene, generated PCR fragments of 100, 138 and 169 bp length for grouper, wreck fish and Nile perch respectively. The specificity of the primers was tested against more than 50 different fish species. Moreover, in this work 70 commercial fish fillets samples were analysed by this methodology; 58 out of them confirmed to be incorrectly labelled. The results suggest that this method may be a reliable tool for the detection of grouper adulteration. Also, this technique may help implementation of traceability systems in the seafood industry.     

Decay of pavement mortar due to thaumasite formation

BACKGROUND: This paper discusses the formation of thaumasite in the mortar sub‐flooring used as a base material for laying tiles, and the influence of this mineral in relation to deterioration of building materials. An investigation of a mortar sub‐flooring constructed with dolomitic limestone sand with high sulfate content used to settle a ceramic pavement was carried out. RESULTS: The mortar sub‐flooring underwent an important deterioration process due to the formation of expansive compounds in the environmental conditions of temperature and humidity of the installation area in Murcia (Spain). Expansion appeared essentially at the interface between the ceramic tiles and the mortar sub‐flooring, an area consisting primarily of cement paste. CONCLUSION: Materials present in the soft pulpy mass were examined by X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐rays. The presence of thaumasite was detected, which had been formed under conditions of temperature higher than temperatures reported in the literature and with a high degree of humidity. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Physical and numerical modelling of a solar chimney-based ventilation system for buildings

This paper describes an experimental and numerical study to analyse the thermal performance of a bio-climatic building prototype in Nigeria. The roof performs as a solar chimney, generating an air flow through the living space of the building to provide cooling. Experimental tests on a 1:12 small-scale model of the prototype are outlined, and the results, bith qualitative and quatitative, are used to validate a two-dimensional flow simulation model, in which the steady state conservation equations of mass, momentum and thermal energy are solved using a finite volume formulation.

The experimental and numerical results, expressed in terms of temperature and velocity fields, for two different window geometries are critically evaluated and compared with good agreement.