ProRefine: Valorisation of forage legumes for both monogastric animals and ruminants through fractionation

ProRefi ne aims to gain new knowledge about local food systems in organic farming based on fractionation of forage legumes, such as lucerne and red clover. We will compare fractionation at harvest (leaves and stems) and post-harvest (juice and pulp). We aim to develop protein feeds that are suitable for monogastric animals such as pigs and poultry and fi ber-rich feeds that can be used by ruminants such as dairy cows. We will develop integrated systems for animal production in organic farming that can be adapted to different regions in Europe and Turkey. Furthermore, we aim to assess the sustainability of such systems regarding economy, social aspects and environmental impact

Microfluidic multipoles: theory and applications

Microfluidic multipoles (MFMs) have been realized experimentally and hold promise for "open-space" biological and chemical surface processing. Whereas convective flow can readily be predicted using hydraulic-electrical analogies, the design of advanced MFMs is constrained by the lack of simple, accurate models to predict mass transport within them. In this work, we introduce the first exact solutions to mass transport in multipolar microfluidics based on the iterative conformal mapping of 2D advection-diffusion around a simple edge into dipoles and multipolar geometries, revealing a rich landscape of transport modes. The models were validated experimentally with a library of 3D printed MFM devices and found in excellent agreement. Following a theory-guided design approach, we further ideated and fabricated two new classes of spatiotemporally reconfigurable MFM devices that are used for processing surfaces with time-varying reagent streams, and to realize a multistep automated immunoassay. Overall, the results set the foundations for exploring, developing, and applying open-space MFMs.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure

The Microfluidic Probe: Operation and Use for Localized Surface Processing

Microfluidic devices allow assays to be performed using minute amounts of sample and have recently been used to control the microenvironment of cells. Microfluidics is commonly associated with closed microchannels which limit their use to samples that can be introduced, and cultured in the case of cells, within a confined volume. On the other hand, micropipetting system have been used to locally perfuse cells and surfaces, notably using push-pull setups where one pipette acts as source and the other one as sink, but the confinement of the flow is difficult in three dimensions. Furthermore, pipettes are fragile and difficult to position and hence are used in static configuration only. The microfluidic probe (MFP) circumvents the constraints imposed by the construction of closed microfluidic channels and instead of enclosing the sample into the microfluidic system, the microfluidic flow can be directly delivered onto the sample, and scanned across the sample, using the MFP. . The injection and aspiration openings are located within a few tens of micrometers of one another so that a microjet injected into the gap is confined by the hydrodynamic forces of the surrounding liquid and entirely aspirated back into the other opening. The microjet can be flushed across the substrate surface and provides a precise tool for localized deposition/delivery of reagents which can be used over large areas by scanning the probe across the surface. In this video we present the microfluidic probe (MFP). We explain in detail how to assemble the MFP, mount it atop an inverted microscope, and align it relative to the substrate surface, and finally show how to use it to process a substrate surface immersed in a buffer

An environmental signature for 323 microbial genomes based on codon adaptation indices

BACKGROUND: Codon adaptation indices (CAIs) represent an evolutionary strategy to modulate gene expression and have widely been used to predict potentially highly expressed genes within microbial genomes. Here, we evaluate and compare two very different methods for estimating CAI values, one corresponding to translational codon usage bias and the second obtained mathematically by searching for the most dominant codon bias. RESULTS: The level of correlation between these two CAI methods is a simple and intuitive measure of the degree of translational bias in an organism, and from this we confirm that fast replicating bacteria are more likely to have a dominant translational codon usage bias than are slow replicating bacteria, and that this translational codon usage bias may be used for prediction of highly expressed genes. By analyzing more than 300 bacterial genomes, as well as five fungal genomes, we show that codon usage preference provides an environmental signature by which it is possible to group bacteria according to their lifestyle, for instance soil bacteria and soil symbionts, spore formers, enteric bacteria, aquatic bacteria, and intercellular and extracellular pathogens. CONCLUSION: The results and the approach described here may be used to acquire new knowledge regarding species lifestyle and to elucidate relationships between organisms that are far apart evolutionarily

Planar microfluidics - liquid handling without walls

The miniaturization and integration of electronic circuitry has not only made the enormous increase in performance of semiconductor devices possible but also spawned a myriad of new products and applications ranging from a cellular phone to a personal computer. Similarly, the miniaturization and integration of chemical and biological processes will revolutionize life sciences. Drug design and diagnostics in the genomic era require reliable and cost effective high throughput technologies which can be integrated and allow for a massive parallelization. Microfluidics is the core technology to realize such miniaturized laboratories with feature sizes on a submillimeter scale. Here, we report on a novel microfluidic technology meeting the basic requirements for a microfluidic processor analogous to those of its electronic counterpart: Cost effective production, modular design, high speed, scalability and programmability

A human milk perspective on the transmission of maternal factors to her child:Focus on stress, nutrition and immunity

The early postpartum period is a critical time window of development during which maternal influences can lastingly affect the infant’s development and health through complex, multi-dynamic, and not yet completely understood mechanisms. In this thesis, we explore the hypothesis that human milk (HM) is one of these mechanisms by investigating three potential maternal impacts on HM composition, their interplay and their potential consequences for the infant, namely; maternal stress, nutrition and immunity.In this thesis we demonstrated that maternal stress was associated with a different HM fatty acid, amino acid, oligosaccharide and microbiome composition. In addition, we demonstrated that postpartum stress was associated with dietary intake in lactating women, which may in turn affect the composition of HM. Moreover, We demonstrated that maternal infection and vaccination induced immunoglobulin concentrations in HM and that maternal stress negatively affected these immunoglobulin concentrations. In the last part of this thesis we demonstrated that maternal stress-associated changes in HM composition mediate the association between maternal postpartum stress and infant temperament, and reviewed the available scientific evidence for nutritional intervention to combat the adverse consequences of early-life/maternal stress.This thesis demonstrates the complex interplay of maternal stress, nutrition and immune status in contributing to the breastfed infant’s development through their effects on HM fatty acids, amino acids, oligosaccharides, microbiome and immunoglobulins. For an optimal understanding of how HM plays a role in the transmission of maternal factors to the child, it is crucial to consider HM as a complex biological system within the mother-milk-infant triad

A human milk perspective on the transmission of maternal factors to her child:Focus on stress, nutrition and immunity

The early postpartum period is a critical time window of development during which maternal influences can lastingly affect the infant’s development and health through complex, multi-dynamic, and not yet completely understood mechanisms. In this thesis, we explore the hypothesis that human milk (HM) is one of these mechanisms by investigating three potential maternal impacts on HM composition, their interplay and their potential consequences for the infant, namely; maternal stress, nutrition and immunity.In this thesis we demonstrated that maternal stress was associated with a different HM fatty acid, amino acid, oligosaccharide and microbiome composition. In addition, we demonstrated that postpartum stress was associated with dietary intake in lactating women, which may in turn affect the composition of HM. Moreover, We demonstrated that maternal infection and vaccination induced immunoglobulin concentrations in HM and that maternal stress negatively affected these immunoglobulin concentrations. In the last part of this thesis we demonstrated that maternal stress-associated changes in HM composition mediate the association between maternal postpartum stress and infant temperament, and reviewed the available scientific evidence for nutritional intervention to combat the adverse consequences of early-life/maternal stress.This thesis demonstrates the complex interplay of maternal stress, nutrition and immune status in contributing to the breastfed infant’s development through their effects on HM fatty acids, amino acids, oligosaccharides, microbiome and immunoglobulins. For an optimal understanding of how HM plays a role in the transmission of maternal factors to the child, it is crucial to consider HM as a complex biological system within the mother-milk-infant triad

Crises in the Arctic: Upheavals in the Memoir of Josephine Diebitsch-Peary

In My Arctic Journey: A Year among Ice-Fields and Eskimos (1894), Josephine Diebitsch-Peary documents her experiences during the North Greenland Expedition of 1891–92, which began ominously when her husband, the famed Arctic explorer Robert E. Peary, broke his leg aboard the Kite and was carried to the expedition headquarters near the mouth of MacCormick Fjord. As the first white woman in the Arctic, Diebitsch-Peary faced numerous crises, torn as she was between True Womanhood ideals and desires for hunting and exploration. She navigated internal and external upheavals, depicting the Arctic landscape and native disputes, and vacillating between biased descriptions and identification with Inughuit women. Additional crises included the disappearance of mineralogist and meteorologist John M. Verhoeff and the pressures of her husband’s ambitions. Despite these challenges, she actively participated in the expedition, grappling with traditional role expectations and the demands of polar exploration. Her memoir reflects the personal, national, and international costs of a contested icescape, revealing the struggles she overcame and those she did not

Hans Christian Andersen in Trumpland

Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales have recently helped political and cultural observers figure out the Trump phenomenon. In post-election discussions of the Trump victory, frustrated Americans have drawn sustenance from Andersen’s fairy tale communities, both in “The Ugly Duckling” and most significantly in “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Emotion takes center stage both in Andersen’s fairy tales and in representations of Trumpland in sculpture, cartoons, political commentary and in J. D. Vance’s best-selling “Hillbilly Elegy” (2016), set among Trump’s white, working-class supporters. In contemporary US culture, Andersen assists worried Americans in explaining the dysfunctional community of Trump voters and the mental instabilities of the President. Andersen also stresses resistance and celebrates those confronting community conventions. Ultimately, he sees literature as a safeguard against fakery and abuse and shows the path towards resistance and truth, despite the endeavors of the 45th US President to take his country in the opposite direction