Rebuilding a community: lessons from New Orleans

Whether low-income communities are struggling to rebuild after a hurricane or after long neglect, the challenges often seem insurmountable. The New Orleans 9th Ward’s inclusive approach to decision making shows that the best revitalization plans are those with the broadest buy-in.Community development

The Geospace Dynamics Observatory (GDO) A Paradigm-changing Geospace Mission

No abstract availabl

Adventures and lessons in start-up land

No Abstracts

Sensors for continuous monitoring of disposable bioreactors

Continuous monitoring of biotechnological processes is important for control and optimization of quality and productivity. Typically, samples must be removed from the cultivation and analyzed in a laboratory to determine the concentrations of substrates and products. These time-delayed data cannot be used for real-time process control. The Process Analytical Technology initiative of the FDA supports the use of on-line measurement techniques for process development, production, and quality. Single-use systems are increasingly used in biotechnological applications, and face at least as many challenges as their stainless steel counterparts for process monitoring because the range of available sensors is limited to temperature, pH, and other parameters that do not directly reveal the progress of the cultivation. Furthermore, the requirements for sensors used in disposable reactors may be different than those for sensors for multi-use reactors. An overview of sensors will be presented, focusing on in-situ disposable sensors that contact the biological medium, and external sensors that contact the medium either optically (ex situ) or via a sterile (and disposable) sample removal system (on line). A specific example will then be presented: a new optical enzymatic sensor system for the continuous, direct, quantitative measurement of sugars and other organic molecules in aqueous media. This sensor system has three parts: a replaceable sensor tip, an opto-electronic hardware unit, and an optical fiber with a length appropriate for the application. The sensor tip includes a two-layer detection element – one layer containing a detection enzyme affixed to another fluorophore-containing layer. The change in fluorescence characteristics depends on the analyte concentration, and these sensors can be designed to provide quantitative output over different concentration ranges. These sensors can be sterilized with gamma irradiation. Performance metrics including the limit of detection have been determined glucose, lactose, and other analytes

Monitoring of microalgal cultivations with on-line, flow-through microscopy

Microalgal cultivations present challenges for monitoring and process control posed by their large scale and the likelihood that they will be composed of multiple species. Cell concentration is a fundamental parameter in any cultivation but is typically measured using off-line methods that may be time-consuming, laborious, or subject to interferences. Here, an in-situ microscope has been adapted for monitoring microalgal cultivations by adding a flow-through cell and adjusting image-processing algorithms. After installation in the bypass of a photobioreactor, the microscope enabled the continuous, automated acquisition of cell count, cell size, and cell morphology data on-line during cultivation processes over a period of 20. days, without sampling. The flow-through microscope was tested in cultivations of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Chlorella vulgaris. Cell concentration measurements were in agreement with off-line optical density measurements for both species. In addition, cell size and morphology distributions were obtained that revealed population shifts during the cultivation of C. vulgaris. This monitoring system thus provides a means to obtain detailed, non-invasive insights of microalgal cultivation processes.Jud and Pat Harper Professorship in Chemical and Biological EngineeringSustainable Bioenergy Development Center of Colorado State Universit

Creating a Community/University Partnership That Works: The Case of the East St. Louis Action Research Project

Metropolitan universities are increasingly being challenged to focus more research, teaching, and service resources on the problems of /ow-income urban communities. This article describes how students and faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are using participatory action research methods to enhance the capacity of community-based organizations in East St. Louis. The article documents their accomplishments and the institutional, environmental, political, racial, and class barriers that successful university/community partnerships must overcome

Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Biochemical Engineering Symposium

The 21st Annual Biochemical Engineering Symposium was held at Colorado State University on April 20, 1991. The primary goals of this symposium series are to provide an opportunity for students to present and publish their research work and to promote informal discussions on biochemical engineering research. Contents High Density Fed-Batch Cultivation and Energy Metabolism of Bacillus thuringtensis; W.-M. Liu, V. Bihari, M. Starzak, and R.K. Bajpai Influences of Medium Composition and Cultivation Conditions on Recombinant Protein Production by Bacillus subtilis; K. Park, P.M. Linzmaier, and K.F. Reardon Characterization of a Foreign Gene Expression in a Recombinant T7 Expression System Infected with λ Phages; F. Miao and D.S. Kompala Simulation of an Enzymatic Membrane System with Forced Periodic Supply of Substrate; N. Nakaiwa, M. Yashima, L.T. Fan, and T. Ohmori Batch Extraction of Dilut Acids in a Hollow Fiber Module; D.G. O\u27Brien and C.E. Glatz Evaluation of a New Electrophoretic Device for Protein Purification; M.-J. Juang and R.G. Harrison Crossflow Microfiltration and Membrane Fouling for Yeast Cell Suspension; S. Redkar and R. Davis Interaction of MBP-β-Galactosidase Fusion Protein with Starch; L. Taladriz and Z. Nikolov Predicting the Solubility of Recombinant Proteins in Escherichia coli; D.L. Wilkinson and R.G. Harrison Evolution of a Phase-Separated, Gravity-Independent Bioractor; P.E. Villeneuve and E.H. Dunlop A Strategy for the Decontamination of Soils Containing Elevated Levels of PCP; S. Ghoshal, S. K. Banelji, and RK. Bajpai Practical Considerations for Implementation of a Field Scale In-Situ Bioremediation Project; J.P. McDonald, CA Baldwin, and L.E. Erickson Parametric Sensitivity Studies of Rhizopus oligosporus Solid Substrate Fermentation; J. Sargantanis, M.N. Karim, and V.G. Murphy, and RP. Tengerdy Production of Acetyl-Xylan Esterase from Aspergillus niger; M.R Samara and J.C. Linden Biological and Latex Particle Partitioning in Aqueous Two-Phase Systems; D.T.L. Hawker, RH. Davis, P.W. Todd, and R Lawson Novel Bioreactor /Separator for Microbial Desulfurization of Coal; H. Gecol, RH. Davis, and J .R Mattoon Effect of Plants and Trees on the Fate, Transport and Biodegradation of Contaminants in the Soil and Ground Water; W. Huang, E. Lee, J.F. Shimp, L.C. Davis, L.E. Erickson, and J.C. Tracy Sound Production by Interfacial Effects in Airlift Reactors; J. Hua, T.-Y. Yiin, LA Glasgow, and L.E. Erickson Soy Yogurt Fermentation of Rapid Hydration Hydrothermal Cooked Soy Milk; P. Tuitemwong, L.E. Erickson, and D.Y.C. Fung Influence of Carbon Source on Pentachlorophenol Degradation by Phanerochaete chrysosportum in Soil; C.-Y.M. Hsieh, RK. Bajpai, and S.K. Banerji Cellular Responses of Insect Cells Spodopiera frugiperda -9 to Hydrodynamic Stresses; P.L.-H. Yeh and RK. Bajpa1 A Mathematical Model for Ripening of Cheddar Cheese; J. Kim, M. Starzak, G.W. Preckshoi, and R.K. Bajpaihttps://lib.dr.iastate.edu/bce_proceedings/1020/thumbnail.jp

Winston Churchill as a historical novelist

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1941. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Increased yield and productivity for the conversion of algal biomass carbohydrates

Microbial conversion of bio-based fuels and chemicals requires innovative strategies to achieve the best possible economic and sustainability metrics. While most studies have focused on the conversion of sugars from lignocellulosic hydrolysates, algal biomass is an appealing source of fermentable carbohydrates because of the high growth rates of algae relative to plants. The conversion of carbohydrates in algal biomass via fermentation is an important component of an overall strategy to maximize the areal productivity of fuels and chemicals from algal cultivations. There are two classic challenges to improving the cost and sustainability metrics of chemical production via fermentation: increasing product yield from substrate and increasing productivity. The goal of this project is to achieve these goals for ethanol production from algal hydrolysates. The strategies relied on the use of immobilized-cell technology in a continuous cultivation system, which has the potential to achieve significantly higher productivities than those from standard batch fermentation using free cells. Importantly, cell immobilization can also facilitate strategies for increasing the yield (carbon conversion efficiency) of sugar-to-product conversion. One such strategy, restricting biomass production, was shown to significantly improve yields. Proteome profiling was used to characterize the effects of this treatment. Hydrolysates of the alga Desmodesmus armatus were prepared using a dilute acid treatment at elevated temperature and pressure. A mock hydrolysate medium containing glucose, mannose, and galactose was also used. Saccharomyces cerevisae JAY 270 cells were immobilized in alginate to produce ethanol from algal or mock hydrolysates of D. armatus. The immobilized cells were packed in a column that was used in a system that operated either in chemostat or single-pass plug-flow mode. The rates of immobilized-cell production of ethanol were determined, along with the effects of pH, temperature, and residence time in the continuous immobilized-cell bioreactor system. No added nutrients are required for ethanol production using the algal hydrolysate of D. armatus in the continuous immobilized-cell bioreactor system. pH 4 and 35 °C are the optimum conditions for the immobilized yeast fermentation. The productivity of the chemostat-like continuous immobilized-cell bioreactor system could be more than ten times that of free-cell bioreactors. Furthermore, shorter residence times led to higher ethanol productivities but lower glucose conversion rates. A sequence of a continuous well-mixed bioreactor and a plugflow bioreactor is shown to achieve both goals. The increase in productivity can benefit the economics and sustainability of the overall process for production of algal biofuels, and the strategies described here are applicable to any extracellular metabolite production process

Optical enzymatic sensors for continuous monitoring of bioreactors

Continuous monitoring of biotechnological processes is important for control and optimization of quality and productivity. Typically, samples must be removed from the cultivation and analyzed in a laboratory to determine the concentrations of substrates and products. These time-delayed data cannot be used for real-time process control. The Process Analytical Technology initiative of the FDA supports the use of on-line measurement techniques for process development, production, and quality. An overview of sensors will be presented, focusing on in-situ sensors that contact the biological medium, and external sensors that contact the medium either optically (ex situ) or via a sterile (and disposable) sample removal system (on line). A specific example will then be presented: a new optical enzymatic sensor system for the continuous, direct, quantitative measurement of sugars and other organic molecules in aqueous media. This sensor system has three parts: a replaceable sensor tip, an opto-electronic hardware unit, and an optical fiber with a length appropriate for the application. The sensor tip includes a two-layer detection element – one layer containing a detection enzyme affixed to another fluorophore-containing layer. The change in fluorescence characteristics depends on the analyte concentration, and these sensors can be designed to provide quantitative output over different concentration ranges. These sensors can be sterilized with gamma irradiation. Performance metrics including the limit of detection have been determined for glucose, lactose, and other analytes