Composition analysis and application of degradation products of whole feathers through a large scale of fermentation

Purpose

Feathers are one of the most abundant bioresources. They are discarded as waste in most cases and could cause environmental pollution. On the other hand, keratin constituted by amino acids is the main component of feathers. In this article, we reported on biorefined feathers and integrants and application of degraded products.

Materials and methods

The fermentation of whole chicken feathers with Stenotrophomonas maltophilia DHHJ in a scale-up of a 5-L bioreactor was investigated in this article. The fermentation process was controlled at 0.08 MPa pressure, 2.5 L/min airflow, and 300 rpm as 100% oxygen saturation level, 40°C, and pH 7.8.

Results

Feathers were almost completely degraded in the tested fermentation reaction with the following conditions: 80 g of whole feathers in 3 L fermentation broth for 72 h, seed age of 16 h, 100 mL inoculation amount, and 50% oxygen saturation level. The degraded products contain 397.1 mg/L soluble protein that has mass weight ranging from 10 to 160 kD, 336.9 mg/L amino acids, and many kinds of metal ions. The fermentation broth was evaluated as leaf fertilizer and found to increase plant growth to 82% or 66% for two- or fourfold dilutions, respectively. In addition, in a hair care assay, the broth showed a hair protective function by increasing weight, flexibility, and strength of the treated hair.

Conclusions

The whole feathers were degraded completely by S. maltophilia DHHJ. The degraded product includes many factors to life, such as peptides, amino acids, and mineral elements. It could be applied as leaf fertilizer and hair care product.     

Combined inverse modeling approach and load duration curve method for variable nitrogen total maximum daily load development in an agricultural watershed

Purpose  

Nonpoint sources (NPS) pollution has been an important cause for water quality impairment worldwide. To take the temporal variations of both NPS pollution and in-stream attenuation into consideration, an inverse modeling approach and the load duration curve (LDC) method were combined for variable nutrient total maximum daily load (TMDL) development.     

Uptake and distribution of metals by water lettuce (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pistia stratiotes</Emphasis> L.)

Background, aim and scope  

Water quality impairment by heavy metal contamination is on the rise worldwide. Phytoremediation technology has been increasingly applied to remediate wastewater and stormwater polluted by heavy metals.     

甲基氯硅烷生产废液制备氯化氢和有机硅树脂

研究了将高、低沸点甲基氯硅烷生产废液分别通过醇解和水解反应制备HCl和有机硅树脂的工艺方法,考察了醇解时间、醇解温度和m(废液)∶m(甲醇)等因素对产物收率的影响.实验得到最佳反应条件为:m(废液)∶m(甲醇)=1∶0.5,醇解温度65℃,醇解时间2h.在该条件下由高、低沸点废液制得的有机硅树脂收率分别为43.2％和40.6％.将制得的有机硅树脂经500℃干燥处理后,可作为填料,制备有机硅树脂-聚氯乙烯复合材料.该材料的力学性能与SiO2 -聚氯乙烯复合材料接近.     

G2京津塘高速公路万辆车流的交通事故灾害与气象综合指数的关系

通过整理G2京津塘高速公路3年(2007年3月至2010年2月)逐日逐时万辆车流的交通事故灾害和交通流量及气象要素资料,并将万辆车流的交通事故灾害(交通事故灾害与交通流量之商)与同步气象综合指数进行日变化相关分析;结果表明:平均万辆车流的交通事故灾害的日变化最高峰出现在05时,年平均高峰值高达2.34起·辆-1·10-4;年度、春季、夏季、秋季和冬季的平均万辆车流的交通事故灾害与同步气象综合指数均呈正抛物线的偏右侧相关,即万辆车流的交通事故灾害随气象综合指数的加大而增多;统计学检验(R＞Rα=0.01和F＞Fa=0.01)效果很好.四个季节的万辆车流的交通事故灾害与气象综合指数相关的系数高达0.7781～0.8537.为了更好地将自动气象监测信息服务于高速公路交通安全,在分析成果的基础上设计出了高速公路万辆车流的交通事故灾害的气象综合指数风险等级指标,以期为高速公路交通安全提供客观的科学依据.     

保护地球环境

1972年联合国在瑞典的斯德哥尔摩召开了有113个国家参加的联合国人类环境会议。会议讨论了保护全球环境的行动计划,通过了《人类环境宣言》。会议建议联合国大会将这次会议开幕的6月5日定为“世界环境保护日”。同年10月联合国大会第27届会议接受并通过了这一建议。每年的6月5日,世界各国都开展群众性的环境保护宣传纪念活动,以唤起全世界人民都来注意保护人类赖以生存的环境,自觉采取行动参与环境保护的共同努力,同时要求各国政府和联合国系统为推进环境保护进程做出贡献。     

历史上的灾难年2007

2007年是历史上的灾难年。由于受全球气候变暖影响,我国多个省市发生了各种自然灾害,如干旱、洪水、泥石流、滑坡、飓风等,尤其是洪涝灾害,经济损失惨重。另有朝鲜、缅甸以及南亚的印度、孟加拉国、尼泊尔也成了一片泽国;就连美国也未幸免于洪灾。现简述如下。     

The fragmentation patterns of maternal plasma cell-free DNA and its applications in non-invasive prenatal testing

The discovery of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in maternal plasma has opened up new promises for the development of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). Application of cfDNA in NIPT of fetus diseases and abnormalities is restricted by the low amount of fetal DNA molecules in maternal plasma. Fetus-derived cfDNA in maternal plasma are shorter than maternal DNA, thus leveraging the maternal and fetus-derived cfDNA molecules size difference has become a novel and more accurate method for NIPT. However, multiple biological properties such as size distribution of plasma DNA, proportion of fetal-derived DNA and methylation levels in maternal plasma across different gestational ages still remain largely unknown. Further insights into the size distribution and fragmentation pattern of circulating plasma cfDNA will shed light on the origin and fragmentation mechanisms of cfDNA during physiological and pathological processes in prenatal diseases and enhance our ability to take the advantage of plasma cfDNA as a molecular diagnostic tool. In the review, we start by summarizing the research techniques for the determination of the fragmentation profiles of cfDNA in maternal plasma. We then summarize the main progress and findings in size profiles of maternal plasma cfDNA and cffDNA. Finally, we discuss the potential diagnostic applications of plasma cfDNA size profiling.     

Pyrolysis behavior of tire-derived fuels at different temperatures and heating rates

Pyrolytic product distribution rates and pyrolysis behavior of tire-derived fuels (TDF) were investigated using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) techniques. A TGA was designed and built to investigate the behavior and products of pyrolysis of typical TDF specimens. The fundamental knowledge of TGA analysis and principal fuel analysis are applied in this study. Thermogravimetry of the degradation temperature of the TDF confirms the overall decomposition rate of the volatile products during the depolymerization reaction. The principal fuel analysis (proximate and ultimate analysis) of the pyrolytic char products show the correlation of volatilization into the gas and liquid phases and the existence of fixed carbon and other compounds that remain as a solid char. The kinetic parameters were calculated using least square with minimizing sum of error square technique. The results show that the average kinetic parameters of TDF are the activation energy, E = 1322 +/- 244 kJ/mol, a pre-exponential constant of A = 2.06 +/- 3.47 x 10(10) min(-1), and a reaction order n = 1.62 +/- 0.31. The model-predicted rate equations agree with the experimental data. The overall TDF weight conversion represents the carbon weight conversion in the sample.