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Molenaar, Robert. "Design and implementation of biosystem control and tools for biosystem simulation." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape11/PQDD_0017/NQ44519.pdf.
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Branco, Cícero Santos. "Análise exploratória de parâmetros de qualidade dos biossistemas das nascentes da Sub Bacia de Posses em Extrema - MG." Universidade de São Paulo, 2018. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/11/11152/tde-27072018-091343/.
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O presente projeto de pesquisa foi desenvolvido no ano de 2015 in loco em 109 nascentes da Sub Bacia de Posses no município de Extrema, MG que está inserida na Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Jaguari. Entendeu-se que o Biossistema da Nascente é composto por um conjunto de funções biológicas, ecológicas e geológicas que se interagem entre si e se completam com a ação antrópica e o ciclo hidrológico. Objetivou-se neste trabalho apresentar uma ferramenta prática de gestão, que seja objetiva e eficiente para análise da qualidade do Biossistema das Nascentes, baseado no estudo e análise dos indicadores que envolvem a sua dinâmica, valorizando as interações entre as dimensões ecológica, social e antrópica, organizando os aspectos de forma quantitativa e qualitativa com o objetivo de identificar o nível de conservação em que se encontra o Biossistema da Nascente de forma que esta ferramenta de análise denominada Protocolo de Campo venha a ser utilizada por gestores da qualidade das águas das bacias hidrográficas. Para isso foi utilizado o Protocolo de Campo composto por 11 indicadores, também foi feito uma análise exploratória dos parâmetros de qualidade dos Biossistemas das nascentes da Sub Bacia de Posses em Extrema - MG, para isso foram coletadas amostra de águas das nascentes, medição da vazão e análise do número mais provável de coliformes. Os dados obtidos pelo Protocolo de Campo demonstraram que dos 109 Biossistemas de Nascentes analisados, 64 se enquadraram como Perturbado, 41 como Conservados e apenas 4 atingiram a pontuação para se enquadrar como Preservado, sendo que nenhum dos Biossistemas das Nascentes estudados se enquadraram na categoria Degradada, porém notou-se que o entorno das nascentes é ocupado em sua grande maioria por pastagem sendo 92,66%, seguido por Eucalipto com 7,34%, apresentaram fisionomia herbácea 43,12%, fisionomia arbustiva entre 1 a 5 metros 43,12% e 13,76% fisionomia arbustiva acima de 5 metros, contudo mais de 90% dos Biossistemas das Nascentes analisados apresentaram ausência de lixo, ausência de fogo e ausência de assoreamento.This research was developed in 2015 at 109 water springs of the sub basin from Posses, Extrema, MG, that are inserted at Jaguari\'s River basin. The result is that the water spring\'s biosystem is composed by a group of biological, ecological and geological functions, and they interact with each one and they are completed with antropic action and the hydrological cycle. The objective of this research was to present a practical tool of management, and that must be objective and efficient to analyze the quality of water spring\'s biosystem, based on studies and analysis of the indicators that involves it\'s dynamic, doing the interaction between ecological, social and anthropical dimensions very important, organizing the aspects in a quantitative and qualitative form and the objective must be identify in each level of conservation is the water spring\'s biosystem analized, after that the analyzis tool named by \"Protocolo de Campo\" will be used by water quality managers. To get this, the \"Protocolo de Campo\" was composed by 11 indicators and a research of the quality parameters of the water spring\'s biosystems from Posses in Extrema - MG was made too, for this were collected water samples at the water springs, flow measurement and analysis of the most probable number of coliforms. The data obtained in the field by the \"Protocolo de Campo\" revealed that of the 109 water spring\'s biosystems analized, 64 are in the \"disturbed group\", 41 are in the \"conserved group\" and only 4 are in the \"preserved group\". None of them is in the \"degraded group\", but the research has noticed that the surroundings of the water springs is ocuppied in the most by pasture, being 92,66%, eucalyptus, being 7,34%, they represent 43,12% of herbaceous physiognomy, 43,12% represent shrub physiognomy between 1 and 5 meters and 13,76% represent shrub physiognomy above 5 meters, even more than 90% of the water spring\'s biosystem analized presented absence of rubbish, absence of fire and absence of silting.
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Myung, Suwan. "Cell-Free Biosystems Comprised of Synthetic Enzymatic Pathways: Development of Building Blocks, Immobilization of Enzymes, Stabilization of Cascade Enzymes, and Generation of Hydrogen." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/50645.
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The production of hydrogen from low-cost abundant renewable biomass would be vital to sustainable development. Cell-free (in vitro) biosystems comprised of synthetic enzymatic pathways would be a promising biomanufacturing platform due to several advantages, such as high product yield, fast reaction rate, easy control and access, and so on. However, it is essential to produce (purified) enzymes at low costs and stabilize them for long periods to decrease biocatalyst costs.Thermophilic recombinant enzymes as building blocks were discovered and developed: fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase (FBP) from Thermotoga maritime, phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI) from Clostridium thermocellum, triose phosphate isomerase (TIM) from Thermus thermophiles and fructose bisphosphate aldolase (ALD) from T. maritima and T. thermophilus. The recombinant proteins were over-expressed in E. coli, purified and characterized.
For purification and stabilization of enzymes, one-step, simple, low-cost purification and immobilization methods were developed based on simple adsorption of cellulose-binding module (CBM)-tagged protein on the external surface of high-capacity regenerated amorphous cellulose. Also, a simple, low-cost purification method of thermophilic enzymes was developed utilizing a combination of heat and ammonium sulfate precipitation.
For development of cascade enzymes as building modules (biocatalyst modules), it was discovered that the presence of other enzymes/proteins had a strong synergetic effect on the stabilization of the thermolabile enzyme (e.g., PGI) due to the in vitro macromolecular crowding effect. And substrate channeling among CBM-tagged self-assembled three-enzyme complex (synthetic matabolon) immobilized on the easily-recycled cellulose-containing magnetic nanoparticles can not only increase cascade reaction rates greatly, but also decrease enzyme cost in cell-free biosystems.
The high product yield and fast reaction rate of dihydrogen from sucrose was validated in a batch reaction containing fifteen enzymes comprising a non-natural synthetic pathway. The yield of dihydrogen production from 2 mM of sucrose was 96.7 % compared to theoretical yield at 37 oC. The maximum rate was increased 3.1 fold when the substrate concentration was increased from 2 to 50 mM in a fed-batch reaction.
The research and development of cell-free biosystems for biomanufacturing require more efforts, especially in low-cost recombinant thermostable enzymes as building blocks, efficient cofactor recycling, enzyme and cofactor stabilization, and fast reaction rates.
Ph. D.
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Audisio, Michel. "Psychisme et biosystemes." Paris 10, 1990. http://www.theses.fr/1990PA100023.
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L'introduction des concepts cyberneticiens en biologie a eu pour effet de reinscrire celle-ci dans une biophysique generale, et a mene a une revision profonde des bases anatomiques et fonctionnelles de la neurologie et de la psychiatrie. Les points de vue biocyberneticiens modifient les conceptions des rapports du vivant et de l'homme a la nature. Neurosciences, cognitivisme et biotechnologies interpellent les bases culturelles des organisations sociales et des fonctionnements psychiques, et necessitent une etude concommitante de la biologie theorique, des concepts psychanalytiques et des donnees anthropologiquesCybernetical concepts in biology have led to a general biophysic, and to a complete revision of anatomical and physiological basis of neurology and psychiatry. Biocybernetic perspectives modify concepts of the relations between living and man, and nature. Neurosciences, cognitivism and biotechnology have consequences on the cultural basis of social and psychic organisations, which require interconnected studies of theorical biology psychanalytic concepts and anthropological material
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Anders, Sebastian [Verfasser]. "Interactions between biosystems and 3D microstructured surfaces / Sebastian Anders." München : Verlag Dr. Hut, 2019. http://d-nb.info/1181514142/34.
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Adam, Suliman [Verfasser]. "Towards Accurate Computations of Cofactor-Containing Biosystems / Suliman Adam." Berlin : Freie Universität Berlin, 2018. http://d-nb.info/1159569827/34.
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Oskar, Marko. "Application of innovative methods of machine learning in Biosystems." Phd thesis, Univerzitet u Novom Sadu, Fakultet tehničkih nauka u Novom Sadu, 2019. https://www.cris.uns.ac.rs/record.jsf?recordId=108729&source=NDLTD&language=en.
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The topic of the research in this dissertation is the application of machinelearning in solving problems characteristic to biosystems, with specialemphasis on agriculture. Firstly, an innovative regression algorithm based onbig data was presented, that was used for yield prediction. The predictionswere then used as an input for the improved portfolio optimisation algorithm,so that appropriate soybean varieties could be selected for fields withdistinctive parameters. Lastly, a multi-objective optimisation problem was setup and solved using a novel method for categorical evolutionary algorithmbased on NSGA-III.Предмет истраживања докторске дисертације је примена машинског учења у решавању проблема карактеристичних за биосистемe са нагласком на пољопривреду. Најпре је представљен иновативни алгоритам за регресију који је примењен на великој количини података како би се са предиковали приноси. На основу предикција одабране су одговарајуће сорте соје за њиве са одређеним карактеристикама унапређеним алгоритмом оптимизације портфолија. Напослетку је постављен оптимизациони проблем одређивања сетвене структуре са вишеструким функцијама циља који је решен иновативном методом, категоричким еволутивним алгоритмом заснованом на NSGA-III алгоритму.
Predmet istraživanja doktorske disertacije je primena mašinskog učenja u rešavanju problema karakterističnih za biosisteme sa naglaskom na poljoprivredu. Najpre je predstavljen inovativni algoritam za regresiju koji je primenjen na velikoj količini podataka kako bi se sa predikovali prinosi. Na osnovu predikcija odabrane su odgovarajuće sorte soje za njive sa određenim karakteristikama unapređenim algoritmom optimizacije portfolija. Naposletku je postavljen optimizacioni problem određivanja setvene strukture sa višestrukim funkcijama cilja koji je rešen inovativnom metodom, kategoričkim evolutivnim algoritmom zasnovanom na NSGA-III algoritmu.
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Sanchioni, Stefano. "Stochastic Lotka-Volterra models: neutral and niche theories for biosystems." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2019. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/18115/.
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In questo lavoro di tesi sono stati studiati modelli stocastici per ecosistemi basati su equazioni di tipo Lotka-Volterra con componenti fluttuanti.
E' stato affrontato per primo il modello preda-predatore aggiungendo un rumore additivo ed è stata risolta l'equazione linearizzata attorno all'equilibrio.
Con una limitazione alla crescita delle prede e rumore moltiplicativo si è proposto poi un modello più completo di cui si può calcolare la distribuzione di probabilità all'equilibrio.
Nel caso deterministico si è fatto un confronto con dati raccolti sull’Isle Royale.
Il secondo passo è stato quello di considerare specie in competizione, nell'ambito delle teorie di nicchia, e le fluttuazioni dovute alla scarsa numerosità in presenza di immigrazione, nell'ambito delle teorie neutrali.
La master equation è stata analizzata in dettaglio per una popolazione con crescita limitata e immigrazione. Il passaggio da una distribuzione Gaussiana a quella di Pareto mostra come sia cruciale la scelta della forma della fluttuazione.
La teoria di nicchia è stata sviluppata per due popolazioni a crescita limitata in competizione tra loro e con immigrazione, studiando gli equilibri, la loro stabilità e le biforcazioni nel caso deterministico. Si è anche indicato come formulare la master equation per combinare teoria neutrale e di nicchia in un unico modello, come proposto da Haegeman.
Si è infine delineato il caso più generale di N specie, composte sia da prede in competizione sia da predatori, presenti nello stesso ambiente. Si è studiato in dettaglio un ecosistema costituito da due prede e un predatore senza competizione tra le prede caratterizzando completamente gli equilibri e la loro natura.
Un confronto con dati empirici su microrganismi ha mostrato un ottimo accordo con le predizioni del modello, aprendo la possibilità per una sua estensione che includa la competizione tra le prede al fine di descrivere anche il comportamento caotico osservato sperimentalmente.
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Amro, Nabil Adnan. "High-resolution imaging and nanofabrication of biosystems from ligands, proteins to bacteria /." For electronic version search Digital dissertations database. Restricted to UC campuses. Access is free to UC campus dissertations, 2003. http://uclibs.org/PID/11984.
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Bon, Tom A., and Henry L. Kucera. "Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Capstone Course Evolution at North Dakota State University." American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, 2005. https://hdl.handle.net/10365/31010.
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The approach to the department's capstone design course has changed considerably since the 1960s. The general evolution of the course has proceeded from extended laboratory exercises to individuals working on self-defined projects to team-based projects. Interactions between the capstone course and other courses have been attempted with varying success. This paper presents the development of the NDSU Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department' s capstone course and thoughts on possible future modifications to the course.Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
College of Graduate and Interdisciplinary Studies
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Wilding, Kristen Michelle. "Engineering Cell-Free Biosystems for On-Site Production and Rapid Design of Next-Generation Therapeutics." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2018. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/7713.
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While protein therapeutics are indispensable in the treatment of a variety of diseases, including cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes, key limitations including short half-lives, high immunogenicity, protein instability, and centralized production complicate long-term use and on-demand production. Site-specific polymer conjugation provides a method for mitigating these challenges while minimizing negative impacts on protein activity. However, the location-dependent effects of polymer conjugation are not well understood. Cell-free protein synthesis provides direct access to the synthesis environment and rapid synthesis times, enabling rapid evaluation of multiple conjugation sites on a target protein. Here, work is presented towards developing cell-free protein synthesis as a platform for both design and on-demand production of next generation polymer-protein therapeutics, including (1) eliminating endotoxin contamination in cell-free reagents for simplified therapeutic preparation, (2) improving shelf-stability of cell-free reagents via lyophilization for on-demand production, (3) coupling coarse-grain simulation with high-throughput cell-free protein synthesis to enable rapid identification of optimal polymer conjugation sites, and (4) optimizing cell-free protein synthesis for production of therapeutic proteins
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Ahou, Ghalandari Bahar. "Design of passive methane oxidation biosystems considering their response to the presence of capillary barrier effect." Thèse, Université de Sherbrooke, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11143/9570.
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La construction des biosystèmes d’oxydation passive du méthane (BOPM) est une option économique et durable pour réduire les émissions de méthane des sites d’enfouissement de déchets et des effets subséquents du réchauffement climatique. Les BOPM sont constitués de deux couches principales: la couche d'oxydation du méthane (MOL) et la couche de distribution du gaz (GDL). L'oxydation du méthane se produit dans la MOL par les réactions biochimiques des bactéries méthanotrophes, et la GDL est construite sous la MOL pour intercepter et distribuer les émissions fugitives de biogaz à la base de la MOL. Fondamentalement, l'efficacité d'un BOPM est définie en fonction de l'efficacité d'oxydation du méthane dans la MOL. Par conséquent, il est indispensable de fournir des conditions adéquates pour les activités bactériennes des méthanotrophes. En plus des paramètres environnementaux, l'intensité et la distribution du biogaz influencent l'efficacité des BOPM, et ils peuvent rendre le matériau de la MOL - avec une grande capacité d'accueillir les activités bactériennes - inutilisables en termes d'oxydation du méthane sur place. L'effet de barrière capillaire le long de l'interface entre la GDL et la MOL peut provoquer des émissions localisées de méthane, due à la restriction ou la distribution non uniforme de l’écoulement ascendant du biogaz à la base de la MOL. L'objectif principal de cette étude est d'incorporer le comportement hydraulique non saturé des BOPM dans la conception des BOPM, afin d’assurer la facilité et la distribution adéquates de l'écoulement du biogaz à la base de la MOL. Les fonctions de perméabilité à l'air des matériaux utilisés pour construire la MOL des BOPM expérimentaux au site d’enfouissement des déchets de St Nicéphore (Québec, Canada), ainsi que celles d'autres de la littérature technique, ont été étudiés pour évaluer le comportement d'écoulement non saturé du gaz dans les matériaux et pour identifier le seuil de migration sans restriction du gaz. Ce dernier seuil a été introduit en tant que un paramètre de conception avec lequel le critère de conception recommandé ici, c’est à dire la longueur de la migration sans restriction de gaz (LMSG), a été défini. La LMSG est considérée comme la longueur le long de l'interface entre la GDL et la MOL où le biogaz peut migrer à travers la MOL sans restriction. En réalisant des simulations numériques avec SEEP/W, les effets de la pente de l'interface, des paramètres définissant la courbe de rétention d'eau, de la fonction de la conductivité hydraulique du matériau de la MOL sur la valeur de la LMSG (représentant la facilité d'écoulement du biogaz à l'interface) et de la distribution de l'humidité (et par conséquent celle du biogaz) ont été évalués. Selon les résultats des simulations, la conductivité hydraulique saturée et la distribution des tailles de pores du matériau de la MOL sont les paramètres les plus importants sur la distribution de l'humidité le long de l'interface. Ce dernier paramètre influe également sur la valeur du degré de saturation et donc la facilité du biogaz à la base de la MOL. La densité sèche du matériau de MOL est un autre paramètre qui contrôle la facilité d'écoulement ascendant du biogaz. Les limitations principales de la présente étude sont associées au nombre de matériaux de MOL testés et à l'incapacité de SEEP/W de considérer l'évapotranspiration. Toutefois, compte tenu des hypothèses raisonnables dans les simulations et en utilisant les données de la littérature, on a essayé de réduire ces limitations. En utilisant les résultats des expériences et des simulations numériques, des étapes et des considérations de conception pour la sélection du matériau de MOL et de la pente d'interface ont été proposées. En effet,le comportement hydraulique non saturé des matériaux serait intégré dans les nécessités de conception pour un BOPM efficace, de sorte que la capacité maximale possible d'oxydation du méthane du matériau de la MOL soit exploitée.Abstract : Implementation of passive methane oxidation biosystems (PMOB) is a cost effective and sustainable solution to eliminate the methane emissions of landfills to the atmosphere and ensuing global warming effects. PMOBs consist of two main layers: methane oxidation layer (MOL) and gas distribution layer (GDL). The oxidation of methane occurs in MOL through the biochemical reactions of methanotrophic bacteria, and GDL is constructed beneath the MOL to intercept and distribute the fugitive biogas emissions at the base of MOL. Basically, the efficiency of a PMOB is defined based on the methane oxidation efficiency in MOL. Therefore, it is indispensable to provide adequate conditions for the bacterial activities of methanotrophs. In addition to the environmental parameters, the intensity and the distribution of the biogas reaching the MOL material influence the efficiency of PMOBs, and they may cause the MOL material possessing great capacity to host the bacterial activities to be unserviceable in terms of in field methane oxidation. The capillary barrier effect along the GDL MOL interface may provoke localized surface methane emissions, resulted from the restricted and/or non uniform distribution of upward flow of biogas at the base of MOL. The main focus of present study is to incorporate the unsaturated hydraulic behavior of PMOBs into the design of PMOBs, providing adequate ease and distribution of upward flow of biogas at the base of MOL. The air permeability functions of the materials used to construct the MOL of experimental PMOBs at the St Nicephore landfill (Quebec, Canada), along with other materials from the technical literature, were studied to evaluate the unsaturated gas flow behavior of the materials and to identify the threshold of unrestricted gas migration. This latter threshold was introduced as a design parameter based on which the recommended design criterion herein, i.e. the length of unrestricted gas migration (LUGM), was defined. LUGM is considered as the length along the GDL MOL interface along which biogas can migrate upwards without restriction. Performing sets of numerical simulations in SEEP/W, the effect of slope of interface and the parameters defining the water retention curve and hydraulic conductivity function of MOL material on value of LUGM (representing the ease of upward flow of biogas at the interface) and distribution of moisture (and therefore biogas) along the GDL MOL interface were assessed. The saturated hydraulic conductivity and the pore size distribution of the MOL material were the most influencing parameters in distribution of moisture along the interface. The latter parameter influences also the value of degree of saturation and therefore, the ease of biogas at the base of MOL. Dry density of MOL material is another parameter that controls the ease of upward flow of biogas. The main limitations of the present study are associated with the number of tested MOL materials and the inability of SEEP/W in considering the evapotranspiration. However, considering reasonable assumptions in simulations and using the data from the literature, it was attempted to reduce the limitations. Based on the results of experiments and numerical simulations, some design steps and considerations for selection of the MOL material and the slope of interface were suggested that incorporate the unsaturated hydraulic behavior into the design necessities for an efficient PMOB so that the maximum possible methane oxidation capacity of MOL material is exploited.
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Birkbeck, Aaron L. "Laser tweezer actuated microphotonic array devices for high resolution imaging and analysis in chip-based biosystems /." Diss., Connect to a 24 p. preview or request complete full text in PDF format. Access restricted to UC campuses, 2004. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ucsd/fullcit?p3137224.
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Sherman, Adrian Tyrone. "Occurrence and distribution of fecal indicator bacteria with respect to urban and rural land uses." Click HERE to connect, 2009. http://digital.library.okstate.edu/etd/Sherman_okstate_0664M_10169.pdf.
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Tejral, Ronald. "Impact of dam and reservoir parameters on peak breach discharge predictions for two models." Click HERE to connect, 2009. http://digital.library.okstate.edu/etd/Tejral_okstate_0664M_10170.pdf.
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Kacheris, William, and William Kacheris. "A Novel Approach for Calculating the Feasibility of Urban Agriculture using an Enhanced Hydroponic System." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/620674.
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With a continued worldwide trend in population shift from rural to urban areas predicted to increase, new approaches to agricultural production must be considered and implemented. Little academic interest has been applied to determining economically viable urban agriculture crop production sites for business investment. A feasibility model to aid investors in selecting appropriate sites for the development of urban agriculture food production within population centers was created. Lettuce crop trials were performed from August 2015 to December 2015 at the University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center to validate the productivity of a unique high density hydroponic system designed for the rooftop environment. The feasibility model is based on this system and with a minimal number of inputs, ranging from size of growing space to growing media costs, determines a wide range of useful outputs. These outputs include crop productivity within the facility, material inputs and a cost breakdown of starting a new agricultural venture. The model utilizes multiple sheets within one excel document to give the user a clear and organized financial perspective of a hypothetical growing operation in the main sheet. With this model, investors into urban agriculture will have a means to gain an objective view of financial considerations before substantial investment is completed.
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Rodriguez, Jesus, and Jesus Rodriguez. "Downscaling Modis Evapotranspiration via Cokriging in Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District, Yuma, AZ." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/621782.
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Evapotranspiration (ET) is a key parameter for irrigation planning and management, and it is a crucial factor for water conservation practices considering the challenges associated with agricultural water availability. Field ET determination is the most accurate, but remains to be expensive and limited in scope. On the other hand, remote sensing is becoming an alternative tool for the estimation of ET. Operational ET algorithms, like the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-based ET, are now successful at generating ET estimates globally at 1km resolution, however their intent is not management of agriculture irrigation. This research was done to develop an integrated method for downscaling MODIS ET appropriate for farm-level applications using geostatistical and remote sensing techniques. The proposed methodology was applied in the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District of Yuma, Arizona. In a first effort, ET data was downscaled from standard 1-km-MODIS to a medium 250-m-spatial resolution via cokriging using Land Surface Temperature and Enhanced Vegetation Index as covariates. Results showed consistent downscaled ET with a variance greater than the variance of the coarse scale input and nearly similar mean values. This 250m product can serve larger irrigation districts in developed countries, where plot size is fairly large and regular. However, the size and shapes of most farms in developing countries makes the 250m ET challenging. For this reason, the second part of this work was done to downscale global scale 1km ET to 30m farm level application for irrigation use. This approach involved the generation of daily vegetation indices (VI) at 30m in order to support the downscaling of MODIS 1km ET. Landsat and MODIS reflectances were combined with the Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) algorithm and the resulting VI data was used as a covariate to downscale ET with the cokriging approach. The results showed that the MODIS ET data seriously underestimates ET over irrigated areas. To correct this problem the MODIS data was then adjusted using field measured values to make it useful for operational purposes. The proposed geospatial method was applied to different growth stages of cotton and results were validated with actual ET from The Arizona Meteorological Network (AZMET) and published consumptive use of water for the area. The adjusted downscaled ET was comparable to these two published data (maximum error of 33%). This methodology is a practical alternative in areas where there is no ancillary data to estimate ET and it is expected to help in the planning of irrigation agriculture that will lead to improved agricultural productivity and irrigation efficiency.
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Valdivia, Lefort Patricio. "Design of an Efficient Harvester and Dewater Mechanism for Microalgae." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/306344.
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Microalgae have now been widely considered as a promising bio-energy feedstock. The current microalgae harvesting methods used, such as centrifugation, sedimentation and flocculation, have been shown to be effective but are costly, representing between 35 % to 50 % of the total production cost. The aims of this study were: (1) to investigate the effectiveness of two electrocoagulation processes, electroflocculation and electroflotation, as algae pre-harvesting processes; and (2) to design, test and optimize a cost-effective and efficient filtration-based harvesting mechanism for micrioalgae. The principal results of the study showed that: (1) The mean final concentration for electroflocculation of 17.94 gL⁻¹ significantly exceeded (p = 0.0416) that for electroflotation of 9.51 gL⁻¹, indicating electroflocculation to be the more effective process; (2) Microscope images of the algae showed that, for the level of power applied (1 A, 40 V max), electrocoagulation did not appear to have produced any effect on the algae that was significantly different from that by centrifugation and that neither method appeared to have caused any significant cell wall damage or rupture; (3) The most effective configuration for the harvester prototype -- resulting in higher throughput rate (0.303 gh⁻¹), higher efficiency (233.33 gL⁻¹), as well as a lower energy consumption (143.46 kWhm⁻³) -- corresponded with higher concentration of the incoming biomass (21.5 gL⁻¹), lower belt velocity (0.05 ms⁻¹), higher inclination angle (25°) and lower pressure (0 Psi); and (4) The total energy consumption for the harvester prototype, when combined with a preceding pre-harvesting process, of 4.95 kWhm⁻³ was comparable to those reported by others for filtration-based harvesting. The new efficient harvesting mechanism proposed showed significant potential in successfully reducing algae production cost and make biofuels from microalgae economically feasible in the mid to long term in view of the prototype having achieved high output biomass concentration, low energy consumption per unit volume, high throughput rate, and facility of implementation.
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Liu, Xiang. "Design of a Modified Shipping Container as Modular Unit for the Minimally Structured & Modular Vertical Farm." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/347073.
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The specific aim of this study was to advance the development of the Minimally Structured & Modular Vertical Farm (MSM-VF), an original concept developed at The University of Arizona, by designing a specific modular unit made of a transparent-walled modified standard shipping container for use in climate locations represented by Los Angeles and New York City. The conclusions of the study included: (1) A workable range of temperatures (15 to 30°C) for cultivating tomato in Los Angeles and New York City could be achieved in a transparent-walled MSM-VF shipping-container modular unit by using a cover material of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and a heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system with an airspeed of 2 m/s, inlet angle at 60° and outlet position located at the top of the back wall; (2) A workable range of temperatures (15 to 27°C) for cultivating lettuce in Los Angeles and New York City could be achieved by using a cover material of LDPE and an HVAC system with an air speed of 4m/s, inlet angle at 60° and outlet position located at the bottom of the back wall; (3) The annual energy demands of the plastic-walled MSM-VF shipping-container modular unit were far less than those for the opaque-walled control plant-factory unit in all cases, except in the one case of growing tomato in New York City. Still, in this one exception, the annual energy demand of growing tomato in New York City in the plastic-walled MSM-VF shipping-container modular unit of 557.65 kWh/m² (versus 325.34 kWh/m² for the opaque-walled control plant-factory unit) was significantly lower than that of 711.91 kWh/m², which was the average for 164 greenhouses occupying a total of 16444 m² operated by the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station (CUAES) in the state of New York (CUAES Greenhouses); and, (4) The annual energy demands of the plastic-walled MSM-VF shipping-container modular unit were either significantly lower or for one case approximately the same (773.84 kWh/m²) as that of the 711.91 kWh/m² for the New York greenhouses. By contrast, the annual energy demands of the opaque-walled control plant-factory unit significantly exceeded that of the 711.91 kWh/m² for the New York greenhouses by 170% for Los Angeles and by 126% for New York City, both for growing lettuce. The foregoing results provided significant and reasonable basis for the practicability of Minimally Structured & Modular Vertical Farms made of plastic-walled shipping-container modular units in Los Angeles and New York City as well as in many other mega-cities around the world with similar climates.
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Livingston, Peter. "Management of the Schmutzdecke Layer of a Slow Sand Filter." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/293439.
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Slow sand filters (SSF) have been used to treat surface water to drinking water standards for over a century. Today many cities, including London still treat surface waters to drinking water standards, however because there are viruses that are not efficiently removed by a slow sand filter and are not killed by chlorine, communities have turned to the use of micro filtration and/or reverse osmosis to provide safe drinking water. These technologies are much more efficient if organics are removed and turbidity reduced to less than 1 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU). The greenhouse industry is another potential user of slow sand filters. They are not able to recycle irrigation drainage water without it being treated to reduce bacteria, virus, and fungi. The objective of this research was to develop management strategies for SSF that specifically meet the needs of entities using SSF for pretreatment of potable water or use in a greenhouse. This data was used to test a scour system that resulted in scouring 80 percent of the organic layer in the filter and suspending the solids for 40 minutes. A conceptual design was done for a full scale SSF that took advantage of the scour and suspension data to clean the SSF at the end of a run cycle. SSF were able to consistently produce water with a turbidity less than 1 (NTU) and with the infiltration capacity of 0.27 m³m⁻². For greenhouse effluent a 1,000 square meter greenhouse that is discharging 3,600 L d⁻¹ of drainage water would require a 12.6 m² SSF, and the SSF for the community requiring treatment of 4.7 million liters per day of raw water was 730 m². The innovative cleaning system based on an air/water jet was developed to clean the SSF. Experiments were run to determine the amount of time that the solids were suspended and a scour system developed to exceed these times. The entire time for cleaning and recovery of the SSF was an average of 118 minutes for the greenhouse system and 170 minutes for the SSF serving a small community.
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He, Shiwei. "Hydrodynamic Optimization of the AirAccordion Photobioreactor for Microalgae Production." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/613515.
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Algae are a prolific source of biochemicals with economic importance, including nutraceuticals, biofuels, animal feed, etc. The general aim of this study was to establish how the hydrodynamic conditions generated within specific types or designs of photobioreactors determine their respective algae growth. The specific objectives of this study were: (1) To determine and compare key hydrodynamic parameters in the Air Accordion photobioreactor and the conventional bubble column, including Residence Time, Vessel Dispersion Number, Bodenstein Number, Mixing Time and oxygen liquid mass transfer coefficient (kla); and, (2) To test how differences in the hydrodynamic conditions would result in significant difference in growths of the green alga Scenedesmus obliquuus between the photobioreactors. The results of the study showed that: (1) The Residence Time of 566 s for the Air Accordion significantly exceeded by 28% that of 444 s for the bubble column, signifying greater liquid mixing in the Air Accordion; (2) The Vessel Dispersion Number for the Air Accordion of 0.168 significantly exceeded that for the bubble column of 0.166, indicating greater degree of mixing in the Air Accordion than in the bubble column; (3) The Mixing Time in both the Air Accordion and the bubble column declined as the air flow rate increased, indicating that the tracer ions in both photobioreactors mixed more quickly. For each of the flow rates tested, however, the mixing time for the bubble column significantly exceeded that for the Air Accordion, indicating that liquid mixing in the Air Accordion occured significantly quicker than in the bubble column. At 1.0 LPM, the bubble column's Mixing Time of 10 s exceeded by 25% that of the Air Accordion of 8 s; (4) The oxygen liquid mass transfer coefficients in both photobioreactors increased as the air flow rate increased, indicating that the transfer of oxygen from the air bubbles into the liquid within the photobioreactors gained efficiency. For each of the air flow rates tested, however, the oxygen liquid mass transfer coefficient for the Air Accordion significantly exceeded that for the bubble column, indicating a significantly more efficient oxygenation of the liquid in the Air Accordion occurring than in the bubble column. At 1.0 LPM, the Air Accordion's oxygen liquid mass transfer coefficient of 0.00138 s⁻¹ exceeded by 48% that of the bubble column of 0.000931 s⁻¹; and (5) The growth of Scenedesmus obliquus in the Air Accordion significantly exceeded that in the bubble column for both 0.1 LPM and 1.0 LPM. The final algae density of 0.25 g DW/L in the Air Accordion significantly exceeded by 31% that of 0.18 g DW/L in the bubble column at 0.1 LPM. Similarly, the final algae density of 0.37 g DW/L in the Air Accordion significantly exceeded by 19% that of 0.31 g DW/L in the bubble column at 1.0 LPM. Thus, the growth of Scenedesmus obliquus in the Air Accordion photobioreactor -- with significanlty more favorable hydrodynamic characteristics in terms of Residence Time, Vessel Dispersion Number, Mixing Time and oxygen liquid mass transfer coefficient -- significantly exceeded algae growth in the bubble column of the same volume and under the same environmetal conditons.
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Edward, Drabold T. "BIOLOGICAL DESIGN OF CONTINUOUS MICROALGAE SYSTEMS: A REVIEW." Ohio University Honors Tutorial College / OhioLINK, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ouhonors161891425130329.
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Mitu, Leonard Gabriel. "Methods and techniques for bio-system's materials behaviour analysis." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Politècnica de València, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/35445.
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In the context of the rapid development of the research in the biosystem structure materials domain, a representative direction shows the analysis of the behavior of these materials. This direction of research requires the use of various means and methods for theoretical and experimental measuring and evaluating. PhD thesis "Methods and means for analyzing the behavior of biosystems structure materials" shall be given precedence in this area of research, aimed at studying the behavior of polymeric materials and composites biosystems structure and in particular the skeletal structure biosystem. Therefore, it is developed a specific method of research based on the development of theoretical models for the prediction of the mechanical, thermal and machinability properties of these materials. There are used Moldflow, Solidworks and Ansys software types.
In order to validate the theoretical research were designed and conducted experimental research on the mechanical properties and the behavior of the polymeric biomaterials represented by ABS, UHMWPE, HDPE, PA, PC, PET, PP, PP_GF-30% and composite materials with polymeric thermoplastic matrixes from the skeletal biosystem¿s structure. In order to analyze the theoretical and experimental correlations, the experimental data were processed using the statistical analysis software programs SPSS v17, v8 Origin, Palisade Decision Tools. In conclusion, the thesis represents a technic, scientific and efficient support for analyzing the behavior of the new polymeric and composite materials from the biosystem structure.Mitu, LG. (2014). Methods and techniques for bio-system's materials behaviour analysis [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/35445
TESIS
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Drabold, Edward T. "BIOLOGICAL DESIGN OF CONTINUOUS MICROALGAE SYSTEMS: A REVIEW." Ohio University Honors Tutorial College / OhioLINK, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ouhonors161891425130329.
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Liao, Yang. "Mixotrophic Cultivation Of The Microalga Scenedesmus obliquus With Reused Municipal Wastewater." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/332836.
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Scenedesmus obliquus is a freshwater microalga which has high lipid content and biomass productivity. It is regarded as a promising species for production of biodiesel and other valuable organic compounds. Given the high cost of using potable water and commercial fertilizers, the use of municipal wastewater as algal growth medium is attractive in view of its constituent organic carbon and inorganic nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus. Investigating the mixotrophic cultivation of S. obliquus in an imitation municipal wastewater, the results of this study showed that: (1) The unmodified imitation wastewater by itself as expected yielded poor S. obliquus growth owing to its pH significantly decreasing to 3.5 as caused by the presence of Ammonium Chloride in the wastewater, inhibiting cell growth; (2) Adding either Acetic Acid or Sodium Acetate to the wastewater medium maintained its pH at 6.5 to 7.0, and its algae biomass on day 6 increased significantly by 212% and 194%, respectively; (3) Adding either Acetic Acid or Sodium Acetate to the wastewater medium maintained its pH at 6.5 to 7.0, and its algae biomass during exponential phase (day 4) significantly exceeded that in the MF control by 220.6% and 165.8%, respectively, while its algae biomass during saturation (day 6) significantly exceeded that in the MF control by 60.8% and 51.5%, respectively; and (4) Addition of NaNO₃ to the wastewater to match the level of N in the MF medium improved the algae biomass by 10%. This study developed ways for how the successful mixotrophic cultivation of S. obliquus in municipal wastewater could be achieved.
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Hung, Isaac, and Isaac Hung. "Ultrafine Bubble-Enhanced Ozonation For Water Treatment." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/621853.
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Ultrafine bubbles, often referred to as nanobubbles, have been used in various applications from environmental remediation to medicine. Even though the technology to generate ultrafine bubbles has been around for many years, the full potential of its applications has not been completely studied. This project seeks to study the use of ultrafine bubble technology for water treatment in combination with ozone gas. A factorial design experiment was chosen to test the effects of ultrafine bubbles on the concentration of an indicator organism, E. coli, in water as well as their effects on ozone gas being injected into water. Ozone gas or nitrogen gas was injected into water contaminated with E. coli as either ultrafine bubbles or fine bubbles as treatments for up to 60 minutes. Ultrafine bubbles were found to not have any significant effect on the concentration of E. coli in water. However, ultrafine bubbles did provide benefits when used in conjunction with ozone gas that regular, fine bubbles did not provide. The benefits included allowing the concentration of dissolved ozone in the water to decrease at a slower rate as well as allowing more ozone to dissolve into water at a higher rate than conventional methods of bubbling in ozone. While in this particular set of experiments the concentration of dissolved ozone in water didn't surpass 2 mg/L, which didn't allow for rapid disinfection and treatment of water, it is believed that with a more powerful ozone generator better results can be achieved. This project demonstrates the benefits and potential of injecting ozone gas as ultrafine bubbles into water as a way to effectively and efficiently disinfect and treat water.
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Silva, Carlos Cezar da. "A atribuição de custos em sistemas energéticos agropecuários: uma análise em emergia, termoeconomia e economia." Universidade de São Paulo, 2009. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/86/86131/tde-17072009-123020/.
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Este trabalho apresenta os resultados obtidos na comparação - através da contabilidade em emergia, em termoeconomia e em análise econômico financeira - de sistemas energéticos agropecuários. O objetivo deste estudo é o de reunir em um único trabalho três métricas distintas de atribuição de custos, considerando suas limitações e seus indicadores. Comparam-se três configurações: o primeiro utiliza um sistema de geração de energia instalado em uma usina autônoma no Estado de São Paulo; o segundo um motorgerador alimentado com biogás produzido em um biodigestor de dejetos bovinos, integrado à usina, e o terceiro sistema um motorgerador alimentado com biogás produzido em um biodigestor de dejetos suínos que, para efeito do estudo também é integrado aos sistemas anteriores. Realiza-se a análise em emergia, termoeconomia e economia financeira, comparando-se as configurações com a finalidade de possibilitar uma visão multimétrica sobre as interações. Verifica-se que ao integrarmos os biossistemas, utilizando suas biomassas residuais como insumo de geração de eletricidade, o custo da eletricidade gerada é reduzido. A metologia empregada neste trabalho possibilita uma visão por três aspectos dos biossistemas: a visão ambiental por parte da emergia, a visão termodinâmica interna através dos rendimentos da primeira e segunda lei da termodinâmica por parte da termoeconomia e por fim a visão do investidor, que apresenta os resultados econômics financeiros da integração dos biossistemas.This work shows the results obtained when compairing the account in emergy, in Thermoeconomy and in an economic analysis of energy farming energy systems. The goal of this study is to assemble in an unique work three different ways of attributing costs, considering their restrictions and indexes. Three configurations are compaired: the first one uses an energy generation system installed in a sugar-ethanol plant in São Paulo. The second operates with a generator fed with biogas from a biodigestor of cattle manure that is integrated to the plant.The third system operates with a generator that receives pig slurry that is also integrated to the plant. The goal of quantifying the emergy on these systems, the thermoeconomic and the economic analysis in to make possible a wide view about the implications on these integrations.It is shown that when the biosystems are integrated, using their residual biomass as an input to electricity generation, the electricity cost is reduced. The methodology of this work makes possible seeing three aspects of the biosystems: the environmental sight by emergy, the inner thermodynamic sight given by the first and the second thermodinamic laws by the thermoeconomy and the investor sight that presents the economic financial results of the biosystems integration.
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Barreto-Munoz, Armando. "Multi-Sensor Vegetation Index and Land Surface Phenology Earth Science Data Records in Support of Global Change Studies: Data Quality Challenges and Data Explorer System." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/301661.
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Synoptic global remote sensing provides a multitude of land surface state variables. The continuous collection, for more than 30 years, of global observations has contributed to the creation of a unique and long term satellite imagery archive from different sensors. These records have become an invaluable source of data for many environmental and global change related studies. The problem, however, is that they are not readily available for use in research and application environment and require multiple preprocessing. Here, we looked at the daily global data records from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), two of the most widely available and used datasets, with the objective of assessing their quality and suitability to support studies dealing with global trends and changes at the land surface. Findings show that clouds are the major data quality inhibitors, and that the MODIS cloud masking algorithm performs better than the AVHRR. Results show that areas of high ecological importance, like the Amazon, are most prone to lack of data due to cloud cover and aerosols leading to extended periods of time with no useful data, sometimes months. While the standard approach to these challenges has been compositing of daily images to generate a representative map over a preset time periods, our results indicate that preset compositing is not the optimal solution and a hybrid location dependent method that preserves the high frequency of these observations over the areas where clouds are not as prevalent works better. Using this data quality information the Vegetation Index and Phenology (VIP) Laboratory at The University of Arizona produced over 30 years of seamless sensor independent record of vegetation indices and land surface phenology metrics. These data records consist of 0.05-degree resolution global images for daily, 7-days, 15-days and monthly temporal frequency. These sort of remote sensing based products are normally made available through the internet by large data centers, like the Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC), however, in this project an online tool, the VIP Data Explorer, was developed to support the visualization, exploration, and distribution of these Earth Science Data Records (ESDRs) keeping it closer to the data generation center which provides a more active data support and distribution model. This web application has made it possible for users to explore and evaluate the products suite before download and use.
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Angus, Scott V. "Development Of Biosensors For Detection Of Pathogens In Complex Sample Matrices." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/332851.
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Protozoa and bacteria can easily cause disease in humans, specifically E. coli, Plasmodium falciparum, and Cryptosporidium parvum. These three pathogens are associated with large public health concerns that span the globe. The variety of locations in which these can be found is extremely high. Cryptosporidium spp. are extremely resilient when in oocyst form, P. falciparum is in the Anopheles spp. mosquito, while E. coli can be found on anything from food and water, to the skin and gut. The diverse range of locations these can be found in means that a portable sensor for their detection is necessary. In detecting Cryptosporidium, microscopy is the preferred method of identification currently. This requires a trained lab technician as well as calibrated and expensive optical equipment. Technician error can lead to false negative or positive diagnoses as well as sample destruction. A method to remove this technician interaction is thus necessary. This method must allow for objective results that are not open to interpretation. Particle immunoagglutination assays with Mie scatter allow for such an approach using inexpensive components. Particle immunoagglutination relies on the principles of antibody-antigen interaction and antibody conjugated latex particles. Using highly carboxylated latex particles, it is possible to attach IgG antibodies that are specific to a target antigen. Mie scatter is governed by particle size rather than wavelength as other forms of scatter. These two combined allow for an increase in light scatter based on particle size. This is correlated in a linear manner as long as the number of antibody-conjugated particles is higher than the number of antigens. Microfluidics is an ever growing field in the field of lab-on-a-chip that works very well with particle immunoagglutination. In this paper, a method to rapidly identify the presence of Cryptosporidium using microfluidics and particle immunoagglutination is discussed and analyzed. This method allows for a low detection limit of 1-10 oocysts/sample and an assay time of approximately 10 minutes. Results are displayed on a computer screen as the value of light scatter intensity and, when compared to a standard curve, is an objective way to identify the concentration and presence of oocysts in a diverse range of samples. These samples include PBS, pool water, and sump water. This system also works with P. falciparum, which causes malaria in rural and urban poor regions of the world. With the low income and remote nature of these locations, a portable microfluidic device is necessary. Smartphones allow for a portable microfluidic device that can detect P. falciparum antigens in 10% whole blood. This system is capable of detecting as little as 1 pg/mL antigen. The microfluidic chip is inexpensive and disposable, allowing for a portable and inexpensive system. Using a single smartphone, a lab technique requiring a spectrometer, light source, and laptop can be made portable and less expensive, while maintaining sensitivity and specificity. In order to identify biological agents, there are commonly 3 methods for doing so: PCR, culturing, and ELISA. Culturing can take more than 24 hours, but results in a high signal to initial target ratio, while ELISA has poor sensitivity due to a 1:1 signal to target ratio, though is much quicker than culturing at usually 3 hours or less. PCR manages to solve both these problems by exponentially increasing the number of copies of target genetic material in a relatively short time frame of 1-3 hours. PCR relies on 4 basic components: target genetic material, primers to set a start and end location for duplication, polymerase to add base pairs to the strand beginning at the primers, and heat. PCR has worked very well during the past 31 years. It has worked so well that it is often the gold standard. However, there are flaws built into today's systems. These largely come in the form of inefficient heat transfer via conduction and large sample volumes due to unnecessary additions of nuclease free water (NFW). Both of these can be easily overcome by droplet PCR. Droplet PCR relies on small sample volumes of between 8 and 12 μL and convection in oil rather than conduction through plastic. In this study, it was found that droplet PCR could be performed on genomic E. coli DNA in as little as 15 minutes for 30 cycles. Sensitivity was also analyzed and found to be 2.62 pg DNA/μL or about 5 x 10² cfu/sample. PCR has a theoretical lower limit of 1 copy of genetic material and this is only 2 orders of magnitude above that. The system was also tested for portability and resistance to shock and vibration. It was found that the surface heated, thermocouple guided system is more shock and vibration resistant than standard wire guided, hanging droplet PCR systems. It was also found that the use of coconut oil allows for the system to be transported without fear of the contents spilling out and contaminating other samples. This is because of coconut oil's high melting temperature.
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Austin, Ryan Glen. "Detailed Water Quality Modeling of Pressurized Pipe Systems and Its Effect on the Security of Municipal Water Distribution Networks." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/202714.
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The current study expands on the body of knowledge associated with water distribution system security. The three main chapters focus on 1) the effectiveness of an incomplete mixing model (AZRED-I) with respect to multi-objective sensor placement decisions; 2) risk assessment as a tool for evaluating vulnerability and making sensor placement decisions; and 3) experimental verification of a combined axial-dispersion and incomplete-mixing water quality model (AZRED-II). The study concludes that water quality models do impact sensor placement decisions, especially in highly interconnected networks; that risk assessment is a valuable evaluation tool for providing information concerning a system's vulnerability to contamination and also information that can affect sensor placement decisions; and that AZRED-II is superior to other water quality models at predicting the spatiotemporal pattern of a pulse through a distribution network with cross junctions under laminar flow. The other sections of the study describe the connection that exists between water distribution security and water quality models.
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Story, David Lee Jr. "Autonomous Multi-Sensor and Web-Based Decision Support for Crop Diagnostics in Greenhouse." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/306925.
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An autonomous machine vision guided plant sensing and monitoring system was designed and constructed to continuously monitor plant related features: color (red-green-blue, hue-saturation-luminance, and color brightness), morphology (top projected canopy area), textural (entropy, energy, contrast, and homogeneity), Normalized Difference Vegetative Index (NDVI) (as well as other similar indices from the color and NIR channels), and thermal (plant and canopy temperature). Several experiments with repeated water stress cycles, using the machine vision system, was conducted to evaluate the machine vision system's performance to determine the timeliness of induced plant water stress detection. The study aimed at identifying significant features separating the control and treatment from an induced water stress experiment and also identifying, amongst the plant canopy, the location of the emerging water stress with the found significant features. Plant cell severity had been ranked based on the cell's accumulated feature count and converted to a color coded graphical canopy image for the remote operator to evaluate. The overall feature analysis showed that the morphological feature, Top Projected Canopy Area, was found to be a good marker for the initial growth period while the vegetation indices (ENDVI, NDVIBlue, and NDVIRed) were more capable at capturing the repeated stress occurrences during the various stages of the lettuce crop. Furthermore, the crop's canopy temperature was shown to be a significant and dominant marker to timely detect the water stress occurrences. The graphical display for the remote user showed the severity of summed features to equal the detection of the human vision. Capabilities and limitations of the developed system and stress detection methodology were documented with recommendations for future improvements for the crop monitoring/production system. An example web based decision support platform was created for data collection, storage, analysis, and display of the data/imagery collected for a remote operator.
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Chen, Lopez Jose Choc. "Characterization, Simulation, Analysis and Management of Hydraulic Properties of Greenhouse Plant Growth Substrates." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/205211.
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The greenhouse industry is facing significant challenges such as the demand for more efficient use of energy and natural resources and prevention of detrimental environmental impacts. Reducing negative environmental impacts can be achieved by utilizing recycled and environmentally friendly products and by optimizing the use of water and root zone substrates. New and advanced root zone substrates are currently tested as substitute for natural soils in greenhouse agriculture. They can be inert non-organic materials such as rockwool and perlite. These are mined products from the earth, and are difficult to dispose after use. Natural substrates such as peat are being consumed faster than being regenerated. A new potential substrate that consists of recycled foamed glass aggregates is considered an alternative, as it is environmentally friendly, non-toxic and disposable. Experiments with foamed glass aggregates and with foamed glass aggregate/coconut coir mixtures indicated that the yield of greenhouse tomatoes was not statistically significant different (α=0.05) when compared to rockwool. To investigate the potential application of recycled glass as a root zone substrate, physical and hydraulic properties were measured. For comparison, the same measurements were completed for rockwool, coconut coir, perlite, and PET/PE fibers as well as for a mixture of coconut coir and recycled glass. The water characteristics (WC) determined for each substrate exhibited distinct air entry potentials, which provided information for irrigation scheduling, water storage and aeration for optimum plant growth conditions. Coconut coir and rockwool exhibited a unimodal shaped water retention curve, while foamed glass aggregates and perlite exhibited bimodal shaped curves. The obtained substrate properties were used as input paramaters for HYDRUS- 2D/3D model to simulate water mass balance and matric potential distributions within a typical growth container of foamed glass aggregates. The simulated matric potential and water content distributions were compared to tensiometer measurements of matric potential in the foamed glass aggregates. The simulations compared favorably with laboratory experiments measured under controlled environmental conditions.
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Terrazas, Onofre Maria Liliana, and Onofre Maria Liliana Terrazas. "Reduction of Bacterial and Viral Indicators in Laundry Graywater by Solar Disinfection." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/621781.
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Current competitive status among potable and non-potable use makes the water reuse mandatory. Presently, water reuse is common only for reclaimed water coming from municipal or industrial water treatment plants. In those facilities, the treatment includes disinfection. The disinfection methods widely used are chlorination and Ultra Violet (UV) lamps adapted to the conditions of large volume of municipal and industrial systems. This study proposes a disinfection method adequate to the household level to reuse graywater. The method is called solar disinfection (SODIS), which allows the reuse of graywater even though it contains fecal contamination. In this research, natural sun radiation as a free source of heat and UV radiation was utilized. In a first stage, periods of sun exposure, graywater depth, and cell covers as external factors were studied. In later stages, the graywater temperature (GWT) and the UV radiation effects on the reduction of the microbial indicators were observed. Results showed that graywater depth of five cm had a statistical significant reduction rather than ten cm depth (p = 0.0035). Plexiglas and poly-vinyl chloride (PVC), as transparent covers, had a statistical significant reduction (p<0.00001) due to the greenhouse effect increasing the GWT. The black cover had the lowest GWT and reduction of the bacterial and viral indicators. This research found different behavior between bacteria and virus reduction by graywater solar disinfection. In order to reduce the concentration of total coliforms, Escheriquia coli (E. coli) and enterococcus to non-detectable levels (<1.0 most probable number, MPN 100 ml⁻¹), a combination of GWT >45 °C, and UV radiation >24 W m⁻² was required. In contrast, coliphage MS-2, as viral indicator, was resistant to different UV radiation magnitudes (up to 50 W m⁻²), but with a GWT >55 °C non-detectable levels (<1.0 plaques forming units, PFU) were reached.
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Liang, Pei-Shih. "Biosensor Development for Environmental Monitoring, Food Safety, and Secondary Education Applications." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/311212.
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This dissertation develops biosensors for rapid detection of pathogens for environmental monitoring and food safety applications and utilizes the multidisciplinary and multi-application characteristics of biosensors to develop a lesson plan that can be implemented in secondary education classrooms. The detection methods evolve from particle immunoagglutination assay, PDMS optofluidic lab-on-a-chip, and spectrum analysis to smartphone and image analysis without any reagent; the potential application in secondary education also underlines the extended value of biosensors. In the first paper presented here, an optofluidic lab-on-a-chip system and subsequent sampling procedure were developed for detecting bacteria from soil samples utilizing Mie scattering detection of particle immunoagglutination assay. This system and protocol detected the presence of Escherichia coli K12 from soil particles in near real-time (10 min) with a detection limit down to 1 CFU mL⁻¹ and has the potential to be implemented in the field. We also compared the interaction between E. coli and soil particles to the two-step protein-surface interaction. In the second paper, a smartphone-utilized biosensor consisting of a near-infrared (NIR) LED (wavelength of 880 nm) and a digital camera of a smartphone was developed for detecting microbial spoilage on ground beef, without using any reagents. The method was further improved by programming a smartphone application that allows the user to position the smartphone at an optimum distance and a range of angles utilizing its internal gyro sensor to measure a series of scatter intensities against the detection angle. This handheld device can be used as a preliminary screening tool to monitor microbial contamination on meat products. In the third paper, we designed a lesson plan for secondary education classrooms using biosensors as a core and branching out to different applications and fields of study with the goal of heightening students' interest and motivation toward attaining degrees and careers in STEM fields. Results revealed that the lesson was more effective in affecting younger students than older students, and more effective in teaching about the applications of biosensors than about the techniques of biosensor development.
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Rojas, Ortúzar Ilse. "Bioconversion Of Lignocellulosic Components Of Sweet Sorghum Bagasse Into Fermentable Sugars." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/555836.
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The utilization of lignocellulosic residues to produce renewable energy is an interesting alternative to meet the increasing demand of fuels while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Sweet sorghum bagasse is a lignocellulosic residue composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin; and it is a promising substrate for ethanol production because its complex carbohydrates may be hydrolyzed and converted into simple sugars, and then fermented into ethanol. However, the utilization of lignocellulosic residues is difficult and inefficient. Lignocellulose is a very stable and compact complex structure, which is linked by β-1,4 and β-1,3 glycosidic bonds. Furthermore, the crystalline and amorphous features of cellulose fibers and the presence of hemicellulose and lignin make the conversion of lignocellulose into fermentable sugars currently impractical at commercial scale. The bioconversion of lignocellulose in nature is performed by microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria, which produce enzymes that are able to degrade lignocellulose. The present study evaluated the bioconversion of lignocellulosic residues of sweet sorghum into simple sugars using filamentous fungi directly in the hydrolysis of the substrate, without prior isolation of the enzymes. The fungus Neurospora crassa and some wild fungi (that grew naturally on sweet sorghum bagasse) were used in this investigation. The effect of the fungi on substrate degradation and the sugars released after hydrolysis were evaluated, and then compared with standard hydrolysis performed by commercial enzymes (isolated cellulases). In addition, different combinations of fungi and enzymes were used to determine the best approach. The main goal was to verify if the fungi were able to attack and break down the lignocellulose structure directly and at a reasonable rate, rather than by the current method utilizing isolated enzymes. The main finding of this study was that the fungi (N. crassa and wild fungi) were able to degrade sweet sorghum bagasse directly; however, in all of the cases, the hydrolysis process was not efficient because the hydrolysis rate was much lower than the enzymatic hydrolysis rate. Hydrolysis using a combination of fungus and commercial enzymes was a good approach, but still not efficient enough for practical use. The best results of combined hydrolysis were obtained when the substrate was under the fungus attack for three days and then, commercial enzymes with low enzymatic activity (7 FPU/g and 25 CBU/g) were added to the solution. These enzymes represent 10% of the current enzymatic activity recommended per gram of substrate. This process reached reasonable levels of sugars (close to 85% of sugars yield obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis); however, the conversion rate was still slower, making the process impractical and more expensive since it took twice the amount of time as commercial enzymes. Furthermore, the wild fungi able to degrade cellulose were isolated, screened, and identified. Two of them belong to the genus Aspergillus, one to the genus Acremonium, and one to the genus Rhizopus. Small concentration of spores-0.5mL- (see Table 4, CHAPTER III- for specific number of spores per mL) did not show any sugar released during hydrolysis of sweet sorghum bagasse. However, when the concentration of spores was increased (to 5mL and 10mL of solution), citric acid production was detected. This finding indicates that those wild fungi were able to degrade lignocellulose, even though no simple sugars were measured, citric acid production is an indicator of fungi growing and utilization of lignocellulose as nutrient. It is assumed that the fungi consume the sugars at the same time they are released, thus they are not detected. The maximum concentration of citric acid (~14.50 mg/mL) was achieved between days 8-11 of hydrolysis. On the other hand, before using lignocellulose, the substrate needed to be pretreated in order to facilitate its decomposition and subsequent hydrolysis. Sweet sorghum bagasse was washed three times to remove any soluble sugars remaining after the juice was extracted from the stalks. Then, another finding of this study was that the first wash solution could be used for ethanol production since the amount of sugars present in it was close to 13°Brix. The ethanol yield after 48 hours of fermentation was in average 6.82mg/mL, which is close to the theoretical ethanol yield. The other two washes were too dilute for commercial ethanol production. In terms of pretreatments, the best one to break down sweet sorghum bagasse was 2% (w/v) NaOH. This pretreatment shows the highest amounts of glucose and xylose released after hydrolysis. Unwashed and untreated bagasse (raw bagasse) did not show any sugar released. In terms of ethanol, 74.50% of the theoretical yield was reached by enzymatic hydrolysis, while 1.10% was reached by hydrolysis using the fungus N. crassa. Finally, it is important to remark that further investigation is needed to improve the direct conversion of lignocellulose into fermentable sugars by fungal enzymes. This approach is a promising technology that needs to be developed and improved to make it efficient and feasible at commercial scale.
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Lee, Montiel Felipe Tadeo. "A Biosensor Approach for the Detection of Active Virus Using FTIR Spectroscopy and Cell Culture." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/204913.
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Worldwide, 3.575 million people die each year from water-related diseases. The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives than any warfare and is predicted to be one of the biggest global challenges of this century. The rapid, accurate detection of viral pathogens from environmental samples is an ongoing and pertinent challenge in biological engineering. Currently employed methods are lacking in either efficiency or specificity. Here we explore a novel method for virus detection and concurrently use this method to learn more about the very early stages of the virus infection process. The method combines Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, a method of visualizing molecules based on changes in vibration of particles, and mammalian cells as the biosensor. This method is used to detect and investigate viruses from the family picornaviridae, chosen due to their public health burden and their widespread presence in environmental samples, especially water sources. This family includes the Polioviruses, echoviruses and Coxsackieviruses, among others, many of which are human pathogens.The research outlined in this dissertation is aimed at developing and implementing a new cell-based biosensor that combines the advantages of FTIR spectroscopy with the ability of buffalo green monkey kidney (BGMK) cells to sense diverse stimuli, including infective enteroviruses. The goal of developing this biosensor is outlined in the first paper. The second paper focuses on the application of advanced statistical methods to analyze the spectra to discriminate different viral infections in BGMK cells. Finally, we designed a non-reactive metal biochamber to use with attenuated total reflectance-FTIR. This allowed near-continuous acquisition of real-time spectral data for the study of biochemical changes in mammalian cells caused by poliovirus (PV1) infection. This system is capable of tracking changes in cell biochemistry in minute intervals for many hours at a time.This work demonstrates the feasibility of FTIR spectroscopy in combination with the broad sensitivity of mammalian cells for potential use in the detection of infective viruses from environmental samples. We envision this method being extended to high throughput, automated systems to screen for viruses or other toxins in drinking water systems and medical applications.
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Rojano, Aguilar Fernando. "Computational Modeling to Reduce Impact of Heat Stress in Lactating Cows." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/272838.
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Climatic conditions inside the dairy barn do not concern dairy farmers until those conditions begin to affect productivity and, consequently, profits. As heat and humidity increase beyond the cow's comfort levels, milk production declines, as does fertility and the welfare of the cow in general. To reinforce the cooling mechanisms currently used, this work proposes an alternative system for reducing the risk of heat stress. This innovative conductive cooling system does not depend on current weather conditions, and it does not require significant modifications when it is installed or during its operation. Also, the system circulates water that can be reused. Given that a review of the literature found very few related studies, it is suggested that each freestall be equipped with a viable prototype in the form of a waterbed able to exchange heat. Such a prototype has been simulated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and later verified by a set of experiments designed to confirm its cooling capacity. Furthermore, this investigation sets the foundation for modeling temperature in a water supply system linked to the waterbeds. EPANET, a software program developed by the Environmental Protection Agency, simulates the hydraulic model. Its Water Quality Solver has been modified according to an analogy in the governing equation that compares mass to heat transfer and serves to simulate water temperature as the water is transported from its source to the point of delivery and then as it returns to the same source.
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El-Obeid, Dany. "Conséquences de l'utilisation des films UV sélectifs sur le fonctionnement du biosystème serre (application à la lutte intégrée en culture de tomate " Lycopersicon esculentum Mill ")." Avignon, 2006. http://www.theses.fr/2006AVIG0602.
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L'utilisation des films et des filets UV-sélectifs pour couvrir les serres de production de tomate comme moyen de lutte contre les champignons et les insectes a soulevé plus de questions et de problèmes que des certitudes pour les agriculteurs, en particulier en ce qui concerne la gestion des insectes auxiliaires. L'objectif de ce travail était de tester l'efficacité des ces films dans les conditions climatiques grecques par rapport à trois processus 1) assurer une pollinisation adéquate, 2) protéger la culture contre la pourriture grise à un coût énergétique acceptable et 3) protéger les cultures contres les ravageurs comme les aleurodes, les pucerons et les thrips par les auxiliaires Encarsia formosa et Macrolophus pygmaeus. Pour cela, trois cultures successives de tomates ont été réalisées dans des serres équipées pour les unes de films UV-sélectifs et pour une autre d’un film standard. L'activité des bourdons au niveau de la porte de la ruche a été observée grâce à des cameras de vidéosurveillance et à des observations directes. Au niveau des fleurs l'activité a été caractérisée par le pourcentage et le degré de pollinisation. Des mesures de la qualité des fruits provenant de fleurs butinées ou non butinées ont été réalisées. Différents modes de déshumidification ont été appliqués afin d’évaluer leur effet sur le climat de la serre et sur l'apparition de la pourriture grise. Nous avons suivi l'évolution des populations des ravageurs sur les plantes et sur des pièges à l'intérieur et à l’extérieur des serres. Des comparaisons entre des compartiments avec et sans lutte intégrée ont été réalisées. Les résultats ont montré une dérive des bourdons des serres à films UV-sélectifs vers les serres sans film UV-sélectif durant la période de conditionnement. Cependant l'activité journalière des bourdons n'était pas altérée. La protection des films UV-sélectifs contre les ravageurs s'élevait jusqu'a 59% et à 90% quand ils sont accompagnés de filets UV-sélectifs. Nos résultats ont démontré une grande préférence des auxiliaires pour les conditions sous le film témoin mais leur efficacité dans les structures pauvres en UV n’a cependant pas été altérée. On conclut que l'utilisation des filets UV-sélectifs n'est pas avantageuse et que l'utilisation des films UV-sélectifs est avantageuse, notamment au plan de la prévention contre les ravageurs, mais qu’elle impose de conditionner les bourdons à l’environnement sans UV que ces films créentThe use of UV-blocking films and screens in tomato greenhouses as anti-fungus and anti-insects gave controversial results especially concerning the pollinators and beneficial insects. The scope of the current work is to test the effectiveness of different combination of films and nets under Greek climatic conditions concerning three main points: 1) ensuring a proper pollination, 2) protecting the tomato crop against grey mould with a reduced energetic cost and, 3) allowing the protection the crop against pests like white flies, aphids and thrips with the auxiliary insects Encarsia formosa and Macrolophus pygmaeus. Three consecutive tomato crops were grown in greenhouses covered with UV-selective films and in greenhouses covered with standard film. The activity of the bumblebees has been monitored by cameras and by direct observations at the entrance of the hive. The activity of bees has also been characterised on the flowers by the percentage and the degree of pollination. Quality measurements on fruits coming from pollinated and non-pollinated flowers were realised. Several dehumidification regimes were applied to evaluate their effect on the greenhouse climate and on the apparition of grey mould. We measured the evolution of the populations of insects inside and outside the greenhouses. A comparison between compartments with and without Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was done. The results showed a high drifting of the bumblebees during the conditioning period, but no harmful effect of the films on their daily activity and pollination. UV-blocking films impede the entrance of harmful insects up to 50% when compared to the control film. This protection goes up 90% with the additional use of UV-blocking screens. Our results showed a preference of the beneficial insects for the environment under the control film, but their effectiveness in UV-less environments was not altered. We conclude that the use of UV-blocking screens was not profitable but that the use of UV-blocking films can be a beneficial tool when used in combination with IPM, but that it requires that the bumblebee be conditioned for UV-lacking environments
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Fortunato, Valquíria Aparecida. "Modelagem computacional de biorreatores de fluxo contínuo para tratamento e aproveitamento de efluentes agroindustriais." Universidade de São Paulo, 2018. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/74/74133/tde-24102018-122837/.
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O tratamento de efluentes por digestão anaeróbia tem sido amplamente modelado via ADM1 (Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1) desenvolvido pela IWA (International Water Association). Tal modelo é dinâmico de modo que concentrações das espécies químicas no interior do reator variam com o tempo, sendo matematicamente regidas por equações diferenciais ordinárias ou algébricas conforme a respectiva cinética química. Este trabalho teve como objetivo adaptar o modelo ADM1 para tratamento e posterior aproveitamento de efluentes agroindustriais, com interesse futuro ao tratamento anaeróbio da vinhaça de cana de açúcar. O presente trabalho considerou biorreatores contínuos de mistura perfeita (CSTR - Continuously Stirred Tank Reactor) e a solução numérica das equações governantes foi programada em linguagem Python. O modelo computacional implementado se mostrou aplicável e pode ser utilizado em demais pesquisas que se baseiam no modelo ADM1 de digestão anaeróbia para tratamento de efluentes agroindustriais, considerando possíveis adaptações devido à especificidade de cada tipo de efluente.The wastewater treatment by anaerobic digestion has been extensively modelled by ADM1 (Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1) developed by IWA (International Water Association). This model is dynamic so that chemical species concentrations within the reactor vary over time, being mathematically governed by either ordinary differential equations or algebraic equations according to their chemical kinetics. This research aimed at adapting the ADM1 model for treatment and subsequent use of agroindustrial effluents, with future interest in the anaerobic treatment of sugarcane vinasse. The present research considered Continuously Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) and the numerical solution of the governing equations was programmed in Python language. The computational model implemented was applicable and can be used in other studies that are based on the ADM1 model of anaerobic digestion for the treatment of agroindustrial effluents, considering possible adaptations due to the specificity of each type of efluente.
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Pookhao, Naruekamol. "Statistical Methods for Functional Metagenomic Analysis Based on Next-Generation Sequencing Data." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/320986.
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Metagenomics is the study of a collective microbial genetic content recovered directly from natural (e.g., soil, ocean, and freshwater) or host-associated (e.g., human gut, skin, and oral) environmental communities that contain microorganisms, i.e., microbiomes. The rapid technological developments in next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, enabling to sequence tens or hundreds of millions of short DNA fragments (or reads) in a single run, facilitates the studies of multiple microorganisms lived in environmental communities. Metagenomics, a relatively new but fast growing field, allows us to understand the diversity of microbes, their functions, cooperation, and evolution in a particular ecosystem. Also, it assists us to identify significantly different metabolic potentials in different environments. Particularly, metagenomic analysis on the basis of functional features (e.g., pathways, subsystems, functional roles) enables to contribute the genomic contents of microbes to human health and leads us to understand how the microbes affect human health by analyzing a metagenomic data corresponding to two or multiple populations with different clinical phenotypes (e.g., diseased and healthy, or different treatments). Currently, metagenomic analysis has substantial impact not only on genetic and environmental areas, but also on clinical applications. In our study, we focus on the development of computational and statistical methods for functional metagnomic analysis of sequencing data that is obtained from various environmental microbial samples/communities.
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Tai, Ching, and 戴晴. "Economic Development, Population Growth, and Biosystem Equilibrium." Thesis, 1997. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/70619732797788243413.
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Lin, Heng-yu, and 林恆宇. "A Computational Model of Emotion Based on Biosystem." Thesis, 2014. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/ndp2j6.
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碩士國立中山大學
資訊管理學系研究所
102
Robots began to appear in a variety of different tasks with the development of robot industrial in recent years, in particular the tasks have close contact with people. These tasks require in response to different situations and social norms to give users different feedback, such as reception robots, entertainment robots or pet robots. Some of the tasks requires responses to people in different situations, in particular the task which has close relationship with people. These robots in addition to having more anthropomorphic appearance, but also added a lot of the mental state of the design. For example, Sony had developed the pet dog ''AIBO'' a few years ago. In addition to the lovely appearance and actions, it also has the emotion mechanisms which allow users feel interesting to interact. Therefore, the goal of this study is using computational biological mechanisms to build an more anthropomorphic emotion system. Finally, this study has two situations of experiment. The system has success in learning the relation between stimulations and rewards, and generating the corresponding emotion.
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You, Hueysong, and 游惠宋. "Development of membrane-coupled methanogenic and faculative biosystem." Thesis, 2006. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/88992342495879539314.
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博士國立交通大學
環境工程系所
94
Membrane bio-reactor (MBR), combining biological treatment with membrane separation, has recently become an innovative biochemical technology for wastewater treatment. MBR can be grouped into anaerobic and aerobic MBR depending upon the type of the bacteria. Many successful applications of aerobic MBR have been documented. Anaerobic MBR, on the other hand, has rarely been mentioned in the literature. The most limiting factor in operating aerobic MBR is the membrane fouling, which reduces the membrane flux and increases the TMP resulting in increased operation cost and shortened membrane life. As for anaerobic MBR, scaling is one additional problem besides fouling due to the formation of CO2 which forms the scales of metal carbonates on the membrane surface. This is the main reason that anaerobic MBR is seldom practiced. Anaerobic biological treatment requires less space because of the high volumetric treatment capacity and low in energy consumption. However, because the production of anaerobic biomass is substantially slow, the granule is difficult to form resulting in biomass loss. The MBR technology can effectively retain the biomass in the reactor and greatly enhance the biological treatment. The only problems left are the fouling and the scaling. In this study, the Membrane-Coupled Methanogenic and Facultative Biosystem (MCMFB) was invented, in which both anaerobic and facultative microorganisms were used. In this system, only one membrane module was utilized to serve both the anaerobic and aerobic bioreactors. The effects of environmental parameters on microbial activities and the stability of long-term operation due to potential fouling and scaling were evaluated. The feasibility of the system was evaluated by applying on the wastewater from a polarizer plant. After 180 days of operation, the system appeared stable and the activities of the microorganisms remained unaffected although they were alternated between anaerobic and aerobic conditions. The flux rose from 11 to 18 L/m2-hr and the TMP remained 2 �b 1 kPa, indicating that the MCMFB was highly resistant to fouling. Calcium chloride was added in the substrate to test the response of MCMFB to scaling. Both external and internal membrane systems were tested. It was discovered that by using the external membrane system the inorganic scaling on membrane surface was reduced substantially. X-ray diffraction (XRD) identified calcium carbonate as the scale on the membrane of the internal membrane system. Therefore, the aeration tank and the membrane tank of the MCMFB system must be separated if the wastewater is of risk of scaling. The wastewater from polarizer process contains low concentrations of calcium and magnesium. After 140 days of operation, the MCMFB system remained stable, of which the volumetric removal capacity of the anaerobic tank was maintained around 5.0 kg COD/m3-day which was four to five times that of aerobic biological treatment. The flux was between 1 to 5.0 L/m2-hr and the TMP was between 15 and 20 kPa. The result proved that the MCMFB could effectively prevent membrane fouling.
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ChenPang, Lai, and 賴振邦. "Biosurfactant Production, Isolation and Purification Using Cell Immobilization in Bacillus subtilis Biosystem." Thesis, 1998. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/40580172663861566447.
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碩士大葉大學
食品工程研究所
86
Surfactants have wide applications in many industries. Thus far most ofthe surfactants used are synthetic. Due to environmental and health impactof synthetic surfactants, biosurfactants have drawn many attentions, and itsgrowing importance is expected. Generaly speaking, biosurfactants areamphiphilic compound produced through fermentation. Special features ofbiosurfactants includes: very low Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC),stable over wide range of temperature, pH, and high salt concentratio n, ascompared to synthetic surfactants. Bacillus subtilis produces lipopeptidebiosurfactants which has excellent interfacial activities, is commonlycalled surfactins. Chitosan is an abundant resource in nature that can bereborn in lifecycles of nature, and has been widely used in medicaltreatments, agriculture, industries, fishery, cosmetics. Its promisingfuture is commonly recognized. Chitosan are deduced from chitin throughdeacetylation, and have versatile functional properties, one of which is bio-compatibility and capability of forming porous gel beads that is animportant characteristic to serve as supporting matrix for cellimmobilization. This research is devoted to cell immobilization usingchitosan as solid support, and to study the behavior of the bioreactor andthe immobilized bacterium (Bacillus subtilis), also, the recovery of thesurfactins. Results showed that 3% (w/v) of chitosan treated with carboxylgives good performance. The nutrient broth of ADSA was found to be suitablefor both c ell growth and surfactins production. Optimum inoculumconcentration was 1% (w/v). Recovery rate of surfactins can be increased byseparating the foam. The use of ultrafiltration membrane of YM100 and ethylacetate increased the quantities of surfactins recovered.
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Septiano, Wanda Pradjanata. "Evaluation of hulless barley for potential ethanol production." 2010. http://digital.library.okstate.edu/etd/Septiano_okstate_0664M_10892.pdf.
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VASI, SEBASTIANO. "Thermodynamics of water and biosystems." Doctoral thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11570/3115500.
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Il presente lavoro di tesi è incentrato sullo studio termodinamico dell’interazione dell’acqua con alcuni biosistemi, illustrando come l’acqua rivesta un ruolo importante nel "guidare" le proprietà di tali sistemi. In particolare, gli esperimenti sono stati condotti utilizzando la tecnica della Risonanza Magnetica Nucleare, passando dal metanolo, la più semplice molecola anfifilica, ad un sistema più complesso come il lisozima, una proteina enzimatica dotata di attività battericida.
Le misure di Risonanza Magnetica Nucleare sono state eseguite con uno spettrometro Avance della Bruker operante a 700 MHz ed utilizzando diverse tecniche e sequenze, tra cui il "Pulsed Field Gradient Stimulated Echo" e la "High-Resolution Magic Angle Spinning". La strumentazione utilizzata è localizzata nel Laboratorio di Fisica dei Sistemi Complessi gestito dal Prof. F. Mallamace, presso il "Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra" (MIFT) dell’Università di Messina.
Sono stati oggetto di studio molte grandezze dinamiche e termodinamiche dei sistemi investigati, tra cui la diffusione, misure ottenute mediante l’utilizzo di gradienti di campo magnetico che permettono di effettuare una codifica spaziale delle frequenze di precessione degli spin attivi, in grado quindi di rilevare uno spostamento degli stessi durante il tempo di osservazione. In particolare l’universalità e la rilevanza di temperature estremamente importanti per l’acqua sono state osservate anche nei processi caratterizzanti i sistemi acquosi. Un esempio è dato dalla temperatura "magica" di circa 315 K alla quale avviene un cambiamento nella dinamica dell’acqua in quanto l’acqua passa dall’essere un fluido normale all’essere un liquido complesso ed anomalo, e viceversa.
Nel caso dei sistemi acquosi, per esempio acqua e proteina, tale temperatura rappresenta l’inizio del processo di "unfolding" della proteina in cui essa comincia a denaturare per assumerere lo stato di semplice catena polipeptidica lineare. I risultati ottenuti hanno permesso anche di mettere in evidenza l’importanza del legame idrogeno in relazione alla sua competizione con l’effetto idrofobico. Infatti, è tale competizione che genera un cambiamento nella dinamica dei sistemi acquosi rispetto al caso dei sistemi puri. Tale lavoro ha potuto avvalersi di collaborazioni con il gruppo del Prof. E. H. Stanley del "Center for Polymer Studies and Department of Physics" della Boston University, Boston (USA) e del Prof. S.-H. Chen del "Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering" del Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston (USA).This thesis focuses on the thermodynamical study of water interaction with some biosystems, illustrating how water plays an important role in "driving" the properties of such systems. In particular, the experiments were conducted by means of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance technique and by passing from methanol, the simplest amphiphilic molecule, to a more complex system such as lysozyme, an enzyme protein with bactericidal activity. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance measurements were performed by means of a Bruker Avance spectrometer operating at 700 MHz and by using various techniques and sequences, including the Pulsed Field Gradient Stimulated Echo and the High-Resolution Magic Angle Spinning. The instrumentation used is located in the Laboratory of Physics of Complex Systems managed by Prof. F. Mallamace at the Department of Mathematical and Informatics Sciences, Physical Sciences and Earth Sciences (MIFT), University of Messina. Many dynamic and thermodynamic quantities of the investigated systems have been studied, including diffusion obtained by the use of magnetic field gradients which allow to perform a spatial encoding of spin frequencies, thus able to detect a shift of the same during observation time. In particular, the universality and relevance of extremely important temperatures for water have been observed even in processes characterizing aqueous systems. An example is the "magic" temperature of about 315 K at which a change in water dynamics occurs as water passes from being a normal fluid to being a complex and anomalous liquid, and vice versa. In the case of aqueous systems, e.g., in water and protein solution, such temperature represents the beginning of the unfolding process of the protein in which it begins to denature and to assume the state of a simple linear polypeptide chain. The results obtained also made it possible to highlight the importance of the hydrogen bond in relation to its competition with the hydrophobic effect. In fact, it is such a competition that generates a change in the dynamics of the aqueous systems with respect to the case of pure systems. In this work, we collaborate with Prof. E. H. Stanley of the Boston University, Boston (USA) and Prof. S.-H. Chen of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston (USA).
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Chen, Xi. "Engineering of TEV Protease for Manipulation of Biosystems." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1807/43517.
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Synthetic biology is a nascent discipline that aims to design and construct new biological systems beyond those found in nature, ultimately using them to probe, control, or even replace existing biological systems. The success of synthetic biology depends on the assembly of a set of well-defined and modular tools. These tools should ideally be mutually compatible, reusable in different contexts, and have minimum crosstalk with endogenous proteins of the subject. The tobacco etch virus protease (TEV protease, TEVp) is a suitable candidate for such a tool due to its unique substrate specificity and high efficiency. Importantly, TEVp is capable of imitating proteolysis, a ubiquitous mechanism in nature for post-translational modifications and signal propagation. Here, TEVp is employed as a self-contained proteolytic device capable of executing biological tasks that are otherwise governed by endogenous proteins and processes. Consequently, the goal of using TEVp for synthetic manipulation of biosystems is achieved. First, a single-vector multiple gene expression strategy utilizing TEVp self-cleavage was created. This approach was used for the robust expression of up to three genes in both bacterial and mammalian cells with consistent stoichiometry. The products can then be individually purified or targeted to distinct subcellular compartments respectively. Second, a temperature-inducible TEVp was created by incremental truncation of TEVp. The 18th truncation of TEVp (tsTEVp) resulted in negligible activity at 37 °C, but retained sufficient activity at 30 °C for rapid processing of its substrates in several mammalian cell cultures. Finally, tsTEVp was applied in the context of other synthetic modules to generate a variety of biological responses. Its versatility was demonstrated as cellular processes including protein localization, cellular blebbing, protein degradation, and cell death were rewired to respond to the physical stimulus of temperature.
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Machado, C. D. "Novel modeling formalisms and simulation tools in computational biosystems." Doctoral thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1822/19675.
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Tese de doutoramento em BioengenhariaThe goal of Systems Biology is to understand the complex behavior that emerges from the interaction among the cellular components. Industrial biotechnology is one of the areas of application, where new approaches for metabolic engineering are developed, through the creation of new models and tools for simulation and optimization of the microbial metabolism. Although whole-cell modeling is one of the goals of Systems Biology, so far most models address only one kind of biological network independently. This work explores the integration of di erent kinds of biological networks with a focus on the improvement of simulation of cellular metabolism. The bacterium Escherichia coli is the most well characterized model organism and is used as our case-study. An extensive review of modeling formalisms that have been used in Systems Biology is presented in this work. It includes several formalisms, including Boolean networks, Bayesian networks, Petri nets, process algebras, constraint-based models, di erential equations, rule-based models, interacting state machines, cellular automata and agent-based models. We compare the features provided by these formalisms and classify the most suitable ones for the creation of a common framework for modeling, analysis and simulation of integrated biological networks. Currently, there is a separation between dynamic and constraint-based modeling of metabolism. Dynamic models are based on detailed kinetic reconstructions of central metabolic pathways, whereas constraint-based models are based on genome-scale stoichiometric reconstructions. Here, we explore the gap between both formulations and evaluate how dynamic models can be used to reduce the solution space of constraint-based models in order to eliminate kinetically infeasible solutions. The limitations of both kinds of models are leading to new approaches to build kinetic models at the genome-scale. The generation of kinetic models from stoichiometric reconstructions can be performed within the same framework as a transformation from discrete to continuous Petri nets. However, the size of these networks results in models with a large number of parameters. In this scope, we develop and implement structural reduction methods that adjust the level of detail of metabolic networks without loss of information, which can be applied prior to the kinetic inference to build dynamic models with a smaller number of parameters. In order to account for enzymatic regulation, which is not present in constraint-based models, we propose the utilization of Extended Petri nets. This results in a better sca old for the kinetic inference process. We evaluate the impact of accounting for enzymatic regulation in the simulation of the steady-state phenotype of mutant strains by performing knockouts and adjustment of enzyme expression levels. It can be observed that in some cases the impact is signi cant and may reveal new targets for rational strain design. In summary, we have created a solid framework with a common formalism and methods for metabolic modeling. This will facilitate the integration with gene regulatory networks, as we have already addressed many issues also associated with these networks, such as the trade-o between size and detail, and the representation of regulatory interactions.
O objectivo da Biologia de Sistemas é compreender os comportamentos que resultam das complexas interacções entre todos os componentes celulares. A biotecnologia industrial é uma das áreas de aplicação, onde novas abordagens para a engenharia metabólica são desenvolvidas através da criação de novos modelos e ferramentas de simulação e optimização do metabolismo microbiano. Apesar de um dos principais objectivos da Biologia de Sistemas ser a criação de um modelo completo de uma célula, até ao momento a maioria dos modelos desenvolvidos incorpora de forma separada cada tipo de rede biológica. Este trabalho explora a integração de diferentes tipos de redes biológicas, focando melhorar a simulação do metabolismo celular. A bactéria Escherichia coli é o organismo modelo que estáa melhor caracterizado e é usado como caso de estudo. Neste trabalho é elaborada uma extensa revisão dos formalismos de modela ção que têm sido utilizados em Biologia de Sistemas. São considerados vários formalismos tais como, redes Booleanas, redes Bayesianas, redes de Petri, álgebras de processos, modelos baseados em restrições, equações diferenciais, modelos baseados em regras, máquinas de interacção de estados, autómatos celulares e modelos baseados em agentes. As funcionalidades inerentes a estes formalismos são analisadas de forma a classificar os mesmos pelo seu potencial em servir de base à criação de uma plataforma para modela ção, análise e simulação de redes biológicas integradas. Actualmente, existe uma separação entre modelação dinâmica e modelação baseada em restrições para o metabolismo celular. Os modelos dinâmicos consistem em reconstruções cinéticas detalhadas de vias centrais do metabolismo, enquanto que os modelos baseados em restrições são construídos à escala genómica com base apenas na estequiometria das reacçõoes. Neste trabalho explora-se a separação entre os dois tipos de formulação e é avaliada a forma como os modelos dinâmicos podem ser utilizados para reduzir o espaço de soluções de modelos baseados em restrições de forma a eliminar soluções inalcançáveis. As limitações impostas por ambos os tipos de modelos estão a conduzir à criação de novas abordagens para a construção de modelos cinéticos à escala genómica. A geração de modelos cinéticos a partir de reconstruções estequiométricas pode ser feita dentro de um mesmo formalismo através da transformação de redes de Petri discretas em redes de Petri contínuas. No entanto, devido ao tamanho destas redes, os modelos resultantes incluem um número extremamente grande de parâmetros. Neste trabalho são implementados métodos para a redução estrutural de redes metabólicas sem perda de informação, que permitem ajustar o nível de detalhe das redes. Estes métodos podem ser aplicados à inferência de cinéticas, de forma a gerar modelos dinâmicos com um menor número de parâmetros. De forma a considerar efeitos de regulação enzimática, os quais não são representados em modelos baseados em restrições, propõe-se a utilização de redes de Petri complementadas com arcos regulatórios. Este formalismo é utilizado como base para o processo de inferência cinética. A influência da regulação enzimática na determinação do estado estacionário de estirpes mutantes é avaliada através da análise da remoção de reacções e da variação dos níveis de expressão enzimática. Observa-se que em alguns casos esta influência é significativa e pode ser utilizada para obter novas estratégias de manipulação de estirpes. Em suma, neste trabalho foi criada uma plataforma sólida para modelação do metabolismo baseada num formalismo comum. Esta plataforma facilitará a integração com redes de regulação genética, pois foram abordados vários problemas que também se colocam nestas redes, tais como o ajuste entre o tamanho da rede e o seu nível de detalhe, bem como a representação de interacções regulatórias entre componentes da rede.
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Vaz, Michael Martins. "Sol-gel entrapped biosystems: enzyme(s) and whole cells." Master's thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/16489.
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In this work two different procedures to utilize the sol-gel technology were applied to immobilize/encapsulate enzymes and living cells.
CO2 has reached levels in the atmosphere that make it a pollutant. New methods to utilize this gas to obtain products of added value can be very important, both from an environmentally point of view and from an economic standpoint. The first goal of this work was to study the first reaction of a sequential, three-step, enzymatic process that carries out the conversion of CO2 to methanol. Of the three oxidoreductases involved, our focus was on formate dehydrogenase (FateDH) that converts CO2 to formate. This reaction requires the presence of the cofactor β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide in reduced form (NADH). The cofactor is expensive and unstable. Our experiments were directed towards generating NADH from its oxidized form (NAD+), using glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH). The formation of NADH from NAD+ in aqueous medium was studied with both free and sol-gel entrapped GDH. This reaction was then followed by the conversion of CO2 to formate, catalysed by free or sol-gel entrapped FateDH. The quantification of NADH/NAD+ was made using UV/Vis spectroscopy. Our results showed that it was possible to couple the GDH-catalyzed generation of the cofactor NADH with the FateDH-catalyzed conversion of CO2, as confirmed by the detection of formate in the medium, using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).
The immobilization of living cells can be advantageous from the standpoint of ease of recovery, reutilization and physical separation from the medium. Also dead cells may not always exhibit enzymatic activities found with living cells. In this work cell encapsulation was performed using Escherichia coli bacteria. To reduce toxicity for living organisms, the sol-gel method was different than for enzymes, and involved the use of aqueous-based precursors. Initial encapsulation experiments and viability tests were carried out with E. coli K12. Our results showed that sol-gel entrapment of the cells was achieved, and that cell viability could be increased with additives, namely betaine that led to greater viability improvement and was selected for further studies. For an approach to “in-cell” Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) experiments, the expression of the protein ctCBM11 was performed in E. coli BL21. It was possible to obtain an NMR signal from the entrapped cells, a considerable proportion of which remained alive after the NMR experiments. However, it was not possible to obtain a distinctive NMR signal from the target protein to distinguish it from the other proteins in the cell.
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Moores, Bradley Adam James. "Scanning Probe Microscopy Methods to Study Electrostatic Properties within Biosystems." Thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/5595.
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Many proteins are known to actively interact with biological, as well as inorganic and synthetic surfaces that are widely used in nano- and bio-technology as biosensing platforms and in tissue engineering. Amyloid fibrils are insoluble protein aggregates in beta-sheet conformation that are implicated in at least 20 diseases for which no cure is currently available. The molecular mechanism of fibril formation, as well as the mechanism of fibril clusters interacting with lipid membrane surfaces is currently unknown. The lipid membrane surface has a complex biochemical composition and is also electrostatically non-homogeneous. Currently, the experimental data available for amyloid fibril formation both on lipid and artificial surfaces is limited. The goal of our study is to investigate how the physical properties of the surfaces affect binding of amyloid peptides and affect the fibril formation. We seek to elucidate the effect of electrostatic interactions of amyloid peptides with surfaces using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). We show using KPFM that electrostatic domains readily form within biological systems such as lung surfactant and lipid monolayers. We compared three different implementations of KPFM to demonstrate that frequency modulated (FM-) KPFM provides significant advantages over other modes. We also present a study of Amyloid beta (1-42) fibril formation on model surfaces, which are uniformly charged or possess periodicity of charges and hydrophobic functionality based on thiol self-assembly. Effect of membrane composition, surface charge, and presence of steroids will be discussed.