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ALACEN: A Holistic Herbaceous Biomass Fractionation Process Attaining a Xylose-Rich Stream for Direct Microbial Conversion to Bioplastics

Lignocellulose biorefining is a promising technologyfor the sustainable production of chemicals and biopolymers.Usually, when one component is focused on, the chemical natureand yield of the others are compromised. Thus, one of thebottlenecks in biomass biorefining is harnessing the maximumvalue from all of the lignocellulosic components. Here, we describea mild stepwise process in a flow-through setup leading to separateflow-out streams containing cinnamic acid derivatives, glucose,xylose, and lignin as the main components from differentherbaceous sources. The proposed process shows that minimaldegradation of the individual components and conservation oftheir natural structure are possible. Under optimized conditions,the following fractions are produced from wheat straw based ontheir respective contents in the feed by the ALkaline ACid ENzyme process: (i) 78% ferulic acid from a mild ALkali step, (ii) 51%monomeric xylose free of fermentation inhibitors by mild ACidic treatment, (iii) 82% glucose from ENzymatic degradation ofcellulose, and (iv) 55% native-like lignin. The benefits of using the flow-through setup are demonstrated. The retention of the ligninaryl ether structure was confirmed by HSQC NMR, and this allowed monomers to form from hydrogenolysis. More importantly, thecrude xylose-rich fraction was shown to be suitable for producing polyhydroxybutyrate bioplastics. The direct use of the xylose-richfraction by means of the thermophilic bacteria Schlegelella thermodepolymerans matched 91% of the PHA produced with commercialpure xylose, achieving 138.6 mgPHA/gxylose. Overall, the ALACEN fractionation method allows for a holistic valorization of theprincipal components of herbaceous biomasses.

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Use of Lateral Flow Assays in Forensics

Keywords: lateral flow assays; forensic investigation; body fluid identification; illicit drugs analysis; explosives analysis

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Use of Lateral Flow Assays in Forensics

Already for some decades lateral flow assays (LFAs) are ‘common use’ devices in our daily life. Also, for forensic use LFAs are developed, such as for the analysis of illicit drugs and DNA, but also for the detection of explosives and body fluid identification. Despite their advantages, including ease-of-use, LFAs are not yet frequently applied at a crime scene. This review describes (academic) developments of LFAs for forensic applications, focusing on biological and chemical applications, whereby the main advantages and disadvantages of LFAs for the different forensic applications are summarized. Additionally, a critical review is provided, discussing why LFAs are not frequently applied within the forensic field and highlighting the steps that are needed to bring LFAs to the forensic market.

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The effect of endurance exercise on intestinal integrity in well‐trained healthy men

Exercise is one of the external factors associated with impairment of intestinal integrity, possibly leading to increased permeability and altered absorption. Here, we aimed to examine to what extent endurance exercise in the glycogen‐depleted state can affect intestinal permeability toward small molecules and protein‐derived peptides in relation to markers of intestinal function. Eleven well‐trained male volunteers (27 ± 4 years) ingested 40 g of casein protein and a lactulose/rhamnose (L/R) solution after an overnight fast in resting conditions (control) and after completing a dual – glycogen depletion and endurance – exercise protocol (first protocol execution). The entire procedure was repeated 1 week later (second protocol execution). Intestinal permeability was measured as L/R ratio in 5 h urine and 1 h plasma. Five‐hour urine excretion of betacasomorphin‐7 (BCM7), postprandial plasma amino acid levels, plasma fatty acid binding protein 2 (FABP‐2), serum pre‐haptoglobin 2 (preHP2), plasma glucagon‐like peptide 2 (GLP2), serum calprotectin, and dipeptidylpeptidase‐4 (DPP4) activity were studied as markers for excretion, intestinal functioning and recovery, inflammation, and BCM7 breakdown activity, respectively. BCM7 levels in urine were increased following the dual exercise protocol, in the first as well as the second protocol execution, whereas 1 h‐plasma L/R ratio was increased only following the first exercise protocol execution. FABP2, preHP2, and GLP2 were not changed after exercise, whereas calprotectin increased. Plasma citrulline levels following casein ingestion (iAUC) did not increase after exercise, as opposed to resting conditions. Endurance exercise in the glycogen depleted state resulted in a clear increase of BCM7 accumulation in urine, independent of DPP4 activity and intestinal permeability. Therefore, strenuous exercise could have an effect on the amount of food‐derived bioactive peptides crossing the epithelial barrier. The health consequence of increased passage needs more in depth studies.

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The effect of endurance exercise on intestinal integrity in well‐trained healthy men

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Enterocytes, fibroblasts and myeloid cells synergize in anti-bacterial and anti-viral pathways with IL22 as the central cytokine

IL22 is an important cytokine involved in the intestinal defense mechanisms against microbiome. By using ileum-derived organoids, we show that the expression of anti-microbial peptides (AMPs) and anti-viral peptides (AVPs) can be induced by IL22. In addition, we identified a bacterial and a viral route, both leading to IL22 production by T cells, but via different pathways. Bacterial products, such as LPS, induce enterocyte-secreted SAA1, which triggers the secretion of IL6 in fibroblasts, and subsequently IL22 in T cells. This IL22 induction can then be enhanced by macrophage-derived TNFα in two ways: by enhancing the responsiveness of T cells to IL6 and by increasing the expression of IL6 by fibroblasts. Viral infections of intestinal cells induce IFNβ1 and subsequently IL7. IFNβ1 can induce the expression of IL6 in fibroblasts and the combined activity of IL6 and IL7 can then induce IL22 expression in T cells. We also show that IL22 reduces the expression of viral entry receptors (e.g. ACE2, TMPRSS2, DPP4, CD46 and TNFRSF14), increases the expression of anti-viral proteins (e.g. RSAD2, AOS, ISG20 and Mx1) and, consequently, reduces the viral infection of neighboring cells. Overall, our data indicates that IL22 contributes to the innate responses against both bacteria and viruses.

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Enterocytes, fibroblasts and myeloid cells synergize in anti-bacterial and anti-viral pathways with IL22 as the central cytokine

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Thermal disinfection of hospital wastewater in a pilot‑scale continuous‑flow system

Thermal disinfection is probably the oldest water treatment method ever used. Similarly to other disinfection processes, it targets the inactivation of pathogenic (micro)organisms present in water, wastewater and other media. In this work, a pilot-scale continuous-flow thermal disinfection system was investigated using highly contaminated hospital wastewater as influent without any pre-treatment step for turbidity removal. The results proved that the tested system can be used with influent turbidity as high as 100 NTU and still provide up to log 8 microbial inactivation. Further results have shown energy consumption comparable to other commercially available thermal disinfection systems and relatively low influence on the investigated physical–chemical parameters.

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Thermal disinfection of hospital wastewater in a pilot‑scale continuous‑flow system

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Development Midstream processing of Flax-fiber

Stricter environmental policies, increased energy prices and depletion of resources are forcing industries to look for bio-based and low carbon footprint products. For industries, flax is interesting resource since it is light, strong, environmental friendly and renewable. From flax plant to fiber products involves biochemical and mechanical processes. Moreover, production and processing costs have to compete with other products, like petroleum based materials. This research focusses on sustainable process improvement from flax plant to fiber production. Flax retting is a biological process at which mainly pectin is removed. Without retting, the desired fibre remains attached to the wooden core of the flax stem. As a result, the flax fibres cannot be gained, or have a lows quality. After retting, the fibers are released from the wooden core. Furthermore, machines have been introduced in the flax production process, but the best quality fibers are still produced manually. Due to the high labor intensity the process is too expensive and the process needs to be economical optimized. Since the retting process determines all other downstream processes, retting is the first step to focus on. Lab-scale experiments were performed to investigate the retting process. Factors that were researched were low cost processing conditions like, temperature, pH, dew retting and water retting. The retting rate was low, around three weeks for complete retting. The best retting conditions were at 20°C with water and any addition of chemicals. The process could be shortened to two weeks by recycling the water phase. In a scale-up experiment, a rotating drum was used at the optimal conditions from the lab-experiment (20°C and water). First the flax did not mix with the water content in the rotating drum. The flax was too rigid and did not tumble. Therefore, bundles of flax plants were used. The inner core of the bundle seemed to be protected and the retting rate was less compared to the flax on the surface of the flax bundle. This implies that mechanical impact increased retting in the rotating drum, however heterogeneous retting should be avoided. To overcome the heterogeneous retting problem, a water column was used to improve heterogeneous retting. Retting was performed in a water column and mixing was accomplished by bubbling air. As a result of the mixing, the flax bundle was retted homogenously. And after drying, it was possible to separate the fibers from the wooden flax core. Retting with a bubble column can overcome this problem and seems to be a usable retting process step. Water samples of the lab-scale experiments, the rotating drum and the bubble column showed a chemical oxygen demand (COD) content up to 4 g/L. Overall, 1 kg Flax resulted in 40 g COD. This indicates the possibility to produce biogas that can be used for generating heat and electricity, to make the process sustainable. Around 50% of the weight consists of wooden shives. The shives can be used for pyrolysis and it was possible to produce around 30% coal and 20% oil. These compounds can be used as building blocks, but also to generate heat and electricity. Heat and electricity can be used for the flax processing. Shives were only dried for 1 day at 105°C and slow pyrolysis was used. This indicates that a higher yield can be expected at fast pyrolysis. Overall, the reported implicates that quality fiber production from flax plant can be a feasible, sustainable and a renewable production process. Feasibility of the process can be obtained by, (1) retting at low-cost process conditions of 20°C and using water without any addition of chemicals, (2) with increased flax retting rate by recycling water, (3) with increased flax retting rate by introducing mixing forces, and the ability to lower the energy consumption of the overall process, (4) producing biogas from the COD with anaerobic digestion and (5) producing pyrolysis oil and pyrolysis c

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Producten 7

ALACEN: A Holistic Herbaceous Biomass Fractionation Process Attaining a Xylose-Rich Stream for Direct Microbial Conversion to Bioplastics

Use of Lateral Flow Assays in Forensics

Use of Lateral Flow Assays in Forensics

The effect of endurance exercise on intestinal integrity in well‐trained healthy men

Enterocytes, fibroblasts and myeloid cells synergize in anti-bacterial and anti-viral pathways with IL22 as the central cytokine

Thermal disinfection of hospital wastewater in a pilot‑scale continuous‑flow system

Development Midstream processing of Flax-fiber

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Producten 7

ALACEN: A Holistic Herbaceous Biomass Fractionation Process Attaining a Xylose-Rich Stream for Direct Microbial Conversion to Bioplastics

Use of Lateral Flow Assays in Forensics

Use of Lateral Flow Assays in Forensics

The effect of endurance exercise on intestinal integrity in well‐trained healthy men

Enterocytes, fibroblasts and myeloid cells synergize in anti-bacterial and anti-viral pathways with IL22 as the central cytokine

Thermal disinfection of hospital wastewater in a pilot‑scale continuous‑flow system

Development Midstream processing of Flax-fiber