Evaluation of dehydrated restaurant food waste products as feedstuffs for finishing pigs. (1/31)

Two dehydrated restaurant food waste (DFW) products were evaluated as potential feedstuffs for finishing pigs. For each product, fresh food wastes were obtained from food service operations at a resort complex in central Florida. The wastes were mostly leftover food and plate scrapings. The wastes were minced, blended with a feed stock (soy hulls and wheat flour [DFW1] or soy hulls and ground corn [DFW2]), pelleted, and dried. The dried product was then blended with additional minced fresh food wastes and dried; this process was then repeated. The final DFW products contained approximately 60% dried food wastes. The DFW1 and DFW2 products contained 11.4 and 8.4% moisture, 15.0 and 14.4% CP, 13.8 and 16.0% crude fat, 10.4 and 14.5% crude fiber, 5.8 and 4.7% ash, .63 and .64% lysine, .54 and .63% Ca, .34 and .38% P, .69 and .86% Cl, and .35 and .47% Na, respectively. Two feeding trials with 48 and 72 finishing pigs (56 to 112 kg), respectively, were conducted comparing diets without (control) or with the DFW product included at 40% of the diet (DFW1) for Trial 1 and 40 or 80% of the diet (DFW2) for Trial 2. Pigs fed the DFW diets in both trials had ADG that were similar (P > . 10) to and average gain:feed ratios that were superior (P = .06, Trial 1; P < .01; linear, Trial 2) to those for control pigs. Carcass lean content and lean quality scores were not reduced (P > . 10) by feeding pigs the DFW diets in either trial. Carcass fat became softer (P < .01; linear) with increasing amount of DFW2 in the diet in Trial 2. Thus, dehydrated restaurant food wastes have the potential to produce a nutritious feedstuff for pigs while offering a viable solid waste disposal option.  (+info)

A forward-facilitating influence of cortisol on catecholamines assessed during the work of garbage collectors. (2/31)

OBJECTIVES: In this study, the hypothesis was tested of whether part of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system can have a facilitating influence on mean adrenomedullary reactivity during a workday. METHODS: Data of a field study on 115 male garbage collectors were used for this purpose. Catecholamines and cortisol were assessed by urinary sampling during a workday and during a day off. The within-subjects baseline levels of the catecholamines, personal factors, physical work load, and work characteristics were controlled for in the analyses. RESULTS: The results showed that there is reason to assume a "forward-facilitating influence" between the aforementioned systems. The morning cortisol excretion rate explained a reasonable amount of the mean catecholamine excretion rates during a workday. The morning cortisol level explained more variance in the adrenaline than in the noradrenaline values, and for both catecholamines the influence of cortisol was more pronounced than the influence of psychosocial stress factors like autonomy and job demands. CONCLUSIONS: The morning level of cortisol proved to be a more powerful predictor of the reactivity of adrenaline than that of noradrenaline during work. The association between the pituitary adrenocortical system and the adrenomedullary system could therefore be a "forward-facilitating influence". It is recommended that future research should focus on cortisol as the predictor of neuroendocrine reactivity and on determining whether this predictive power is expandable to work-induced health complaints.  (+info)

Cerasibacillus quisquiliarum gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from a semi-continuous decomposing system of kitchen refuse. (3/31)

A moderately thermophilic and alkaliphilic bacillus, which had been reported and designated BLx (Haruta et al., 2002), was isolated from a semi-continuous decomposing system of kitchen refuse. Cells of strain BLxT were strictly aerobic, rod-shaped, motile and spore forming. The optimum temperature and pH for growth were approximately 50 degrees C and pH 8-9. Strain BLxT was able to grow at NaCl concentrations from 0.5 to 7.5%, with optimum growth at 0.5% NaCl. The predominant menaquinone was MK-7, and the major fatty acid was iso-C(15 : 0). Phylogenetic analysis showed that strain BLxT was positioned in an independent lineage within the cluster that includes the genera Virgibacillus and Lentibacillus in Bacillus rRNA group 1. Strain BLxT exhibited 16S rDNA similarity of 92.8-94.8% to Virgibacillus species and 92.3% to Lentibacillus salicampi. Phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses supported the classification of strain BLxT in a novel genus and species. Cerasibacillus quisquiliarum gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed on the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data. The type strain is BLxT (DSM 15825T=IAM15044T=KCTC 3815T).  (+info)

Metal elution and content of fused slags produced from incinerated ash. (4/31)

In recent years, trials to reuse fused slags, obtained through the further treatment of incinerated ash produced in the process of the disposal of garbage or sewer sludge, such as for building materials including bricks, have drawn attention. To establish the safety of using such substances, elution tests for metals and metal contents were investigated in this study. As the result of examining 13 slags, which were made by different methods, little elution of toxic metals was found in the elution tests when water was used as a solvent. However when acid was used, there was a tendency for the elution of many kinds of metals to become greater. On other hand, the results of content measurements showed that arsenic and selenium, which were not seen to be eluted from any of the slags tested, were detected; and that aluminum and manganese existed in the slags in high concentrations.  (+info)

Microbial diversity in biodegradation and reutilization processes of garbage. (5/31)

With particular focus on the microbial diversity in garbage treatment, the current status of garbage treatment in Japan and microbial ecological studies on various bioprocesses for garbage treatment are described in detail. The future direction of research in this field is also discussed.  (+info)

Risk factors for Leishmania chagasi infection in an urban area of Minas Gerais State. (6/31)

In order to understand the determinants of human infection by Leishmania chagasi in an urban area, a cross-sectional population based study was conducted using molecular and serologic methods to identify infection. Participants were interviewed using a pre-coded questionnaire. Two criteria were tested to identify risk factors: Model 1--including all participants positive in hybridization by Leishmania donovani complex probe; Model 2--including all participants positive for hybridization and at least one serologic test. In Model 1, the variables associated with infection were: ownership of birds, time spent outside house between 6:00-10:00 PM and garbage not collected. In Model 2, the variables associated with infection were: family with knowledge of the vector, garbage not collected, garbage not removed or buried, ownership of birds and eroded areas in the neighborhood. The risk factors identified were associated with household conditions, presence of animals and the likelihood of contact with phlebotomine sandflies.  (+info)

Microbial communities in the garbage composting with rice hull as an amendment revealed by culture-dependent and -independent approaches. (7/31)

The diversity and succession of microbial communities during the garbage composting with rice hull as an amendment were studied by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and clone library analysis of PCR-amplified 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) with universal primers. Based on temperature changes, the composting process could be divided into thermophilic, cooling-down, and maturing stages. The DGGE profiles and clone library analysis revealed that the microbial community drastically changed during the composting process from the thermophilic to the maturing stages. The dominant bacterial group changed from the phylum Firmicutes in the thermophilic stage to the phylum Bacteroidetes in the maturing stage. This change in microbial communities may be significant for the composting process. The diversity of cultivated bacteria isolated from samples taken at various stages of the composting process was low. A total of 87 isolates were classified as belonging to only four different groups. These groups were also detected in the DGGE profiles and by the clone library analysis. Our study indicated that a combination of culture-dependent and -independent approaches could be very useful for monitoring both bacterial diversity and the succession of communities during the composting process. This study would be beneficial for assessing the ecological consequences of disposal of organic waste.  (+info)

Thermotolerant Bacillus licheniformis TY7 produces optically active l-lactic acid from kitchen refuse under open condition. (8/31)

A thermotolerant l-lactic-acid-producing bacterium was isolated and identified as Bacillus licheniformis TY7. TY7 shows optimum growth at pH 6.5 at 30 degrees C and normal growth up to 65 degrees C. Using nonsterile kitchen refuse at 50 degrees C, the strain produced 40 g/ll-lactic acid with 97% optical activity and 2.5 g/lxh productivity.  (+info)

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