ABSTRACT
Disruption technologies have been referred to as revolutionary that cause game-changing shifts in established market structures, companies, and institutions. Forecasting what constitutes a disruptive technology for the agri-food industry is complicated as the impact is more likely to be measured from a retrospective downstream reflective process. DTs can substantially cause localized change within a market or industry (i.e., first-order disruption) and cause ground-breaking changes across many cross-cutting domains (i.e., second-order disruption) over short or more extended time periods that substantially influence societal norms. Modern-day and future food disruption will be influenced by growing demand to produce more safe nutritious food to meet increasing populations that will respond to dynamic changes in eating habits, personalized nutrition, and consumer attitudes toward alternative protein sources and climate change. Exploiting advances in information communications technology and advanced manufacturing (such as the Internet of Things, big data, blockchain, artificial intelligence, robotics, augment and virtual reality, 3D printing) will inform creative disruption such as security, packaging, and enhanced online delivery in the food supply chain that is comprehensively addressed throughout this book. A review of the recent 43 projects funded by the Irish government under Science Foundation Ireland’s Disruptive Technology initiative highlighted trends in the innovation ecosystem and the potential for both cross-cutting and future food disruption with global outreach and orientation. This chapter introduces the best knowledge as to how to potentially meet these needs that will also influence education and workforce training. © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Advancing wet peatland 'paludiculture' innovation present enormous potential to sustain carbon-cycles, reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) gas emissions and to transition communities to low-carbon economies; however, there is limited scientific-evidence to support and enable direct commercial viability of eco-friendly products and services. This timely study reports on a novel, paludiculture-based, integrated-multi-trophic-aquaculture (IMTA) system for sustainable food production in the Irish midlands. This freshwater IMTA process relies on a naturally occurring ecosystem of microalgae, bacteria and duckweed in ponds for managing waste and water quality that is powered by wind turbines; however, as it is recirculating, it does not rely upon end-of-pipe solutions and does not discharge effluent to receiving waters. This constitutes the first report on the effects of extreme weather events on the performance of this IMTA system that produces European perch (Perca fluviatilis), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiis) during Spring 2020. Sampling coincided with lockdown periods of worker mobility restriction due to COVID-19 pandemic. Observations revealed that the frequency and intensity of storms generated high levels of rainfall that disrupted the algal and bacterial ecosystem in the IMTA leading to the emergence and predominance of toxic cyanobacteria that caused fish mortality. There is a pressing need for international agreement on standardized set of environmental indicators to advance paludiculture innovation that addresses climate-change and sustainability. This study describes important technical parameters for advancing freshwater aquaculture (IMTA), which can be future refined using real-time monitoring-tools at farm level to inform management decision-making based on evaluating environmental indicators and weather data. The relevance of these findings to informing global sustaining and disruptive research and innovation in paludiculture is presented, along with alignment with UN Sustainable Development goals. This study also addresses global challenges and opportunities highlighting a commensurate need for international agreement on resilient indicators encompassing linked ecological, societal, cultural, economic and cultural domains.
Subject(s)
Aquaculture , Climate , Perches , Animals , COVID-19 , Communicable Disease Control , Environment , Humans , Pandemics , WetlandsABSTRACT
There is a pressing drive to address climate change and environmental degradation that are global existential threats. Europe has strategically responded by unifying efforts to transform its connected communities into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy with a trajectory to enable net nil greenhouse gas emissions by 2050;thus, ensuring economic growth is decoupled from resource utilisation, and that no person or place is left behind. The European Green Deal is an ambitious plan to make the European economy sustainable;however, there is no reference blue-print for the safe and just transitioning to a low carbon economy. This constitutes the first description of a triple helix (academic-industry-authority) concept underpinning operation of multiactor innovation hub that can be strategically applied to enable this transition that develops green innovation and enterprises. Innovative tools for meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals are informed by appropriate technology, policy and society readiness levels from idea to final market/wider society deployment. “Empower-Eco Sustainability HUB,” is a digitised “living lab” established in the Irish peatlands that converges academia, communities, social enterprises, industries, policy and decision-makers. It develops green innovation in intended environments at demo/test-beds, such as for digital, agri-food, bioeconomy and bio-based sectors, and embraces climate-proofing and COVID-19 recovery. © 2021 The Authors
ABSTRACT
Bacterial infection remains the main cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome and is a leading cause of death and disability in critically ill patients. Here we report on the use of purified ß-glucan (lentinan) extracts from Lentinus edodes (Shiitake) mushroom that can reduce infection by a multidrug-resistant clinical isolate of Klebsiella pneumoniae in a rodent pneumonia model, likely through immunomodulation. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to intra-tracheal administration of K. pneumoniae to induce pulmonary sepsis and randomized to three groups; vehicle control (Vehicle, n = 12), commercial lentinan (CL, n = 8) or in-house extracted lentinan (IHL, n = 8) were administered intravenously 1 h postinfection. Physiological parameters and blood gas analysis were measured, bacterial counts from bronchoalveolar-lavage (BAL) were determined, along with differential staining of white cells and measurement of protein concentration in BAL 48 h after pneumonia induction. Use of IHL extract significantly decreased BAL CFU counts. Both CL and IHL extractions reduced protein concentration in BAL. Use of IHL resulted in an improvement in physiological parameters compared to controls and CL. In conclusion, administration of lentinan to treat sepsis-induced lung injury appears safe and effective and may exert its effects in an immunomodulatory manner.