Anyone Can Get Old-All You Have to Do Is Live Long Enough: Understanding Mortality and Life Expectancy in European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus).

The European hedgehog is in decline, triggering a need to monitor population dynamics to optimise conservation initiatives directed at this species. By counting periosteal growth lines, we determined the age of 388 dead European hedgehogs collected through citizen science in Denmark. The overall mean age was 1.8 years (1.6 years for females and 2.1 years for males), ranging between 0 and 16 years. We constructed life tables showing life expectancies at 2.1 years for females and 2.6 years for males. We discovered that male hedgehogs were more likely to have died in traffic than females, but traffic-related deaths peaked in July for both sexes. A sex difference was detected for non-traffic deaths, as most males died in July, and most females died in September. We created empirical survivorship curves and hazard curves showing that the risk of death for male hedgehogs remains approximately constant with age. In contrast, the risk of death for females increases with age. Most of the collected road-killed individuals died in rural habitats. The degree of inbreeding did not influence longevity. These new insights are important for preparing conservation strategies for the European hedgehog.

Multi-species colloidosomes by surface-modified lactic acid bacteria with enhanced aggregation properties.

HYPOTHESIS: Surface modification of lactic acid bacteria enhances their adsorption and aggregation at air-water interface and enables stabilization of microbubbles that spontaneously transform into water-filled colloidosomes, which can be further modified using LBL formulations. EXPERIMENTS: The bacterial physicochemical properties were characterized using water contact angle (WCA) measurement, bacterial aggregation assay and zeta potential measurement. Cell viability was enumerated using plate-counting method. The LBL reinforcement of colloidosomes was examined by zeta potential measurement and the formed microstructure was investigated using bright-field microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Shell permeability of colloidosomes was evaluated using a dye release study. FINDINGS: Bacteria surface-modified using octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) expressed strong adsorption and aggregation at air-water interface when producing microbubbles. Bacteria with enhanced aggregation ability formed stable shells, enabling complete removal of air and air-water interface without shell disintegration. The formed colloidosomes were studied as they were, or were further reinforced by LBL deposition using polymer or hybrid formulations. Hybrid coating involved assembly of two bacterial species producing colloidosomes with low shell porosity. The findings can be exploited to organize different living bacteria into structured materials and to encapsulate and release substances of diverse sizes and surface properties.

Upgrading the Nutritional Value of PKC Using a Bacillus subtilis Derived Monocomponent ß-Mannanase.

Palm kernel cake (PKC) is an abundant side stream that can only be added to non-ruminant feed in small concentrations due to its content of antinutritional factors, mainly galactomannan, which cannot be digested by non-ruminants. ß-mannanases can be added to partially hydrolyze galactomannan to form mannose oligosaccharides, which are known to be prebiotic. We here investigate the action of a ß-mannanase from B. subtilis on PKC by colorimetry, NMR and fluorescence microscopy. The amount of mannan oligosaccharides in solution was significantly increased by the ß-mannanase and their degree of polymerization (DP) was significantly reduced. There was a dose-response behavior in that larger ß-mannanase concentrations increased the amount of soluble mannose oligosaccharides while reducing their average DP. Using confocal immunofluorescence microscopy, solubilization of galactomannan in PKC was clearly visualized. Images show a clear disruption of the cellulose and galactomannan structures of the PKC cell walls. We thus show in this study that using commercial dosages of ß-mannanase on PKC can lead to formation of prebiotic compounds. Thus, this study suggests that utilization of PKC in poultry feed formulation might be increased by addition of a ß-mannanase and would improve the return on investment.

Changes in Physicochemical Properties and Volatile Compounds of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) Calyx during Different Drying Methods.

Fresh roselle are high in moisture and deteriorate easily, which makes drying important for extending shelf-life and increasing availability. This study investigated the influence of different drying methods (oven-drying, freeze-drying, vacuum-drying, and sun-drying) on the quality of roselle calyx expressed as physicochemical properties (moisture content, water activity, soluble solids, color), volatile compounds, and microstructure. Oven-drying and freeze-drying reduced moisture content most while vacuum-drying and sun-drying were not as efficient. All drying methods except sun-drying resulted in water activities low enough to ensure safety and quality. Vacuum-drying had no impact on color of the dry calyx and only small impact on color of water extract of calyx. Drying reduced terpenes, aldehydes, and esters but increased furans. This is expected to reduce fruity, floral, spicy, and green odors and increase caramel-like aroma. Sun-drying produced more ketones, alcohols, and esters. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that freeze-drying preserved the cell structure better, and freeze-dried samples resembled fresh samples most compared to other drying techniques. The study concludes that freeze-drying should be considered as a suitable drying method, especially with respect to preservation of structure.

Outdoor cultivation of a novel isolate of the microalgae Scenedesmus sp. and the evaluation of its potential as a novel protein crop.

A Danish strain of the green microalgae Scenedesmus sp. was isolated, identified and characterized with respect to productivity under outdoor cultivation conditions at northern latitudes. The algae were cultivated outdoors in Denmark in closed tubular photobioreactors using only sunlight, simple inorganic nutrients and under ambient temperatures. The biomass composition was evaluated in terms of protein content and quality. The average volumetric and areal biomass productivity obtained for the Scenedesmus sp. isolate during outdoor cultivation was 0.083 g dry matter L-1 and 6.40 g dm m-2  day-1 , respectively. Thus, productivities are comparable to data reported in the literature under similar conditions. A strain-specific nitrogen to protein conversion factor of 5.5 was determined for the Scenedesmus sp. strain enabling more accurate protein estimations from simple nitrogen determination methods like Kjeldahl analysis in the future. The protein content was determined to be 52.4% of dried biomass for this Scenedesmus strain. The sum of essential amino acids was 42% which is high compared to other microalgae. The results are compared and discussed in comparison to other microalgae and soybean as a common plant protein source.