Preludium competition awards almost 2 million in funding for UPWr doctoral students

• Aleksandra Tabiś from the Department of Food Hygiene and Consumer Health Protection will check whether preservatives in food protect against staphylococcal enterotoxins
• Daria Marczak from the Institute of Environmental Engineering will study the degradation process of geotextiles
• A new variety of apples – Chopin – is the subject of research by Monika Słupska from the Institute of Agricultural Engineering
• How do feed additives improve the immunity of poultry? Damian Konkol from the Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science will be looking for the answer
• The environmental impact of hydroelectric power plants located on the Bóbr River will be investigated by Paweł Tomczyk from the Institute of Environmental Engineering
• Karolina Sobieraj, pursuing her PhD at the Doctoral School of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, will analyse the impact of technological parameters of the biowaste composting process on the efficiency of carbon monoxide production – a precursor to biohydrogen production

PLN 1,936,687 was won by young scientists from the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences in the Preludium competition of the National Science Centre. Eleven projects have guaranteed funding from PLN 128,000 to 210,000. In their research, the doctoral students will deal with soil research, new apple varieties, bioflavonoids, possibilities for supporting the immune system, biodegradation processes, the efficiency of carbon monoxide production in the process of bio-waste composting, and the analysis of statistical loads in human mobility forecasts. Today we present six projects.

A closer look at Staphylococcus

Aleksandra Tabiś from the Department of Food Hygiene and Consumer Health Protection, as part of the winning project, will check whether preservatives commonly used in food can protect consumers against the risk of consuming staphylococcal enterotoxins. The young UPWr scientist has no doubts that her research can help eliminate staphylococcal food poisoning.

– Currently, despite the use of modern technology and safety systems in the food industry, the number of cases of poisoning is high, while in the European Union the presence of staphylococcal enterotoxins is tested only in dairy products, although they are also common in meat – says Aleksandra Tabiś, emphasising that these enterotoxins not only cause food poisoning, but it is postulated that they may also contribute to the development of allergies and intestinal diseases.

– And we are not protected against them by standard processing of meat products – adds the scientist, and says that while conducting research in the laboratory with her team she discovered some time ago that two commonly used preservatives can inhibit the production of staphylococcal enterotoxins. – In the course of further research we plan to check whether these agents will also work in combination with curing salt. If so, they would eliminate the health risks. In addition, we have planned to develop a highly sensitive method that allows the detection of even very small amounts of staphylococcal enterotoxins in food – says the doctoral student, whose scientific supervisor is Prof. Jacek Bania.

Geotextiles and plant vegetation

Daria Marczak from the Institute of Environmental Engineering of the UPWr received a grant to study the biodegradation processes of natural fibre geotextiles and additives supporting plant vegetation used in environmental engineering. The research will include, among others, determining the time and degree of biodegradation of geotextiles made on the basis of natural raw materials applied in real conditions.

– Geotextiles are a solution often and successfully used in environmental engineering. They are also currently used in agriculture and horticulture to improve retention ­– says Daria Marczak. She emphasises that currently most geotextiles are made of plastics, which poses a threat to the environment. The search for their natural equivalents therefore continues. We already know some geotextiles based on waste plant fibres, e.g. wool or linen.

Daria Marczak wants to deal with the application of a combination of geotextiles with biocarbon and fungi of the Trichoderma genus. The planned research will be carried out in accordance with the principles of circular economy and will indicate possible ways of managing textile waste in the broadly understood area of environmental engineering.

– In experiments planned for two years, the potential of biodegradable geotextiles and their counterparts enriched with additives will be determined in the context of improving soil properties. The key stage will be to determine the type of biodegradation products released into the environment and determine the impact of geotextiles on the vegetation of plants used in engineering structures – says the UPWr scientist. The scientific supervisor of her doctorate is Prof. Krzysztof Lejcuś.

Some of the research will be carried out as part of international cooperation.

3D apple model

Monika Słupska from the Institute of Agricultural Engineering of the UPWr intends to develop a material model for the new Chopin apple variety, based on the Finite Element Method (FEM). This variety is interesting, because its high acidity delays the maturation processes, allowing for longer storage.

– Nevertheless, in order to compare it to other varieties, we need to determine the micromechanical properties. For this purpose I want to design 3D apple models that very accurately reflect the behaviour of the material during empirical research – explains Monika Słupska.

The scientist from the Institute of Agricultural Engineering of the UPWr adds that the aim of the project is to make models at the cellular and tissue level for individual stages of fruit ripening, and to determine a model of changes in their resistance to various types of loads.

– As part of the project, tests of strength properties will be carried out: cell walls, tissues and whole fruit. This will make it possible, among others, to determine the resistance to damage in a randomly selected stage of development – says the doctoral student from the UPWr. The supervisor of her doctoral dissertation is Prof. Roman Stopa.

This project may lead to increasing the popularity of this new Polish apple variety, and the research may be used in other fields of science, such as biomaterials engineering or medicine.

Poultry immunity, antibiotics and... levan

Determining the immunomodulatory properties of levan as a poultry feed additive – this is the title of a research project to be carried out by Damian Konkol from the Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science. As the young scientist explains, we have more and more evidence that lymphoid tissue within the digestive tract and the composition of the intestinal microflora play a key role in the development and functioning of the host's immune system. Levan, produced by the probiotic bacteria Bacillus subtilis used in animal nutrition, is a substance that can positively influence these factors.

– I have been dealing with research related to poultry since the beginning of my scientific career. In the case of my doctorate, I subjected rapeseed meal to the biotransformation process – using the Bacillus subtilisbacteria. Already then was I interested in the levan they produced. That's where the idea for this research project came from – explains Damian Konkol, who emphasises that it is in poultry that various types of functional feed additives are tested, and in the era of increasing antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacterial strains, strengthening the immunity of animals using safe methods and using the properties of GRAS microorganisms (generally considered as safe) is also a beneficial activity for humans.

– The possibility of reducing the amount of antibiotics used in animal production is a good direction of research, which on the one hand is of course related to animal nutrition, care for their hygiene and welfare, but on the other hand is of enormous importance for us and our health – emphasises Damian Konkol, who is completing his doctoral thesis under the supervision of Prof. Mariusz Korczyński.

How can ecologists and environmental engineers work together?

Paweł Tomczyk from the Institute of Environmental Engineering will, for a change, study the impact of hydroelectric power plants on the environment.

– I will conduct the research at six objects located along the Bóbr river, which will give me a chance to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the impact of these objects not only on the river itself, but also, among others, on fish, plankton, benthos and macrophytes in the context of various environmental conditions. Based on this research, I will be able to develop a computer-based hydrodynamic model to help estimate this impact. This solution has application potential for the hydroelectric plants themselves, but for now I am focusing on basic research, not implementation – adds Paweł Tomczyk, whose scientific supervisor is Prof. Mirosław Wiatkowski.

The young scientist from the Institute of Environmental Engineering admits that the owners of hydropower plants are interested in his research, because they are looking for environmentally friendly solutions, but it is scientists who will be his partners on the project.

– While working on my engineering thesis, I studied water management projects and their impact on the environment. It was then that I noticed a significant gap – there is no compromise between nature protection and water management. In my opinion, this is a mistake and we need to develop solutions that would be environmentally friendly, and at the same time take into account social and economic interests – emphasises Paweł Tomczyk, adding that these are difficult tasks, because each side has its own reasons, but he is trying to achieve a compromise. This is even more important considering that at end of 2015, at the 3rd International Scientific Conference "Environmental Protection and Energy" at the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, he was awarded for his speech in the "most interesting subject" category, during which he gave examples of local projects in the field of water management on the Radew River, implemented in Natura 2000 areas.

Biohydrogen from compost?

The analysis of the impact of technological parameters of the bio-waste composting process on the efficiency of the production of carbon monoxide – a precursor to the production of biohydrogen – is the subject of a research project by Karolina Sobieraj, who is pursuing her doctoral dissertation at the Doctoral School of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences. His supervisors are Prof. Andrzej Białowiec from the UPWr and Jacek Kozieł from Iowa State University.

As the young scientist explains, carbon monoxide is usually produced as a result of thermal gasification of biomass and bio-waste, but it requires energy to dry these raw materials. The doctoral student proposed composting as a new, alternative method of obtaining CO, which is at the stage of basic research - i.e. at the first level of technological readiness.

– Such a solution requires increasing the efficiency of CO production during biological waste treatment, and above all, understanding the mechanism of this compound formation – explains Karolina Sobieraj. – In my research, I will deal with the understanding of the species composition of microorganisms involved in CO formation and their ability to produce the enzyme carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH) – a key factor in the biological CO steam conversion reaction called the water-gas shift reaction (BMWGS).

The doctoral student became interested in the subject thanks to her own research carried out on a technical scale in the composting plant in Rybnik. During the research she realised that carbon monoxide appears under various conditions: – I analysed the spatial distribution of CO in compost heaps. The measured concentrations of this gas were very high and significantly exceeded the values I expected. Unfortunately, the methodology used at that time did not allow me to learn about the sources and conditions that favour the production of carbon monoxide, so I decided to transfer this research to a laboratory – says the doctoral student, adding that an additional impulse was also the discrepancy in literature: her results were often in opposition to the results of other authors, and the sources of carbon monoxide in composted bio-waste are still the subject of speculation.

– And there are many reasons for getting to know the facts – smiles Karolina Sobieraj. – The prospect of using the apparently harmful gas generated in the composting process and the bacteria present in the composted mass of waste in the BMWGS reaction for future biohydrogen production seems promising, allowing for solutions to both ecological and economic problems.

This innovative approach will make the composting process, which at first sight appears to be well known and well described in literature, more attractive as a waste treatment method. – The project is in line with the objectives of circular economy by using biomass and bio-waste as raw materials for the production of valuable products, and we are working on popularising this approach at the Department of Applied Bioeconomy – says Karolina Sobieraj.