Animal Hides Research Articles

Mobility, materiality, and memory: Silas Sandgreen and the construction of Kalaallit cartography in the 1920s

Summary In 1925, Silas Sandgreen sent a map to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Instead of ink on paper, Sandgreen’s map featured strands of sinew binding painted driftwood islands to an animal hide, articulating the islands Kitsissut and Imerissoq of Disko Bay off the western shore of Kalaallit Nunaat. In the near century since its completion, the map’s materials have become indexical of their maker’s Indigeneity, functioning as erroneous evidence of “authentic” Inuit cartographic practices. A repeated fetishizing of alterity has divorced the object from its original conditions of creation, obscuring its origins and cultural meanings. This paper seeks to restore the historicity of Silas Sandgreen’s map by taking a new approach to its materiality. Taking cue from recent scholarship that frames the map as an artwork, we locate the object at the intersection of various social, political, and environmental ideologies sweeping Kalaallit Nunaat, and Sandgreen’s particular home islands, in the 1920s. In order to do so, we restore the maker’s biography composed from new findings in Indigenous-language archives, and juxtapose that biography alongside a visual and material analysis of the most prominent media of the map: sealskin and driftwood. By charting these material histories alongside social and ecological ones, we aim to provide a template that advances multiple interdisciplinary methodologies in the nascent field of Arctic art history.

Key mechanism of enzymatic dehairing technology for leather-making: permeation behaviors of protease into animal hide and the mechanism of charge regulation

Enzymes have been widely used as alternatives to conventional chemicals in cleaner leather processes due to their advantages of meeting increasing environmental demands. Especially, enzymatic unhairing based on protease has been applied to leather-making for a long time, however, it still has the key problem of slow permeation in the animal hide, resulting in slow unhairing rate, poor hair removal effect, excessive proteolysis of hide collagen, and decreased leather quality. Aiming at the key problem of bio-unhairing technology, fluorescent labeling technique and confocal laser scanning microscopy were used to investigate the protease permeation behaviors into the animal hide based on well-prepared labeled proteases, as well as the quantitative analysis of the protease amount in different hide layers. The results show that the protease mainly permeates the bovine hide through transfollicular routes from the hair side, and although the intercellular-interfibrillar pathway also exists, it does not play an important role. Additionally, the protease permeation behaviors into the hide are greatly impacted by the charge states of the hide and protease proteins, depending on the isoelectric points (pI) of the proteins and solution pH values. When the solution pH is not between the pI values of the two proteins, the similarly charged protease can quickly and deeply penetrate the hide because of the electrostatic repulsion. The established mechanism provides a theoretical basis for developing an efficient enzymatic unhairing technology for leather-making, and this can also be applied to other processes involving the enzyme permeation into the hide or leather.Graphical

Objective Review

Leather industry uses a great number of processing chemicals to make leather from animal hides. The toxicity, health and environmental impacts of many of these chemicals have been established leading to significant regulatory certifications and programs helping in trade and policy making. The focus of this review are the hazardous chemicals and auxiliaries relevant to leather industry, their categories, possible origins, analysis and toxicity with respect to humans and the environment and the regulatory mechanisms suggested for them through manufacturing restricted substance list (MRSL) 2.0.** Informative guidelines are provided about the most probable leather processing stage for the origin of these chemicals. Some alternative technologies, chemicals and ideas gaining popularity are also suggested as probable remedies. Recommended test methods are stated for the adequate monitoring of the hazardous chemicals. The nature and severity of chemical toxicity and corresponding limits set for their allowed use in formulations are graphically expressed for clarity and ease of understanding. The maximum number of compounds / isomers belong to classes comprising chlorinated paraffins, perfluorooctanoic acids (PFOA), perfluorooctanesulfonates (PFOS) and banned aromatic amines. Similarly, most of the restricted chemicals are used during the finishing stage and may be considered for eco-friendly alternatives. Likewise, the analytical equipment covering most testing requirements is GC-MS among other hyphenated techniques. Additionally, most critical chemicals from toxicity point of view are arsenic, cadmium and chromium (VI), whereas navy blue colorants and chlorinated aromatic compounds may be considered as less toxic among the restricted chemicals under the current scope. Surprisingly, the latest UV absorbents and polymeric fatliquors are comparatively non-toxic. Similarly, the most relaxed formulation limits are given for UV absorbers and 2-methoxypropylacetate whereas strict limits have been set for PFOA, PFOS, mercury, triclosan permethrin, sensitizing dyes etc. in MRSL 2.0.

Comparative Genomics of Halobacterium salinarum Strains Isolated from Salted Foods Reveals Protechnological Genes for Food Applications.

Archaeal cell factories are becoming of great interest given their ability to produce a broad range of value-added compounds. Moreover, the Archaea domain often includes extremophilic microorganisms, facilitating their cultivation at the industrial level under nonsterile conditions. Halophilic archaea are studied for their ability to grow in environments with high NaCl concentrations. In this study, nine strains of Halobacterium salinarum were isolated from three different types of salted food, sausage casings, salted codfish, and bacon, and their genomes were sequenced along with the genome of the collection strain CECT 395. A comparative genomic analysis was performed on these newly sequenced genomes and the publicly available ones for a total of 19 H. salinarum strains. We elucidated the presence of unique gene clusters of the species in relation to the different ecological niches of isolation (salted foods, animal hides, and solar saltern sediments). Moreover, genome mining at the single-strain level highlighted the metabolic potential of H. salinarum UC4242, which revealed the presence of different protechnological genes (vitamins and myo-inositol biosynthetic pathways, aroma- and texture-related features, and antimicrobial compounds). Despite the presence of genes of potential concern (e.g., those involved in biogenic amine production), all the food isolates presented archaeocin-related genes (halocin-C8 and sactipeptides).

A Primate on a Fresco from the Mycenaean Acropolis of Tiryns

The earliest Bronze Age Mediterranean primate representations on frescoes are found at the Aegean sites of Knossos (Crete) and Akrotiri (Thera). By contrast, monkeys have so far been missing from Mycenaean frescoes in mainland Greece. A fresco fragment of a cultic scene from Tiryns changes this; it depicts a bipedal partial lower body, with a hanging tail. This image, previously interpreted as a human wearing an animal hide, had already been suggested to represent a monkey. A re-examination of this miniature fresco identified various features that seem to confirm the representation of a monkey, most probably of a baboon-like primate. Assuming that the fresco from Tiryns is part of a cult scene, similar to those from Akrotiri, this adds a further image to a small corpus of Aegean depictions connecting monkeys with important female figures or deities. Furthermore, the Tiryns fresco fragment indicates that primates were not entirely absent from local Mycenaean iconography.

Removal of Proteoglycans in Animal Hides by Glycosidase to Promote Opening-Up of Collagen Fiber Bundles

The degree of proteoglycan removal from animal hides is closely related to the opening-up of collagen fibers and the properties of leather, but conventional leather-making processes are not very effective at removing proteoglycans. By rationally selecting and utilizing glycosidases during the leather-making process, proteoglycans can be efficiently removed without causing collagen damage due to glycosidases specifically hydrolyzing glycosidic bonds. In spite of this, glycosidases are highly specific and come in a wide variety of types. To solve the blindness of optimizing glycosidases and its application in the soaking process, in this study, seven typical commercial glycosidases capable of hydrolyzing β-glycosidic bonds were selected according to the types of major glycosidic bonds in animal hide proteoglycans. The basic properties of the selected glycosidases and its effectiveness in removing proteoglycans from the hide during the soaking process were investigated. Then, the effects of the dosage of the two optimal glycosidases on the dissolution of polysaccharide, total soluble protein and hydroxyproline, as well as the properties of leather during the soaking process were further studied. The results showed that although the optimal pH of the selected glycosidases was between pH 5 - 7, they maintained more than 50% of their activity under weak alkaline conditions and could be applied to the soaking process. The removal of proteoglycan by different glycosidases is closely related to their specificity for glycosidic bonds, and the penetrability of the enzyme proteins, namely the molecular weight and isoelectric point of the enzymes. Among them, β-Mannase-AKT and Xylanase-AKT are more effective in removing proteoglycans. When the dosage of β-Mannase-AKT and Xylanase-AKT reached 47 U/mL, almost all the glycosaminoglycan was removed from the hide, the opening-up of collagen fibers and the softness and physical properties of the crust leather were significantly improved without damage to the structural proteins.

Leather-like materials by cellular agriculture

Leather, a popular material in a wide array of industries, is traditionally sourced from animal hides. The scale of production has increased over time, leading to ever-greater concerns about the environmental, ethical and health impacts of leather manufacture. The substantial resources required, plus the pollution and waste generated, pose serious doubts over the sustainability of existing production systems and their ability to meet the increasing demand for leather-like materials. To address these issues, alternatives to leather have been developed. Up to now though, these materials have been unable to perform as well as genuine leather, either mechanically, aesthetically or texturally. Some of the polymer-based alternatives may even be more harmful to the environment than leather itself. The need for a more-suitable leather substitute has coincided with the emergence of cellular agriculture technologies. In the future, it is hoped that leather-like materials may be engineered from collagen created by cellular agriculture, instead of relying upon animal slaughter. Such a material could offer great design, sustainability, environmental and ethical benefits over real leather. Whilst there is significant potential, more investment in research and development is needed before the technology can be considered sufficiently well developed. So far, tissue-engineering techniques applied from clinical fields have proven too costly and inefficient for scaling up, but work has already commenced to identify sources of collagen and cell growth media that are less animal-dependent and not so expensive. Even so, more-efficient methods of controlling the collagen network structure still need to be created. The new round of research is therefore expected to focus upon increasing cell-culture efficiency using, for example, specialised bioreactors.

History of surgical sutures

The earliest devices for suturing were 60,000-year-old bone needles for stitching together animal hides.

Style and Rebus in an Emergent Script from Bolivia: The Koati Variant of Andean Pictographic Writing

Abstract Andean pictographic writing, once considered the creation of foreign missionaries, is now recognized as a series of locally developed scripts that emerged after contact with alphabetic writing. However, the role of stylistic variation within the Andean pictographic scripts is little understood, nor has the rebus-based glottography of the system’s phonetic signs been fully studied. This article examines the Koati variant of Andean pictographic script from Bolivia’s Island of the Moon, based in part on a newly found pictographic manuscript preserved on animal hides in Harvard University’s Peabody Museum. It analyzes how script styles in the Titicaca area correspond to regional groups and explores the nature of rebus signs in the Koati variant, identifying the principles underlying successful homonymic equivalences. Many of the characters in Andean pictographic writing appear to draw from a repository of Indigenous visual signs that predate the Spanish invasion; research into the emergent pictorial scripts of Peru and Bolivia may provide insights into the meaning of visual signs in other forms of Andean inscription, such as ceramics and khipus.

History of surgical sutures

The earliest devices for suturing were 60,000-year-old bone needles for stitching together animal hides.

Assessment of Heavy Metal Residues in Hides of animals Singed with Tyres, and Public Health Implications Associated with such Practice in Lokoja Metropolis

The safety of food has been an issue of concern in developing countries like Nigeria where the processing method can pose some environmental health challenge. The use of scrap automobile tires to singe meat has been reported to possess some toxic materials that can pose health challenge to humans. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the concentration of heavy metals in meat singed with fire wood and scrap tires in Lokoja, Nigeria. Samples of cattle hides singed with firewood and scrap tires were collected from four (4) different abattoirs and analyzed for the concentration of Cu, Pb, Fe and Zn using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. There was significant increase in the concentration of Cu, Zn and Pb of the cattle hides singed with firewood and scrap tires when compared to the unsinged. The concentration of heavy metals for firewood singed cattle hide is within recommended Maximum Permissible Levels (MPLs) of the European Commission Regulations while the concentration of scrap tires is above the recommended Maximum Permissible Levels (MPLs) of the European Commission Regulations for Cu, Zn and Fe. Though there was increase in the concentration of Fe it is within the recommended Maximum Permissible Levels. The presence of heavy metals concentration above the permissible levels in cattle hides singed with scrap tires makes it unsafe for human consumption hence safer method should be adopted by the abattoirs.

Review of the epidemiological situation on Anthrax around the world and the Forecast for Kyrgyzstan

This review, prepared on the basis of WHO materials and from medical websites, and monographs by domestic and foreign researchers, provides information on cases of infection of humans and animals with anthrax in the world. The epidemiological situation for this especially dangerous infection remains quite complicated and is assessed as tense and does not tend to stabilize due to the existence of soil foci, which manifest themselves for many years as periodic outbreaks among farm animals and people. Cutaneous anthrax is an extremely preventable disease, yet still accounts for 95% of all anthrax cases, and has left many regions endemic. The objectives of this study was to review published outbreak investigations for cutaneous anthrax, while examining the current and new risk factors, as well as the present control measures and their effectiveness at preventing future outbreaks. A literature search of articles was performed using PubMed, Google Scholar, and New England Journal of Medicine, website of WHO, (HAW HamburgLibrary). Articles in English and pertaining to human subjects only, were retrieved. Seven articles included in this study examined sources of outbreak for cutaneous anthrax, investigated suspected cases using clinical diagnosis and surveys, and evaluated current control measures. Three studies reported relative risk, suggesting there is a likely association between butchering sick animals and infection. Further findings suggested a correlation between an individual's socioeconomic status and the likelihood of contracting anthrax. Additionally, the quality of livestock in the area can have a cyclical nature on cutaneous anthrax infections among humans. The cumulative evidence concludes that an improvement of surveillance and control measures is needed in endemic regions, and future investigation of new risk factors is required. Anthrax is a highly dangerous zoonotic infectious disease, the causative agent of which is the Gram-positive spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis, which belongs to the pathogenicity group II. Almost all types of warm-blooded animals, including humans, are susceptible to anthrax. For herbivores, the source of infection is soil containing B. anthracis spores. The high resistance of anthrax spores to environmental factors, the ability to persist in the soil for a long time, and under certain conditions to pass into a vegetative form, makes the fight against this infection an extremely difficult task for medicine and veterinary medicine. A person becomes infected by household contact from contaminated objects of animal origin, and from 2,000 to 20,000 people fall ill every year in the world. Although anthrax is well controlled in the developed countries, anthrax remains of a global concern because B. anthracis spores can potentially be used as a biological weapon. On the other hand, some local anthrax outbreak has been recorded in western countries. For example, a case of naturallyacquired inhalation anthrax was reported in London, 2008 and another case was recorded in Scotland in 2006. Both cases were bongo drummers/drum makers who used imported animal hides. As of 14 January 2010, a total of 14 con- firmed cases of anthrax infection in Scotland were reported and 7 of these died. All cases were heroin user. Possible source of infection is said that heroin is transported in animal skin. In developed countries, there is also an infection risk after contact with a commercial product prepared from inadequately treated wool or leather. Products made from contaminated hair (e.g. shaving brush, wool coat), skins (e.g. drums, drumheads made from animal skin), and bone meal (e.g. fertilizer) may continue to be sources of infection for many years. A review of the epidemiological situation on anthrax in the world for 2021 was carried out. In Kyrgyzstan, eight cases of human infection with the cutaneous form of anthrax were registered in the Suzak district of the Jalal-Abad region and 7 cases in the Aksy district. Epizootics of anthrax among farm and wild animals have been identified mainly in the countries of Central Asia, with the largest number of confirmed human cases detected in Kyrgyzstan. Infection of people with the causative agent of anthrax is associated primarily with the ingestion of the meat of sick and dead anthrax animals, contact with animals during forced slaughter, skinning, and processing of contaminated meat. The level of incidence of anthrax in the territory of Kyrgyzstan in 2021 will be determined by a set of planned volumes of preventive measures and, subject to their proper implementation, will be limited to the detection of sporadic cases of infection that are potentially possible within certain regions of Kyrgyzstan.

Impact of Abattoir Activities on the Physicochemical and Bacteriological Properties of Soil Samples from Choba Slaughter, Rivers State, Nigeria

Slaughtering and processing of animal products at abattoirs generate different waste that may be transported into the nearby water bodies through runoff and other processes. Evaluating the soil characteristics within the abattoir will provide critical information regarding the soil health, for environmental management and health care planning. The aim of the study was therefore to assess the impact of abattoir activities on soil physico-chemical and bacteriological properties. The soil sampling involved five (5) different points, representing regions where the live animals were kept, where the animals were slaughtered, where the animal hides were roasted, where the waste bones were stacked, and a control sample collected 20 meters away from the abattoir site. The result of the physicochemical parameters showed that all the sample points were either higher or lower than that of the control soil sample. Statistical analyses however showed that there was a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) between the nitrate concentration in the region used for roasting of animal hides and the control sample. The result of Total Heterotrophic Bacterial Count (THBC) showed that the highest value of 7.2 x 108cfu/g was obtained from the location where the animals are slaughtered, while the least value of 1.0 x 108 cfu/g was from the control soil sample. The other bacterial counts varied between 0.8x105 cfu/g and 5.0 x 106 cfu/g; 4.3 x104 cfu/g and 1.0 x105 cfu/g; 3.7x104 cfu/g and 5.6x104 cfu/g, for the Total Coliform Count (TCC), Fecal Coliform Count (FCC), Salmonella and Shigella Counts (SSC), respectively. A total of 28 bacterial isolates were characterized and identified to belong to seven genera, and their percentage prevalence showed that Staphylococcus spp., Bacillus spp., and E. coli were the most occurring, with a frequency of 21.7% each, followed by Salmonella spp. (13.1 %), Klebsiella spp. (8.7 %), Serratia mercescens (8.7 %) and Shigella spp. (4.4 %). The result of the response of the bacterial isolates to the conventional antibiotics revealed that all the isolates where sensitive to most of the antibiotics tested. This study has shown that abattoir activities have significant influence on the bacteriological and physicochemical characteristics of the soil, thereby accentuating the need for proper waste management.

DOĞAL LİFLER VE DOĞAL BOYAR MADDELER KULLANILARAK OLUŞTURULAN BİR LİF SANATI ÇALIŞMASININ OLUŞUM SÜRECİ: SUYUN ÖTESİNDE

Doğal yaşam, insanoğlunun yaradılışında var olan ve temel ihtiyaçları karşılamak amacını yerine getirmeye odaklı bir olgudur. Giyim ve tekstil bağlamında, insanlar, soğuk hava koşullarından ve diğer çevresel etkenlerden korunma ihtiyacı nedeniyle bitkilerden ve hayvan postlarından lifler elde ederek, vücutlarını örtmek amacıyla kullanmışlardır. Zaman içerisinde teknolojinin gelişmesi ve malzemelerin çeşitlenmesi ile yeni teknikler keşfedilerek lifler tekstil yüzeyleri haline getirilmiştir. Bu tekstil yüzeyleri, kendi doğal renkleri ile kullanıldığı gibi farklı doğal ve yapay boyalar yardımı ile renklendirilerek kullanılmış ve kullanılmaktadır. Çiçek, yaprak, bitki, toprak ve kaya gibi doğal boya kaynaklarından farklı yapıda ve tonlarda pek çok renk elde edilebilmektedir. Bu çalışma kapsamında farklı doğal kaynaklardan boyarmadde elde edilmiş ve yine doğal lifler bu boyalarla renklendirilmiştir. Renklendirilmesi yapılan lifler farklı form ve biçimlerde kullanılmıştır. Bu çalışma kapsamında deniz yaşamının önemi, deniz ve su kirliliğinin çevreye ve canlı yaşamına etkilerine dikkat çekilmiştir. “Suyun Ötesinde” adı verilen lif sanatı çalışması ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Çalışma tuval üzerine uygulanmış olup, tasarım süreci ve uygulanan adımlar aktarılmıştır.

Multifarious revolutionary aspects of microbial keratinases: an efficient green technology for future generation with prospective applications

Since the dawn of century, tons of keratin bio-waste is generated by the poultry industry annually, and they end up causing environmental havoc. Keratins are highly flexible fibrous proteins which exist in α- and β- forms and provide mechanical strength and stability to structural appendages. The finding of broad-spectrum protease, keratinase, from thermophilic bacteria and fungi, has provided an eco-friendly solution to hydrolyze the peptide bonds in highly recalcitrant keratinous substances such as nails, feathers, claws, and horns into valuable amino acids. Microorganisms produce these proteolytic enzymes by techniques of solid-state and submerged fermentation. However, solid-state fermentation is considered as a yielding approach for the production of thermostable keratinases. This review prioritized the molecular and biochemical properties of microbial keratinases, and the role of keratinases in bringing prodigious impact for the sustainable progress of the economy. It also emphasizes on the current development in keratinase production with the focus to improve the biochemical properties related to enzyme's catalytic activity and stability, and production of mutant and cloned microbial strains to improve the yield of keratinases. Recently, multitude molecular approaches have been employed to enhance enzyme's productivity, activity, and thermostability which makes them suitable for pharmaceutical industry and for the production of animal feed, organic fertilizers, biogas, clearing of animal hides, and detergent formulation. Hence, it can be surmised that microbial keratinolytic enzymes are the conceivable candidates for numerous commercial and industrial applications.

Surnames Derived from the Hide Processing Terminology

Since the earliest times, hide processing has been a necessity in order to provide people with clothing and footwear. In the Middle Ages, craftsmen specialized in hide processing were differentiated and names according to the pieces of clothing or footwear they produced: they were furriers or skinners, shoemakers, leather cutters, traditional footwear makers and tanners etc. An important role in the development of this type of activity (processing domestic and wild animal hides) has been played by the technological progress that involved the use of chemical substances meant to ensure high-quality products. The appellatives selected as being part of the hide processing terminology became sources of nicknames or bynames in the 19th century, and later became official surnames as a result of the 1895 Name Law. At present 175 active surnames have been identified and the region and county frequency of occurrence is mentioned in the Appendix, according to The Anthoponymic Romanian Database

Preparation of Sheepskin Unhairing Extracts from Locally Available Plants: Cleaner Leather Processing

Leather is made from animal hides and skins that have passed through several stages of processing, from soaking to finishing. Unhairing is a crucial processing stage in which hair is removed from the animal hide or skin through open up the hair and it facilitates subsequent operations. The conventional sodium sulfide-based unhairing process generates a high volume of effluent, which accounts for 50 to 70% of the total biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) load in the tanneries’ effluent. This study aimed to investigate the potential of unhairing agents prepared from locally available plants. The research employed qualitative methods. Plant materials are collected, dried, and ground. In different proportions, unhairing extracts were obtained from Phytolacca dodecandra leaves, Cucurbita foetidissima fruits, and Solanum incanum fruits. In the conventional soaking process, plant extracts were applied in various concentrations to sheepskin. The physical parameters of conventionally processed (control) and experimentally treated leather were examined using FTIR, SEM, tear strength, percentage of elongation, and organoleptic tests. The unhairing solution was prepared from a mixture of 0.5% S. incanum extract, 0.5% P. dodecandra extract, 0.6% C. foetidissima extract, and 260 g/L lime powder lime, and this solution effectively removed the hair from the sheepskin in both hairs saving and hair burning unhairing process. The study revealed that the sheepskin treated with the plant extracts based on an unhairing agent and the conventional unhairing agent showed a comparable tensile strength (42.3 kg/cm and 45.2 kg/cm), tear strength (140.1 kg/cm2 and 143.5 kg/cm2), and percent elongation at break (40.2 and 42.3), respectively, which were above the permissible limit for leather production making. According to the study findings, the plant extracts have a good potential for removing hair from sheepskin, and they are eco-friendly and cost-effective compared to unhairing chemicals such as sodium sulfide.

Шкура копытного в курганных погребениях бронзового века: жертва или психопомп

Among the features of the burial rite of many Bronze Age kurgan cultures in Eastern Europe, there is one interesting common feature, when the deceased is accompanied by the ritual remains of hoofed animals, which are archaeologically recorded in the form of skulls and the lower parts of the limbs. Following M. P. Gryaznov (1977), the term “animal’s hide” or “stuffed animal” was assigned to these ritual objects, which were placed in burials to substitute the whole animals by the pars pro toto principle. In the Early Bronze Age, the main area of the use of ritual animals in the funerary ritual was the Lower Kuban region, where from a quarter to a third of the burials of the Novotitorovskaya and East-Azov Catacomb Grave cultures were accompanied by hides of small cattle. During the Middle Bronze Age, this burial practice significantly expanded its range and is found in all catacomb cultures of the Don basin and the steppe Ciscaucasia, with its greatest manifestation in the Seversky Donets basin. In the post-Catacomb period, the tradition of using of animal hides and stuffed animals in the funerary rite was preserved only in the Dnieper-Don Babino Culture. In the Late Bronze Age, this practice was unevenly represented in the Srubnaya cultural region, most massively in the Dnieper-Don region. Archaeological contexts, together with ethnographic, folklore and mythological analogies, allow us to interpret the ritual remains of ungulates as the animal–psychopomp that accompanied the soul of the deceased to the afterlife.

Polyphenol modified natural collagen fibrous network towards sustainable and antibacterial microfiltration membrane for efficient water disinfection

Because of their low-cost and high bacterial interception efficiency, large-scale membrane separation technologies like microfiltration (MF) have been widely implemented for water disinfection. However, lack of antibacterial ability and low sustainability are two major drawbacks of most petroleum-based MF membranes, which are normally associated with hazardous issues including biofouling and nonbiodegradable waste. In this work, abundant animal hides, which are by-products of the meat processing industry, were proposed as raw materials to fabricate a sustainable MF membrane due to their natural, hierarchical, and renewable collagen fibrous network (CFN) with inherent biodegradability. After the removal of non-collagen compositions from animal hides, such as hair and fat, through a facile pretreating process base on green chemistry principles, a thin CFN based membrane (CFN-M) with a similar micropore size to that of commercial MF membranes could be produced. Furthermore, inspired by conventional leather tanning technology, tannic acids (TA) were selected as plant polyphenol tanning agent to modify collagen fibers based on tanning chemistry to improve the thermal stability of CFN-M. Moreover, the TA cross-linked CFN-M (TA@CFN-M) exhibited excellent antibacterial properties due to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by the catechol functional group. The resulting TA@CFN-M achieved >99.9% water disinfection efficiency with a flux of ∼150 L m–2 h–1 via gravity-driven operation, while simultaneously showing admirable anti-biofouling ability. Different from the commercial MF membrane, based on the green chemistry principle, this work may shed light on designing new sustainable and antibacterial membranes for anti-biofouling water disinfection.

Novel Approach of Removing Externally Attached Debris from Animal Carcass to Ensure Meat Safety and Byproduct Quality

In this study, a formulation and technique are developed to be used for cattle carcass decontamination prior to removal of hide in a commercially preferred time-frame to ensure meat safety and byproduct quality. This formulation offers deep cleaning on carcass surface by removing debris including manure/mud balls which are firmly attached to the hair of animal hide harboring pathogens like Salmonella and Escherichia coli. Survival of such pathogens can facilitate cross-contamination of the underlying meat and meat-processing equipment in the packing plant posing a challenge to the meat industry as well as public-health. Also, the attached adobe type mud/manure balls have potential to create holes on the hide during leather processing which degrades byproduct’s quality. Formulation was sprayed on cattle’s hide and the attached debris were brushed off from the surface. The formulation was found very efficient in cleaning the hide surface both at 5 and 8 min treatments. The highest of aerobic, Escherichia coli and Salmonella populations were reduced by 8.71, 3.63 and 3.19 Log CFU/50 in 2 , respectively when compared to water-wash. The efficacy of formulation can be optimized by adjusting its concentration and treatment time. Post-leather analysis showed no detrimental impact on byproduct caused by the formulation.