Almond hulls are a byproduct of the almond industry and are typically used as cattle feed. They have a high fiber content but low protein content. Due to downsizing in the dairy industry and an increasing almond industry in California, demand for the hulls as dairy feed has decreased. However, poultry and aquatic industries are pursuing new materials for protein-rich feed supplements. Using a solid-state fermentation (SSF) conversion process, the hulls were used as substrate for filamentous fungi which increased the protein content of the hulls and resulting fermentation residue to the appropriate levels for animal feed supplements. The first objective in converting the hulls into protein-rich fungal biomass was to identify the optimal fungal strain for biomass production using the hulls as the substrate. The second objective was to optimize the SSF process using the optimal fungi identified through the first objective. After screening various fungi, Myceliophthora thermophila was identified as the optimal fungi for protein production capable of producing fermentation reside with a maximum crude protein content of 18.10%.Fermentation conditions for key parameters were optimized. The optimized fermentation condition for the M. thermophila strain was almond hull particle size (75-250 m), fermentation time (96 hours), and solid-loading (6.90% w/w). The fermentation residue produced contained 18.10% crude protein and 6.25% crude fat. The protein yield was 0.20 g crude protein/g carbohydrate consumed. The residue had good in vitro digestibility (80.37  7.06%) and contained a complete amino acid profile. The fermentation temperature and relative humidity were kept constant at 48-50C with relative humidity controlled at 70-90%. Therefore, the M. thermophila fermentation residue could potentially serve as a protein-rich supplement for poultry feed supplements. However, the fiber content of the residue is too high for direct use as an aquatic feed supplement. Additional procedures are needed to extract the protein from the fermentation residue for aquatic feeds.

Reconstruction of regional North American prehistory has benefited from the incorporation of ancient DNA evidence. However, few studies focus on intra-site genetic variation, associate these relationships to mortuary assemblages, or link these variables to social ranking. The Late Period (900 BP-250 BP) in the San Francisco Bay area witnessed shifts in settlement patterns that included mortuary treatment distinct from earlier periods. The change in mortuary pattern is interpreted either as a reduction in social inequality, a shift toward corporate group identity based on kinship, or an emergence of a lesser number of differentiated elites with control over high status resources.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data was collected from 200 individuals from CA-SCL-38 (Yukisma Mound), hereafter referred to as SCL-38 as well as 102 additional burials from 15 other archaeological sites in the region to test for a relationship between direct maternal kinship (i.e., genetic relatedness as revealed by mtDNA), grave goods, and burial patterns. This was ultimately done to determine whether spatial patterns at SCL-38 are associated with the emergence/maintenance of social differentiation and inferred social inequality. These data were additionally used at the inter-site level to explore the hypothesized spread of Penutian populations and to document genetic continuity in the San Francisco Bay area through time.

Results indicate that maternal relatedness is not correlated to the spatial distribution of burials within the cemetery. Additionally, no associations are noted between particular mtDNA haplotypes and burials with high quantity or diversity of grave goods. Thus, the overall placement of burials at SCL-38 are random with respect to direct maternal relationships. However, regardless of mortuary assembleges, there are some subgroupings within the cemetery of individuals related at the maternal level. The heterogenous distribution of mtDNA lineages across the spatial extent of the site may instead reflect its use as a regional cemetery for select, perhaps wealthy elite, individuals who originated from the surrounding Bay area. It remains possible that patterning along the paternal line or the lack of temporal refinement is confounding other underlying genetic structure. Across the landscape, however, mtDNA lineages are identified that correspond with the hypothesized influx of Proto-Utian (Penutian) speakers into the San Francisco Bay area by the end of the Early Period and beginning of the Middle Period. Additonal haplotypes are also identified that are probably older than 7,000 BP in the region, most likely representing maternal lineages orignally belonging to ancestral Hokan speakers. Most mtDNA haplotypes discussed represent at least 2,000 years of genetic continuity in the region.