Discrimination between ethanol inhibition models in a continuous alcoholic fermentation process using flocculating yeast

Discrimination between different rival models for describing the inhibitory effect of ethanol both on yeast growth and on fermentation was studied for a continuous process of alcoholic fermentation in a tower reactor with recycling of flocculating cells. Models tested include linear, parabolic, hyperbolic, exponential, and generalized nonlinear power-law types. The best expressions were identified under the criteria that all the kinetic parameters should assume acceptable values in a feasible range and should result in the best fit of the experimental data. The kinetic parameters were estimated from steady-state data of several sugar concentrations in feeding stream (S₀ = 160, 170, 180, 190, 200 g/L), constant dilution rate (D = 0.2 h^-1), recycle ratio (α = 13.6), and temperature (T = 30°C). The best model for the yeast growth was of power-law type, whereas for the product formation the best model was of linear type. These models were able to reproduce the trends of the process variables satisfactorily.     

Selective determination of altertoxins by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection with dual "in-series" electrodes

A selective method for the determination of altertoxin-I and altertoxin-II by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection is described. Altertoxins were separated on a reversed-phase column with methanol-water containing 0.1 M sodium nitrate and 1 mM nitric acid (60:40) as eluent and detected with dual in-series electrodes operating in the "redox" mode (generator electrode +1.0 V, indicator electrode -0.1 V). The method was applied successfully to the determination of sub-ppm levels of altertoxins in samples of maize, rice and tomatoes infected by Alternaria alternata.     

Crystal,molecular and electronic structure of 1,1-diaryl-2-halogenoethylenes

On the basis of semiempirical calculations, the conformation of the isolated molecule of 2-bromo-1,1-diphenylprop-1-ene corresponding to the minimum of total energy was determined. Assuming some information on the localization of the molecules in the crystal, also the conformation in a theoretical crystal was studied. The results have been compared with the crystal structure of 2-bromo-1,1-diphenylprop-1-ene, as obtained by X-ray diffraction. From the comparison a slight displacement of the C2 atom was suggested.

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Zusammenfassung Die dem Minimum der Gesamtenergie entsprechende Konformation des isolierten Moleküls von 2-Brom-1,1-diphenylprop-1-en wurde durch halb-empirische Methoden bestimmt. Gewisse Ergebnisse über die Anordnung der Moleküle im Kristall machten es möglich, die Konformation in einem theoretischen Kristall zu untersuchen. Nach Vergleich der Resultate mit der durch Röntgen-Analyse bestimmten Kristallstruktur des 2-Brom-1,1-diphenylprop-1-en wurde eine kleine Verschiebung des C2-Atoms vorgeschlagen.

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Résumé Par le moyen de calculs semiempiriques on a déterminé la conformation de la molécule isolée de 2-bromo-1, 1-diphénilprop-1-ène, correspondant au minimum d'énergie totale. On a aussi étudié la conformation dans le cristal théorique en se basant sur des informations concernant la localisation des molécules dans le cristal. On a comparé ces résultats avec ceux que nous avons obtenus par la détermination de la structure cristalline du 2-bromo-1, 1-diphénilprop-1-ène avec la diffraction des rayons X: cette comparaison nous a porté à déplacer un petit peu l'atome C 2.

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This work was supported by a grant from the Italian Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche.     

The bent RC  N linkage: An AB initio study of NH2CN,NF2CN and PF2CN

The ab initio energies, nuclear and electron repulsions and charge distributions have been calculated using moderately large basis sets as a function of the RC  N angle (R  NH₂, NF₂ or PF₂). The optimum RC  N angles were calculated to be 178.9°, 176.6°, and 175° for NH₂CN, NF₂CN, and PF₂CN, respectively. A rationalization of the differing bends is presented in terms of nuclear-nuclear and electron-electron repulsions.     

One-pot four-component reaction: aqueous TiCl3/PhN2+-mediated alkyl radical addition to imines generated in situ

Ti(III)-induced free-radical decomposition of a phenyldiazonium salt, followed by phenyl radical iodine-atom abstraction from alkyl iodides, leads to a one-pot selective alkyl radical addition to the C-atom of imines generated in situ under aqueous acidic conditions. [reaction: see text]     

Ethyl N‐[2‐(hydroxy­acetyl)­phenyl]­carbamate,ethyl N‐[2‐(hydroxy­acetyl)‐4‐iodo­phenyl]­carbamate and ethyl N‐[2‐(hydroxy­acetyl)‐4‐methyl­phenyl]­carbamate

In ethyl N‐[2‐(hydroxy­acetyl)phenyl]carbamate, C₁₁H₁₃NO₄, all of the non‐H atoms lie on a mirror plane in the space group Pnma; the mol­ecules are linked into simple chains by a single C—H⋯O hydrogen bond. The mol­ecules of ethyl N‐[2‐(hydroxy­acetyl)‐4‐iodo­phenyl]carbamate, C₁₁H₁₂INO₄, are linked into sheets by a combination of O—H⋯I and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and a dipolar I⋯O contact. Ethyl N‐­[2‐(hydroxy­acetyl)‐4‐methyl­phenyl]carbamate, C₁₂H₁₅NO₄, crystallizes with Z′ = 2 in the space group P; pairs of mol­ecules are weakly linked by an O—H⋯O hydrogen bond and these aggregates are linked into chains by two independent aromatic π–π stacking inter­actions.     

Generalizing inference rules in a coherence-based probabilistic default reasoning

In this paper we first recall some notions and results on the coherence-based probabilistic treatment of uncertainty. Then, we deepen some probabilistic aspects in nonmonotonic reasoning, by generalizing OR, CM, and Cut rules. We also illustrate the degradation of these inference rules when the number of premises increases. Finally, we show that the lower bounds obtained when applying OR and Quasi-Conjunction inference rules coincide, respectively, with Hamacher and Lukasiewicz t-norms; the upper bounds in both rules coincide with Hamacher t-conorm.     

Turbulence in microfluidics: Cleanroom-free,fast, solventless,and bondless fabrication and application in high throughput liquid-liquid extraction

This paper addresses an important breakthrough in the deployment of ultra-high adhesion strength microfluidic technologies to provide turbulence at harsh flow rate conditions. This paper is only, to our knowledge, the second reporting on the generation of high flow rate-assisted turbulence in microchannels. This flow solves a crucial bottleneck in microfluidics: the generation of high throughput homogeneous mixings. We focused on the fabrication of bulky polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchips (without any interfaces) rather than the laborious surface modifications that were employed in the first reporting about turbulence-assisted microfluidics. The fabrication is cleanroom-free, simple, low-cost, fast, solventless, and bondless requiring only a laboratory oven. More specifically, our method relies on the shaping of a nylon scaffold, cure of PDMS with embedded nylon, and removal of this scaffold. The scaffold was obtained by manually wrapping nylon threads. The withdrawing out of the scaffold was completed in few seconds using only a plier. Such microchannels endured flow rates of up to 60.0 mL min⁻¹ with a strikingly low elastic deformation. The importance in producing turbulence into microscale channels was successfully shown in liquid-liquid extractions. The great energy dissipation rate relative to the turbulence created high throughput and efficient extractions in microfluidics for the first time. The residence time was only 0.01 s at 25.0 mL min⁻¹ (total flow rate of the immiscible phases). In addition, the partition coefficient determined in a single run was similar to that obtained by the conventional batch shake-flask method that was realized in triplicate.