Biosurfactant Production by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas aeruginosa</Emphasis> Grown in Residual Soybean Oil

Pseudomonas aeruginosa PACL strain, isolated from oil-contaminated soil taken from a lagoon, was used to investigate the efficiency and magnitude of biosurfactant production, using different waste frying soybean oils, by submerged fermentation in stirred tank reactors of 6 and 10 l capacities. A complete factorial experimental design was used, with the goal of optimizing the aeration rate (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 vvm) and agitation speed (300, 550, and 800 rpm). Aeration was identified as the primary variable affecting the process, with a maximum rhamnose concentration occurring at an aeration rate of 0.5 vvm. At optimum levels, a maximum rhamnose concentration of 3.3 g/l, an emulsification index of 100%, and a minimum surface tension of 26.0 dynes/cm were achieved. Under these conditions, the biosurfactant production derived from using a mixture of waste frying soybean oil (WFSO) as a carbon source was compared to production when non-used soybean oil (NUSO), or waste soybean oils used to fry specific foods, were used. NUSO produced the highest level of rhamnolipids, although the waste soybean oils also resulted in biosurfactant production of 75–90% of the maximum value. Under ideal conditions, the kinetic behavior and the modeling of the rhamnose production, nutrient consumption, and cellular growth were established. The resulting model predicted data points that corresponded well to the empirical information.     

A Comparison Between Shaker and Bioreactor Performance Based on the Kinetic Parameters of Xanthan Gum Production

Xanthan gum production was studied using sugarcane broth as the raw material and batch fermentation by Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris NRRL B-1459. The purpose of this study was to optimize the variables of sucrose, yeast extract, and ammonium nitrate concentrations and to determine the kinetic parameters of this bioreaction under optimized conditions. The effects of yeast extract and ammonium nitrate concentrations for a given sucrose concentration (12.1–37.8 g L^?1) were evaluated by central composite design to maximize the conversion efficiency. In a bioreactor, the maximum conversion efficiency was achieved using 27.0 g L^?1 sucrose, 2.7 g L^?1 yeast extract, and 0.9 g L^?1 NH₄NO₃. This point was assayed in a shaker and in a bioreactor to compare bioreaction parameters. These parameters were estimated by the unstructured kinetic model of Weiss and Ollis (Biotechnol Bioeng 22:859–873, 1980) to determinate the yields (Y _P/S), the maximum growth specific rate (μ _max), and the saturation cellular concentration (X*). The parameters of the model (μ _max, X*, m, λ, α, and β) were obtained by nonlinear regression. For production of xanthan gum in a shaker, the values of μ _max and Y _P/S obtained were 0.119 h^?1 and 0.34 g g^?1, respectively, while in a bioreactor, they were 0.411 h^?1 and 0.63 g g^?1, respectively.     

Effect of soy protein isolate on the thermal, mechanical and morphological properties of poly (-caprolactone) and corn starch blends

The development of biodegradable polymers is considered to be a good alternative to decrease the volume of the plastic waste disposed into the environment every year. The use of natural polymers as raw materials to develop polymer blends and composites has increased the demand for renewable sources such as starch and soy protein.In this work, the authors prepared and characterized the thermal, mechanical and morphological properties of blends based on poly (-caprolactone) and modified corn starch, with added soy protein isolate (SPI) and sorbitol. All samples were processed by extrusion in a single-screw extruder and hot pressing. It was observed that the addition of modified corn starch and SPI were responsible for the reduction of thermal and mechanical properties of the materials, compared to pristine PCL. However, with increasing amounts of SPI and the reduction of starch incorporated into the samples, their properties tend to recover. The insertion of soy protein isolate in the formulations was done with the aim of balancing the C/N ratio of the blend, which plays a key role in the biodegradation process of these materials.     

Characterization of venlafaxine hydrochloride and compatibility studies with pharmaceutical excipients

The thermal analytical study of venlafaxine hydrochloride, a third generation antidepressant, was investigated using thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The DSC curves have shown a sharp endothermic event at 211 °C and TG demonstrated a single stage of mass loss between 254 and 283 °C. Solid-state characterization was carried out by DRIFT, SEM, and XRPD demonstrating the drug physicochemical properties including crystallinity. Drug-excipient compatibility studies investigated by DSC have shown a possible physical interaction of the drug with magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose and starch. Nevertheless, these results where not confirmed by DRIFT and SEM analyses.     

Effective Equations for Repulsive Quasi‐One Dimensional Bose–Einstein Condensates Trapped with Anharmonic Transverse Potentials

One‐dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equations are derived to describe the axial effective dynamics of cigar‐shaped atomic repulsive Bose‐Einstein condensates trapped with anharmonic transverse potentials. The accuracy of these equations in the perturbative, Thomas‐Fermi, and crossover regimes were verified numerically by comparing the ground‐state profiles, transverse chemical potentials and oscillation patterns with those results obtained for the full three‐dimensional Gross‐Pitaevskii equation. This procedure allows us to derive different patterns of 1D nonlinear models by the control of the transverse confinement even in the presence of an axial vorticity.     

Chemical Physical Characterization and Profile of Fruit Volatile Compounds from Different Accesses of Myrciaria floribunda (H. West Ex Wild.) O. Berg through Polyacrylate Fiber

Among the many species of native fruit of Brazil that have been little explored, there is Myrciaria floribunda (also known as rumberry, cambuizeiro, or guavaberry), a species with significant variability, which has fruits of different colors (orange, red, and purple) when ripe. The physical-chemical characteristics evaluated were fruit weight (FW), seed weight (SW), pulp weight (PW), number of seeds (NS), longitudinal diameter (LD), transverse diameter (TD), format (LD/TD), hydrogen potential (pH), soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), and ratio (SS/TA); further, the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of nine accesses of rumberry orchards were identified. The averages of the variables FW, SW, PW, NS, LD, TD, shape, and firmness were 0.76 g, 0.22 g, 0.54 g, 1.45, 10.06 mm, 9.90 mm, 1.02, 2.96 N, respectively. LD/TD data showed that the fruits have a slightly rounded shape (LD/TD = 1). The averages for pH, SS, TA, and SS/TA were 3.74, 17.58 Brix, 4.31% citric acid, and 4.31, respectively. The evaluated parameters indicated that the fruits can be consumed both in natura and industrialized, with the red-colored fruits presenting a good balance of SS/TA, standards demanded by the processing industries. Thirty-six VOCs were identified, with emphasis on the sesquiterpenes. Caryophyllene (21.6% to 49.3%) and γ-selinene (11.3% to 16.3%) were the most predominant compounds in rumberry fruits.     

Temperature rising elution fractionation, infra red and rheology study on gamma irradiated HMSPP

It is well known that polypropylene undergoes simultaneous crosslinking and degradation under irradiation. However, there are speculations regarding the formation of branching under special conditions. It is also well known that the melt-strength property of a polymer increases with molecular weight and with long-chain branching due to the increase in the entanglement level. This study was a contribution to the understanding of the following points: the role of molecular weight, the role of structural modifications on nucleation properties; the structural changes on polypropylene.

The results showed that degradation was the major reaction in the initial step of irradiation, however, the largely modified molecules concentrated in the high molecular weight fraction. The results also confirm that the branching formation is likely to occur.     

Effects of localised and global convection on thermal explosion in a parallel-plate geometry

During an exothermic reaction in a fluid, convection may ensue on a local scale and then develop to the scale of the entire vessel. In this work, we study the effects of both localised and global convection on thermal explosions occurring between parallel plates. Analytical relations are derived for the various transitions in regimes of convective and thermal behaviours. We show that these relations agree well with previous numerical work and with new simulations in the present investigation. We also determine analytically the time for onset of convection, as well as the temperature increase at that time, for stable and explosive systems. The effects of the Prandtl number of the fluid on the transitions between regimes are noted.