Kinetic Study of the Alcoholic Fermentation Process, in the Presence of Free and Immobilized Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Cells, at Different Initial Glucose Concentrations by Reversed Flow GC

Reversed flow gas chromatography (RFGC) was applied for the kinetic study of the alcoholic fermentation processes conducted with cells of the alcohol-resistant and psychrophilic Saccharomyces cerevisiae AXAZ-1 yeast strain, either free or immobilized on wheat, barley and corn grains as well as on potato pieces. Repeated alcoholic fermentations with must of varying initial glucose concentrations were performed in order to estimate the catalytic efficiency of the biocatalysts used in the present study. With the RFGC method, the distinction of the duration of alcoholic fermentation phases was achieved, which may be correlated to the phases of AXAZ-1 cells growth cycle. The rate constants of ethanol production for each phase of the alcoholic fermentations, conducted with free and immobilized cells, were also determined with the aid of RFGC, confirming the predominance of the immobilized against free cells in the fermentation process. Comparing the supports used for immobilization, wheat and barley grains seemed to be more efficient than corn grains and potato pieces, as they provided a higher number of immobilized cells and rate constant values.     

Thermal and mechanical properties of in situ polymerized PS/EPDM blends

In situ polymerized PS/EPDM blends were prepared by dissolving poly(ethylene-co-propylene-co-2-ethylidene-5-norbornene) (EPDM) in styrene monomer, followed by bulk polymerization at 60 °C and 80 °C . EPDM has excellent resistance to such factors as weather, ozone and oxidation, attributed to its non-conjugated diene component, and it could be a good alternative for substituting polybutadiene-based rubbers in PS toughening. The in situ polymerized blends were characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, gel permeation chromatography, and tensile and Izod impact resistance tests. The PS/EPDM blends are immiscible and present two phases, a dispersed elastomeric phase (EPDM) in a rigid PS matrix whose phase behavior is strongly affected by the polymerization temperature. Mechanical properties of the blends are influenced by the increase in the average size of EPDM domains with the increase in the polymerization temperature and EPDM content. The blends polymerized at 60 °C containing 5 wt% of EPDM presents an increase in the impact resistance of 80% and containing 17 wt% of EPDM presents an increase in the strain at break of 170% in comparison with the value of PS. The blend polymerized at 80 °C containing 17 wt% of EPDM presents an increase in the strain at break of 480% and in impact resistance of 140% in comparison with the value of PS.     

Prediction of human serum albumin-drug binding affinity without albumin

A new liquid chromatographic system was developed to measure protein-drug binding affinity indirectly without albumin and was evaluated using log nK values of drugs measured by a modified Hummel-Dreyer method using purified human serum albumin. The retention factors of acidic and basic drugs were measured by reversed-phase and ion-exchange liquid chromatography in sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7.40, containing 50 vol.% methanol at 37 °C. The bonded phases were pentyl, guanidino and carboxyl phases. The combined retention factors were correlated with the log nK values measured by a modified Hummel-Dreyer method because glycosylation of human serum albumin did not significantly affect log nK value. The correlation coefficients were 0.949 (n=7) for acidic drugs and 0.978 (n=5) for basic drugs. The log nK values of 26 acidic and 18 basic drugs were predicted from their retention factors measured by reversed-phase and ion-exchange liquid chromatography.     

Thermodynamics of interactions between organic ammonium ions and sulfonatocalixarenes

Calorimetric titration and NMR experiments in aqueous phosphate buffer (pH 7.2) at 298.15 K have been done to determine the binding mode, complex stability constants and thermodynamics (ΔG°, ΔH°, and TΔS°) for 1:1 inclusion complexation of water-soluble calix[n]arenesulfonates (CnAS, n = 4 and 6) and thiacalix[4]arene tetrasulfonate (TCAS) with acethylcholine, carnitine, betaine and benzyltrimethylammonium ion. The results show the inclusion complexations are driven by enthalpy (ΔH° < 0), accompanied by negative entropic changes (ΔS° < 0). The binding affinities (C4AS > C6AS > TCAS) are discussed from the viewpoint of CH-π/π-π interactions, electrostatic interactions and size/shape-fit relationship between host and guest.     

Determination of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid and iminodisuccinic acid in cosmetic products by capillary electrophoresis and high performance liquid chromatography

A capillary electrophoresis (CE) and a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method are described for the simultaneous determination of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), S,S′-ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS) and R,S-iminodisuccinic acid (IDS) complexing agents as their Fe(III) complexes in cosmetics like shower cream and foam bath. The non-biodegradable EDTA is used in combination with biodegradable analogues like EDDS and IDS in many commercial products. The HPLC method involves separation by reversed-phase ion pair chromatography on a C₁₈ column using methanol-formate buffer (20 mM tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate, 15 mM sodium formate adjusted to pH 4.0 with formic acid) (10:90, v/v) as mobile solvent at a flow rate of 0.8 mL min⁻¹ at 24 °C using UV detection at 240 nm. The CE separation was performed in a fused silica capillary of 50 μm i.d. with the total length of 50 cm with a 10 mM MES and MOPSO (pH 5.5) at an applied voltage of −25 kV. The samples were introduced by applying a 50 mbar pressure for 2 s. Absorbances at 215 and 225 nm were monitored for the detection of the complexes. The methodology performance of the two methods was evaluated in terms of linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ) and reproducibility. The LOD values obtained from HPLC are low when compared with CE. The applicability of both the methods was demonstrated for the analysis of cosmetic products such as shower cream and foam bath. The results obtained by both CE and HPLC were found to be comparable and in good agreement.     

Voltammetric determination of boron by using Alizarin Red S

Cordycepin is the main active metabolite of Cordyceps militaris extracts; according to recent studies it has interesting therapeutic activities. A new capillary electrophoresis (CE) procedure with UV detection at 254 nm for determination of cordycepin was developed and optimized. Optimal conditions found were 20 mM sodium borate buffer with 28.6% methanol, pH 9.5, separation voltage 20 kV, hydrodynamic injection time 10 s and temperature 25 °C. Linearity was found over the 20-100 μg/mL concentration ranges of cordycepin. The developed method has been applied for determination of cordycepin in various pharmaceutical products. A comparison was made between CE and a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. Both of these methods gave comparable results. The shorter analysis time and low running cost are the main advantages of CE method.     

Formation of γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles and vacancy ordering: An in situ X-ray powder diffraction study

The formation of maghemite, γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles has been studied by in situ X-ray powder diffraction. The maghemite was formed by thermal decomposition of an amorphous precursor compound made by reacting lauric acid, CH₃(CH₂)₁₀COOH with Fe(NO₃)₃·9H₂O. It has been shown that cubic γ-Fe₂O₃ was formed directly from the amorphous precursor and that vacancy ordering starts about 45 min later at 305 °C resulting in a tripled unit cell along the c-axis. The kinetics of grain growth was found to obey a power law with growth exponents n equal to 0.136(6) and 0.103(5) at 305 and 340 °C, respectively. Particles with average sizes of 12 and 13 nm were obtained in 86 and 76 min at 305 and 340 °C, respectively. The structure of cubic and vacancy ordered phases of γ-Fe₂O₃ was studied at 305 °C by Rietveld refinements.     

Solid phase microextraction procedure for the determination of alkylphenols in water by on-fiber derivatization with N-tert-butyl-dimethylsilyl-N-methyltrifluoroacetamide

The solid phase microextraction (SPME) technique with on-fiber derivatization was evaluated for the analysis of alkylphenols (APs), including 4-tert-octylphenol (4-t-OP), technical nonylphenol isomers (t-NPs) and 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), in water. The 85 μm polyacrylate (PA) fiber was used and a two-step sample preparation procedure was established. In the first step, water sample of 2 mL was placed in a 4 mL PTFE-capped glass vial. Headspace extraction of APs in water was then performed under 65 °C for 30 min with 800 rpm magnetic stirring and the addition of 5% of sodium chloride. In the second step, the SPME fiber was placed in another 4 mL vial, which contained 100 μL of N-tert-butyl-dimethylsilyl-N-methyltrifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA) with 1% tert-butyl-dimethylchlorosilane (TBDMCS). Headspace extraction of MTBSTFA and on-fiber derivatization with APs were performed at 45 °C for 10 min. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used for the analysis of derivatives formed on-fiber. The adsorption-time profiles were also examined. The precision, accuracy and method detection limits (MDLs) for the analysis of all the APs were evaluated with spiked water samples, including detergent water, chlorinated tap water, and lake water. The relative standard deviations were all less than 10% and the accuracies were 100 ± 15%. With 2 mL of water sample, MDLs were in the range of 1.58-3.85 ng L⁻¹. Compared with other techniques, the study described here provided a simple, fast and reliable method for the analysis of APs in water.     

Hydrothermal synthesis of nanocrystalline ZnSe: An in situ synchrotron radiation X-ray powder diffraction study

The hydrothermal synthesis of nanocrystalline ZnSe has been studied by in situ X-ray powder diffraction using synchrotron radiation. The formation of ZnSe was studied using the following starting mixtures: Zn+Se+H₂O (route A) and ZnCl₂+Se+H₂O+Na₂SO₃ (route B). The route A experiment showed that Zn powder starts reacting with water at 134 °C giving ZnO and H₂ followed by the formation of ZnSe which takes place in temperature range from 167 to 195 °C. The route B experiment shows a considerably more complex reaction path with several intermediate phases and in this case the formation of ZnSe starts at 141 °C and ZnSe and Se were the only crystalline phases observed at the end of the experiment where the temperature was 195 °C. The sizes of the nanocrystalline particles were determined to 18 and 9 nm in the route A and B experiments, respectively. Nanocrystalline ZnSe was also synthesized ex situ using the route A and B methods and characterized by conventional X-ray powder diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. An average crystalline domain size of ca. 8 nm was determined by X-ray powder diffraction in fair agreement with TEM images, which showed larger aggregates of nanoparticles having approximate diameters of 10 nm. Furthermore, a method for purification of the ZnSe nanoparticles was developed and the prepared particles showed signs of anisotropic size broadening of the diffraction peaks.     

An on-line method for pressurized hot water extraction and enzymatic hydrolysis of quercetin glucosides from onions

A novel environmentally sound continuous-flow hot water extraction and enzymatic hydrolysis method for determination of quercetin in onion raw materials was successfully constructed using a stepwise optimization approach. In the first step, enzymatic hydrolysis of quercetin-3,4′-diglucoside to quercetin was optimized using a three level central composite design considering temperature (75–95 °C), pH (3–6) and volume concentration of ethanol (5–15%). The enzyme used was a thermostable β-glucosidase variant (termed TnBgl1A_N221S/P342L) covalently immobilized on either of two acrylic support-materials (Eupergit^® C 250L or monolithic cryogel). Optimal reaction conditions were irrespective of support 84 °C, 5% ethanol and pH 5.5, and at these conditions, no significant loss of enzyme activity was observed during 72 h of use. In a second step, hot water extractions from chopped yellow onions, run at the optimal temperature for hydrolysis, were optimized in a two level design with respect to pH (2.6 and 5.5), ethanol concentration (0 and 5%) and flow rate (1 and 3 mL min⁻¹) Obtained results showed that the total quercetin extraction yield was 1.7 times higher using a flow rate of 3 mL min⁻¹ (extraction time 90 min), compared to a flow rate of 1 mL min⁻¹ (extraction time 240 min). Presence of 5% ethanol was favorable for the extraction yield, while a further decrease in pH was not, not even for the extraction step alone. Finally, the complete continuous flow method (84 °C, 5% ethanol, pH 5.5, 3 mL min⁻¹) was used to extract quercetin from yellow, red and shallot onions and resulted in higher or similar yield (e.g. 8.4 ± 0.7 μmol g⁻¹ fresh weight yellow onion) compared to a conventional batch extraction method using methanol as extraction solvent.     

Comparison of supercritical fluid and Soxhlet extractions for the quantification of hydrocarbons from Euphorbia macroclada

This study compares conventional Soxhlet extraction and analytical scale supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) for their yields in extracting of hydrocarbons from arid-land plant Euphorbia macroclada. The plant material was firstly sequentially extracted with supercritical carbon dioxide, modified with 10% methanol (v/v) in the optimum conditions that is a pressure of 400 atm and a temperature of 50 °C and then it was sonicated in methylene chloride for an additional 4 h. E. macroclada was secondly extracted by using a Soxhlet apparatus at 30 °C for 8 h in methylene chloride. The validated SFE was then compared to the extraction yield of E. macroclada with a Soxhlet extraction by using the Student’s t-test at the 95% confidence level. All of extracts were fractionated with silica-gel in a glass column to get better hydrocarbon yields. Thus, the highest hydrocarbons yield from E. macroclada was achieved with SFE (5.8%) when it compared with Soxhlet extractions (1.1%). Gas chromatography (GC) analysis was performed to determine the quantitative hydrocarbons from plant material. The greatest quantitative hydrocarbon recovery from GC was obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide extract (0.6 mg g⁻¹).     

Temperature and pH dual-responsive coatings of oligoperoxide-graft-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide): Wettability, morphology, and protein adsorption

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) coatings attached to glass with novel approach involving polymerization from oligoperoxide grafted to surface with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane exhibit not only temperature- but also pH-dependence of wettability and protein adsorption. Wettability and composition of coatings, fabricated with different polymerization times, were determined using contact angle measurements and Time Of Flight-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), respectively. Thermal response of wettability, measured between 20 and 40 °C, was prominent at pH 9 and 7 and diminished or absent at pH 5 and 3. This indicates a transition between hydrated loose coils and hydrophobic collapsed chains that is blocked at low pH. Higher surface roughness and dramatically increased adsorption of model protein (lentil lectin labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate) were observed with AFM and fluorescence microscopy to occur in hydrophobic phases (at pH 3, for pH varied at constant temperature of 22 °C and at ∼33 °C, for temperature varied at constant pH 9). Protein adsorption response to pH was confirmed by TOF-SIMS and Principal Component Analysis.     

Simultaneous determination of multibenzodiazepines by HPLC/UV: Investigation of liquid-liquid and solid-phase extractions in human plasma

A method for simultaneous determination of seven benzodiazepines (BZPs) (flunitrazepam, clonazepam, oxazepam, lorazepam, chlordiazepoxide, nordiazepam and diazepam using N-desalkylflurazepam as internal standard) in human plasma using liquid-liquid and solid-phase extractions followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. The analytes were separated employing a LC-18 DB column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) at 35 °C under isocratic conditions using 5 mM KH₂PO₄ buffer solution pH 6.0:methanol:diethyl ether (55:40:5, v/v/v) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.8 mL min⁻¹. UV detection was carried out at 245 nm. Employing LLE, the best conditions were achieved with double extraction of 0.5 mL plasma using ethyl acetate and Na₂HPO₄ pH 9.5 for pH adjusting. Employing SPE, the best conditions were achieved with 0.5 mL plasma plus 3 mL 0.1 M borate buffer pH 9.5, which were then passed through a C18 cartridge previously conditioned, washed for 3 times with these solvents: 3 mL 0.1 M borate buffer pH 9.5, 4 mL Milli-Q water and 1 mL acetonitrile 5%, finally the BZPs elution was carried with diethyl ether:n-hexane:methanol (50:30:20). In both methods the solvent was evaporated at 40 °C under nitrogen flow. The validation parameters obtained in LLE were linearity range of 50-1200 ng mL⁻¹ plasma (r ≥ 0.9927), limits of quantification of 50 ng mL⁻¹ plasma, within-day and between-day CV% and E% for precision and accuracy lower than 15%, and recovery above 65% for all BZPs. In SPE, the parameter obtained were linearity range of 30-1200 ng mL⁻¹ plasma (r ≥ 0.9900), limits of quantification of 30 ng mL⁻¹ plasma, within-day and between-day CV% and E% for precision and accuracy lower than 15% and recovery above 55% for all BZPs. These extracting procedures followed by HPLC analysis showed their suitable applicability in order to examine one or more BZPs in human plasma. Moreover, it could be suggested that these procedures might be employed in various analytical applications, in special for toxicological/forensic analysis.     

High dielectric constant PrYxOy sensing films electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor pH-sensor for the detection of urea

In this paper, we describe the structural and sensing properties of high-k PrY_xO_y sensing films deposited on Si substrates through reactive co-sputtering. Secondary ion mass spectrometry and atomic force microscopy were employed to analyze the compositional and morphological features of these films after annealing at various temperatures. The electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor (EIS) device incorporating a PrY_xO_y sensing membrane that had been annealed at 800 °C exhibited good sensing characteristics, including a high sensitivity (59.07 mV pH⁻¹ in solutions from pH 2 to 12), a low hysteresis voltage (2.4 mV in the pH loop 7 → 4 → 7 → 10 → 7), and a small drift rate (0.62 mV h⁻¹ in the buffer solution at pH 7). The PrY_xO_y EIS device also showed a high selective response towards H⁺. This improvement can be attributed to the small number of crystal defects and the large surface roughness. In addition, the enzymatic EIS-based urea biosensor incorporating a high-k PrY_xO_y sensing film annealed at 800 °C allowed the potentiometric analysis of urea, at concentrations ranging from 1 to 16 mM, with a sensitivity of 9.59 mV mM⁻¹.     

Bacterial polyesters grafted with poly(ethylene glycol): Behaviour in aqueous media

An easy method for grafting of poly(3-hydroxyoctanoate-co-3-hydroxyundecenoate) (PHOU) was developed. Oxidation of the pendant double bonds of PHOU into carboxyl groups to yield poly(3-hydroxyoctanoate-co-3-hydroxy-9-carboxydecanoate) (PHOD) and the esterification of the carboxyl side groups with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) were carried out in a single reaction solution. The grafting yield is dependent on the molar mass of the PEG graft. The maximum carboxyl group conversion (52%) was obtained with PEG M_n = 350 and decreased with increasing molar mass of PEG (19% for PEG M_n = 2000). Yields were determined by ¹H and ¹³C NMR. Short PEG grafts lowered the glass transition temperature (PHOD-g-PEG 350 −57 °C) compared to PHOD (−19 °C) and PHOU (−39 °C). This effect depends on the COOH conversion and PEG chain length. Grafting enhanced the hydrophilic character of the modified polymers making them soluble in polar solvents, such as alcohols and water/acetone mixtures. PHOD-g-PEG films were more stable towards hydrolytic degradation as PHOD films. No obvious modification of films was observed after more than 200 days at pH 7.2 and 37 °C. The molar mass of the grafted polymers decreased only slightly during this period, while PHOD films were hydrolyzed into soluble fragments.     

Application of cinchona-sulfonate-based chiral zwitterionic ion exchangers for the separation of proline-containing dipeptide rotamers and determination of on-column isomerization parameters from dynamic elution profiles

The interconversion of cis and trans isomers of dipeptides containing C-terminal proline was studied by dynamic chromatography on zwitterionic chiral stationary phases at temperatures ranging from −15 °C to +45 °C The cis–trans isomers could be separated below 0 °C and above 0–10 °C plateau formation and peak coalescence phenomena occurred, which is characteristic for a dynamic process at the time-scale of partitioning. At and above room temperature, full coalescence was observed, which allowed separations of enantiomers without interference from interconversion effects. Analysis of the dynamic elution profiles of the interconverting peptides allowed the determination of isomerization rate constants and thermodynamic activation parameters (isomerization enthalpy, entropy and activation energy). In accordance with established results, isomerization rates and thermodynamic parameters were found to depend on the nature of the N-terminal amino acid. Isomerization barriers were only slightly lower than values determined with other methods but significant differences in the relative contributions of the activation enthalpy and entropy as well as isomerization rates pointed toward selector-moderated isomerization dynamics.     

Remarkable effect of hydrogen-bonding interaction on stereospecificity in the radical polymerization of N-vinylacetamide

Radical polymerization of N-vinylacetamide (NVA) in toluene at low temperatures was investigated. It was found that the addition of Lewis bases or alcohol compounds significantly influenced stereospecificity in NVA polymerization. For example, syndiotacticity increased from 25% to 34% by adding tri-n-butyl phosphate at −40 °C. Mono-alcohol compounds increased heterotacticity and heterotactic poly(NVA) with mr triad content of 58% was obtained at −40 °C in the presence of 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol. Furthermore, isotactic poly(NVA) with mm triad = 49% was obtained at −60 °C in the presence of diethyl l-tartrate. The NMR analysis demonstrated that complex formation between NVA monomer and the added agents, through hydrogen-bonding interaction, played an important role to induce the stereospecificity.     

Fast determination of flavonoids in Glycyrrhizae radix by capillary zone electrophoresis

A fast capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method has been developed for the determination of four flavonoids (liquiritin, licoisoflavone A, licochalconel A and calycosin) in Glycyrrhizae radix. After a series of optimization experiments, 100 mM borate buffer (pH 10.5), 30 kV applied voltage and 35 °C temperature were selected. The contents of four flavonoids in cultivated and wild crude drugs of Glycyrrhizae radix with different growth periods from one to four years, collected from different areas were successfully determined within 8 min, with satisfactory repeatability and recovery.     

Gold nanorod-catalyzed luminol chemiluminescence and its selective determination of glutathione in the cell extracts of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In this study, gold nanorods were firstly found to exhibit a tremendously higher catalytic activity towards luminol chemiluminescence (CL) than spherical gold nanoparticles. More importantly, ultra-trace aminothiols can cause a great CL decrease in the gold nanorod-catalyzed luminol system by the formation of Au-S covalent bonds on the ends of gold nanorods. Aminothiols can occupy the active sites of gold nanorods, and further interrupt the generation of the active oxygen intermediates. Other biomolecules including 19 standard amino acids, alcohols, organic acids and saccharides have no effect on gold nanorod-catalyzed luminol CL signals. Moreover, in order to evaluate the applicability and reliability of the proposed method, it was applied to the determination of glutathione in the cell extracts of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Good agreements were obtained for the determination of glutathione in the cell extracts of S. cerevisiae between the present approach and a standard Alloxan method. The recoveries of glutathione were found to fall in the range between 96 and 105%. The calibration curve for glutathione was found to be linear from 0.05 to 100 nM, and the detection limit (S/N = 3) was 0.01 nM. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for five repeated measurements of 5.0 nM glutathione was 2.1%.     

Study on the racemization of synephrine by off-column chiral high-performance liquid chromatography

In this study, the racemization kinetic parameters of R-(−)-synephrine, the active phenethylamine alkaloid of Citrus aurantium L., were determined by means of an off-column HPLC method. Enantioseparation was carried out in different buffer solutions and solvents on a chiral stationary phase (CSP) with cellobiohydrolase as the chiral selector (Chiral-CBH, 100 mm × 4.0 mm i.d., 5 μm). The mobile phase was 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 6.0)-2-propanol (95:5, w/w), with 50 μM disodium EDTA, at 0.8 mL/min. The column was thermostatted at 20 °C and detection was set at 225 nm. The influence of pH value, ionic strength, temperature and addition of organic modifier on the rate constant, the half-life of racemization and the free energy barrier of racemization of R-(−)-synephrine were determined. Among the different chemical and physical parameters evaluated as affecting the racemization of naturally occurring R-(−)-synephrine, pH, temperature and addition of an organic co-solvent appear to have the strongest effect, while ionic strength does not exert a significant influence on the racemization rate. The results of the present study indicated that synephrine racemization is possible at high temperature at both acidic and basic pH values; therefore, the extraction procedure of R-(−)-synephrine from the plant material should be carried out under specific conditions to preserve the stereochemical integrity and the biological activity of this secondary metabolite.