Cultivation of Chlorella protothecoides with Urban Wastewater in Continuous Photobioreactor: Biomass Productivity and Nutrient Removal

The capability to grow microalgae in nonsterilized wastewater is essential for an application of this technology in an actual industrial process. Batch experiments were carried out with the species in nonsterilized urban wastewater from local treatment plants to measure both the algal growth and the nutrient consumption. Chlorella protothecoides showed a high specific growth rate (about 1 day^?1), and no effects of bacterial contamination were observed. Then, this microalgae was grown in a continuous photobioreactor with CO₂–air aeration in order to verify the feasibility of an integrated process of the removal of nutrient from real wastewaters. Different residence times were tested, and biomass productivity and nutrients removal were measured. A maximum of microalgae productivity was found at around 0.8 day of residence time in agreement with theoretical expectation in the case of light-limited cultures. In addition, N-NH₄ and P-PO₄ removal rates were determined in order to model the kinetic of nutrients uptake. Results from batch and continuous experiments were used to propose an integrated process scheme of wastewater treatment at industrial scale including a section with C. protothecoides.     

Assessment of the Portuguese k 0-INAA laboratory performance by evaluating internal quality control data

The Portuguese INAA laboratory processes approximately one thousand of multi-matrix samples per year, generating fifteen thousands of results in the same period, using the k ₀ methodology. In order to ensure that the data produced meets the require quality any sample analysed is processed together with a reference material. Therefore, every year a large amount of results of many reference materials are generated. This work analysed a large database created with the results from the reference materials irradiated in the period 2009–2013. Zeta-scores were calculated and different control charts were created as function of the time period, irradiated mass, reference material and operator. The objective of this work was to recognise human errors, to identify deficiencies in the protocols and to improve the quality of the results generated by the laboratory.     

Screening the life cycle of Schistosomamansoni using high-resolution mass spectrometry

Schistosomiasis is a common tropical disease caused by Schistosoma species Schistosomiasis' pathogenesis is known to vary according to the worms' strain. Moreover, high parasitical virulence is directly related to eggs release and granulomatous inflammation in the host's organs. This virulence might be influenced by different classes of molecules, such as lipids. Therefore, better understanding of the metabolic profile of these organisms is necessary, especially for an increased potential of unraveling strain virulence mechanisms and resistance to existing treatments. In this report, direct-infusion electrospray high-resolution mass spectrometry (ESI(+)-HRMS) along with the lipidomic platform were employed to rapidly characterize and differentiate two Brazilian S. mansoni strains (BH and SE) in three stages of their life cycle: eggs, miracidia and cercariae, with samples from experimental animals (Swiss/SPF mice). Furthermore, urine samples of the infected and uninfected mice were analyzed to assess the possibility of direct diagnosis. All samples were differentiated using multivariate data analysis, PCA, which helped electing markers from distinct lipid classes; phospholipids, diacylglycerols and triacylglycerols, for example, clearly presented different intensities in some stages and strains, as well as in urine samples. This indicates that biochemical characterization of S. mansoni may help narrowing-down the investigation of new therapeutic targets according to strain composition and aggressiveness of disease. Interestingly, lipid profile of infected mice urine varies when compared to control samples, indicating that direct diagnosis of schistosomiasis from urine may be feasible.     

Intermolecular interactions on amine‐cured epoxy matrices with different crosslink densities. Influence on the hole and specific volumes and the mechanical behavior

The architecture of an epoxy matrix was modified by curing the resin with mono‐/diamine mixtures having identical chemical structures. Both hole volume and specific volume variations were studied by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy and pressure‐volume‐temperature/density measurements, respectively. The average hole volume of the networks at room temperature slightly increased when the monoaminic chain extender content increased. The increment in the intermolecular interactions between functional groups of the networks chains, due to the less hindered nitrogen introduced by the monoamine, appears to be the responsible for the observed behavior. Besides, only small variations on the specific volume were observed on increasing the monoamine content, which points out that for a cured epoxy system, the chemical structure of the curing agent is mainly responsible for chain packing in the networks. On the other hand, intermolecular interactions between chains were considered as the key factor for fixing stiffness and strength. Thus, it was observed that the increase of the intermolecular interactions with the monoamine content produced a decrease in the sub‐T_g small‐range cooperative motions, which increased the low‐deformation mechanical properties at temperatures between β and α relaxations. This conclusion could be applied to previous investigations with epoxy matrices not fully crosslinked (nonstoichiometric or noncompletely cured formulations). Finally, it was found that fracture properties do not significantly depend either on the hole volume or on the intermolecular interactions. Fracture properties are more dependent on the crosslink density and the glass transition temperature. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 1240–1252, 2009     

Cu, Zn Superoxide dismutase: distorted active site binds substrate without significant energetic cost

Copper, Zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) catalyzes the dismutation of the toxic superoxide radical into molecular oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. Dismutation is achieved by reduction and re-oxidation of the active site copper ion, where the superoxide substrate binds. This enzyme is considered to be a perfect enzyme, as the catalytic rate is very high and diffusion controlled. The redox active copper ion is coordinated by four histidine residues in a distorted square planar geometry. Much has been written about the biological significance of the geometry distortion. It is sometimes considered that it should help to tune the redox potential of the copper ion in order to efficiently reduce the first superoxide molecule and oxidize the second one. In this work we present a series of high level theoretical calculations using realistic models, which demonstrate that the distorted geometry is fundamental for the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme by allowing substrate binding without extensive geometric reorganization of the copper complex, upon changing from four to five ligands. A lower limit for the reorganization energy is calculated here in 22 kcal/mol, which would slow down the reaction kinetics by more than 13 orders of magnitude, transforming a perfect enzyme into an inefficient one.