Xylitol production from hardwood hemicellulose hydrolysates by Pachysolen tannophilus, Debaryomyces hansenii, and Candida guilliermondii

Three different yeasts, Pachysolen tannophilus, Debaryomyces hansenii, and Candida guilliermondii, were evaluated to ferment xylose solutions prepared from hardwood hemicellulose hydrolysates, among which P. tannophilus proved to be the most promising microorganism. However, the presence of both lignin-derived compounds (LDC) and acetic acid rendered a poor fermentation. To enhance the fermentation kinetics, different treatments to purify the hydrolysates were studied, including overliming, charcoal adsorption for LDC removal, and evaporation for acetic acid and furfural stripping. Under the best operating conditions assayed, 39.5g/L of xylitol were achieved after 96 h of fermentation, which corresponds to a volumetric productivity of 0.41 g/L·h and a yield of product on consumed substrate of 0.63 g _p /g_S.     

Separation of sigma and pi energies

This work presents an all-electron density functional theory implementation of the separation of sigma and pi energies. On the basis of the separation of the electronic density, rho, into sigma and pi parts, an ansatz for the separation of the exchange-correlation energy is proposed. The behavior of the sigma and pi energy parts in benzene is investigated under different distortions. The effect of local and nonlocal functionals on the separation of the exchange-correlation energy is studied, too.     

Comparison of pyrimethanil-imprinted beads and bulk polymer as stationary phase by non-linear chromatography

A pyrimethanil-imprinted polymer (P1) was prepared by iniferter-mediated photografting a mixture of methacrylic acid and ethylene dimethacrylate onto homemade near-monodispersed chloromethylated polydivinylbenzene beads. The chromatographic behaviour of a column packed with these imprinted beads was compared with another column packed with irregular particles obtained by grinding a bulk pyrimethanil-imprinted polymer (P2). The comparison was made using the kinetic model of non-linear chromatography, studying the elution of the template and of two related substances, cyprodinil and mepanipyrim. Extension of the region of linearity, capacity factors for the template and the related substances, column selectivity, binding site heterogeneity, apparent affinity constant (K) and lumped kinetic association (k_a) and dissociation rate constant (k_d) were studied during a large interval of solute concentration, ranging between 1 and 2000 μg/ml. From the experimental results obtained, in the linearity region of solute concentration column selectivity and binding site heterogeneity remained essentially the same for the two columns, while column capacity (at 20 μg/ml, P1 = 23.1, P2 = 11.5), K (at 20 μg/ml, P1 = 8.3 × 10⁶ M⁻¹, P2 = 2.5 × 10⁶ M⁻¹) and k_a (at 20 μg/ml, P1 = 3.5 μM⁻¹ s⁻¹, P2 = 0.47 μM⁻¹ s⁻¹) significantly increased and k_d (at 20 μg/ml, P1 = 0.42 s⁻¹, P2 = 0.67 s⁻¹) decreased for the column packed with the imprinted beads. These results are consistent with an influence of the polymerisation method on the morphology of the resulting polymer and not on the molecular recognition properties due to the molecular imprinting process.     

Electrostatic assembly of Ag nanoparticles onto nanofibrillated cellulose for antibacterial paper products

Nanofibrillated cellulose offers new technological solutions for the development of paper products. Here, composites of nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) and Ag nanoparticles (NP) were prepared for the first time via the electrostatic assembly of Ag NP (aqueous colloids) onto NFC. Distinct polyelectrolytes have been investigated as macromolecular linkers in order to evaluate their effects on the building-up of Ag modified NFC and also on the final properties of the NFC/Ag composite materials. The NFC/Ag nanocomposites were first investigated for their antibacterial properties towards S. aureus and K. pneumoniae microorganisms as compared to NFC modified by polyelectrolytes linkers without Ag. Subsequently, the antibacterial NFC/Ag nanocomposites were used as fillers in starch based coating formulations for Eucalyptus globulus-based paper sheets. The potential of this approach to produce antimicrobial paper products will be discussed on the basis of complementary optical, air barrier and mechanical data.     

Gaussian density-functional study for small neutral (Al n ), positive (Al n + ) and negative (Al n − ) aluminium clusters (n=2–5)

The structures and properties of Al _n , Al _n ⁺ , Al _n ^– (n=1,5) clusters have been investigated by using the Linear Combination of Gaussian Type Orbitals (LCGTO) method, considering Local (LSD) and Non Local (NLSD) Spin Density Approximations and employing a Model Core Potential (MCP) that allows the explicit treatment of 3s ² 3p ¹ valence electrons. For each system different geometrical structures and electronic states have been considered. For Al₃, Al ₃ ⁺ , Al ₃ ^– the most stable geometry proved to be the equilateral triangle (D _3h ). Al₄ and Al ₄ ⁺ prefer the rhombus (D _2h ) structure, while the corresponding anion prefers the square (D _4h ) one. The trapezoidal form (C _2v ) is the most stable isomer for Al₅, Al ₅ ⁺ and Al ₅ ^– clusters. The analysis of vibrational frequencies shows that these structures are minima in the potential energy surface. The binding energies (D _e), the adiabatic ionization potentials (IP) and electron affinities (EA), the chemical potentials or absolute hardnesses () and electronegativities () have been computed. Results are in good agreement with the available experimental data and the previous high level theoretical computations.     

Liquid chromatographic determination of nine N-methylcarbamates in drinking water

A multi-residue method for the simultaneous extraction from drinking water using solid-phase extraction on LiChrolut EN [poly(styrene-divinylbenzene), PSDVB] and determination of nine N-methylcarbamate pesticides (NMCs) (aldicarb, its metabolites i.e. aldicarb sulfone and aldicarb sulfoxide and carbaryl, carbofuran, dioxacarb, ethiofencarb, methomyl and propoxur) using reversed-phase liquid chromatography was studied. A 1000-fold pre-concentration was achieved and the method was used for determination of the nine pesticides in water, with limits of detection in the range 3-15 ng L(-1). For all compounds the recoveries determined at the 0.1 and 1 microg L(-1) level generally ranged from 85 to 104% with relative standard deviations (RSD) of 1.4-8.8%.     

Modification of Amorphous Mesoporous Zirconia Nanoparticles with Bisphosphonic Acids: A Straightforward Approach for Tailoring the Surface Properties of the Nanoparticles

The use of readily prepared bisphosphonic acids obtained in few steps through a thio-Michael addition of commercially available thiols on tetraethyl vinylidenebisphosphonate enables the straightforward surface modification of amorphous mesoporous zirconia nanoparticles. Simple stirring of the zirconia nanoparticles in a buffered aqueous solution of the proper bisphosphonic acid leads to the surface functionalization of the nanoparticles with different kinds of functional groups, charge and hydrophobic properties. Formation of both chemisorbed and physisorbed layers of the bisphosphonic acid take place, observing after extensive washing a grafting density of 1.1 molecules/nm² with negligible release in neutral or acidic pH conditions, demonstrating stronger loading compared to monophosphonate derivatives. The modified nanoparticles were characterized by IR, XPS, ζ-potential analysis to investigate the loading of the bisphosphonic acid, FE-SEM to investigate the size and morphologies of the nanoparticles and ³¹P and ¹H MAS NMR to investigate the coordination motif of the phosphonate units on the surface. All these analytical techniques demonstrated the strong affinity of the bisphosphonic moiety for the Zr(IV) metal centers. The functionalization with bisphosphonic acids represents a straightforward covalent approach for tailoring the superficial properties of zirconia nanoparticles, much straightforward compared the classic use of trisalkoxysilane or trichlorosilane reagents typically employed for the functionalization of silica and metal oxide nanoparticles. Extension of the use of bisphosphonates to other metal oxide nanoparticles is advisable.     

Intact protein separation by chromatographic and/or electrophoretic techniques for top-down proteomics

Mass spectrometry used in combination with a wide variety of separation methods is the principal methodology for proteomics. In bottom-up approach, proteins are cleaved with a specific proteolytic enzyme, followed by peptide separation and MS identification. In top-down approach intact proteins are introduced into the mass spectrometer. The ions generated by electrospray ionization are then subjected to gas-phase separation, fragmentation, fragment separation, and automated interpretation of mass spectrometric and chromatographic data yielding both the molecular weight of the intact protein and the protein fragmentation pattern. This approach requires high accuracy mass measurement analysers capable of separating the multi-charged isotopic cluster of proteins, such as hybrid ion trap-Fourier transform instruments (LTQ-FTICR, LTQ-Orbitrap). Front-end separation technologies tailored for proteins are of primary importance to implement top-down proteomics. This review intends to provide the state of art of protein chromatographic and electrophoretic separation methods suitable for MS coupling, and to illustrate both monodimensional and multidimensional approaches used for LC-MS top-down proteomics. In addition, some recent progresses in protein chromatography that may provide an alternative to those currently employed are also discussed.     

Binding of Co(II) and Cu(II) cations to chemically modified wool fibres: an IR investigation

Wool fibres were modified by treatment with tannic acid (TA) solution or by acylation with ethylenediaminetetraacetic (EDTA) dianhydride. The unmodified and modified fibres were subsequently treated with Cu²⁺ and Co²⁺ solutions, at alkaline pH, and analysed by Attenuated Total Reflectance, ATR/IR spectroscopy to evaluate the changes induced in the structure of the fibre by metal binding. The spectral changes were correlated to metal adsorption results obtained by Inductive Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES).

The IR results were discussed in relation to our previous findings on the metal binding mode of Bombyx mori and Tussah silk fibres; the changes observed in the spectra were explained by considering the different affinity of the fibres for the modifying reagent and the amount of the metal absorbed. More relevant spectral changes were observed upon Cu²⁺ complexation rather than Co²⁺ complexation, according to the metal absorption results. The most relevant changes were observed for the EDTA-modified wool sample treated with Cu²⁺, according to the higher affinity of wool for EDTA. The IR spectra were quantitatively evaluated by the intensity ratio between the Amide I and Amide II bands (I_AmideI/I_AmideII) and its trend as a function of metal absorption was reported.

The present investigation demonstrated that the interaction between fibre and metal and the subsequent fibre modification depend on the chemical nature of the fibre, the metal cation and the modifying reagent.