Observation of baker’s yeast strains used in biotransformation by atomic force microscopy

Different strains of baker’s yeast(Saccharomyces cerevisiae) were imaged with an atomic force microscope (AFM). The images of uncoated and nonfixed samples were reproducible with high-constrast and nanometer-resolution. Molecules from the polysaccharide surface of the cell wall were pictured and the distance of atoms was measured. The preparation of samples was easy, suggesting that AFM is a useful tool in this type of analyses.     

Electroanalytical and chromatographic determination of pentachlorophenol and related molecules in a contaminated soil: a real case example

Electroanalytical and chromatographic methodologies have been applied for the determination of pentachlorophenol (PCP) and some of its derivatives in real soil samples contaminated by industrial discharge. The analytes were extracted with hexane from soil samples collected at different points of the site and mixed to produce a representative sample. Square wave voltammetry (SWV) experiments were carried out on either a boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode or a gold ultramicroelectrode (Au-UME) in an analyte composed by the Britton-Robinson (B-R) buffer at pH 5.5 with the direct addition of proper amounts of the extract. The voltammetric responses revealed an irreversible anodic peak at approximately 0.80 V vs. Ag/AgCl with a peak current showing a linear dependence on PCP concentration. This linear relationship yielded a detection limit (DL) of 2×10⁻⁸ mol l⁻¹ (or 5.5 μg l⁻¹) for the BDD electrode and 6.9×10⁻⁸ mol l⁻¹ (18.4 μg l⁻¹) for the Au-UME, while the independently measured HPLC detection limit was 1.1×10⁻⁸ mol l⁻¹ (3.0 μg l⁻¹). The application of electroanalytical and chromatographic methodologies in the analysis of soil extracts revealed, besides the PCP responses, signals for some related molecules such as o-tetrachlorobenzoquinone (o-chloranil), hexachlorobenzene and tetrachlorophenol. Recovering experiments for PCP showed a concentration of 27.5 mg kg⁻¹ for the electroanalytical determinations and 26.8 mg kg⁻¹ for the HPLC analysis, values exceedingly high if considering that the maximum residue limit established for natural waters by the Brazilian Environmental Agency is 10 μg l⁻¹.     

Purification and characterization of lamb pregastric lipase

Lamb pregastric lipase was purified from a commercial source using delipidation, solubilization with KSCN, acid-precipitation, pepsin-digestion, affinity chromatography with agarose-Cibacron Blue F3GA, gel filtration, and elution from a native 10% (w/v) polyacrylamide gel. The enzyme had a single subunit of 68,000 Da with maximum esterase activity when measured at pH 6.0 and 30 degrees C. The enzyme preferentially hydrolyzed short- and medium-chain (C4, C6, and C8) synthetic esters and short-chain (C4 and C6) monoacid triglycerides. The NH2-terminal sequence demonstrated high homology with gastric and lingual lipases.     

Application of preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography for the separation of flavonoids from the leaves of Byrsonima crassa Niedenzu (IK)

The methanolic extract of the leaves of the medicinal plant Byrsonima crassa (Malpighiaceae) contain flavonoids with antioxidant activity. They were separated in a preparative scale using high-speed counter-current chromatography. The optimum solvent system used was composed of a mixture of ethyl acetate-n-propanol-water (140:8:80 (v/v/v)) and led to a successful separation between monoglucosilated flavonoids (quercetin-3-O-alpha-L-arabinoside, quercetin-3-O-beta-D-galactoside) and the biflavonoid amentoflavone in only 3.5 h. The purities of quercetin-3-O-alpha-L-arabinoside (95 mg), quercetin-3-O-beta-D-galactoside (16 mg) and the biflavonoid amentoflavone (114 mg) were all isolated at purity over 95%. Identification was performed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and UV analyses.     

Thermal study of CoxZn7-xSb2O12 spinel obtained by pechini method using different alcohols

With the aim of obtaining materials with applications in pigments, Co_xZn_7-xSb₂O₁₂ spinels were synthesized using the Pechini method. This method consists in the formation of a polymeric net, where the metallic cations are homogeneously distributed. In this work, two types of alcohol (ethyl glycol and ethylene glycol) were used for the synthesis of a zinc antimoniate spinel, Co_xZn_7-xSb₂O₁₂ (x=0-7). The materials were characterized by termogravimetry (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). TG results indicated a decrease in total mass loss when cobalt was added to the solution substituting zinc, for samples prepared using the two different alcohols. Decomposition temperatures, obtained by TG and DTA, presented a decreasing behavior as cobalt was added to the material. In relation to the alcohols, all results indicated a better polymerization of the resin when ethylene glycol was used, being the most indicated one for cation immobilization. X-ray diffraction did not show differences between the two alcohols - both presented the spinel phase (Co, Zn)_2.33Sb₀.₆₇O₄. Samples with higher quantity of cobalt also presented ilmenite phase (Co, Zn)Sb₂O₆. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Simulation of aerated lagoon using artificial neural networks and multivariate regression techniques

The aim of this study was to develop an empirical model that provides accurate predictions of the biochemical oxygen demand of the output stream from the aerated lagoon at International Paper of Brazil, one of the major pulp and paper plants in Brazil. Predictive models were calculated from functional link neural networks (FLNNs), multiple linear regression, principal components regression, and partial least-squares regression (PLSR). Improvement in FLNN modeling capability was observed when the data were preprocessed using the PLSR technique. PLSR also proved to be a powerful linear regression technique for this problem, which presents operational data limitations.