Improved method for fatty acid analysis in herbage based on direct transesterification followed by solid-phase extraction

Direct transesterification (DT) and solvent extraction with acid or basic derivatization procedure for fatty acid (FA) analysis in herbage were compared. The highest total FA, alpha-linolenic and linoleic acid contents were obtained with DT. However, DT also produced the highest amount of interfering compounds, identified as phytadienes and sugar derivative products, which may co-elute with FA. An additional step based on solid-phase extraction to produce clean samples was proposed. This procedure is simple and gives good recoveries for the FA fortified samples. Additionally, structural characterization of 16:1 trans-3 was conducted by covalent adduct chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry.     

Spectrofotometric determination of copper in sugar cane spirit using biquinoline in the presence of ethanol and Triton X-100

The present paper proposes a method for molecular spectrophotometric determination of copper in sugar cane spirits. The copper(I) reacts with biquinoline forming a pink complex with maximum absorption at 545 nm. The reaction occurs in the presence of hydroxylamine, ethanol and Triton X-100 tensioative. Determination of copper is possible in a linear range 0.2-20.0 mgL(-1) with a detection limit 0.05 mgL(-1). The great advantages of the proposed methodology are the elimination of liquid-liquid extraction step and the use of toxic organics solvents, like dioxane, to dissolve the reagent.     

Model and simulation of Na+/K+ pump phosphorylation in the presence of palytoxin

The ATP hydrolysis reactions responsible for the Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase phosphorylation, according to recent experimental evidences, also occur for the PTX-Na(+)/K(+) pump complex. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that PTX interferes with the enzymes phosphorylation status. However, the reactions involved in the PTX-Na(+)/K(+) pump complex phosphorylation are not very well established yet. This work aims at proposing a reaction model for PTX-Na(+)/K(+) pump complex, with similar structure to the Albers-Post model, to contribute to elucidate the PTX effect over Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. Computational simulations with the proposed model support several hypotheses and also suggest: (i) phosphorylation promotes an increase of the open probability of induced channels; (ii) PTX reduces the Na(+)/K(+) pump phosphorylation rate; (iii) PTX may cause conformational changes to substates where the Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase may not be phosphorylated; (iv) PTX can bind to substates of the two principal states E1 and E2, with highest affinity to phosphorylated enzymes and with ATP bound to its low-affinity sites. The proposed model also allows previewing the behavior of the PTX-pump complex substates for different levels of intracellular ATP concentrations.     

Electronic and transport properties of boron-doped graphene nanoribbons

We report a spin polarized density functional theory study of the electronic and transport properties of graphene nanoribbons doped with boron atoms. We considered hydrogen terminated graphene (nano)ribbons with width up to 3.2 nm. The substitutional boron atoms at the nanoribbon edges (sites of lower energy) suppress the metallic bands near the Fermi level, giving rise to a semiconducting system. These substitutional boron atoms act as scattering centers for the electronic transport along the nanoribbons. We find that the electronic scattering process is spin-anisotropic; namely, the spin-down (up) transmittance channels are weakly (strongly) reduced by the presence of boron atoms. Such anisotropic character can be controlled by the width of the nanoribbon; thus, the spin-up and spin-down transmittance can be tuned along the boron-doped nanoribbons.     

Kinetic modeling of proteins adsorption with a methodology of error analysis

The estimation of adsorption parameters for chromatographic systems is a very important step for column characterization used in the design of continuous separation equipments. The turbulent hydrodynamics aspect of batch procedures makes the kinetic modeling an interesting tool for the process modeling used for the determination of the main parameters that will be considered in the equipment design. The implemented irreversible kinetic model, which depends on both solute and site concentrations, was found to be very effective in the experimental correlation of two different enzyme adsorption systems: adsorption of Inulinases and beta-Galactosidase using two different adsorbents, the CM-Sepharose CL-6B and Accell plus QMA, respectively. The implementation of an error analysis methodology associated with an inverse problem approach was successful in determining the kinetic parameters with high accuracy. The simulations indicated a decrease in the kinetic constants with an increase in the solute concentration, which can be related to the increase in the competition by sites of adsorption.     

The seminiferous epithelium cycle and daily spermatic production in the adult maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus, Illiger, 1811)

The duration of the seminiferous epithelium cycle was estimated in adult maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus, Illiger, 1811), by applying intratesticular injections with tritiated thymidine. The total duration of the seminiferous epithelium cycle in this species was calculated in 8.99 days. So, taking into account that approximately 4.5 cycles of the seminiferous epithelium are necessary for the whole spermatogenesis process to complete, the production of spermatozoa from one spermatogonia will take about 40.45 days. The duration of the spermiogenesis was calculated to be 12.3 days. The eight stages of the seminiferous epithelium cycle were described by the tubular morphology method, which is based either on the form and position of the spermatid nuclei and the occurrence of meiotic divisions. The values of the relative frequency for the pre-meiotic, meiotic and post-meiotic phases in this species were 3.5, 0.78 and 4.8 days, respectively. The maned wolf produces about 29 million spermatozoa a day for each testis gram, therefore being classified among the species provided with a high spermatogenetic efficiency.     

PHYSICO-CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A SURFACTANT A QUICK AND PRECISE METHOD

The characterization of a surfactant through the HLB method is widely used; however it has several shortcomings. The experimental method based on the stability maximum is often inaccurate and tedious. Furthermore, the method does not take into account the effects of electrolytes, alcohols and temperature

The new method of characterization is based on the attainment of optimum formulation for three-phase behavior and minimum interfacial tension, and the use of linear mixing rules. The experiments are readily carried out, and yield an accuracy equivalent to 0·1 HLB unit

The characterization can be performed with one or two base surfactants, and the resulting surfactant parameter, which may be expressed as HLB, is independent of the other conditions, i.e., oil type, alcohol type and concentration, electrolyte type and concentration, and temperature. The method is related to the PIT and EACN_min concepts.     

Model for Conformational Relaxation of Flexible Conjugated Polymers: Application to p‐Phenylenevinylene Trimers in Nonpolar Solvents

Photoexcitation of flexible conjugated polymers is invariably followed by a fast conformational/torsional relaxation towards a configuration favouring coplanarity of the conjugated segments. In general, the experimental relaxation rate constant (k_CR) depends on the solvent viscosity (η) and temperature (T), and is not proportional to T/η. A theory capable of explaining the observed dependence of k_CR on T and η over a wide range of these variables is not available. This gap is filled here by presenting a stochastic model that includes the participation of the oligomer side chain in storing and dissipating the stresses induced by photoexcitation. The model is able to account for the softening of solute–solvent interactions and its predictions are found to be in excellent agreement with the observed relaxation rate constants of a series of substituted p‐phenylenevinylene trimers [ChemPhysChem 2009 , 10, 448–454] on T, η and the size of the side‐chains.     

Light Regime Characterization in an Airlift Photobioreactor for Production of Microalgae with High Starch Content

The slow development of microalgal biotechnology is due to the failure in the design of large-scale photobioreactors (PBRs) where light energy is efficiently utilized. In this work, both the quality and the amount of light reaching a given point of the PBR were determined and correlated with cell density, light path length, and PBR geometry. This was made for two different geometries of the downcomer of an airlift PBR using optical fiber technology that allows to obtain information about quantitative and qualitative aspects of light patterns. This is important since the ability of microalgae to use the energy of photons is different, depending on the wavelength of the radiation. The results show that the circular geometry allows a more efficient light penetration, especially in the locations with a higher radial coordinate (r) when compared to the plane geometry; these observations were confirmed by the occurrence of a higher fraction of illuminated volume of the PBR for this geometry. An equation is proposed to correlate the relative light intensity with the penetration distance for both geometries and different microalgae cell concentrations. It was shown that the attenuation of light intensity is dependent on its wavelength, cell concentration, geometry of PBR, and the penetration distance of light.