Entrapment of proteins by aggregation within sephadex beads

When a protein is aggregated by chemical crosslinking inside Sephadex beads of appropriate pore size, it gets trapped inside the beads. The above approach was used for immobilization of beta-galactosidase, acid phosphatase, trypsin, and concanavalin A. It was found to be a simple, convenient, and fast method for immobilization of proteins.     

Treatment of sugar processing industry wastewater using copper electrode by electrocoagulation: Performance and economic study

This paper demonstrates the use of copper electrode for the treatment of sugar processing industry wastewater (SPIW) in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) by applying electrocoagulation (EC) method. EC process was carried out in batch mode with electrode effective area of 0.0112 m², supplied current intensity (CI) of 44.64 A/m² - 223.21 A/m², electrode gap (EG) of 0.5–2.5 cm, electrolyte (NaCl) dose (ED) of 0.5–2.5 g/L to treat SPIW with initial chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 6000 mg/L. The maximum COD removal 73% of SPIW is achieved at optimized condition of SPIW pH: 7, CI: 89.28 A/m², EG: 1.5 cm & ED: 1.5 g/L. Sludge and scum generated during EC process were characterized by FTIR, TGA/DTA/DTG, proximate & ultimate analysis to find its applicability and their disposal. Additionally, economic study of EC treatment process at optimum condition suggest treatment cost was 11.2 US$/m³ and it indicate economic results as comparison to other available treatment processes.     

Selective oxidation of ethylbenzene to acetophenone over Cr(III) Schiff base complex intercalated into layered double hydroxide

A new heterogeneous catalyst, Cr(III) Schiff base‐containing layered double hydroxide, was synthesized using the intercalation method. The Cr(III) Schiff base complex derived from 2‐hydroxy‐1‐naphthaldehyde and 4‐aminobenzoic acid was intercalated into the layered double hydroxide. The synthesized materials were characterized using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis, scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area measurement, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, diffuse reflectance UV–visible spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The catalytic activity was investigated for the oxidation of ethylbenzene with tert‐butylhydroperoxide as an oxidant under solvent‐free conditions as well as with lower chromium concentrations. In the oxidation reaction, ethylbenzene was oxidized to acetophenone and benzaldehyde. The catalyst was recycled ten times without significant loss of catalytic activity. Leaching studies performed with hot filtration experiments showed that the chromium catalyst was heterogeneous in nature and stable under the reaction conditions.     

Mathematical Modeling of Nylon 6/6,6 Copolymerization: Beneficial Influence of Comonomers on Degree of Polymerization in Batch Reactor

A model is developed for hydrolytic copolymerization of caprolactam with hexamethylene diamine (HMD) and adipic acid (ADA) in a batch reactor to produce nylon 6/6,6 copolymer. The reaction mechanism includes hydrolysis of caprolactam and cyclic dimer, polycondensation, polyaddition, transamidation, and ring formation via end biting and back biting. The catalyzing effect of carboxyl groups is accounted for using kinetic parameters from the literature. Model predictions are compared with low‐temperature literature data before simulating reactor conditions of industrial interest. The model predicts a higher degree of polymerization (DP) for nylon 6/6,6 copolymer compared to nylon 6 and 6,6 homopolymers produced using the same reactor conditions. Dynamic changes in concentrations of water, caprolactam, HMD, ADA, and end groups are tracked and used to explain the positive influence of comonomers on reaction rates and DP. Insights gained from this model will form a useful basis to build future models of continuous industrial reactors.

     

Study of magnetotransport in double-layered La1.4Ca1.6Mn2O7 manganite: Presence of nano-ferromagnetic domains in paramagnetic matrix

Double-layered manganite La_1.4Ca_1.6Mn₂O₇ has been synthesized using the solid-state reaction method. It had a metal-to-insulator transition at temperature T_M1≈127 K. The temperature dependence of ac susceptibility showed a broad ferromagnetic transition. The two-dimensional (2D)-ferromagnetic ordering temperature (T_C2) was observed as ≈245 K. The temperature dependence of its low-field magnetoresistance has been studied. The low-field magnetoresistance of double-layered manganite, in the temperature regions between T_M1 and T_C2, has been found to follow 1/T⁵. The observed behaviour of temperature dependence of resistivity and low-field magnetoresistance has been explained in terms of two-phase model where ferromagnetic domains exist in the matrix of paramagnetic regions in which spin-dependent tunneling of charge carriers occurs between the ferromagnetic correlated regions. Based on the two-phase model, the dimension of these ferromagnetic domains inside the paramagnetic matrix has been estimated as ∼12 Å.     

Evaluation of antioxidant activity and DNA cleavage protection effect of naphthyl hydroxamic acid derivatives through conventional and fluorescence microscopic methods

Antioxidant capacity of N-(1-naphthyl)valerohydroxamic acid (NVHA) and N-(1-naphthyl)phenylacetohydroxamic acid (NPAHA) has been evaluated by a novel approach employing the fluorescence microscopic single molecule observation method. This method allows direct observation of the changes in single DNA molecules. The DNA cleavage protection activity of the compounds was also assessed by the gel electrophoresis method. The applied methods confirmed that both compounds are capable of inhibiting the free radical mediated DNA damage. Free radical scavenging activity was assessed via the 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical (DPPH) and lipid peroxidation inhibition methods. The effective concentration causing a 50 % inhibition of the DPPH concentration, EC50, was found to be 371.54 mM for NVHA and 365.95 mM for NPAHA. Its lipid peroxidation inhibition ability was calculated to be 40.91 % at 371.54 mM for NVHA and 41.14 % at 365.95 mM for NPAHA. These results show the antioxidant potential of the naphthyl hydroxamic acids.     

Discrimination between 2AP producing and non‐producing rice rhizobacterial isolates using volatile profiling: a chemometric approach

2‐Acetyl‐1‐pyrroline (2AP) is known as a principal basmati aroma compound. The present study aims at discriminating rhizobacteria isolated from soils cultivated with basmati and non‐basmati rice for long duration. Volatile profiling was used as marker to discriminate the rhizobacterial isolates. Quantification of 2AP and other volatile compounds (VCs) produced by rhizobacteria was undertaken using HS‐SPME coupled with GC‐MS. Chemometrics tools such as hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), principle component analysis (PCA) and multi dimensional scaling (MDS) were applied for volatile profiling of different isolates. Results showed significant discrimination of all 2AP producing (AP‐P) and non‐producing rhizobacterial isolates (AP‐NP) on the basis of their VC profile. This was validated by bacterial identification data as well. The frequency distribution for 2AP levels indicates that basmati isolates had higher frequency for 2AP production as compared to non‐basmati control. AP‐P and AP‐NP isolates have different VC profiling pattern irrespective of their origin. These isolates were found belonging to different groups when identified using 16S rDNA sequencing data. Chemometric analysis (PCA, HCA and MDS) helped to identify volatiles, which could be used as biomarker in discriminating the AP‐P and AP‐NP isolates. VC pattern of rhizobacteria could be used as volatile markers to distinguish between AP‐P and AP‐NP rhizobacterial isolates. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of electric field stress on pure poly(vinyl chloride), poly(methyl methacrylate) and their polyblend samples

The TSDC and transient currents measurement have been carried out on pure poly(vinyl chloride), poly(methyl methacrylate) and polyblends of various weight ratios as a function of electric fields at constant poling temperature. For PVC and different blend samples single peak in the temperature range 100–170 °C has been observed in TSDC thermograms, however, for PMMA samples two peaks were observed at around 90 and 165 °C. The various TSDC parameters i.e. activation energy, charge released and relaxation times have been calculated. Results suggest that dipolar and space charge mechanism are dominant for observed current.