Changes of the cell surface hydrophobicity of Lactobacillus acidophilus La‐5 in response to pH,temperature and inulin

The main topic of this study was to study how cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) could change in response to pH, temperature and inulin; Lactobacillus acidophilus La‐5 was used as a model microorganism. pH, temperature, inulin and incubation time (exposure to prebiotic or incubation at pH 4.0 and 9.0) were combined through a full factorial design and a Central Composite Design; the results were analysed using a multifactorial anova (first step) and a stepwise regression (second step). Temperature and pH significantly affected CSH: an increase in the temperature determined a significant increase in CSH, whereas the correlation pH vs. CSH was negative, as an increase in pH caused a significant decrease in CSH. Inulin played a significant role, but its effect could be influenced by temperature, pH and exposure time. This study is the first approach on the effects of some environmental factors on CSH and suggests that the culturing conditions and/or the exposure to some prebiotics could modify it with positive or negative effects.     

Experiences in building a Grid-based platform to serve Earth observation training activities

Earth observation data processing and storing can be done nowadays only using distributed systems. Experiments dealing with a large amount of data are possible within the timeframe of a lesson and can give trainees the freedom to innovate. Following these trends and ideas, we have built a proof-of-the-concept platform, named GiSHEO, for Earth observation educational tasks. It uses Grid computing technologies to analyze and store remote sensing data, and combines them with eLearning facilities. This paper provides an overview of the GiSHEO's platform architecture and of its technical and innovative solutions.     

Cobalt nanoparticles prepared by three different methods

This work aimed to study cobalt nanoparticles (Co-NPs) preparation using three different methods in order to evaluate the effect of synthesis variables that can influence the nanoparticle size distribution and particle shape. The synthesised nanoparticles were characterised by Transmission Electron Microscopy. The first synthesis employed decomposition of Co₂(CO)₈, at high temperatures. This procedure resulted in spherical nanoparticles with low size distribution. The size of Co-NPs could be tuned by modification of precursor/surfactant, nevertheless the stirring and injection time influenced the size distribution. Using polyol process, at high temperatures, it was produced undefined-shape nanoparticles. This result suggests that the solution composition, i.e. the amount of trioctylphosphine and oleic acid was not suitable to control both size and shape of nanoparticles. Finally, the method based on reduction with NaBH₄ resulted spherical nanoparticles with tiny sizes, indicating that in this case a variation on amount of reductant would be more efficient on the particle size control than a variation in concentration of oleic acid. These results indicated that, for each method, a different variable exists for the control of the distribution size and the shape of the formed particles.     

Mechanical behavior and optical transparency of polyamide 6 of different morphology formed by variation of the pathway of crystallization

The phase composition and supermolecular structure of polyamide 6 (PA 6) melt-crystallized on cooling at different rates or cold-crystallized at different temperatures were characterized and related to the optical transparency, stiffness and the stress–strain behavior. Cold-crystallization results in non-spherulitic formation of γ-mesophase or α-crystals, depending on the maximum annealing temperature. Both mesophase and crystals are of nodular shape. Melt-crystallization at low supercooling leads to formation of lamellar α-crystals and spherulites, while at high supercooling the nodular mesophase is forming. The absence of spherulites in cold-crystallized PA 6 films leads to high see-through clarity which is in contrast to the slowly melt-crystallized samples with opaque appearance. While Young’s modulus and the glass transition temperature increase with increasing crystallinity, for samples of identical crystallinity stiffness is considerably higher if the crystals are of lamellar rather than of nodular shape. The higher glass transition temperature of cold-crystallized PA 6 is related to a higher rigid amorphous fraction than in melt-crystallized samples pointing to a stronger coupling of the amorphous phase to ordered domains.     

Inertization of Coal Ashes by the Vitrification Technique: A Mixture Design Approach

This article deals with the study of the vitrification mechanism as an inertization method for coal ashes contaminated with heavy metals. Ashes from coal (thermoelectric) and wastes from mining of fluorite and feldspar and from plating were used to compose vitreous systems using a mixture design. The chemical composition of the wastes was determined by XRF and the formulations were melted at 1450°C for 2 h using 10% (mass) of Na₂CO₃ (as a fluxing agent). The glasses were poured into a mold and annealed (600°C). The characteristic temperatures were determined by thermal analysis (DTA, air, 20°C/min) and the mechanical behavior by HV. As a result, the softening temperature is strongly dependent on silica content of each glass, and the fluorite residue, being composed mainly by silica, strongly affects on the glass transition (T_g) and softening (T_s) temperatures. The hardness by micro-indentation of all glasses is mainly affected by the plating (galvanic) residue due to the high iron and zinc content of this waste.     

Forgotten monomers: access to α‐modified N‐vinylpyrrolidone polymers via C‐alkylation

Alkylation of N‐vinylpyrrolidone using lithium diisopropylamide and bis(2‐bromoethyl) ether was carried out to obtain 3‐(2‐(2‐bromoethoxy)ethyl)‐1‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone ( 2 ). The derivative 2 represents a versatile starting molecule for further modification via nucleophilic displacement yielding, for example, the bicyclic 2‐vinyl‐8‐oxa‐2‐azaspiro[4.5]decan‐1‐one ( 4 ) or the ammonium salt 3‐diethoxy‐N,N′‐((dimethylbenzyl)ammonium bromide)‐1‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone ( 10 ). Via free radical polymerization of 4 and 10 , the corresponding homopolymers were obtained. Copolymerization of 4 and 10 with N,N′‐diethylacrylamide yielded water‐soluble materials. The thermosensitive solubility of copolymers poly[(2‐vinyl‐8‐oxa‐2‐azaspiro[4.5]decan‐1‐one)‐co‐(N,N′‐diethylacrylamide)] and poly[(3‐diethoxy‐N,N′‐((dimethylbenzyl)ammonium bromide)‐1‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone)‐co‐(N‐vinylpyrrolidone)] in water was investigated. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry