Interaction between a coke and a tar. 2. Limit of tar penetration in coke porosity

The limit of penetration of a given coal-tar pitch into two cokes during mixing of the coke and liquid tar has been studied. It was shown that tar penetration is limited by compression of gas occluded in pores. Mercury porosimetry of cokes and pyrolysed coke-tar mixtures as well as micrographs of cokes impregnated with tar allow one to estimate the limiting pore diameter of tar penetration into coke at ca. 6 μm for the system considered.     

Inhibitory activity of plumbagin produced by Drosera intermedia on food spoilage fungi

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the growth‐inhibiting efficacy of Drosera intermedia extracts (water, methanol and n‐hexane) against four food spoilage yeasts and five filamentous fungi strains responsible for food deterioration and associated with mycotoxin production, in order to identify potential antimycotic agents. RESULTS: The n‐hexane extract showed a broad activity spectrum against all tested microorganisms, followed, in activity, by the methanol and water extracts. The major component of the n‐hexane extract was purified using a solid‐phase extraction column and identified as plumbagin. Results show that high‐purity plumbagin can be produced from D. intermedia cultures following a simple and effective isolation procedure. A sample of purified plumbagin was tested against the same panel of microorganisms and high growth‐inhibiting capacity was observed. Minimum inhibitory concentrations less than 2 µg mL^?1 were obtained against the filamentous fungi. In the case of the species Aspergillus fumigatus, A. niger and A. flavus , activities comparable to miconazole were obtained. CONCLUSION: The results obtained provided evidence of the antimycotic activity of plumbagin, suggesting that D. intermedia could be the source of an interesting compound for the food industry as an alternative to preservatives. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Cultivars, culture conditions, and harvest time influence phenolic and ascorbic acid contents and antioxidant capacity of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa)

Strawberries are a good source of micronutrients, especially antioxidant phenolics. More information is needed to better exploit the health-promoting effect of such fruits. Several studies focused on the effects of genotype, cultural practices, and seasonal variation on the antioxidant potential of strawberries, but often yielding contradictory results and/or focusing on only 1 source of variability. In the present study, we showed that total phenolic compounds, ascorbic acid, and antioxidant capacity strongly differed between genotypes of strawberry. The precise results revealed the importance of genetic background for the antioxidant capacity and for the content of total phenolics (with up to 3.3-fold variations). Other parameters may also influence the antioxidant capacity in strawberry such as harvest time, culture conditions, and environmental factors. Moreover, in this study, the harvesting time (at the same ripening stage) appeared to be very important, more important than genotype. Variations of the antioxidant capacity of up to 4.1-folds were observed following the harvesting time of "Elsanta" cultivar. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This article compares the antioxidant capacity and the content in ascorbic acid and phenolic compounds of strawberries of different varieties and of fruits harvested from April to December at the same ripening stage. The importance of strawberry antioxidant capacity resides in its benefits for human health.     

Comprehensive study of the influence of total pressure on products yields in fluidized bed gasification of wood sawdust

Wood sawdust gasification experiments were performed in a steam fluidized bed at 800 °C between 2 and 10 bar. An evolution of gas yields with time was measured during the tests, and especially an increase of hydrogen and carbon dioxide yields. This test duration effect was ascribed to char build-up in the bed. As tests proceed, the contribution of char steam gasification to gas yield increases, and the catalytic effect of char on hydrocarbons and tar conversion and on water-gas shift reaction is enhanced.As total pressure increases from 2 to 10 bar, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and methane yields increase by 16%, 53% and 38% respectively, whereas carbon monoxide yield decreases by 33%. The changes in gaseous yields with pressure can be partly explained by the influence of pressure on gas phase reactions (acceleration of water-gas shift kinetics and change in hydrocarbon reactions). The increase of methane yield with pressure is rather suggested to be linked to a change in secondary pyrolysis reactions scheme under high pressure.     

Surface plasmon resonance evaluation of various aminoglycoside-RNA hairpin interactions reveals low degree of selectivity

Aminoglycoside antibiotics, which are able to selectively bind to RNA, are considered to be an important lead in RNA-targeting drug discovery. In this study, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) was employed to explore the interaction of aminoglycosides with known tobramycin-binding RNA hairpins (aptamers) and an unrelated RNA hairpin. It was established that aminoglycosides have multiple interactions with RNA hairpins. Unexpectedly, the different hairpins showed comparable affinity for a set of related aminoglycosides. The observed absence of selectivity presents an extra hurdle in the discovery of novel aminoglycosides as specific drugs that target defined RNA hairpins.     

Hydrodynamics of gas-solid flow around immersed tubes in bubbling fluidized beds

A numerical study was conducted based on the gas-solid two-fluid model using the body-fitted coordinate system to analyze the behavior of particles and bubbles flow in bubbling fluidized beds without and with immersed tubes. The kinetic theory of granular flow was implemented in the model. The images of simulated instantaneous particle concentration and velocity gave the process of the formation, coalescence and eruption of bubbles. The effects of the tube pitch and superficial gas velocity on the fluidization in a bubbling fluidized bed were investigated. Calculated bubble frequencies without and with immersed tubes were in agreement with previous experimental and simulation findings. The wavelet multi-resolution analysis was used to analyze the simulated data of instantaneous particle concentration. From the random-like particle concentration fluctuations, the fluctuating components due to particle flow and bubble motion can be extracted based on the wavelet multi-resolution analysis over a time-frequency plane.     

A new test for cleaning efficiency assessment of cleaners for hard surfaces

A new test was developed to assess the efficiency of no-wiping hard-surface cleaning. The test allows cleaner comparisons according to their ability to remove greasy soils. The chosen approach minimizes the mechanical forces applied while cleaning so that the interactions between a detergent solution and the soil to be removed can be characterized. For this, immersion cleaning was chosen, with coated stainless steel as substrate and pigmented oils as the model soil. Several parameters were studied in defined ranges using the Experimental Design method and systematic comparisons. The test shows high reliability on degreasing assessments and is there-fore especially suited to optimization of nonionic surfactant mixes. The originality of the test lies in the possibility of keeping a visual trace of the cleaned substrate appearance by imprinting it on a piece of paper. The validation of the test leads to corroboration of several practical observations. Temperature and agitation play a major role in cleaning efficiency. Detergent solution concentration is a more relevant parameter than pH. Sodium carbonate is shown to have a higher buffering effect than pentahydrated sodium metasilicate. The test is easy to set up, highly sensitive, and can be adapted to solve the problems encountered by formulators of detergent cleaners, such as screening the best ethoxylated fatty alcohol mix for better degreasing properties.     

Myo-InositolTrisPyroPhosphate treatment leads to HIF-1α suppression and eradication of early hepatoma tumors in rats

Myo-inositol trispyrophosphate (ITPP), a synthetic allosteric effector of hemoglobin, increases the regulated oxygen-releasing capacity of red blood cells (RBCs), leading to suppression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and to down-regulation of hypoxia-inducible genes such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). As a consequence, tumor growth is markedly affected. The effect of weekly intravenous injection of ITPP on an orthotopic, syngenic rat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) model was compared to that for untreated animals and animals subjected to conventional Doxorubicin chemotherapy. The longitudinal examination of HCC was performed by microCT imaging, and the cellular and molecular changes were evaluated by histology and Western blotting analysis of HIF-1α, VEGF, and caspase-3 gene expression in the tumor and in the surrounding liver. Hematologic impact was evaluated by blood cell-count measurement and determination of P50 (oxygen partial pressure for a 50 % oxygen saturation of hemoglobin). The HCC evaluation by microCT revealed a high potency of ITPP for tumor growth inhibition, thus allowing long-term survival and even cure of almost all the treated animals. The P50 value of hemoglobin in RBCs underwent a shift of 30 % following ITPP injection. Under these conditions, HIF-1α activity was strongly decreased, VEGF expression was down-regulated, and apoptosis was induced in HCC and surrounding liver cells, as indicated by Caspase-3 expression. ITPP did not affect hematologic parameters during treatment. The observations of in vivo tumor eradication suggest a significant clinical potential for ITPP in cancer therapy.     

Plasmonic propagations distances for interferometric surface plasmon resonance biosensing

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) scheme is proposed in which the local phase modulations of the coupled plasmons can interfere and yield phase-sensitive intensity modulations in the measured signal. The result is an increased traceability of the SPR shifts for biosensing applications. The main system limitation is the propagation distance of the coupled plasmon modes. This aspect is therefore studied for thin film microstructures operating in the visible and near-infrared spectral regions. The surface roughness of the substrate layer is examined for different dielectrics and deposition methods. The Au layer, on which the plasmonic modes are propagating and the biosensing occurs, is also examined. The surface roughness and dielectric values for various deposition rates of very thin Au films are measured. We also investigate an interferometric SPR setup where, due to the power flux transfer between plasmon modes, the specific choice of grating coupler can either decrease or increase the plasmon propagation length.     

Fullerene-functionalized carbon nanotubes as improved optical limiting devices

We report the synthesis, characterization and optical limiting behavior of a nanohybrid built by grafting C₆₀-fullerenes on carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The nonlinear optical limiting properties of the CNT-C₆₀ complex were investigated at wavelengths where C₆₀ does not absorb. We found that the nanohybrid had superior performances to those of CNTs and fullerenes, either taken individually or as a mixture. This enhanced optical limitation of the nanohybrid suggests not only cooperative but also synergistic effects between the two carbon forms. A mechanism involving higher excitonic states of the CNTs formed by Auger recombination of low energy excitons is proposed.