The Relation between Calcium Sequestering Capacity and Oxidation Degree of Dicarboxy-Starch and Dicarboxy-Inulin

The objective of this study was to establish the relation between the calcium sequestering capacity (SC) of dicarboxy-starch and that of dicarboxy-inulin, and the oxidation degree of these products. An S-type curve is obtained when plotting the SC of oxidized starch versus the degree of oxidation. By contrast the sequestering capacity of dicarboxy-inulin increases linearly with the degree of oxidation. The difference in behaviour of these materials can be attributed to the fact that upon starch oxidation the favourable oxydiacetate structure is obtained only after substantial conversion, whereas in inulin this structure is obtained immediately and is present in each oxidized fructose unit.     

Safety assessment of Lactobacillus strains: presence of putative risk factors in faecal, blood and probiotic isolates

The widespread use of immunosuppressive therapy and antimicrobial agents as well as novel probiotics without a long history of safe use has increased requirements for safety assessment of probiotic lactobacilli. In this study 44 faecal, 52 blood and 15 probiotic isolates (including 3 dairy strains) of Lactobacillus were assayed for their adhesion properties to extracellular matrix proteins and mucus, hemolysis, ability to avoid the induction of respiratory burst in peripheral blood mononucleocytes (PMN) and resistance to human serum. Among tested strains adhesion to collagen, fibrinogen and mucus was isolate-specific and no statistically significant differences were obtained between faecal, blood and probiotic isolates. However, blood isolates showed a trend for higher adhesion to mucus than probiotic strains (P=0.07). Probiotic strains induced lower respiratory burst in PMN when compared to the blood isolates (P<0.05). Moreover, there was a positive correlation between adhesion to collagen and induction of respiratory burst for faecal isolates (P<0.05). In the determination of serum resistance, probiotic strains showed a trend for lower sensitivity to human serum-mediated killing when compared to the faecal isolates (P=0.07). None of the measurable virulence factors were found to be present at statistically higher level in clinical blood isolates when compared to faecal and/or probiotic isolates indicating that these factors do not cause risk when safety of probiotics is considered. However, the significance of adhesion to mucus, low induction of respiratory burst in PMN and resistance to human serum-mediated killing may need further evaluation in experimental animal models and in epidemiological data.     

Coordination‐Assisted Bioorthogonal Chemistry: Orthogonal Tetrazine Ligation with Vinylboronic Acid and a Strained Alkene

Bioorthogonal chemistry can be used for the selective modification of biomolecules without interfering with any other functionality that might be present. Recent developments in the field include orthogonal bioorthogonal reactions to modify multiple biomolecules simultaneously. During our research, we observed that the reaction rates for the bioorthogonal inverse‐electron‐demand Diels–Alder (iEDDA) reactions between nonstrained vinylboronic acids (VBAs) and dipyridyl‐s‐tetrazines were exceptionally higher than those between VBAs and tetrazines bearing a methyl or phenyl substituent. As VBAs are mild Lewis acids, we hypothesised that coordination of the pyridyl nitrogen atom to the boronic acid promoted tetrazine ligation. Herein, we explore the molecular basis and scope of VBA–tetrazine ligation in more detail and benefit from its unique reactivity in the simultaneous orthogonal tetrazine labelling of two proteins modified with VBA and norbornene, a widely used strained alkene. We further show that the two orthogonal iEDDA reactions can be performed in living cells by labelling the proteasome by using a nonselective probe equipped with a VBA and a subunit‐selective VBA bearing a norbornene moiety.     

Continuous operation of membrane bioreactor treating toluene vapors by Burkholderia vietnamiensis G4

A laboratory-scale biofilm membrane bioreactor inoculated with Burkholderia vietnamiensis G4 was examined to treat toluene vapors in a waste gas stream. The gas feed side and nutrient solution were separated by a composite membrane consisting of a porous polyacrylonitrile (PAN) support layer coated with a very thin (0.3 μm) dense polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) top layer. After inoculation, a biofilm developed on the dense layer. The biofilm membrane bioreactor was operated continuously at different residence times (28–2 s) and loading rates (1.2–26.7 kg m⁻³ d⁻¹), with inlet toluene concentrations ranging from 0.21 to 4.1 g m⁻³. The overall performance of the membrane bioreactor was evaluated over a period of 165 days. Removal efficiencies ranging from 78% to 99% and elimination capacities from 4.2 to 14.4 kg m⁻³ d⁻¹ were observed after start-up period depending on the mode of operation. A maximum elimination capacity of 14.4 kg m⁻³ d⁻¹ was observed at a loading rate of 17.4 kg m⁻³ d⁻¹. Overall, the results illustrate that biofilm membrane reactors can potentially be more effective than conventional biofilters and biotrickling filters for the treatment of air pollutants such as toluene.     

自由之鸟与牢笼:二战后十年间荷兰建筑期刊考

本文追溯了二战后十年间《建造周刊》《论坛》《天主教建筑期刊》等重要期刊的创立(重建)与发展的历史,管窥战后荷兰专业建筑期刊业的全貌。文章讨论了展现在战后荷兰建筑期刊中的多元思想——米拉斯所代表的中间路线,J·B·巴克马、J·H·凡·登·布鲁克、A·E·凡·艾克代表的新一代先锋思潮,J·朗普雷·莫里哀领导下的战后传统主义,巴克马对"自由"的解读等。本文是一篇呈现荷兰战后建筑界思想发展驱动力与思想交锋的文章。     

Effects of cutting fluids on drilling aluminium casting alloy 390

The primary objective of this research project was to compare the tool wear resulting when a semi-synthetic cutting fluid was used, to that from use of a premium soluble oil. The secondary objective was to determine the effects of cutting speed, drill diameter, and fluid concentration, on tool wear. The experiments contained two key elements: (1) cast aluminium alloy 390 was used as the workpiece material and (2) deep-hole drilling to a depth greater than two diameters was performed. Numerous drilling tests were performed with each cutting fluid using a flood application. To meet the primary objective, an experiment was designed for each cutting fluid and the wear on the lands of twist drills was measured. The secondary objective utilized a statistically-designed 2³ factorial experiment which evaluated the effects that moderate and relatively high cutting speeds, two drill diameters, and two levels of fluid concentration, had on tool wear. After analysis of the test results, it was concluded that concentration had the most significant effect on land wear when the experimentally-formulated semi-synthetic cutting fluid was used. Cutting speed was the most significant factor when drilling with the commercially-available premium soluble oil. Tool wear while using the semi-synthetic fluid was slightly less than that for the premium soluble oil.     

Heat transfer effects in nano-aluminum combustion at high temperatures

Recent measurements of nano-aluminum combustion in which burning time and peak particle temperature are measured simultaneously have suggested that heat transfer models currently used for burning nanoparticles may significantly overestimate heat losses during combustion. By applying conventional non-continuum heat transfer correlations to burning nano-aluminum particles, the observed peak temperatures, which greatly exceed the ambient temperature, should only be observable if the burning time were very short, of the order of 1 μs, whereas the observed burning time is two orders of magnitude larger. These observations can be reconciled if the energy accommodation coefficient for these conditions is of the order of 0.005, which is the value suggested by Altman, instead of approximately unity, which is the common assumption. Experimental data obtained in the heterogeneous shock tube under a wide array of conditions are compared with basic heat transfer models, and the agreement of both peak temperature values and emission intensity traces for low energy accommodation coefficients supports the hypothesis of Altman and co-workers.     

Sugarcane bagasse cellulose/HDPE composites obtained by extrusion

Natural fibers used in this study were both pre-treated and modified residues from sugarcane bagasse. Polymer of high density polyethylene (HDPE) was employed as matrix in to composites, which were produced by mixing high density polyethylene with cellulose (10%) and Cell/ZrO₂·nH₂O (10%), using an extruder and hydraulic press. Tensile tests showed that the Cell/ZrO₂·nH₂O (10%)/HDPE composites present better tensile strength than cellulose (10%)/HDPE composites. Cellulose agglomerations were responsible for poor adhesion between fiber and matrix in cellulose (10%)/HDPE composites. HDPE/natural fibers composites showed also lower tensile strength in comparison to the polymer. The increase in Young’s modulus is associated to fibers reinforcement. SEM analysis showed that the cellulose fibers insertion in the matrix caused an increase of defects, which were reduced when modified cellulose fibers were used.