Removal of Adsorbable Organic Halides from Water Containing Bromide Ions by Conventional and Advanced Oxidation

The article focuses on an assessment of adsorbable organic halides degradation during the process of conventional ozonation and advanced oxidation as far as the water containing bromides is concerned. The amount of AOX in the water examined varied from 59 to 105 μg Cl^?/L, and the bromides concentration exceeded 200 μg Br^?/L. The effects obtained by O₃ and O₃/UV methods were compared with the results achieved for the water which underwent only UV irradiation. The analysis of presented research results shows that out of the examined oxidation methods, in water of pH 6.8–9.5 and temperature of approximately 287 K, the highest degree of AOX decomposition, was achieved by UV irradiation of water, which was previously subjected to ozonation. However, when the ozone dose reached ≥ 0.3 mg O₃/mg C in an alkaline environment, bromates were formed in amounts exceeding the maximum contaminant level in both processes.     

Bioinspired Materials with Self-Adaptable Mechanical Properties

Natural structural materials, such as bone, can autonomously modulate their mechanical properties in response to external loading to prevent failure. These material systems smartly control the addition/removal of material in locations of high/low mechanical stress by utilizing local resources guided by biological signals. On the contrary, synthetic structural materials have unchanging mechanical properties limiting their mechanical performance and service life. Inspired by the mineralization process of bone, a material system that adapts its mechanical properties in response to external mechanical loading is reported. It is found that charges from piezoelectric scaffolds can induce mineralization from surrounding media. It is shown that the material system can adapt to external mechanical loading by inducing mineral deposition in proportion to the magnitude of the stress and the resulting piezoelectric charges. Moreover, the mineralization mechanism allows a simple one-step route for fabricating functionally graded materials by controlling the stress distribution along the scaffold. The findings can pave the way for a new class of self-regenerating materials that reinforce regions of high stress or induce deposition of minerals on the damaged areas from the increase in mechanical stress to prevent/mitigate failure. It is envisioned that the findings can contribute to addressing the current challenges of synthetic materials for load-bearing applications from self-adaptive capabilities.     

Strength and deformability of an organic-calcareous lacustrine deposit (gyttja) in relation to its water content and colloid content

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of tests on the shear strength and compressibility of an organic-calcareous lacustrine deposit (gyttja). Physical and chemical properties of the detrital-calcareous gyttja of Grabowo are described herein. A ternary solid phase and colloidal liquid phase is a characteristic of gyttja. Deficiency of direct, rigid contacts among soil particles which are surrounded by colloidal films, being themselves elastically deformed, can be assumed as developing a low value of the angle of internal friction of gyttja. The leap compressibility is connected with heterogeneity of composition of the solid and liquid phase. Sufficiently strong structural bonds related to the specific mineralization of a pore-water, especially to the carbonate and non-carbonate hardness of gyttja, have an effect on the form of the compressibility diagrams. It is the nature of the matter, filling the macro- and micropopores, its types and chemical-mineral characteristic, which mainly exercises control over the sediment behaviour when its strength and compressibility are tested. While analysing and interpreting the results of triaxial and consolidation tests the processes which have occurred in colloids should be taken into consideration.     

Evaluation of angiogenic activity in sera from patients with interstitial lung diseases

Angiogenesis is a process of new blood vessels' formation occurring in many physiological and pathological conditions. Neovascularisation is the principal vascular response in chronic inflammation and concomitant fibrotic process. Microvascular changes in various organ sites in sarcoidosis (BBS) and some of the symptoms of the disease may be related to microangiopathy. Moreover, vascular alterations were also observed in lung specimens from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and avian fanciers lung (AFL) patients. The present study was aimed at testing the effects of serum from 43 patients with ILD (24 BBS, 8 AFL, 8 IPF, 3 DIPF--drug induced pulmonary fibrosis) and 11 healthy controls on angiogenic capability of normal blood peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMC) in the murine intradermal angiogenesis assay (according to Sidky and Auerbach). The data demonstrated that sera from ILD patients significantly enhanced angiogenic capacity of normal PBMC as compared to control sera (p < 0.001). The effect was more pronounced for AFL patients than for BBS and IPF ones (p < 0.05). Sera from DIPF did not stimulate angiogenesis compared to control sera. The data showed that sera from ILD patients constitute sources of mediators participating in angiogenesis. This phenomenon may play role in pathogenesis of chronic immunological processes in lung.     

Digestion and bioavailability of bioactive phytochemicals

There are many scientific reports on determination of the content and biological activity of compounds found in food. However, these analyses are not sufficient to determine their effect on the human body. During digestion of food ingredients, many changes can modify their structure and this may affect their absorption and bioactivity. Many phenolic aglycones are hydrophilic and can be absorbed through biological membranes by diffusion. However, most polyphenols occur in the glycosidic form, which undoubtedly affects their absorption in the intestine. Oligopeptides are also absorbable via secondary active transport but based on the hydrogen ion gradient or with transporter PepT1. The bioavailability of phytochemicals is determined by their molecular weight or chemical structure and the food matrix. Accordingly, the aim of this work was to present the novel scientific reports related to the influence the many factors on digestibility, bioaccessibility and activity of selected bioactive compounds of plant origin.     

Improvement of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Candida parapsilosis</Emphasis> by genome shuffling for the efficient production of arabitol from <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-arabinose

Arabitol is used in the food industry as a low-calorie sweetener. It is produced by yeasts during the biotransformation process of l-arabinose. Genome shuffling was performed in Candida parapsilosis DSM 70125, an efficient producer of arabitol, to obtain fusants with improved arabitol production ability. Four mutants from the parental library were used for the first round of genome shuffling. The best fusants, GSI-1 and GSI-10A, were subjected to a second round of genome shuffling. Finally, two fusants, GSII-3 and GSII-16, produced concentrations of arabitol that were 50% higher than that of the wild-type strain during selection culture. Under the optimal conditions established for C. parapsilosis, the two fusants produced 11.83 and 11.75 g/L of arabitol and were approximately 15–16% more efficient than the wild-type strain. Flow cytometry analysis showed that the ploidy of the new strains did not change.     

Modification of Transverse NMR Relaxation Times and Water Diffusion Coefficients of Kiwifruit Pericarp Tissue Subjected to Osmotic Dehydration

The objective of the present study was to evaluate cellular compartment modifications of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) outer pericarp tissue caused by osmotic treatment in a 61.5 % sucrose solution, through the quantification of transverse relaxation time (T ₂) and water self-diffusion coefficient (D _w) obtained by low field nuclear magnetic resonance means. Raw material ripening stage was taken into account as an osmotic dehydration (OD) process variable by analyzing two different kiwifruit groups, low (LB) and high (HB) °Brix. Three T ₂ values were obtained of about 20, 310, and 1,250 ms, which could be ascribed to the proton populations, located in the cell walls, in the cytoplasm/extracellular space, and in the vacuoles, respectively. According to T ₂ intensity values, vacuole protons represented between 47 and 60 % of the total kiwifruit protons, for LB and HB kiwifruits, respectively. The leakage of water leading to vacuole shrinkage seemed to cause concentration of solutes, retained by the tonoplast, making the vacuole T ₂ value decrease along the OD. As expected, the D _w values of raw kiwifruits were lower than the value of the free pure water. The water mobility (and hence D _w), depending on the kiwifruit distinctive cellular structures and solutes, decreased even more during OD due to water loss and sugar gain phenomena. D _w represents an average value of the diffusion coefficient of the whole kiwifruit tissue protons. In order to obtain D _w values specific for each cellular compartment, a multiple component model fitting was also used. According to these results, the vacuole water self-diffusion coefficient (D _w,v) was much higher than D _w.