Separation of Trimethyl Borate from a Liquid Mixture by Pervaporation

Four commercial polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes were applied to the pervaporation of an azeotropic mixture containing trimethyl borate, a precursor to boronic acids used in Suzuki couplings and a gaseous anti‐oxidant in solder flux or brazing. The degree of cross‐linking of the chains in the active layer played a crucial role in the membrane process using the membranes PERVAP 4155‐80, PERVAP 4155‐40 and PERVAP 4155‐30. PERVAP 4155‐30 reached the best results from all tested membranes; an impressive selectivity with fast permeation was also achieved with the PERVAP 4060 membrane. Methanol preferentially passed through PERVAP 4155‐30, but trimethyl borate was favorably pervaporated from the mixture by PERVAP 6040, due to the diverse affinities of the membranes.     

Optical and electrical transport properties of polyaniline–silver nanocomposite

Polyaniline–silver nanocomposite has been synthesized successfully by the chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline with ammonium peroxydisulphate as an initiator in presence of negatively charged silver nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles are prepared by standard citrate reduction method. TEM, SEM, XRD, FTIR, TGA, DSC, optical absorption and photoluminescence studies are done for the morphological, structural, thermal and optical characterization of the polyaniline nanocomposite. From the TEM and SEM image, it is observed that nanoparticles are well dispersed in the polyaniline matrix. XRD pattern shows that polyaniline is amorphous, but peaks present in XRD pattern in polymer nanocomposites are for silver nanoparticles. TGA and DSC results show that polyaniline silver nanocomposite is more crystalline and more thermally stable. A surface plasmon absorption band is obtained from the optical absorption at 380 nm, which indicates that silver nanoparticles are present in the polyaniline matrix. The optical band gap of nanocomposite decreases with increasing content of silver nanoparticles. An enhancement in photoluminescence has been observed in polyaniline–silver nanocomposite than that in pure polyaniline. The electrical conductivity of polyaniline–silver nanocomposite increases with increase in silver nanoparticle content than that of pure polyaniline. This is a simple way by which optical and electrical properties of polyaniline may be enhanced by doping with suitable nanoparticles.     

The Hunt for Natural Skin Whitening Agents

Skin whitening products are commercially available for cosmetic purposes in order to obtain a lighter skin appearance. They are also utilized for clinical treatment of pigmentary disorders such as melasma or postinflammatory hyperpigmentation. Whitening agents act at various levels of melanin production in the skin. Many of them are known as competitive inhibitors of tyrosinase, the key enzyme in melanogenesis. Others inhibit the maturation of this enzyme or the transport of pigment granules (melanosomes) from melanocytes to surrounding keratinocytes. In this review we present an overview of (natural) whitening products that may decrease skin pigmentation by their interference with the pigmentary processes.     

Simulating convective die heating for forgings and pressure casting

A comparison is made of die temperature uniformity for two heating configurations: electric air heating and flame heating. The temperature uniformity with electric air heating is noted to be substantially superior to flame heating of large dies. The simulation results are compared with experimentally obtained numbers and found to be in agreement.     

A delta9 desaturase from Bombus lucorum males: investigation of the biosynthetic pathway of marking pheromones

The knowledge of the molecular basis of communication in bumblebee communities is limited. None of the enzymes that participate in pheromone production have been characterized. Here, we cloned the gene encoding the Delta(9) desaturase from cDNA prepared from the total RNA of the pheromone gland and fat bodies of Bombus lucorum male. Functional expression of BlucNPVE desaturase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and GC-MS analyses revealed its preference for C(18) saturated fatty acids. This suggests that Delta(9) desaturase is involved in the desaturation of metabolic fatty acids stored in triacylglyceroles (TAGs), because oleic acid is the most abundant fatty acid bound in TAG in B. lucorum and it is present in low concentration in the pheromone blend. The incubation of pheromone precursors with a dissected labial gland as well as direct injection of labelled pheromone substrates into B. lucorum males revealed that esterification of pheromone products occurs in the labial gland. These results support both the biosynthesis of pheromones from common lipids and the de novo synthesis of unsaturated pheromones in the labial gland.     

Antibacterial poly(vinyl alcohol) film containing silver nanoparticles: Preparation and characterization

The importance of antibacterial materials for biomedical applications is growing nowadays. The presented article deals with the characterization of structural, mechanical and thermal properties and of antibacterial polymeric films based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and silver nitrate, which can find their applicability in wound dressing components and protective coating. The methods of transmission electron microscopy, UV–vis and XRD spectroscopy, optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, stress–strain analysis, and agar diffusion test were used to characterize the polymer films prepared. The results showed strong antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus already at the lowest addition level of silver nitrate. An improvement of mechanical properties (Young's modulus) was also noticed due to a modification of PVA with silver nitrate up to 1 wt. % of silver content. Furthermore, the results show a strong effect of the thermal history of the sample preparation on the degree of silver‐ion reduction and formation of nanoparticles. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Modeling gas absorption accompanied by chemical reaction in bubble column and foam-bed slurry reactors

The published data in the literature and the reported models on foam-bed reactors have been reanalyzed. It is observed that the models have been developed assuming negligible conversion in the storage section although the storage constitutes 65–85% of the total volume of liquid/slurry charged into the reactor. For confirmation of the reported information, in the present work, experiments have been performed in foam-bed and bubble column slurry reactors for carbonation of hydrated lime slurry using carbon-dioxide gas under identical conditions. A comparison of the relative performances of the two reactors has been made. Storage section is found to be the main section governing the performance of the foam-bed slurry reactor. New mathematical models have been developed for both the reactors. The model predictions agree well with the experimental data.     

Microwave sintering of fine grained HAP and HAP/TCP bioceramics

The effect of microwave sintering conditions on the microstructure, phase composition and mechanical properties of materials based on hydroxyapatite (HAP) and tricalcium phosphate (TCP) was investigated. Fine grained monophase HAP and biphasic HAP/TCP biomaterials were processed starting from stoichiometric and calcium deficient nanosized HAP powders. The HAP samples microwave (MW) sintered for 15 min at 900 °C, with average grain size of 130 nm, showed better densification, higher density and certainly higher hardness and fracture toughness than samples conventionally sintered for 2 h at the same temperature. By comparing MW sintered HAP and HAP/TCP samples, it was concluded that pure HAP ceramics have superior mechanical properties. For monophase MW sintered HAP samples, the decrease in the grain size from 1.59 μm to 130 nm led to an increase in the fracture toughness from 0.85 MPa m^1/2 to 1.3 MPa m^1/2.     

Redox potentials and binding enhancement of fullerene and fullerene-cyclodextrin systems in water and dimethylsulfoxide

The formal redox potentials of electron transfer reactions of fullerene, methanofullerene, fullerene-cyclodextrin complex and methanofullerene conjugates with cyclodextrins in aqueous and dimethylsulfoxide solutions are reported. These new compounds are surface active and retain the redox activity of C₆₀ even in aqueous medium. Compounds have been characterized by an electrochemical admittance technique, which offers an advantage of separating faradaic and capacitive properties. Observed difference of formal redox potentials of the free fullerene forms and their cyclodextrin-containing compounds were used to determine the binding enhancement. Results are interpreted in terms of inter-molecular host-guest interactions of C₆₀-cyclodextrin conjugates.     

Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Therapy in Novel Porcine Model of Diffuse Liver Damage Induced by Repeated Biliary Obstruction

In liver surgery, biliary obstruction can lead to secondary biliary cirrhosis, a life-threatening disease with liver transplantation as the only curative treatment option. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have been shown to improve liver function in both acute and chronic liver disease models. This study evaluated the effect of allogenic MSC transplantation in a large animal model of repeated biliary obstruction followed by partial hepatectomy. MSC transplantation supported the growth of regenerated liver tissue after 14 days (MSC group, n = 10: from 1087 ± 108 (0 h) to 1243 ± 92 mL (14 days); control group, n = 11: from 1080 ± 95 (0 h) to 1100 ± 105 mL (14 days), p = 0.016), with a lower volume fraction of hepatocytes in regenerated liver tissue compared to resected liver tissue (59.5 ± 10.2% vs. 70.2 ± 5.6%, p < 0.05). Volume fraction of connective tissue, blood vessels and bile vessels in regenerated liver tissue, serum levels of liver enzymes (AST, ALT, ALP and GGT) and liver metabolites (albumin, bilirubin, urea and creatinine), as well as plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α and TGF-β, were not affected by MSC transplantation. In our novel, large animal (pig) model of repeated biliary obstruction followed by partial hepatectomy, MSC transplantation promoted growth of liver tissue without any effect on liver function. This study underscores the importance of translating results between small and large animal models as well as the careful translation of results from animal model into human medicine.