Analytic expressions for the isosteric heat of adsorption from adsorption isotherm models and two-dimensional SAFT-VR equation of state

The isosteric heat of adsorption is an important thermodynamic property used to characterize and optimize adsorption processes. In this work, analytic expressions for isosteric heats of adsorption are derived for a collection of commonly used isotherm models and a two-dimensional molecular equation of state based on the SAFT-VR approach. The use of these expressions is presented with an example of adsorption of nitrous oxide, N₂O, on biochar, which is a waste biomass charcoal that exhibits high adsorption potential. The results show that accurate fitting of the adsorption isotherms leads to consistent results obtained with different approaches; however, the predicted isosteric heat of adsorption exhibits strong variations in the regions where experimental data is insufficient such in the region of low pressure/low coverage. Convergence on the prediction of the isosteric heat of adsorption by the different models is only observed in the region where no extrapolation of experimental data is needed.     

Antisense Oligonucleotide-Based Rescue of Aberrant Splicing Defects Caused by 15 Pathogenic Variants in ABCA4

The discovery of novel intronic variants in the ABCA4 locus has contributed significantly to solving the missing heritability in Stargardt disease (STGD1). The increasing number of variants affecting pre-mRNA splicing makes ABCA4 a suitable candidate for antisense oligonucleotide (AON)-based splicing modulation therapies. In this study, AON-based splicing modulation was assessed for 15 recently described intronic variants (three near-exon and 12 deep-intronic variants). In total, 26 AONs were designed and tested in vitro using a midigene-based splice system. Overall, partial or complete splicing correction was observed for two variants causing exon elongation and all variants causing pseudoexon inclusion. Together, our results confirm the high potential of AONs for the development of future RNA therapies to correct splicing defects causing STGD1.     

The Role of LGR4 (GPR48) in Normal and Cancer Processes

Leucine-rich repeats containing G protein-coupled receptor 4 (LGR4) is a receptor that belongs to the superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors that can be activated by R-spondins (RSPOs), Norrin, circLGR4, and the ligand of the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B (RANKL) ligands to regulate signaling pathways in normal and pathological processes. LGR4 is widely expressed in different tissues where it has multiple functions such as tissue development and maintenance. LGR4 mainly acts through the Wnt/β-catenin pathway to regulate proliferation, survival, and differentiation. In cancer, LGR4 participates in tumor progression, invasion, and metastasis. Furthermore, recent evidence reveals that LGR4 is essential for the regulation of the cancer stem cell population by controlling self-renewal and regulating stem cell properties. This review summarizes the function of LGR4 and its ligands in normal and malignant processes.     

Curvature effects on electric-double-layer capacitance

Understanding the microscopic structure and thermodynamic properties of electrode/electrolyte interfaces is central to the rational design of electric-double-layer capacitors (EDLCs). Whereas practical applications often entail electrodes with complicated pore structures, theoretical studies are mostly restricted to EDLCs of simple geometry such as planar or slit pores ignoring the curvature effects of the electrode surface. Significant gaps exist regarding the EDLC performance and the interfacial structure. Herein the classical density functional theory (CDFT) is used to study the capacitance and interfacial behavior of spherical electric double layers within a coarse-grained model. The capacitive performance is associated with electrode curvature, surface potential, and electrolyte concentration and can be correlated with a regression-tree (RT) model. The combination of CDFT with machine-learning methods provides a promising quantitative framework useful for the computational screening of porous electrodes and novel electrolytes.     

Differentiation of Staphylococci from Iberian dry fermented sausages by protein fingerprinting

The Staphylococci populations in different types of Iberian dry fermented sausages from central-west Spain were identified. A simple electrophoretic method of whole-cell proteins and extracellular protein profiling was evaluated for speed of identification. This study was correlated with a 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and biochemical identification by API Staph. A total of 81 isolates were identified by SDS-PAGE of the whole-cell proteins. These showed stable profiles in the range 99-14kDa that were clearly different for the different species, and were grouped into clusters together with the profiles of the eight reference strains. SDS-PAGE of the extracellular protein extracts provided additional characteristic banding patterns for the characterization of the Staphylococcus species present. The whole-cell SDS-PAGE showed that the predominant species was Staphylococcus saprophyticus (61.7%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus (19.7%). The identifications were confirmed by the 16S rRNA gene sequencing and by a BLAST search of the GenBank database. However, the API Staph biochemical identifications were frequently erroneous at the species level. In sum, SDS-PAGE analysis showed itself to be rapid and accurate in identifying the most commonly encountered Staphylococcus isolates in dry fermented sausages.     

Extraction of pure lycopene from industrial tomato by‐products in water using a new high‐pressure process

BACKGROUND: Lycopene, a precursor of β‐carotene with a well‐known antioxidant activity, contained in many natural products such as tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), watermelon, red pepper and papaya, is usually recovered from natural vegetal sources using organic solvents and a purification step. In this paper an innovative process for the extraction of pure lycopene from tomato waste in water that uses the Naviglio^® extractor and water as extracting phase is presented. RESULTS: Lycopene was obtained in the all‐trans form at a very high grade of purity, not less than 98% (w/w), with an average recovery of 14% (w/w). The availability of high‐purity trans‐lycopene allowed measurement of the molar absorption coefficient. An alternative procedure for high‐performance liquid chromatographic analysis using a phenyl‐hexyl silicone phase as inverse phase and a linear gradient in water and acetonitrile is also described. CONCLUSIONS: The use of water as extracting phase considerably reduces the cost of the entire process when compared with the commonly used solvent‐based procedure or with the newer supercritical extraction process of lycopene from tomato waste. Lycopene, not soluble in water, was recovered in a quasi‐crystalline solid form and purified by solid‐phase extraction using a small amount of organic solvent. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry This article was published online on September 15, 2008. Errors in Figures 2 ‐ 4 were subsequently identified. The publishers wish to apologise for these errors. This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected [September 19, 2008]     

Neural Networks as Inference and Learning Engines

Abstract: This paper presents an abridgment of a neural network constructive methodology and applications with real data. The neural network can be considered as the learning core and inference engine of an expert system that produces either different network designs or simulations as output, its input being data sequences. Basically, it consists of additive structural learning, limiting it by a cross-validation technique.
Considerations about uncertainty treatment in neural networks are also presented, including uncertainty in data, in neuron activation, in outputs, and combination of several uncertainty sources.
Applications include three different sets of data, all of them related to the energy field. First, river streamflow estimation is discussed. Then CO₂ concentration prediction from gas injection rate is studied. Finally, the program learns to imitate a feedwater control system in a nuclear reactor. All tests show good results, as can be seen when compared with other standard methods.     

Characterization of cheese proteolysis by capillary electrophoresis and reverse-phase HPLC analyses of peptides

 The possibilities of reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) when used for separation of cheese peptides are discussed. A CE method using a coated capillary column and a low pH buffer was developed to analyze the water-soluble fraction of a 6-month-old cow’s milk cheese. The CE patterns were compared with the chromatograms obtained by RP-HPLC using a C18 column and a gradient of acetonitrile in water. The CE method gave shorter analysis times but RP-HPLC provided lower coefficients of variation of the retention times and better detection limits. In addition, the elution behavior of peptides in CE strongly depended on the sample matrix. The results show that both techniques provide complementary information for the analysis of cheese peptides. Received: 10 June 1997 / Revised version: 20 October 1997     

Water,sanitation and hygiene and indigenous peoples: a review of the literature

The levels of sanitation and water services coverage as well as health attainment are low among indigenous peoples. This exclusion from basic service has not been sufficiently studied. The present review has analyzed 185 articles dealing with indigenous peoples and the water, sanitation and hygiene complex. The literature is dramatically skewed towards water resources, and overwhelmingly focused on conflicts, at the expense of basic sanitation and hygiene. More initiatives towards the acknowledgement of indigenous peoples’ world-views and institutions in all aspects of the water management cycle are needed. To this end, the development of effective intercultural dialogue mechanisms is crucial.     

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS ON COKE YIELDS IN VACUUM RESIDS AS A FUNCTION OF COMPOUND CLASSES AND ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS

This paper describes the statistical analysis of data on coke formation (measured by microcarbon residue) in five resids, as a function of compound classes, in order to identify variables wiih a significant effect on the former. In this sense, the SAS VARCLUS and Principal Component Analysis were used. The analysis carried out leads to a lineal combination of the H/C ratio, vanadium and nitrogen content as a model to explain coke yield, under non-catalytic conditions, as determined by MCR. Of all these factors, the H/C ratio has the most important contribution.