Production of dihydroxyacetone from an aqueous solution of glycerol in the reaction catalyzed by an immobilized cell preparation of acetic acid bacteria Gluconobacter oxydans ATCC 621

Dihydroxyacetone (1,3-dihydroxy-2-propanone, DHA) is applied in the food and cosmetic industries as well as in pharmacy and medicine. It is produced as a result of incomplete oxidation of glycerol by acetic acid bacteria Gluconobacter oxydans. This reaction is catalyzed by PQQ-dependent membrane-bound glycerol dehydrogenase. The research developed a method of obtaining DHA by oxidation of a 3?% aqueous solution of glycerol (pH 7.5) at a temperature of 23?°C, with the only reaction biocatalyst being an immobilized cell preparation obtained from G. oxydans cells. After 5?days of the process, DHA concentration in the solution accounted for 27.2?g/L and the reaction efficiency for 94?%. After 4?days of the reaction run in culture media with pH 5.0, at a temperature of 28?°C, free or immobilized cells of G. oxydans produced on average 25?g of DHA/L at the reaction efficiency of 87?%.     

Detection of Yersinia spp. in meat products by enrichment culture, immunomagnetic separation and nested PCR

The prevalence of Yersinia enterocolitica in meat products was assessed by four methods: cold enrichment in trypticase soy broth (A), enrichment in modified Rappaport broth at 25 °C (B), concentration by immunomagnetic separation (C) and yadA nested PCR (D). Furthermore, the pathogenic potentials of the isolates were established by phenotypic and genotypic tests, and their genomic relationships were determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). A total of 238 samples were collected at retail level in the city of San Luis, Argentina, during the period 2007–2008. The highest Yersinia prevalence in meat products was observed by method D (92 positive samples), followed by methods A (13 positive samples) and C (5 positive samples); however, no isolation was obtained by method B. Fourteen Y. enterocolitica and 4 Yersinia intermedia strains were recovered by culture. All Y. enterocolitica 2/O:9 strains gave results related to virulence by phenotypic tests and exhibited the genotype virF⁺myfA⁺ail⁺ystA⁺. Two biotype 1A strains showed a genotype virF⁻myfA⁻ail⁺ystA⁺ystB⁺. The 14 Y. enterocolitica strains isolated during this work plus one reference strain were separated into 11 genomic types by PFGE. This genomic heterogeneity of the isolates shows the diversity of Y. enterocolitica strains in our region. It is the first time that IMS was used to search Y. enterocolitica strains from naturally contaminated meat products.     

Exposure to particles from laser printers operating within office workplaces

While recent research has provided valuable information as to the composition of laser printer particles, their formation mechanisms, and explained why some printers are emitters while others are low emitters, questions relating to the potential exposure of office workers remained unanswered. In particular, (i) what impact does the operation of laser printers have on the background particle number concentration (PNC) of an office environment over the duration of a typical working day? (ii) What is the airborne particle exposure to office workers in the vicinity of laser printers? (iii) What influence does the office ventilation have upon the transport and concentration of particles? (iv) Is there a need to control the generation of, and/or transport of particles arising from the operation of laser printers within an office environment? (v) What instrumentation and methodology is relevant for characterizing such particles within an office location? We present experimental evidence on printer temporal and spatial PNC during the operation of 107 laser printers within open plan offices of five buildings. The 8 h time-weighted average printer particle exposure is significantly less than the 8 h time-weighted local background particle exposure, but that peak printer particle exposure can be greater than 2 orders of magnitude higher than local background particle exposure. The particle size range is predominantly ultrafine (<100 nm diameter). In addition we have established that office workers are constantly exposed to nonprinter derived particle concentrations, with up to an order of magnitude difference in such exposure among offices, and propose that such exposure be controlled along with exposure to printer derived particles. We also propose, for the first time, that peak particle reference values be calculated for each office area analogous to the criteria used in Australia and elsewhere for evaluating exposure excursion above occupational hazardous chemical exposure standards. A universal peak particle reference value of 2.0 × 10(4) particles cm(-3) has been proposed.     

Multi-walled carbon nanotube arrays for gas sensing applications

Vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) arrays fabricated by xylene pyrolysis in anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) templates without the use of a catalyst were integrated into a resistive sensor design. Steady state sensitivities as high as 5% and 10% for 100?ppm of NH(3) and NO(2), respectively, at a flow rate of 750?sccm were observed. A thin layer of amorphous carbon (5-50?nm), formed on both sides of the template during xylene pyrolysis, was part of the sensor design. The thickness of the conducting amorphous carbon layers was found to play a crucial role in determining the sensitivity of the resistive sensor. A study was undertaken to elucidate (i) the dependence of sensitivity on the thickness of amorphous carbon layers, (ii) the effect of UV light on gas desorption characteristics and (iii) the dependence of room temperature sensitivity on different NH(3) flow rates. Variations in sensor resistance with exposure to oxidizing and reducing gases are explained on the basis of charge transfer between the analytes and the CNTs which were modeled as p-type semiconductors.     

Synthesis of new polyesters containing phosphorus heterocycles and halogen

Two series of polyesters containing phenoxaphosphine rings and several halogens were synthesized by low-temperature solution polycondensation in the presence of triethylamine. One series, containing halogens only in the bisphenol moiety, was obtained from 2,8-dichloroformyl-10-phenylphenoxaphosphine-10-oxide and chlorinated bisphenol. In the second series, halogens belonged both to bisphenol and diacid dichlorides. For the last series, 2,8-dichloroformyl-10-(4-bromophenyl)phenoxaphosphine-10-oxide was prepared as a new monomer. All resulting polyesters were characterized by elemental analysis, reduced viscosity, IR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. These polymers began to lose weight at about 400°C in air being seen as self-extinguishing ones.     

Net-value of the relativistic crystal field effect

The relativistic crystal field theory in case of the rare earth ion doped materials is presented. In order to calculate the values of crystal field splittings the effectively relativistic crystal field operators are applied. The matrix elements of these operators are evaluated in the non-relativistic LS scheme, whereas the radial integrals include one electron Dirac–Fock wavefunctions. The numerical results of the relativistic crystal field effects are presented for Ce³⁺ or Yb³⁺ ions in LuPO₄, and they are compared with those obtained from the non-relativistic approach.     

How to control the selectivity in the reduction of NOx with H2 over Pt-Ba/Al2O3 Lean NOx Trap catalysts

The reduction process of NO_x species stored over Pt-Ba/Al₂O₃ Lean NO_x Trap systems is analysed in this paper when H₂ is used as a reductant. The effect of different experimental conditions (temperature, reductant concentration, adsorption lengths, etc.) is addressed and discussed in relation to the selectivity and the efficiency of the reduction process.