Plasma sphingolipids in patients with sickle cell disease: Multiple-site vaso-occlusive crises could be associated with lower sphingolipid levels

Although sickle cell disease (SCD) and its manifestations have been associated with various lipid alterations, there are a few studies exploring the impact of sphingolipids in SCD. In this study, we determined plasma ceramide (Cer) and sphingomyelin (CerPCho) species and investigated their association with the crisis in SCD. SCD patients (N = 27) suffering from vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) or acute chest syndrome (ACS) were involved in this study. Blood samples were drawn at crisis and later at steady state periods. Clinical history, white blood cell count (WBC), C-reactive protein and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were recorded. 16:0, 18:0, 20:0, 22:0 Cer and 16:0, 18:0, 24:0 CerPCho were measured via LC–MS/MS. All measured Cer and CerPCho levels of SCD patients at crisis and steady-state were found to be similar. Inflammation-related parameters were significantly higher in patients with ACS compared to single-site VOC. Patients with multiple-site VOC were found to have significantly lower sphingolipid levels compared with those with single-site VOC, at crisis (16, 18, 24 CerPCho and 18, 22 Cer) and at steady-state (24:0 CerPCho and 18 Cer). Our results show that sphingolipid levels in SCD patients are similar during crisis and at steady state. However, lower sphingolipid levels appear to be associated with the development of multiple-site VOC. Since the differences were observed at both crisis and steady-state, sphingolipid level could be an underlying factor associated with crisis characteristics in patients with SCD.     

Pervaporation Separation of Benzene/Cyclohexane Mixtures by Poly(vinyl chloride) Membranes

Sorption and pervaporation of benzene/cyclohexane mixtures were studied by using poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) polymer. The effects of composition of benzene/cyclohexane mixture and temperature on sorption and pervaporation characteristics were determined at 30, 40, and 50 °C for the membranes containing 8 wt% PVC polymer. Liquid feed composition effects on the flux and the selectivity were determined for two different membranes at 30 °C. The membranes that were prepared from the solutions containing 4 wt% and 8 wt% PVC polymer have thicknesses of 30 μm and 50 μm, respectively. Membrane thickness changes with polymer content as expected. Total sorption increased with increasing concentration of benzene. Increasing the concentration of benzene resulted in increasing flux as well as decreasing selectivity also. Fluxes were increased and selectivity decreased with increasing temperature. The selectivity was not affected significantly with varying amounts of polymer in the casting solution but the flux decreased with increasing amount of polymer in the casting solution.     

Synthesis,characterization, and thermal degradation of novel poly(2‐(5‐bromo benzofuran‐2‐yl)‐2‐oxoethyl methacrylate)

A novel methacrylate monomer containing benzofuran side group, 2‐(5‐bromo benzofuran‐2‐yl)‐2‐oxoethyl methacrylate (BOEMA), was synthesized from esterification reaction of 2‐bromo‐1‐(5‐bromo benzofuran‐2‐yl) ethanone with sodium methacrylate at 85°C in the presence of 1,4‐dioxane solvent. After characterization with Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer, nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H‐NMR and ¹³C‐NMR), its homopolymerization was carried out by free radical polymerization at 60°C in the presence of benzoyl peroxide initiator and 1,4‐dioxane solvent. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of the synthesized novel polymer, poly(2‐(5‐bromo benzofuran‐2‐yl)‐2‐oxoethyl methacrylate) [poly(BOEMA)], was determined to be 137°C with differential scanning calorimetry technique. Thermal degradation kinetics of poly(BOEMA) was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis method at different heating rates with 5°C/min intervals between measurements. From dynamic measurements, the analysis of each process mechanism of Coats–Redfern and Van Krevelen methods showed that the most probable model for the decomposition process of poly(BOEMA) homopolymer agrees with the random nucleation, F₁ mechanism. The apparent decomposition activation energies of poly(BOEMA) by Kissinger's and Flynn–Wall–Ozawa methods in the studied conversion range were 188.47 and 180.13 kJ/mol, respectively. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2012. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Effect of initiators and ethoxylation degree of non‐ionic emulsifiers on vinyl acetate and butyl acrylate emulsion copolymerization in the loop reactor

Vinyl acetate and butyl acrylate copolymers were synthesized in the presence of ammonium persulfate and potassium persulfate initiators, mixture of non‐ionic and anionic emulsifiers, and polyvinyl alcohol as protective colloid in a loop reactor. The monomer ratio was chosen 85:15. The series of non‐ionic emulsifiers, which have 10–40 moles ethoxylated nonyl phenol, were combined with Nansa 66 (sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate). The effects of the initiators on the physicochemical properties of copolymers were investigated by measuring conversion, viscosity, molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, and surface tension, respectively by using gravimetric method, Brookfield viscometer, gel permeation chromatograpy (GPC), and ring method. The effects of ethoxylation degrees of the non‐ionic emulsifiers to the same properties of copolymers were also investigated. It was determined that the copolymer viscosities showed different tendency for two initiators. They were increased by the increasing ethoxylation degree of the non‐ionic emulsifier for ammonium persulfate. In contrast, latex viscosity was decreased by increasing the ethoxylation degree in presence of potassium persulfate. Similar changes were also found in number average molecular weights of copolymers. On the other hand, weight average molecular weights of copolymers increased by increasing the ethoxylation degree of the non‐ionic emulsifier for both initiators. In the case of potassium persulfate, the surface tension values of copolymers increased by increasing the ethoxylation degree, but generally increasing the ethoxylation degree did not affect the surface tension of copolymer very seriously for two initiators. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 537–543, 2003     

Effects of various whey proteins on the physicochemical and textural properties of set type nonfat yoghurt

In this study, the changes during storage in the physicochemical, textural and sensory properties of nonfat yoghurts fortified with whey proteins, namely whey protein concentrates (WPC), whey protein isolates and whey protein hydrolysates, were investigated. Enrichment of nonfat yoghurt with the whey protein additives (1% w/v) had a noticeable effect on pH, titratable acidity, syneresis, water‐holding capacity, protein contents and colour values on the 14th day of storage (P < 0.01). The addition of whey proteins to the yoghurt milk led to increases in the hardness, cohesiveness and elasticity values, resulting in improved textural properties. The addition of WPC improved the texture of set‐type nonfat yoghurt with greater sizes in the gel network as well as lower syneresis and higher water holding capacity. This study suggests that the addition of whey protein additives used for fortification of yoghurt gave the best textural and sensory properties that were maintained constant during the shelf life.     

Modeling preferential CO oxidation over promoted Au/Al2O3 catalysts using decision trees and modular neural networks

In this work, the experimental data for CO oxidation over promoted Au/Al₂O₃ catalysts were analyzed using decision trees and modular neural networks. The full dataset was first classified by decision trees to identify and select the conditions for high catalytic activity; then the reduced dataset containing only the promising data were modeled using neural networks, at which the compositional and operating variables were processed in a modular manner to be able to model their effects together but treat them separately. It was found that operating variables were more influential on catalytic activity than catalyst compositional variables. The temperature was found to be the most significant operating variable while Mg and Mn were the best performing promoters. It was also concluded that decision trees and neural networks can complement each other to extract easily comprehensible knowledge, and they can be used for similar catalytic systems for the same purpose.     

Thermally curable benzoxazine-modified vegetable oil as a coating material

In this article, a new synthetic approach for the modification of partial glycerides (PG) obtained from sunflower oil with thermally curable benzoxazine units and its potential use as a coating material are described. For this purpose, hydroxyl-containing benzoxazine monomer was first prepared by conventional ring-forming reaction of phenol with paraformaldehyde in the presence of 6-amino-1-hexanol. The subsequent urethane reaction between PG and the benzoxazine monomer using toluene diisocyanate yields corresponding modified oil. The structures of the intermediates, and the modified triglycerides are confirmed by FTIR and ¹H NMR spectral analysis. Thermally activated curing behaviors of the precursor and the modified oil in the absence of any catalyst were studied by differential scanning calorimetry. Thermal and film properties of the cured products were also investigated.     

Thermal cycling and isothermal oxidation behavior of quadruple EB‐PVD thermal barrier coatings

Increase of energy efficiency by increasing the turbine inlet temperature is the main driving force for further investigations regarding new thermal barrier coating materials. Today, thermal barrier coatings consisting of yttria stabilized zirconia are state of the art. In this study, thermal barrier coatings consisting of 7 weight percent yttria stabilized zirconia (7YSZ) and pyrochlore lanthanum zirconate (La₂Zr₂O₇) were deposited by electron beam physical vapor deposition. Regarding thermal cycling and isothermal oxidation behavior different layer architectures such as mono‐, double‐ and quadruple ceramic layers were investigated. The thermal shock behavior was examined by thermocycle tests at temperatures in the range between T = 50 °C ‐1,150 °C. Additionally, the isothermal oxidation behavior at a temperature of T = 1,150 °C with dwell times of t= 50 h and t = 100 h was studied in the present work. The conducted research concerning the behavior of various thermal barrier coating systems under thermal cycle and isothermal load highlights the potential of multilayer thermal barrier coatings for operating in high temperature areas.     

Evaluation of steelmaking slag for CO2 fixation by leaching-carbonation process

Steelmaking slag is a good alternative material for the fixation of CO₂ gas as precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) that are of used in many industrial applications such as paint, plastic, medical and so on. Therefore, the experimental conditions for production of PCC from steelmaking slag produced in Iskenderun Steelmaking Industry were determined via indirect carbonation process. At first, the influences of acid concentration, liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratio, particle size, reaction time and temperature on the dissolution of Ca from steelmaking slag were investigated, respectively. We determined that all parameters had strong effects on the dissolution of Ca from steelmaking slag except for the reaction time. Also, the effects of Na/CH₃COO ratio, CO₂ flow rate, reaction temperature and time on the precipitation of Ca ions as PCC particles were investigated. The properties of PCC were determined using chemical, SEM, XRD and particle size analyses. Furthermore, non-reacted CO₂ left from the carbonation reactor was stored in the lab-scale gasometer tank for the re-use in that process.