Batch cultures of Penicillium camembertii on glucose and amino acids—model for growth and ammonium production

BACKGROUND: Three groups of amino acids were previously characterized based on their ability to be assimilated as carbon source by Penicillium camembertii. To describe the diauxic growth recorded on glucose and amino acids from the second group, such as arginine, an unstructured model was previously developed, based on the sequential consumption of both carbon substrates, glucose, followed after its exhaustion, by arginine. The model was modified to describe also the behaviour recorded during growth on other amino acids. RESULTS: The growth model involved the carbon substrate consumption (Verlhust model) and the biomass on carbon substrate yield. Glucose was therefore considered during P. camembertii growth on nitrogen source amino acids (lysine—first group); and amino acid consumption was considered during growth on carbon source amino acids (glutamate—third group), with glucose being dissimilated only for energy supply. The excess nitrogen from amino acids was released as ammonium; the linking of this production to growth was found to increase with the ability of the amino acid to be assimilated as carbon source by P. camembertii. CONCLUSION: The various metabolic behaviours recorded during P. camembertii growth on amino acids, in the presence of a primary carbon source such as glucose, were proved to be satisfactorily described by the model, showing the robustness of the model. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Influence of the irradiation temperature on the dosimetric and high temperature TL peaks of Al2O3:C

The TL glow curves of Al2O3:C crystals have been investigated as a function of the irradiation temperature. The nature of the observed TL peaks has been studied by optical annealing. The filling of traps was found strongly dependent on the irradiation temperature in the case of UV exposure, which has been explained by the temperature dependence of the photoionisation of F centres. This latter phenomenon could have a part in the luminescence quenching and UV bleaching of F centres.     

Optical bleaching, TSL and OSL features of CVD diamond

Luminescence and optical features of chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamond have been studied in view of the potential application of this material in ionising radiation dosimetry field. For this purpose, thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques have been used. A large amount of work has emphasised the excellent dosimetric properties of CVD diamond. Nevertheless, TSL measurements showed that after irradiation, this material is extremely sensitive to ambient light and the stored dose information is drastically affected by optical bleaching. From OSL analysis, it follows that both types of processes (TSL and OSL) were characterised by the same excitation and emission spectra and that optical bleaching originated from a broad stimulation band lying from visible to near infrared with a continuous character.     

Thermoluminescence properties of CVD diamond for clinical dosimetry use

The application of diamond to dosimetry is desirable because of its tissue equivalence, chemical inertness and small size, but this has not been commercially viable owing to the non-reproducible response of natural diamond. The chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of diamond permits controlled, reproducible and large-scale production of this material at potentially low cost. An investigation of some clinically relevant features like the depth-dose distribution as well as the absorbed dose profile, obtained using thermoluminescence (TL), is reported for several CVD diamond films. The TL characterisation presented here shows that CVD diamond films should be excellent TL-mode detectors in instances of radiotherapy and in vivo radiation dosimetry.     

A Methodology to Simulate the Impact of Tube Fouling on Steam Generator Performance With a Thermal-Hydraulic Code

ABSTRACT

Corrosion product deposits in the secondary side of nuclear plant steam generators may result in tube fouling. Tube fouling is a deposit that is influential for the heat exchanges between the primary and the secondary circuits. It may cause a steam pressure decrease and a power reduction. This paper presents a methodology to simulate the impact of tube fouling on steam generator performances. Simulations are performed with ThermoHYdraulique des Composants, which is Electricité de France reference code for the three-dimensional (3D) modeling of two-phase thermal-hydraulic flows in whole nuclear components such as steam generators. Tube fouling induces an additional thermal resistance on tubes. This resistance is supposed to correspond to the conductive resistance of a dense deposit by using the Maxwell model for a continuous solid phase with inclusions. As fouling deposit thicknesses are not uniformly distributed on the tube bundle, several thermal resistance distributions are investigated. In most cases, tube fouling concentrated in the hot leg is the most influential distribution. Nevertheless, for a large amount of deposits, tube fouling uniformly distributed in both hot and cold legs becomes more influential. This simulation series is an initial step. The strategy to improve the thermal resistance model is discussed.     

Impact of three different TiO2 morphologies on hydrogen evolution by methanol assisted water splitting: Nanoparticles, nanotubes and aerogels

Increasing the activity of a photocatalyst goes through the improvement of both its absorption (light) and adsorption (reactant) properties. For a given semiconducting material, the charge carrier separation is also a very important step. Properly combining chosen phases is one option to improve this separation (example of the commercial P25) and depositing platinum on the surface of the catalyst, another one. In some cases, coupling both may nevertheless lead to a decrease of photoactivity or at least limit the potentiality of the catalyst. A third option, consisting in modifying the morphology of the photoactive phase, has shown very promising results.In this study, we have elaborated, characterized and evaluated the hydrogen evolution potentiality (through methanol assisted water splitting) of different TiO₂ morphologies: nanoparticles, nanotubes and aerogels. These materials have shown different behaviours depending on both their composition and morphology. Different types of separation processes have been claimed to account for the observed different photoactivities, with more or less pronounced synergetic effects, due to: the use of Pt as a co-catalyst, the mixture of different TiO₂ phases (anatase and TiO₂(B) or rutile) and the specific morphology of the samples (nanotubes or aerogels). Among all the tested samples, the TiO₂ aerogel supported Pt one exhibited very promising performances, three times as active as P25 supported Pt, which is already much more active than pure P25 in our testing conditions.     

Thermoluminescent properties of Ni and Co doped synthetic,high pressure,high temperature diamonds: application to ionising radiation dosimetry

An investigation of the thermoluminescence (TL) properties of high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) synthetic diamond crystals grown under diluted nickel or cobalt as solvent catalysts is reported. After a study of TL properties of 6 different samples, it is shown that a crystal grown with Ni+2%Ti and annealed at 2100 K presents an intense glow peak at around 490 K. This peak is characterised by a broad emission band centred at 530 nm (2.34 eV). This crystal presents a significant, reproducible and linear TL response relative to the absorbed dose up to an X ray air kerma of 10 Gy. All these features make this material suitable for ionising radiation dosimetry. A similar study is made on another crystal grown from pure Co, and a comparative review of the results does show that for dosimetry work, Ni-containing diamonds are more appropriate than those grown from Co catalyst.     

Identification and Quantification of the Main Active Anticancer Alkaloids from the Root of Glaucium flavum

Glaucium flavum is used in Algerian folk medicine to remove warts (benign tumors). Its local appellations are Cheqiq el-asfar and Qarn el-djedyane. We have recently reported the anti-tumoral activity of Glaucium flavum root alkaloid extract against human cancer cells, in vitro and in vivo. The principal identified alkaloid in the extract was protopine. This study aims to determine which component(s) of Glaucium flavum root extract might possess potent antitumor activity on human cancer cells. Quantitative estimation of Glaucium flavum alkaloids was realized by HPLC-DAD. Glaucium flavum effect on human normal and cancer cell viability was determined using WST-1 assay. Quantification of alkaloids in Glaucium flavum revealed that the dried root part contained 0.84% of protopine and 0.07% of bocconoline (w/w), while the dried aerial part contained only 0.08% of protopine, glaucine as the main alkaloid, and no bocconoline. In vitro evaluation of the growth inhibitory activity on breast cancer and normal cells demonstrated that purified protopine did not reproduce the full cytotoxic activity of the alkaloid root extract on cancer cell lines. On the other hand, bocconoline inhibited strongly the viability of cancer cells with an IC₅₀ of 7.8 μM and only a low cytotoxic effect was observed against normal human cells. Our results showed for the first time that protopine is the major root alkaloid of Glaucium flavum. Finally, we are the first to demonstrate a specific anticancer effect of Glaucium flavum root extract against breast cancer cells, which can be attributed, at least in part, to bocconoline.     

Laser scanning confocal microscopy characterization of water repellent distribution in a sandstone pore network

In the present work, we propose the use of the Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy (LSCM) to determine the effect of water repellents on rock's pore-network configuration and interconnection. The rocks studied are sandstones of Miocene age, a building material that is commonly found in the architectural heritage of Tunisia. The porosity quantitative data of treated and untreated samples, obtained by mercury porosimetry tests, were compared. The results show a slight decrease in total porosity with the water repellent treatment, which reduced both microporosity and macroporosity. This reduction produced a modification in pore size distribution and a shift of the pore access size mode interval toward smaller pore diameters (from the 30-40 microm to the 20-30 microm intervals). The water repellent was observed in SEM images as a continuous film coating grain surfaces; moreover, it was easily visualized in LSCM, by staining the water repellent with Epodye fluorochrome, and the coating thickness was straightforwardly measured (1.5-2 microm). In fact, the combination of mercury intrusion porosimetry data and LSCM observations suggests that the porosity reduction and the shift of the pore diameter mode were mainly due to the general reduction of pore diameters, but also to the plugging of the smallest pores (less than 3-4 microm in diameter) by the water repellent film. Finally, the LSCM technique enabled the reconstruction of 3D views of the water repellent coating film in the pore network, indicating that its distribution was uniform and continuous over the 100 microm thick sample. The LSCM imaging facilitates the integration and interpretation of mercury porosimetry and SEM data.     

Contribution to the understanding of the relationship between mechanical and dielectric strengths of Alumina

The experimental evolutions of the Alumina dielectric strength versus thickness (127 μm to 2.54 mm), purity (92%, 96% and 99.5%) and crystallography (single or polycrystal) have been investigated. In order to find crucial information about the mechanism responsible for the dielectric breakdown, optical and scanning electron micrograph observations have also been performed. Each breakdown channel was found to be terminated by a crater from which matter has been extracted during the breakdown process. Investigations have been focused on the breakdown path, on the evolution of the crater size versus sample thickness and on the location of molten matter after breakdown. The results tend to confirm that the dielectric breakdown of Alumina is probably originated from a mechanical failure induced by electromechanical forces acting during the voltage application.