pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Oxidative bromination and oxidation of organic substrates catalyzed by bis2,2'-hydroxyphenylbenzimidazoleFe(III) complex entrapped in zeolite-Y cavity

BACKGROUND: Zeolite encapsulated transition metal complexes have proven to be better catalysts for most organic transformations as they share advantages of both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts because the complex inside the zeolite cage can move within the cavity but at the same time cannot come out of it owing to its size. Hence, some reports claim application of these encapsulated complexes in various organic transformations. Introduction of bromine into aromatic compounds is an important fundamental reaction in organic chemistry. On the other hand, oxidations of saturated and unsaturated compounds also find application in the synthesis of fine chemicals. RESULTS: The positions of peaks in the cyclic voltammogram of the encapsulated complex were unaltered, accompanied by an increase in current with scan rate, substantiating encapsulation of the complex within the cavity. This complex was catalytically active in the presence of H2O2 towards the oxidation of cyclohexane and ethylbenzene. Its catalytic efficiency was examined in the oxidative bromination of organic substrates using KBr at room temperature, wherein high para-selectivity was obtained. It displayed better conversion/selectivity than Fe(opbmzl)2NO3 retaining its catalytic activity up to five consecutive runs. Plausible mechanisms involving hydro-peroxo intermediate have been proposed. CONCLUSION: Zeolite encapsulated bis2,2'-hydroxyphenylbenzimidazoleFe(III) complex behaved as a versatile catalyst for various organic transformations. Â© 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. Â© 2017 Society of Chemical Industr
Enhancing the removal of hazardous pollutants from coke making wastewater by dosing activated carbon to a pilot‐scale activated sludge process

Powdered activated carbon (PAC) was investigated for its ability to remove 6 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Σ6PAHs) (fluoranthene, benzo[b + J]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, benzo[g,h,i]perylene), trace metals and colour from coke making wastewater when dosed to a pilot-plant activated sludge process (ASP). The ASP had a volume of 0.68 m3 and was operated to simulate the full-scale ASP treating coke wastewater from a steel works. Operational conditions included a flow rate of 0.78 m3/day, a hydraulic retention time of 21 hours, a sludge retention time of 38 days and a temperature of 27°C. The ASP was operated for a control period before PAC was dosed directly into the aeration cell at a dose of 400 mg/L. Powdered activated carbon addition resulted in a 20% increase in removal efficiency of the Σ6PAHs. Removal efficiency of trace metals was variable, but increased for nickel, chromium and cadmium by 22.6%, 20.5% and 12.4%, respectively. Improvement in colour removal efficiency was marginal at 5%. PAC addition allowed the improvement of treatment efficiencies in the ASP process at relatively low capital and operational costs, which may assist in reaching tighter effluent emission limits set for the industry
Physiological state as transferable operating criterion to improve recombinant protein production in Pichia pastoris through oxygen limitation

BACKGROUND: The yeast Pichia pastoris is widely used as a production platform for secreted recombinant protein. The application of oxygen‐limiting conditions leads to an important increase in protein specific productivity driven by the GAP promoter. RESULTS: The physiological and metabolic adaptation of the host to a wide range of oxygen availability has been systematically studied in glucose‐limited chemostat cultivations producing an antibody fragment (Fab). A weighty increase of up to 3‐fold of the specific Fab production rate (qFab) and Fab yield (YPX) has been achieved for the optimal conditions. Besides the remarkable increase on both Fab yield and productivity, as a consequence of the metabolic shift from respiratory to respiro‐fermentative pathways, a decrease on biomass yield and generation of several secreted by‐products have been observed. CONCLUSION: The accurate system characterization achieved throughout the bioprocess specific rates and the monitoring of cell physiology allowed the determination of the optimal conditions to enhance bioprocess efficiency. This work also presents a versatile approach based on the physiological state of the yeast that can be used to implement the desired oxygen‐limiting conditions to fermentations set‐ups with different oxygen transfer capacities, alternative operating modes, and even for the production of other proteins of interest
Expansion of bone marrow derived human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (hMSC) using a two phase liquid/liquid system

This is an Open Access Article. It is published by Wiley under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported Licence (CC BY). Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/BACKGROUND: Humanmesenchymal stem/stromal cells (hMSCs) are at the forefront of regenerativemedicine applications due to their relatively easy isolation and availability in adults, potential to differentiate and to secrete a range of trophic factors that could determine specialised tissue regeneration. To date, hMSCs have been successfully cultured in vitro on substrates such as polystyrene dishes (TCPS) or microcarriers. However, hMSC sub-cultivation and harvest typically employs proteolytic enzymes that act by cleaving important cell membrane proteins resulting in long-term cell damage. In a processwhere the cells themselves are the product, a non-enzymatic and non-damaging harvesting approach is desirable. RESULTS: An alternative system for hMSC expansion and subsequent non-enzymatic harvest was investigated here. A liquid/liquid two-phase system was proposed, comprising a selected perfluorocarbon (FC40) and growth medium (DMEM). The cells exhibited similar cell morphologies compared with TCPS. Moreover, they retained their identity and differentiation potential post-expansion and post-harvest. Further, no significant difference was found when culturing hMSCs in the culture systems prepared with either fresh or recycled FC40 perfluorocarbon.\ud
CONCLUSIONS: These findings make the FC40/DMEM system an attractive alternative for traditional cell culture substrates due\ud
to their ease of cell recovery and recyclability, the latter impacting on overall process costs
Phosphate recovery from treated municipal wastewater using hybrid anion exchangers containing hydrated ferric oxide nanoparticles

BACKDROUND\ud
This study presents the evaluation of two ion exchangers (granular and fibrous) impregnated with nanoparticles of hydrated ferric oxide (HFO) as selective sorbents for phosphate recovery from aqueous solutions. The hybrid impregnated anion exchangers combine the durability and mechanical strength of a polymeric weak base anion exchange resin with the high sorption affinity of HFO towards phosphate species. Dynamic experiments were carried out and data obtained were fitted to a well-known fixed-bed sorption model.\ud
\ud
RESULTS\ud
The theoretical sorption capacities reported by the Thomas model were in good agreement with the breakthrough experimental capacities determined from the sorption data. The sorption capacity decreased when using wastewater treatment plant secondary effluents in comparison with synthetic water mainly owing to the presence of organic matter and suspended solids. The phosphate sorbed on the impregnated ion exchangers was efficiently desorbed by using a 0.5 mol L-1 sodium hydroxide solution, reporting up to 90% of recovery.\ud
\ud
CONCLUSION\ud
The reusability of sorbents was evaluated through five sorption–desorption working cycles. Fiban-As was able to operate up to three consecutive cycles with good sorption performance while a significant decrease of sorption capacity after the first cycle was observed for FO36 resin. © 2017 Society of Chemical IndustryPreprin
Effect of acyl-acceptor stepwise addition strategy using alperujo oil as a substrate in enzymatic biodiesel synthesis

Background: using renewable feedstock sources for biodiesel production seems to be a promising strategy and even more so when enzymatic catalysis with lipases are used. However, it is well known that these enzymes could be inactivated by reaction conditions such as temperature or alcohol concentration. In this work, the effect of temperature and initial water activity (aw) value on immobilised recombinant Rhizopus oryzae lipase (rROL) were studied. Methanolysis and ethanolysis reactions using alperujo oil with three different stepwise addition strategies were employed. - Results: recombinant 1,3‐positional selective rROL covalently immobilised on polymethacrylate amino‐epoxy activated support showed maximum initial reaction rate at low aw value (0.093). It was found that 30 °C was the optimal temperature in terms of biocatalyst stability during transesterification reactions. Adding alcohol at once, ethanol was clearly a better acyl‐acceptor in terms of stability than methanol. Productivity was found to be 2‐fold higher when five pulses of ethanol were used instead of methanol. - Conclusions: alperujo oil has great potential as a low cost feedstock for biodiesel production through enzymatic catalysis using a nearly semi‐continuous alcohol addition strategy
Using a combined oxygen-supply and substrate-feeding strategy to improve 2,3-butanediol production by metabolically engineered Klebsiella oxytoca KMS005

Abstract BACKGROUND There is much demand for and extensive application for 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) in various fields, and micro-aerobic and substrate-feeding conditions greatly affect microbial growth and production. The theoretical maximum of 2,3-BD fermentative yield has rarely been reported. Therefore, our study aimed to develop an efficient combined oxygen-supply and substrate-feeding strategy to improve 2,3-BD production yield in metabolically engineered Klebsiella oxytoca KMS005. RESULTS The optimized oxygen consumption for 2,3-BD production by strain KMS005 was demonstrated at 9.2 g for 1 L working volume corresponding to KLa of 25.2 hâˆ’1. During fed-batch, a glucose feeding rate of 2 g hâˆ’1 starting at the end of the growth phase for 48 h followed by a final batch phase of 40 h was found likely to be satisfactory for 2,3-BD production by the strain KMS005. A final 2,3-BD concentration was obtained at 74.7 g Lâˆ’1 with few by-products formation. A theoretical maximum of 2,3-BD production yield of 0.5 g gâˆ’1 substrate used was also approached. CONCLUSION Our oxygen-supply strategy with the specific feeding pattern developed in this study allowed the highest fermentative production yield of 2,3-BD ever reported. The KMS005 strain may be used as a biocatalyst for cost-effective 2,3-BD production from renewable substrates. In addition, the outcome might bring a message for further developments of simple fed-batch fermentation under micro-aeration conditions into larger scales for 2,3-BD production by K. oxytoca KMS005 or even other microorganisms
An immobilized and highly stabilized self-sufficientmonooxygenase as biocatalyst for oxidative biotransformations

Authors also thank COST Action CM 1303–Systems Biocatalysis for financial support and the Servei d'Anàlisi Química of UAB for their assistance on mass spectrometry analyses. Daniela Valencia acknowledges UAB for funding her PhD grant.Background: the requirement for expensive cofactors that must be efficiently recycled is one of the major factors hindering the wide implementation of industrial biocatalytic oxidation processes. In this research, a sustainable approach based on immobilized self‐sufficient Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenases is discussed. - Results: a bifunctional biocatalyst composed of an NADPH‐dependent cyclohexanone monooxygenase (CHMO) fused to an NADP+‐accepting phosphite dehydrogenase (PTDH) catalyzes ϵ‐caprolactone synthesis from cyclohexanone, using phosphite as a cheap sacrificial substrate for cofactor regeneration. Several immobilized derivatives of the fused enzyme have been prepared with high immobilization yield (97%); the one obtained by affinity adsorption on Co‐IDA (Co: cobalt chelated; IDA: iminodiacetic acid) support has shown to be highly stable affording average yields of 80% after 18 reaction cycles. - Conclusions -the immobilized self‐sufficient monooxygenase has demonstrated to be able to perform Baeyer–Villiger oxidation with efficient cofactor recovery and biocatalyst recycling. The proposed biocatalytic process offers access to valuable molecules with high atom economy and limited waste generation
Biofiltration of hexane, acetone and dimethyl sulphide using wood, compost and silicone foam

BACKGROUNDBiofiltration is a technique to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from waste gas streams. It can be regarded as a sustainable treatment technology with low operational costs and good performance. The treatment of hydrophobic compounds is however difficult, due to the low mass transfer towards the water phase on top of the biofilm present on the packing material. To overcome this mass transfer limitation, a hydrophobic silicone foam was added to a conventional biofilter containing compost and wood dowels. RESULTSThe biofilter was operated for 180 days to treat acetone, hexane and dimethyl sulphide at an empty bed residence time of 57 s with inlet load varying up to 4.5 g m(3) h(-1). The highest removal efficiency of acetone, dimethyl sulphide and hexane was, respectively, 99%, 80% and 50%. The affinity of the target compounds towards the packing material was quantified in terms of the packing material-to-air partitioning coefficient, which was measured using a SIFT-MS based breakthrough approach. These experiments revealed that hexane has a 20 to 100 times higher affinity for silicone foam than compost and wood. Microbial community analysis was performed on the different substituents of the packing material at the inlet and outlet. No significant differences in relative abundance were observed between the types of packing materials. Comparison with literature revealed the presence of bacterial strains that were not yet reported in biofilter studies. CONCLUSIONSilicone foam in a biofiltration set-up showed good performances against the degradation of the target VOCs and mass transfer to the packing material can be increased. (c) 2018 Society of Chemical Industr
Co-immobilization of P450 BM3 and glucose dehydrogenase on different supports for application as a self-sufficient oxidative biocatalyst

BACKGROUND: The oxy-functionalization of non-activated carbon bonds by the bacterial cytochrome P450 BM3 from Bacillus megaterium, presents a promising field in biosynthesis and it has gainedmuchinterest in recent decades. Nevertheless, the need for the expensive cofactor NADPH, togetherwith lowoperational stability of the enzyme have made the implementation of this biocatalyst unfeasible in most cases for industry. RESULTS: P450 BM3 and glucose dehydrogenase (GDH), as a cofactor regeneration enzyme, were successfully co-immobilized obtaining a bi-functional self-sufficient oxidative biocatalyst. First, a broad screening of 13 different supports was carried out. Five selected agaroses with three different functionalities (epoxy, amine and aldehyde) were studied and their immobilization processes optimized. Finally, P450 BM3 and GDH were co-immobilized on those supports showing the best performance for P450 BM3 immobilization: epoxy-agarose (epoxy-agarose-UAB) presenting 83% and 20% retained activities respectively; AMINO-agarose presenting 28% and 25%, and Lentikats® with which both enzymes retained 100% of the initial activity. Furthermore, the re-utilization of the self-sufficient immobilized derivatives was tested in five repeated cycles. CONCLUSIONS: P450 BM3 andGDHhave been successfully immobilized on three supports and their re-usability has been tested in amodel reaction. It represents a step forward for future P450 BM3 industrial implementations
Biofiltration of waste gases in a reactor with a split-feed

The efficiency of using different feed strategies was evaluated in the case of a gas-phase biofilter packed with an inert carrier material. During a preliminary control-period, the biofilter was first fed with a single downflow feed of toluene. Reactor performance and biomass distribution were evaluated. The feed was then split into two flows before entering the reactor. Different feed ratios were tested during a 6-month period, following the preliminary control stage. Splitting the feed into equal flow rates through the upper and middle part of the biofilter (in a 50 : 50 ratio) improved the performance compared with the single-feed period. Such a high performance could also be maintained when using a higher flow rate for the upper port than for the middle port, with a feed-ratio of approximately 70 : 30, when more biomass was formed in the upper half of the filter bed. However, performance decreased when inverting this ratio from 70 : 30 to 30 : 70, ie when the highest flow rate was fed through the middle port of the biofilter
Hydrodynamic considerations on optimal design of a three-phase airlift bioreactor with high solids loading

The hydrodynamic study of a three-phase airlift (TPAL) bioreactor with an enlarged gas–liquid
dual separator was carried out. Different lengths and diameters of the draft tube were tested to show how
the design of the separator zone affects the hydrodynamic performance of the TPAL reactor. Ca-alginate
beads with entrapped yeast biomass at different loadings (0, 7, 14 and 21% v/v) were used in order to mimic
the solid phase of conventional high cell density systems, such as those with cells immobilized on carriers
or flocculating cells. Important information on multiphase flow and distribution of gas and solid phases
in the internal-loop airlift reactor (ALR) with high solids loading was obtained, which can be used for
suggesting optimal hydrodynamic conditions in a TPAL bioreactor with high solids loading. It is finally
suggested that the ALR with a dual separator and a downcomer to riser cross-sectional area ratio (AD/AR)
ranging from 1.2 to 2.0 can be successfully applied to batch/continuous high cell density systems, where
the uniform distribution of solid phase, its efficient separation of particles from the liquid phase, and an
improved residence time of air bubbles inside the reactor are desirable.European Community - ‘Improving Human Research Potential’ - Marie Curie Fellowship - contract number HPMF-CT-2002-01643
Unusual combination of bilateral testicular microlithiasis and tubular ectasia of the rete testis with left intra‐ and extratesticular varicocele in a 17‐year‐old boy

We describe the rare combination of testicular microlithiasis, unilateral intra/extratesticular varicocele, and tubular ectasia of the rete testis in a 17‐year‐old boy who presented with testicular pain following a trauma. He had a prior history of undescended testis and orchiopexy in childhood. His workup included a normal abdominal ultrasound and a sperm analysis demonstrating a low sperm count with sperm dysmotility. A follow‐up ultrasound was unchanged, and he has been managed conservatively. This combined set of findings has not been previously reported. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound, 201
An automated technique for carotid far wall classification using grayscale features and wall thickness variability

Purpose To test a computer-aided diagnostic method for differentiating symptomatic from asymptomatic carotid B-mode ultrasonographic images. Methods Our system (called Atheromatic) automatically computed the intima-media thickness (IMT) of the carotid far wall using AtheroEdge, calculated nonlinear features based on higher order spectra, and used these features and IMT and IMT variability (IMTVpoly) to associate each image to a feature vector that was then labeled as symptomatic or asymptomatic (Sym/Asym) by a multiclassifiers system. We tested this method on a database of 118 carotid artery images from 37 symptomatic and 22 asymptomatic patients Results The highest accuracy (99.1%) was obtained by the support vector machine classifier using seven features. These features, relevant to discriminate Sym/Asym, included IMT and IMTVpoly, along with the bispectral entropies of the distal wall image at 77°, 78°, and 79° angles. Conclusions Classification in Sym/Asym of the far carotid wall is feasible and accurate and could be useful for the early detection of atherosclerosis and to identify patients with higher cardiovascular ris
Cardiac amyloidosis is associated with increased aortic stiffness

OBJECTIVE: Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is as an infiltrative disorder primarily caused by extracellular tissue deposition of amyloid fibrils in the myocardial interstitium. The current study was designed to test whether alterations in ascending aortic elastic properties could be detected by echocardiography in CA patients, and to compare their results to controls. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We included 19 CA patients from which CA proved to be AL amyloidosis in 17 cases and transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis in 2 cases. Their results were compared to 20 age-, gender-, and risk factor-matched controls. RESULTS: There was significantly greater interventricular septum and left ventricular (LV) posterior wall thickness, lower LV ejection fraction and greater E/A in CA patients than in controls, suggesting systolic, and diastolic dysfunction. CA patients also showed significantly reduced aortic strain and pulsatile change in aortic diameter, and  increased aortic stiffness index. CONCLUSION: These results suggest increased aortic stiffness in CA patients
Using robots to understand animal cognition

In recent years, robotic animals and humans have been used to answer a variety of questions related to behavior. In the case of animal behavior, these efforts have largely been in the field of behavioral ecology. They have proved to be a useful tool for this enterprise as they allow the presentation of naturalistic social stimuli whilst providing the experimenter with full control of the stimulus. In interactive experiments, the behavior of robots can be controlled in a manner that is impossible with real animals, making them ideal instruments for the study of social stimuli in animals. This paper provides an overview of the current state of the field and considers the impact that the use of robots could have on fundamental questions related to comparative psychology: namely, perception, spatial cognition, social cognition, and early cognitive development. We make the case that the use of robots to investigate these key areas could have an important impact on the field of animal cognition
Why study cognition in the wild (and how to test it)?

An animal's behavior is affected by its cognitive abilities, which are, in turn, a consequence of the environment in which an animal has evolved and developed. Although behavioral ecologists have been studying animals in their natural environment for several decades, over much the same period animal cognition has been studied almost exclusively in the laboratory. Traditionally, the study of animal cognition has been based on well-established paradigms used to investigate well-defined cognitive processes. This allows identification of what animals can do, but may not, however, always reflect what animals actually do in the wild. As both ecologists and some psychologists increasingly try to explain behaviors observable only in wild animals, we review the different motivations and methodologies used to study cognition in the wild and identify some of the challenges that accompany the combination of a naturalistic approach together with typical psychological testing paradigms. We think that studying animal cognition in the wild is likely to be most productive when the questions addressed correspond to the species’ ecology and when laboratory cognitive tests are appropriately adapted for use in the field. Furthermore, recent methodological and technological advances will likely allow significant expansion of the species and questions that can be addressed in the wild.PostprintPostprintPeer reviewe