Silk-Fiber Immobilized Lipase-Catalyzed Hydrolysis of Emulsified Sunflower Oil

Lipase was immobilized in silk fibers through glutaraldehyde cross-linking to a maximum loading of 59 U/g silk-fiber and the immobilized lipase was utilized for the hydrolysis of sunflower oil (Helianthus annuus). The hydrolytic activity of the lipase, which was poor in biphasic oil in water system, was increased significantly when the sunflower oil was emulsified in aqueous medium. The hydrolytic activities of the immobilized lipase were 48.73 ± 1.26 U, 36.11 ± 0.96 U, and nil when the substrate sunflower oil was used as emulsion created by a rhamnolipid biosurfactant, Triton X100, and ultrasonication, respectively. Although the efficiency of the immobilized lipase was less than 12% than the corresponding free lipase, the immobilized lipase could be reused for the biosurfactant-mediated hydrolysis of sunflower oil up to third cycle of the reaction. The yield of the fatty acids in the second, third, and fourth cycles were 49.45%, 22.91%, and 5.09%, respectively, of the yield obtained in the first cycle.     

Abrupt change in mean using block bootstrap and avoiding variance estimation

We deal with sequences of weakly dependent observations that are naturally ordered in time. Their constant mean is possibly subject to change at most once at some unknown time point. The aim is to test whether such an unknown change has occurred or not. The change point methods presented here rely on ratio type test statistics based on maxima of the cumulative sums. These detection procedures for the abrupt change in mean are also robustified by considering a general score function. The main advantage of the proposed approach is that the variance of the observations neither has to be known nor estimated. The asymptotic distribution of the test statistic under the no change null hypothesis is derived. Moreover, we prove the consistency of the test under the alternatives. A block bootstrap method is developed in order to obtain better approximations for the test’s critical values. The validity of the bootstrap algorithm is shown. The results are illustrated through a simulation study, which demonstrates computational efficiency of the procedures. A practical application to real data is presented as well.     

The Effect of Air Plasma Activated Liquid on Uropathogenic Bacteria

Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing - Urinary tract infections (UTI) are often caused by resistant uropathogenic bacteria and can lead to sepsis or chronic renal failure. Cold plasma activated...     

Aqueous phase size exclusion chromatography of polyvinylalcohols of different degrees of hydrolysis

The aqueous-phase size exclusion chromatography (SEC) represents a suitable method for the analysis of molecular weight distribution (MWD) of polyvinylalcohols (PVOHs) of different degree of hydrolysis ranging from 72 to 98 mol-% applying the Suprema columns. Eluents of different composition were used consisting of either a mixture of water and acetonitrile for the lower degrees of hydrolysis (72 - 88 mol-%) or 0.1 M LiNO₃ solution for the higher degrees of hydrolysis (88 - 98 mol-%). By knowing the M̄_w̄ values of commercially available PVOHs samples of a given degree of hydrolysis and using the commercial water soluble narrow distribution standards, a principle of the constant hydrodynamic equivalence ratios was applied to obtain the absolute values of the molecular weights of PVOHs of different degree of hydrolysis. The effect of a various number of extrusion cycles on MWD of different PVOHs was used to demonstrate the sensitivity of the selected SEC conditions.     

The study of the speciation of uranyl–sulphate complexes by UV–Vis absorption spectra decomposition

Uranyl–sulphate complexes are the predominant U(VI) species present in acid solutions resulting either from underground uranium ore leaching or from the remediation of leaching sites. Thus, the study of U(VI) speciation in these solutions is of practical significance. The spectra of UO₂(NO₃)₂ + Na₂SO₄ solutions of different Φ _S = [SO₄²⁻]/[U(VI)] ratio at pH = 2 were recorded for this purpose. As the presence of uranyl-nitrate complexes should be expected under these experimental conditions, the spectra of UO₂(NO₃)₂ + NaNO₃ solutions with different Φ _N = [NO₃⁻]/[U(VI)] ratio at pH = 2 were also measured. The effects of Φ _S and Φ _N ratios value were most pronounced in wavelength interval 380–500 nm. Therefore, these parts of experimental overall spectra were used for deconvolution into the spectra of individual species by the method proposed. It enabled to calculate stability constants of anticipated species at zero ionic strength. The Specific Ion Interaction Theory (SIT) was used for this purpose. Stability constants of UO₂SO₄, UO₂(SO₄)₂²⁻, UO₂NO₃ ⁺ and UO₂(NO₃)₂ coincided well with published data, but those for UO₂(SO₄)₃⁴⁻ and UO₂(NO₃)₃⁻ were significantly lower.     

Study of optical properties and biocompatibility of DLC films characterized by sp3 bonds

Optical and biomedical properties of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films of various sp², sp³ bonds were studied. The layers were prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) for laser energy densities from 4 J?cm^?2 to 14 J?cm^?2. The percentage of sp² and sp³ bonds was calculated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In dependence on density the films contained up to 70 % of sp³ bonds. Optical properties were measured using spectroscopic ellipsometry in region from 250 nm to 1000 nm (n=2.6–2.7; k=0.07–0.25) and by transmission measurement (from 200 nm to 1100 nm). The adhesion and growth of human fibroblasts and keratinocytes of DLC films were tested in vitro.     

New Monodisperse Magnetic Polymer Microspheres Biofunctionalized for Enzyme Catalysis and Bioaffinity Separations

Magnetic macroporous PGMA and PHEMA microspheres containing carboxyl groups are synthesized by multi‐step swelling and polymerization followed by precipitation of iron oxide inside the pores. The microspheres are characterized by SEM, IR spectroscopy, AAS, and zeta‐potential measurements. Their functional groups enable bioactive ligands of various sizes and chemical structures to couple covalently. The applicability of these monodisperse magnetic microspheres in biospecific catalysis and bioaffinity separation is confirmed by coupling with the enzyme trypsin and huIgG. Trypsin‐modified magnetic PGMA‐COOH and PHEMA‐COOH microspheres are investigated in terms of their enzyme activity, operational and storage stability. The presence of IgG molecules on microspheres is confirmed.

     

Bank-sourced credit transition matrices: Estimation and characteristics

This study proposes and analyses a novel alternative to credit transition matrices (CTMs) developed by credit rating agencies - bank-sourced CTMs. It provides a unique insight into estimation of bank-sourced CTMs by assessing the extent to which the CTMs depend on the characteristics of the underlying credit risk datasets and the aggregation method and outlines that the choice of aggregation approach has a substantial effect on credit risk model results. Further, we show that bank-sourced CTMs are more dynamic than those of credit rating agencies, with higher off-diagonal transition rates and higher propensity to upgrade. Finally, we create a set of industry-specific CTMs, otherwise unobtainable due to the data sparsity faced by credit rating agencies, and highlight the implications of their differences, signalling the existence of industry-specific business cycles. The study uses a unique and large dataset of internal credit risk estimates from 24 global banks covering monthly observations on more than 26,000 large corporates and employs large-scale Monte Carlo simulations. This approach can be replicated by regulators (e.g., data collected by the European Central Bank in the AnaCredit project) and used by organisations aiming to improve their credit risk models.