Carbon nanotube reinforced bioglass composites have been successfully synthesized by two comparative sintering techniques, i.e., spark plasma sintering (SPS) and conventional compaction and sinteirng. The composites show improved mechanical properties, with SPS technique substantially better than conventional compact and sintering approach. Using SPS, compared with the 45S5Bioglass matrix, the maximum flexural strength and fracture toughness increased by 159% and 105%, respectively. Enhanced strength and toughness are attributed to the interfacial bonding and bridging effects between the carbon nanotubes and bioglass powders during crack propagations.
We have studied the effect of the engineered nanomaterial Taunit, containing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), on the growth of
To develop efficient and economical direct ethanol production from fine rice straw crashed mechanically, two high-performing fungi, which can secret hyperactive cellulases and/or ferment effectively various sugars, were selected from some strains belong to
Biological pretreatment is a promising way to overcome the biorecalcitrance of cleaving the supermolecular structure of lignocellulose by lignin degrading enzymes from microorganisms. Solid state fermentation of corn stover with the white-rot fungus
The role of
The production of
The fish (
Evolutionary engineering is a novel whole-genome wide engineering strategy inspired by natural evolution for strain improvement. Astaxanthin has been widely used in cosmetics, pharmaceutical and health care food due to its capability of quenching active oxygen. Strain improvement of
The wash water generated from the surimi processing industry contains a large amount of proteases which are widely used in the food and biotechnology industries. Asymmetric polysulfone and polyethersulfone ultrafiltration (PSf-UF and PES-UF) membranes with three different polymer concentrations were screened for their abilities to recover proteases from surimi wash water. In-house fabricated membranes were prepared via a simple dry/wet phase inversion technique and were characterized in terms of permeability coefficient, membrane morphology and molecular weight cut-off (MWCO). The ability of the UF membranes to remove commercial proteases was tested at various pressures (up to 10 bars). The membrane with the best performance, 15 wt-% PSf-UF, was further tested with actual surimi wash water. The effect of the pH of the feed solution (4 to 8) in the pre-treatment stage was also evaluated to recover the highest amount of proteases. The highest retention of protease was 96% with a flux of 25.6 L/(m2·h) which was achieved with the 15 wt-% PSf-UF membrane.
From several mercury removing microorganisms, we selected
Toxic heavy metals are increasingly accumulating in the environment worldwide and are considered to be life threatening contaminants. The biosorption of mercury and lead by marine actinomycetes isolated from marine sediment collected from the Bay of Bengal coast of Puducherry, India, was evaluated. The maximum tolerance concentration (MTC) of
Antifungal activity of recombinant medicinal leech destabilase-lysozyme (rec.Dest-Lys) was investigated by using fungi:
A central composite rotatable design and response surface methodology were used in order to investigate the individual and combined effects of the ethanol-to-oil ratio, H2SO4 concentration, temperature and time of reaction on the reduction of free fatty acid (FFA) in jatropha oil. A quadratic polynomial model relating the reaction variables with FFA reduction was developed, presenting a good coefficient of determination (
White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is a major cause of high mortality in cultured shrimp all over the world. VP26 is one of the structural proteins of WSSV that is assumed to assist in recognizing its host and assists the viral nucleocapsid to move toward the nucleus of the host cell. The objective of this work was to produce a polyclonal antibody against VP26 and use it as a biosensor. The recombinant VP26 protein (rVP26) was produced in
Wood biomass is anticipated to serve as a substitute for carbon source, which has no feedstock competition with foods. Biomass is commonly used for the production of bio-ethanol by a series of processes such as pretreatment, enzymatic degradation, and fermentation. Hemicellulose, constituting 20 wt-% – 40 wt-% of biomass materials, contains various kinds of saccharides known to be bioactive substrates. Practical usage of hemicellulose is generally limited to its conversion to bio-ethanol. Here, we aimed to prepare hemicellulolic oligosaccharides, more valuable products other than ethanol. Therefore, the Hinoki slurry was treated with lime at room temperature for 3 h, and then neutralized with HCl. The resulting sample was treated with 13 types of commercial enzymes, and the saccharides produced in the supernatant were evaluated. The result showed that the commercial enzyme Cellulase SS (Nagase & Co., LTD.) effectively degraded the slurry to produce disaccharides and trisaccharides. Analysis of sugar components by liquid chromatography/mass spectrography (LC/MS) after the derivation with ethyl 4-aminobenzoate (ABEE) showed that mannobiose, mannotriose, and cellobiose were the major oligosaccharides. These results indicate valuable oligosaccharides can be successfully produced from Hinoki softwood slurry.
Ninety male Wistar rats were selected under the “Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals” for skin-muscle wound models. Three groups of animals were examined respectively for inoculation of inhibitor of p38 MAPK (mitogen activated protein kinase) SB 203580 and JNK inhibitor SP 600125, and a control. Light microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and tensometry revealed that the inhibition of p38 or JNK cascades have modified the formation of the connective tissue scar. The degree of connective tissue growth in the area of surgical wound had been significantly reduced by the end of observation (30 d) as the SB 203580 was applied (% volume of collagen 43.60 (41.05 – 60.15)