Cell Size Decreased (cell + size_decreased)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Composites of rigid polyurethane foam and cellulose fiber residue

JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE, Issue 6 2010
M. C. Silva
Abstract Rigid polyurethane composite foams were prepared with cellulose fibers as a filler. The cellulose fibers were an industrial residue of blanched cellulose pulp production. The influence of the cellulose fiber concentration on the structural, thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties of the foams was investigated. We also studied the influence of the cellulose fibers on the foam's resistance to fungal attack by placing a suspension of known fungus in contact with the surface of the foam and following the morphological evolution as a function of time (for 60 days). The increase in the cellulose filler concentration in the foams, up to 16% w/w with respect to the polyol, changed their properties as follows: (1) the cell size decreased, (2) the thermooxidative stability and mechanical properties remained approximately constant, (3) the thermal conductivity decreased slightly, and (4) fungal growth was observed. Therefore, a cellulosic fibrous industrial residue was rationally valorized as a filler in classical rigid polyurethane foams; this yielded materials with mechanical resistance and a susceptibility to fungi in a wet environment. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010 [source]


Using Chitosan as a Nucleation Agent in Thermoplastic Foams for Heavy Metal Adsorption

MACROMOLECULAR SYMPOSIA, Issue 1 2009
Milton O. Vázquez
Abstract Thermoplastics/chitosan-powder composite foams were prepared by extrusion using azodicarbonamide (ACA) as chemical blowing agent. The effect of chitosan content on morphology (cell size, nucleation density and foam density) of the foams was studied. Chitosan particles are located on the bubbles periphery. Morphological quantification showed that foam cell size decreased and cell population increased with addition of chitosan into polymeric matrix from 1 to 10%. Further, optimum chitosan content was obtained for each polymer. Polymers foamed with chitosan were tested as a chelating resin to adsorb chromium (Cr VI) from different concentration solutions. [source]


Effect of eggshell powder as nucleating agent on the structure, morphology and functional properties of normal corn starch foams,

PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Issue 3 2007
Yixiang Xu
Abstract Corn starch and eggshell powder (with particle sizes of 4,5µm and 8,10µm) composite foams were prepared by extrusion. Effects of eggshell on the structure, morphology, physical properties (unit density and expansion ratio), mechanical properties (spring index and compressibility) and thermal behaviour (thermal transition and stability) of the foams were investigated. Foam cell size decreased and cell population increased with addition of eggshell into starch matrix. The foam unit density, expansion ratio and compressibility decreased significantly (p < 0.05), while the spring index increased significantly (p < 0.05) as the eggshell content increased from 0 to 6wt%. Further increasing eggshell content to 10wt% increased the unit density and compressibility and decreased the expansion ratio and spring index. The thermal transition and stability increased with the addition of eggshell. The optimum eggshell content was 6wt% and the smaller-sized eggshell powder had a favourable effect on the functional properties of the foams. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Anti-apoptotic genes Aven and E1B-19K enhance performance of BHK cells engineered to express recombinant factor VIII in batch and low perfusion cell culture

BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING, Issue 4 2007
Toey Nivitchanyong
Abstract The engineering of production cell lines to express anti-apoptotic genes has been pursued in recent years due to potential process benefits, including enhanced cell survival, increased protein expression, and improved product quality. In this study, a baby hamster kidney cell line secreting recombinant factor VIII (BHK-FVIII) was engineered to express the anti-apoptotic genes Aven and E1B-19K. In high cell density shake flask culture evaluation, 11 clonal cell lines expressing either E1B-19K or a combination of Aven and E1B-19K showed improved survival compared to both parental and blank vector cell line controls. These cell lines exhibited lower caspase-3 activation and reduced Annexin-V binding compared to the controls. Parental and blank vector cell lines were less than 50% viable after 48 h of exposure to thapsigargin while cell lines expressing E1B-19K with or without Aven maintained viabilities approaching 90%. Subsequently, the best Aven-E1B-19K candidate cell line was compared to the parental cell line in 12-L perfusion bioreactor studies. Choosing the appropriate perfusion rates in bioreactors is a bioprocess optimization issue, so the bioreactors were operated at sequentially lower specific perfusion rates, while maintaining a cell density of 2,×,107 viable cells/mL. The viability of the parental cell line declined from nearly 100% at a perfusion rate of 0.5 nL/cell/day to below 80% viability, with caspase-3 activity exceeding 15%, at its lower perfusion limit of 0.15 nL/cell/day. In contrast, the Aven-E1B-19K cell line maintained an average viability of 94% and a maximum caspase-3 activity of 2.5% even when subjected to a lower perfusion minimum of 0.1 nL/cell/day. Factor VIII productivity, specific growth rate, and cell size decreased for both cell lines at lower perfusion rates, but the drop in all cases was larger for the parental cell line. Specific consumption of glucose and glutamine and production of lactate were consistently lower for the Aven-E1B-19K culture. Furthermore, the yield of ammonia from glutamine increased for the Aven-E1B-19K cell line relative to the parent to suggest altered metabolic pathways following anti-apoptosis engineering. These results demonstrate that expression of anti-apoptotic genes Aven and E1B-19K can increase the stability and robustness of an industrially relevant BHK-FVIII mammalian cell line over a wide range of perfusion rates. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007; 98: 825,841. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]