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Solid Components (solid + component)
Selected AbstractsForamen of Monro meningioma with atypical appearance: CT and conventional MR findingsJOURNAL OF MEDICAL IMAGING AND RADIATION ONCOLOGY, Issue 2007B Hakyemez SUMMARY Intraventricular meningiomas have often been reported; however, literature reveals very few cases localized within foramen of Monro. Herein we report a 57-year-old woman admitted with obstructive hydrocephalus-related symptoms. Strikingly, the lesion was completely calcified in CT and had no marked solid component on MRI. The lesion was completely removed by surgical resection with a transfrontal intraventricular approach. The resected mass was histopathologically diagnosed as meningioma. The patient's symptoms resolved immediately after the operation. [source] Effect of the proteolytic enzyme serrapeptase in patients with chronic airway diseaseRESPIROLOGY, Issue 3 2003Seiichi NAKAMURA Objectives: The proteolytic enzyme serrapeptase (SER) is widely used in clinical practice in Japan. We investigated the effect of SER on sputum properties and symptoms in patients with chronic airway diseases. Methods: This study was an open-labelled trial with a non-treatment control group. Patients were randomly assigned to oral treatment with (n = 15) and without (n = 14) SER 30 mg/day for 4 weeks. Patients collected sputum samples for about 4 h in the morning on the day the trial began and 4 weeks later. We measured the amount of sputum by weighing. Part of each sputum sample was weighed and then completely dried and reweighed. The percentage solid component, viscosity and elasticity of the sputum were measured. Mucociliary transportability index was measured using ciliated bovine trachea ex vivo. Sputum smears were also prepared to count sputum neutrophils. Patients' symptoms were assessed by a questionnaire that used a visual analogue scale. Results: After 4 weeks of SER treatment, sputum weight in the morning, percentage solid component, viscosity and elasticity of sputum, sputum neutrophil count, frequency of coughing and frequency of expectoration significantly decreased. The mean mucociliary transportability index increased from 13.3 ± 1.8 to 24.4 ± 2.5 (P = 0.0103). Conclusions: SER may exert a beneficial effect on mucus clearance by reducing neutrophil numbers and altering the viscoelasticity of sputum in patients with chronic airway diseases. [source] Immobilization of the heavy metals Cd, Cu and Pb in an acid soil amended with gypsum- and lime-rich industrial by-productsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2004V. Illera Summary In situ stabilization of heavy metals in contaminated soils by the addition of various types of soil amendment is an attractive technique for remediation. We investigated the potential of three industrial by-products (phosphogypsum, red gypsum and dolomitic residue) for boosting the heavy metal sorption capacity of an acid soil (patents pending, Spanish applications no 200201704 and 200201375) by using sorption isotherm experiments. The three by-products were found substantially to increase the retention of lead, cadmium and copper on the solid components of the soil. The increase in lead retention of the soil horizons upon the addition of both phosphogypsum and red gypsum was dominated by the formation of anglesite minerals. The dolomitic residue increased the metal retention capacity of the soil horizons through the precipitation of laurionite-type minerals as well as cadmium and copper hydroxy-chlorides. In addition to the batch sorption study, we used scanning electron microscopy to investigate the metal sorption processes in the soil by the effect of the treatments. Lead was frequently found to be linked to the edge charges of kaolinite minerals. The three metals were found to be associated with organic matter in the Ap horizon treated with the three by-products. Finally, the three metals were found to be associated with undissolved dolomitic residue particles. [source] A kinetic perspective on extracellular electron transfer by anode-respiring bacteriaFEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS, Issue 1 2010César I. Torres Abstract In microbial fuel cells and electrolysis cells (MXCs), anode-respiring bacteria (ARB) oxidize organic substrates to produce electrical current. In order to develop an electrical current, ARB must transfer electrons to a solid anode through extracellular electron transfer (EET). ARB use various EET mechanisms to transfer electrons to the anode, including direct contact through outer-membrane proteins, diffusion of soluble electron shuttles, and electron transport through solid components of the extracellular biofilm matrix. In this review, we perform a novel kinetic analysis of each EET mechanism by analyzing the results available in the literature. Our goal is to evaluate how well each EET mechanism can produce a high current density (>10 A m,2) without a large anode potential loss (less than a few hundred millivolts), which are feasibility goals of MXCs. Direct contact of ARB to the anode cannot achieve high current densities due to the limited number of cells that can come in direct contact with the anode. Slow diffusive flux of electron shuttles at commonly observed concentrations limits current generation and results in high potential losses, as has been observed experimentally. Only electron transport through a solid conductive matrix can explain observations of high current densities and low anode potential losses. Thus, a study of the biological components that create a solid conductive matrix is of critical importance for understanding the function of ARB. [source] A unified formulation for continuum mechanics applied to fluid,structure interaction in flexible tubesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 12 2005C. J. Greenshields Abstract This paper outlines the development of a new procedure for analysing continuum mechanics problems with a particular focus on fluid,structure interaction in flexible tubes. A review of current methods of fluid,structure coupling highlights common limitations of high computational cost and solution instability. It is proposed that these limitations can be overcome by an alternative approach in which both fluid and solid components are solved within a single discretized continuum domain. A single system of momentum and continuity equations is therefore derived that governs both fluids and solids and which are solved with a single mesh using finite volume discretization schemes. The method is validated first by simulating dynamic oscillation of a clamped elastic beam. It is then applied to study the case of interest,wave propagation in highly flexible tubes,in which a predicted wave speed of 8.58 m/s falls within 2% of an approximate analytical solution. The method shows further good agreement with analytical solutions for tubes of increasing rigidity, covering a range of wave speeds from those found in arteries to that in the undisturbed fluid. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Fermentation of enzymatic hydrolysates from olive stones by Pachysolen tannophilusJOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Manuel Cuevas Abstract BACKGROUND: Olive stones were pretreated with liquid hot water (LHW or autohydrolysis) at maximum temperatures between 175 and 225 °C (severity factors, logR0, between 2.73 and 4.39) to be subjected (both liquid and solid components) afterwards to enzymatic hydrolysis with cellulases from Trichoderma viride. Ethanol fermentation of hydrolysates was performed with the non-traditional yeast Pachysolen tannophilus ATCC 32691. RESULTS: After the enzymatic step, yields of hemicellulose solubilization reached 100%, while the cellulose was only partially hydrolysed (23%, logR0 = 4.39). The maximum yields in total reducing sugars and acetic acid, at the upper end of the severity range, was close to 0.25 and 0.04 g g,1 dry stone, respectively. During the fermentation stage, the increase in R0 reduced the maximum specific growth rate, biomass productivity, and overall biomass yield. The overall yields of ethanol and xylitol ranged, respectively, from 0.18 to 0.25 g g,1 and from 0.01 to 0.13 g g,1. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate the possibility of producing ethanol from olive stones, making use of the cellulose and hemicellulose fraction of the waste. It was confirmed that the overall yield in xylitol strongly depended on severity factor, while the overall yield in ethanol remained practically constant for all the pretreatment conditions tested. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Milk Protein Analysis Using a Micro Fabricated Sieve: A Promising PossibilityJOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 3 2001C.S. Rao ABSTRACT: In cheese making, proteins present in the micellar phase, i.e., ,, ,, ,, , casein and their variants, determine the yield and properties of the final product (Walsh and others 1995). The current milk prices are based on solid components, that is, fat, total protein and other solids. However, the cheese yields are extremely sensitive to variations in protein sub-components. Thus, total protein content, although a simple measure of yield, is not the most accurate one. In the future, the food industry might require simple tools to analyze protein components in a given sample of milk. Two features of such a tool, portability and accuracy, would be invaluable. In this article, a protocol for design of a micro-scale sieve for the separation of proteins is conceived. [source] Design of granule structure: Computational methods and experimental realizationAICHE JOURNAL, Issue 11 2006Mansoor A. Ansari Abstract The spatial distribution of solid components and porosity within a composite granule,its microstructure,is an important attribute as it carries information about the processing history of the granule and determines its end-use application properties, particularly the dissolution rate. In this work, the problem of rational design of granule structure is formulated, and two methods for its solution are proposed,stochastic design, which is based on random permutation of points within the structure using the simulated annealing algorithm, and variational design, which is based on direct simulation of granule formation from its constituent primary particles, followed by direct simulation of granule dissolution. The variational design method is demonstrated in a case study of the effect of primary particle size, radial distribution of components, and composition of a two-component granule (active, excipient) on the dissolution profile. Selected granule structures designed computationally were also physically made by fluid-bed granulation, their structure analyzed by X-ray micro-tomography, and dissolution curves measured. It was confirmed that the designed structures are feasible to manufacture and that they meet the required dissolution profiles. © 2006 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2006 [source] Cloning and expression of a Melanocarpus albomyces steryl esterase gene in Pichia pastoris and Trichoderma reeseiBIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING, Issue 3 2006Hanna Kontkanen Abstract The ste1 gene encoding a steryl esterase was isolated from the thermophilic fungus Melanocarpus albomyces. The gene has one intron, and it encodes a protein consisting of 576 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of the steryl esterase was shown to be related to lipases and other esterases such as carboxylesterases. Formation of mature protein requires post-translational removal of a putative 18-amino-acid signal sequence and a 13-residue propeptide at the N-terminus. The intronless version of the Melanocarpus albomyces ste1 gene was expressed in Pichia pastoris under the inducible AOX1 promoter. The production level was low, and a large proportion of the total activity yield was found to be present intracellularly. However, the fact that steryl esterase activity was produced by P. pastoris cells carrying the expression cassette confirmed that the correct gene had been cloned. The ste1 gene was subsequently expressed in T. reesei under the inducible cbh1 promoter, and a clearly higher production level was obtained. About 60% of the total activity was bound to the fungal mycelium or to solid components of the culture medium, or existed as aggregates. Triton X-100 was successfully used to recover this activity. The heterologous production system in T. reesei provides a means of producing M. albomyces steryl esterase STE1 reliably in large scale for future studies. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||||||||