The concern related to the environmental degradation and to the exhaustion of natural resources has induced the research on biodegradable materials obtained from renewable sources, which involves fundamental properties and general application. In this context, we have fabricated thin films of lignins, which were extracted from sugar cane bagasse via modified organosolv process using ethanol as org

An increase of the reports involving mimetic systems has been observed. Briefly, these systems use biological phospholipids to exploit specific interactions between membrane-models and drugs. Here, the Layer-by-Layer (LbL) and Langmuir techniques were used to investigate the interaction between cardiolipin (CLP - negative phospholipid) and a cationic-like drug methylene blue (MB). Supported by a c

Spent Sulfite Liquor (SSL) from wood pulping facilities is a sugar rich effluent that can be used as feedstock for ethanol production. However, depending on the pulping process conditions, the release of monosaccharides also generates a range of compounds that negatively affect microbial fermentation. In the present study, we investigated whether endogenous yeasts in SSL-based ethanol plant could

It is known that the molecular architecture plays a fundamental role in the electrical and optical properties of materials processed in the form of thin films. Here, zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) thin films were fabricated through the vacuum thermal evaporation technique (PVD, physical vapor deposition) up to 50 nm thickness with the objective of determining their molecular architecture and some elec

Phospholipids are widely used as mimetic systems to exploit interactions involving biological membranes and pharmacological drugs. In this work, the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique was used as a new approach to produce multilayered thin films containing biological phospholipids applied as transducers onto Pt interdigitated electrodes forming sensing units of an electronic tongue system. Low concent

The possibility of generating distinct film properties from the same material is crucial for a number of applications, which can only be achieved by controlling the molecular architecture. In this paper we demonstrate as a proof-of-principle that ultrathin films produced from iron phthalocyanine (FePc) may be used to detect trace amounts of copper ions in water, where advantage was taken of the cr

The detection of trace amounts of phenothiazines with fast, direct methods is important for medical applications and the pharmaceutical industry. In this paper we explore the concept of an electronic tongue to detect methylene blue (MB), with a sensor array comprising 6 units. These units were a bare Pt electrode, and Pt electrodes coated with 1 -layer LB films of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (

Thin solid films of bis benzimidazo perylene (AzoPTCD) were fabricated using physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique. Thermal stability and integrity of the AzoPTCD PVD films during the fabrication (∼400 °C at 10 -6 Torr) were monitored by Raman scattering. Complementary thermogravimetric results showed that thermal degradation of AzoPTCD occurs at 675 °C. The growth of the PVD films was establi

The kinetics of the buildup and decay of photoinduced birefringence was examined in a series of host-guest systems: azobenzene-containing crown ethers, differing in the size of the crowns, dissolved in a poly (methyl methacrylate) matrix. In all samples, the kinetics of the buildup of the birefringence was reasonably described by a sum of two exponential functions, the time constants being inverse

Background and aims: Gambling-related crimes are known to be associated with gambling disorder (GD). Due to a lack of consensus in the scientific community regarding the relevance of this diagnostic criterion, it was removed from the DSM-5. The primary aim of this study was to investigate through structural equation modeling (SEM) whether higher GD severity in treatment-seeking GD patients with a

Aims: To assess the impact of sampling bias due to reported as well as unreported exclusion of the target population in a multi-center randomized controlled trial (RCT)of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods and Results: We compared clinical characteristics and mortality between participants in the DANAMI-3 trial to contemporary non-participants with STEMI using unselected registrie

Bioreduction has emerged over the years as an alternative method to organic synthesis for the generation of chiral precursors of commercial interest. Bioreductions operate under mild conditions of pH and temperature with the help of highly regio- and enantio-selective oxidoreductase enzymes.In this contribution, the different oxidoreductase families involved in bioreductions are exemplified and th

A method for forming an aggregate of assembled aligned nanowires (20), wherein said nanowires comprise an elongate wire portion (21) and a head portion (23) at a first end of the elongate wire portion, comprising providing a fluid comprising a first liquid (11), a second liquid (12) and a plurality of nanowires, wherein the first and second liquids phase separate into a first phase, a second phase

A low-pressure, position-sensitive, multi-wire proportional chamber (LPMWPC) system with an active area 12×12 cm 2 for the detection of heavy nuclear fragments, has been developed for use in tagged photon beam experiments. The LPMWPC system can be operated in single as well as double step operational modes. In the case of double step operational mode with a high gas amplification factor, signals f

Rayleigh streaming in a homogeneous fluid has been extensively studied, and plays an important role in the manipulation of particles in microscale acoustofluidics. In this work, the acoustic streaming is investigated in a glass-silicon microchannel as it evolves in fluids made inhomogeneous in density and compressibility (or speed of sound) by the addition of solute molecules. It is found that the

The kaon electroproduction reaction 1H(e,e′K+)Λ was studied as a function of the virtual-photon four-momentum, Q2, total energy, W, and momentum transfer, t, for different values of the virtual-photon polarization parameter. Data were taken at electron beam energies ranging from 3.40 to 5.75 GeV. The center of mass cross section was determined for twenty-one kinematics corresponding to Q2 of 1.90