Characterizing Information Propagation in Plants

This paper considers an electro-chemical based communication model for intercellular communication in plants. Many plants, such as Mimosa pudica (the "sensitive plant"), employ electrochemical signals known as action potentials (APs) for communication purposes. In this paper we present a simple model for action potential generation. We make use of the concepts from molecular communication to explain the underlying process of information transfer in a plant. Using the information-theoretic analysis, we compute the mutual information between the input and output in this work. The key aim is to study the variations in the information propagation speed for varying number of plant cells for one simple case. Furthermore we study the impact of the AP signal on the mutual information and information propagation speed. We aim to explore further that how the growth rate in plants can impact the information transfer rate and vice versa.Comment: 6 pages, 5 Figures, Submitted to IEEE Conference, 201

Alginate-containing Compositions For Use In Battery Applications

A silicon-based anode comprises an alginate-containing binder. The many carboxy groups of alginate bind to a surface of silicon, creating strong, rigid hydrogen bonds that withstand battery cycling. The alginate-containing binder provides good performance to the anode by (1) improving the capacity of the anode in comparison to other commercially-available binders, (2) improving Columbonic efficiency during charging and discharging cycles, and (3) improving stability during charging and discharging cycles.Clemson UniversityGeorgia Tech Research Corporatio

Lipase-ultrasound assisted synthesis of polyesters

Poly (ethylene glutarate), poly (ethylene malonate) and poly (ethylene phthalate), were enzymatically synthesized by immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B in solvent free conditions. The synthesis of these polyesters was based on the ester-ester exchange reaction between ethylene glycol diacetate and di-ethyl glutarate, di-benzyl malonate, di-n-octyl phthalate to produce poly (ethylene glutarate), poly (ethylene malonate) and poly (ethylene phthalate), respectively. The effect of ultrasound and PET polymeric beads on the polyester synthesis was evaluated and showed to improve the synthesis of all polyesters. Ultrasound, as a green solvent-free technology, showed high potentiality for the polyester synthesis intensification.All authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by International Joint Research Laboratory for Textile and Fibre Bioprocesses at Jiangnan University. The authors are also thankful to the Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga (E), Mumbai-400019, India and to the Bioprocess and Bio nanotechnology Research Group (BBRG) of University of Minho. Authors would like also to acknowledge the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 Programa Operacional Regional do Norte and to the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. JUSRP51622A) 2016, Jiangsu Province Scientific Research Innovation Project for Academic Graduate Students (No. KYLX16_0788).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evaluating Enzymatic Productivity—The Missing Link to Enzyme Utility

Kinetic productivity analysis is critical to the characterization of enzyme catalytic performance and capacity. However, productivity analysis has been largely overlooked in the published literature. Less than 0.01% of studies which report on enzyme characterization present productivity analysis, despite the fact that this is the only measurement method that provides a reliable indicator of potential commercial utility. Here, we argue that reporting productivity data involving native, modified, and immobilized enzymes under different reaction conditions will be of immense value in optimizing enzymatic processes, with a view to accelerating biotechnological applications. With the use of examples from wide‐ranging studies, we demonstrate that productivity is a measure of critical importance to the translational and commercial use of enzymes and processes that employ them. We conclude the review by suggesting steps to maximize the productivity of enzyme catalyzed reactions

Laccase-based technologies to remove organic pollutants from soils and wastewaters

Pollution of soil and water is an environmental issue worldwide. Thereby, the development and implementation of low-cost and eco-friendly treatments for the decontamination of polluted sites and wastewater is a priority. In this regard, the use of biological agents, as white rot fungi, to degrade and detoxify environmental contaminants has emerged as a potential alternative. These microorganisms have been reported to remove a wide range of xenobiotics by the action of the extracellular lignin-modifying enzymes, such as peroxidases and laccases. Laccases (copper-containing oxidases, EC 1.10.3.2) are promising biocatalysts due to their oxidative versatility and low catalytic requirements. Laccases, as well as laccase-mediator systems, have been successfully used to oxidatively detoxify and remove a great number of contaminants. The potential of laccase is explored in the current research aiming to develop continuous or semicontinuous technologies to remove pollutants of concern, such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Emerging Organic Contaminants (EOCs), from real environmental matrices. In the first section of the Thesis, the use of laccase is investigated to degrade PAHs. The natural biodegradation of these toxic pollutants is restricted by two major factors: low water solubility and high hydrophobicity, which make PAHs persistent pollutants in soil. Extraction with solvents or surfactants is an alternative to remove PAHs from soils. However, this technique by itself does not degrade the pollutants, but only attains their transfer to another phase. Enzymatic remediation with laccase may be a feasible alternative, but requires the addition of surfactants or solvents to increase the pollutant bioavailability for the enzymatic action. Initially, different reactor configurations (micellar, biphasic and the combination of both) were evaluated to perform the laccase-catalyzed degradation of anthracene, the model PAH. The use of a Two Phase Partitioning Bioreactor (TPPB) with silicone oil and the addition of surfactant in the aqueous phase allowed the enzymatic treatment of high loads of anthracene at fast conversion rate. Subsequently, the use of vegetable oils (sunflower or pomace olive oil) as organic phase in the TPPB was proposed to dissolve high concentrations of the target pollutant. Pomace olive oil led to the best results and after optimizing the operational conditions in the TPPB, a novel remediation process to remove anthracene from polluted soils was proposed. The process consisted of the extraction of anthracene from the soil by the oil followed by its degradation in a surfactant-assisted TPPB, operated with a laccase-mediator system. The main outcomes of this study showed high extraction efficiency for pomace olive oil and high removal rate of anthracene in the TPPB. Moreover, the feasibility of reusing both the aqueous and organic phases of the TPPB in successive batches of anthracene degradation in the reactor was also demonstrated. The second section of the Thesis focuses on the enzymatic removal of EOCs from aqueous systems. The industrial chemical bisphenol A and pharmaceuticals active compounds are examples of EOCs frequently detected in wastewaters, considered as the main source of EOCs entering the environment. The application of laccases in tertiary wastewater treatment requires the retention of the biocatalyst in the reactor. In the current research, two main approaches were considered to fulfill such requirement. On one hand, the use of an enzymatic membrane reactor with a ceramic membrane was considered to perform the continuous removal of BPA from secondary effluent by free laccase. The second approach consisted of the immobilization of laccase onto nanoparticles or magnetic microparticles, prior to its application to remove micropollutants from secondary effluents. Immobilization not only facilitated the retention of the biocatalyst in the system by a high pore size membrane or by applying an external magnetic field, but also increased laccase stability