Biotransformation of indigo carmine to isatin sulfonic acid by lyophilized mycelia from Trametes versicolor

Indigo carmine (IC) was biotrasformed to 5-isatinsulfonic acid using intracellular and associated enzymes from Trametes versicolor lyophilized mycelia; even when extracellular enzymes were absent, in high concentration solutions of IC (4 000 mg L-1) and non-sterile condition. T. versicolor was grown in wheat strew and malt extract liquid medium and harvested during the stationary growth phase, it was lyophilized and made to react with indigo carmine. Experimental series were performed at different IC concentrations (from 100 to 4000 mg L-1). Color removal was 99.90, 98.75, 88.35, 79.47, 70.0 and 40.35% for 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 mg L-1 of IC, respectively after 120 h with exception for 100 mg L-1 of IC, which reached total color removal after 1 h. Reacted mixture byproducts were separated by column chromatography. IC biotransformation to 5-isatinsulfonic acid was confirmed by HPLC, UV-VIS, FT- IR, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. Activity of laccase from lyophilized mycelia was conserved after one year at 4°C. Dehydrated biological material in colorant biodegradation is a new method which allows obtaining high discoloration efficiencies. Lyophilized mycelia could be more stable than traditionally used wet biomass or liquid culture for biodegradation of color dye.Key words: Biodegradation, indigo carmine, Trametes versicolor

Microstructural, Mechanical and Wear Properties of Atmospheric Plasma-Sprayed and High-Velocity Oxy-Fuel AlCoCrFeNi Equiatomic High-Entropy Alloys (HEAs) Coatings

In this investigation, atmospheric plasma spray (APS) and high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) techniques were used to produce AlCoCrFeNi coatings. High-entropy alloys (HEAs), due to their mechanical, chemical, and physical properties are capturing the attention of the international scientific community. Starting feedstock powders were characterized in terms of size, phase, and size, and corrosion test in NaCl, ball on disk, rubber wheel, and jet erosion tests was carried out on the obtained coatings. The results of the tribological investigation show that in the case of APS coatings, corrosion and wear behavior depend on the microstructure phases of the coating, as well as the amount of oxides. In particular, the wear morphology of APS surfaces is characterized by brittle fracture, with the presence of pores, cracks, and grooves. For HVOF coatings, further investigations on process parameters are needed because of the poor adhesion strength between the coating and the substrate. Anyway, the obtained corrosion resistance of HVOF coating is greater than that of the C steel substrate used to benchmark the results, and in addition, it ensures better performances in rubber wheel and jet erosion tests, but its wear resistance in the ball-ondisk test is worse because of the debris remaining in the wear track

Zinc(II), cobalt(II) and manganese(II) networks with phosphoserine ligand: Synthesis, crystal structures magnetic and conduction properties

A series of zinc(II), cobalt(II) and manganese(II) coordination networks with the phosphoserine ligand (Pser) is synthesized and characterized. Whereas in compounds 1 and 2 with the general formula [M(Pser)]n [M = Zn (1) and Co(2)], the metal(II) ion presents a tetrahedral geometry, in [Co(Pser)(H2O)2]n (3) and [Mn(Pser)(H2O)]n (4)], the metal(II) ions are in a distorted octahedral geometry. The 3D frameworks are formed by inorganic layers built up from MO4 or MO6 polyhedra and phosphate groups. These layers are linked by the carboxylate groups of the phosphoserine ligand. The presence of extended hydrogen bonding stabilizes the 3D network and favors the proton transfer leading to moderate proton conductors. The highest proton conductivity, 2.70·10−5 S cm−1 (at 80 ºC and 95% RH), is obtained for compound 3. Temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements for 2−4 reveal predominant antiferromagnetic interactions between the paramagnetic metal(II) ions.Proyectos MAT2013-41836-R y MAT2016-77648-R del MINECO, y proyecto (P12-FQM-1656) de la Junta de Andalucía

SSDSS IV MaNGA - Properties of AGN host galaxies

We present here the characterization of the main properties of a sample of 98 AGN host galaxies, both type-II and type-I, in comparison with those of about 2700 non-active galaxies observed by the MaNGA survey. We found that AGN hosts are morphologically early-type or early-spirals. For a given morphology AGN hosts are, in average, more massive, more compact, more central peaked and rather pressurethan rotational-supported systems. We confirm previous results indicating that AGN hosts are located in the intermediate/transition region between star-forming and non-star-forming galaxies (i.e., the so-called green valley), both in the ColorMagnitude and the star formation main sequence diagrams. Taking into account their relative distribution in terms of the stellar metallicity and oxygen gas abundance and a rough estimation of their molecular gas content, we consider that these galaxies are in the process of halting/quenching the star formation, in an actual transition between both groups. The analysis of the radial distributions of the starformation rate, specific star-formation rate, and molecular gas density shows that the quenching happens from inside-out involving both a decrease of the efficiency of the star formation and a deficit of molecular gas. All the intermediate data-products used to derive the results of our analysis are distributed in a database including the spatial distribution and average properties of the stellar populations and ionized gas, published as a Sloan Digital Sky Survey Value Added Catalog being part of the 14th Data Release: http://www.sdss.org/dr14/manga/manga-data/manga-pipe3d-value-added-catalog/Comment: 48 pages, 14 figures, in press in RMxA

The M_BH - M_star relation for X-ray obscured, red QSOs at 1.2< z <2.6

We present near-infrared spectra, obtained with SINFONI and XShooter observations at ESO VLT, of nine dusty, red QSOs at 1.2<z<2.6. The sources are hard X-ray detected, characterized by cold absorption (N_H>10^{21} - 10^{22} cm^{-2}) and show a broad Ha component in the NIR spectra. We complement this sample with twelve additional sources taken from the literature with similar properties resulting in a total sample of 21 X-ray obscured, intermediate type (1.8-1.9), dusty reddened QSOs. From the broad Ha line we have computed the BH masses through the virial formula and derived Eddington ratios. Moreover, from optical/IR multi-component SED fitting we have derived the stellar mass of their host galaxies and their SFRs. We find that most of the sources in our sample are hosted in starburst and main sequence star-forming galaxies with Eddington ratios lambda>0.1. We find a strong trend with the BH mass i.e. less massive objects are scattered below and above the local relation while the most massive ones are mainly located above it. We also studied the evolution of these sources on the M_BH-M_star plane compared to a sample of optically blue type--1 QSOs and we find that obscured red QSOs show a ratio of M_BH to M_star that increases with redshift which is consistent with or slightly lower than what has been found for blue QSOs. These sources may represent the blow-out phase at the end of the rapid BH growth and immediately preceding the classical blue QSOs typically sampled in optical surveys. They in fact show evidence of outflows in the ionized gas component, but their BH has already fully formed.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures accepted for publication in MNRAS in MNRA

The rest-frame ultraviolet properties of radio-loud broad absorption line quasars

We recently presented radio observations of a large sample of radio-loud broad absorption line (BAL) quasars from the SDSS and FIRST surveys, as well as a well matched sample of unabsorbed quasars, primarily to measure their radio spectral indices and estimate ensemble orientations. Here, we analyze the SDSS spectra of these samples and compare the rest-frame ultraviolet properties of radio-loud BAL and non-BAL quasars. Ultraviolet properties include the continuum shape, emission-line measurements of C IV, Al III, C III], Fe II, and Mg II, and BAL properties including the balnicity index (BI), absorption index (AI), and minimum and maximum outflow velocities. We find that radio-loud BAL quasars have similar ultraviolet properties compared to radio-loud non-BAL sources, though they do appear to have redder continua and stronger Fe II emission, which is consistent with what is found for radio-quiet BAL sources. No correlations exist between outflow properties and orientation (radio spectral index), suggesting that BAL winds along any line of sight are driven by the same mechanisms. There are also few correlations between spectral index and other properties. We conclude that BAL outflows occur along all lines of sight with similar strengths and velocities.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Tables 1 and 2 will be published in full with the final online publicatio