Oleic acid esterification catalyzed by zeolite y - model of the biomass conversion

Lignocellulosic biomass is a promising renewable source for production of fuels and chemicals with significant life cycle and economy of scale advantages over other biomass sources, such as starches, vegetable oils, and animal fats. The large-scale application of zeolites in biomass conversion can be explained by with adjustable confinement at the nano scale, Brønsted acid strength that derive from its Si/Al ratio and high thermal stability1. In this context, the aim of this study was to test the catalytic activity of zeolite H-Y with high Si/Al ratio for its application in the esterification reaction of oleic acid (OA) with methanol (MeOH) for the synthesis of alkyl esters. Zeolite Y in protonated form with Si / Al = 80 ratio was obtained from Zeolyst International. The catalytic activity of zeolite H-Y was carried out using the esterification reaction of OA by MeOH. The experiments were conducted in reflux system with magnetic stirring at different temperatures (60 and 75 °C), catalyst contents (10 %), OA mass ratios (1:2, 1:3 and 1:6) and residence times (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4.5, 6, 8, 12 and 16 hs). The reaction mixture was collected from the reflux system, and cooled to room temperature. The solution was removed from the catalyst by filtration. The conversion was defined as the change of acid content before and after the oil reaction by the acid content of the initial oil. An interpretation of the catalytic activity is given from theoretical calculations.Analysis indicate that the increase in reaction time results in higher ester conversion rates, reaching the reaction equilibrium after 16 hs of reaction, according to Kirumakki et. al. the time required to achieve equilibrium depends on the reactants used2. It is observed that the conversion of OA results in a high reaction time when is compared to previous works2-4, the main effect for this system is centered in the high Si/Al ratio, which results in the less presence of active sites available in the catalytic process. The optimum reaction conditions were obtained with a molar ratio of 1:3 and 75 °C, resulting in 82 % conversion of ester after 16 hs of reaction. The higher alcohol concentration in the system shifts the equilibrium of the reaction towards the formation of products, as well as the decrease in the viscosity of the reactional system, reducing the transfer rate, which results in a high conversion when compared to the others catalytic tests. According to our previous work, the esterification of carboxylic acids presents a competitive adsorption between methanol and carboxylic acid on the Brønsted acid site5, so that the main hypothesis for the lower product conversion in the esterification reaction with 1:6 molar ratio is related to the adsorption of MeOH on the active site. The effect of self-catalysis on the reactional environment is not reported in the studies cited, according to Raia et. al., auto-catalysis in esterification has a significant importance in the conversion of free fatty acids6. The uncatalyzed reaction resulted in approximately 16 % conversion after 16 hs of reaction, and this result serves as a comparison for the conditions in which the catalyst is added to the system. The H-Y catalyst proved to be efficient and promising for the esterification of OA with MeOH, however, it presented a high reaction time can be optimized with the increase of temperature and greater mass of catalyst, thus, further studies are needed to describe the reaction mechanisms in order to understand the conversion of biomass on the surface of acid zeolites.Fil: Gomes, Glaucio José. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura. Departamento de Química. Laboratorio de Estructura Molecular y Propiedades; Argentina. Universidade Estadual de Maringá. Departamento de Engenharia Química.; BrasilFil: Dal Pozzo, Daniel M.. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Zalazar, Maria Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Costa, M. B.. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Arroyo, Pedro Augusto. Universidade Estadual de Maringá. Departamento de Engenharia Química.; BrasilFil: Bittencourt, Paulo R. S.. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilVI San Luis School and Conference on Surfaces, Interfaces and CatalysisSanta FeArgentinaInstituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y PetroquímicaUniversidad Nacional del Litora

Oleic Acid Esterification Catalyzed By Zeolite Y-Model of the Biomass Conversion

Residual oils and fats are promising renewable sources for the production of liquid fuels and the synthesis of various chemicals with significant life cycle and large-scale economic advantages over other biomass sources. Thus, oleic acid esterification was investigated on zeolites type FAU and sulfuric acid by kinetic, spectroscopic assessments and theoretical calculations using a hybrid ONIOM scheme. In the catalytic tests, the solid catalyst with the highest Si/Al (H-Y-80) ratio showed the highest catalytic activity for esterification (92% conversion) as compared to H-Y-5.2 (66% conversion), Na-Y (15% conversion) and homogeneous acid catalysis (89% conversion). The catalytic activity between different acid catalysts is discussed. It was observed that the acidity of the active sites and the hydrophobicity resulting from the Si/Al molar ratio influence the esterification conversion. Theoretical calcultations predicts that the voluminous confined space of the FAU zeolite perfectly accommodates the oleic acid molecule in the adsorption step (Eads= -25.5 kJ mol-1) and the van der Waals interactions of the zeolite walls with the aliphatic chain help to accommodate the bulky molecule between the supercages. Experimental and theoretical results confirm that H-Y-80 zeolite applied in the esterification reaction can be an efficient catalyst in processes involving conversion of unsaturated fatty acids.Fil: Gomes, Glaucio José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Dal Pozzo, Daniel M.. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Zalazar, Maria Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura. Instituto de Química Básica y Aplicada del Nordeste Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Budke Costa, Michelle. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Arroyo, Pedro Augusto. Universidade Estadual de Maringá; BrasilFil: Bittencourt, Paulo R. S.. Universidade Federal do Paraná; Brasi

Using shared needles for subcutaneous inoculation can transmit bluetongue virus mechanically between ruminant hosts

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is an economically important arbovirus of ruminants that is transmitted by Culicoides spp. biting midges. BTV infection of ruminants results in a high viraemia, suggesting that repeated sharing of needles between animals could result in its iatrogenic transmission. Studies defining the risk of iatrogenic transmission of blood-borne pathogens by less invasive routes, such as subcutaneous or intradermal inoculations are rare, even though the sharing of needles is common practice for these inoculation routes in the veterinary sector. Here we demonstrate that BTV can be transmitted by needle sharing during subcutaneous inoculation, despite the absence of visible blood contamination of the needles. The incubation period, measured from sharing of needles, to detection of BTV in the recipient sheep or cattle, was substantially longer than has previously been reported after experimental infection of ruminants by either direct inoculation of virus, or through blood feeding by infected Culicoides. Although such mechanical transmission is most likely rare under field condition, these results are likely to influence future advice given in relation to sharing needles during veterinary vaccination campaigns and will also be of interest for the public health sector considering the risk of pathogen transmission during subcutaneous inoculations with re-used needles

Assessment of Patients' Perception of Telemedicine Services Using the Service User Technology Acceptability Questionnaire

Introduction: The purpose of this paper is to assess if similar telemedicine services integrated in the management of different chronic diseases are acceptable and well perceived by patients or if there are any negative perceptions. Theory and methods: Participants suffering from different chronic diseases were enrolled in Veneto Region and gathered into clusters. Each cluster received a similar telemedicine service equipped with different disease-specific measuring devices. Participants were patients with diabetes (n = 163), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n = 180), congestive heart failure (n = 140) and Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices (n = 1635). The Service User Technology Acceptability Questionnaire (SUTAQ) was initially translated, culturally adapted and pretested and subsequently used to assess patients’ perception of telemedicine. Data were collected after 3 months and after 12 months from the beginning of the intervention. Data for patients with implantable devices was collected only at 12 months. Results: Results at 12 months for all clusters are similar and assessed a positive perception of telemedicine. The SUTAQ results for clusters 2 (diabetes), 5 (COPD) and 7 (CHF) after 3 months of intervention were confirmed after 12 months. Conclusions: Telemedicine was perceived as a viable addition to usual care. A positive perception for telemedicine services isn’t a transitory effect, but extends over the course of time

Efficacy, Stability, and Safety Evaluation of New Polyphenolic Xanthones Towards Identification of Bioactive Compounds to Fight Skin Photoaging

Antioxidants have long been used in the cosmetic industry to prevent skin photoaging, which is mediated by oxidative stress, making the search for new antioxidant compounds highly desirable in this field. Naturally occurring xanthones are polyphenolic compounds that can be found in microorganisms, fungi, lichens, and some higher plants. This class of polyphenols has a privileged scaffold that grants them several biological activities. We have previously identified simple oxygenated xanthones as promising antioxidants and disclosed as hit, 1,2-dihydroxyxanthone (1). Herein, we synthesized and studied the potential of xanthones with different polyoxygenated patterns as skin antiphotoaging ingredients. In the DPPH antioxidant assay, two newly synthesized derivatives showed IC₅₀ values in the same range as ascorbic acid. The synthesized xanthones were discovered to be excellent tyrosinase inhibitors and weak to moderate collagenase and elastase inhibitors but no activity was revealed against hyaluronidase. Their metal-chelating effect (FeCl₃ and CuCl₂) as well as their stability at different pH values were characterized to understand their potential to be used as future cosmetic active agents. Among the synthesized polyoxygenated xanthones, 1,2-dihydroxyxanthone (1) was reinforced as the most promising, exhibiting a dual ability to protect the skin against UV damage by combining antioxidant/metal-chelating properties with UV-filter capacity and revealed to be more stable in the pH range that is close to the pH of the skin. Lastly, the phototoxicity of 1,2-dihydroxyxanthone (1) was evaluated in a human keratinocyte cell line and no phototoxicity was observed in the concentration range tested.This research was supported by national funds through FCT, Foundation for Science and Technology, within the scope of UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020 under the project PTDC/SAU-PUB/28736/2017 (reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028736), cofinanced by COMPETE 2020, Portugal 2020 and the European Union through the ERDF and by FCT through national funds, as well as CHIRALBIOACTIVE-PI-3RL-IINFACTS-2019, and supported by the Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit-UCIBIO which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UID/Multi/04378/2019). Thanks are also due to FCT, the European Union, QREN, FEDER, COMPETE, by funding cE3c center (Ref. UID/BIA/00329/2019) and Direcao Regional da Ciencia e Tecnologia (Azores Government) by funding Azorean Biodiversity Group.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

New heterocyclic polyphenols with skin anti-aging potential

Xanthones or dibenzo-gamma-pyrones are heterocyclic polyphenolic compounds that can be found in microorganisms, fungi, lichens, and some higher plants. Structure-activity relationship studies emerged from a library of natural and synthetic polyoxygenated have suggested that xanthones with vicinal diol groups have promising antioxidant activity. Antioxidants have long been used in the cosmetic industry to prevent or minimize skin aging which is mediated by oxidative stress, making the search for new antioxidant agents highly desirable in this field. Considering the structure-activity relationship studies, it was hypothesized that trioxygenated xanthones could be promising antioxidants with potential as skin anti-aging ingredients. Hence, the synthesis of trioxygenated xanthones was attempted by the Smiles rearrangement pathway and also via acyl radical cyclization. The Smiles rearrangement pathway failed to yield the ester intermediate that was essential in this approach and was therefore abandoned. In the acyl radical cyclization method it was possible to obtain the 1,4-dihydroxy-3-methoxy-9H-xanthen-9-one. The antioxidant activity of this new xanthone as well as of four other polyoxygenated xanthones was evaluated by the DPPH assay, and two new derivatives showed IC50 values in the same range as the ascorbic acid. Almost all of the compounds were excellent tyrosinase inhibitors, more active than control inhibitor kojic acid. Concerning the other skin-degrading enzymes, the compounds tested were weak to moderate collagenase inhibitors, and showed no activity against elastase. The stability in presence of metal ions (FeCl3 and CuCl2) and dependence of the pH of their aqueous solutions was also studied, as well as their solubility in water and glycerol. Finally, the phototoxicity of the most promising xanthone was evaluated in a human keratinocyte cell line and no phototoxicity was observed in the concentration range tested, which is an important requirement for topical ingredients. Acknowledgements: This work was developed under the Strategic Funding UID/Multi/04423/2019 and Project No. POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028736, co-financed by COMPETE 2020, Portugal 2020 and the European Union through the ERDF, and by FCT through national funds, QREN,FEDER, COMPETE, by funding the cE3c centre (Ref. UID/BIA/00329/2019) and Azores DRCT for funding ABG. This work was also supported by the Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit-UCIBIO which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UID/Multi/04378/2019

Gravitational Waves From Known Pulsars: Results From The Initial Detector Era

We present the results of searches for gravitational waves from a large selection of pulsars using data from the most recent science runs (S6, VSR2 and VSR4) of the initial generation of interferometric gravitational wave detectors LIGO (Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Observatory) and Virgo. We do not see evidence for gravitational wave emission from any of the targeted sources but produce upper limits on the emission amplitude. We highlight the results from seven young pulsars with large spin-down luminosities. We reach within a factor of five of the canonical spin-down limit for all seven of these, whilst for the Crab and Vela pulsars we further surpass their spin-down limits. We present new or updated limits for 172 other pulsars (including both young and millisecond pulsars). Now that the detectors are undergoing major upgrades, and, for completeness, we bring together all of the most up-to-date results from all pulsars searched for during the operations of the first-generation LIGO, Virgo and GEO600 detectors. This gives a total of 195 pulsars including the most recent results described in this paper.United States National Science FoundationScience and Technology Facilities Council of the United KingdomMax-Planck-SocietyState of Niedersachsen/GermanyAustralian Research CouncilInternational Science Linkages program of the Commonwealth of AustraliaCouncil of Scientific and Industrial Research of IndiaIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare of ItalySpanish Ministerio de Economia y CompetitividadConselleria d'Economia Hisenda i Innovacio of the Govern de les Illes BalearsNetherlands Organisation for Scientific ResearchPolish Ministry of Science and Higher EducationFOCUS Programme of Foundation for Polish ScienceRoyal SocietyScottish Funding CouncilScottish Universities Physics AllianceNational Aeronautics and Space AdministrationOTKA of HungaryLyon Institute of Origins (LIO)National Research Foundation of KoreaIndustry CanadaProvince of Ontario through the Ministry of Economic Development and InnovationNational Science and Engineering Research Council CanadaCarnegie TrustLeverhulme TrustDavid and Lucile Packard FoundationResearch CorporationAlfred P. Sloan FoundationAstronom