Applications of yeast flocculation in biotechnological processes

A review on the main aspects associated with yeast flocculation and its application in biotechnological processes is presented. This subject is addressed following three main aspects – the basics of yeast flocculation, the development of “new” flocculating yeast strains and bioreactor development. In what concerns the basics of yeast flocculation, the state of the art on the most relevant aspects of mechanism, physiology and genetics of yeast flocculation is reported. The construction of flocculating yeast strains includes not only the recombinant constitutive flocculent brewer’s yeast, but also recombinant flocculent yeast for lactose metabolisation and ethanol production. Furthermore, recent work on the heterologous β-galactosidase production using a recombinant flocculent Saccharomyces cerevisiae is considered. As bioreactors using flocculating yeast cells have particular properties, mainly associated with a high solid phase hold-up, a section dedicated to its operation is presented. Aspects such as bioreactor productivity and culture stability as well as bioreactor hydrodynamics and mass transfer properties of flocculating cell cultures are considered. Finally, the paper concludes describing some of the applications of high cell density flocculation bioreactors and discussing potential new uses of these systems.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) – PRAXIS XXI - BD11306/97

Autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFNs are present in ~4% of uninfected individuals over 70 years old and account for ~20% of COVID-19 deaths

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved.Circulating autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing high concentrations (10 ng/ml; in plasma diluted 1:10) of IFN-alpha and/or IFN-omega are found in about 10% of patients with critical COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pneumonia but not in individuals with asymptomatic infections. We detect auto-Abs neutralizing 100-fold lower, more physiological, concentrations of IFN-alpha and/or IFN-omega (100 pg/ml; in 1:10 dilutions of plasma) in 13.6% of 3595 patients with critical COVID-19, including 21% of 374 patients >80 years, and 6.5% of 522 patients with severe COVID-19. These antibodies are also detected in 18% of the 1124 deceased patients (aged 20 days to 99 years; mean: 70 years). Moreover, another 1.3% of patients with critical COVID-19 and 0.9% of the deceased patients have auto-Abs neutralizing high concentrations of IFN-beta. We also show, in a sample of 34,159 uninfected individuals from the general population, that auto-Abs neutralizing high concentrations of IFN-alpha and/or IFN-omega are present in 0.18% of individuals between 18 and 69 years, 1.1% between 70 and 79 years, and 3.4% >80 years. Moreover, the proportion of individuals carrying auto-Abs neutralizing lower concentrations is greater in a subsample of 10,778 uninfected individuals: 1% of individuals 80 years. By contrast, auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-beta do not become more frequent with age. Auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs predate SARS-CoV-2 infection and sharply increase in prevalence after the age of 70 years. They account for about 20% of both critical COVID-19 cases in the over 80s and total fatal COVID-19 cases.Peer reviewe

Fracture initiation and crack propagation of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) in organic solvents

The effects of organic liquid environments on the fracture behaviour of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) have been investigated. Fracture initiation experiments showed that K i 2 , ( K i being the stress intensity factor at crack/craze initiation), could be meaningfully correlated with the solvent solubility parameter ( δ s ) of the different liquid environments and had a minimum value at δ s = δ p , where δ p was the solubility parameter of ABS. For the range of organic liquids used, hydrogen bonding did not have any significant effects on the correlations. It was demonstrated that the K i 2 − δ s correlations could also be usefully extended to other materials such as plain and glass-filled polystyrenes. At a common crack speed ( å ), the fracture toughness ( R ) values in “crazing” liquids (i.e. alcohols) were greater than those in “cracking” solvents (i.e. acetone, benzene, toluene, etc.) which usually caused a “dissolution” effect on the plastic. From crack propagation experiments, and using fracture mechanics analyses, definite R ( å ) and K c ( å ) relationships for ABS immersed in toluene, carbon tetrachloride and methanol were determined. These experimental results showed that crack propagation was relaxation controlled and agreed well with a recent theoretical analysis due to Williams and Marshall for environmental crack and craze growth in polymers. Finally, SEM pictures were presented to show the remarkable differences in the fracture morphologies of ABS in both “crazing” and “cracking” liquid environments.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44670/1/10853_2004_Article_BF00551442.pd