Sustainable lipase production by Diutina rugosa NRRL Y-95 through a combined use of agro-industrial residues as feedstock

The potential use of alternative culture media towards the development of a sustainable bioprocess to produce lipases by Diutina rugosa is clearly demonstrated. First, a synthetic medium containing glucose, peptone, yeast extract, oleic acid, and ammonium sulfate was proposed, with lipase activity of 143 U/L. Then, alternative culture media formulated with agro-industrial residues, such as molasses, corn steep liquor (CSL), and olive mill waste (OMW), were investigated. An experimental design was conducted, and only CSL concentration was found to have a positive effect in lipase production. The highest lipase activity (561 U/L) was produced on a mixture of molasses (5 g/L), CSL (6 g/L), OMW (0.5\\% v/v), 0.5 g/L of ammonium sulfate, and 3 g/L of peptone at 24 h of cultivation. Lipase production was also carried out in a 1-L bioreactor leading to a slightly higher lipase activity at 24 h of cultivation. The semi-purified enzyme exhibits an optimum temperature and pH of 40 \textdegreeC and 7.0, respectively. Finally, the media cost per unit of lipase produced (UPC) was influenced by the medium components, specially by the inducer used. The lowest UPC was obtained when the agro-industrial residues were combined and used at the improved concentrations.The study is funded by CAPES, CNPq, and FUNCAP (from Brazil) for the financial support that made this work possible. In addition, the study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit, the BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020-Programa Operacional Regional do Norte, and the Project LIGNOZYMES (POCI-01-0145- FEDER-029773).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Are He and N Abundances in Type I PNe as High as Empirically Derived?

Type I planetary nebulae (PNe) are defined as those with high He and N abundances (Peimbert & Torres-Peimbert 1983). These objects present in general bipolar geometries and have high stellar temperatures (Corradi & Schwarz 1995, Torres-Peimbert & Peimbert 1997). In this paper we analyse the empirical methods for abundance determination in order to check if the He and N overabundances in Type I PNe are a consequence of a geometrical effect, due to the bipolarity, or the ionization stratification, due to the stellar temperature. For this, we obtain simulated spherically symmetrical as well as bipolar nebulae, using a 3D photoionization code. From the projected emission line intensities for: a) the whole nebula; b) for a slit crossing the nebula; as well as c) for different positions in the nebula, we applied the formulae used in the literature to obtain empirical abundances. These empirical abundances are then compared with the adopted ones. We show that empirical abundances depend on the particular line of sight covered by the observation and can simulate an overabundance and/or the presence of abundance gradients of He and N in planetary nebulae with high stellar temperature. The geometrical effects are also discussed. Systematic errors in abundance determinations by empirical methods are higher for the N/H ratio than for N/O. Thus, it seems better to use the N/O value when discussing N rich objects.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, aastex package, to be published at Ap.

High levels of immunosuppression are related to unfavourable outcomes in hospitalised patients with rheumatic diseases and COVID-19 : first results of ReumaCoV Brasil registry

Objectives To evaluate risk factors associated with unfavourable outcomes: emergency care, hospitalisation, admission to intensive care unit (ICU), mechanical ventilation and death in patients with immune-mediated rheumatic disease (IMRD) and COVID-19. Methods Analysis of the first 8 weeks of observational multicentre prospective cohort study (ReumaCoV Brasil register). Patients with IMRD and COVID-19 according to the Ministry of Health criteria were classified as eligible for the study. Results 334 participants were enrolled, a majority of them women, with a median age of 45 years; systemic lupus erythematosus (32.9%) was the most frequent IMRD. Emergency care was required in 160 patients, 33.0% were hospitalised, 15.0% were admitted to the ICU and 10.5% underwent mechanical ventilation; 28 patients (8.4%) died. In the multivariate adjustment model for emergency care, diabetes (prevalence ratio, PR 1.38; 95% CI 1.11 to 1.73; p=0.004), kidney disease (PR 1.36; 95% CI 1.05 to 1.77; p=0.020), oral glucocorticoids (GC) (PR 1.49; 95% CI 1.21 to 1.85; p50 years (PR 1.89; 95% CI 1.26 to 2.85; p=0.002), no use of tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) (PR 2.51;95% CI 1.16 to 5.45; p=0.004) and methylprednisolone pulse therapy (PR 2.50; 95% CI 1.59 to 3.92; p<0.001); for ICU admission, oral GC (PR 2.24; 95% CI 1.36 to 3.71; p<0.001) and pulse therapy with methylprednisolone (PR 1.65; 95% CI 1.00 to 2.68; p<0.043); the two variables associated with death were pulse therapy with methylprednisolone or cyclophosphamide (PR 2.86; 95% CI 1.59 to 5.14; p<0.018). Conclusions Age >50 years and immunosuppression with GC and cyclophosphamide were associated with unfavourable outcomes of COVID-19. Treatment with TNFi may have been protective, perhaps leading to the COVID-19 inflammatory process