Preparation of nano- and micrometer-size capsules with lipid core might have several biomedical applications for delivery of lipophilic drugs. Successful usage of these nano- and microcarriers depends on their colloidal stability. Emulsion based carriers for drug delivery: nanoemulsions, colloidosomes, and solid lipid particles have been investigated in thiswork. Diameters of oil droplets in nanoemulsions are equal to 15 and 20 nm, howeverthey are not stable to phase separation. In spite of large droplet diameters (several tens of micrometer), colloidosomes stabilized by heteroaggregates of oppositely charged SiO2 nanoparticles are stable toward creaming. Paraffin emulsions stabilized by Carbopol 940 have particles 190 nm in size and are also stable to creaming during several months. Encapsulation of lipophilic drugs tocopherol, hydrocortisone, nimesulide or curcumin does not cause changing diameters of nanoemulsion based nanocapsules. Incorporation of these drugs in paraffin particles leads to decreased or increased particle sizes, but in all specimens the sizes are equal or less than 700 nm and such particles can be used as microcapsules for lipophilic drug delivery.

The oxygen-evolving complex (OEC), which consists of a calcium-manganese cluster, is the reaction center of the Photosystem II. At this catalytic site, the water-splitting reaction in dioxygen and hydronium ions occurs. In order to partially reproduce the water splitting process, several studies have reported the synthesis of functional model complexes. Nevertheless, there is a small amount of reports, concerning the spectralbehavior of calcium complexes or the calcium role in the cluster. In this work, in order to explore the absorption spectrum of calcium species in acetonitrile, an equilibrium study of the calcium complexes with 2,2’-bipyridyl or 1,10-phenanthroline, was carried out. The formation constants and the calculated electronic spectrum of each complex was obtained by a modified method of continuous variations consisting in a correlation of the experimental spectrophotometric data with the HypSpec software. The values of the formation constants for the calcium(II) complexes with 2,2’-bipyridyl and 1,10-phenanthroline, are Log β110 = 4.39 ± 0.02 and Log β110 = 5.94 ± 0.05, respectively.

Benzene biodegradation was studied in batch and continuous packed bed bioreactors using polyurethane foam (PUF) as packing media by isolated Bacillus sp. M1. The values of optimized process parameters were found to be 800 × 106CFU·mL−1, 400 mg·L−1, 7.0 and 37 °C for inoculum size, substrate concentration, pH and temperature respectively. Continuous packed bed bioreactor (CPBBR) was operated and monitored for 69 days on laboratory scale at various flow rates (10-60 mL·h−1). The steady state removal efficiency was observed more than 90% up to the inlet load of 288 mg·L−1.d−1 and elimination capacity was found to be 91.2-266.4 mg·L−1·day−1. Monod growth model was applied for the removal of benzene and values were found to be (Ks: 215.07 mg·L−1; μmax: 0.314 day−1).

The environmental impact can be minimised by making use of many industrial wastes in a sustainable manner. Recycling and reutilisation of industrial waste and by-products is of paramount importance in cement and concrete industry. In view of rapid infrastructure growth, there is an emerging need for development of cementitious materials or fillers either to replace cement or fine aggregate for stable growth. One of the industrial wastes is secondary aluminium dross. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the mechanical and durability aspects of concrete incorporated with secondary aluminium dross. Cement has been partially replaced by secondary aluminium dross in different proportions to study the mechanical and durability aspects. Various properties such as compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength, sorptivity, water absorption, rapid chloride penetration have been studied for the usefulness of secondary aluminium dross as construction material. It is observed that up to 15% replacement of cement by secondary aluminium dross, the responses are comparable with the conventional concrete. Studies have also been carried out by adding other supplementary cementitious materials such as fly ash and silica fume in various proportions along with secondary aluminium dross and found the improved mechanical and durability properties. From the overall study, it can be concluded that the concrete incorporated with secondary aluminium dross can be used for making paver blocks, refractory bricks and for normal concrete strength applications.

Nanovaccines introduced a new dimension to prevent or cure diseases in an efficient and sustained manner. Various polymers have been used for the drug delivery to increase the therapeutic value with minimal side effects. Thus the present study incorporates both nanotechnology and polymers for the drug delivery. Poly(d,l-lactic-co-glycolic acid)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) was incorporated with the rabies whole attenuated viral antigen using double emulsion (W/O/W) method and characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Chitosan-PEG nanoparticles incorporated with the rabies whole attenuated virus antigen (CS-PEG NP-RV Ag.) were prepared using Ionic Gelation method. The CS-PEG NP-RV Ag. was surface modified with biocompatible polymers such as Acacia, Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA), Casein, Ovalbumin and Starch by Ionic Gelation method. The morphology was confirmed by SEM and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The surface modification was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Zeta potential. The size distribution of CS-PEG-RV Ag. and surface modified CS-PEG-RV Ag. by respective biocompatible polymers was assessed by Zetasizer. Release profile of both stabilized nanoparticles was carried out by modified centrifugal ultrafiltration method which showed the sustained release pattern of the Rabies Ag. Immune stimulation under in-vitro condition was studied using rosette assay and phagocytosis assay. In-vitro toxicity using human blood and genotoxicity using human blood DNA was also studied to assess the toxicity of the nanoformulations. The results of these studies infer that PLGA-b-PEG nanoparticles, CS-PEG and surface modified CS-PEG nanoparticles may be an efficient nanocarrier for the RV Ag. to elicit immune response sustainably with negligible toxic effect to the human system.

Abstract Efficacy of three different bacterial species for biodegradation of malathion and its secondary products have been investigated. The concentration range of malathion under investigation was 25–200 mg⋅L−1. It has been observed that Pseudomonas putida was found to be most efficient for degradation of malathion. The removal of malathion was 72% at its concentration of 125 mg⋅L−1. The optimum parameters were studied for all three bacterial species in batch mode. The average values of K s and μ m a x were obtained for all these species for degradation of malathion. Results indicate that P. putida has high degradation potential than Rhodoccocus rhodochrous and Sphingomonas sp. The degradation of P. putida was maximum at concentration of 125 mg⋅L−1, pH and temperature at 7 ± 0.2, 80°C respectively. Metabolites were obtained using GCMS analysis.

The novel macroporous carbon-mineral Sapropel supports were obtained from lacustrine sapropel silts of freshwater lakes by annealing of semi-coke in the inert atmosphere. The specific surface area of these supports varied from 10 to 100 m2/g, the total pore volume from 0.3 cm3/g till 1.6 cm3/g; macropores of diameters more than 2 µm were predominating. The Sapropel supports were studied for the adsorption/adhesion of enzymatic active substances, such as whole bacterial cells, and invertase-active fully destroyed baker's yeast cells (autolysates), and purified enzyme nitrilase. The heterogeneous biocatalysts with required enzymatic activity were prepared and their properties were studied in the corresponding bioconversion processes. The invertase-active biocatalysts exhibited high activity, 120–135 U/g, and stability; the half-times of their inactivation (t½) were more than 1000 h in the continuous process of sucrose hydrolysis at 50°C. The nitrilase-active biocatalysts for “green” chemistry of nitriles possessed high activity, 350–500 U/g, and the t½ were estimated to be more than 100 h in the periodic process of hydration of acrylonitrile to acrylic acid at 22°C.

The present study envisaged two stage optimization of conditions using RSM for extraction of total phenolic compounds from pearl millet koji prepared with Aspergillus awamori. Antioxidant activity was determined by employing DPPH and radical cation of ABTS. In phase-1, fermentation time (5–8 days), extraction temperature (40–60 °C), extraction time (45–60 min.) and solvent (ethanol, 50%; 0.5 ml HCL + 99.5 ml methanol) were tested for maximizing extraction process. The optimum conditions of phenolic recovery were achieved at 8 days fermentation time, 40 °C extraction temperature, 45 min. extraction time with 50% ethanol as solvent, with values of 169.19 mg GAE/g for TPC, 262.7 VCEAC µmol/g for DPPH and 281.86 VCEAC µmol/g for ABTS. TPC were found to be positively correlated (p < 0.05) with DPPH and ABTS under these conditions. In phase-2, a central composite design was applied for design of experiments and model building using extraction time and extraction temperature as process variables for further maximizing the extraction of TPC. The optimized conditions using RSM for maximizing the extraction of total phenolic compounds were: ethanol concentration, 50%; extraction temperature, 44.5 °C and extraction time, 23.8 mins. Under these conditions, 176.82 mg GAE/g of total phenolic compounds were extracted which was very close to the predicted value of 173.2 mg GAE/g. The model was validated at these optimal points.

Abstract The research of the operation of low-power photovoltaic generation plants used for self-contained electric power supply in Siberian climatic conditions is performed in this paper. It provides an analysis of the operation of individual units of an automated control system, and gives recommendations for the selection of hardware components. The article describes the operational principles, developed based on functional modules of the programmable logic controller, ensuring maximum possible use of solar energy in this continuous power supply system. The results of plant operation have been obtained, in the form of a power counter log, as well as data on the volume of solar energy produced in both overcast and in sunny weather, throughout the observation period. The article provides visual illustration of generated energy, which could be used to assess the efficiency and economic viability of the low-power photovoltaic plant. Authors would like to point out that examples of the proposed methodology for the construction of self-contained power supply systems can be found in existing industrial facilities, on which further scientific research can be based.

The present paper is dedicated to the development of a method for the nitrobenzene production using solid acid catalysts, as an alternative to industrial nitration, based on a mixture of concentrated acids. The influence of key parameters of the nitration process (temperature, reagent flow rate, nitrating agent concentration etc.) on the conversion of the initial substrate, the degree of decomposition of nitric acid and the quantity of resulting oxygenates was studied. Recommendations for the selection of effective catalytic systems (high content of Brnsted acid sites with Ho < -4, high specific surface and resistance to HNO3) were developed and the best conditions for process reactions (temperature 200 C, aqueous solution of nitric acid with concentration of 30 wt%, "nitric acid:benzene" ratio = 0.76) were found. A method for regeneration of the catalytic activity without unloading the catalyst was proposed. As an example, MoO3/SiO2 sample was tested in a dual-mode nitration/regeneration process, which allowed us to increase the flow rates of reagents and obtain catalyst efficiency of up to STY = 4.09 g/(gcat h). Several of the most promising catalysts (MoO3/SiO2, WO3/ZrO2 and Nafion/support composite) for the process were tested in identical conditions.