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The Degree of Christallinity of UV Irradiated Polypropylene

Penicillin G acylase (PGA) which catalyses penicillin G hydrolysis reaction is a key enzyme for the industrial production of penicilin G derivatives used in therapeutics. A new local strain of Bacillus subtilis BAC4 was found capable of producing extracellular PGA. However, characteristics of this extracellular PGA are not known. The goal of this research was to characterize the extracellular PGA produced by B. subtilis BAC4. Enzyme production was carried out by batch fermentation, followed by enzyme purification and characterization of the PGA. The PGA activity was determined by the Kornfeld method, with optimal activity for hydrolysing penicillin G observed at 43 °C and pH 8.5. The activation energy of penicillin G hydrolysis by the PGA of B. subtilis BAC4 was determined as 4.9 kcal.mol−1 and Vmax and Km values were found to be 0.7 μmole.min−1.mg−1 and 3.5 mM respectively. PGA catalytic activity was competitively inhibited by phenylacetic acid with an inhibition constant, Ki(PAA), of 347.2 mM. It was concluded that the extracellular PGA of B. subtilis BAC4 can hydrolyse penicillin G efficiently.

Penicillin G acylase (PGA) which catalyses penicillin G hydrolysis reaction is a key enzyme for the industrial production of penicilin G derivatives used in therapeutics. A new local strain of Bacillus subtilis BAC4 was found capable of producing extracellular PGA. However, characteristics of this extracellular PGA are not known. The goal of this research was to characterize the extracellular PGA produced by B. subtilis BAC4. Enzyme production was carried out by batch fermentation, followed by enzyme purification and characterization of the PGA. The PGA activity was determined by the Kornfeld method, with optimal activity for hydrolysing penicillin G observed at 43 oC and pH 8.5. The activation energy of penicillin G hydrolysis by the PGA of B. subtilis BAC4 was determined as 4.9 kcal.mol-1 and Vmax and Km values were found to be 0.7 µmole.min-1.mg-1 and 3.5 mM respectively. PGA catalytic activity was competitively inhibited by phenylacetic acid with an inhibition constant, Ki(PAA), of 347.2 mM. It was concluded that the extracellular PGA of B. subtilis BAC4 can hydrolyse penicillin G efficiently.

This work has investigate conditions which allow pitting corrosion of carbon steel in acetate buffered test solutions of pH 3.82, 4.12, 5.12 and 6.12, 0.2 M NaOAc and standard brine solutions, all of which contains 100 mg/L sodium bicarbonate and saturated with CO2. Corrosion rates is determined by corrosion wheel and corrosion bubble tests, while surface morphology is observed by electron microscopy (SEM) and metallographic optical microscopy, whereas surface deterioration as well as corroded lattice structure of the steel is monitored through measurements by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns. The X-ray Diffraction Patterns of corroded carbon steel in any of the above test solutions exhibit a decrease in relative intensity of 110 and 200 lattice planes and an increase in the 211 lattice plane. The extent of decrease of the diffracted X-ray intensities increases with the increase in the percentage of corroded carbon steel coupon weight loss. This might reflect a selective dissolution of iron atoms situated in both lattice planes. It is suspected that this observation is due to the fact that 211 lattice plane has the smallest percentage of atomic occupancy among the three, thus it might have the greatest chance to be inserted with carbon atoms which in turn gives a protective effect toward iron atoms against further dissolution. Although, the corrosion process starts from the surface phase, this experiment reveals that X-ray diffraction pattern of the three lattice planes could be employed as some sort of carbon steel corrosion indicator. Consequently, corrosion inhibitor performance could be deduced from its ability to maintain diffraction pattern of the initial carbon steel specimen.

Abstract Current clinical guidelines for the management of radiotherapy patients having either a pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator (both CIEDs: Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices) do not cover modern radiotherapy techniques and do not take the patient’s perspective into account. Available data on the frequency and cause of CIED failure during radiation therapy are limited and do not converge. The Dutch Society of Radiotherapy and Oncology (NVRO) initiated a multidisciplinary task group consisting of clinical physicists, cardiologists, radiation oncologists, pacemaker and ICD technologists to develop evidence based consensus guidelines for the management of CIED patients. CIED patients receiving radiotherapy should be categorised based on the chance of device failure and the clinical consequences in case of failure. Although there is no clear cut-off point nor a clear linear relationship, in general, chances of device failure increase with increasing doses. Clinical consequences of device failures like loss of pacing, carry the most risks in pacing dependent patients. Cumulative dose and pacing dependency have been combined to categorise patients into low, medium and high risk groups. Patients receiving a dose of less than 2 Gy to their CIED are categorised as low risk, unless pacing dependent since then they are medium risk. Between 2 and 10 Gy, all patients are categorised as medium risk, while above 10 Gy every patient is categorised as high risk. Measures to secure patient safety are described for each category. This guideline for the management of CIED patients receiving radiotherapy takes into account modern radiotherapy techniques, CIED technology, the patients’ perspective and the practical aspects necessary for the safe management of these patients. The guideline is implemented in The Netherlands in 2012 and is expected to find clinical acceptance outside The Netherlands as well.