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In the context of globalization and environmental issues worldwide, sustainability has become a crucial concept for maintaining life and natural resources on the planet. Sustainability is an extremely important concept, especially among researchers, representing a constant concern in the textile industry. Worldwide, sustainability is an important concern and priority, both for the conservation of the planet and for the healthy development of society. The experimental research in this paper is part of the field of sustainable textile finishing. These were achieved by applying ecological treatments on linen and hemp fabrics, at ambient temperature between 23-25°C, and the effect of incubation time was studied for 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 96 h, 120 h. The experimental study aimed at both the influence of treatment on the water absorption capacity of the textile substrate in the absence of enzyme, and the influence of treatment in the presence of enzyme. In order to store the results and experimental information obtained for the use thereof by students and PhD students in the field, the paper proposes the development of a software system consisting of a MySQL online database server and a desktop application running on a Windows operating system, created on the .NET platform, using the C # programming language. The software application has an open structure with the possibility to extend the information and add other data. The information used is the result of experimental research regarding the influence of finishing treatments on the water absorption capacity of linen and hemp fabrics in the following situations: both in the absence of enzyme, by means of treatments with buffer solution, respectively treatments with buffer solution and non-ionic surfactant, as well as in the presence of enzyme, by treatments with buffer solution and enzyme, respectively treatments with enzyme and non-ionic surfactant. Following the experimental research, a comparative analysis can be made between the results obtained after the application of treatments in the absence of enzyme and the application of treatments in the presence of enzyme. The results obtained will appear in the “data” table in order to facilitate the observation and interpretation of data by users. The software system presented in this paper was created in order to be used as an e-learning tool in laboratory in teachinglearning activities by students and PhD students from the Faculty of Industrial Design and Business Management from “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi. This software system is a very useful tool that can be used by students in obtaining sustainable fabrics, which are essential in creating and developing ecological and sustainable textile products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC.) is commonly cultivated in Indonesia, but not so much available due to the presence of an anti-nutritional substance (hydrogen cyanide, tannin, and canavanine) and its low protein bioavailability. Considering that it is rich in protein, however, we investigated physiological functions of the protein hydrolysates after enzymatic hydrolysis of jack bean protein isolate. The objective of this study was to investigate the antioxidant properties of bioactive peptides from hydrolysis of jack bean protein isolate with pepsin and pancreatin enzyme. The jack bean protein isolate was subjected to digestion by pepsin and pancreatin enzyme separately with time course 15 min, 30 min, 45 min, 60 min, and 120 min. Biological active peptides presenting antioxidant activity was evaluated by determining the activity of free radical DPPH scavenging and its reducing power. The result showed that pancreatin enzyme was able to hydrolyse the jack bean protein more effective than pepsin as indicated by the higher degree of hydrolysis after pancreatin digestion. The highest degree of hydrolysis was achieved at 120 min digestion (28.08 %) with pancreatin. We remarkably found that the jack bean protein hydrolysate after pancreatin digestion presented higher DPPH scavenging activity rather than pepsin. In contrary with DPPH assay, jack bean protein hydrolysates after pepsin digestion exhibited higher reducing power than pancreatin, with the highest reducing power at 30 min digestion. This study suggested that the jack bean protein hydrolysates exhibited potential physiologically functional peptides with antioxidant properties, leading to a beneficial ingredient in the development for nutraceutical agent in promoting of health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactose-free yoghurt is one of the main sources of useful nutrients for people who have got lactose intolerance. Therefore preparing lactose-free yoghurt is considered as an actual issue in the Republic of Uzbekistan. Many factors can affect the rheological and textural parameters of lactose-free yoghurt, including enzyme concentration, which is used to convert lactose in glucose and galactose. The aim of the study was to evaluate enzyme concentration influence on the rheological properties of lactose-free yoghurt. Yoghurt samples were made from pasteurized milk (fat content 2.5%, Tukuma piens Ltd., Latvia) using commercial frozen yoghurt starter culture FD-DVS YC-X11 (Danisco Ltd., Denmark) containing Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus strains, and different concentrations of enzyme NOLA? Fit 5500 (Chr Hansen JSC., Denmark) - 0; 500; 1000; 1500 and 2000 BLU L-1. Milk was pasteurized (95±1 °C, 5 min), cooled down (40±1 °C), inoculated with starter and enzyme, mixed and fermented till pH 4.8±0.1 then samples were mixed and cooled down till 5±1 °C. Textural properties and viscosity of yoghurt samples were analysed using texture analyser TA.HD Plus and DV-III Ultra Programmable Rheometer. Lactose, galactose, glucose contents were measured by HPLC (SHIMADZU, Prominence, USA). The textural properties (such as firmness, consistency, cohesiveness) and viscosity of analysed yoghurt samples were significantly (p<0.05) different for samples with higher enzyme concentration, which showed the lowest viscosity. Rheological properties denote a weaker network of yoghurt gel in samples with full lactose hydrolysis. Results from chromatography provided no lactose presence in any experimental sample with enzyme, the galactose was dominant monosaccharide in each sample treated with enzyme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report immobilization of GOx on magnetic silica: (i) nanoparticles Fe3O4 with silica coating (Fe3O4-SiO2) and (ii) mesoporous silica with incorporated nanoparticles Fe3O4 (SiO2-Fe3O4) functionalized with amino groups using glutaraldehyde as a linker. Magnetic support based biocatalysts demonstrate high catalytic activity in D-glucose oxidation to D-gluconic acid at pH 5-7.5 and temperature of 30-50°C with the best activities of 95% and 94% for SiO2-Fe3O4-GOx and Fe3O4-SiO2-GOx, respectively. A comparison of magnetic and non-magnetic silica shows a significant enhancement of the relative catalytic activity for magnetic supports. Noticeably higher activity of GOx immobilized on magnetic supports is explained by the synergy of the GOx inherent activity and enzyme-like activity of iron oxide nanoparticles. Excellent relative activity of SiO2-Fe3O4-GOx (95% of native GOx) in a tolerant pH and temperature range, as well as high stability in a repeated use (6% relative activity loss after ten catalytic cycles), makes this catalyst promising for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the stages of obtaining collagen hydrolyzate by means of biomodification of cattle rumen, as well as the method of its canning by freeze drying. The preparation of cattle rumen hydrolyzate (RHF) was carried out as follows: the scar was pre-rinsed in running tap water for 20 minutes to remove contaminants and mucus, scraping off muscle and adipose tissue; after the run-off of water (15-20 min), the raw material was ground on a top with a diameter of holes of the scoring grid of 2-3 mm. The ground samples were treated with solutions of enzyme preparations "Protease B" and "Protease C" at a liquid ratio of 1: 2 and kept for 0.5-1.5 h at an enzyme preparation concentration of 0.02 to 0.06 % periodically mixing (t = 17-22 ° C). The filtrate from the product was separated on a sieve. Since there is currently a problem of preserving the quality of the raw materials, sublimation drying has been chosen as a method of preservation as one of the most advanced types of conservation that maximizes the properties of the raw material. The raw material, biomodified in the above way, was subjected to vacuum-freeze drying in a two-way conductive-radiation energy supply mode from electric heaters. The freeze drying time was 12 hours. The article describes the method of conservation, the mechanism with the choice of optimal modes of freezing of raw materials, as well as the effect of this process on the physicochemical properties of RDF. It is proved that the application of the selected freezing regimes during the drying process has a positive effect on the properties of the raw materials, while maintaining its quality characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to draw attention to the relatively simple way how to both increase fire safety of paper technology processing and to remove one environmentally unfriendly and unhealthy chemical substance from the production process. Practical examination of flammability based on standardized testing method STN ISO 871:2010-07 of selected cellulosic material focusing on harvesting specimens and tissue paper bring new insights into the issues of flammability and combustion of the materials and finished products. There are large quantities of combustible raw materials such as a waste paper, pure pulp cellulose, semi-processed materials including not coloured tissue paper and finished products as paper tissues, toilet paper, paper napkins in the technological process of production and processing of tissue paper. The operations of pulping waste paper with hydrogen peroxide is worked to feed the process and the self-ignition combustion in contact with cellulose material. In practice, the hydrogen peroxide can be replaced by enzyme which is more suitable, fire safer substance thanks to its biologic origin also bio-friendly. Experimental testing is aimed at investigating and determining the impact of bleaching agents as hydrogen peroxide and the enzyme samples in contact with cellulosic materials such as recovered paper, pulp and tissue paper. Comparison of specific fire-technical characteristics of the samples of selected cellulosic material, the flash point and ignition in a hot air oven is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass waste utilization for biofuel production such as bioethanol, has become more prominent currently. Coconut coir is one of lignocellulosic food wastes, which is abundant in Indonesia. Bioethanol production from such materials consists of more than one step. Pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis is crucial steps to produce sugar which can then be fermented into bioethanol. In this research, ground coconut coir was pretreated using dilute sulfuric acid at 121#&176;C. This pretreatment had increased the cellulose content and decreased the lignin content of coconut coir. The pretreated coconut coir was hydrolyzed using a mix of two commercial cellulase enzymes at pH of 4.8 and temperature of 50°C. The enzymatic hydrolysis was conducted at several initial coconut coir slurry concentrations (0.1-2 g/100 mL) and reaction times (2-72 hours). The reducing sugar concentration profiles had been produced and can be used to obtain reaction rates. The highest reducing sugar concentration obtained was 1,152.567 mg/L, which was produced at initial slurry concentration of 2 g/100 mL and 72 hours reaction time. In this paper, the reducing sugar concentrations were empirically modeled as a function of reaction time using power equations. Michaelis-Menten kinetic model for enzymatic hydrolysis reaction is adopted. The kinetic parameters of that model for sulfuric acid-pretreated coconut coir enzymatic hydrolysis had been obtained which are Vm of 3.587x104 mg/L.h, and KM of 130.6 mg/L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A statistical approach was applied to two-step enzymatic hydrolysis of sweet potato peel in this study. The effects of three independent variables (time, a-amylase dose and temperature) on the response (glucose yield) and their reciprocal interactions were investigated on the first step of hydrolysis (liquefaction) of sweet potato peel. In the second step (saccharification), effects of time, glucoamylase dose and temperature on glucose released and their reciprocal interactions were also investigated. The Box-Behnken design was employed in this study and a total of 17 experimental runs were generated for each step. For the liquefaction step, the least square regression and the ANOVA test showed the quadratic model obtained to be significant (p < 0.05). All the linear, quadratic and cross-product terms were very significant at 95% confidence level on the glucose yield. Statistical model predicted the optimum glucose yield to be 126.66 g/l at temperature of 56.4°C, α-amylase dose of 1% (v/v) and time of 60 min. The optimized liquefaction conditions were validated with the actual glucose yield of 126.03 g/l (dextrose equivalent of 50.4). A quadratic model was also obtained for the saccharification step and the model with all its terms were also significant (p < 0.05) on the glucose yield. The statistical model for the saccharification step predicted the optimum glucose yield to be 178.39 g/l, established at the temperature of 45°C, glucoamylase dose of 1% (v/v) and time of 60 min with glucose yield. The optimized saccharification conditions were validated with the actual glucose yield of 176.89 g/l (dextrose equivalent of 70.4). Hence, the fermentable sugars obtained in this study may serve as sole carbon source for feeding many microorganisms and subsequently converted to useful products like citric acid, gluconic acid, oxalic acid and ethanol among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A screen was conducted to search for polysaccharide-degrading enzymes from thermophilic bacteria. A total of fifty-two isolates were obtained from water and soil samples from a hot spring using enrichment culture. The production of amylase, xylanase, pullulanase and cellulase was screened using chromogenic substrates. Four isolates were found to be positive for amylase, 10 were positive for xylanase, 7 were positive for pullulanase and 2 for cellulase activities. Representative isolates were preliminarily identified using 16SRNA gene sequencing technique, and belonged to the genera of Geobacillus, Anoxybacillus, and Bacillus sp. The results indicate that hot springs in Malaysia are rich in microbial life from the Bacillaceae family, and are productive as a source of biocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We adopt pectin compound enzyme to boil out flax roving. Use catalase to remove the residual oxydol left after bleaching with oxydol. Then adopt orthogonal table in mathematical statistics and variance analysis. States the affects brought by enzyme concentration, ph, temperature, time etc to boiling out and bleaching. The optimal technical parameter and technical route of enzyme boiling and bleaching are confirmed. The sought optimal technique: concentration of oxydol is 8 g/L, pH value is 9, temperature is 65?, duration is 50min, mixing speed is slow, and concentration of compound enzyme is 0.006g/L. 3. Catalase is used for removing the residual oxydol in flax roving after the bleaching with oxydol. Through variance analysis, the biggest influential factor is duration, and the next is the concentration of catalase, temperature, and pH value. The sought optimal technique: concentration of catalase is 0.06g/L, pH value is 7, duration is 20min, and temperature is 50?. Inspection analysis shows that boiling & bleaching liquid is of no pollution, which can realize clean production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covalently linkable gold nanoparticles provide both highly sensitive and precise localization and detection of biological targets, and components that may be integrated into nanoscale devices with molecular precision to impart a variety of useful properties. The applications of the 1.4 nm Nanogold particle to biological staining and detection are described, and its applications to nanostructured materials and nanodevices are reviewed. In addition, a new method for depositing metal from solution using targeted enzyme probes, EnzMet (enzyme metallography) allows highly sensitive and specific detection of genetic and protein targets in cells and tissues, and has been used to develop an improved test for HER2 gene amplification in breast cancer. EnzMet also provides a novel method for immunoelectron microscopic staining, a reagent for highly sensitive blotting, and a method for target detection on conductive array biochips. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose to consider two different Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics partitions of peptides. Not only the usual Cα–Cβ bond is considered as the frontier but also the less common C–N and N–C peptide bonds are investigated as putative QM/MM boundaries. When the frontier atom is a C atom then the partial double bond character of the peptide bond is naturally taken into account by our scheme. However, when the frontier atom is nitrogen, then special care has to be taken. Instead of the usual mono valence electron description that was previously proposed, the N frontier atom is described with 5 electrons (2 core and 3 valence) to allow him to share part of his valence electrons with the carbon atom, and then to recover the partial double C–N bond of the peptide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crystal structure of enzyme (PDB ID: 3AU9 ? from the isomerase of Plasmodium falciparum organism), was attained from the Protein Data Bank server (http://www.pdb.org). The structures of ligands were prepared (using LigPrep with protonation states assignment at pH 7.0 ± 2.0) for docking using the Schrödinger Maestro. Prior docking, the grid generation was formed using Glide program and docking runs were performed with single precision docking mode (SP). Most active ligands were analyzed in terms of non-covalent interactions to understand better which structural features reflects best docking properties of the monocarbonyl curcumin analogue toward the docking site of the 3AU9 enzyme. Three most promising monocarbonil canndidates (based upon their docking score) Figure 1. Docking studies of the monocarbonyl curcumin analogues toward the 3AU9. The crystal structure of enzyme (PDB ID: 3AU9 ? from the isomerase of Plasmodium falciparum organism), was attained from the Protein Data Bank server (http://www.pdb.org). The structures of ligands were prepared (using LigPrep with protonation states assignment at pH 7.0 ± 2.0) for docking using the Schrödinger Maestro. Prior docking, the grid generation was formed using Glide program and docking runs were performed with single precision docking mode (SP). Most active ligands were analyzed in terms of non-covalent interactions to understand better which structural features reflects best docking properties of the monocarbonyl curcumin analogue toward the docking site of the 3AU9 enzyme. Three most promising monocarbonil canndidates (based upon their docking score) were: 1. 2,5-bis((E)-3-hydroxybenzylidene)cyclopentan-1-one; 2. 4-[(Z)-{(3E)-3-[(4-carboxyphenyl)methylidene]-2-oxocyclopentylidene}methyl]benzoic acid and 3. 2-((Z)-2,5-difluorobenzylidene)-5-((E)-3-nitrobenzylidene)cyclopentan-1-one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specific metal deposition on metal nanoparticles plays an important role in molecular construction as well as for microscopic visualization and signal enhancement in various bioanalytical methods. To characterize this process we studied surface-immobilized gold nanoparticle ensembles at single particle level by atomic force microscopy monitoring the very same particle arrangements after each enhancement step. Thereby, enhancement solutions of different composition are studied regarding their enhancement rate as measured by the growing height of the particles at single particle level. Other features of interest were the influence of the diameter of the seed particle on the growth process and the influence of exchange of enhancement solution. For the applied conditions (low nanoparticle surface concentration subjected to fresh enhancement solution 2 min each) we observed a linear growth regime, which was dependent on the particles’ seed diameter and differed considerably in enhancement rate, homogeneity, and specificity among the examined enhancement solutions. We extended these studies to an investigation of enzymatic metal deposition where an enzyme complex (horseradish peroxidase) catalyzes the growth of a metal layer. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silica is one of the most attractive nanoparticles because it has many advantages such as non-toxic, biocompatible, relatively inexpensive, high thermal resistance, and especially being able to strengthen the mechanical properties of polymer matrices. Due to these properties, it has been frequently used in surface modification studies recently. In generally, chemical methods are used for surface modification of inorganic particles such as silica. However, there is a possibility that these methods may contain chemical contamination. Therefore, it is aimed to develop a reliable alternative process for surface modification by using enzymes. For this purpose, surface modification of silica was performed by binding of methacrylic acid (MAA) with enzyme catalyzed reaction to silica surface. Modified silica particles have been characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface modification is a very important technique that changes the surface of a material by combining the properties originally found on the surface of the material with different physical, chemical or biological properties. Surface modification of inorganic nanoparticles has attracted a great deal of attention because it produces excellent integration and an improved interface between nanoparticles and polymer matrices. However, traditional processes that are frequently used for surface modification involve many problems such as high temperature requirement, energy consumption, use of heavy chemicals and high waste load. Therefore, enzymatic surface modification methods, which are more modern and environmentalist and advantageous compared to chemical techniques, have become increasingly important in recent years. For these reasons in this study, enzymatic surface modification process by lipase enzyme catalysis with methacrylic acid was studied on the surface of montmorillonite clay, which provides economic advantage and has advanced thermal and mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of Vitamin C and Magnesium-L-threonate in learning and memory of mice intoxicated with lead acetate. Method: Experimental animals (male) were separated into five groups, during the treatment period (40 days). After 20 days wash-out period, animals were trained for 6 days in Morris Water Maze Test (MWM), and after 24 hours, they were tested for memory in the same test. Results: Results of total time and number of entries in the platform zone showed that in the group intoxicated with lead acetate alone, registered significantly lower values compared to the control group. Intoxicated groups treated with vitamin C or Magnesium-L-threonate, we found significantly lower values of learning and memory compared to the control group. Catalase activity was significantly reduced in liver, pancreas and kidney by the presence of these two supplements however a significantly increase was observed in brain tissue compared to the control group only. Lead concentration in brain tissue in the presence of vitamin C was significantly higher compared to the control group or lead acetate group. Conclusion: Lead acetate had adverse effects on learning and memory of mice and also increased catalase activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we report the structure based virtual screening to pinpoint the hit compounds which can be developed as suitable ligands for the 6HDR transferase enzyme. A structure established in silico procedure was applied to find out the binding modes of most active compounds from a curcumin database containing 55 entries of chemical database of bioactive molecules with drug-like properties (retrieved from ChEMBL). The crystal structure of the enzyme (PDB ID: 6HDR? Dual specificity tyrosine-phosphorylation-regulated kinase from Homo sapiens), bound to curcumin [(1E, 6E)-1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)hepta-1,6-diene-3,5-dione], was acquired from the Protein Data Bank server (http://www.pdb.org). The structure of ligand was prepared (using LigPrep with protonation states assignment at pH 7.0 ± 2.0) for docking using the Schrödinger Maestro interface and then was submitted to the Protein Preparation Wizard. Prior docking, the grid generation was formed using Glide program and docking runs were performed with extra precision docking mode (XP). Most active ligands were analyzed in terms of non-covalent interactions to understand better which structural features reflect best docking properties of the curcumin derivatives toward the docking site of the 16HDR transferase enzyme. Moreover, the physicochemical and pharmaceutical properties such as miLogP value, molecular weight, number of hydrogen bond acceptors, number of hydrogen bond donors, and number of rotatable bonds for each strongest curcumin docking molecules were analyzed. These properties were evaluated against Lipinski's rule of five that predicts drug-likeness of the potential drug compound. Lipinski's rule of five states that most of the molecules with good membrane permeability will have LogP ?5, molecular weight ?500, the number of hydrogen bond acceptors ?10, and the number of hydrogen bond donors ?5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydroxyapatite (HAP), which is the prime component of bone and teeth, can be characterized as osteoconductive, biocompatible, noninflammatory, nontoxic and bioactive. Due to its superior bio-properties it has found a wide range in biomaterial applications. In addition, with surface modification of hydroxyapatite its poor properties such as low toughness, poor mechanical resistance etc., can be improved and thus its potential applications can be extended. Enzymes can catalyze reactions, do not produce by-products, use a small amount, save energy and time, and do not harm human health and the environment. In addition, the amount of chemical waste in the reactions with enzymes is much less than the chemical surface modification methods. Therefore, studies on enzymatic surface modification methods, which are more modern and environmentalist and advantageous compared to chemical techniques, have become increasingly important in recent years. Besides all these, enzymes show optimum activity and stability at certain conditions. Therefore, to optimize the surface modification reaction, the investigation of the effect of reaction variables is key importance. Because of these reasons in this study, the effects of reaction time and enzyme concentration on HAP surface modification with enzyme catalyzed reaction were investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]