Uso de quitina e quitosana como adsorventes de amônia de efluentes aquícolas: revisão de literatura / Use of chitin and quitosan as adsorvents of ammonia of aquaculture effluents: a literature review / Uso de quitina y quitosana como adsorbentes de amonia de efluentes acuícolas: revisión de literatura

Os resíduos provenientes da aquicultura são derivados da ração e da excreção dos peixes e podem estar sedimentados, suspensos ou dissolvidos, ocasionando elevados valores de DBO, DQO, nitrogênio e fósforo. A produção de camarões no Brasil tem gerado elevadas quantidades de resíduos sólidos, tendo em vista que os exoesqueletos dos camarões correspondem a cerca de 40% do seu peso total, resultando num forte impacto ambiental. Diversas pesquisas envolvendo a quitina estão sendo desenvolvidas na área de tratamento de água, devido principalmente a sua capacidade de formar filme, sendo utilizada em sistemas filtrantes. Este polissacarídeo também pode ser utilizado como agente floculante no tratamento de efluentes, como adsorvente na clarificação de óleos, e principalmente na produção de quitosana. Atualmente a quitosana possui aplicações multidimensionais, desde áreas como a nutrição humana, biotecnologia, ciência dos materiais, indústria farmacêutica, agricultura, terapia genética e proteção ambiental. A quitosana é muito eficiente na remoção de poluentes em diferentes concentrações. Apresenta alta capacidade e grande velocidade de adsorção, boa eficiência e seletividade tanto em soluções que possuem altas ou baixas concentrações. O uso da biotecnologia, através do processo de adsorção utilizando adsorventes naturais e baratos, como a quitina e quitosana, minimiza os impactos ambientais da aquicultura tanto em relação aos provocados pelo lançamento de efluentes no meio ambiente quanto aos causados pelo descarte inadequado dos resíduos do processamento de camarões.(AU)

Aquaculture residues are derived from fish feed and excretion and may be sedimented, suspended or dissolved, resulting in high BOD, COD, nitrogen and phosphorus values. Shrimp production in Brazil has generated high amounts of solid waste, since shrimp exoskeletons account for about 40% of their total weight, resulting in a strong environmental impact. Several researches involving chitin are being developed in the area of water treatment, mainly due to its ability to form film, being used in filter systems. This polysaccharide can also be used as a flocculating agent in the treatment of effluents, as an adsorbent in the clarification of oils, and especially in the production of chitosan. Currently, chitosan has multidimensional applications, from areas such as human nutrition, biotechnology, materials science, pharmaceutical industry, agriculture, gene therapy and environmental protection. Chitosan is very efficient in the removal of pollutants at different concentrations. It presents high capacity and high adsorption velocity, good efficiency and selectivity both in solutions that have high or low concentrations. The use of biotechnology, through the adsorption process using natural and cheap adsorbents such as chitin and chitosan, minimizes the environmental impacts of aquaculture both in relation to those caused by the release of effluents into the environment and those caused by the inappropriate disposal of processing residues of shrimps.(AU)

Los residuos procedentes de la acuicultura se derivan de la ración y de la excreción de los peces y pueden estar sedimentados, suspendidos o disueltos, ocasionando elevados valores de DBO, DQO, nitrógeno y fósforo. La producción de camarones en Brasil ha generado grandes cantidades de residuos sólidos, teniendo en cuenta que los exoesqueletos de los camarones corresponden a cerca del 40% de su peso total, resultando en un fuerte impacto ambiental. Varias investigaciones involucrando la quitina se están desarrollando en el área de tratamiento de agua, debido principalmente a su capacidad de formar película, siendo utilizada en sistemas filtrantes. Este polisacárido también puede ser utilizado como agente floculante en el tratamiento de efluentes, como adsorbente en la clarificación de aceites, y principalmente en la producción de quitosana. Actualmente la quitosana posee aplicaciones multidimensionales, desde áreas como la nutrición humana, biotecnología, ciencia de los materiales, industria farmacéutica, agricultura, terapia genética y protección ambiental. La quitosana es muy eficiente en la eliminación de contaminantes en diferentes concentraciones. Presenta alta capacidad y gran velocidad de adsorción, buena eficiencia y selectividad tanto en soluciones que poseen altas o bajas concentraciones. El uso de la biotecnología, a través del proceso de adsorción utilizando adsorbentes naturales y baratos, como la quitina y quitosana, minimiza los impactos ambientales de la acuicultura tanto en relación a los provocados por el lanzamiento de efluentes en el medio ambiente en cuanto a los causados por el descarte inadecuado de los residuos del procesamiento de camarones.(AU)

Manipulation of Confined Polyelectrolyte Conformations through Dielectric Mismatch.

We demonstrate that a highly charged polyelectrolyte confined in a spherical cavity undergoes reversible transformations between amorphous conformations and a four-fold symmetry morphology as a function of dielectric mismatch between the media inside and outside the cavity. Surface polarization due to dielectric mismatch exhibits an extra "confinement" effect, which is most pronounced within a certain range of the cavity radius and the electrostatic strength between the monomers and counterions and multivalent counterions. For cavities with a charged surface, surface polarization leads to an increased amount of counterions adsorbed in the outer side, further compressing the confined polyelectrolyte into a four-fold symmetry morphology. The equilibrium conformation of the chain is dependent upon several key factors including the relative permittivities of the media inside and outside the cavity, multivalent counterion concentration, cavity radius relative to the chain length, and interface charge density. Our findings offer insights into the effects of dielectric mismatch in packaging and delivery of polyelectrolytes across media with different relative permittivities. Moreover, the reversible transformation of the polyelectrolyte conformations in response to environmental permittivity allows for potential applications in biosensing and medical monitoring.

An Assessment of the Ability of Submicron- and Micron-Size Silicone Oil Droplets in Dropped Prefillable Syringes to Invoke Early- and Late-Stage Immune Responses.

A number of biopharmaceuticals are available as lyophilized formulations along with a prefilled syringe (PFS) containing water for injection (WFI). Submicron- and micron-size droplets of lubricating silicone oil (SO) applied to the inner surface of the PFS barrel might migrate into the WFI, to which protein pharmaceuticals can adsorb, potentially inducing an immune response. In the present study, we subjected siliconized cyclo-olefin polymer PFSs filled with WFI to dropping stress to simulate actual shipping conditions as well as evaluated the risk associated with the released SO droplets. The results confirmed the undesirable effects of SO on therapeutic proteins, including adsorption to SO droplets and increased secretion of several innate cytokines from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a small donor panel. Assessment of immunogenicity in vivo using BALB/c mice revealed a slight increase in the plasma concentrations of antidrug antibodies over 21 days in response to SO-containing antibody samples compared to the absence of SO. These results indicate that SO droplets form complexes with pharmaceutical proteins that can potentially invoke early- and late-stage immune responses. Therefore, the use of SO-free cyclo-olefin polymer PFSs as primary containers for WFI could contribute to the enhanced safety of reconstituted biopharmaceuticals.

Adsorption of dyestuff from aqueous solutions through oxalic acid-modified swede rape straw: adsorption process and disposal methodology of depleted bioadsorbents.

Swede rape straw (Brassica napus L.) was modified by oxalic acid under mild conditions producing an efficient dye adsorbent (SRSOA). This low-cost and environmental friendly bioadsorbent was characterized by various techniques and then applied to purify dye-contaminated aqueous solutions. Equilibrium study showed that the Langmuir model demonstrated the best fit to the equilibrium data and the methylene blue (MB) adsorption capacity calculated by this model was 432mgg(-1). The adsorption process and mechanism is also discussed. To properly deal with the dye-loaded bioadsorbents, the disposal methodology is discussed and a biochar based on depleted bioadsorbents was for the first time produced and examined. This method both solved the disposal problem of contaminant-loaded bioadsorbents and produced an useful adsorbent thereafter. The study indicates that SRSOA is a promising substitute for ACs in purifying dye-contaminated wastewater and that producing biochars from contaminant-loaded bioadsorbents maybe a feasible disposal method.

Assessment of nontoxic, secondary effects of sorbent amendment to sediments on the deposit-feeding organism Neanthes arenaceodentata.

Activated carbon (AC) amendments to sediments were tested for nontoxic, secondary effects on survival, weight change, and energetic biomarkers of the deposit feeder Neanthes arenaceodentata. The tests employed silica sand, reference sediments, and contaminated sediments. Survival was not affected by the sediment type, the AC dose (20% versus 5%), or the AC particle size. Without additional food supply, exposure to untreated and AC-amended sediments resulted in similar reduction of weight and lipid content, with no difference between ingestible and noningestible AC. Overall, whether with or without AC, the organisms showed signs of starvation, as the organisms would most likely rely on organic surface deposits for their diet in the environments from which the sediments were collected. When additional food was supplied, the organisms grew significantly and maintained higher lipid and glycogen contents. However, when feeding on fish food, organisms grew less in AC amendments with slightly lower lipid and glycogen contents relative to organisms exposed to untreated sediment. Batch tests show that AC did not sorb sediment-associated nitrogen but sorbed nitrogen from fish food. Despite some effects of AC on these deposit feeders, absolute effects of AC amendments on growth and energy reserves were not significant.

Lead adsorption by silica-immobilized humin under flow and batch conditions: assessment of flow rate and calcium and magnesium interference.

Batch and column experiments were performed to determine the Pb(II) binding ability of silica-immobilized humin biomass under different conditions. Batch experiments were performed to determine the interference of Ca(II) and Mg(II) and column experiments were used to determine the effect of flow rate and the presence of Ca(II) and Mg(II) on the Pb(II) adsorption by the humin biopolymer. The results from the batch experiments showed that Pb binding decreased as the concentrations of Ca and Mg increased. At a concentration of 100 mM, the interference of Ca alone was 36%, while for Mg it was 26%; however, when both cations were present, the interference increased up to 42%. Column experiments were performed at flow rates of 1, 1.5, 2, and 3 mL min(-1) using a 0.1 mM Pb(II) solution. The results showed that the highest Pb adsorption was obtained at the flow rates of 1 and 1.5 mL min(-1). The average Pb binding capacity at these two flow rates was 182.3 +/- 0.7 microMPbg(-1). In addition, a recovery of 99.5 +/- 0.3% was obtained. Immobilized humin exposed under flow conditions to Pb-Ca, Pb-Mg or Pb-[Ca + Mg] solutions (Pb used at 0.1 mM and Ca and Mg at 1 mM) showed a Pb binding capacity of 161+/- 5, 175 +/- 5, and 171+/- 1 microM g(-1), respectively. In mixtures containing Pb-Ca, Pb-Mg and Pb-Ca-Mg, the Pb recovery was 89.8% +/- 0.35, 90.3% +/- 0.43, and 88.1% +/- 0.5, respectively. Pb recovery was performed using 30 bed volumes of 0.1M HCl as stripping agent. The results of these experiments demonstrated that silica-immobilized humin biomass has the potential for Pb removal from aqueous solution even in the presence of 20 mM of calcium and magnesium.

In silico prediction of ADME and pharmacokinetics. Report of an expert meeting organised by COST B15.

The computational approach is one of the newest and fastest developing techniques in pharmacokinetics, ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion) evaluation, drug discovery and toxicity. However, to date, the software packages devoted to ADME prediction, especially of metabolism, have not yet been adequately validated and still require improvements to be effective. Most are 'open' systems, under constant evolution and able to incorporate rapidly, and often easily, new information from user or developer databases. Quantitative in silico predictions are now possible for several pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters, particularly absorption and distribution. The emerging consensus is that the predictions are no worse than those made using in vitro tests, with the decisive advantage that much less investment in technology, resources and time is needed. In addition, and of critical importance, it is possible to screen virtual compounds. Some packages are able to handle thousands of molecules in a few hours. However, common experience shows that, in part at least for essentially irrational reasons, there is currently a lack of confidence in these approaches. An effort should be made by the software producers towards more transparency, in order to improve the confidence of their consumers. It seems highly probable that in silico approaches will evolve rapidly, as did in vitro methods during the last decade. Past experience with the latter should be helpful in avoiding repetition of similar errors and in taking the necessary steps to ensure effective implementation. A general concern is the lack of access to the large amounts of data on compounds no longer in development, but still kept secret by the pharmaceutical industry. Controlled access to these data could be particularly helpful in validating new in silico approaches.