Introduction of one efficient industrial system for turpentine processing wastewater reuse and treatment.

Wastewater treatment is one important issue for turpentine plant and more wastewater generated by greater turpentine processing will prevent its further development. To solve this issue without extra place and new equipment, one industrial system for reuse and treatment of turpentine processing wastewater was introduced for the first time. For wastewater reuse, the technology was simple and easy to control that after neutralization by lime and absorption with activated carbon (optional, mostly not necessary), the wastewater could be reused for turpentine processing. After reuse, the wastewater was further treated by a biological system. During long-term application of wastewater reuse in this plant, it showed little influence on the products performance (mainly acid value) and final wastewater COD. Base on above advantages, the plant could decide when for wastewater drainage, and thus the amount of wastewater was reduced greatly. For the biological treatment, the COD of wastewater could be degraded to suitable level stably and the wastewater after treatment could be applied for daily life in the plant. Overall, considering the cost, operation, and performance, the whole system shows great potential and possibility of industrial application and therefore can be applied widely in the turpentine processing industry.

CaCO3 supplementation alleviates the inhibition of formic acid on acetone/butanol/ethanol fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the inhibiting effect of formic acid on acetone/butanol/ethanol (ABE) fermentation and explain the mechanism of the alleviation in the inhibiting effect under CaCO3 supplementation condition. RESULTS: From the medium containing 50 g sugars l-1 and 0.5 g formic acid l-1, only 0.75 g ABE l-1 was produced when pH was adjusted by KOH and fermentation ended prematurely before the transformation from acidogenesis to solventogenesis. In contrast, 11.4 g ABE l-1 was produced when pH was adjusted by 4 g CaCO3 l-1. The beneficial effect can be ascribed to the buffering capacity of CaCO3. Comparative analysis results showed that the undissociated formic acid concentration and acid production coupled with ATP and NADH was affected by the pH buffering capacity of CaCO3. Four millimole undissociated formic acid was the threshold at which the transformation to solventogenesis occurred. CONCLUSION: The inhibiting effect of formic acid on ABE fermentation can be alleviated by CaCO3 supplementation due to its buffering capacity.

Use of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) acid hydrolysate for microbial oil production by Trichosporon cutaneum.

Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) dilute acid hydrolysate contains 34.6 g/L total sugars. The potential of lipid production by oleaginous yeast Trichosporon cutaneum grown on elephant grass acid hydrolysate was investigated for the first time. During the fermentation process on the elephant grass acid hydrolysate, glucose, xylose, and arabinose could be well utilized as carbon sources by T. cutaneum. Interestingly, xylose was almost no use before glucose was consumed completely. This illustrated that simultaneous saccharification of xylose and glucose by T. cutaneum did not occur on elephant grass acid hydrolysate. The highest biomass, lipid content, lipid yield, and lipid coefficient of T. cutaneum were measured after the sixth day of fermentation and were 22.76 g/L, 24.0%, 5.46 g/L, and 16.1%, respectively. Therefore, elephant grass is a promising raw material for microbial oil production by T. cutaneum.

Bacterial cellulose production from the litchi extract by Gluconacetobacter xylinus.

Although litchi has both nutrient and edible value, the extremely short preservation time limited its further market promotion. To explore processed litchi products with longer preservation time, litchi extract was selected as an alternative feedstock for production of bacterial cellulose (BC). After 2 weeks of static fermentation, 2.53 g/L of the BC membrane was obtained. The trace elements including magnesium (Mg) and sodium (Na) in the litchi extract were partly absorbed in the BC membrane, but no potassium (K) element was detected in it, curiously. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) photographs exhibited an ultrafine network nanostructure for the BC produced in the litchi extract. Analysis of the fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the pellicles to be a cellulosic material. Interestingly, X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed the BC membrane obtained from litchi extract had higher crystallinity of 94.0% than that from HS medium. Overall, the work showed the potential of producing high value-added polymer from litchi resources.

[Effect of Qiling Decoction combined HAART on expression levels of Treg cells and Th17 in HIV/AIDS patients].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of Qiling Decoction (QD) combined highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) on expression levels of peripheral blood Th17 and Treg cells in HIV/AIDS patients. METHODS: Totally 55 HIV/AIDS patients were randomly assigned to the treatment group (28 cases) and the combination group (27 cases). Besides, 21 HIV negative patients were recruited as the healthy control group. Those in the treatment group received HARRT alone, while those in the combination group received HAART combined QD. The observation lasted for 24 weeks. Meanwhile, according to peripheral blood CD4+ T cell counts before treatment, HIV/AIDS patients were assigned to three subgroups. For patients in subgroup 1, 1 cells/microL < CD4+ T cell counts < or = 100 cells/microL; For patients in subgroup 2, 101 cells/microL < CD4+ T cell counts < or = 200 cells/lL; For patients in subgroup 3, 201 cells/microL < CD4+ T cell counts < or = 350 cells/microL. Expression of peripheral blood Th17 and Treg cells, and number of CD4+ T cell counts were detected using flow cytometry (FCM)in HIV/AIDS patients at the pre-treatment baseline, week 4, 12, and 24, as well as those in the healthy control group. RESULTS: Compared with the healthy control group, CD4+ T cell counts and the baseline expression level of Th17 cells in the peripheral blood of HIV/AIDS patients significantly decreased, the expression level of Treg cells significantly increased P < 0.01). Compared with before treatment in the same group, CD4+ T cell counts all increased at week 4, 12, and 24 in the two treatment groups, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). There was no statistical difference in the effective rate at various CD4+ T cell levels between the two groups (P > 0.05). There was no statistical difference in expression levels of Th17 and Treg cells between the combination group and the treatment group at any time point (all P >0.05). The Th17/Treg ration significantly increased in the combination group after 24 weeks of treatment, showing statistical difference when compared with the treatment group (U = 2.135, P = 0.038). CONCLUSION: QD could improve the immune balance of Th17/Treg cells, which might be one of its mechanisms for improving HIV/AIDS patients' immunity.