Interest in pyruvic acid has been growing due to the increase in its potential areas of use and its importance in metabolic reactions. These reasons along with the limitations on recovery have prompted researchers to consider novel recovery techniques. Reactive extraction has been proposed as a promising approach to the recovery of carboxylic acids. In this study, equilibrium and kinetic data were obtained for reactive extraction of pyruvic acid using trioctylamine (TOA) or Alamine 336 in 1-octanol or oleyl alcohol. The results showed that, without pH adjustment in the aqueous phase, and without the use of an extractant, 1-octanol extracted more pyruvic acid than oleyl alcohol with a distribution coefficient (K D ) of 0.30. This trend remained the same when tertiary amines were used as an extractant. The K D values did not significantly differ with TOA or Alamine 336. The recovery of pyruvic acid was observed to increase as a function of TOA concentration and the stoichiometry of the reaction was mainly 1:1. As tertiary amines react only with undissociated acids, an increase in the initial pH of the aqueous phase lowered the K D values. When the pH was 4.0, the effect of TOA concentration on pyruvic acid extraction disappeared and for all concentration levels a distribution coefficient of 0.10 was obtained. Kinetic measurements showed that the reaction between pyruvic acid and TOA in 1-octanol is first order with respect to the two reactants with a rate constant of 0.94 L mol À1 s À1 . The enhancement factor was calculated as 25.

Wastewaters containing organic compounds such as acids, ketones, phenols, and amines can cause critical environmental problems depending on their concentration and composition. Efficient and low-cost separation of these components may also bring their reuse in industry while cleaning the aqueous streams. Formic acid (FA) is an important raw material in industry and is widely seen in wastewaters. In this study, two different anion exchangers were compared for the separation of FA from aqueous solutions. Effects of process parameters and the mechanism were discussed. Kinetic, equilibrium, and thermodynamic studies were performed, and the data were interpreted using the relevant isotherm and kinetic models. The results showed that Lewatit MP-64 was more efficient than Amberlite IRA-96 in the range of the parameters studied. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained with Lewatit MP-64 (442.75 mg/g) was significantly higher than that were previously reported in the literature for FA separation. The data were well explained by the Langmuir isotherm model. However, relatively high R 2 values were obtained with Temkin and Freundlich isotherms. Therefore, further studies are ongoing to clarify the mechanism.

No abstract

While Schwann cells (SCs) have a significant role in peripheral nerve regeneration, their use in treatments has been limited because of lack of a readily available source. To address this issue, this study focused on the effect of guidance cues by employing micropatterned polymeric films to influence the alignment, morphology and transdifferentiation of bone marrow-derived rat mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) towards a Schwann cell-like fate. Two different types of polymers, biocompatible polystyrene (PS) and biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) were used to fabricate patterned films. Percentages of transdifferentiated MSCs (tMSCs) immunolabeled with SC markers (α-S100β and α-p75(NTR)) were found to be similar on patterned versus smooth PS and PLA substrates. However, patterning had a significant effect on the alignment and elongation of the tMSCs. More than 80% of the tMSCs were oriented in the direction of microgrooves (0°-20°), while cells on the smooth substrates were randomly oriented. The aspect ratio [AR, ratio of length (in direction of microgrooves) and breadth (in direction perpendicular to microgrooves)] of the tMSCs on patterned substrates had a value of approximately five, as compared to cells on smooth substrates where the AR was one. Understanding responses to these cues in vitro helps us in understanding the behavior and interaction of the cells with the 3D environment of the scaffolds, facilitating the application of these concepts to designing effective nerve guidance conduits for peripheral nerve regeneration.