Maximum Purity Research Articles

Preliminary Screening for the Urban Forest Against Combined Air Pollution

Combined air pollution has become one of the most important city diseases in China. The construction of an urban forest not only needs landscape aesthetics, but also requires selecting a plant of high comprehensive tolerance threshold based on the needs of the ecological environment of each city, which has become a standard to maintain the sustainable development of the urban forest ecological function under environmental pollution. According to the comprehensive factor analysis of the sorption and absorption capacity of 537 plants to six air pollutants (i.e., sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen fluoride, chlorine, ozone, and particulate matters), the results showed that the tree species with strong comprehensive tolerance ability to six air pollutants were Morus alba, Platycladus orientalis, and Ailanthus altissima; the tree species with medium comprehensive tolerance ability were Populus tomentosa, Acer truncatum, Sabina chinensis, Amygdalus davidiana, Salix babylonica, Paulownia fortunei, and Pinus tabulaeformis; the trees species with relatively weak comprehensive tolerance ability were Robinia pseudoacacia, Populus×canadensis, Ginkgo biloba, Juglans regia, Platanus acerifolia, Koelreuteria paniculata, Lagerstroemia indica, and Forsythia suspensa. According to the characteristics of climate, economic structure, and air pollutants of the cities in the north and south of China, the urban forest should be constructed using selected species with a strong comprehensive tolerance ability to achieve maximum purification effect of the urban forest ecological service function.

Microwave-assisted alkali hydrolysis for cellulose isolation from wheat straw: Influence of reaction conditions and non-thermal effects of microwave

Microwave-assisted hydrolysis has been widely studied for cellulose fiber isolation, but the influence of reaction conditions and the microwave non-thermal effect are not well clarified. In this study, a series of well-designed experiments were carried out to measure the effects of reaction conditions including temperature, duration and alkali concentration. Compared to the other parameters, temperature was more relevant to the cellulose content in fiber. It could reach the maximum purity of 90.66 % when the temperature was up to 140 °C. Moreover, the existence of non-thermal effect of microwave has been confirmed through extensive determination and characterization of the fibers obtained from parallel controlled experiments conducted with or without microwave assistance. Approximately 50 %–75 % reduction in reaction time or 67 % of that in chemical costs would be realized under microwave with respect to traditional heating hydrolysis. Therefore, this work provides both deep insight and efficiency strategy into the microwave-assisted cellulose isolation.

Effect of Harvesting Stages and Nitrogen on Seed Quality and Yield of Jute Mallow (Corchorus olitorius L.)

Production of high quality seeds in African leafy vegetables has not been practiced due to varying reasons including incorrect harvesting stages and fertilizer rates. Jute mallow (Corchorus olitorius L.) pods do not ripen simultaneously and fruits left to dry on mother plant long before harvesting, which face seed quality deterioration. Timely seed harvesting ensures maximum seed quality attributes of purity, germination and vigour. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of harvesting stages and nitrogen fertilizer on seed quality and yield of Jute mallow. Seed samples from four Jute mallow morphotypes (GEMS, GLMT, BEMS, and BLMT) were planted. Completely randomized block design was used for analysing the effects of nitrogen fertilizer levels (0, 60 and 120 kg/ha) with three replicates. Five plants were randomly tagged per plot and seed harvested at three maturity stages of green, tan and black. Seed quality test of purity, germination and vigour were done as per ISTA (2004) and means separation done by DMRT at p≤0.05. Results showed that harvesting stage significantly influenced seed quality attributes, in a way that the maximum purity, germination and seed vigour was detected at tan pod stage and their lowest levels were observed at black pod stage. It can be concluded that best agronomic practices of Jute mallow seed can be attained when they harvested at tan stage together with use of N fertilizer for high seed quality and yield.

Techno-economic assessment of microbial electrosynthesis from CO2 and/or organics: An interdisciplinary roadmap towards future research and application

Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) allows carbon-waste and renewable electricity valorization into industrially-relevant chemicals. MES has received much attention in laboratory-scale research, although a techno-economic-driven roadmap towards validation and large-scale demonstration of the technology is lacking. In this work, two main integrated systems were modelled, centered on (1) MES-from-CO2 and (2) MES from short-chain carboxylates, both for the production of pure, or mixture of, acetate, n–butyrate, and n–caproate. Twenty eight key parameters were identified, and their impact on techno-economic feasibility of the systems assessed. The main capital and operating costs were found to be the anode material cost (59%) and the electricity consumption (up to 69%), respectively. Under current state-of-the-art MES performance and economic conditions, these systems were found non-viable. However, it was demonstrated that sole improvement of MES performance, independent of improvement of non-technological parameters, would result in profitability. In otherwise state-of-the-art conditions, an improved electron selectivity (≥36%) towards n-caproate, especially at the expense of acetate, was showed to result in positive net present values (i.e. profitability; NPV). Cell voltage, faradaic efficiency, and current density also have significant impact on both the capital and operating costs. Variation in electricity cost on overall process feasibility was also investigated, with a cost lower than 0.045 € kWh−1 resulting in positive NPV of the state-of-the-art scenario. Maximum purification costs were also determined to assess the integration of a product’s separation unit, which was showed possible at positive NPV. Finally, we briefly discuss CO2 electroreduction versus MES, and their potential market complementarities.

One-pot simultaneous production and sustainable purification of fibrinolytic protease from Bacillus cereus using natural deep eutectic solvents

The present study report for the first time on the one-pot production and purification of fibrinolytic protease from Bacillus cereus by extractive fermentation using natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES). Cheese whey was chosen as a sustainable low-cost production alternative yielding a significantly high amount of protease (185.7 U/mg). Five natural deep eutectic solvents with menthol as hydrogen bond donor and sugar molecules as corresponding hydrogen bond acceptors were synthesized and their association was confirmed with H1 NMR. Thermophysical investigation of the synthetic NADES was accomplished as a function of temperature to define their extraction ability. Response surface methodology based optimization of concentration of NADES (77.5% w/w), Na2SO4 (14% w/v) and cheese whey (1% w/w) were accomplished for extractive fermentation. Further, preparative purification using size exclusion chromatography was used to quantify the amount of enzyme obtained in the extraction phase (190 U/ml). On subsequent purification with an anion exchange column, the maximum purity fold (21.2) with enzyme activity (2,607.8 U/ml) was attained. The optimal pH (8.0), temperature (50 °C) were determined and the in-vitro fibrinolytic activity has been confirmed using a fibrin plate assay.

Targeted Tumor Therapy with Radiolabeled DNA Intercalator: A Possibility? Preclinical Investigations with 177Lu-Acridine.

Objective A DNA intercalating agent reversibly stacks between the adjacent base pairs of DNA and thus is expected to exhibit preferential localization in the tumorous lesions as tumors are associated with enhanced DNA replication. Therefore, radiolabeled DNA intercalators are supposed to have potential to be used in targeted tumor therapy. Working in this direction, an attempt was made to radiolabel 9-aminoacridine, a DNA intercalator, with 177Lu, one of the most useful therapeutic radionuclides, and study the potential of 177Lu-acridine in targeted tumor therapy. Experiments. 9-Aminoacridine was coupled with p-NCS-benzyl-DOTA to facilitate radiolabeling, and the conjugate was radiolabeled with 177Lu. Different reaction parameters were optimized in order to obtain 177Lu-acridine complex with maximum radiochemical purity. In vitro stability of the radiolabeled complex was studied in normal saline and human blood serum. Biological behavior of the radiolabeled agent was studied both in vitro and in vivo using the Raji cell line and fibrosarcoma tumor-bearing Swiss mice, respectively. Results 177Lu-acridine complex was obtained with ~100% radiochemical purity under the optimized reaction conditions involving incubation of 1.5 mg/mL of ligand with 177Lu (1 mCi, 37 MBq) at 100°C at pH ~5 for 45 minutes. The complex maintained a radiochemical purity of >85% in saline at 6 d and >70% in human serum at 2 d postpreparation. In vitro cellular study showed uptake of the radiotracer (5.3 ± 0.13%) in the Raji cells along with significant cytotoxicity (78.06 ± 2.31% after 6 d). Biodistribution study revealed considerable accumulation of the radiotracer in tumor 9.98 ± 0.13 %ID/g within 1 h postadministration and retention therein till 6 d postadministration 4.00 ± 0.16 %ID/g with encouraging tumor to nontarget organ uptake ratios. Conclusions The present study, although preliminary, indicates the potential of 177Lu-acridine and thus radiolabeled DNA intercalators in targeted tumor therapy. However, further detailed evaluation is required to explore the actual potential of such agents in targeted tumor therapy.

An Effectual Biosorbent Substance for Removal of Manganese Ions from Aquatic Environment: A Promising Environmental Remediation Study with Activated Coastal Waste of Zostera marina Plant.

In the present research paper, a biosorptive remediation practice for an aqueous medium sample polluted with manganese ions was implemented using the activated coastal waste of the Zostera marina plant. This is the first report in the literature on the utilization of current modified biological waste as a biosorbent substance for the removal of manganese ions from the water environment. The analyses of biosorbent characterization, environmental condition, kinetic, equilibrium, and comparison were performed to introduce the ability of prepared biosorbent for the removal of manganese from the aquatic medium. The biosorbent matter has a rough surface with numerous cavities and cracks and various functional groups for the biosorption of manganese. The environmental conditions significantly affected the manganese purification process, and the optimum working conditions were determined to be biosorbent quantity of 10 mg, pH of 6, manganese concentration of 30 mg L−1, and time of 60 min. The pseudo-second-order model best explained the kinetic data of biosorption operation. The biosorption equilibrium data were best described by the Freundlich isotherm. According to the Langmuir equilibrium model, the maximum purification potency was estimated to be 120.6 mg g−1. The comparison work revealed that the activated coastal waste of the Z. marina plant could be utilized as an effectual and promising biosorbent substance for the remediation of an aquatic environment contaminated with manganese ions.

Investigation of a two-step device implementing magnetophoresis and dielectrophoresis for separation of circulating tumor cells from blood cells.

Identifying tumor cells from a pool of other cells has always been an appealing topic for different purposes. The objective of this study is to discriminate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood cells for diagnostic purposes in a novel microfluidic device using two active methods: magnetophoresis and dielectrophoresis. The most specific feature of this device is the differentiation of CTCs without labeling them in order to achieve a more reliable and less complicated method. This device was analyzed and evaluated using finite element method. Four cell lines are separated in this device containing red blood cells, platelets, white blood cells, and CTCs. Primarily, red blood cells and platelets, which constitute the largest part of a blood sample, are removed in the magnetophoresis section. Remaining cells enter the dielectrophoresis part and based on their inherent dielectric properties and diameters, final separation occurs. In each step, different parameters are examined to obtain the maximum purification. The results demonstrate the potential of different CTCs separation by changing the effective parameters in the designed device based on the inherent properties of the cells.

The Role of Feed Perturbation in the Design of Microstrip-fed Cylindrical Dielectric Resonator Antennas

In this paper, the role of feed perturbation in the design of a cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) for maximum modal purity is investigated both numerically and experimentally. Modal purity is indicated by the purity of the far-field radiation which can be quantified by the radiation pattern symmetry and the cross-polarized radiation. To demonstrate the feed perturbation effect, a microstrip line proximity coupled to a cylindrical dielectric resonator exciting its lowest order broadside radiating mode is used. It is identified that the feed perturbation introduces higher order fields of TM01δ and HEM21δ types of the DRA to disturb the modal purity of the desired mode. Results suggest that optimum DRA design should consider the feed perturbation effects also in addition to the common performance parameters such as impedance matching, bandwidth and gain.

Novel operation control strategy for conjugate high-low pressure air separation columns at different part loads

Air separation industry can be considered as the major source provider of oxygen and nitrogen. It is an energy-intensive process that consumes a large amount of electrical energy. So, this study is concerning on doing improvements in both the process design and the process control in order to decrease the specific energy demands of the products. Therefore, a complete steady state simulation model of a heat integrated double distillation column of a cryogenic air separation unit using Aspen Plus software is presented. The simulation model results are compared with typical real process values showing a good agreement with a maximum deviation of 2.6%. Then, an optimization procedure of the main factors of the distillation columns is proposed. This optimization causing the yields of oxygen and nitrogen to increase from 95% to 99.65% and from 90% to 99.9% respectively while the specific energy demand of nitrogen (at 8 bar) is decreased from 0.25 kW/Sm3 to 0.18 kW/Sm3. After that, a sufficient control system is installed on the simulation model by using simple single input single output (SISO) PI controllers. This system links between the controlled and manipulated variables. Also, it includes a novel operation control strategy to give the plant the ability to be operated under different production modes (liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen, or both) at wide range of partial loads (typically from 100% to 25%). A careful study of tuning of the critical controllers is provided to select the most proper gain (K) and integral time (IT) values which achieve the maximum purities and the desired product quantities in each different case while the specific energy demands of products are within range. Finally, the performance of the plant under 42 different operation cases is presented for 24 h. These cases include different production modes under different partial loads. The results show that the optimized model, with the proposed control system, can be operated under wide range of partial loads during different production modes while the products qualities are in allowable ranges. This availability of working under any part load percentage led to the provision of a large part of the energy consumed.

Optimization of starch isolation process for sweet potato and characterization of the prepared starch

The study was conducted to standardize the parameters of centrifugation method of starch isolation for sweet potato to yield better quality starch. The effects of solid-to-solvent ratio in slurry-making, numbers of blending, slurry filtration and starch washings were studied for obtaining maximum yield and purity of starch with desired color and amylose content. The goal of the study was to develop a suitable process for small scale/on-farm processing of sweet potato for preparation of starch. A widely grown pink-skinned cream fleshed cultivar (Kanjangad) was used for the experiments. The studied parameters were slurry making solid-to-solvent ratio (1:2, 1:3 and 1:4), number of blendings (1 and 2 times), number of slurry filtration water washings (2, 3 and 4 times) and starch washings (2, 3 and 4 times). The study showed that the starch yield, purity, color and amylose were influenced by altering the starch isolation procedures. The solid-to-solvent ratio of 1:2 in the starch isolation process yielded the best results. Also, the increase in number of blendings degraded the purity, amylose and color of starch. The optimal process was slurry making at 1:2 solid-to-solvent ratio and once blending, slurry filtration washing for 2 times and starch washing for 2 times. Accordingly, the starch yield, purity, amylose, and L, a and b values were 13.967 ± 1.135%, 80.640 ± 1.139%, 29.220 ± 0.759%, and 57.88 ± 2.982, 0.386 ± 0.204, and 2.68 ± 0.127, respectively. The prepared starch was characterized for chemical composition, water activity, paste clarity, swelling power, water solubility index, pasting property and granule size and morphology. The study suggested that the prepared starch was suitable for food uses.

Enhanced biodiesel production from diseased swine fat by ultrasound-assisted two-step catalyzed process

In order to enhance the yield of high quality biodiesel form diseased swine fat, the ultrasound-assisted two-step catalyzed process was employed. First, three-dimensional ultrasound-assisted concentrated sulfuric acid pre-esterification experiment was carried out. Then, the transesterification reaction catalyzed by KOH was performed, and four parameters (catalyst concentration, reaction time, methanol/oil molar ratio and reaction temperature) were optimized using response surface methodology. The results showed that the optimal transesterification reaction conditions were catalyst concentration of 1.11 wt%, reaction temperature of 62.3 °C, methanol/oil molar ratio of 7.42:1, and reaction time of 116.14 min. The most significant factor affecting biodiesel purity was identified as catalyst concentration. Under the optimal conditions, the maximum biodiesel purity reached to 98% with the reaction time of 176.14 min, shortened by 63.3% compared with previous works. Furthermore, most of the biodiesel properties agreed the quality requirements established by Official Regulations of GB/25199-2017 of China.

Modeling of the Contour Water Flooding Technology in Microcosms

The results are presented of modeling the “contour water flooding” biotechnology aimed at cleaning heavily petroleum-polluted agrosoddy-podzolic soils (Albic Retisols (Loamic, Aric)) by application of bacterial–yeast consortium, microalgae, and algal–bacterial–yeast consortium, and mineral fertilizers are presented. The patterns of biotic indicators and the total petroleum hydrocarbon content at various stages of oil destruction are identified. Changes in the number of hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms in the microcosms depend on the biological agent applied. In the case of the soil treatment with microalgae, the population of hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms declines by an order of magnitude at the end of the experiment, whereas in the case of bacterial–yeast and algal–bacterial–yeast consortia, their population has been restored to the 90th day. The biochemical activity in microcosms remains high during the experiment. The results of the experiment prove the efficiency of application oil-oxidizing microbial consortia, including those with microalgae. While being fertilized,the bacterial–yeast and algal–bacterial–yeast consortia exert the maximum purification effect in simulation microcosm experiments. The efficiency of soil purification from total petroleum hydrocarbons reaches 60–63% over 90 days of the experiment. IR spectroscopic data indicate the decline in the share of saturated aliphatic structures and the accumulation of bio-thermodynamically stable aromatic hydrocarbons and oxygen-containing residual components of oil, which are intermediate products of metabolism in the microbial oxidation of oil hydrocarbons.

Separation of CO2/N2 mixture by vacuum pressure swing adsorption (VPSA) using zeolite 13X type and carbon molecular sieve adsorbents

Separation of carbon dioxide in flue gases from the combustion equipment is one of the most serious concerns for industries and especially for the power plants which are the main producers of this pollutant gas. From the various separation methods, vacuum pressure swing adsorption (VPSA) process is attracted interest due to its lower energy consumption and high efficiency. A VPSA process was studied for the separation of a mixture of CO2/N2 (80% N2 and 20% CO2). Experiments were performed in an eight-step, four-bed setup using zeolite 13X and carbon molecular sieve (CMS) as adsorbents. Experimental measurements by the bench-scale system have been obtained in a pressure range of 2.7–4.7 bar, cycle times of 360–600 s, the product flow rate of 1–3 (lit/min), and temperature 30 °C. The effects of pressure, cycle time, and product flow rate were investigated. With using 560 s for a cycle time at 3.7 bar, the maximum purity of 97.6% was obtained for zeolite 13X adsorbent.

Time-minimum control of quantum purity for 2-level Lindblad equations

We study time-minimum optimal control for a class of quantum two-dimensional dissipative systems whose dynamics are governed by the Lindblad equation and where control inputs acts only in the Hamiltonian. The dynamics of the control system are analyzed as a bi-linear control system on the Bloch ball after a decoupling of such dynamics into intra- and inter-unitary orbits. The (singular) control problem consists of finding a trajectory of the state variables solving a radial equation in the minimum amount of time, starting at the completely mixed state and ending at the state with the maximum achievable purity. The boundary value problem determined by the time-minimum singular optimal control problem is studied numerically. If controls are unbounded, simulations show that multiple local minimal solutions might exist. To find the unique globally minimal solution, we must repeat the algorithm for various initial conditions and find the best solution out of all of the candidates. If controls are bounded, optimal controls are given by bang-bang controls using the Pontryagin minimum principle. Using a switching map we construct optimal solutions consisting of singular arcs. If controls are bounded, the analysis of our model also implies classical analysis done previously for this problem.

Two-Step Purification of Glycerol as a Value Added by Product From the Biodiesel Production Process.

For every ton of biodiesel produced, about 100 kg of glycerol is also generated as a by-product. The traditional method of removing glycerol is mainly by gravity separation or centrifugation. This method generates crude glycerol, which may still contain impurities such as methanol, oil, soap, salt, and other organic materials at ppm levels. The effective usage of crude glycerol is important to improve the economic sustainability of the biodiesel industry while reducing the environmental impacts caused by the generated waste. The application and value of crude glycerol can be enhanced if these impurities are removed or minimized. Thus, it is important to develop a method which can increase the economic and applicable value of crude glycerol. Therefore, in the present study, the dual step purification method comprised of acidification and ion exchange techniques has been used to purify the crude glycerol and convert it into higher-value products. The acidification process started with the pH adjustment of the crude glycerol, using phosphoric acid to convert soap into fatty acid and salts. Then, the pretreated glycerol was further purified by ion exchange with a strong cation H+ resin. Gas chromatography (GC) was used to analyze both crude and purified glycerol and expressed as the weight percentage of glycerol content. A maximum glycerol purity of 98.2% was obtained after the dual step purification method at the optimized conditions of 60% of solvent, the flow rate of 15 mL/min and 40 g of resin. Further, the glycerol content measured being within the accepted amount of BS 2621:1979. Therefore, this study has proven that the proposed crude glycerol purification process is effective in improving the glycerol purity and could enhance the applicability of glycerol in producing value-added products which bring new revenue to the biodiesel industry.

The Influence of Heat Treatment on the Elastic and Microplastic Properties of Ultrafine-Grained Titanium with Variable Content of Impurities

Results of investigations of the influence of heat treatment at elevated temperatures on the elastic and microplastic properties of ultrafine-grained (UFG) titanium processed by severe plastic deformation are discussed. The samples were prepared from various batches of α-titanium (VT1-0, Grade 4, and PT3-V) with different initial polycrystalline structures and impurity compositions. Experiments showed that significant changes in the structure (grain size), elastic properties, and microplasticity characteristics only took place in the α-Ti grade of maximum purity (VT1-0). UFG titanium of Grade 4 and PT3-V showed much higher thermal stability of properties, which was probably related to the presence of large amounts of various impurities.

Phytotoxic assessment of sewage treatment methods in disposal sites

The paper presents the assessment of the impact of disposal sites on biota through definition of phytotoxic influence of polluted soil and landfill leachate on seedlings, growth and root system of plants Triticum aestivum. It is found that soil collected around a disposal site of municipal solid waste, the seedlings of plants are 16% lower in comparison with standard (clean soil), the length of a land part is 22% lower, the average length of roots is 44% less. The green weight of top and the weight of a root system of plants in the soil from a disposal site is 52% and 43% less respectively. This influence is characterized as above the average toxicity level. It is defined that with the introduction of Sviteco-PBG prebiotic (10% dilution) to the polluted soil the seedlings of plants are 5.2% better in comparison with the polluted soil without the prebiotic, the length of a land part – by 11.6%, the average length of roots – by 40.2% respectively; the green weight of top and the weight of a root system of plants is 14% and 16.5% higher in comparison with the polluted soil without the prebiotic. Thus, the use of prebiotics allows improving the quality of soil and reducing its phytotoxicity. In particular, if the influence on a root system of the polluted soil is characterized as toxic above the average, then after the application of prebiotics – as the average toxicity by root weight and absent (weak) toxicity by root length. It is found that when Sviteco-PBG (10% dilution) and Ca(OH)2 are added to sewage waters of a MSW dump at pH 10, their maximum purification from heavy metals is reached, the phytotoxic effect is estimated as weak toxicity. The phytotoxic effect of the polluted filtrate without purification – above the average toxicity. Thus, prebiotics allow improving the efficiency of soil cleanup from heavy metals, giving an opportunity in the long term to return contaminated land to their economic circulation. Ca(OH)2 and Sviteco-PBG (10% dilution) at pH 10 allows improving the quality of technogenically polluted soil, reducing toxic impact on biota and increasing the efficiency of sewage treatment in waste disposal sites.

K -uniform mixed states

We investigate the maximum purity that can be achieved by k-uniform mixed states of N parties. Such N-party states have the property that all their k-party reduced states are maximally mixed. A scheme to construct explicitly k-uniform states using a set of specific N-qubit Pauli matrices is proposed. We provide several different examples of such states and demonstrate that in some cases the state corresponds to a particular orthogonal array. The obtained states, despite being mixed, reveal strong non-classical properties such as genuine multipartite entanglement or violation of Bell inequalities.

Biological surface properties in extracellular vesicles and their effect on cargo proteins

Ultracentrifugationon sucrose density gradientappears to be the best purification protocol for extracellular vesicle (EVs) purification. After this step, to reduce disulfide bridges linking exogenous proteins to the vesicles, the collected samples are routinely washed and treated with dithiothreitol (DTT). Such incubations are performed at temperatures ranging from room temperature up to 95 °C, with either Tris or PBS as buffers. We re-investigated these steps on both exosomes and microvesicles purified from blood (serum) and urine by electrophoretic separation, silver staining and western blots analysis. Data confirm that an extra centrifugation on a sucrose cushion can effectively eliminate contaminants. Tris buffer (50 Mm) and β-mercaptoethanol as a reducing agent at room temperature dramatically improved either sample cleaning. By contrast, especially for exosomes PBS buffer and DTT, above 37 °C, caused massive protein aggregations, yielding blurred SDS-PAGE gels in both samples. Immuno-blot analyses demonstrated that in PBS-DTT contamination with albumin (in serum) or with uromodulin (in urine) occurs. DTT, likely due to its two–SH groups, might form scrambled SS-bonds promoting EVs interaction with environmental macromolecules via disulphide bridges. Therefore, to obtain maximum vesicle purity for biomarker investigations and to maximize both presence of EVs proteins and their accessibility, use of DTT is not recommended.