Modified Fusion Method Research Articles

Production of Biogasoline via Pyrolysis of Oleic Acid Basic Soaps

In this study, an investigation on the effect of the Ca/Mg/Zn mixing ratio on gasoline-range hydrocarbon production by oleic basic soap pyrolysis was carried out. The ratios of calcium to magnesium used were 15%, 35%, 50%, 65%, and 85% with constant Zn. Oleic basic soap was obtained by saponification with the modified fusion method. Pyrolysis experiments were carried out at 450 °C using a semi-continuous reactor with a feed flow rate of 5 g/15 min. The process produced three fractions, i.e., gas, solid, and liquid (bio-hydrocarbon + water). The gas products were characterized by GC-TCD, and the results showed the presence of carbon dioxide, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and methane. Based on the GC-FID and FT-IR results, the bio-hydrocarbon comprised mainly homologous hydrocarbon from carbon number C7 to C19 containing n-alkanes, alkenes, various iso-alkanes, and some oxygenated compounds. All calcium ratios in the oleic basic soap produced hydrocarbon in the range of gasoline (C7-C11) as the dominant product. The maximum yield of gasoline (74.86%) was achieved at 15% calcium.

Establishment of the glioma polyploid giant cancer cell model by a modified PHA-DMSO-PEG fusion method following dual drug-fluorescence screening in vitro

BackgroundIn glioma, cell fusion and the number of the polyploid giant cancer cells (PGCC) were found to be augmented with tumor grades (WHO Ⅰ-Ⅳ) and closely related to poor prognosis. However, the pathological and molecular characteristics of glioma PGCCs remain unclear due to the lack of cell model in vitro and in vivo. New methodHere, we reported a novel approach to obtain the glioma PGCCs by the PHA-DMSO-PEG fusion method following dual drug-fluorescence screening in vitro. Glioma cells were labelled by lentiviruses infection and fusion hybrids were obtained by puromycin screening and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). ResultsGlioma tumor-tumor cell fusion efficiency was significantly improved by PHA and DMSO. Glioma PGCCs were successfully obtained after puromycin screening and FACS. Cell size, DNA content and chromosome numbers of the glioma PGCCs were almost twice than that of the parental glioma cells. Moreover, glioma PGCCs showed a decreased proliferation rate but enhanced temozolomide resistance potential compared to the parental cells. Comparison with existing methodsWe firstly obtained the glioma PGCCs by a modified fusion method in vitro. The fusion efficiency of the PHA-DMSO-PEG fusion method was much higher compared to PEG fusion method. Moreover, the dual drug-fluorescence screening method was more convenient and effective compared to the single one. ConclusionsWe successfully established the glioma PGCC model through a modified PHA-DMSO-PEG fusion method following dual drug-fluorescence screening in vitro. Glioma PGCCs showed a deceased proliferation rate but increased TMZ resistance capacity.

Calcium Soap from Palm Fatty Acid Distillate for Ruminant Feed: The Influence of Initial Mixing Temperature

The breastfeeding dairy cows often go through metabolic disturbances and low milk production due to the use of stored body fat and minerals to assist milk production. Those problems can be solved by feeding feed supplement to the dairy lactating cows. Calcium soap is a well-known lactating dairy cattle feed supplement, which gives energy in the form of protected fat so it can increase milk productivity of dairy cattle. This research studied the use of PFAD (Palm Fatty Acid Distillate) as the free fatty acids source and calcium oxide as a calcium source to produce calcium soap using modified fusion method with water as the reaction catalyst. This study evaluated the initial mixing temperature of PFAD as the parameter affecting the conversion of PFAD, which was determined by the product acid value. The result showed that, at the same mole ratio of calcium source to PFAD, the lower initial mixing temperature gave higher reaction conversion of PFAD. The recommended initial temperature for mixing was found to be 60 °C, which gave the acid value of the product in the range of 2.96 - 3.14 mg KOH/g sample for mole ratio of CaO/PFAD 1 - 1.15.

Multimodal Medical Image Fusion using Guided Filter in NSCT Domain

Multimodal medical image fusion aims at minimizing the redundancy and collecting the relevant information using the input images acquired from different medical sensors. The main goal is to produce a single fused image having more information and has higher efficiency for medical applications. In this paper modified fusion method has been proposed in which NSCT decomposition is used to decompose the wavelet coefficients obtained after wavelet decomposition. NSCT being multidirectional,shift invariant transform provide better results.Guided filter has been used for the fusion of high frequency coefficients on account of its edge preserving property. Phase congruency is used for the fusion of low frequency coefficients due to its insensitivity to illumination contrast hence making it suitable for medical images. The simulated results show that the proposed technique shows better performance in terms of entropy, structural similarity index, Piella metric. The fusion response of the proposed technique is also compared with other fusion approaches; proving the effectiveness of the obtained fusion results.

Calcium soap from palm fatty acid distillate for ruminant feed: The influence of water temperature

As the largest palm oil producing country in the world, Indonesia also produces abundant amount of Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD), a by-product of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) refining process. PFAD can be utilized as the raw material for calcium soap, ruminant feed that is widely used to increase milk yield, as well as to increase the ruminant’s fertility. However, the practice of feeding ruminants with calcium soap has not been practiced in Indonesia, which makes it imperative to develop calcium soap production process from PFAD within the country. This research aimed to study the effect of operating conditions of the saponification reaction using PFAD and CaO as reactants on the quality of the calcium soap obtained. The saponification reaction was carried out by modified fusion method. A range of stoichiometric mole ratios of CaO to PFAD (1.0 to 1.6) and the temperature of water (60-90°C) were studied in this research. An increase in the stoichiometric mole ratio of CaO/PFAD was observed to cause a decrease in the acid value, which indicates an increase in the reaction conversion. In contrast, the temperature of water was found to have little impact on the acid value of the product.

Calcium soap from palm fatty acid distillate for ruminant feed: Ca(OH)2 as calcium source

PFAD can be utilized as raw material for producing calcium soap, a kind of ruminant feed supplement. It gives benefits to the ruminants’ health and increases the quantity and quality of cattle’s milk. This research evaluated the effect of stoichiometric mole ratio of Ca(OH)2 to PFAD and water temperature on calcium soap production using PFAD and calcium hydroxide as raw materials by applying modified fusion method. The result showed that the acid value of products decreased as the mole ratio of Ca(OH)2 to PFAD increased and the low water temperature lowered the acid value of products. The highest fatty acid conversion (98%) was achieved at the stoichiometric mole ratio of 3. However, the use of such high mole ratio is not preferable because the product will have excessive calcium, which may disturb the absorption of other minerals in ruminant’s digestion. Thus, further research related to operating condition and the use of other calcium sources in the calcium soap production is still required.

Solubility Enhancement of Clarithromycin Using Solid Dispersion and Effervescence Assisted Fusion Technique

The Poor Solubility of Drugs is a major problem which limits the development of highly potent pharmaceutics. Solubility Enhancement is one of the important parameters which should be considered for those drugs having poor aqueous solubility. Drugs belonging to Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) class II are characterized by low aqueous solubility and high physiological permeability. Solid Dispersion Method Technique and Effervescence Assisted Solid Dispersion Techniques using Modified Fusion Method are the process to enhance the solubility of poorly water soluble drugs. In this work, BCS class-II drugs Clarithromycin was used as a model drugs, having poor solubility but high permeability is individually incorporated with Mannitol, Citric acid, and Sodium bicarbonate (Hydrophilic Carriers used as Excipients) in different ratio respectively. SDMs of Clarithromycin were prepared melting (Fusion) method using Mannitol. EASDs of Clarithromycin were prepared using Modified Fusion Method. Mannitol was melted and in this molten mannitol Citric acid (organic acid) was added and uniformly mixed by continuous stirring. Solubility of Drug Powders, Solid Dispersion, and EASDs was determined at 25 C using shake flask method. The aqueous solubility of Clarithromycin were estimated using a U.V. spectrophotometer at 241nm (?max). Scanning electron Micrographs, FTIR, DSC and PXRD CLN of drug powders, solid dispersion, and EASDs were compared. Scanning electron micrographs of EASDs showed better uniform distribution of drug particles in the carrier matrix. The present technique is better suitable for drugs having a low melting point or melt without charring. Effervescence assisted fusion technique of preparing solid dispersions can be employed for enhancing solubility of poorly soluble drugs.

Effervescence Assisted Fusion Technique to Enhance the Solubility of Drugs.

The solubility of five poorly soluble drugs was enhanced by using an effervescence assisted solid dispersion (EASD) technique. EASDs were prepared by using modified fusion method. Drug and hydrophilic carrier were melted, and in this molten mixture, effervescence was generated by adding effervescence couple comprising organic acid (citric acid) and carbonic base (sodium bicarbonate). Solubility of drug powders, solid dispersions, and EASDs was determined at 25°C using shake flask method. Atorvastatin calcium, cefuroxime axetil, clotrimazole, ketoconazole, and metronidazole benzoate were estimated using a spectrophotometer at 246, 280, 260, 230, and 232 nm (λ max), respectively. Solubility of atorvastatin calcium (from 100 to 345 μg/ml), cefuroxime axetil (from 441 to 1948 μg/ml), clotrimazole (from 63 to 677 μg/ml), ketoconazole (from 16 to 500 μg/ml), and metronidazole benzoate (from 112 to 208 μg/ml) in EASDs was enhanced by 3.45-, 4.4-, 10.7-, 31.2-, and 1.8-fold, respectively. Scanning electron micrographs of drug powder, solid dispersion, and EASDs were compared. Scanning electron micrographs of EASDs showed a uniform distribution of drug particles in the carrier matrix. Morphology (size and shape) of cefuroxime axetil particles was altered in solid dispersion as well as in EASD. EASDs showed better solubility enhancement than conventional solid dispersions. The present technique is better suitable for drugs having a low melting point or melt without charring. Effervescence assisted fusion technique of preparing solid dispersions can be employed for enhancing solubility, dissolution, and bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs.

Development of Water Adsorbents Synthesized from Spent Bleaching Earth to Dehydrate Ethanol Water Mixture

Water adsorbent to dehydrate water ethanol mixture was synthesized from spent bleaching earth (SBE) using modified fusion method. The SBE was regenerated using heat at 750°C. Predetermined alumina, Al2O3and a stochiometric amount of KOH was added to the regenerated SBE, mixed and fused at several temperatures for 12 hours in a furnace. The fused mixture was grounded and mixed with water to get 40-55% KOH solution in water. This mixture was aged for several pre determined temperature for several pre determined days in a closed container before crystallization took place in 5 part by weight 5% KOH for 48 hours. The product obtained was washed 3 times with distilled water using filtration set and dried in oven at 220°C for 20 hours. Results from Karl Fischer Titration showed that the product was able to absorb water up above 0.0200 g/g adsorbent which was approximately 50% performance of commercial zeolite A. The best conditions for synthesizing the water adsorbent from SBE were : 80 g alumina added per 100 gram kaolin, fused temperature of 650°C, aging temperature of 80°C for 5 days. However, XRD results showed that the synthesized product was not the type of zeolite A.

Reconstitution of the proton translocating ATPase from bovine heart mitochondria into planar phospholipid bilayer membranes.

Proton translocating ATPase (F0F1) from bovine heart mitochondria was reconstituted into planar phospholipid bilayers, and its electrogenicity was directly demonstrated. The F0F1 ATPase was solubilized using 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonic acid (CHAPS) as a detergent followed by sucrose density gradient centrifugation according to the method originally described by McEnery et al. for rat liver mitochondria (McEnery et al. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 4642-4651), with minor modifications. The purified ATPase was reconstituted into proteoliposomes and then reconstituted into planar phospholipid bilayers by the modified fusion method (Hirata et al. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 9839-9843). A short-circuit current of up to 0.4 pA was induced by adding ATP, and this current was suppressed by the F1 ATPase inhibitor NaN3 or by a specific mitochondrial F0 inhibitor, oligomycin. The direction of the current corresponded to the flow of positive charges from the F1 side to the F0 side. All these facts clearly demonstrate that the mitochondrial F0F1 ATPase was successfully reconstituted into planar phospholipid bilayers, and the current was generated by the ATPase.