Thermodynamic aspects of sorption of Fe2+ onto unbleached Kraft fibres.

The sorption of Fe(2+) onto unbleached kraft fibre was investigated at different conditions such as pH, temperature, and concentrations. The sorption, which increased with concentration and temperature, followed the Langmuir isotherm. Thermodynamically, the process was spontaneous and endothermic. It was found that the precipitation of Fe(2+) was highly dependent on pH and reached 100% when pH exceeded approximately 8.

Isotherm sorption of Cd2+, Co2+, and Ni2+ onto high-yield kraft fibers.

The sorption capacity of high-yield kraft fibers for Cd2+, Co2+, and Ni2+ increased with pH and concentration of the cations in the liquid phase. Within the concentration range for the experiments, which was less than 2 mM, the experimental results fitted the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Sips models with regression coefficient greater than 0.97. Of the three cations investigated, Ni2+ had the highest sorption affinity, followed by Cd2+ and Co2+. The effect of the hydrated radius on the sorption affinity was discussed. Thermodynamically, the sorption was spontaneous and exothermic in the temperature range 283-308 K.

Competitive sorption of Na(+) and Ca(2+) ions on unbleached kraft fibres--a kinetics and equilibrium study.

In a binary system the sorption of Na(+) and Ca(2+) by kraft pulps follows a second order kinetics, and the isotherms follow the Langmuir model. The sorption capacity is dependent on pH and temperature. The thermodynamic parameters indicate that the sorption is exothermic and spontaneous. In a single-component system, the sorption capacity of the kraft pulp for Na(+) and Ca(2+) increases with the degree of dissociation of ionizable cellulosic components of the kraft pulp fibres. In a binary system the exchange of Na(+) and Ca(2+) is highly dependent on pH. SEM and X-ray analysis indicated that at pH above 11.0 calcium forms a precipitate bound to the surface of the fibres.

Sorption of Na+, Ca2+ ions from aqueous solution onto unbleached kraft fibers-kinetics and equilibrium studies.

The sorption of Na+ and Ca2+ from aqueous solutions onto unbleached kraft fiber was investigated. The sorption kinetics was found to be highly dependent on pH, initial concentration, and temperature. The sorption rate increased as the initial concentration and pH were increased. Thermodynamic and kinetic results indicated that the sorption of Na+ and Ca2+ onto kraft fiber was exothermic, reversible, and spontaneous with activation energies of 11.0 and 23.3 kJ/mol, respectively. The sorption kinetics followed a pseudo-second-order model and the equilibrium data followed the Langmuir isotherms. The fiber sorption capacities calculated from the Langmuir isotherms were similar to the fiber charges determined by potentiometric titration at pH > 7.

Extension of Donnan theory to predict calcium ion exchange on phenolic hydroxyl sites of unbleached kraft fibers.

The Donnan theory is extended to formulate a model for determination of the distribution coefficient of calcium in slurries of fully bleached and unbleached kraft fibers at different pH, taking into account the presence of both carboxylic and phenolic groups in the fibers. The intrinsic dissociation constants of the carboxylic acid groups and phenolic hydroxyl, which are the key inputs of the extended model, were determined by potentiometric titration. The extension improves the model prediction significantly, particularly when the presence of phenolic lignin in fibers becomes significant. However, when the pH exceeds 10, the model underestimates the distribution coefficient, suggesting that other factors may influence the fiber charge. The structural changes of the fiber wall at high pH and the presence of hydroxyl groups on the cellulose, which ionize at high pH, may be major factors.

Determination of fiber charge components of Lo-solids unbleached kraft pulps.

Four different titration methods for measurement of fiber charge were used in this study. Each method gave different fiber charge values depending on the acidity of the end point and the interaction between the fiber chemical components and the titrant. Also, the interactions between the ionizable groups on the fiber had significant effects on the interpretation of these results. The conductometric titrations showed trends similar to the results obtained from the potentiometric titration. The conductometric titrations with NaOH produced higher fiber charge values, higher than the titrations with NaHCO(3). The differences between the results obtained from the potentiometric and polyelectrolyte titrations, which were associated with the dissolved fiber components during the delignification, were linearly related to the Kappa number of pulps. The positive intercept of this linear relationship indicated that the kraft pulping process not only removed the ionizable groups associated with the dissolved components, but at the same time provided conditions to form new ionizable groups in the fibers. The polyelectrolyte titration results indicated that the lignin content in the fibers did not affect the fiber surface charge. Data extracted from the FTIR spectra of protonated fibers were highly correlated with the fiber charge values obtained from the conductometric titration with NaOH.

MMP-2 plays an essential role in producing epithelial-mesenchymal transformations in the avian embryo.

To investigate the roles that matrix-degrading proteases may have in development of the chicken embryo, we documented the expression pattern of matrix metalloprotease-2 (MMP-2, 72-kDa type IV collagenase or gelatinase A) and perturbed its function in vitro and in vivo. MMP-2 is expressed as neural crest cells detach from the neural epithelium during an epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) but is rapidly extinguished as they disperse. It is also expressed in the sclerotome and in the dermis at the time that the EMT is initiated, and also as these cells migrate, and is down-regulated once motility has ceased. These patterns suggest that MMP-2 plays a role in cell motility during the EMT and during later morphogenesis. Inhibitors of MMPs, including BB-94 and TIMP-2 (tissue inhibitor of metalloprotease-2), prevent the EMT that generates neural crest cells, both in tissue culture and in vivo, but do not affect migration of the cells that have already detached from the neural tube. Similarly, knockdown of MMP-2 expression in the dorsal neural tube using antisense morpholino oligos perturbs the EMT, but also does not affect migration of neural crest cells after they have detached from the neural tube. On the other hand, when somites in culture are treated with TIMP-2, some mesenchymal cells are produced, suggesting that they undergo the EMT, but show greatly reduced migration through the collagen gel. MMP-2 is also expressed in mesenchyme where tissue remodeling is in progress, such as in the developing feather germs, in the head mesenchyme, in the lateral plate mesoderm, and in the limb dermis, especially in the regions where tendons are developing. Comparisons of these expression patterns in multiple embryonic tissues suggest a probable role for MMP-2 in the migration phase of the EMT, in addition to mesenchyme dispersion and tissue remodeling. Developmental Dynamics 229:42-53, 2004.

Methods for introducing morpholinos into the chicken embryo.

The use of antisense morpholino oligos to inhibit the translation of a target transcript has been applied recently to studies of the chicken embryo. In contrast to other developmental systems such as in frog, sea urchin, and zebrafish that permit the direct microinjection of morpholinos into a blastomere, square pulse electroporation is used to introduce fluorescently tagged morpholinos into specific populations of chick embryo cells in ovo. This article reviews the methods that have proven successful, the types of controls that are necessary when performing knockdowns of gene expression in the chick embryo, and discusses the limitations of the current technique, as well as directions for further research.