Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Fatty acids – Separation'

The need for recovery and concentrate a Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs) effluent resulting from a biological fermentation step, has aimed a feasibility study on pressure-driven membrane separation processing. A previous experimental campaign, carried out at LABIC-DICAM for the NoAW (No-Agricultural Waste) EU project, involving total recirculation and concentration trials on RO and NF modules, was the starting point for subsequent elaboration, modelling, simulation and preliminary design. The presented mass transfer-solution modelling allowed the estimation of both VFAs and Na+ real rejections for all investigated total recirculation trials. The modelling ability to assess the system’s osmotic pressure and polarization magnitude was successfully tested accounting for the validity of the osmotic-pressure model. Total recirculation trials calculated real rejections trends were interpolated using the Mason&Lonsdale and solution-diffusion transport models, providing a set of adjustable parameters. The interpolated RReal (Jv) curves were used in the simulation of the experimental concentration trials, proving our capability to fairly faithfully reproduce the experimental trends. The accomplishment encouraged the simulation of further concentration trials whose experimental evidence was not available. The simulations aimed at investigating the modules performances for different applied pressures with the final objective of identifying a few design best cases. Two possible process alternatives were proposed: pure RO process and an integrated process RO + NF. Subsequent comparison of the alternatives’ preliminary design best-cases showed the two to be competitive.

Cianobactérias são microrganismos capazes de produzir substâncias com potencial biológico e biotecnológico. Tais substâncias podem acarretar em malefícios, causados pelas toxinas, ou ter em sua composição substâncias benéficas como carotenoides, lipídeos e enzimas, de interesse biotecnológico. Assim, esse trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a toxicidade e prospectar componentes presentes na biomassa global da cianobactéria Microcystis aeruginosa BB005. A toxicidade foi avaliada através de bioensaios com Daphnia magna, e a biomassa seca foi caracterizada por análises dos ésteres metílicos de ácidos graxos (EMAGs), determinação de carotenoides, obtenção do perfil proteico por eletroforese e hidrólise ácida de carboidratos. Também foi empregada uma metodologia de separação adsortiva por bolhas a fim de separar o pigmento ficocianina e enzimas de interesse biotecnológico (e.g. fosfatase alcalina e lipase) utilizando o sobrenadante de um cultivo. Apesar de ter sido possível quantificar a produção de toxinas pela cepa BB005, os ensaios ecotoxicológicos não permitiram estabelecer uma correlação entre a concentração de toxina e a imobilidade dos organismos. O perfil de EMAGs apresentou preponderância de PUFAs (ω-ácidos graxos) sendo que os linolenatos corresponderam a 25% do total. O teor de carotenoides encontrado durante a purificação dos lipídeos transesterificados e expresso como β-caroteno foi de 6,66 mg/g de biomassa seca. A eletroforese mostrou pelo menos 15 bandas distintas de proteínas e o perfil cromatográfico dos hidrolisados de carboidratos mostrou maior concentração do monossacarídeo glucose e de um dissacarídeo de glucose, possivelmente maltose. A separação de proteínas por espumação apresentou uma correlação direta entre fluxo de nitrogênio e a fração de espuma coletada. O fator de enriquecimento para a ficocianina foi de 41,69 utilizando fluxo de 20 mL/min de N2. Para a enzima fosfatase alcalina, os melhores resultados foram obtidos para o fluxo de 120 mL/min de N2, que apresentou fator de enriquecimento e de purificação de 5,25 e 2,85, respectivamente. Portanto, este trabalho demonstrou a importância de investigações sobre os componentes oriundos de M. aeruginosa, sobretudo dos EMAGs incomuns, a quantidade expressiva de carotenos e ainda da separação da ficobilina e de enzimas chave nos processos bioquímicos utilizando o processo por espumação.
Cyanobacteria are microorganisms able to produce substances with high biological and biotechnological potential. These substances may cause disorders because of the toxins or may be composed by beneficial substances such as carotenoids, lipids and enzymes of technological interest. Hence, the scope of the current research was centered in the toxicity evaluation or prospect the substances from the Microcystis aeruginosa cyanobacterium biomass – BB 005. Daphnia magna was used in the toxicity bioassays and the cyanobacterium dry biomass was characterized by the transesterified lipids analysis, carotenoid determination, electrophoretic profile for proteins and acid hydrolysis of polysaccharides. The foam fractionation methodology was performed to separate the phycocyanin pigment and enzymes (e.g. alkaline phosphatase and lipase), using the supernatant from a liquid culture of the cyanobacterium. Although it was possible to quantify the production of toxins by BB005 strain, the ecotoxicological tests have no establish a correlation between toxin concentration and the immobility of organism bodies.The methyl esters profile in which there was a large amount of PUFAs (ω-fatty acids) with 25% of linolenates. The carotenoid content found during the lipids transesterificaction, expressed as β – carotene, was 6.6 mg/g of dry mass. The electrophoresis indicated at least 15 distinct bands of proteins and the chromatographic profile from the native polymeric carbohydrates indicated higher concentration of monosaccharide glucose and a glucose disaccharide, possible maltose. Proteins separation through foaming showed a direct correlation between the nitrogen flow and the collected foam. The phycocianin enrichment factor was high, 41.69, at a 20 mL/min N 2 flow. While in the case of alkaline phosphatase the best result was attained in the 120 mL/min of N2 flow which lead to enrichment and purification factors equal to 5.25 and 2.85 respectively. Therefore, this research has demonstrated the importance of the investigation on compounds from the M. aeruginosa entire biomass, especially the methyl esters from less common and highly insaturated fatty acids, an expressive content of carotenoids and, furthermore, the separation of phycobillin and key- enzymes for biochemical processes, that were feasibly and primarily demonstrated in this experiment by the use of foaming procedure.
5000

L'électrocoagulation (EC) est une méthode électrochimique non spécifique couramment utilisée pour le traitement de l'eau et des eaux usées. Dans ce travail, l’EC est d'abord étudiée comme une technique classique de traitement des eaux usées dédiée à l'élimination des protéines de lactosérum de l'eau pour laquelle les mécanismes d'élimination sont expliqués et un modèle est développé. Ensuite, l'utilisation de l’EC est étendue à la séparation et à la purification d’acides gras volatils issus de la fermentation acidogénique. Dans cette deuxième étude, les effets des paramètres opératoires sur l'efficacité et le coût de l’EC sont discutés. En outre, l’EC est utilisée pour la récolte de deux espèces de microalgues de leur milieu de culture. En ce qui concerne la récolte de Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, la méthodologie de la surface de réponse est utilisée et deux modèles permettant de prédire respectivement l'efficacité de la récupération et le coût opératoire sont développés. La récolte d’une autre espèce de microalgues, Chlorella vulgaris, est étudiée en utilisant l’EC respectivement en mode discontinu et continu. En mode discontinu, les effets des principaux paramètres de fonctionnement sur l'efficacité du processus sont expliqués et les mécanismes de récupération sont discutés. Dans l'étude en mode continu, la méthodologie de la surface de réponse est utilisée et un modèle permettant de prédire l’efficacité de récupération des microalgues est développé. Enfin, la comparaison des performances de l'EC en mode continu avec et sans échange de polarité aux performances de l'EC en mode discontinu est effectuée
Electrocoagulation (EC) is a non-specific electrochemical method usually used for water and wastewater treatment. In this work, EC is firstly investigated as a conventional wastewater treatment technique for the removal of whey proteins from water, where the mechanisms of removal are explained and a model on whey proteins elimination is developed. Then, EC use is extended for the separation and purification of volatile fatty acids issued from acidogenic fermentation. In this second study, the effects of operating parameters on EC efficiency and cost are discussed. Moreover, EC is used for the harvesting of two microalgae species from their culture medium. In the study that concerns recovering Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, response surface methodology (RSM) is employed and two models for predicting recovery efficiency and operating cost are developed. The harvesting of the other microalgae species Chlorella vulgaris is studied using EC in the batch and continuous modes. In the batch mode, the effects of the main operating parameters on the process effectiveness are explained along with discussing the mechanisms of recovery. In the continuous mode study, response surface methodology (RSM) is applied and a model for predicting microalgae recovery is developed. Finally, comparison of EC performance in continuous mode with and without polarity exchange (PE) to EC performance in batch mode is carried out

Les monomères cycliques d'acides gras (CFAM) provenant d'huiles riches en acide alphalinolénique (18:3; ALA) sont constitués de 16 isomères de structures cycliques à 5 et 6 atomes de carbone. Ils se forment lors de traitements thermiques des huiles, comme le raffinage et la friture. Conséquemment, les CFAMs se retrouvent dans l'alimentation humaine. La littérature scientifique rapporte les résultats de travaux sur les effets métaboliques des CFAMs dont le principal est la stéatose hépatique. Les isomères cycliques à 5 et à 6 carbones se forment simultanément lors du chauffage des huiles et l'obtention de l'un ou de l'autre, bien que possible par synthèse totale et par HPLC, est laborieuse et à faibles rendements, ce qui ajoute à la difficulté de la réalisation d'études métaboliques chez l'animal avec une seule de ces deux structures. Dans la première partie des travaux, présentés au chapitre II, nous nous sommes concentrés à mieux isoler les CFAMs de l'huile de lin, suivi d'une séparation supplémentaire en leurs principaux isomères CFAM-5 et CFAM-6 de l'acide linolénique, en utilisant une combinaison de chromatographie sur couche mince argentique, pour le développement de la méthode, et de chromatographie sur colonne, pour la production de fractions. Cinq fractions ont ainsi été récupérées à partir de la chromatographie argentique sur colonne avec le système de solvants hexane-acétate d'éthyleacide acétique dans les proportions volumétriques 120:30:1 . Les isomères des CFAMs de chacune des fractions ont ensuite été identifiés par GC-MS de leurs dérivés esters picolinyles. Les résultats indiquent que la fraction F-1 contient principalement des isomères CFAM-6. Deux isomères non rapportés dans la littérature, provisoirement identifiés comme des CFAM-5 conjugués, étaient aussi présents en faible quantité dans la fraction F-1. Une autre fraction, F-3, contenait des isomères de CFAMs uniquement à cycle de 5 atomes de carbones. Cette fraction comprenait aussi une faible quantité d'isomères de l'acide alpha-linolénique. La fraction intermédiaire F-2 contenait les deux types d'isomères des CFAMs. La littérature scientifique indique que les huiles végétales alimentaires peuvent s'oxyder et qu'elles peuvent causer des effets délétères sur la santé. Cependant, aucun travaux n'a porté sur l'oxydation des CFAM, les CFAM-Ox, ni sur leurs effets métaboliques potentiels. Pourtant, des similitudes structurelles peuvent être attendues entre celles de CFAM-Ox et celles de certaines phytoprostanes (PhytoPs) et isoprostanes (IsoPs), et potentiellement des activités biologiques analogues. Ainsi, l'objectif de la seconde partie des présents travaux, présentés au chapitre III, était d'étudier l'oxydation des CFAMs de l'acide alpha-linolénique. L'oxydation de ces CFAMs di-insaturés a été réalisée sous oxygène à des températures allant de 160 à 200 °C, sur des périodes de 8 heures. Les résultats indiquent qu'environ 60% des CFAM-5 sont oxydés au bout de 2 à 4 h et que leur oxydation se produit de manière significativement plus rapide que celle des CFAM-6, et à une vitesse qui s'approche de celle de l'oxydation de l'acide linoléique, acide gras également di-insaturé. Les différences observées entre les vitesses d'oxydation des CFAM-5 et des CFAM-6 sont probablement dues à la présence de positions bis-allyliques dans les structures CFAM-5, comme il s'en trouve dans l'acide linoléique, contrairement aux CFAM-6 qui contiennent des doubles liaisons isolées, séparées par deux atomes de carbone. Ces résultats suggèrent également que les niveaux rapportés dans la littérature scientifique des CFAMs dans les huiles de friture sont nécessairement sous-estimés car ils ne tiennent pas compte des CFAM-Ox.
Cyclic fatty acid monomers (CFAMs) from oils rich in alpha-linolenic acid (18: 3; ALA) consist of 16 isomers of 5 and 6 carbon ring structures. They are formed during thermal treatments of edible oils, such as refining and frying. Consequently, CFAMs are found in human food. The scientific literature reports the results of work on the metabolic effects of CFAMs, the main one of which is hepatic steatosis. The cyclic isomers of 5 and 6 carbons are formed simultaneously on heating oils and obtaining one or the other, although possible by total synthesis and HPLC, is laborious and in low yields. This contributes to the difficulty of performing metabolic studies in animals with just one of these two structures. In the first part of the work, presented in chapter II, we focused on better isolating the CFAMs from linseed oil, followed by an additional separation into their main isomers CFAM-5 and CFAM-6 of linolenic acid, using a combination of silver ion thin layer chromatography, for the development of the method, and column chromatography, for the production of fractions. Five fractions were thus recovered from silver ion column chromatography with the hexaneethyl acetate-acetic acid solvent system in volumetric proportions 120:30:1. The CFAM isomers of each of the fractions were then identified by GC-MS of their picolinic ester derivatives. The results indicate that fraction F-1 mainly contains CFAM-6 isomers. Two isomers not reported in the literature, tentatively identified as conjugated CFAM-5 isomers, were also present in small amounts in the F-1 fraction. Another fraction, F-3, contained isomers of CFAMs only with a ring of 5 carbon atoms. This fraction also contained a small amount of alpha-linolenic acid isomers. The intermediate fraction F-2 contained both types of CFAMs isomers. The scientific literature indicates that edible vegetable oils can oxidize and can cause deleterious health effects. However, no work has focused on the oxidation of CFAMs and their oxidation products, the CFAM-Ox, or their potential metabolic effects. However, structural similarities can be expected between those of CFAM-Ox and those of certain phytoprostanes (PhytoPs) and isoprostanes (IsoPs), and potentially similar biological activities. Thus, the objective of the second part of this work, presented in Chapter III, was to study the oxidation of CFAMs of alpha-linolenic acid. The oxidation of these diunsaturated CFAMs was carried out under oxygen at temperatures ranging from 160 to 200 °C, over periods of 8 hours. The results indicate that approximately 60% of CFAM-5 are oxidized after 2-4 h and that their oxidation occurs significantly faster than that of CFAM-6, and at a rate that approaches that of linoleic acid, also a di-unsaturated fatty acid. The differences observed between the oxidation rates of CFAM-5 and CFAM-6 are probably due to the presence of bis-allylic positions in CFAM-5 structures, as found in linoleic acid, unlike CFAM-6 which contain isolated double bonds separated by two carbon atoms. These results also suggest that the levels of CFAMs reported in frying oils in the scientific literature are necessarily underestimated because they do not take CFAM-Ox into account.

Aujourd’hui, plus de 40 % des ressources mondiales en tungstène sont contenues dans les skarns, dont le gisement de Tabuaço (Portugal) constitue un archétype. Ce minerai contient de fortes teneurs en minéraux calciques (fluorite, apatite et vésuvianite) en association fine avec la scheelite (CaWO4) qui, étant donné leurs propriétés de surface proches, sont difficiles à séparer par flottation aux acides gras. Au cours de cette étude, ancrée dans le projet européen H2020 FAME, un procédé économique, écologique et transférable a été développé sur le minerai de Tabuaço afin de prouver la faisabilité minéralurgique de l’exploitation des skarns à tungstène, classé parmi les métaux critiques en Europe. En flottation, le système Na2CO3/Na2SiO3 a montré la meilleure efficacité en matière de dépression, obtenue grâce à des effets synergiques considérables. Ces derniers ont été décrits par des méthodes statistiques, spectroscopiques et atomistiques. En parallèle, l’influence des ratios entre différents acides carboxyliques au sein des formulations de collecteurs (huiles de tall) a été évaluée avec pour objectif d’améliorer la sélectivité de la flottation. La séparation par gravité augmentée (concentrateur centrifuge Falcon) a été examinée, optimisée puis combinée avec la flottation afin de produire un concentré commercialisable de scheelite titrant 63 % WO3 pour 59 % de récupération. Par ailleurs, en vue d’appréhender les mécanismes moléculaires impliqués dans la flottation, les interfaces de la fluorite et de la scheelite ont été modélisées en utilisant la théorie de la fonctionnelle de la densité. Cette étude a permis de caractériser l’état d’hydratation des deux minéraux, qui présentent des affinités différentes pour les molécules d’eau. En outre, l’adsorption des acides gras sur la fluorite a été étudiée afin de fournir des éléments de réponse, confirmés expérimentalement, au sujet des mécanismes d’adsorption de ces molécules sur les minéraux calciques
Nowadays, skarns represent more than 40% of the global resources in tungsten, which has been classified as a critical raw material in the European Union. In particular, the Tabuaço deposit constitutes an archetype of tungsten skarns and contains high amounts of calcium minerals, including fluorite, apatite, and vesuvianite, in close association with scheelite (CaWO4). According to their similar surface properties, the separation of these minerals by flotation with fatty acids is significantly difficult and, therefore, remains a scientific challenge. In this study, which has been conducted within the framework of the FAME H2020 European project, an economic, environment friendly, and transferable process has been developed for the Tabuaço ore to demonstrate the feasibility of the tungsten skarns processing. In the froth flotation process, the Na2CO3/Na2SiO3 system has exhibited the best efficiency in terms of gangue minerals depression due to considerable synergistic effects that have been subsequently described by statistical, spectroscopic, and atomistic methods. Meanwhile, the influence of the ratios between different carboxylic acids in the collector formulations (Tall Oil Fatty Acids) has been assessed to improve the flotation selectivity. In addition, the enhanced gravity separation (Falcon centrifuge concentrator) has been investigated, optimised, and combined with the flotation to produce a marketable scheelite concentrate assaying 63% WO3 with 59% recovery. Besides, to gain understanding in the molecular mechanisms involved in the flotation process, the fluorite and scheelite interfaces have been modelled using the density functional theory. This study has allowed to characterise the hydration state of these minerals, which display different affinities for water molecules. Furthermore, the adsorption of fatty acids on fluorite has been studied to unravel the adsorption mechanisms of these molecules on calcium minerals, confirmed by experimental investigations

In the production of biodiesel via the transesterification of vegetable oils, purification to international standards is challenging. A key measure of biodiesel quality is the level of free glycerol in the biodiesel. In order to remove glycerol from fatty acid methyl ester (FAME or biodiesel), a membrane separation setup was tested. The main objective of this thesis was to develop a membrane process for the separation of free glycerol dispersed in FAME after completion of the transesterification reaction and to investigate the effect of different factors on glycerol removal. These factors included membrane pore size, pressure, temperature, and methanol, soap and water content. First, a study of the effect of different materials present in the transesterification reaction, such as water, soap, and methanol, on the final free glycerol separation was performed using a modified polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membrane, with 100 kD (ultrafiltration) molecular weight cut off for all runs at 25°C. Results showed low concentrations of water had a considerable effect in removing glycerol from the FAME. The mechanism of separation of free glycerol from FAME was due to the removal of an ultrafine dispersed glycerol-rich phase present in the untreated (or raw) FAME. The size of the droplets and the free glycerol separation both increased with increasing water content of the FAME. Next, three types of polymeric membranes in the ultrafiltration range with different molecular weight cut off, were tested at three fixed operating pressures and three operating temperatures (0, 5 and 25oC) to remove the free glycerol from a biodiesel reactor effluent. The ASTM standard for free glycerol concentration was met for the experiments performed at 25°C. The results of this study indicate that glycerol could be separated from raw FAME to meet ASTM and EN standards at methanol feed concentrations of up to 3 mass%. The process was demonstrated to rely on the formation of a dynamic polar layer on the membrane surface. Ceramic membranes of different pore sizes (0.05 µm (ultrafiltration (UF) range) and 0.2 µm (microfiltration (MF) range)) were used to treat raw FAME directly using the membrane separation set up at temperatures of 0, 5 and 25°C. The results were encouraging for the 0.05 µm pore size membrane at the highest temperature (25°C). The effect of temperature on glycerol removal was evident from its relation with the concentration factor (CF). Higher temperatures promoted the achievement of the appropriate CF value sooner for faster separation. Membrane pore size was also found to affect separation performance. A subsequent study revealed the effect of different variables on the size of the glycerol droplets using dynamic light scattering (DLS). A key parameter in the use of membrane separation technology is the size of the glycerol droplets and the influence of other components such as water, methanol and soaps on that droplet size. The effect of water, methanol, soap and glycerol on the size of suspended glycerol droplets in FAME was studied using a 3-level Box-Behnken experimental design technique. Standard statistical analysis techniques revealed the significant effect of water and glycerol on increasing droplet size while methanol and soap served to reduce the droplet size. Finally, a study on the effect of trans-membrane pressure (TMP) at different water concentrations in the FAME phase on glycerol removal using UF (0.03 µm pore size, polyethersulfone (PES)) and MF (0.1 and 0.22 µm pore sizes, PES) membranes at 25, 40 and 60°C was performed. Results showed that running at 25°C for the two membrane types produced the best results for glycerol removal and exceeded the ASTM and EN standards. An enhancement of glycerol removal was found by adding small amounts of water up to the maximum solubility limit in biodiesel. An increase in temperature resulted in an increase in the solubility of water in the FAME and less effective glycerol removal. Application of cake filtration theory and a gel layer model showed that the gel layer on the membrane surface is not compressible and the specific cake resistance and gel layer concentration decrease with increasing temperature. An approximate value for the limiting (steady-state) flux was reported and it was found that the highest fluxes were obtained at the lowest initial water concentrations at fixed temperatures. In conclusion, dispersed glycerol can be successfully removed from raw FAME (untreated FAME) using a membrane separation system to meet the ASTM biodiesel fuel standards. The addition of water close to the solubility limit to the FAME mixture enables the formation of larger glycerol droplets and makes the separation of these droplets straightforward.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the most important diagnostic tools of modern healthcare. The signal in medical MRI predominantly originates from water and fat molecules. Separation of the two components into water-only and fat-only images can improve diagnosis, and is the premier non-invasive method for measuring the amount and distribution of fatty tissue. Fat-water imaging (FWI) enables fast fat/water separation by model-based estimation from chemical shift encoded data, such as multi-echo acquisitions. Qualitative FWI is sufficient for visual separation of the components, while quantitative FWI also offers reliable estimates of the fat percentage in each pixel. The major problems of current FWI methods are long acquisition times, long reconstruction times, and reconstruction errors that degrade image quality. In this thesis, existing FWI methods were reviewed, and novel fully automatic methods were developed and evaluated, with a focus on fast 3D image reconstruction. All MRI data was acquired on standard clinical scanners. A triple-echo qualitative FWI method was developed for the specific application of 3D whole-body imaging. The method was compared with two reference methods, and demonstrated superior image quality when evaluated in 39 volunteers. The problem of qualitative FWI by dual-echo data with unconstrained echo times was solved, allowing faster and more flexible image acquisition than conventional FWI. Feasibility of the method was demonstrated in three volunteers and the noise performance was evaluated. Further, a quantitative multi-echo FWI method was developed. The signal separation was based on discrete whole-image optimization. Fast 3D image reconstruction with few reconstruction errors was demonstrated by abdominal imaging of ten volunteers. Lastly, a method was proposed for quantitative mapping of average fatty acid chain length and degree of saturation. The method was validated by imaging different oils, using gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) as the reference. The degree of saturation agreed well with GLC, and feasibility of the method was demonstrated in the thigh of a volunteer. The developed methods have applications in clinical settings, and are already being used in several research projects, including studies of obesity, dietary intervention, and the metabolic syndrome.

The objective of this study is to illustrate that phase separation improves the efficiency of an anaerobic system which digests semi-solid organic wastes. Organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) was the semi-solid organic waste investigated. In the first part of the study, the optimum operational conditions for acidified reactor were determined by considering the volatile solid (VS) reductions and average acidification percentages at the end of two experimental sets conducted. Organic loading rate (OLR) of 15 g VS/L.day, pH value of 5.5 and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 2 days were determined to be the optimum operational conditions for the acidification step. Maximum total volatile fatty acid and average acidification percentage were determined as 12405 mg as HAc/L and 28%, respectively in the reactor operated at optimum conditions. In the second part, an acidification reactor was operated at the optimum conditions determined in the first part. The effluents taken from this reactor as well as the waste stock used to feed this reactor were used as substrate in the biochemical methane potential (BMP) test. The results of BMP test revealed that the reactors fed by acidified samples indicated higher total chemical oxygen demand (tCOD) removals (39%), VS reductions (67%) and cumulative gas productions (265 mL). The result of this study indicated that the separation of the reactors could lead efficiency enhancement in the systems providing that effective control was achieved on acidified reactors.

As exposições precoces às diferentes intervenções, como dietas e estresse, estão associadas a persistentes alterações sobre aspectos neuroquímicos e comportamentais, podendo este ser considerado um gatilho de transtornos psiquiátricos na vida adulta. O presente trabalho objetivou determinar se estas intervenções neonatais poderiam interagir com uma dieta deficiente em ácidos graxos poliinsaturados n-3 (n-3 PUFA), aplicados durante o desenvolvimento, com foco nos níveis centrais (hipocampo) e séricos do fator neurotrófico derivado do encéfalo (BDNF), bem como sobre a atividade enzimática e aspectos morfológicos (e.g. massa, potencial) mitocondriais do hipocampo de ratos machos adultos. Em nossa abordagem experimental animal, as ninhadas foram distribuídas aleatoriamente nos grupos intactos, manipulados neonatalmente [MN, separação mãe-filhote durante 10min/dia, entre o 1° e o 10° dia pós-natal (DPN)] e separado maternalmente [SM, separação mãe-filhote durante 3h/dia, entre o 1° e o 10° DPN]. No DPN 35, os filhotes machos foram agrupados em dieta n-3 PUFA adequada ou deficiente, por 17 semanas de tratamento. O peso e o consumo de ração foram aferidos semanalmente. Após este tratamento, soro e hipocampo foram coletados. Kits comerciais foram utilizados para a medição dos níveis hipocampais e séricos de BDNF (ELISA), bem como a atividade dos complexos da cadeia respiratória mitocondrial (método enzimático, análise espectrofotométrica), massa e potencial mitocondriais (MitoTracker, citometria de fluxo). A expressão gênica de BDNF no hipocampo também foi medido por RT-qPCR. Os testes estatísticos utilizados foram ANOVA de duas vias ou de medidas repetidas. Os níveis de significâncias foram fixados em p<0,05. A dieta deficiente em n-3 PUFA, associada aos estressores neonatais deste estudo (MN, SM) foram capazes de alterar o peso corporal e a ingestão de alimentos de um modo específico, uma vez que os níveis mais elevados destes parâmetros foram encontrados em animais submetidos a SM. Animais submetidos a MN alimentados com uma dieta n-3 PUFA deficiente exibiram uma maior atividade exploratória em resposta a um psicoestimulante (dietilpropiona). Embora os níveis proteicos séricos e hipocampais de BDNF permaneceram inalterados pelos tratamentos aplicados, fomos capazes de demonstrar a redução de sua expressão gênica em animais alimentados com uma dieta n-3 PUFA deficiente. Considerando os padrões mitocondriais e parâmetros de estresse oxidativo, as atividades das enzimas antioxidantes glutationa peroxidase (GPx) e catalase (CAT), bem como a produção de espécies reativas de oxigênio (EROs) se encontraram aumentadas no hipocampo de animais submetidos a uma deficiência crônica em n-3 PUFA. Esta deficiência mostrou interações com o fator estresse neonatal em alguns destes parâmetros (e.g. atividade da GPx, produção de EROs), indicando um possível sinergismo entre estressores neonatais e a deficiência em n-3 PUFA. Os níveis de tióis foram significativamente menores nos grupos estressados (MN, SM), sendo a dieta n-3 PUFA deficiente capaz de aumentar a quantidade de tiol no hipocampo. Por outro lado, animais estressados tratados cronicamente com uma dieta deficiente em n-3 PUFA apresentaram níveis mais elevados de tiol. Contudo, a MN per se foi capaz de diminuir o potencial mitocondrial hipocampal. Adicionalmente, um estudo com humanos teve como objetivo correlacionar os níveis de BDNF periféricos ao consumo de n-3 PUFA em adolescentes. Para este estudo, 137 adolescentes de uma amostra enriquecida para psicopatologias de ansiedade foram submetidos a um questionário de frequência alimentar (QFA), para uma análise quantitativa do consumo de macronutrientes e micronutrientes de n-3 PUFA. As correlações de Spearman foram realizadas para avaliar possíveis associações entre o consumo de n-3 PUFA e os níveis periféricos de BDNF. As amostras de sangue foram coletadas entre 7 a 10h após o período de 10-12h de jejum, sendo o soro armazenado para medir os níveis de BDNF. Todas as análises de BDNF foram realizadas no mesmo dia por ELISA, utilizando anticorpos monoclonais específicos para o BDNF, de acordo com as instruções do fabricante. Os efeitos de possíveis confundidores (e.g. consumo total de gordura, idade, sexo e medida de ansiedade) foram examinados por modelos de regressões lineares. Apesar de algumas limitações apresentadas (e.g. o tamanho reduzido da amostra, alta incidência de adolescentes ansiosos), o que poderia limitar a validade externa deste resultado, fomos capazes de detectar uma correlação entre o consumo de n-3 PUFA e os níveis séricos de BNDF em adolescentes. Como conclusão geral, esta tese demonstra que a manipulação neonatal e separação materna, associada com uma deficiência em n-3 PUFA, são capazes de alterar parâmetros comportamentais e neuroquímicos na idade adulta. Este sinergismo foi capaz de diminuir a expressão gênica de BDNF no hipocampo, embora não apresentando qualquer alteração deste parâmetro perifericamente. A correlação entre os níveis consumidos de n-3 PUFA, em uma população de adolescentes em idade escolar, com os níveis séricos de BDNF também foi encontrada. Ainda, as alterações nas atividades enzimáticas mitocondriais observadas no hipocampo destes animais reforçam a importância da participação desta estrutura, além de sua possível relação com o desenvolvimento de desordens psiquiátricas e de humor. Considerando-se a nossa abordagem metodológica em ratos, a mesma pode ser um protocolo útil para se estudarem as interações entre o ambiente precoce e a nutrição ao curso de vida em diferentes desfechos neuroquímicos.
Early exposure to different interventions, as diets and stress, are associated with persistent alterations in neurochemistry and behavior, and can be considered a trigger of psychiatric disorders in adulthood. This study investigated whether neonatal interventions interact with a diet deficient in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) applied during development, focusing on central (hippocampus) and serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), as well as mitochondrial enzymatic activity and morphology (e.g. mass, potential) in adult male rats. In our animal study, litters were randomized into non-handled (NH), handled [H, mother-offspring separation for 10min/day from 1st-10th postnatal day (PND)] and separated (S, separation for 3h/day from the 1st-10th PND) groups. On PND 35, male pups were randomized into adequate or deficient diet in n-3 PUFA for 17 weeks. The weight and food intake were measured weekly. Serum and hippocampi were collected after this n-3 PUFA treatment. Commercial kits were used for measuring hippocampal and serum BDNF (ELISA), as well as mitochondrial chain respirator complexes (enzymatic method, spectrophotometric analysis), mitochondrial mass and potential (MitoTracker, flow citometry). Hippocampal BDNF gene expression was also measure by RT-qPCR. Statistical testes used were Two-Way or repeated measures ANOVA. Significance levels were set at p<0.05. A n-3 PUFA deficient diet, in association with neonatal stressors used in this study (H, MS) were able to alter body weight and food intake in a specific way, since higher levels of these parameters were found in animals subjected to MS. Animals subjected to H fed an n-3 PUFA deficient diet displayed enhanced exploratory activity in response to a psychostimulant (diethylpropion). Although serum protein levels and hippocampus BDNF remained unchanged by the treatments applied, we were able to demonstrate its gene expression reduction in the hippocampus of animals fed an n-3 PUFA deficient diet. Considering mitochondrial and oxidative stress parameters, the activities of antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT) and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were increased in the hippocampus of rats subjected to a deficiency n-3 PUFA. This deficiency displayed interactions with neonatal stress factor in some of these parameters (e.g. GPx activity, ROS), indicating a possible synergism between neonatal stressors and n-3 PUFA deficiency. Thiol levels were significantly decreased by neonatal stressors (H and MS), and the n-3 PUFA deficient diet was able to increase its total amount in hippocampus. On the other hand, chronically stressed animals treated with an n-3 PUFA deficient diet showed higher thiol levels. However, H per se was able to decrease mitochondrial potential in hippocampus. Additionally, a clinical study aimed to correlate peripheral BDNF levels and n-3 PUFA consumption in adolescents. For this study, 137 adolescents from a sample enriched for psychopathology of anxiety were subjected to a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), in order for measuring the quantitative analysis of n-3 PUFA macronutrients and micronutrients consumption. Spearman correlations were performed to assess the association between n-3 PUFA consumption and serum BDNF levels. Blood samples were collected between 7 and 10h after fasting period of 10-12h, and serum was stored in order to measure BDNF levels. All BDNF measurements were performed in the same day by sandwich-ELISA using monoclonal antibodies specific for BDNF, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Effects of potential confounders (e.g. total fat consumption, age, gender, anxiety) were examined using linear regression models. Although some limitations were presented (e.g. small sample size with high incidence of eager teenagers), which could limit the external validity of this result, we were able to detect a correlation between the consumption of n-3 PUFA and BDNF serum levels in adolescents. As a general conclusion, this thesis reports that neonatal handling and maternal separation, associated with a nutritional deficiency in n-3 PUFA, were able to change behavioral and neurochemical parameters in adulthood. This synergism was able to decrease BDNF gene expression in the hippocampus, while not presenting any change of this parameter peripherally. A correlation between the consumption levels of n-3 PUFA, in a population of schoolchildren with BDNF serum levels was also found. Still, changes in mitochondrial enzymatic activities observed in the hippocampus of these animals reinforce the importance of this structure participation and its relation to the development of psychiatric and mood disorders. Considering our rat methodological approach, it can be a useful tool for studying the interactions between early life environment and life-course nutrition on different neurochemical outcomes.

Investigations of the separation of fatty acids from fish oils using liquid membrane systems were made. Fatty acids transport in liquid membrane systems with different conditions was observed qualitatively by capillary gas chromatography and quantatively by measuring fatty acids concentration in the continuous phase. Stability of liquid membranes was also investigated during the separation process to determine the optimal surfactant concentrations for fatty acids transport in liquid membrane systems. The effects of various experimental conditions on the rate of fatty acids separation were shown and possibly effective methods to separate fatty acids from the continuous phase were developed. The effects of sodium ions and surfactants on the stability of liquid membranes in the continuous phase were also investigated. 3%(w/w) of NaHCO3 in the receiving phase and 3%(w/w) of surfactants in the membrane phase not only enhanced the fatty acids transport rate, but also helped to make liquid membranes stable during the separation process. Approximately 85% of fatty acids in the continuous phase were separated by liquid membranes. Physical and mathematical models for fatty acids transport in liquid membrane system have been proposed. Mass transport of fatty acids in each phase of liquid membrane systems were represented by differential equations. Experimental data for fatty acids separation in liquid membrane systems showed good agreement with predicted data from a mathematical model for the separation process. It was shown that the reduction rate of sodium ions in the receiving phase could predict fatty acids transport rate in a liquid membrane system as well.

碩士
國立清華大學
化學工程學系
91
Abstract Structured lipids have important physiological functions in human. The purpose of this study is to develop a process for synthesizing structured lipid from soybean oil. The process consists of three main steps: (1) preparation of free fatty acids (FFAs), (2) urea fractionation method, and (3) synthesis of structured lipid. Free fatty acid was produced by enzymatic or alkali hydrolysis in this study. Then, the FFAs was separated by the urea fractionation method. According to the affinity between various free fatty acids and urea, FFAs was partitioned in solution and solid, one phase is saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids (C18:0, C18:1), and the other is polyunsaturated acids (C18:2, C18:3). The resulting saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid and glycerol were employed as substrate in the synthesis of structured lipids catalyzed by Lipozyme. The optimal condition for urea fractionation : urea/FFA ratio (w/w) - 4/1, ethanol/FFA ratio(v/w) - 12/1, temperature - 4 degree C. The yield of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid was about 50%. Structured lipid was obtained by the esterification by lipozyme in hexane. The reaction conditions were 1wt%lipozyme, FFA/glycerol molar ratio - 3/1, temperature - 45degree C, molecular sieve - 200%(w/w, against FFA). When the reaction was carried out for 24 and 120 hours , the conversion of structured lipid obtained was 80% and 100%, respectively. From the results, the performance of lipozyme in producing structured lipid was found to be better than others.

The overall objective of this PhD thesis research is to understand and control phase separation in mixed perfluorinated fatty acid-phospholipid surfactant systems that have applications as pulmonary surfactant (PS) mixtures, with an ultimate view of controlling film composition, morphology and mechanical properties. In this context the interaction between perfluorooctadecanoic acid (C18F), 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC), the major component of native PS extract, and 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (DPPG) has been explored in Langmuir monolayers and Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films using a combination of atomic force microscopy (AFM), fluorescence microscopy (FM) and Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) measurements. Thermodynamic and morphological studies of binary and ternary mixed films made of C18F, DPPC and DPPG indicated that both the phospholipids and C18F were miscible over a wide range of compositions. The mixed phospholipid-C18F films contained multimolecular aggregates that were highly enriched in the phospholipids. Furthermore, it was found that the magnitude of the DPPC-C18F interaction could be modulated by altering the concentration of sodium ions in the underlying subphase. Using a highly simplified lung mimic fluid (pH 7.4, 150mM NaCl), DPPC and C18F became fully immiscible. Moreover, the performance characteristics of the mixed films demonstrated the usefulness of C18F as an additive for PS formulations. The effectiveness of a PS protein mimicking peptide was evaluated against DPPC to allow comparison with previous measurements of DPPC-C18F mixed system. The mixing thermodynamics of the peptide and DPPC in Langmuir monolayer implied a repulsive interaction between the film components. The hysteresis response of the mixed monolayer films indicated that the lipid-protein mixture improved the re-spreading of DPPC films. Moreover, molecular-level organization of the mixed films explored by both FM and BAM confirmed the formation of liquid-expanded DPPC domains in the presence of minute amount of the peptide. In order to obtain a thorough understanding of the effect of the deposition process and surfactant tail polarities on the interfacial behavior of perfluorocarbon-hydrocarbon mixed monolayer films, both BAM and AFM measurements of arachidic acid (C20) with perfluorotetradecanoic acid (C14F) and palmitic acid (C16) with C18F mixed monolayer were performed. These measurements revealed that film morphology was minimally perturbed upon its deposition onto solid substrates. Coarse grained molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of films comprised of DPPC molecules with tails of various polarities suggested that the phase separation between the monolayer components could be controlled by varying surfactant tail polarities.