The Simple Method of Preparation of Highly Carboxylated Bacterial Cellulose with Ni- and Mg-Ferrite-Based Versatile Magnetic Carrier for Enzyme Immobilization

The bacterial cellulose (BC) is a versatile biopolymer of microbial origin characterized by high purity and unusual water and material properties. However, the native BC contains a low number of functional groups, which significantly limits its further application. The main goal of its effective modification is to use methods that allow the unusual properties of BC to be retained and the desired functional group to be efficiently introduced. In the present study, the new magnetic carrier based on functionalized citric acid (CA) bacterial cellulose was developed and tested to support critical industrial enzymes such as lipase B from Candida antarctica and phospholipase A from Aspergillus oryzae. The applied method allowed BC to be effectively modified by citric acid and a sufficient number of carboxylic groups to be introduced, up to 3.6 mmol of COOH per gram of dry mass of the prepared carrier. The DSC and TGA analyses revealed carrier stability at operational temperatures in the range of 20 °C to 100 °C and substantially influenced the amount of the introduced carboxyl groups on carrier properties. Both enzymes’ immobilization significantly improves their thermal stability at 60 °C without a significant thermal and pH optima effect. The analyzed enzymes showed good operational stability with a significant residual activity after ten cycles of repeated uses. The new magnetic carrier based on highly carboxylated bacterial cellulose has a high application capability as matrix for immobilization the various enzymes of industrial interest.

A Feasibility Study of Microbialites as Paleomagnetic Recorders

Microbialites–layered, organosedimentary deposits–exist in the geologic record and extend back in deep time, including all estimated times of inner core nucleation. Microbialites may preserve magnetic field variations at high-resolution based on their estimated growth rates. Previous studies have shown that microbialites can have a stable magnetization. However, the timing and origin of microbialite magnetization were not well determined, and no study has attempted to evaluate whether actively growing microbialites record the geomagnetic field. Here, we present centimeter-scale magnetization and magnetic property variations within the structure of modern microbialites from Great Salt Lake (GSL), United States, and Laguna Bacalar, Mexico, Pleistocene microbialites from GSL, and a Cambrian microbialite from Mongolia. All samples record field directions close to the expected value. The dominant magnetic carrier has a coercivity of 35–50 mT and unblocking temperatures are consistent with magnetite. A small proportion of additional high coercivity minerals such as hematite are also present, but do not appear to appreciably contribute to the natural remanent magnetization (NRM). Magnetization is broadly consistent along microbialite layers, and directional variations correlate with the internal slope of the layers. These observations suggest that the documented NRM may be primarily detrital in origin and that the timing of magnetization acquisition can be close to that of sediment deposition.

Variations in magnetic properties of Mexican serpentinites and related micro-textures

<p>Magnetite formation of serpentinized ultramafic rocks leads to variations in the magnetic properties of serpentinites; however, magnetite precipitation is still on debate.</p><p>In this work, we analyzed 60 cores of ultramafic rocks with a variety of serpentinization degrees. These rocks belong to the ultramafic-mafic San Juan de Otates complex in Guanajuato, Mexico. Geochemical studies have been previously conducted, enabling us to compare changes in the magnetic properties against the chemical variations generated by the serpentinization process. By studying the density and magnetic properties such as anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, hysteresis curves as well as magnetic and temperature-dependent susceptibility and, we were able to identify the relationship between magnetic content and serpentinization degree, the predominant magnetic carrier, and to what extent the magnetite grain size depends on the serpentinization.  Variations in these parameters allowed us to better constrain the temperature at which serpentinization occurred, the generation of other Fe-rich phases such as Fe-brucite and/or Fe-rich serpentine as well as distinctive rock textures formed at different serpentinization degrees.</p>

Формирование изображений электрических сигналов преобразователя магнитного поля при гистерезисной интерференции для контроля металлов в импульсных магнитных полях

Based on the developed methods of hysteresis interference, the calculated dependences U(x) of the electric voltage taken from the magnetic field transducer on the x coordinate were obtained. A magnetic carrier with an arctangent characteristic was exposed to a series of bipolar pulses of the magnetic field of a linear inductor of one, two, three, four, five and fifteen pulses. An algorithm is presented for the sequence of changes in the magnitude of the total strength of the magnetic field pulses on the surface of an aluminum plate, which provides the same amplitude of hysteresis oscillations of the electric voltage and makes it possible to obtain a linear difference dependence U(x) for wedge-shaped and flat aluminum samples. The results obtained make it possible to increase the accuracy and efficiency of control of the thickness of the object and its thickness variation in the given directions, as well as the defects of the object.

Immobilization of Naringinase from Aspergillus Niger on a Magnetic Polysaccharide Carrier

Naringinase is an enzymatic complex used in the deglycosylation of compounds with a high application potential in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The aim of the study was to immobilize naringinase from Aspergillus niger KMS on a magnetic carrier obtained on the basis of carob gum activated by polyethyleneimine. Response surface methodology was used to optimize naringinase immobilization taking into account the following factors: pH, immobilization time, initial concentration of naringinase and immobilization temperature. The adsorption of the enzyme on a magnetic carrier was a reversible process. The binding force of naringinase was increased by crosslinking the enzyme with the carrier using dextran aldehyde. The crosslinked enzyme had better stability in an acidic environment and at a higher temperature compared to the free form. The immobilization and stabilization of naringinase by dextran aldehyde on the magnetic polysaccharide carrier lowered the activation energy, thus increasing the catalytic capacity of the investigated enzyme and increasing the activation energy of the thermal deactivation process, which confirms higher stability of the immobilized enzyme in comparison with free naringinase. The preparation of crosslinked naringinase retained over 80% of its initial activity after 10 runs of naringin hydrolysis from fresh and model grapefruit juice.

Large field impressed anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) in metamorphic volcanoclastic rocks from the western Central Pamir with ilmeno-hematite as the main magnetic carrier.

<p>Field impressed AMS fabric, although it has been recognized for a very long time, has been the subject of very few publications in the paleomagnetic literature. This effect has been mainly described in samples with magnetite as a main magnetic carrier. This fabric is usually of low magnitude and observed mainly in nearly isotropic rock after application of static AF demagnetization or after acquisition of an isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM). Forty four paleomagnetic sites have been sampled in a >2 km thick sequence of Cretaceous volcano-clastic rocks from the western Central Pamir mountain (Tadjikistan). These rocks present a medium grade level of metamorphism characterized by fine grained recrystallisation of biotite. The magnetic properties are very homogeneous across the sequence. Bulk magnetic susceptibilities vary between 150-250 μ SI. The AMS magnetic fabrics correspond to triaxial tensors with a well defined foliation plane and a steeply dipping magnetic lineation. The degree of anisotropy varies between 1.03 and 1.2. This fabric was likely acquired during the deformation associated with the emplacement of Middle Miocene gneiss domes. SEM/EDS data indicate that the main iron oxide mineral is hematite with up to 15% of ilmenite in solid solutions. This is in agreement with unblocking temperatures of SIRM around 630 °C, lower than the one of pure hematite. One of the most surprising magnetic characteristics of these rocks is the effect of strong-field remanent magnetizations upon the AMS. During the acquisition of an Isothermal Remanent Magnetization (IRM), the initial AMS is progressively obliterated by a new AMS fabric. The field-impressed AMS is characterized by a decrease of the magnetic susceptibility along the direction of the IRM and an increase in magnetic susceptibility in the orthogonal plane. The field-impressed AMS is thus mainly oblate with a degree of anisotropy usually between 1.2 and 1.4. As far as we know, such a strong effect has never been reported. In sandstone with detrital hematite as the main carrier, the degree of the induced AMS fabric is less than 1.02 suggesting that the ilmenite content in the metamorphic hematite is the main cause of the large observed field induced fabric in these rocks.</p><p> </p>

New archaeomagnetic secular variation data from Central Europe, I: Directions

Summary Archaeomagnetic directions of one hundred and forty-one archaeological structures have been studied from 21 sites in Austria, 31 sites in Germany and one site in Switzerland. Characteristic remanent magnetisation directions obtained from alternating field and thermal demagnetisations provided 82 and 78 new or updated (12 and 10 per cent) directions of Austria and Germany, respectively. Nine of the directions are not reliable for certain reasons (e.g. displacement) while three of the features are not well dated. Apart from this some updated age information for the published databases is provided. Rock magnetic experiments revealed magnetite as main magnetic carrier of the remanences. The new data agree well with existing secular variation reference curves. The extended data set covers now the past 3500 years and a lot of progress were made to cover times BC with data. Here enhanced secular variation is observed manifested in declinations with values up to 70°. The new data will allow for recalculation of archaeomagnetic calibration curves for Central Europe from mid Bronze Age until today.