Butanol production from lignocellulosic sugars by Clostridium beijerinckii in microbioreactors.

Background: Butanol (n-butanol) has been gaining attention as a renewable energy carrier and an alternative biofuel with superior properties to the most widely used ethanol. We performed 48 anaerobic fermentations simultaneously with glucose and xylose as representative lignocellulosic sugars by Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 in BioLector® microbioreactors to understand the effect of different sugar mixtures on fermentation and to demonstrate the applicability of the micro-cultivation system for high-throughput anaerobic cultivation studies. We then compared the results to those of similar cultures in serum flasks to provide insight into different setups and measurement methods.

Butanol production from lignocellulosic biomass: revisiting fermentation performance indicators with exploratory data analysis.

After just more than 100 years of history of industrial acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation, patented by Weizmann in the UK in 1915, butanol is again today considered a promising biofuel alternative based on several advantages compared to the more established biofuels ethanol and methanol. Large-scale fermentative production of butanol, however, still suffers from high substrate cost and low product titers and selectivity. There have been great advances the last decades to tackle these problems.

Efficacy of a novel sequential enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass and inhibition characteristics of monosugars.

Efficient production of sugar monomers from lignocellulose is often hampered by serious bottle-necks in biomass hydrolysis. The present study reveals that ultra-sonication assisted pretreatment following autoclaving, termed as combined pretreatment, can lead to more efficient delignification of lignocellulosic biomass and an open, deformed polysaccharide matrix, found favorable for subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis, is formed. The pattern of inhibition for the enzymatic hydrolysis reaction on combined-pretreated saw dust is identified.

[Gastroesophageal reflux. Comparison of clinical, pH-metric and manometric results of Nissen's and of Toupet's procedures].

Objectives: The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate and to compare the results of the circular fundoplication (Nissen) and the posterior hemifundoplication (Toupet) for the treatment of gastro-oesophageal reflux.

Methods: For each of the 71 included patients (Nissen, n:43; Toupet, n:28) the following data were collected: surgical complications, clinical symptoms, pH-metric and manometric data, before and 4 and 28 months after operation.

Results: Rates of perioperative complications were 26% and 7% in the Nissen and Toupet groups respectively.

Polyneuropathy: an unusual extraintestinal manifestation of Crohn's disease.

Among the extraintestinal complications of Crohn's disease, neuropathy seems to be rare, and is only exceptionally reported in the literature. The authors present the report of a patient followed over a 12-year period who developed polyneuropathy with a parallel course to Crohn's disease. There was no evidence of any other underlying condition.