Churg-Strauss syndrome presenting with eosinophilic myocarditis: a diagnostic challenge.

Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS) is an unusual disease that presents as systemic vasculitis and peripheral eosinophilia in patients with an atopic constitution. Cardiac involvement is unusual and often not prominent on initial presentation, but is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with CSS. We report the case of a young woman with severe acute myocarditis.

A study on the pretreatment of a sugarcane bagasse sample with dilute sulfuric acid.

Experiments based on a 2(3) central composite full factorial design were carried out in 200-ml stainless-steel containers to study the pretreatment, with dilute sulfuric acid, of a sugarcane bagasse sample obtained from a local sugar-alcohol mill. The independent variables selected for study were temperature, varied from 112.5°C to 157.

Banana as adjunct in beer production: applicability and performance of fermentative parameters.

Traditionally, the raw materials for beer production are barley, hops, water, and yeast, but most brewers use also different adjuncts. During the alcoholic fermentation, the contribution of aroma compounds from other ingredients to the final beer flavor depends on the wort composition, on the yeast strain, and mainly on the process conditions. In this context, banana can also be a raw material favorable to alcoholic fermentation being rich in carbohydrates and minerals and providing low acidity.

Total soluble solids from banana: evaluation and optimization of extraction parameters.

Banana, an important component in the diet of the global population, is one of the most consumed fruits in the world. This fruit is also very favorable to industry processes (e.g.

Xylitol production from wheat straw hemicellulosic hydrolysate: hydrolysate detoxification and carbon source used for inoculum preparation.

Wheat straw hemicellulosic hydrolysate was used for xylitol bioproduction. The use of a xylose-containing medium to grow the inoculum did not favor the production of xylitol in the hydrolysate, which was submitted to a previous detoxification treatment with 2.5% activated charcoal for optimized removal of inhibitory compounds.

Optimization of acid hydrolysis from the hemicellulosic fraction of Eucalyptus grandis residue using response surface methodology.

Biotechnological conversion of biomass into fuels and chemicals requires hydrolysis of the polysaccharide fraction into monomeric sugars. Hydrolysis can be performed enzymatically and with dilute or concentrate mineral acids. The present study used dilute sulfuric acid as a catalyst for hydrolysis of Eucalyptus grandis residue.

Batch xylitol production from wheat straw hemicellulosic hydrolysate using Candida guilliermondii in a stirred tank reactor.

Batch production of xylitol from the hydrolysate of wheat straw hemicellulose using Candida guilliermondii was carried out in a stirred tank reactor (agitation speed of 300 rpm, aeration rate of 0.6 vvm and initial cell concentration of 0.5 g l(-1)).

Improvement of the ethanol productivity in a high gravity brewing at pilot plant scale.

A 23 full factorial design was used to study the influence of different experimental variables, namely wort gravity, fermentation temperature and nutrient supplementation, on ethanol productivity from high gravity wort fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae (lager strain), under pilot plant conditions. The highest ethanol productivity (0.69 g l(-1) h(-1)) was obtained at 20 degrees P [degrees P is the weight of extract (sugar) equivalent to the weight of sucrose in a 100 g solution at 20 degrees C], 15 degrees C, with the addition of 0.

Xylose reductase and xylitol dehydrogenase activities of Candida guilliermondii as a function of different treatments of sugarcane bagasse hemicellulosic hydrolysate employing experimental design.

The sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate, which is rich in xylose, can be used as culture medium for Candida guilliermondii in xylitol production. However, the hydrolysate obtained from bagasse by acid hydrolysis at 120 degrees C for 20 min has by-products (acetic acid and furfural, among others), which are toxic to the yeast over certain concentrations. So, the hydrolysate must be pretreated before using in fermentation.