Publications by authors named "Patricia Luis"

This study investigates novel strategies to improve membrane performance and stability in the extraction of aromatic amines for chiral amine production. The effects of silica nanoparticle addition and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coating were explored, with a focus on the selective extraction of α-methylbenzylamine (MBA) and 1-methyl-3-phenylpropylamine (MPPA) from isopropyl amine (IPA). This work introduces a comparative analysis between open and tight membrane extraction (ME) systems, with and without the ionic liquid (IL) [P][N(Tf)].

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The Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus is well adapted to urban environments and takes advantage of the artificial containers that proliferate in anthropized landscapes. Little is known about the physicochemical, pollutant, and microbiota compositions of Ae. albopictus-colonized aquatic habitats and whether these properties differ with noncolonized habitats.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Asian tiger mosquito, a significant invasive species, encounters new ecological challenges and benefits when introduced to different regions through international trade.
  • This study explores how various factors, such as mosquito dispersal methods and population founding dynamics, influence the spread of a little-known microbial parasite affecting these mosquitoes.
  • Findings indicate that mosquitoes with parasite infections may actually be more active, and that the storage of their eggs and higher population density can affect the transmission of the parasite, emphasizing the role of global trade in biological invasions.
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Recent studies show that mosquito-microbiota interactions affects vector competence and fitness. We investigated if host antibodies modifying microbiota impact mosquito physiology. We focused on three prevalent bacteria (Acinetobacter, Pantoea, and Chryseobacterium), originally isolated from the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus.

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Antisolvent crystallization is commonly used in the formation of heat-sensitive compounds as it is the case for most active pharmaceutical ingredients. Membranes have the ability to control the antisolvent mass transfer to the reaction medium, providing excellent mixing that inhibits the formation of local supersaturations responsible for the undesired properties of the resulting crystals. Still, optimization of the operating conditions is required.

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Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a sub-group of porous crystalline materials, have been receiving increasing attention for gas separation and pervaporation because of their high thermal and chemical stability, narrow window sizes, as well as tuneable structural, physical, and chemical properties. In this review, we comprehensively discuss developments in the formation of continuous MOF membranes for gas separation and pervaporation. Additionally, the application performance of continuous MOF membranes in gas separation and pervaporation are analysed.

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Insect sequential development evolves from a simple molt towards complete metamorphosis. Like any multicellular host, insects interact with a complex microbiota. In this review, factors driving the microbiota dynamics were pointed out along their development.

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Insects play many important roles in nature due to their diversity, ecological role, and impact on agriculture or human health. They are directly influenced by environmental changes and in particular anthropic activities that constitute an important driver of change in the environmental characteristics. Insects face numerous anthropogenic stressors and have evolved various detoxication mechanisms to survive and/or resist to these compounds.

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Fungal dye-decolorizing peroxidases (DyPs) have found applications in the treatment of dye-contaminated industrial wastes or to improve biomass digestibility. Their roles in fungal biology are uncertain, although it has been repeatedly suggested that they could participate in lignin degradation and/or modification. Using a comprehensive set of 162 fully sequenced fungal species, we defined seven distinct fungal DyP clades on basis of a sequence similarity network.

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Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a novel technique for converting biodegradable materials into electricity. In this study, the efficiency of mixed crystal (TiO:ZnO) as a membrane modifier of a low-cost, antifouling and self-cleaning cation exchange membrane for MFCs was studied. The modification was prepared using polydopamine (PDA) as the bio-inspired glue, followed by gravity deposition of a mixture of catalyst nanoparticles (TiO:ZnO 0.

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  • Scientists are creating special filters to clean up trash dump water that has lots of salt and other stuff in it, so they can use it as a green fertilizer.
  • They made a fast and strong coating using a mix of tannic acid and iron to improve how well these filters work, which only took 15 seconds!
  • After using these enhanced filters, they were able to get a lot of useful plant nutrients from the dump water, increasing the amount of good stuff by about 7.8 times!
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Mosquitoes are considered one of the most important threats worldwide due to their ability to vector pathogens. They are responsible for the transmission of major pathogens such as malaria, dengue, zika, or chikungunya. Due to the lack of treatments or prophylaxis against many of the transmitted pathogens and an increasing prevalence of mosquito resistance to insecticides and drugs available, alternative strategies are now being explored.

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Following the concept of the holobiont, insect-microbiota interactions play an important role in insect biology. Many examples of host-associated microorganisms have been reported to drastically influence insect biological processes such as development, physiology, nutrition, survival, immunity, or even vector competence. While a huge number of studies on insect-associated microbiota have focused on bacteria, other microbial partners including fungi have been comparatively neglected.

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  • Researchers screened New Caledonia mangrove sediments for xylanase genes, focusing on GH11 xylanases, which are involved in breaking down plant materials.
  • The study revealed that xylanase diversity was influenced more by the tree species and seasonal changes than by sediment depth; one specific enzyme, Xyn11-29, was characterized for its potential industrial applications.
  • Xyn11-29 showed optimal activity at 40-50 °C and pH 5.5, demonstrating significant hydrolysis capacity, particularly on destarched wheat bran, while its enzymatic performance in the presence of sea salt was also evaluated.
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  • Due to ongoing water contamination from the textile industry, there is a need for effective membranes to purify water and recover dyes and salts.
  • This study presents the development of low-pressure loose nanofiltration membranes made from eco-friendly sugar-based materials, achieving high water permeability and effective dye rejection.
  • The optimized sucrose-based membrane demonstrated excellent anti-fouling properties and stability, indicating a promising approach for addressing textile wastewater challenges.
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Effective extraction of useful resources from high-salinity textile wastewater is a critical pathway for sustainable wastewater management. In this study, an integrated loose nanofiltration-electrodialysis process was explored for simultaneous recovery of dyes, NaCl and pure water from high-salinity textile wastewater, thus closing the material loop and minimizing waste emission. Specifically, a loose nanofiltration membrane (molecular weight cutoff of ~800 Da) was proposed to fractionate the dye and NaCl in the high-salinity textile wastewater.

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  • The study focused on the diversity of fungal dye-decolorizing peroxidases (DyPs) in New Caledonian mangrove sediments, examining their distribution and biochemical characteristics.
  • During the research, the highest DyP diversity was found in surface sediments during the wet season, with one predominant DyP isoform (OFU1) making up to 100% of sequences in some samples.
  • The key enzyme DyP1 was characterized for its stability and ability to oxidize phenolic substrates, showing promise for decolorizing industrial dyes, particularly under varying pH and temperature conditions.
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Ionic liquids have attracted the attention of the industry and research community as versatile solvents with unique properties, such as ionic conductivity, low volatility, high solubility of gases and vapors, thermal stability, and the possibility to combine anions and cations to yield an almost endless list of different structures. These features open perspectives for numerous applications, such as the reaction medium for chemical synthesis, electrolytes for batteries, solvent for gas sorption processes, and also membranes for gas separation. In the search for better-performing membrane materials and membranes for gas and vapor separation, ionic liquids have been investigated extensively in the last decade and a half.

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Sugar transporters are essential components of carbon metabolism and have been extensively studied to control sugar uptake by yeasts and filamentous fungi used in fermentation processes. Based on published information on characterized fungal sugar porters, we show that this protein family encompasses phylogenetically distinct clades. While several clades encompass transporters that seemingly specialized on specific "sugar-related" molecules (e.

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The ever increasing industrial production of commodity and specialty chemicals inexorably depletes the finite primary fossil resources available on Earth. The forecast of population growth over the next 3 decades is a very strong incentive for the identification of alternative primary resources other than petro-based ones. In contrast with fossil resources, renewable biomass is a virtually inexhaustible reservoir of chemical building blocks.

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The growing expansion of mosquito vectors leads to the emergence of vector-borne diseases in new geographic areas and causes major public health concerns. In the absence of effective preventive treatments against most pathogens transmitted, vector control remains one of the most suitable strategies to prevent mosquito-borne diseases. Insecticide overuse raises mosquito resistance and deleterious impacts on the environment and non-target species.

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Polymer-based CO2 selective membranes offer an energy efficient method to separate CO2 from flue gas. `Top-down' polyelectrolytes represent a particularly interesting class of polymer materials based on their vast synthetic flexibility, tuneable interaction with gas molecules, ease of processability into thin films, and commercial availability of precursors. Recent developments in their synthesis and processing are reviewed herein.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Mangroves are unique ecosystems at the land-sea boundary, offering varied environmental conditions ideal for studying microbial communities with diverse structures and niches.
  • - This study examined prokaryotic and fungal compositions in New Caledonian mangrove sediments across different seasons and depths, revealing distinct patterns influenced mainly by sediment depth for prokaryotes and a relatively even distribution for fungi.
  • - Key findings indicate that Ascomycota fungi dominate over Basidiomycota, while different prokaryotic phyla show preferences for certain sediment layers, emphasizing the need to consider both fungal and prokaryotic communities for insights into organic matter decomposition in these coastal habitats.
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  • Scientists want to make chemicals in a way that is better for the environment by using materials from plants and other natural sources.
  • They are looking at a new method that allows them to make these chemicals continuously, which helps them try out different ideas and scale up production more easily.
  • This review talks about various methods using these plant-based chemicals to create important products like everyday chemicals, special chemicals, and fuels.
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The rhizospheric microbiome is clearly affected by plant species and certain of their functional traits. These functional traits allow plants to adapt to their environmental conditions by acquiring or conserving nutrients, thus defining different ecological resource-use plant strategies. In the present study, we investigated whether plants with one of the two nutrient-use strategies (conservative versus exploitative) could influence fungal communities involved in soil organic matter degradation and root exudate assimilation, as well as those colonizing root tissues.

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