Sofia Gabriel Meirinho | Development of a novel aptamer-based multi-sensor device for the detection of osteopontin

The development of aptamer-based electrochemical biosensors as an emerging technology has made the detection of small and macromolecular analytes easier, faster, and more suited for early detection of protein biomarkers. Biomarkers are produced by body organs or tumors and measure antigens on cell surfaces. When detected in high amounts in blood, they can be suggestive of tumor activity. These markers are more often used to evaluate treatment effects or to assess the potential for metastatic disease in patients with established disease. Osteopontin is a protein found in all body fluids, and constitutes a possible biomarker because its overexpression has been related with breast cancer evolution and metastasis. Nowadays, biomarkers are commonly used for the development of diagnostic methods, allowing the detection of the disease in its initial stages. Therefore, the aim of this work is to develop a biorecognition element (aptamer) with high affinity and sensitivity for OPN, for further use in the production of an electrochemical biosensor. Afterwards, the device will be designed, characterized and validated.

Gabriel Pinto Mendes | Magnetotransfection – Exploring new ways to improve Clostridium pasteurianum for better butanol yield

Biodiesel production generates 10% (wt) glycerol and its production reached 7.8 million tons in 2008. Conventional use of glycerol cannot accommodate for this excess. Biologically derived butanol and longer chain alcohols (e.g. pentanol) are presently gaining attention, due to the increasing use of renewables for production of chemicals and biofuels. Clostridium pasteurianum, a strain capable of economic production of butanol from crude glycerol, may increase the butanol yield but is hard to transform even with electroporation. We propose to explore a new method to increase the transformation efficiency using functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). This method will also be tested with E. coli and B. subtilis. This presentation will focus on the synthesis, characterization and functionalization of MNPs of different sizes and shapes for magneto-transformation and an overall perspective of the research plan will also be provided.

Eduardo José Valença Cordeiro Pires | A new approach on the production of lignocellulosic yeast cells carriers based on Brewers´ spent grains

Results presentation

The major objective of this work is to improve the pre-treatments of Brewers´ Spent Grains (BSG) aiming at their use as a source for lignocellulosic yeast carriers’ (LCYC) production. Therefore, several pre-treatments of BSG have been designed aiming at obtaining various yeast carriers, differing on their physicochemical composition. Cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, fat, protein and ash content, as well as long chain fatty acids profile on the crude BSG were analyzed. Chemical treatments’ successfully produced several different LCYC based on BSG. The highest cellulose content in LCYC was achieved upon application of caustic (NaOH) treatment during 40 min. Either caustic or combined acid/caustic treatments predominately generated hydrophobic, negatively charged LCYC. The feasibility of using BSG for LCYC production is strengthened by the fact that added-value by-products can be extracted before the chemical treatments are applied.

Filipa Maria Rodrigues Pereira | Effect of baffle design on CO₂ mass transfer in a multi-orifice oscillatory flow column

Carbon dioxide is one of the synthesis gas components that can be assimilated by anaerobes to produce biofuels and other chemicals of interest. In the present work, CO₂-water mass transfer and mixing performance in an oscillatory baffled column (OBC) were studied. Different combinations of oscillatory frequency and amplitude were tested and the effect in mass transfer performance was evaluated. The effect of other parameters, namely, gas flow rate, gas hold-up, bubble size and bubble size distribution (BSD), and gas interfacial area, have also been assessed. The effect of baffle design was evaluated and three geometries were used. Results have shown poor mass transfer for experiments using geometry 1 of baffles. Moreover, significant enhancement on mass transfer was obtained for geometry 2 of baffles and the amount of micro-bubbles in the column was almost dominant. Geometry 3, which have been designed in order to compensate de negative aspects of geometry 1 and 2, has revealed the more consistent results in mass transfer complemented with the smallest sized bubbles, well defined eddy formation and good mixing intensity.

Here’s an excerpt:

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