Some members of the yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus are known to convert sugars and ethanol into ethyl acetate. This metabolic activity offers a chance for an economically favorable use of whey. An exemplary batch experiment is presented to demonstrate the formation of ethyl acetate by K. marxianus DSM 5422 on whey‐based medium in an aerated 70‐L stirred reactor. A screening system was developed to check Kluyveromyces strains regarding their capability to form ethyl acetate. The designed screening system takes the volatility of ethyl acetate and the requirement of oxygen for sugar conversion into account and allows the analysis of ester formation kinetics. Modeling and measurement of the ester stripping from screening bottles guaranteed reliable data evaluation. Twelve of 23 tested strains produced noteworthy amounts of ethyl acetate with a yield between 0.13 and 0.23 g ester per gram sugar consumed. The productive strains showed individual kinetics of ester formation; some strains had a short interval of intense production while others exhibited a longer period of stable formation. Another factor of interest was the selectivity of product formation expressed as the mass ratio of formed ester and ethanol, which ranged from 0.9 to 3.5 g/g.

A predominant portion of mortalities in industrial countries can be attributed to diseases of the cardiovascular system. In the last decades great efforts have been undertaken to develop materials for artificial vascular constructs. However, bio-inert materials like ePTFE or PET fail as material for narrow blood vessel replacements (coronary bypasses). Therefore, we aim to design new biocompatible materials to overcome this. In this paper we investigate the use of photoelastomers for artificial vascular constructs since they may be precisely structured by means of additive manufacturing technologies. Hence, 3D computer aided design and manufacturing technologies (CAD-CAM) offer the possibility of creating cellular structures within the grafts that might favour ingrowth of tissue. Different monomer formulations were screened concerning their suitability for this application but all had drawbacks, especially concerning the suture tear resistance. Therefore, we chose to modify the original network architecture by including dithiol chain transfer agents which effectively co-react with the acrylates and reduce crosslink density. A commercial urethane diacrylate was chosen as base monomer. In combination with reactive diluents and dithiols, the properties of the photopolymers could be tailored and degradability could be introduced. The optimized photoelastomers were in good mechanical accordance with native blood vessels, showed good biocompatibility in in vitro tests, degraded similar to poly(lactic acid) and were successfully manufactured with the 3D CAD-CAM technology.

The emerging applications of biological cell separation to rare circulating tumor cell (CTC) detection and separation from blood rely on efficient methods of red blood cell (RBC) debulking. The two most widely used methods of centrifugation and RBC lysis have been associated with the concomitant significant losses of the cells of interest (such as progenitor cells or circulating tumor cells). Moreover, RBC centrifugation and lysis are not well adapted to the emerging diagnostic applications, relying on microfluidics and micro-scale total analytical systems. Therefore, magnetic RBC separation appears a logical alternative considering the high iron content of the RBC (normal mean 105 fg) as compared to the white blood cell iron content (normal mean 1.6 fg). The typical magnetic forces acting on a RBC are small, however, as compared to typical forces associated with centrifugation or the forces acting on synthetic magnetic nanoparticles used in current magnetic cell separations. This requires a significant effort in designing and fabricating a practical magnetic RBC separator. Applying advanced designs to the low cost, high power permanent magnets currently available, and building on the accumulated knowledge of the immunomagnetic cell separation methods and devices, an open gradient magnetic red blood cell (RBC) sorter was designed, fabricated and tested on label-free cell mixtures, with potential applications to RBC debulking from whole blood samples intended for diagnostic tests.

Emerging applications of rare cell separation and analysis, such as separation of mature red blood cells from hematopoietic cell cultures require efficient methods of red blood cell (RBC) debulking. We have tested the feasibility of magnetic RBC separation as an alternative to centrifugal separation using an approach based on the mechanism of magnetic field-flow fractionation (MgFFF). A specially designed permanent magnet assembly generated a quadrupole field having a maximum field of 1.68 T at the magnet pole tips, zero field at the aperture axis, and a nearly constant radial field gradient of 1.75 T/mm (with a negligible angular component) inside a cylindrical aperture of 1.9 mm (diameter) and 76 mm (length). The cell samples included high-spin hemoglobin RBCs obtained by chemical conversion of hemoglobin to methemoglobin (met RBC) or by exposure to anoxic conditions (deoxy RBC), low-spin hemoglobin obtained by exposure of RBC suspension to ambient air (oxy RBC), and mixtures of deoxy RBC and cells from a KG-1a white blood cell (WBC) line. The observation that met RBCs did not elute from the channel at the lower flow rate of 0.05 mL/min applied for 15 min but quickly eluted at the subsequent higher flow rate of 2.0 mL/min was in agreement with FFF theory. The well-defined experimental conditions (precise field and flow characteristics) and a well-established FFF theory verified by studies with model cell systems provided us with a strong basis for making predictions about potential practical applications of the magnetic RBC separation.