No abstract

SUMMARY BackgroundProton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and H 2 receptor antagonists (H 2 RAs) may play an important role on the onset of Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD) in adults. The impact of Clostridium difficile on children treated with gastric acid-suppressing agents remains unknown.

In this work, biodegradable films based on poly (lactic acid) (PLA) and corn thermoplastic starch (TPS), additivated with epoxidized cardoon oil plasticizer (ECO) at 3% by weight with respect to PLA mass fraction, were prepared by melt extrusion process and compression molding. The effect of ECO on structural, thermal, mechanical, barrier, and spectral optical properties of the films was investigated. Spectroscopic analysis evidenced the development of physical interaction between oil and polymers, mainly PLA. In addition, no oil migration occurrence was detected after six months of film preparation, as evidenced by oil mass evaluation by precipitation as well as by 1H-NMR methods, thus highlighting the good inclusion of oil inside the polymeric network. The plasticizing action of the oil induced a lean improvement of the interfacial adhesion between hydrophobic PLA and hydrophilic TPS, particularly accentuated in PLA80_ECO composition, as evidenced by morphological analysis of blend fracture surfaces. TGA data underlined that, differently from TPS-based films, PLA-based systems followed one degradative thermal profile suggesting a slight compatibilization effect of epoxidized oil in these films. The shifting of Tg values, by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis, indicated a weak miscibility at molecular level. Generally, in the investigated blends, the phase separation between PLA and TPS polymers was responsible for the mechanical properties failing; in particular, the tensile strength evidenced a negative deviation from the rule of mixtures, particularly marked in TPS-based blends, where no physical entanglements occurred between the polymers since their immiscibility even in presence of ECO. The epoxidized oil strongly improved the barrier properties (water vapor permeability (WVP) and oxygen permeability (O2P)) of all the films, likely developing a physical barrier to water and oxygen diffusion and solubilization. With respect to neat PLA, PL80 and PL80_ECO films evidenced the improvement of surface wettability, due to the presence of polar groups both in TPS (hydroxyl residues) and in epoxidized oil (oxirane rings). Finally, following to the conditioning in climatic chamber at T = 25 °C and RH = 50%, PLA80 film became opaque due to TPS water absorption, causing a light transmittance decreasing, as evidenced by spectral optical analysis.

The kinetics of performic acid decomposition was studied with a gas-volumetric technique in which we measured the volume of gas developed over time as a consequence of the reaction. Several kinetic runs were performed in the presence of catalytic amounts of H2SO4 and H3PO4 and in autocatalytic conditions by mixing solutions of HCOOH and H2O2. The trends of the curves of the gas volume (CO2) released, as a function of time, were all characterized by a more or less long induction time, followed by a straight line. Induction time appeared to be related to the kinetics of performic acid formation, rapidly reaching the equilibrium, while the successive linear trends corresponded to performic acid decomposition. A kinetic model was developed to interpret all the kinetic runs performed. The kinetic parameters with the best fits were determined, and the model was used to also simulate kinetic runs performed by other authors.

Epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO) is produced in industry by reacting soybean oil, at 60À70 °C, with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of formic or acetic acid. A small amount of sulphuric or phosphoric acid is necessary to catalyze the oxidation of the carboxylic acid to the corresponding per-carboxylic acid. Per-carboxylic acid, formed in situ, migrates from the aqueous phase to the oil phase where it spontaneously reacts with the double bonds to give an oxirane ring. This reaction is extremely exothermic (ΔH = À55 kcal/mol) and must be kept under thermal control. Two undesired side reactions can occur: the oxirane ring-opening and the hydrogen peroxide decomposition. In a previous work, a biphasic kinetic model for describing the epoxidation of soybean oil in fed or pulse-fed-batch reactors has been developed and the parameters of the model have been determined by mathematical regression analysis. In the present paper, the model has been adapted to simulate also kinetic runs performed in two continuous tubular reactors of different sizes, filled with spheres of stainless steel (AISI 316) used as static mixer. The agreement found, in simulating the continuous runs, validates the developed biphasic kinetic model. This model constitutes a valid base for the design of a continuous process and for promoting the process intensification.