A method for the production of prebiotic preparations containing isomaltooligosaccharides and gluconic acid.

Poster (2010, October 14)

Isomaltooligosaccharides (IMOs) are non-digestible oligosaccharides, considered as prebiotics and therefore aim to selectively feed probiotics indigenous to the human colon. IMOs consists of glucose ... [more ▼]

Isomaltooligosaccharides (IMOs) are non-digestible oligosaccharides, considered as prebiotics and therefore aim to selectively feed probiotics indigenous to the human colon. IMOs consists of glucose monomers linked by at least one α-1-6, or in a lower proportion α -1-3 (nigerose family) or α -1-2 (kojibiose family) glucosidic linkages. In our case they are produced from either corn, tapioca, or rice hydrolyzed starch. The enzymatic reaction is achieved using an Aspergillus niger transglucosidase (EC 2.4.1.24). It results in a very complex mixture with molecules characterized at the same time by their DP value (from 2 to ~15), linkages types (α-1-2, 3 or 6) and the proportion and position of each type of linkage (only α -1-6 or combined types). However, the reaction only permits to reach yields between 50-75 % in IMOs. Impurities are composed of residual maltooligosaccharides (glucose with exclusively α -1-4 linkages) from the starting vegetal material and glucose released during the transglucosylation step. These digestible saccharides are deleterious for the prebiotic preparation. Therefore, these compounds must be eliminated from the medium or converted in prebiotic species. Residual maltooligosaccharides are thus specifically hydrolyzed by a thermostable α-glucosidase (EC. 3.2.1.20) in order to produce glucose as the only unwanted specie. This glucose can then be converted to gluconic acid and/or its salts using a glucose-oxidase (EC. 1.1.3.4) in combination with a catalase. Gluconic acid (C6H12O7) is a saccharide derivative which has been recognized as a prebiotic compound. It is also known for its purgative action and proved to be effective for lipid peroxidation prevention. A first option can then be chosen, leaving gluconic acid in the product in order to obtain an original prebiotic product enjoying new prebiotic potential properties due to the combination of both types of prebiotic compounds (IMO and gluconic acid). The second option is to eliminate the gluconic acid from the prebiotic mixture. This separation doesn’t present the same difficulties than for glucose as gluconic acid is charged and can therefore be separated on anion-exchange resins (Dowex AcO-). This overall process, fulfilling the principles of green chemistry and being applicable to produce organic prebiotic, is an elegant solution, from an economical, an environmental, a nutri-functional and a techno-functional point of view. Indeed, it can lead to original prebiotic preparations, with yields close to 100%, by avoiding product loss, as the digestible saccharides portion is converted to gluconic acid. Furthermore, the presence of gluconic acid can provide many functional properties to the prebiotic preparations for their incorporation in food products. [less ▲]

A method inspired by nature for the production of original and purified prebiotic and calcium fortified preparations containing isomaltooligosaccharides and gluconic acid.

Poster (2011, June 15)

A method inspired by nature for the production of original and purified prebiotic preparations containing isomaltooligosaccharides and gluconic acid.

Poster (2011, April 29)

Method of detection and surveillance of natural sex steroid hormones

in Proceedings of the Scientific Conference on Growth Promotion in Meat Production (1995)

Method of free radical polymerization of copolymerization of (meth)acrylic and vinyl monomers under control and (co)polymer produced thereby

Patent (1998)

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a (co)polymer excellent in resistance to thermal decomposition by polymerizing or copolymerizing a monomer or monomers in the presence of an initiation system contg. a free ... [more ▼]

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a (co)polymer excellent in resistance to thermal decomposition by polymerizing or copolymerizing a monomer or monomers in the presence of an initiation system contg. a free-radical generator other than a bromoolefin and a catalyst comprising a Pd complex having an oxidation number of 0 and represented by a specific formula. SOLUTION: A Pd salt (e.g. Pd acetate), a ligand (e.g. triphenylphosphine), and a solvent (e.g. toluene) are charged into a reactor to form a Pd complex having an oxidation number of 0 and represented by the formula: Pd(0)L<1> L<2> L<3> L<4> [wherein L<1> to L<4> are each a ligand such as PRR'R'' (wherein R, R', and R'' are each 1-14C alkyl, etc.)]. Then, a monomer (e.g. methyl methacrylate) is added to the reactor followed by the addition of a free-radical generator (e.g. CCl4 ) in a molar ratio of Pd to the generator of 0.01-100.; The contents in the reactor are heated to 40-90 deg.C and stirred for a certain time to conduct the polymn. The reaction mixture is diluted with toluene, etc., filtered, and condensed under a reduced pressure. The resultant polymer soln. is poured into methanol, etc., and the resultant precipitate is filtered, washed, and dried to give a polymer having a number average mol.wt. of 400-10,000,000g/mol and a polydispersity lower than 2. [less ▲]

A method to assess global energy requirements of suburban areas at the neighbourhood scale

in Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality, Ventilation and Energy Conservation in buildings (2010, August)

This article presents the method developed to assess existing suburban neighbourhoods in order to improve their energy efficiency. It combines the use of dynamic simulation tools to evaluate energy ... [more ▼]

This article presents the method developed to assess existing suburban neighbourhoods in order to improve their energy efficiency. It combines the use of dynamic simulation tools to evaluate energy requirements for heating and lighting residential buildings, a statistical approach to assess the transport system and a simplified calculation to take also into account public lighting. The method is completed by a life-cycle analysis of buildings. An application is presented concerning the comparison of three typical suburban structures in the Walloon region of Belgium. The influence of parameters which are often underestimated, like distribution of buildings or location, on the global energy performances of suburban fabrics is tested. The results of this exercise are presented and its limits are discussed. [less ▲]

A method to assess transport consumptions in suburban areas

Conference (2010, October 21)

A method to compute reactive power margins with respect to voltage collapse

in IEEE Transactions on Power Systems (1991), 6

A Method to Evaluate the Energy Consumption of Suburban Neighbourhoods

in HVAC&R Research (2012), 18(1-2), 88-99

Energy use in buildings, transportation systems and lighting networks represents a significant contribution to the overall energy consumption in urban and suburban areas. This paper presents a method to ... [more ▼]

Energy use in buildings, transportation systems and lighting networks represents a significant contribution to the overall energy consumption in urban and suburban areas. This paper presents a method to evaluate the energy consumption of suburban neighborhoods from these three points of view, aiming to highlight the most relevant variables linking urban form and neighborhoods energy consumptions. The method includes three parts: 1) a computational approach combining dynamic simulation tools and a database of building typologies to determine the energy consumed in heating; 2) an empirical approach to assess the energy consumed by transportation systems (four purposes of travel are taking into account: work, school, leisure and shopping); and 3) a simplified approach to calculate the energy consumed by public lighting. Results from the application of the method to three characteristic suburban neighborhoods in Belgium are presented along with a life cycle energy assessment of buildings. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine the effects of building and neighborhood characteristics and of building inhabitant behavior on calculated energy consumption. Results from the analysis show that building insulation, building distribution, heating system management and neighborhood location are critically important factors in the energy efficiency of suburban residential areas. [less ▲]

A Method to Reduce Cost of Mesh Deformation in Eulerian-Lagrangian Formulation

in Proceedings of EUROMECH 233: "Modeling of Metal Forming Processes (1988)