In recent decades the quality and safety of bottled water has come into question, while bottled water sales and demand have steadily grown. It is important that consumers as well as manufacturers are made aware of the microbial environment of bottled water. Many studies have been implemented to evaluate the microbiological content of bottled water. Although some laboratory studies have shown that microbial counts of bottled water can reach as high as 16^3 CFU/mL, few studies, if any, have studied the impact of storage location on bottled water microbial activity. This document reports on an investigation that evaluated the microbiological quality of bottled water relative to storage conditions and storage duration. Unlike previous studies that evaluated bottled water having been stored under the laboratory conditions, the work conducted in this study evaluated storage scenarios that included a car trunk, covered porch, indoor cabinet and refrigerator. These storage conditions allow for comparison of prior studies conducted in the laboratory to more realistic storage coniditions used by consumers. Analyses of bottled water under these alternative storage conditions indicated that microbial growth did occur in stored water and varied between lcoation and holding time. It was determined that heterotrophic plate counts (HPCs) were greater in warmer storage environments as was exhibited by the refrigerated and indoor locations. Additionally, mathematical models were developed in this work that predicted the microbial growth rate in bottled water as a function of holding time, using commonly available statistical software that evaluated data predicted using an exponential model (R2 correlation of up to 0.84) for two different storage conditions. Although increased levels of HPC bacteria are generally safe for those in good health, they are used as an indicator test for microbial quality. Furthermore, higher levels of HPC have also been shown to pose some additional health risks to immunocomprimised individuals. Therefore, results from the study would indicate that it may be beneficial for consumers to store their bottled water indoors or in a refrigerator.

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[pt] A geração e consumo crescente de embalagens PET representa um grande problema ambiental, pois o resíduo destes produtos acaba sendo descartado inadequadamente na natureza ou sendo simplesmente disposto nos aterros. Com o objetivo de atenuar este problema pesquisas foram desenvolvidas nos últimos anos buscando oferecer um destino mais nobre para o resíduo de PET, especialmente para as garrafas PET. Neste contexto, a presente pesquisa propõe o uso do resíduo de garrafas PET, sob a forma de pó, triturado e fibras, como material alternativo para camadas de base em pavimentos. Misturas de Solo-PET, utilizando um solo argiloso com inserção de pó de PET nas porcentagens de 10, 20 e 30 por cento, inserção de PET triturado nas porcentagens de 3, 5 e 7 por cento, e inserção de fibras de PET nas porcentagens de 0,25 e 0,50 por cento, foram avaliadas geotecnicamente por meio de ensaios de caracterização física, ensaios de compactação e ensaios de módulo de resiliência. Os ensaios mecânicos foram realizados nas amostras recém-compactadas e em corpos de prova aquecidos, avaliando ainda a influência do aquecimento no módulo de resiliência. Também foi utilizado o programa computacional SisPav para simular o dimensionamento de um pavimento típico composto pelos materiais estudados. Os resultados obtidos apontam que a inserção de PET nas misturas tem influência sobre o comportamento mecânico do solo, sendo constatado que menores teores possibilitam maiores valores de módulo resiliência. Ainda, a mistura com 10 por cento de pó de PET foi considerada mais eficiente. Conclui-se que a utilização de um solo argiloso adicionado com PET como material alternativo em base de pavimentos é tecnicamente viável e representa uma boa solução para a destinação deste resíduo bem como para a mitigação de seu potencial agressivo ao meio ambiente. / [en] The growing production and consumption of PET packaging represents a major environmental problem because they end up being improperly discarded in nature or simply disposed in landfills. With the aim to attenuate the environmental problem researchers were developed in the last years, in order to offer a nobler destination for this waste, especially for PET bottles. In this context, this research proposes the use of PET bottles waste, in form of powder, crushed and fibers as an alternative material for pavements base. Soil-PET mixtures, using a clayey soil with the addition of PET powder in percentages of 10, 20 and 30 percent, addition of crushed PET in percentages of 3, 5 and 7 percent and addition of PET fiber in percentages of 0,25 and 0,5 percent, were geotechnically evaluated by physical characterization tests, compaction tests and Resilient Modulus tests. The mechanical tests were performed on freshly compacted samples and also on heated specimens, evaluating the influence of heating in the resilient modulus. The computer program SisPav was also used to simulate the mechanistic empirical design for a typical pavement structure composed of the researched material. The results indicate that the insertion of PET influences the mechanical behavior of the soil, and it was verified that lower contents of PET allows higher values of resilient modulus. It can be concluded that the use of a clayey soil added with PET, as an alternative material in pavements base, is technically feasible and represents a good solution for the destination of this waste as well as for the mitigation of its aggressive potential to the environment.

Elevated reaction temperatures are crucial for the efficient enzymatic degradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). A disulfide bridge was introduced to the polyester hydrolase TfCut2 to substitute its calcium binding site. The melting point of the resulting variant increased to 94.7°C (wild-type TfCut2: 69.8 °C) and its half-inactivation temperature to 84.6 °C (TfCut2: 67.3 °C). The variant D204C-E253C-D174R obtained by introducing further mutations at vicinal residues showed a temperature optimum between 75 and 80 °C compared to 65 and 70 °C of the wild-type enzyme. The variant caused a weight loss of PET films of 25.0 +/- 0.8% (TfCut2: 0.3 +/-0.1%) at 70 °C after a reaction time of 48 h. The results demonstrate that a highly efficient and calcium-independent thermostable polyester hydrolase can be obtained by replacing its calcium binding site with a disulfide bridge.

Also aged bottles are safer to use than new bottles because their chemical leaching was found to be lower than that of new bottles. This study recommends the reassessment of the absence of international guidelines for acetaldehyde in water and foods. The study also recommends that the amount of acetaldehyde that can be added to soft drinks as flavouring agent should be below the specific migration limit (SML) for migration of acetaldehyde from PET bottle into bottle contents. This is essential since the SML was designed to ensure that exposure to acetaldehyde, as a result of intake of bottled water and soft drinks in PET bottles, is below the tolerable daily intake (TDI) for acetaldehyde. As antimony was reported to go beyond the safe limits in some Nigerian bottled water and soft drinks after 11 months of storage this study discourages the use of bottle contents stored for a very long time.

The enzymatic degradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) occurs at mild reaction conditions and may find applications in environmentally friendly plastic waste recycling processes. The hydrolytic activity of the homologous polyester hydrolases LC cutinase (LCC) from a compost metagenome and TfCut2 from Thermobifida fusca KW3 against PET films was strongly influenced by the reaction medium buffers tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris), 3-(N-morpholino)propanesulfonic acid (MOPS), and sodium phosphate. LCC showed the highest initial hydrolysis rate of PET films in 0.2 M Tris, while the rate of TfCut2 was 2.1-fold lower at this buffer concentration. At a Tris concentration of 1 M, the hydrolysis rate of LCC decreased by more than 90% and of TfCut2 by about 80%. In 0.2 M MOPS or sodium phosphate buffer, no significant differences in the maximum initial hydrolysis rates of PET films by both enzymes were detected. When the concentration of MOPS was increased to 1 M, the hydrolysis rate of LCC decreased by about 90%. The activity of TfCut2 remained low compared to the increasing hydrolysis rates observed at higher concentrations of sodium phosphate buffer. In contrast, the activity of LCC did not change at different concentrations of this buffer. An inhibition study suggested a competitive inhibition of TfCut2 and LCC by Tris and MOPS. Molecular docking showed that Tris and MOPS interfered with the binding of the polymeric substrate in a groove located at the protein surface. A comparison of the Ki values and the average binding energies indicated MOPS as the stronger inhibitor of the both enzymes.

A qualidade dos procedimentos clínicos realizados na prática odontológica está intimamente ligada às propriedades dos materiais e tecnologias aplicadas à reabilitação oral. No caso das overdentures, uma falta de retenção entre a prótese e o implante pode ocorrer pelo excesso de fadiga das cápsulas que os conectam. Isso leva a um insucesso no tratamento e perda de função, reduzindo a durabilidade e qualidade de vida dos pacientes. Diante dessa problemática o presente estudo propôs um novo material que seja capaz de solucionar ou minimizar este problema, visando uma longevidade do tratamento reabilitador. O objetivo desse trabalho foi comparar um material inédito na odontologia com os já existentes, na confecção de cápsulas para retenção de overdenture, antes e após o envelhecimento artificial por termociclagem (10.000 ciclos = 1 ano clínico). O material estudado foi o Politereftalato de Etileno (PET) que vem se demonstrando um material promissor para tal função devido a sua biocompatibilidade e suas características físicas e mecânicas. O PET foi comparado com poliacetal, polietileno e teflon já utilizados para esta função (n=20). Os materiais foram submetidos aos ensaios resistência à compressão, rugosidade e dureza superficial, resistência à fadiga, arrancamento, resistência de união e análise em estereomicroscópio e microscopia eletrônica de varredura. Para responder aos objetivos do estudo foram utilizadas, além de técnicas básicas de análise exploratória como média, mediana, desvio padrão e intervalo de confiança para média (IC 95%), a análise inferencial de comparação de média de ANOVA Two-Way com Medidas Repetidas. Houve influência do envelhecimento artificial apenas na variável fadiga, em todos os tempos analisados. Em relação a rugosidade o PET (0,9168) apresentou as menores médias, juntamente com o Poliacetal (0,5160) (p=0,001). Para Dureza superficial não houve diferença entre os grupos. Na Resistência à Compressão o Poliacetal (109,88) apresentou os maiores valores de tensão, não havendo diferença estatisticamente significante do PET(101,02)(p=0,003). No ensaio de arrancamento PET (484,4) e Poliacetal (443,7) apresentaram os maiores valores de força máxima (p=0,033). Em relação a Fadiga PET e Poliacetal apresentaram os maiores valores em todos os tempos analisados (p<0,001). Através da análise por estereomicroscopia, o padrão de fratura do Poliacetal e PET foi coesiva, os demais foram adesiva. Pela microscopia eletrônica de varredura, não foi observado alteração de superfície apenas pelo Polietileno. Conclui-se que o PET apresentou ótimos resultados para as variáveis propostas, sugerindo seu uso para confecção de componentes protéticos / The quality of clinical procedures performed in dental practice is closely linked to the properties of materials and technologies applied to oral rehabilitation. In the case of overdentures, a lack of retention between the prosthesis and the implant can occur due to the excess fatigue of the capsules that connect them. This leads to unsuccessful treatment and loss of function, reducing the durability and quality of life of patients. Faced with this problem, the present study proposed a new material that is capable of solving or minimizing this problem, aiming at a longevity of the rehabilitation treatment. The objective of this study was to compare a new material in dentistry with existing ones, in the manufacture of capsules for retention of overdenture, before and after artificial aging by thermocycling (10,000 cycles = 1 year clinical).The material studied was polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which has been shown to be a promising material for this function due to its biocompatibility and its physical and mechanical characteristics. PET was compared with polyacetal, polyethylene and teflon already used for this function (n=20). The materials were submitted to the tests of compressive strength, roughness and surface hardness, fatigue strength, pullout, bond strength and stereomicroscopic analysis and scanning electron microscopy. In order to respond to the objectives of the study, we used, besides basic exploratory analysis techniques such as mean, median, standard deviation and confidence interval for mean (95% CI), the inferential analysis of the comparison of mean two-way ANOVA with Repeated Measurements . There was influence of artificial aging only on the variable fatigue, at all times analyzed. In relation to the roughness, the PET (0,9168) presented the lowest averages, together with the Polyacetal (0,5160) (p = 0.001). For superficial hardness there was no difference between the groups. In the Compression Resistance the polyacetal (109,88) had the highest values of tension, and there was no statistically significant difference of PET (101,02) (p= 0.003). The PET (484,4) and polyacetal (443,7) tear test the highest values of maximum strength were found (p = 0.033). In relation to PET Fatigue and Polyacetal presented the highest values in all times analyzed (p <0.001). Through stereomicroscopy analysis, the fracture pattern of Polyacetal and PET was cohesive, the others were adhesive. By scanning electron microscopy, no surface change was observed only by Polyethylene. It is concluded that PET presented excellent results for the proposed variables, suggesting its use for the preparation of prosthetic components

The properties of materials, especially of solids, can be attributed mainly to the phenomena occurring at the surface. Surface engineering deals with altering the surface properties of materials to realize useful functionalities like wear and corrosion resistance, biocompatibility, hardening etc. Among the various methods adopted, plasma surface modification stands out, because of the inherent dry processing nature and little amount of left over chemicals. In conventional plasma systems, the process is carried out in a low pressure environment. This restricts its use in treating vacuum incompatible materials including tissues and bio-medical samples. Moreover, the batch processing nature and use of expensive vacuum pumps put a bottle-neck in the throughput of any production line. The subject matter of this thesis is about developing and optimizing an atmospheric pressure (760 torr) plasma system and to use it for surface modification of polymers. The experimental system developed, consists of two parallel electrodes facing each other, each of which is covered with a dielectric plate. A gap of 4mm exists between the dielectric surfaces, through which an axial flow of the working gas is maintained. When a high voltage is applied across the electrodes, the gas breaks down, creating plasma. The surface of the sample kept in this plasma, undergoes various phenomena, depending on the power applied, type of gas used and gas flow rate. To drive the plasma a high voltage power supply, which is able to generate 10 kV at 5.8 kHz, was developed in the laboratory. By varying the process parameters, the inherent filamentary nature of discharge can be converted to a diffuse uniform glow. The purity of plasma was studied and established by analyzing the optical emission from the plasma. After optimizing the system, it was used to modify the surface properties of polyester sheets. The wetting nature was altered using fluorocarbon and oxygen plasmas, realizing hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces. The contact angle of a water droplet made with the surface changed from 72° to 84° degree for hydrophobic and to 22° for hydrophilic surfaces respectively. Through this investigation, an insight to the procedure for developing an Atmospheric glow discharge system was developed. The details about system frame work, the power supply, electrical and optical characterization of the plasma, are well studied and recorded. The work establishes the various parameters to be varied to convert the filamentary discharge to a uniform glow. Purity of the plasma has been studied extensively and the system design and process values essential for maintaining the purity have been dealt with. Finally the plasma was put in use for surface modification of polymers, and the surface wetting nature alteration was studied and quantified.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:07:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LaureniceMP_DISSERT.pdf: 7523564 bytes, checksum: 3bb1b06da6a21522b0974a84935760a3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-28 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The development of new materials to fill the demand of technological advances is a challenge for many researchers around the world. Strategies such as making blends and composites are promising alternatives to produce materials with different properties from those found in conventional polymers. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of adding the copolymer poly(ethylene methyl acrylate) (EMA) and cotton linter fibers (LB) on the properties of recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PETrec) by the development of PETrec/EMA blend and PETrec/EMA/LB blend composite. In order to improve the properties of these materials were added as compatibilizers: Ethylene - methyl acrylate - glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer (EMA-GMA) and maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (PE-g-MA). The samples were produced using a single screw extruder and then injection molded. The obtained materials were characterized by thermogravimetry (TG), melt flow index (MFI) mensurements, torque rheometry, pycnometry to determinate the density, tensile testing and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The rheological results showed that the addition of the EMA copolymer increased the viscosity of the blend and LB reduces the viscosity of the blend composite. SEM analysis of the binary blend showed poor interfacial adhesion between the PETrec matrix and the EMA dispersed phase, as well as the blend composite of PETrec/EMA/LB also observed low adhesion with the LB fiber. The tensile tests showed that the increase of EMA percentage decreased the tensile strength and the Young s modulus, also lower EMA percentage samples had increased the elongation at break. The blend composite showed an increase in the tensile strength and in the Young`s modulus, and a decrease in the elongation at break. The blend formulations with lower EMA percentages showed better mechanical properties that agree with the particle size analysis which showed that these formulations presented a smaller diameter of the dispersed phase. The blend composite mechanical tests showed that this material is stronger and stiffer than the blend PETrec/EMA, whose properties have been reduced due to the presence of EMA rubbery phase. The use of EMA-GMA was effective in reducing the particle size of the EMA dispersed phase in the PETrec/EMA blend and PE-g-MA showed evidences of reaction with LB and physical mixture with the EMA / O desenvolvimento de novos materiais para atender as necessidades dos avan?os tecnol?gicos ? um desafio enfrentado por pesquisadores de todo o mundo. No que diz respeito aos materiais polim?ricos, estrat?gias como a confec??o de blendas e comp?sitos s?o alternativas promissoras para atender a demanda por materiais com propriedades diferentes das encontradas nos pol?meros convencionais. O objetivo deste trabalho ? avaliar o efeito da adi??o do copol?mero poli(etileno-acrilato de metila) (EMA) e da fibra de linter de algod?o (LB) nas propriedades do poli(tereftalato de etileno) reciclado (PETrec). Para isto, foram desenvolvidos a blenda PETrec/EMA e o comp?sito da blenda PETrec/EMA/LB. Com o intuito de melhorar as propriedades destes materiais foram adicionados agentes compatibilizantes: terpol?mero etileno-acrilato de metila-metacrilato de glicidila (EMA-GMA) e o polietileno enxertado com anidrido mal?ico (PE-g-MA). As misturas foram produzidas por meio de uma extrusora monorosca e, em seguida, moldados por inje??o. As caracteriza??es realizadas foram termogravimetria (TG), medida de ?ndice de fluidez (MFI), reometria de torque, determina??o da densidade por picnometria, ensaio de tra??o uniaxial e microscopia eletr?nica de varredura (MEV). Os resultados reol?gicos mostraram que a adi??o do copol?mero EMA aumentou a viscosidade da mistura e o LB reduziu a viscosidade da blenda PETrec/EMA. A an?lise por MEV da blenda bin?ria mostrou baixa ades?o interfacial entre a matriz de PETrec e a fase dispersa de EMA, assim como no comp?sito da blenda PETrec/EMA/LB, tamb?m observou-se uma baixa ades?o com a fibra de LB. Os ensaios de tra??o mostraram que o aumento da porcentagem de EMA diminuiu a resist?ncia m?xima e o m?dulo de elasticidade, e, para as formula??es com menor porcentagem de EMA verificou-se um aumento do alongamento na ruptura. O comp?sito da blenda apresentou um aumento na resist?ncia m?xima e no m?dulo de elasticidade, e uma redu??o no alongamento de ruptura. As formula??es da blenda com menores porcentagens de EMA apresentaram propriedades mec?nicas melhores, que corrobora com as an?lises de tamanho de part?cula que mostraram que estas formula??es apresentaram menor di?metro m?dio de fase dispersa. Os resultados de ensaios mec?nicos do comp?sito da blenda mostraram que essa mistura resultou em um material com maior resist?ncia mec?nica e rigidez do que a blenda PETrec/EMA, cujas propriedades foram reduzidas em fun??o da fase borrachosa EMA. O uso do EMA-GMA foi eficiente na redu??o do tamanho de part?culas da fase dispersa do EMA na blenda PETrec/EMA e o PE-g-MA apresentou ind?cio de rea??o com o LB e mistura f?sica com o EMA