Degradation of lignin to simpler compounds is desirable for removing residual lignin during paper manufacture and accessing biomass carbohydrates for biofuel production, among other purposes. Lignin transformation using enzymes found in white rot fungi, some of nature's most efficient lignin-degrading organisms, offers a more environmentally benign, selective, and possibly less...
Complex organic transformations, such as the addition of pyrrole to ketene using planar chiral organocatalyst (*PPY), the four-component anhydride- Manniach reactions, and the site-selective desymmetrization of meso-1,2-diol, are remarkable synthetic reactions that provide high yield and high selectivity. However, the exact mechanism and origins of stereocontrol for theses synthetic organic...
Lead (Pb), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) are known to have detrimental effects on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and to human health both in rural and urban areas. Heavy metal contamination enters stormwater by atmospheric deposition and by the collection of surface particles during overland flow. Stormwater runoff in urban...
This work is an attempt to develop a simple physical description for the initial
interactions between a bacterial cell and a substrate surface. This is done by
adopting a view that regards bacterial surface biomolecules not as secondary and
add-on contributors to the potential energy function that characterizes the
overall...
Nanoparticles (NPs), defined by their size (1-100 nm), are increasingly incorporated into commercial and industrial products due to their high surface area and unique properties. They can be designed for specific applications by manipulating composition, size, shape, and surface functionalization. As NP production and complexity increases, there is a need...
Over the last two decades, urban stormwater management has grown to include green infrastructure, such as bioswales. These systems were primarily designed to mitigate hydraulic peaking during rainstorms but were also found to remove particulate and dissolved contaminants. However, little is known about the fate of these particulate contaminants after...
Passage of blood through a sorbent device for removal of bacteria and endotoxin by specific binding with immobilized, membrane-active, bactericidal peptides holds promise for treating severe blood infections. Peptide insertion in the target membrane and stable binding is desirable, while membrane disruption and release of degradation products to the circulating...
When Biosand filters cannot be constructed with crushed quarry rock due to resource limitations, a suitable alternative filter media is needed. In this research, two crushed quarry rock alternatives were examined. Three bench-scale Biosand filters with crushed rock, beach sand, and heat-treated beach sand media were simultaneously dosed with Willamette...
Silver nanoparticles are increasingly being incorporated into consumer products due to their broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties. The resulting influx of silver nanoparticles into wastewater may pose a threat to bacteria involved in biological wastewater treatment. Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, which convert ammonia to nitrite in the first step of nitrification, are highly sensitive...
Numerous studies have shown that some nanomaterials are highly toxic to aquatic organisms and can potentially disrupt overall community health; however, current methods to evaluate the nanomaterials environmental impacts rarely consider the environmental realism or provide sufficient detail on the impact at the community level. Here we demonstrate three approaches...