Parametric geometry modeling of the carotid artery bifurcation: the need for new flow metrics
Although well established correlations now exist between regions of reversed flow and sites of arterial disease [1], little evidence is available for methodologies that systematically compare how geometrical differences affect such relationships. Drawing on techniques developed in aerodynamic design, a parametric tuning-fork geometry model of the carotid artery bifurcation - based on the glass models described in [2] - is here employed to investigate the impact of bulb size and the angle of the internal carotid artery (ICA) on time-averaged shear stress. Since we seek to directly compare the effect of varying these geometric parameters, we demonstrate the need for a new metric, the integral of negative mean shear stress (INMSS), to highlight the stronger correlation between the extent of reversed flow and bulb width relative to the angle of the ICA.
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New Trends in Fungal Biooxidation
Biooxidations using isolated biocatalysts for the oxidative conversion of organic compounds and materials are becoming more and more important in the industrial sector. Research in this direction is part of the rapidly developing field of White Biotechnology and is carried out not least against the background of sustainable development and the need to replace environmentally risky technologies by eco-friendly processes. Whereas whole cells are already widely used as oxidative biocatalysts, the application of isolated enzymes is still limited to a few examples. One reason for that is the cost-intensive production and laborious purification of enzymes which are mostly intracellular and sometimes membrane-bound proteins with low stability and complex co-factor requirements. The use of secreted oxidoreductases offers several advantages: they are easier to separate and purify, need only cheap co-substrates such as dioxygen or peroxides and are far more stable than intracellular enzymes. Filamentous fungi secrete a broad spectrum of oxidative biocatalysts which are involved, amongst others, in the degradation of recalcitrant biopolymers, the synthesis of melanins as well as the detoxification of plant ingredients, microbial metabolites and organopollutants. We focus here on novel secreted enzymes - peroxygenases and DyP-type peroxidases - with remarkable catalytic properties. Furthermore selected features of “classic” fungal oxidoreductases, such as laccase, tyrosinase and chloroperoxidase, are discussed against the background of innovative recent developments in the field of enzyme application.