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Biomedical subjects

Anders Axelsson

Publications and source records attributed to Anders Axelsson.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Mass transfer effects on the reaction rate for heterogeneously distributed immobilized yeast cells.

Here we examine the efficiency of different immobilized cell gradients applied to immobilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermenting glucose to ethanol. We developed a simulation model to fully study the competing effects of mass transfer hindrance and kinetics. It is based on a diffusion-reaction model and can be used to analyze the different cell concentration profiles inside an immobilized gel bead, in terms of effectiveness factors, productivity, and mass flux. The internal diffusion coefficient, which varies with the local cell concentration, as well as the external mass transfer, is taken into account when describing the efficiency. Although the diffusion hindrance is greater at higher cell concentrations, high cell concentration is still advantageous in the present case because the increase in reaction rate outweighs the diffusion hindrance. Thus, high cell concentrations contribute to increased productivity. The influence of the cell concentration gradient on the efficiency of the beads is negligible. Within the range of cell profiles studied it has been established that the location of the cells within the bead is of lesser importance. However, a steep cell gradient increases the importance of the external mass transfer.

Cell Count↗

Simulation and parametric study of a film-coated controlled-release pharmaceutical.

Pharmaceutical formulations can be designed as Multiple Unit Systems, such as Roxiam CR, studied in this work. The dose is administrated as a capsule, which contains about 100 individual pellets, which in turn contain the active drug remoxipride. Experimental data for a large number of single pellets can be obtained by studying the release using microtitre plates. This makes it possible to study the release of the individual subunits making up the total dose. A mathematical model for simulating the release of remoxipride from single film-coated pellets is presented including internal and external mass transfer hindrance apart from the most important film resistance. The model can successfully simulate the release of remoxipride from single film-coated pellets if the lag phase of the experimental data is ignored. This was shown to have a minor influence on the release rate. The use of the present model is demonstrated by a parametric study showing that the release process is film-controlled, i.e. is limited by the mass transport through the polymer coating. The model was used to fit the film thickness and the drug loading to the experimental release data. The variation in the fitted values was similar to that obtained in the experiments.

Computer Simulation↗

Electronic speckle pattern interferometry: a tool for determining diffusion and partition coefficients for proteins in gels.

The aim of this study was to demonstrate electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) as a powerful tool in determining diffusion coefficients and partition coefficients for proteins in gels. ESPI employs a CCD camera instead of a holographic plate as in conventional holographic interferometry. This gives the advantage of being able to choose the reference state freely. If a hologram at the reference state is taken and compared to a hologram during the diffusion process, an interferometric picture can be generated that describes the refraction index gradients and thus the concentration gradients in the gel as well as in the liquid. MATLAB is then used to fit Fick's law to the experimental data to obtain the diffusion coefficients in gel and liquid. The partition coefficient is obtained from the same experiment from the flux condition at the interface between gel and liquid. This makes the comparison between the different diffusants more reliable than when the measurements are performed in separate experiments. The diffusion and partitioning coefficients of lysozyme, BSA, and IgG in 4% agarose gel at pH 5.6 and in 0.1 M NaCl have been determined. In the gel the diffusion coefficients were 11.2 +/- 1.6, 4.8 +/- 0.6, and 3.0 +/- 0.3 m(2)/s for lysozyme, BSA, and IgG, respectively. The partition coefficients were determined to be 0.65 +/- 0.04, 0.44 +/- 0.06, and 0.51 +/- 0.04 for lysozyme, BSA, and IgG, respectively. The current study shows that ESPI is easy to use and gives diffusion coefficients and partition coefficients for proteins with sufficient accuracy from the same experiment.

Animals↗