Ion Resource Recovery via Electrodialysis Fabricated with Poly(Arylene Ether Sulfone)-Based Anion Exchange Membrane in Organic Solvent System.

Ion resource recovery from organic wastewater is beneficial for achieving emission peaks and carbon neutrality targets. Advanced organic solvent-resistant anion exchange membranes (AEMs) for treating organic wastewater via electrodialysis (ED) are of significant interest. Herein, a kind of 3D network AEM based on poly(arylene ether sulfone) cross-linked with a flexible cross-linker (DBH) for ion resource recovery via ED in organic solvent system is reported. Investigations demonstrate that the as-prepared AEMs show excellent dimensional stability in 60% DMSO (aq.), 60% ethanol (aq.), and 60% acetone (aq.), respectively. For example, the optimized AEM shows very low swelling ratios of 1.04-1.10% in the organic solvents. ED desalination ratio can reach 99.1% after exposure of the AEM to organic solvents for 30 days, and remain > 99% in a mixture solution containing organic solvents and 0.5 m NaCl. Additionally, at a current density of 2.5 mA cm-2, the optimized AEM soaked in organic solvents for 30 days shows a high perm-selectivity (Cl-/SO4 2-) of 133.09 (vs 13.11, Neosepta ACS). The superior ED performance is attributed to the stable continuous sub-nanochannels within AEM confirmed by SAXS, rotational energy barriers, etc. This work shows the potential application of cross-linked AEMs for resource recovery in organic wastewater.

Rechargeable Multifunctional Anti-Bacterial AEMs for Electrodialysis: Improving Anti-Biological Performance via Synergistic Antibacterial Mechanism.

Constructing a functional layer on the surface of commercial membrane (as a substrate) to inhibit the formation of biofilms is an efficient strategy to prepare an antibacterial anion exchange membrane (AEM). Herein, a rechargeable multifunctional anti-biological system is reported by utilizing the mussel-inspired L-dopa connection function on commercial AEMs. Cobalt nanoparticles (Co NPs) and N-chloramine compounds are deposited on the AEM surface by a two-step modification procedure. The anti-biofouling abilities of the membranes are qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed by adopting common Gram-negative (E. coli) and Gram-positive (S. aureus & Bacillus) bacteria as model biofouling organisms. The optimized membrane exhibits a high stability concerning the NaCl solution separation performance within 240 min. Meantime, the mechanism of the anti-adhesion is un-veiled at an atomic level and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation are conducted to measure the interaction, adsorption energy and average loading by using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of E. coli. In view of the superior performance of antibacterial surfaces, it is believed that this work could provide a valuable guideline for the design of membrane materials with resistance to biological contamination.

Leukocyte subtype classification with multi-model fusion.

Accurate classification of leukocytes is crucial for the diagnosis of hematologic malignancies, particularly leukemia. However, traditional leukocyte classification methods are time-consuming and subject to subjective interpretation by examiners. To address this issue, we aimed to develop a leukocyte classification system capable of accurately classifying 11 leukocyte classes, which would aid radiologists in diagnosing leukemia. Our proposed two-stage classification scheme involved a multi-model fusion based on ResNet for rough leukocyte classification, which focused on shape features, followed by fine-grained leukocyte classification using support vector machine for lymphocytes based on texture features. Our dataset consisted of 11,102 microscopic leukocyte images of 11 classes. Our proposed method achieved accurate leukocyte subtype classification with high levels of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and precision of 97.03 ± 0.05, 96.76 ± 0.05, 99.65 ± 0.05, and 96.54 ± 0.05, respectively, in the test set. The experimental results demonstrate that the leukocyte classification model based on multi-model fusion can effectively classify 11 leukocyte classes, providing valuable technical support for enhancing the performance of hematology analyzers.

A versatile facility for laboratory studies of viscoelastic and poroelastic behaviour of rocks.

Novel laboratory equipment has been modified to allow both torsional and flexural oscillation measurements at sub-microstrain amplitudes, thereby providing seismic-frequency constraints on both the shear and compressional wave properties of cylindrical rock specimens within the linear regime. The new flexural mode capability has been tested on experimental assemblies containing fused silica control specimens. Close consistency between the experimental data and the results of numerical modelling with both finite-difference and finite-element methods demonstrates the viability of the new technique. The capability to perform such measurements under conditions of independently controlled confining and pore-fluid pressure, with emerging strategies for distinguishing between local (squirt) and global (specimen-wide) fluid flow, will have particular application to the study of frequency-dependent seismic properties expected of cracked and fluid-saturated rocks of the Earth's upper crust.

Molecular basis of the internalization of bovine immunodeficiency virus Tat protein.

Bovine Immunodeficiency Virus (BIV) is a nonacute, pathogenic, and horizontally transmitted lentivirus. It shares the parallel properties in morphology and genetics with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and other lentiviruses. BIV encodes its own transactivator (BTat), which transactivates its cognate long terminal repeat (LTR). However, the mechanism involved in the transactivation is different from that in HIV and other lentiviruses. We determined the mechanisms of BTat internalization by cells and the effect of BTat on neighboring cells. The green fluorescent protein fusion analysis indicated that the internalization of extracellular BTat was a time and dose-dependent, but endocytosis and energy-independent manner. Arginine residues in the arginine-rich motif (ARM) of BTat were definitively responsible for the internalization. Internalized BTat is predominantly present in the nucleus, resulting in LTR activation and NF-kappaB induction. These results propose that the secretion and internalization of BTat facilitates BIV in influencing neighboring cells and makes the cellular environment propitious to viral replication.