Coal beneficiation technology to reduce hazardous heavy metals in fly ash.

Fly ash emitted from the coal-fired power plant is the major contributor of the outdoor airborne particulate matters (PMs). Coal beneficiation, an industrial process to improve the quality of raw coal by removing ash-bearing components, can be a cost-effective sustainable and clean technology to reduce the emission of hazardous trace metals. As the removal efficiency of mineral matters and heavy metals within the coal is depend highly on the raw coal and the employed beneficiation process, a wide range of case studies at laboratory- and industrial-scale, published in the last 20 years, are reviewed in this study. Our review indicates that the coal beneficiation processes can effectively reduce content of heavy metals of fly ash, encouraging the use of clean coal to reduce pollutants emission.

Quantitative frother analysis on coal mine process water with a benchtop NMR spectrometer.

This paper investigates the use of a benchtop NMR for quantification of a commonly used frothing agent, methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) in the process water of a coal preparation facility. Solid phase extraction is used to increase the concentration of MIBC in the sample so that it is quantifiable by a benchtop NMR. A polymeric, reversed phase column with methanol as solvent gives a MIBC recovery rate of 67 ± 4% as determined using 400 MHz high-field NMR. The recovery rate consistently falls in the above narrow range even in the presence of diesel and inorganic electrolytes which are likely present as background chemicals in the process water. Using the average MIBC recovery rate, we use a quantum mechanical model to analyse the intensity of MIBC in the benchtop spectra. The quantum mechanical modelling algorithm effectively excludes the effect of the diesel on the measured NMR signal. The quantification error when the inlet concentration of MIBC is between 1 and 12 mg/L (1.2-15 ppm v/v), is within 0.5 mg/L (0.6 ppm v/v).

Dynamic Stabilization of Foam Films with Acoustic Sound.

This paper demonstrates the stabilization of single foam films at dynamic conditions induced by exposure to the acoustic sound. The foam films were formed from aqueous solutions using a Sheludko cell. In the presence of sound at certain sound frequencies and above certain thresholds of sound amplitude, the lifetime of the film with 1 × 10-4 M sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in the presence of 0.1 M NaCl was significantly increased, and a stabilization map was drawn to show the three levels of film stability (i.e., unstable, metastable, and stable) obtained over a broad range of sound frequencies (1-19 kHz) and amplitudes (74-125 dB). In particular, stable films were observed at relatively high frequencies (14-19 kHz) and high amplitudes (>107 dB) and metastable films were observed at intermediate frequencies (8.8-9.3 kHz) and high amplitudes (>111 dB). The stabilization effect was also demonstrated with different surfactants at different concentrations, at different electrolyte concentrations (in the presence and absence of the surfactant), and at different temperatures. Image analysis suggested the presence of liquid flow within the films that were stabilized by exposure to the acoustic sound. The stabilization effect could be attributed to the hydrodynamic pressure arising at dynamic conditions.

Optimal design of a simulated-moving-bed chromatographic process for high-purity separation of acetoin from 2,3-butanediol in a continuous mode.

For the high-purity production of acetoin or 2,3-butanediol (BD) from related fermentation processes, it is essential to accomplish a detailed separation between acetoin and BD in an economical mode. To address this issue, we aimed to develop a highly-efficient simulated-moving-bed (SMB) process for the continuous-mode separation of acetoin from BD with high purity and small loss. As a first step for this task, the adsorption and mass-transfer parameters of acetoin and BD on a proven adsorbent were estimated while assuming that BD isomers (meso-BD and DL-BD) would be identical in adsorption and mass-transfer behaviors. The resultant parameters from such estimation were applied to the optimal design of the acetoin-BD separation SMB. The designed SMB was then experimentally investigated, which revealed that some sign of BD isomerism occurred in the SMB column-profile data and thus had an adverse effect on the SMB separation performance. To resolve this problem, the individual parameters of BD isomers were determined on the basis of the SMB column-profile data and an inverse-method principle. The resulting parameters of BD isomers were used in the re-design of the target SMB, which was then experimentally checked for its separation performance. It was confirmed that such SMB re-designed in consideration of BD isomerism was quite effective in the continuous-mode separation of acetoin from BD with high purity (> 99.2%) and small loss (< 1.52%).

Highly efficient recovery of xylobiose from xylooligosaccharides using a simulated moving bed method.

Xylobiose (X2), which is currently available from xylooligosaccharides (XOS), has been reported to have outstanding prebiotic function and to be highly suitable for application in food industries. This has sparked an interest in the economical production of X2 of high purity (> 99%) in food and prebiotic industries. To address such issue, we developed a highly-efficient chromatographic method for the recovery of X2 from XOS with high purity and high recovery. As a first step for this work, an eligible adsorbent for a large-scale separation between X2 and other XOS components was selected. For the selected adsorbent, a single-column experiment was carried out to determine the intrinsic parameters of all the XOS components, which were then used in the optimal design of the continuous X2-recovery process based on a simulated moving bed (SMB) chromatographic method. Finally, the performance of the designed X2-recovery SMB process was verified by the relevant SMB experiments, which confirmed that the developed process in this study could recover X2 from XOS with the purity of 99.5% and the recovery of 92.3% on a continuous-separation mode. The results of this study will be useful in enabling the economical production of high-purity X2 on a large scale.

Retargeting Human-Object Interaction to Virtual Avatars.

In augmented reality (AR) applications, a virtual avatar serves as a useful medium to represent a human in a different place. This paper deals with the problem of retargeting a human motion to an avatar. In particular, we present a novel method that retargets a human motion with respect to an object to that of an avatar with respect to a different object of a similar shape. To achieve this, we developed a spatial map that defines the correspondences between any points in the 3D spaces around the respective objects. The key advantage of the spatial map is that it identifies the desired locations of the avatar's body parts for any input motion of a human. Once the spatial map is created offline, the motion retargeting can be performed in real-time. The retargeted motion preserves important features of the original motion such as the human pose and the spatial relation with the object. We report the results of a number of experiments that demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A novel monoclonal antibody to fibroblast growth factor 2 effectively inhibits growth of hepatocellular carcinoma xenografts.

Expression of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) is believed to be a contributing factor to the growth of a number of tumor types, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the potential of monoclonal antibodies that neutralize FGF2 for treatment of patients with cancer has not yet been explored in clinical trials. We therefore generated a novel monoclonal antibody (mAb), GAL-F2, specific for FGF2 and characterized its properties in vitro and in vivo. GAL-F2 binds to a different epitope than several previous anti-FGF2 mAbs tested. This novel epitope was defined using chimeric FGF1/FGF2 proteins and alanine scanning mutagenesis and was shown to comprise amino acids in both the amino and carboxy regions of FGF2. GAL-F2 blocked binding of FGF2 to each of its four cellular receptors, strongly inhibited FGF2-induced proliferation and downstream signaling in human umbilical vein endothelial cells, and inhibited proliferation and downstream signaling in two HCC cell lines. Moreover, GAL-F2, administered at 5 mg/kg i.p. twice weekly, potently inhibited growth of xenografts of the SMMC-7721, HEP-G2, and SK-HEP-1 human HCC cell lines in nude mice, and in some models, had a strong additive effect with an anti-VEGF mAb or sorafenib. Treatment with GAL-F2 also blocked angiogenesis and inhibited downstream cellular signaling in xenografts, indicating its antitumor mechanism of action. Our report supports clinical testing of a humanized form of the GAL-F2 mAb for treatment of HCC and potentially other cancers.

Monoclonal antibodies to fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 effectively inhibit growth of gastric tumor xenografts.

PURPOSE: Overexpression of fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) may be a causative factor of a number of human tumors, especially gastric tumors of the poorly differentiated type. We investigated whether monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against FGFR2 can inhibit the growth of tumors in xenograft models. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We generated and characterized 3 mAbs that recognize different epitopes on FGFR2: GAL-FR21, GAL-FR22, and GAL-FR23. The ability of the mAbs to recognize the FGFR2IIIb and FGFR2IIIc isoforms of FGFR2 was determined, as was their ability to block binding of FGF ligands to FGFR2. The capability of the mAbs to inhibit FGF-induced FGFR2 phosphorylation and to downmodulate FGFR2 expression was also investigated. Finally, the ability of the anti-FGFR2 mAbs to inhibit tumor growth was determined by establishing xenografts of SNU-16 and OCUM-2M human gastric tumor cell lines in nude mice, treating with each mAb (0.5-5 mg/kg intraperitoneally twice weekly) and monitoring tumor size. RESULTS: Of the 3 mAbs, GAL-FR21 binds only the FGFR2IIIb isoform, whereas GAL-FR22 and GAL-FR23 bind to both the FGFR2IIIb and FGFR2IIIc forms, with binding regions respectively in the D3, D2-D3, and D1 domains of FGFR2. GAL-FR21 and GAL-FR22 blocked the binding of FGF2, FGF7 and FGF10 to FGFR2IIIb. GAL-FR21 inhibited FGF2 and FGF7 induced phosphorylation of FGFR2, and both mAbs downmodulated FGFR2 expression on SNU-16 cells. These mAbs effectively inhibited growth of established SNU-16 and OCUM-2M xenografts in mice. CONCLUSIONS: Anti-FGFR2 mAbs GAL-FR21 and GAL-FR22 have potential for the treatment of gastric and other tumors.

Coexpression in yeast of Taxus cytochrome P450 reductase with cytochrome P450 oxygenases involved in Taxol biosynthesis.

To maximize redox coupling efficiency with recombinant cytochrome P450 hydroxylases from yew (Taxus) species installed in yeast for the production of the anticancer drug Taxol, a cDNA encoding NADPH:cytochrome P450 reductase from T. cuspidata was isolated. This single-copy gene (2,154 bp encoding a protein of 717 amino acids) resembles more closely other reductases from gymnosperms (approximately 90% similarity) than those from angiosperms (<80% similarity). The recombinant reductase was characterized and compared to other reductases by heterologous expression in insect cells and was shown to support reconstituted taxoid 10beta-hydroxylase activity with an efficiency comparable to that of other plant-derived reductases. Coexpression in yeast of the reductase along with T. cuspidata taxoid 10beta-hydroxylase, which catalyzes an early step of taxoid biosynthesis, demonstrated significant enhancement of hydroxylase activity compared to that supported by the endogenous yeast reductase alone. Functional transgenic coupling of the Taxus reductase with a homologous cytochrome P450 taxoid hydroxylase represents an important initial step in reconstructing Taxol biosynthesis in a microbial host.

Cytoplasmic peptide:N-glycanase (PNGase) in eukaryotic cells: occurrence, primary structure, and potential functions.

A cytoplasmic peptide:N-glycanase has been implicated in the proteasomal degradation of newly synthesized misfolded glycoproteins exported from the endoplasmic reticulum. The gene encoding this enzyme (Png1p) has been identified in yeast. Based on sequence analysis, Png1p was classified as a member of the 'transglutaminase-like superfamily' that contains a putative catalytic triad of amino acids (cysteine, histidine, and aspartic acid). More recent studies in yeast indicate that Png1p can bind to the 26S proteasome through its interaction with the DNA repair protein Rad23p. A mouse homologue of Png1p (mPng1p) bound not only to the Rad23 protein, but also to various proteins related to ubiquitin and/or the proteasome through an extended amino-terminal domain. This NH2 terminus of mPng1p, which is not found in yeast, contains a PUB domain predicted to be involved in the ubiquitin-related pathway. This review will focus on the primary structure and potential functions of the cytoplasmic PNGases.