Origin and dispersal history of Hepatitis B virus in Eastern Eurasia.

Hepatitis B virus is a globally distributed pathogen and the history of HBV infection in humans predates 10000 years. However, long-term evolutionary history of HBV in Eastern Eurasia remains elusive. We present 34 ancient HBV genomes dating between approximately 5000 to 400 years ago sourced from 17 sites across Eastern Eurasia. Ten sequences have full coverage, and only two sequences have less than 50% coverage. Our results suggest a potential origin of genotypes B and D in Eastern Asia. We observed a higher level of HBV diversity within Eastern Eurasia compared to Western Eurasia between 5000 and 3000 years ago, characterized by the presence of five different genotypes (A, B, C, D, WENBA), underscoring the significance of human migrations and interactions in the spread of HBV. Our results suggest the possibility of a transition from non-recombinant subgenotypes (B1, B5) to recombinant subgenotypes (B2 - B4). This suggests a shift in epidemiological dynamics within Eastern Eurasia over time. Here, our study elucidates the regional origins of prevalent genotypes and shifts in viral subgenotypes over centuries.

Study of Turbulence Promoters in Prolonging Membrane Life.

Nanofiltration membrane technology is an effective method for secondary treated sewage purification. However, membrane fouling, which is inevitable in the membrane-separation process, can reduce membrane performance and shorten membrane life. Installing a turbulence promoter is a promising means of improving the hydraulic conditions inside the membrane chamber. In this study, the effect of turbulence promoter on prolonging membrane life was studied for the first time. Flat-sheet polyethersulfone nanofiltration membrane was used to filter humic acid solution, used for simulating secondary treated sewage. By comparing photographs and SEM images of the membrane before and after the simulated secondary treated sewage filtration, it was found that humic acid tended to be deposited on the low-velocity region, which was reflected by COMSOL simulation. After incorporating a turbulence promoter, the reduction of the humic acid deposition area and membrane fouling resistance indicated that the turbulence promoter could reduce membrane fouling due to the improved hydraulic conditions. Additionally, the turbulence promoter also increased the flux and reduced the flux decay rate. The turbulence promoter was then place in the crossflow flat-sheet membrane filtration module, and the variation of flux with time was tested in simulated secondary treated sewage with different concentrations. The results showed that the membrane life for the filtration of simulated secondary treated sewage comprising 50, 250, and 500 ppm humic acid increased by 23.1%, 80.4%, and 85.7%, respectively. The results of this article can serve as a reference for the prediction of membrane life and the performance enhancement mechanism of membranes containing a turbulence promoter.

Novel salicyloylhydrazone derivatives and corresponding terbium(III) complexes: Synthesis and properties research.

Four novel salicyloylhydrazone derivatives and their terbium(III) complexes were synthesized and characterized. The thermal analysis results showed that the terbium(III) complexes possessed good thermal stability. The fluorescence research results showed that the terbium(III) complex substituted by phenyl possessed the best fluorescence intensity among them, and its fluorescence quantum yield was also the highest. The exploration of the electrochemical properties indicated that the introduction of electron-donating groups to the ligand can increase the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels and decrease the oxidation potential of the corresponding terbium(III) complexes. The introduction of electron-withdrawing groups to the ligand can reduce their HOMO energy levels and increase their oxidation potential. The results showed that the terbium(III) complexes are good candidates for luminescent material.

Novel Protic Ionic Liquid Composite Membranes with Fast and Selective Gas Transport Nanochannels for Ethylene/Ethane Separation.

Protic ionic liquids (PILs) were utilized for the fabrication of composite membranes containing silver salt as the C2H4 transport carrier to perform C2H4/C2H6 separation for the first time. The intrinsic nanostructures of PILs were adopted to construct fast and selective C2H4 transport nanochannels. The investigation of structure-performance relationships of composite membranes suggested that transport nanochannels (polar domains of PILs) could be tuned by the sizes of cations, which greatly manipulated activity of the carrier and determined the separation performances of membranes. The role of different carriers in the facilitated transport was studied, which revealed that the PILs were good solvents for dissolution and activation of the carrier due to their hydrogen bond networks and waterlike properties. The operating conditions of separation process were investigated systemically and optimized, confirming C2H4/C2H6 selectivity was enhanced with the increase of silver salt concentration, the flow rate of sweep gas, and the feed ratio of C2H4 to C2H6, as well as the decrease of the transmembrane pressure and operating temperature. Furthermore, the composite membranes exhibited long-term stability and obtained very competitive separation performances compared with other results. In summary, PIL composite membranes, which possess good long-term stability, high C2H4/C2H6 selectivity, and excellent C2H4 permeability, may have a good perspective in industrial C2H4/C2H6 separation.

A fast-responsive fluorescent probe for sulfite and its bioimaging.

A turn-on fluorescent probe Coumarin-SO2 based on a nucleophilic addition reaction was developed for the rapid detection of SO3(2-) in aqueous media. The probe Coumarin-SO2 displays excellent water solubility, fast response, highly sensitivity and highly selectivity over other biological related species. More importantly, living cell imaging experiments indicate the feasibility of using the probe for the detection of SO3(2-) in biological systems.

A ratiometric fluorescence sensor for Fe(3+) based on FRET and PET processes.

A rhodamine/coumarin-based ratiometric fluorescent Fe(3+) sensor has been designed and synthesized. The sensor exhibits a good response to Fe(3+) ions with high sensitivity, selectivity and a large shift in the emission spectra (>100 nm), which shows Fe(3+) -induced FRET OFF-ON and PET ON-OFF behavior.

Biological impedance cross evaluation and imaging from composite measurements of magnetic and electrical methods.

Because of the need for rapid detection and location of diseases in clinical applications, this work proposes a composite measurement of magnetic induction tomography (MIT) and electrical impedance tomography (EIT). This paper is composed of the following aspects: portable and integral hardware design, stable dual constant-current sources, the composite detection method, cross-plane data acquirement, 3-dimensional image reconstruction and so on. A qualitative evaluation of conductivity, resolution and relative position error were taken by combining the EIT and MIT methods via the experiment model. The sensitivities of both methods were analyzed to improve the imaging results. The reconstruction results reveal that the system is capable of obtaining better physiological measurements, which is very useful in clinical monitoring, quick medical diagnosing and preliminary screening of community health.

An anion-conjugated polyelectrolyte designed for the selective and sensitive detection of silver(I).

A novel conjugated polyelectrolyte P1, having a meta-substituted monopyridyl in the backbone, is designed and synthesized for Ag(+) detection in aqueous solution. As a chemosensor, P1 shows high sensitivity, low detection limit, and excellent selectivity for Ag(+) over other metal ions. The sensing mechanism is based on the specific interaction between Ag(+) and the pyridyl group of P1. The aggregated state of the polymer in water can amplify its quenching efficiency.

Structure, spectroscopy, and reactivity properties of porphyrin pincers: a conceptual density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory study.

Porphyrin and pincer complexes are both important categories of compounds in biological and catalytic systems. The idea to combine them is computationally investigated in this work. By employment of density functional theory (DFT), conceptual DFT, and time-dependent DFT approaches, structure, spectroscopy, and reactivity properties of porphyrin pincers are systematically studied for a selection of divalent metal ions. We found that the porphyrin pincers are structurally and spectroscopically different from their precursors and are more reactive in electrophilic and nucleophilic reactions. A few quantitative linear/exponential relationships have been discovered between bonding interactions, charge distributions, and DFT chemical reactivity indices. These results are implicative in chemical modification of hemoproteins and understanding chemical reactivity in heme-containing and other biologically important complexes and cofactors.

Synthesis, characterization and DNA binding studies of a zinc complex with 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl) pyridine.

A zinc(II) complex having planar tridentate ligand, bzimpy, where bzimpy is 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl) pyridine was synthesized and characterized by UV, NMR, infrared spectroscopy and fluorescence spectra. The zinc complex acts as dibasic acids, in which N-H protons on benzimidazole moieties are responsible for a deprotonation site. Both the absorption spectra and reduction potentials are strongly dependent on the solution pH, which leads to the basis of a proton-induced molecular switch. The binding of this complex with calf thymus DNA has been investigated by absorption, luminescence titrations and viscosity measurements. The results suggest that the zinc(II) complex intercalates into DNA base pairs via the ligand bzimp.