Electrochemiluminescent determination of sphingomyelin in milk based on polyaniline hydrogel coupled with enzyme-functionalized Au nanoparticles.

In this paper, sphingomyelin (SM) is detected by a polyaniline hydrogel and Au nanoparticles with enzyme modified electrode (GCE/PAniH/AuNPs@enzyme). After a battery of enzymic degradation, SM can generate H2O2 and enhance the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) response of luminol, which endows the sensor with good sensitivity, specifiity and repeatability. Additionally, the proposed ECL biosensor displays good analytical performances with a wide range from 10.0 µg·mL-1 to 250.0 µg·mL-1 as well as a low detection limit of 3.50 µg·mL-1 (S/N = 3). When the ECL biosensor is used in the detection of SM in milk samples, satisfactory results are obtained, indicating that PAniH/AuNPs@enzyme will serve as a promising ECL material in the applications of H2O2-related bioassay in the future.

Synthesis and Evaluation of Novel Nitric Oxide-Donating Ligustrazine Derivatives as Potent Antiplatelet Aggregation Agents.

Antiplatelet aggregation agents have demonstrated clinical benefits in the treatment of ischemic stroke. In our study, a series of novel nitric oxide (NO)-donating ligustrazine derivatives were designed and synthesized as antiplatelet aggregation agents. They were evaluated for the inhibitory effect on 5'-diphosphate (ADP)-induced and arachidonic acid (AA)-induced platelet aggregation in vitro. The results showed that compound 15d displayed the best activity in both ADP-induced and AA-induced assays, and compound 14a also showed quite better activity than ligustrazine. The preliminary structure-activity relationships of these novel NO-donating ligustrazine derivatives were discussed. Moreover, these compounds were docked with the thromboxane A2 receptor to study the structure-activity relationships. These results suggested that the novel NO-donating ligustrazine derivatives 14a and 15d deserve further study as potent antiplatelet aggregation agents.

Effect of Atmospheres on Transformation of Heavy Metals during Thermal Treatment of MSWI Fly Ash: By Thermodynamic Equilibrium Calculation.

The vaporization behaviors of eight heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Cr, Co, Mn, and Ni) in municipal solid wastes incineration (MSWI) fly ash during thermal treatment under air atmosphere (21% O2/79% N2), an inert atmosphere (100% N2), and a reducing atmosphere (50% CO/50% N2) were evaluated based on a thermodynamic equilibrium calculation by FactSage 8.1. The results show that the reducing atmosphere promotes the melting of MSWI fly ash, resulting in a more liquid phase than in air or an inert atmosphere. Except for Cd, the formation of liquids can dissolve heavy metals and reduce their vaporization ratio. In the air and inert atmospheres, Pb, Zn, Cu, Co, Mn, and Ni vaporize mainly in the form of metallic chlorides, while Cd volatilizes in the form of metallic Cd (g) and CdO (g). In the reducing atmosphere, Co, Mn, and Ni still vaporize as chlorides. Zn and Cd mainly vaporize in the form of Zn (g) and Cd (g), respectively. In terms of Pb, in addition to its chlorides, the volatiles of Pb contain some Pb (g) and PbS (g). Cr has a low vaporization ratio, accounting for 2.4% of the air atmosphere. Cr, on the other hand, readily reacts with Ca to form water-soluble CrCaO4, potentially increasing Cr leaching. Except for Cd, the results of this study suggest that the reducing atmosphere is used for the thermal treatment of MSWI fly ash because it promotes the melting of fly ash and thus prevents heavy metal vaporization.

Metabolism of diethyl phthalate (DEP) and identification of degradation intermediates by Pseudomonas sp. DNE-S1.

A Pseudomonas sp. DNE-S1 (GenBank accession number MF803832), able to degrade DEP in a wide range of acid-base conditions, was isolated from landfill soil. The growth kinetics of DNE-S1 on DEP followed the inhibition model. Fe3+ could promote the degradation ability of DNE-S1 to DEP probably by over-expression of the gene phthalate dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (ophB) and phthalate dioxygenase ferredoxin reductase (ophA4). The degradation rate of DEP (500 mg L-1 at 12 h) increased by 14.5% in the presence of Fe3+. Cu2+, Zn2+, and Mn2+ showed an inhibiting effect on the degradation performance of the strain and could alter the cellular morphology, surface area and volume of DNE-S1. Three degradation intermediates, namely ethyl methyl phthalate (EMP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP), and phthalic acid (PA), were detected in the biodegradation of DEP, and the biochemical pathway of DEP degradation was proposed. This study provides new information on the biochemical pathways and the responsible genes involved in DEP degradation.

Study on the In Silico Screening and Characterization, Inhibition Mechanisms, Zinc-Chelate Activity, and Stability of ACE-Inhibitory Peptides Identified in Naked Oat Bran Albumin Hydrolysates.

In this study, naked oat bran albumin hydrolysates (NOBAH) were subjected to gel chromatography with Sephadex G-15, reverse phase-high liquid performance separation, and UPLC-ESI-MS/MS identification. Six safe peptides including Gly-Thr-Thr-Gly-Gly-Met-Gly-Thr (GTTGGMGT), Gln-Tyr-Val-Pro-Phe (QYVPF), Gly-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Leu-Val (GAAAALV), Gly-Tyr-His-Gly-His (GYHGH), Gly-Leu-Arg-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Glu-Gly-Gly (GLRAAAAAAEGG), and Pro-Ser-Ser-Pro-Pro-Ser (PSSPPS) were identified. Next, in silico screening demonstrated that QYVPF and GYHGH had both angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition activity (IC50: 243.36 and 321.94 µmol/L, respectively) and Zinc-chelating ability (14.85 and 0.32 mg/g, respectively). The inhibition kinetics demonstrated that QYVPF and GYHGH were both uncompetitive inhibitors of ACE. Molecular docking showed that QYVPF and GYHGH could bind, respectively, three and five active residues of ACE with short hydrogen bonds (but not belonging to any central pocket). QYVPF and GYHGH could bind, respectively, twenty-two and eleven residues through hydrophobic interactions. Moreover, GYHGH was able to affect zinc tetrahedral coordination in ACE by interacting with His383. The inhibition activities of QYVPF and GYHGH toward ACE were relatively resistant to gastrointestinal digestion. GYHGH improved zinc solubility in the intestines (p > 0.05) because its amino and carboxyl groups were chelating sites for zinc ions. These results suggest the potential applications of naked oat peptides for potential antihypertension or zinc fortification.

Evaluation of mercury speciation and removal through air pollution control devices of a 190 MW boiler.

Air pollution control devices (APCDs) are installed at coal-fired power plants for air pollutant regulation. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems have the co-benefits of air pollutant and mercury removal. Configuration and operational conditions of APCDs and mercury speciation affect mercury removal efficiently at coal-fired utilities. The Ontario Hydro Method (OHM) recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was used to determine mercury speciation simultaneously at five sampling locations through SCR-ESP-FGD at a 190 MW unit. Chlorine in coal had been suggested as a factor affecting the mercury speciation in flue gas; and low-chlorine coal was purported to produce less oxidized mercury (Hg2+) and more elemental mercury (Hg0) at the SCR inlet compared to higher chlorine coal. SCR could oxidize elemental mercury into oxidized mercury when SCR was in service, and oxidation efficiency reached 71.0%. Therefore, oxidized mercury removal efficiency was enhanced through a wet FGD system. In the non-ozone season, about 89.5%-96.8% of oxidized mercury was controlled, but only 54.9%-68.8% of the total mercury was captured through wet FGD. Oxidized mercury removal efficiency was 95.9%-98.0%, and there was a big difference in the total mercury removal efficiencies from 78.0% to 90.2% in the ozone season. Mercury mass balance was evaluated to validate reliability of OHM testing data, and the ratio of mercury input in the coal to mercury output at the stack was from 0.84 to 1.08.

Remarkably enhanced performance of the metathesis reaction of ethylene and 1-butene to propene using one-step prepared W-MCM-41 catalysts.

Highly dispersed tungsten species with an isolated tetrahedral WO x species structure are substantially beneficial for the metathesis reaction of ethylene and 1-butene to propene. The conventional impregnation method always leads to the formation of inactive crystalline WO3 thereby notably decreasing the amount of active sites. In this study, we synthesized a highly dispersed W-MCM-41 catalyst using the one-step precipitation method with a Si/W ratio of 30. The prepared catalyst showed excellent catalytic performance with a 1-butene conversion of 92.7% and a propene selectivity of 80.8%. In contrast, the impregnated catalyst with the same W loading as the one-step precipitation method resulted in a much lower 1-butene conversion of 76.5% and propene selectivity of 34.1%. Various characterization techniques including XRD, XPS, ICP-OES, UV-vis DRS, TEM, and Raman spectroscopy were applied to confirm that the one-step precipitation method can efficiently prepare well-dispersed W-MCM-41 catalysts with the desired structure in spite of the fact that the ideal dispersive structure was strongly dependent of the Si/W ratio and stirring time of the reaction mixture of tungstic acid and TEOS. In addition, the introduction of an upstream catalyst onto the W-MCM-41 catalyst could not obviously improve the 1-butene conversion and propene selectivity, which might be due to fast 1-butene isomerization easily occurring on the abundant Si-OH of the W-MCM-41 catalyst. This work provides new insights for the design of metathesis catalysts and reaction processes to efficiently convert ethylene and 1-butene into propene.

Efficient removal of atrazine by iron-modified biochar loaded Acinetobacter lwoffii DNS32.

In order to efficiently remove commonly used herbicide atrazine in farmland, an iron-modified biochar (FeMBC) was fabricated via chemical co-precipitation of Fe3+ onto corn stalks biochar. The composites of FeMBC and Acinetobacter lwoffii DNS32 (bFeMBC) effectively accelerated the degradation rate of atrazine (100 mg L-1) in inorganic salt culture solution. TEM，XRD，XPS and FTIR were used to study the basic properties of the Materials. FeMBC promoted the formation of bacterial biofilm, -NH functional group on the surface of bacterial extracellular polymers (EPS) and FeMBC could interact with the aromatic ring of atrazine through Hbonding, which were conducive for microbial capture of atrazine. Meanwhile, the pores (2-10 µm) of FeMBC facilitated the passage of the DNS32 strain and the atrazine molecule, which contributed to the efficient capture and degradation of atrazine by DNS32 strain. BFeMBC amendment helped to maintain the bacterial diversity in the atrazine contaminated soil. The increase of rare bacteria (relative abundance of 0.01%-0.05%) richness plays a certain role in stabilizing nutrient cycling, thereby promoting microbial nutrient utilization activities and has the function of pollutant degradation. This may contribute to the digestion of atrazine and its intermediate metabolites，reducing the stress of microbial in atrazine contaminated soil. bFeMBC amendment may be a promising in situ remediation technique for soil atrazine contamination.

The clinical feasibility and performance of an orthogonal X-ray imaging system for image-guided radiotherapy in nasopharyngeal cancer patients: Comparison with cone-beam CT.

The demand for greater accuracy of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) has driven the development of more advanced verification systems for image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT). The purpose of this study is to investigate setup discrepancies measured between an orthogonal X-ray guidance system (XGS-10) and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) of Varian in the IMRT of patients with nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). The setup errors measured by XGS-10 and CBCT at the treatment unit with respect to the planning CTs were recorded for 30 patients with NPC. The differences in residual setup errors between XGS-10 system and CBCT were computed and quantitatively analyzed. The time of image acquisition and image registration was recorded. The radiation doses delivered by CBCT and XGS-10 were measured using PTW0.6CC ionization chambers and a water phantom. The differences between setup errors measured by the XGS-10 system and CBCT were generally <1.5 mm for translations, indicating a reasonably good agreement between the two systems for patients with NPC in the translation directions of A-P (P = 0.856), L-R (P = 0.856) and S-I (P = 0.765). Moreover, compared with CBCT, XGS-10 took much shorter image acquisition and registration time (P <0.001) and delivered only a small fraction of extra radiation dose to the patients (P <0.001). These results indicate that XGS-10 offers high localization accuracy similar to CBCT and additional benefits including prompt imaging process, low imaging radiation exposure, real time monitoring, which therefore represents a potential attractive alternative to CBCT for clinical use.

[Study on the occurrence of ferrum in coal by ultrasound-assisted sequential chemical extraction].

To reveal the occurrence of Ferrum in coal, seven coal samples were selected according to the different contents of ferric oxide in the coal ash, and the content of Ferric element was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) using nitric acid-perchloric acid-hydrofluoric acid wet digestion. Modes of occurrence of ferrium in the seven coal samples were studied by AAS using ultrasound-assisted sequential chemical extraction experiment (SCEE). Ultrasound promoted the contact of the extraction reagent with the coal particles and enhanced the dissolution process by producing characteristic acoustic cavitations, which greatly shortened the experimental time. The total amount of ferrium obtained by sequential extraction was approximate to the result of wet digestion, which indicated the procedure of SCEE was reasonable. The results showed that the ferric element mainly occurred in forms of carbonate state, Fe-Mn oxides state, sulfide state, sialic state and organic bound Fe in these coal samples. Among the various forms of these occurrences, the content of carbonate was the least, below 3.1%, while the content of sulfide was the dominant occurrence, ranging from 40% to 81.5%.