Effect of charge trapping species of cupric ions on the photocatalytic oxidation of resorcinol

The photocatalytic oxidation of resorcinol, a potent endocrine disrupting chemical, in oxygenated aqueous suspensions of pure and cupric ions modified Degussa P25 titanium dioxide has been investigated at pH 3.0 ± 0.5. The initial rate of photocatalytic oxidation of resorcinol increased until an optimum dissolved cupric ions concentration was reached at 1.04 mM. At the optimum concentration of cupric ions, the initial rate of photocatalytic mineralisation and degradation of resorcinol was improved by 400%. The observed beneficial effect of cupric ions on the initial rate of resorcinol oxidation could be attributed to the formation of complex and its participation in the photoredox cyclic reaction.Two of the initial oxidation intermediates detected were 1,2,3-trihydroxybenzene and 1,2,4-trihydroxybenzene. These intermediates were formed via hydroxylation of the aromatic ring of resorcinol. Evidences have revealed that 1,2,4-trihydroxybenzene interacted strongly with cupric ions forming copper(II)-trihydroxybenzoate complexes that possessed good adsorption onto TiO₂ surface. These dual-effects help to draw the metal ions closer to the photocatalyst surface and subsequently trigger the electron trapping mechanism by cupric ions. As a result, this improved the charge carriers’ separation. Furthermore, in the presence of oxygen, reoxidation of photoreduced cupric ions occurred and this eliminated the possibility of copper photodeposition, while inducing a photoredox cyclic reaction to regenerate copper species that may potentially act as co-catalyst for the oxidation of 1,2,4-trihydroxybenzene. In contrast, no obvious complex formation was seen between 1,2,3-trihydroxybenzene and cupric ions. This pointed to an intriguing finding which indicates that the positioning of functional group on benzene ring influences the role of cupric ions.     

Facial synthesis of dandelion-like g-C3N4/Ag with high performance of photocatalytic hydrogen production

Nowadays, energy shortage is one of the major problems in the world. Photocatalytic hydrogen production is a new type of energy technology with good application prospect. As a new type of photocatalytic semiconductor material, g-C₃N₄ has attracted much attention as a photocatalyst. By ultrasonic treatment of a mixed solution of g-C₃N₄ and bovine serum albumin, followed by adding a certain amount of silver nitrate solution and then directly hydrothermal treatment, a special dandelion-like g-C₃N₄/Ag (D-g-C₃N₄/Ag) was prepared. The scanning electronic microscopy, transmission electronic microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, fluorescence and physicochemical adsorption methods were used to characterize the morphology and structure of D-g-C₃N₄/Ag. In addition, the photocatalytic H₂ production of D-g-C₃N₄/Ag with different Ag loadings or in different sacrificial agents and different pH conditions were investigated. The results indicated that when triethanolamine was used as sacrificial agent, photocatalytic hydrogen efficiency was the best, and the rate of photocatalytic hydrogen production reached 862 μmol g⁻¹ h^{− 1} as the Ag loading was 4%.     

Chinese red pepper (Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim.) leaf extract as natural antioxidants in salted silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) in dorsal and ventral muscles during processing

Chinese red pepper (Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim.) leaf (ZML) extract contains high amounts of phenolic compounds possessing high total antioxidant capacity and hydroxyl, 1, 1-dipheny-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity. ZML extract was investigated as a natural antioxidant for the lipid stability of salted silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) throughout salting and drying. Both dorsal and ventral muscles were examined for differences in moisture content, salt content, total lipid content, and degree of lipid oxidation. The hexanal content, Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value, and lipoxygenase (LOX) activity in the ventral muscle were significantly higher than those of the dorsal muscle (p < 0.05). In the treatments with ZML extract, the hexanal content, the TBARS value, and the LOX activity were significantly lower (p < 0.05) during processing both in the dorsal and ventral muscles. The sensory qualities of processed salted fish could be improved with the amount of 0.030% extract in the dorsal muscle and 0.045% extract in the ventral muscle. These results showed that ZML extract can be a source of natural antioxidants and used as a food additive.     

超高效液相色谱-串联质谱法测定食用植物油中典型链格孢霉毒素

建立超高效液相色谱-串联质谱法测定食用植物油中典型链格孢霉毒素残留。正交试验确定最优提取条件为4 mL甲醇-乙腈溶液（1∶1,V/V）涡旋萃取10 s。选取Waters BEH C18(100 mm×2.1 mm,1.7μm)色谱柱,乙腈和1 mmol/L碳酸铵溶液为流动相,梯度洗脱,采用电喷雾离子源负离子多反应监测模式测定。细交链格孢菌酮酸在0.02～0.2 mg/L质量浓度范围内线性关系良好,链格孢酚、交链孢烯、腾毒素、交链格孢酚单甲醚4种毒素在0.002～0.2 mg/L质量浓度范围内线性关系良好,R2≥0.998。验证了5种毒素在葵花籽油和大豆油基质下方法准确性和精密度,在0.002～0.2 mg/kg添加量下,5种毒素的平均回收率为98%～118%,相对标准偏差为2.9%～17.4%,定量限为0.002～0.02 mg/kg。该方法能够满足食用植物油中典型链格孢霉毒素分析要求。     

海参铅同位素测定及产地溯源研究

目的 基于铅同位素实现对海参的产地溯源。方法 海参样品经冷冻干燥、粉碎、微波消解后,利用电感耦合等离子体-质谱法(inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry,ICP-MS)对海参铅同位素进行测定,对数据进行差异性分析,结合主成分分析和判别分析建立锦州、烟台、霞浦3个产区底播海参的判别模型。结果 调整样品消解液中总铅含量在5～20μg/L,采用10μg/L的标准溶液进行交叉测量,可对质量歧视效应进行准确修正;²⁰⁴Pb/²⁰⁶Pb、²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb和²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb的日内精密度分别为0.02%、0.02%和0.01%,日间精密度分别为0.04%、0.02%和0.01%。用此方法对生物成分分析标准物质大虾和扇贝的铅同位素进行测定,²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb和²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb的相对标准偏差小于0.1%,^20...     

Atomistic analyses of the effect of temperature and morphology on mechanical strength of Si–C–N and Si–C–O nanocomposites

3-D molecular dynamics (MD) analyses of SiC–Si₃N₄ nanocomposite deformation and SiCO nanocomposite deformation are performed at 300 K, 900 K, and 1500 K. In SiC–Si₃N₄ nanocomposites, distribution of second phase SiC particles, volume fraction of atoms in GBs, and GB thickness play an important role in temperature dependent mechanical behavior. The deformation mechanism is a trade-off between the stress concentration caused by SiC particles and Si₃N₄–Si₃N₄ GB sliding. The temperature increase tends to work in favor of GB sliding leading to softening of structures. However, microstructural strength increases with increase in temperature when GBs are absent. In the case of SiCO nanocomposites, findings indicate that temperature change dependent amorphization of nanodomains, the nanodomain wall placement, the nanodomain wall thickness, and nanodomain size are important factors that directly affect the extent of crystallinity and the strength against mechanical deformation.     

Calculating the degree of degradation of the volatile solids in continuously operated bioreactors

Determining the degree of degradation is an important means of assessing the efficiency of biological processes. However, one should consider the fact that during degradation, the reference value, such as volume or the mass of total solids, is also subject to change. The assumption that the incoming and outgoing mass flows are identical is only possible for substrates with a high water content and hence, a low energy density. For substrates with a higher energy density, a correction by the gaseous mass flow is required, but usually its quantification is difficult, especially when examining full-scale plants or open systems. Based on the assumption that the mass of inorganic solids is constant during the process, a universally applicable equation has been developed, requiring only the input and output volatile solids concentrations for calculation.     

Experimental design for optimization of 4-nitrophenol reduction by green synthesized CeO2/g-C3N4/Ag catalyst using response surface methodology

In this study, the enhancement of catalytic activity of ceria when modified with co-catalysts such as graphitic carbon nitride and silver was established. The material was synthesized using phytogenic combustion method, a green alternative to the traditional preparative routes. The catalyst was characterized using XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDX, XPS and TEM techniques. The synergistic effect of the composite CeO₂/g-C₃N₄/Ag was tested for catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol in the presence of sodium borohydride. The reaction was carried out at room temperature without any light source or external stirring. The individual and combined effects of four parameters, viz., concentration of 4-NP, amount of catalyst, amount of NaBH₄ and time for the reduction of reduction 4-NP were investigated using Box-Behnken design of response surface methodology (RSM). This statistical model was used to optimize the reaction conditions for maximum reduction of 4-NP. The optimum conditions for the reduction reaction are found to be 0.01 mmol/L 4-NP, 15 mg catalyst, 20 mg NaBH₄ and 13.7 min time interval.     

Annotation of miRNAs in COVID-19 coronavirus

The COVID-19 coronavirus is a new strain of coronavirus that had not been previously detected in humans. As its severe pathogenicity is concerned, it is important to study it thoroughly to aid in the discovery of a cure. In this study, the microRNAs (miRNAs) of COVID-19 were annotated to provide a powerful tool for the study of this novel coronavirus. We obtained 16 novel coronavirus genome sequences and the mature sequences of all viruses in the microRNA database (miRbase), and then used the miRNA mature sequences of the virus to perform the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) analysis in the coronavirus genome, extending the matched regions of approximately 20 bp to two segments by 200 bp. Six sequences were obtained after deleting redundant sequences. Then, the hairpin structures of the mature miRNAs were determined using RNAfold. The mature sequence on one hairpin arm was selected into a total of 4 sequences, and finally the relevant miRNA precursor prediction tools were used to verify whether the selected sequences are miRNA precursor sequences of the novel coronavirus. The miRNAs of the novel coronavirus were annotated by our newly developed method, which will lay the foundation for further study of this virus.