Impact of an Engineered Copper-Titanium Dioxide Nanocomposite and Parent Substrates on the Bacteria Viability,Antioxidant Enzymes and Fatty Acid Profiling

Due to the systematic increase in the production of nanomaterials (NMs) and their applications in many areas of life, issues associated with their toxicity are inevitable. In particular, the performance of heterogeneous NMs, such as nanocomposites (NCs), is unpredictable as they may inherit the properties of their individual components. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to assess the biological activity of newly synthesized Cu/TiO₂-NC and the parent nanoparticle substrates Cu-NPs and TiO₂-NPs on the bacterial viability, antioxidant potential and fatty acid composition of the reference Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis strains. Based on the toxicological parameters, it was found that B. subtilis was more sensitive to NMs than E. coli. Furthermore, Cu/TiO₂-NC and Cu-NPs had an opposite effect on both strains, while TiO₂-NPs had a comparable mode of action. Simultaneously, the tested strains exhibited varied responses of the antioxidant enzymes after exposure to the NMs, with Cu-NPs having the strongest impact on their activity. The most considerable alternations in the fatty acid profiles were found after the bacteria were exposed to Cu/TiO₂-NC and Cu-NPs. Microscopic images indicated distinct interactions of the NMs with the bacterial outer layers, especially in regard to B. subtilis. Cu/TiO₂-NC generally proved to have less distinctive antimicrobial properties on B. subtilis than E. coli compared to its parent components. Presumably, the biocidal effects of the tested NMs can be attributed to the induction of oxidative stress, the release of metal ions and specific electrochemical interactions with the bacterial cells.     

基于3D打印技术复制砂浆节理的剪切试验及峰值抗剪强度模型

为进一步研究节理三维形貌特征与节理峰值抗剪强度的关系,首先采用巴西劈裂试验获取了自然劈裂岩石表面,通过三维扫描技术获取了节理面形态的高精度点云,通过逆向建模得到了自然岩石表面的立体模型,结合3D打印技术制作出了与自然岩石表面一致的PLA模具,以3D打印获得的底模通过水泥砂浆浇筑了含有自然结构面形貌的相似节理面试样。PLA模具与复制材料差异较大,复制材料在凝结过程中不易与PLA模具黏结,进而使脱模过程较为方便,不会破坏节理面。同时PLA模具可重复进行相似材料复制工作,具有可重复使用的优点。然后进行了具有5组形貌面的20个水泥砂浆节理面在4种不同法向荷载情况下的结构面剪切试验,得到了结构面剪切位移-荷载曲线。研究了结构面峰值抗剪强度、峰值位移、剪切刚度影响因素。节理经过剪切后形貌面出现不同程度的磨损,其磨损范围与等效高差分布范围基本一致,并且在等效高差为剪断破坏模式且成片的区域磨损较为严重。在新粗糙度指标基础上提出了新的峰值抗剪强度模型,经试验对比显示出新模型的有效性。在新模型基础上提出了一个简化模型。对比发现新模型简化后其计算精度较新模型有所降低但由于所需参数减小计算较为方便,新模型简化结果精度虽然有所下降但是还是比Barton公式精度高。     

饱和尾粉砂动孔隙水压力发展特性试验研究

采用动三轴仪对内蒙古某尾矿库尾粉砂进行了动强度试验,研究了围压、相对密实度及固结比对动荷载作用下尾粉砂中孔隙水压力发展特性的影响。研究结果表明,随着固结比、相对密实度、围压的增大,动荷载作用下饱和尾粉砂孔压增长曲线形状由陡峭转变为平缓。随着围压及固结比增大,试样动力破坏形式从以孔压值为主要表征指标的液化破坏,转化为以动剪应变为主要破坏形式的软化破坏。动荷载作用下发生液化破坏的饱和尾粉砂孔压增长过程分可为初始增长阶段、稳定增长阶段和快速增长至破坏阶段,孔压增长曲线表现为明显的反S型,本文采用双对数函数对该试验孔压增长曲线进行拟合,结果表明该模型可以较好地模拟尾粉砂在动荷载作用下的孔压发展规律。     

Assessment of the effectiveness of steel fibre reinforcement for the punching resistance of flat slabs by experimental research and design approach

The present paper deals with the experimental assessment of the effectiveness of steel fibre reinforcement in terms of punching resistance of centrically loaded flat slabs, and to the development of an analytical model capable of predicting the punching behaviour of this type of structures. For this purpose, eight slabs of 2550 × 2550 × 150 mm³ dimensions were tested up to failure, by investigating the influence of the content of steel fibres (0, 60, 75 and 90 kg/m³) and concrete strength class (50 and 70 MPa). Two reference slabs without fibre reinforcement, one for each concrete strength class, and one slab for each fibre content and each strength class compose the experimental program. All slabs were flexurally reinforced with a grid of ribbed steel bars in a percentage to assure punching failure mode for the reference slabs. Hooked ends steel fibres provided the unique shear reinforcement. The results have revealed that steel fibres are very effective in converting brittle punching failure into ductile flexural failure, by increasing both the ultimate load and deflection, as long as adequate fibre reinforcement is assured. An analytical model was developed based on the most recent concepts proposed by the fib Mode Code 2010 for predicting the punching resistance of flat slabs and for the characterization of the behaviour of fibre reinforced concrete. The most refined version of this model was capable of predicting the punching resistance of the tested slabs with excellent accuracy and coefficient of variation of about 5%.     

Quantifying the limits of CAR T-cell delivery in mice and men

CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptor) T cells have demonstrated clinical success for the treatment of multiple lymphomas and leukaemias, but not for various solid tumours, despite promising data from murine models. Lower effective CAR T-cell delivery rates to human solid tumours compared to haematological malignancies in humans and solid tumours in mice might partially explain these divergent outcomes. We used anatomical and physiological data for human and rodent circulatory systems to calculate the typical perfusion of healthy and tumour tissues, and estimated the upper limits of immune cell delivery rates across different organs, tumour types and species. Estimated maximum delivery rates were up to 10 000-fold greater in mice than humans yet reported CAR T-cell doses are typically only 10–100-fold lower in mice, suggesting that the effective delivery rates of CAR T cells into tumours in clinical trials are far lower than in corresponding mouse models. Estimated delivery rates were found to be consistent with published positron emission tomography data. Results suggest that higher effective human doses may be needed to drive efficacy comparable to mouse solid tumour models, and that lower doses should be tested in mice. We posit that quantitation of species and organ-specific delivery and homing of engineered T cells will be key to unlocking their potential for solid tumours.     

不同有机物对硝酸盐氮测试的影响

研究了红糖、葡萄糖、乙酸钠、甲醇、乙醇、乙酸、丙酸、丁酸、正戊酸、混合有机溶剂等10种不同有机物对麝香草酚光谱法和离子色谱法测试硝酸盐氮的影响。结果表明,溶液中含有红糖或葡萄糖时,均会对麝香草酚法测试硝酸盐氮造成影响,使得测试结果偏大;在无硝酸根离子存在时,红糖和葡萄糖的质量浓度与硝酸盐氮的测试浓度非线性相关;而乙酸钠、甲醇、乙醇、乙酸、丙酸、丁酸、正戊酸和混合有机溶剂则对麝香草酚法测试硝酸盐氮没有影响。实验发现,红糖和葡萄糖在浓硫酸的作用下与麝香草酚发生Molisch反应,形成有色复合物和红棕色不溶性沉淀。实验采用离子色谱法测试硝酸盐氮时,红糖和葡萄糖等糖类有机物对测试结果均无影响。     

膨胀剂对约束条件下UHPC早期抗裂性能影响的试验研究

超高性能混凝土(UHPC)在钢桥面铺装结构中由于铺装材料受到钢板、栓钉等的约束,加上材料本身水胶比小,更易收缩,早期容易承受拉应力导致开裂。通过在拌和过程中添加膨胀剂可以起到减小收缩的作用,但该方法对于约束条件下的UHPC铺装的早期抗裂性能提升是否有促进作用,仍需通过更多试验进行合理评估和深入研究。通过圆环法对3组不同配方的UHPC在均匀约束条件下的早期抗裂性能进行定量测试,并将试验数据进行回归分析和计算,得到了各组的平均应力发展速率,进而评估了各组的开裂风险等级。试验结果表明,通过在UHPC中加入适量膨胀剂,可使其最终收缩应力减小,并可降低其收缩应力发展速率,进一步降低其在约束条件下的开裂风险。