Beyond “Big Eaters”: The Versatile Role of Alveolar Macrophages in Health and Disease

Macrophages act as immune scavengers and are important cell types in the homeostasis of various tissues. Given the multiple roles of macrophages, these cells can also be found as tissue resident macrophages tightly integrated into a variety of tissues in which they fulfill crucial and organ-specific functions. The lung harbors at least two macrophage populations: interstitial and alveolar macrophages, which occupy different niches and functions. In this review, we provide the latest insights into the multiple roles of alveolar macrophages while unraveling the distinct factors which can influence the ontogeny and function of these cells. Furthermore, we will highlight pulmonary diseases, which are associated with dysfunctional macrophages, concentrating on congenital diseases as well as pulmonary infections and impairment of immunological pathways. Moreover, we will provide an overview about different treatment approaches targeting macrophage dysfunction. Improved knowledge of the role of macrophages in the onset of pulmonary diseases may provide the basis for new pharmacological and/or cell-based immunotherapies and will extend our understanding to other macrophage-related disorders.     

The Modification of Chrome Tanned Leather by Polyethylene Glycol-Linked Gemini Fatty Alcohol Phosphate

A series of polyethylene glycol-linked Gemini fatty alcohol phosphate surfactants (GFAP) were prepared with long chain n-alkanol (C = 8, 12, 16, 18), polyethylene glycol (PEG-200, PEG-400, PEG-600, PEG-800, PEG-1000) and phosphorus oxychloride (POCl₃). The structure of the prepared surfactants was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR). The surfactants were employed for the modification of chrome-tanned leather. The morphological changes of chrome-tanned leather and modified chrome-tanned leather were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The relationship between the alkyl chain length and molecular weight of the PEG and the hydrophobicity, softness, mechanical strength of modified chrome-tanned leather was also discussed. The experimental results showed that the mechanical strength and softness of modified chrome-tanned leather were enhanced with an increase of alkyl chain length, while the hydrophobicity, mechanical strength and softness were decreased with an increase of molecular weight of the PEG. The hydrophobicity, mechanical strength and softness of modified chrome-tanned leather were optimized for an alkyl chain length of 16. Therefore, 16–200 Gemini phosphate surfactants with an alkyl chain length of 16 and a PEG molecular weight of 200 have a good comprehensive modification effect on Chrome-tanned leather, the tensile strength, tear strength and softness of modified chrome-tanned leather are 57.07 N mm⁻², 79.49 N mm⁻¹, 9.73 mm, respectively.     

Impact of Divalent Ions on Heavy Oil Recovery by in situ Emulsification

Many reservoir formation brines are characterized by high salinity and contain high concentrations of divalent ions such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium. These challenging conditions can render the surfactants ineffective during chemical flooding for enhanced heavy oil recovery. Various brine types can have an impact on the stability of emulsions generated with chemicals as chemicals have various resistant levels toward hard divalent ions and salinities. To investigate the impact of brine hardness on heavy oil-in-water emulsion stability, glass tube experiments, microscopic visualization and sandpack flooding experiments, and Hele-Shaw visualization experiments were conducted in this study under low-salinity/hard-brine, high-salinity/hard-brine conditions using commercial chemicals, which are designed for specific reservoir brine conditions. Recovery results demonstrated that complex colloidal solution introduced in the previous study with silica and Dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) along with screened chemicals from glass tube tests in this study can enhance heavy oil recovery significantly with an addition of low concentration of xanthan gum (Lee and Babadagli 2018). The results confirmed the robustness of the complex colloidal solution formula to enhance oil recovery with low concentration of polymer under any reservoir brine conditions. The study also demonstrates the potential of polymer as an emulsion stabilization additive for enhanced heavy oil recovery by in situ emulsion generation. Polymer effects seemed to be particularly dominant under the low-salinity conditions than high-salinity conditions.     

时间效应在悬滴法测定表面张力中的影响

表面张力是流体重要的物理性质,测定表面张力的方法通常包括毛细管上升法、最大气泡压力法、拉环法、旋滴法和悬滴法等。目前,最普遍的表面张力的测定方法为国家标准推荐的平板法或拉环法。然而,悬滴法作为一项成熟的表面张力测定方法且具备静态表面张力及动态表面张力测定功能,目前使用该法测定的较少。文章使用悬滴法测定较低含量的表面活性剂溶液静态表面张力时发现结果与拉环法差异较大,而测定单组分液体及含量较大的表面活性剂溶液,悬滴法与拉环法的测定数据差异较小,这种情况的相关报道较少。另外,使用动态表面张力测定探索了静态测定时出现差异的原因,并对应用悬滴法进行表面张力测定的适用范围进行了总结。使用悬滴法测定表面张力时,应注意时间效应的影响。     

Collection efficiency of liquid‐based samplers for fungi in indoor air

This study assessed the collection efficiency (CE) of two popularly used sampling devices (BioSampler and Coriolis sampler) for fungal aerosols. Phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) supplemented with or without surfactant (Tween‐20, Tween‐80, or Triton X‐100) and antifoam agent was prepared and used as collection liquids. The agar impactor (BioStage) was simultaneously operated with liquid‐based samplers to collect fungi from seven sites located at a university building, public library, and animal farming. Fungal concentrations determined by liquid samplers were divided by those by BioStage, and the ratio values represented CE. Results indicate that the CE of BioSampler was superior to that of Coriolis (P = 0.0001) and the PBS containing surfactant collected fungi better than that without surfactant (P < 0.0001), whereas antifoam agent showed no influence (P = 0.8). Moreover, fungal concentrations determined by BioSampler with surfactant‐added PBS were statistically indifferent from those by BioStage (P > 0.05) with a Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.81‐0.83 (P < 0.01). In addition to sampler and collection liquid, sampling location was also identified as a significant CE factor (P = 0.006), implying potential influences by fungal genera in the studied fields. Overall, BioSampler with surfactant‐supplemented PBS (eg, Triton X‐100) is recommended considering the great CE and compatibility with a variety of analytical assays.     

离子液体催化合成双烷基二苯醚

以盐酸三乙胺/三氯化铝(Et_3NHCl-AlCl_3)离子液体为催化剂,二苯醚和1-十二烯烃为原料合成了双烷基二苯醚。通过正交试验,得到烷基化反应的较优工艺条件为:n(二苯醚):n(1-十二烯烃)=1:3,二苯醚用量0.3 mol,催化剂用量0.045 mol,反应温度70℃,反应时间1 h。在此条件下,烷基化转化率为98.1%,双烷基二苯醚选择性为33.7%。改变离子液体的阳离子和阴离子部分结构,研究了催化剂结构对其催化性能的影响。结果表明,该类催化剂的催化活性主要由阴离子部分的结构决定,较优的阴阳离子组合为Et_3NHCl-AlCl_3。     

贝壳源纳米乳酸钙的制备与表征

该文以废弃贻贝壳为原料制取食品级的纳米乳酸钙,将贝壳预处理后与乳酸中和反应生成乳酸钙,在重结晶过程中采用高速剪切结合微量表面活性剂的新方法,控制晶体粒径实现纳米化的同时保持分散性,最终纯化干燥可制得纳米乳酸钙。通过单因素和响应面试验,结合表征分析研究并优化整个过程的工艺条件。结果表明,当剪切速度7500 r/min、剪切时长240 s、表面活性剂吐温80最终反应浓度20μL/L时,可制成一种平均粒径为95.1 nm、纯度为99.5%,符合食品级添加剂国标要求的纳米乳酸钙。相较于现有方法,该生产工艺具有成本低、环境友好、产品质量安全可靠等优势。该文研究结果有望为废弃贝壳的综合利用提供一种新的有效途径。     

培养条件及表面活性剂的添加对纳豆芽孢杆菌生物膜形成的影响

采用改良的微孔板法培养纳豆芽孢杆菌(Bacillus subtilis natto),通过结晶紫染色定量分析产生的生物膜。结果表明:培养条件为pH 7、温度37℃、培养72 h且在5 g/100 mL葡萄糖-5 g/100 mL NaCl条件下成膜能力最佳。柠檬酸二铵和聚乙二醇-200(polyethylene glycol-200,PEG-200)随着质量浓度的增加对生物膜的形成量呈现先下降后上升的趋势,十二烷基磺酸钠(sodium dodecyl sulfate,SDS)抑制生物膜的形成,十六烷基三甲基溴化铵(cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide,CTAB)促进生物膜的形成。所以低温抑制生物膜的形成,一定浓度的NaCl和葡萄糖促进生物膜形成,不同的表面活性剂对其生物膜的影响机制不同,为纳豆芽孢杆菌生物膜的研究提供理论基础。