Babesia Bovis Ligand-Receptor Interaction: AMA-1 Contains Small Regions Governing Bovine Erythrocyte Binding

Apical membrane antigen 1 is a microneme protein which plays an indispensable role during Apicomplexa parasite invasion. The detailed mechanism of AMA-1 molecular interaction with its receptor on bovine erythrocytes has not been completely defined in Babesia bovis. This study was focused on identifying the minimum B. bovis AMA-1-derived regions governing specific and high-affinity binding to its target cells. Different approaches were used for detecting ama-1 locus genetic variability and natural selection signatures. The binding properties of twelve highly conserved 20-residue-long peptides were evaluated using a sensitive and specific binding assay based on radio-iodination. B. bovis AMA-1 ectodomain structure was modelled and refined using molecular modelling software. NetMHCIIpan software was used for calculating B- and T-cell epitopes. The B. bovis ama-1 gene had regions under functional constraint, having the highest negative selective pressure intensity in the Domain I encoding region. Interestingly, B. bovis AMA-1-DI (¹⁰⁰YMQKFDIPRNHGSGIYVDLG¹¹⁹ and ¹²⁰GYESVGSKSYRMPVGKCPVV¹³⁹) and DII (³⁰²CPMHPVRDAIFGKWSGGSCV³²¹)-derived peptides had high specificity interaction with erythrocytes and bound to a chymotrypsin and neuraminidase-treatment sensitive receptor. DI-derived peptides appear to be exposed on the protein’s surface and contain predicted B- and T-cell epitopes. These findings provide data (for the first-time) concerning B. bovis AMA-1 functional subunits which are important for establishing receptor-ligand interactions which could be used in synthetic vaccine development.     

Display illumination with modulated directional backlight

Illumination is essential for modern life as colorful world is perceived by human visionary system. Display technology has been developing rapidly in recent decades, and the basic principle is related to the way that the image is illuminated and light is emanated. Traditional illumination is provided by different types of light sources, and the display image is visible in large viewing space until the emanating light decays to zero. This work proposes and demonstrates a novel illumination scheme for a display in which the displaying images are visible only in specific spatial regions. The directional backlight ensures the image propagating to specific direction while imaging visibility can be controlled to terminate abruptly at certain distance from the display screen while exerting no influence to nearby regions. The working principle for such an illumination scheme is the use of the modulated coherent directional backlight through an axicon lens. It is shown that the illumination scheme can robustly deliver carried image information to the designated viewing region. This new illumination scheme has many advantages over conventional illumination, including its usage for personal display, very lower energy consumption, as well as minimizing light hazard pollution.     

Solution plasma-assisted preparation of highly dispersed NiMnAl-LDO catalyst to enhance low-temperature activity of CO2 methanation

In this work, the solution plasma-assisted method was used to prepare NiMnAl-LDO (layered double oxides) catalysts with different treatment times, which were used for the CO₂ methanation reaction. Solution plasma treatment can enhance the dispersibility of the catalyst, create oxygen defects and improve the chemical adsorption capacity of the catalyst. The results show that the low-temperature activity of the catalyst has been improved after the solution plasma treatment. We demonstrate that the NiMnAl-LDO-P(20) catalyst with high dispersion has the highest catalytic activity in CO₂ methanation (81.3% CO₂ conversion and 96.7% CH₄ selectivity at 200 °C). Even though working for 70 h, the catalyst is still highly stable. This work provides a great promise for improving the low-temperature activity of Ni-based catalysts.     

南水北调中线总干渠藻类的生态调度

南水北调中线总干渠无在线调蓄水库,对藻类生态调度过程中出现的问题开展生态调度实现策略和实施方式研究。主要实现策略包括:划定自身的调蓄区,隔离生态调度对下游的影响;采用高效的渠池运行方式,减少生态调度时蓄量的反复调整;综合考虑安全、快速、平稳等需求,设定生态调度实施进程和方式。具体实施方式包括:将总干渠划分为流速调控区、调蓄区和正常运行区,分别实施等体积、控制蓄量和闸前常水位方式运行;将生态调度过程划分为充水阶段和泄水阶段,基于流速调控目标值、持续时长和水位降幅约束条件,确定各阶段时长和各分区的闸门群调控方案等。基于2018年3月输水工况,采用明渠一维非恒定流模型,仿真总干渠上游15个渠池的藻类生态调度过程。结果表明,生态调度可在3.5 d内完成,各渠池的平均流速由0.48 m/s增至0.93 m/s,持续时间超过2 h。在整个生态调度过程中,水位变化平稳,水位变幅符合安全阈值要求,下游渠道的正常运行未受生态调度明显影响。     

Mixing characteristics for the single and air-water two-phase flows in miniaturized parallel multichannel-based devices

Investigation on the miniaturized parallel multichannel-based devices packed with glass beads to improve the mass exchange execution is the critical focal point of the current study. One of the essential parameters to specify the miniaturized devices' flow distribution is the residence time distribution (RTD). In the present context, the RTDs of a liquid tracer were investigated for the air-water multiphase flows (concurrent) across the multichannel-based miniaturized devices (comprising of 11 similar dimensional parallel channels). The devices were variable in height and packed with glass beads. The conductivity estimations generated the RTD curves and were addressed by the axial dispersion model (ADM). The fluid-flow rates differed within the range of 5–23 ml min⁻¹. The axial dispersion coefficients and the rate of the specific energy dispersion were investigated. The effects of pressure difference and geometry on the hydrodynamic attributes and mixing properties were well-illustrated, and the new correlations were suggested.     

H_2S制硫酸装置外部安全防护距离设计

以某酸性气制硫酸装置酸性气缓冲罐为例,进行外部安全防护距离设计,结合当地多种气象,使用PHAST软件和LEAK软件进行H_2S气体扩散和爆炸计算,扩散结果应用于周边人员集中场所的防毒设计以及企业的应急救援,H_2S爆炸计算结果应用于周边人员集中场所建构筑物的抗爆设计,并和《石油化工工厂布置设计规范》(GB 50984-2014)中的建议值进行比对。     

亲水作用色谱-串联质谱法测定动物源运动食品中3种氨基糖苷类抗生素的残留量

该研究建立了一种亲水交互作用色谱-串联质谱（HILIC-MS/MS）法测定动物源运动食品中潮霉素B、新霉素、安普霉素3种氨基糖苷类抗生素残留量的方法。结果表明，样品经Sielc Obelisc R柱分离，采用0.1%甲酸水溶液-乙腈梯度洗脱，可以实现3种目标物组分的分离。在此条件下，3种氨基糖苷类抗生素在5～500 ng/mL的质量浓度范围内线性关系良好，相关系数R2为0.999 5～0.999 9，检出限均为15 μg/kg，定量限均为50 μg/kg，保留时间的日间和日内相对标准偏差（RSD）分别为3.5%～7.9%和3.5%～4.1%，峰面积的日间和日内RSD分别为3.6%～7.4%和3.2%～3.9%，加标回收率为85.7%～93.6%，回收率试验结果的RSD为3.1%～5.2%。该方法可以满足动物源运动食品中3种氨基糖苷类抗生素的检测需求。     

Time and space dependence of large-scale synthesis of colloidal particle with special morphology and tuneable polymer film architecture

This paper describes a facile method to control the morphology of polymer colloids and the architecture of polymer film via miniemulsion polymerization. By taking advantage of cyclization between the symmetrical diacrylate cross-linker hexamethylene diacrylate (HDDA) and the pendent vinyl in colloidal particles, the morphology of polymer colloids and the architecture of the after-formed polymer film were able to be well controlled by tuning the loading of cross-linker HDDA and crosslinking time. Four kinds of polymer colloid morphologies and four kinds of film architecture (honeycomb, close-packed, loose-packed, and enhanced-honeycomb) were characterized by TEM. The film formation mechanisms behind them were proposed based on the special and interesting results including Z-average size of the colloidal particles, Mc (molecular weight between crosslinking points) and mechanical properties of polymer film. Our results highly suggested that the morphology of polymer colloids and the polymer film architecture together determine the adhesive properties of the colloidal polymer film. The best of 180°-peel resistance, T-peel resistance and shear resistance of the polymer films were 138.12 N/25 mm, 40.98 N/25 mm and 25.72 N/cm² at 2.0 phm, 2.0 phm and 0.4 phm with the same crosslinking time of 90 min, respectively. The proposed method is promising to be scaled up for industrial production due to its well adaptability.