Metabolic Profiling of VOCs Emitted by Bacteria Isolated from Pressure Ulcers and Treated with Different Concentrations of Bio-AgNPs

Considering the advent of antibiotic resistance, the study of bacterial metabolic behavior stimulated by novel antimicrobial agents becomes a relevant tool to elucidate involved adaptive pathways. Profiling of volatile metabolites was performed to monitor alterations of bacterial metabolism induced by biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (bio-AgNPs). Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis were isolated from pressure ulcers, and their cultures were prepared in the presence/absence of bio-AgNPs at 12.5, 25 and 50 µg mL⁻¹. Headspace solid phase microextraction associated to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was the employed analytical platform. At the lower concentration level, the agent promoted positive modulation of products of fermentation routes and bioactive volatiles, indicating an attempt of bacteria to adapt to an ongoing suppression of cellular respiration. Augmented response of aldehydes and other possible products of lipid oxidative cleavage was noticed for increasing levels of bio-AgNPs. The greatest concentration of agent caused a reduction of 44 to 80% in the variety of compounds found in the control samples. Pathway analysis indicated overall inhibition of amino acids and fatty acids routes. The present assessment may provide a deeper understanding of molecular mechanisms of bio-AgNPs and how the metabolic response of bacteria is untangled.     

Maskless Preparation of Spatially-Resolved Plasmonic Nanoparticles on Polydimethylsiloxane via In Situ Fluoride-Assisted Synthesis

Here, a fluoride-assisted route for the controlled in-situ synthesis of metal nanoparticles (NPs) (i.e., AgNPs, AuNPs) on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is reported. The size and coverage of the NPs on the PDMS surface are modulated with time and over space during the synthetic process, leveraging the improved yield (10×) and faster kinetics (100×) of NP formation in the presence of F⁻ ions, compared to fluoride-free approaches. This enables the maskless preparation of both linear and step gradients and patterns of NPs in 1D and 2D on the PDMS surface. As an application in flexible plasmonics/photonics, continuous and step-wise spatial modulations of the plasmonic features of PDMS slabs with 1D and 2D AgNP gradients on the surface are demonstrated. An excellent spatially resolved tuning of key optical parameters, namely, optical density from zero to 5 and extinction ratio up to 100 dB, is achieved with AgNP gradients prepared in AgF solution for 12 minutes; the performance are comparable to those of commercial dielectric/interference filters. When used as a rejection filter in optical fluorescence microscopy, the AgNP-PDMS slabs are able to reject the excitation laser at 405 nm and retain the green fluorescence of microbeads (100 µm) used as test cases.     

Autolysis and the endogenous proteinases characterised in beardless barb (Anematichthys apogon) muscle

Beardless barb is a common fish species used in fermentation of fish paste Ka-pi-plaa. Autolytic profile of beardless barb muscle showed the maximum autolysis was at 50 °C, at both acidic and alkaline pH values. With augmentation concentration of NaCl, autolytic activity slightly decreased. Endogenous proteinases isolated from fish muscle in crude extract forms were also characterised. The acidic proteinases had optimum activity at pH 3.0 and 50°C, and they showed higher proteolytic activity than the alkaline proteinases which were optimally active at pH 9.0 and 50 °C. Proteinases in peak at pH 3.0 were inhibited by pepstatin A, but those in peak at pH 9.0 were highly inhibited by PMSF, TLCK and soybean trypsin inhibitor, suggesting that both aspartic and serine proteinases were existed in beardless barb muscle. The proteinases were stable in pH range of 2.0-5.0 but unstable at the temperatures higher than 40 °C. NaCl suppressed the proteolytic activity, ATP activated the proteinase activity, while CaCl₂, MgCl₂ and CoCl₂ exhibited no influence on the activity. The results implied that cathepsin D is the predominant proteinase responsible for autolysis in beardless barb. The findings were useful to improve the processing and qualities of Ka-pi-plaa product using beardless barb as raw material.     

碘化多壁碳纳米管制备含有Ag/MWCNTs复合材料的银-环氧树脂浆料

提出一种将多壁碳纳米管碘化后制备银/多壁碳纳米管（Ag/MWCNTs）复合材料的方法。通过球磨对碘化多壁碳纳米管进行了功能化，并通过透射电子显微镜（TEM）、X射线衍射（XRD）、傅里叶变换红外光谱（FT-IR）、拉曼光谱和热重分析（TG）对其进行了表征。结果表明，经碘化处理后，银纳米粒子（Ag-NPs）能更好地粘附在碳纳米管表面，改善了银纳米粒子与碳纳米管之间的连接。羟基（-OH）基团的伸缩振动明显增强，激活了碳纳米管的表面，增加了碳纳米管表面Ag⁺形核的数量。在260 ℃以下，Ag/MWCNTs复合材料的质量损失小于MWCNTs的质量损失。最后，制备了银-环氧树脂浆料，发现使用Ag/MWCNTs复合物制备的浆料具有最低的电阻率和最高的热导率。     

TiO2上的CuAg纳米粒子用于高效乙醛光降解

光降解乙醛(CH3CHO)是一种新型高效的乙醛去除方法，通常采用TiO2作为光催化剂。然而TiO2对乙醛吸附能力较弱，对产物的选择性较低，电子-空穴对重组率较高，严重限制了对乙醛的降解性能。本研究通过在TiO2上负载CuAg纳米粒子(CuAg/TiO2)，成功构建了高效稳定的光催化降解乙醛催化剂，有效解决了TiO2的固有缺陷。在自然光照射下，CuAg/TiO2对乙醛的降解率高达42.49%。连续4轮全光谱光催化降解乙醛，CuAg/TiO2活性均保持在98.89%以上。进一步的机理研究表明，CuAg/TiO2中的CuAg纳米粒子在光照下产生热电子，随后热电子转移到TiO2和吸附在Ag位点上的氧中。CuAg/TiO2上生成的超氧自由基能有效地降解乙醛，从而在乙醛降解过程中表现出优异的性能。     

Synthesis of monodispersed silver particles: Synthetic techniques to control shapes,particle size distribution and lightness of silver particles

The purpose of this paper is to give process for preparing monodispersed silver particles with round shape having aspect ratio of 1, because the shape is suitable for preparing silver grids with fine pattern size. We found that the combination of gelatin and hydrazine gave the monodispersed silver particles with the aspect ratio of 1. Presence of the high molecular compounds is crucial probably because they are adsorbed on the surface of growing silver particles and control the uniform crystal growth. In addition, the relationship between these reaction conditions and the particle shape are discussed in detail.     

The Photomontage Activity of Postmodernism

For decades now, Douglas Crimp’s landmark 1980 essay ‘The Photographic Activity of Postmodernism’ has shaped our understanding of modernism’s aftermath, at least as it unfolded in North America and Western Europe. Less remembered, however, is the degree to which the procedures of disjunction, copying, appropriation, and outright theft that he highlighted were epitomised not just by contemporary photography, but by photomontage in particular. This article recovers the debates that led critics such as Crimp, Abigail Solomon-Godeau, Christopher Phillips, Benjamin Buchloh and others to turn to photomontage as one of their principal objects of concern in what became known as the postmodern critique of photography. Why was montage tasked to perform this critical function, particularly by people around the journal October who had not otherwise devoted the balance of their writing to photography’s history? The article suggests that these men and women, along with the contemporary artists they foregrounded, manifested what Mary Anne Doane has called a ‘desire for signification’, a reaction in the late 1970s against the mute theatricality of minimalist and conceptual art. Photomontage reintroduced representation to contemporary art and to the canon of art history. But unlike the reemerging illusionism in painting that also manifested this desire, montage guarded against an uncomplicated realism by highlighting and critiquing operations of representation in a manner that painting no longer could.     

高分辨连续光源原子吸收光谱法测定铀铌铅多金属矿中痕量银

铀铌铅多金属矿组成成分复杂,准确有效的测定其中的痕量银,有利于银的回收利用。采用HCl-HNO₃-HF-HClO₄处理铀铌铅多金属矿样品,以HCl(1+4)-2g/L酒石酸为测定介质,以λ_Ag=328.068nm为分析谱线,建立了高分辨连续光源原子吸收光谱法(HR-CS-AAS)测定铀铌铅多金属矿样品中痕量银的新方法。对仪器参数进行了优化,确定采用迭代基线校正(IBC)背景校正方式,CCD检测器有效像素点选择5个;由银的平均吸收光谱图和吸光度-波长-时间三维吸收光谱图可知,银的CCD检测器分辨率为0.0020nm/pixel,λ_Ag=328.068nm在327.86~328.27nm范围内没有受到溶液中其他共存元素的谱线干扰。在优化的实验条件下,银的吸光度与其质量浓度在0.40~1.60μg/mL范围内运用二次方程最小二乘法拟合校准曲线,相关系数为0.9999,特征浓度为0.0148μg/mL,方法检出限为0.0013μg/mL。将HR-CS-AAS测定样品中银的参数与空心阴极灯原子吸收光谱法(HCL-AAS)相比,其检出限更低,特征浓度更低,标准溶液系列的吸光度更高。按照实验方法对铀铌铅多金属矿样品中的银进行测定,结果与电感耦合等离子体质谱法基本一致,相对标准偏差(RSD,n=9)为0.63%~3.3%。按实验方法在铀铌铅多金属矿样品中加入银标准溶液进行加标回收试验,回收率为97%~104%,满足国家地质矿产行业标准DZ/T 0130—2006的要求。     

Silver(I)-Ion-Mediated Cytosine-Containing Base Pairs: Metal Ion Specificity for Duplex Stabilization and Susceptibility toward DNA Polymerases

Spectroscopic characterization of Ag^I-ion-mediated C-Ag^I-A and C-Ag^I-T base pairs found in primer extension reactions catalyzed by DNA polymerases was conducted. UV melting experiments revealed that C-A and C-T mismatched base pairs in oligodeoxynucleotide duplexes are specifically stabilized by Ag^I ions in 1:1 stoichiometry in the same manner as a C-C mismatched base pair. Although the stability of the mismatched base pairs in the absence of Ag^I ions is in the order C-A≈C-T>C-C, the stabilizing effect of Ag^I ions follows the order C-C>C-A≈C-T. However, the comparative susceptibility of dNTPs to Ag^I-mediated enzymatic incorporation into the site opposite templating C is dATP>dTTP≫dCTP, as reported. The net charge, as well as the size and/or shape complementarity of the metal-mediated base pairs, or the stabilities of mismatched base pairs in the absence of metal ions, would be more important than the stability of the metallo-base pairs in the replicating reaction catalyzed by DNA polymerases.