Formation and Emission of Submicron Particles in Pulverized Olive Residue (Orujillo) Combustion

The particle formation and emission in the combustion of pulverized olive residue (orujillo) is studied in this work. The fuel has been burned in controlled combustion conditions in an entrained flow reactor. A bimodal distribution with mode peaks at 155 nm and 110 μm is found for fly ashes. Coarse particles have been characterized by laser diffractometry and SEM, while fines have been analyzed by low-pressure impaction, DMA, SEM, and X-ray diffraction. Particles with Dp < 1 μm are composed of only K₂SO₄ and KCl in the same mass proportion, and possibly K₃PO₄ (less than 7% in mass). The use of a new particle sampling probe and a TEM allowed a detailed study of the formation of these particles when flue gases cool down. K₂SO₄ is experimentally found to start nucleation over 900°C, while KCl is not observed at this temperature. Condensation of KCl on these nuclei is observed in a sample taken at 560°C. These “formation steps” are in good agreement with both theoretical calculations by other authors and a simple equilibrium schema shown here.     

Extraction and characterization of soluble protein fractions from Phaseolus lunatus L seeds

Legume proteins as a potential source of valuable nutrients, are the object of several studies in order to obtain the best use. A basic knowledge becomes more important for those proteins from species not wholly utilized, before using them as food ingredients. The objective of this work was to determine several structural and nutritional characteristics of the protein fractions from Phaseolus lunatus, separated in different solvents. The relative amount of extraction for the albumins (ALB), globulins (GLB), prolamines (PRL), and glutelins (GLT) was 62.3, 34.8, 1.4 and 1.5%, respectively. The SDS-PAGE electrophoretic profile of both ALB and GLB, showed seven common bands in intervals from 10 to 95 kDa, and 14 to 99 kDa, respectively; the amino acids profile showed that PRL was the rich fraction in sulfurated amino acids (11.5 g/100 g protein); the content of lysine in the fraction of ALB was smaller than expected but the requirement of the FAO in the fractions of GLB and GLT was covered. In general, the fraction of GLB had the best balance of amino acids and digestibility (80%); however, it had a relationship of calculated protein efficiency ratio (C-PER) of 0.11, smaller than the ratio in ALB (0.97). The calorimetric analysis showed denatured temperatures around 90 degrees C for the ALB, GLB, and GLU fractions. The PRL fraction probably did not present a thermal transition because the proteins were denaturalized by the extraction conditions.     

In vitro comparison of hepatic metabolism of 9cis-11 trans and 10trans-12cis isomers of CLA in the rat

Hepatic metabolism of the two main isomers of CLA (9cis-11 trans, 10trans-12cisC_18∶2) was compared to that of oleic acid (representative of the main plasma FA) in 16 rats by using the in vitro method of incubated liver slices. Liver tissue samples were incubated at 37°C for 17h under an atmosphere of 95% O₂/5%CO₂ in a medium supplemented with 0.75 mM of FA mixture (representative of circulating nonesterified FA) and with 55 μM [1-¹⁴C]9cis-11 trans C_18∶2, [1-¹⁴C]10trans-12cis C_18∶2, or [1-¹⁴C]oleate. The uptake of CLA by hepatocytes was similar for both isomers (9%) and was three times higher (P<0.01) than for oleate (2.6%). The rate of CLA isomer oxidation was two times higher (49 and 40% of incorporated amounts of 9cis-11 trans and 10trans-12 cis, respectively) than that of oleate (P<0.01). Total oxidation of oleate and CLA isomers into [¹⁴CO₂] was low (2 to 7% of total oxidized FA) compared to the partial oxidation (93 to 98%) leading to the production of [¹⁴C] acid-soluble products. CLA isoemrs escaping from catabolism were both highly desaturated (26.7 and 26.8%) into conjugated 18∶3. Oleate and CLA isomers were mainly esterified into neutral lipids (30%). They were slowly secreted as parts of VLDL particles (<0.4% of FA incorporated into cells), the extent of secretion of oleate and of 10trans-12 cis being 2.2-fold higher than that of 9cis-11 trans (P<0.02). In conclusion, this study clearly showed that both CLA isomers were highly catabolized by hepatocytes, reducing their availability for peripheral tissues. Moreover, more than 25% of CLA escaping from catabolism was converted into conjugated 18∶3, the biological properties of which remain to be elucidated.     

解读"教育为人民服务"

党的十六大报告中明确了教育在现代化建设中的作用和地位 :“教育是发展科学技术和培养人才的基础 ,在现代化建设中具有先导性全局性作用 ,必须摆在优先发展的战略地位”。同时指出教育的功能是 :“全面贯彻党的教育方针 ,坚持教育为社会主义现代化建设服务 ,为人民服务 ,与生产劳动和社会实践相结合 ,培养德、智、体、美、劳全面发展的社会主义建设者和接班人”。十六大提出了一个新的教育理念 ,这就是教育为人民服务。1　“教育为人民服务”是“三个代表”重要思想在教育观念上的具体体现“为人民服务”是毛泽东同志在 1 944年为纪念一个…     

Tamoxifen derivatives for delivery of the antitumoral (DACH)Pt group: selective synthesis by McMurry coupling,and biochemical behaviour

The goal of our study was to potentiate the effects of the ((R,R)-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane)-platinum(II) fragment [(DACH)Pt], known for its cytotoxic properties, either with tamoxifen (Tam), the most widely used antiestrogen in the treatment of hormone-dependent breast cancers, or with its active metabolite hydroxytamoxifen (hydroxy-Tam). We coupled Tam or hydroxy-Tam derivatives bearing a malonato group at the para position of the beta aromatic ring with the (DACH)Pt fragment. The malonato-Tam and malonato-hydroxy-Tam compounds were prepared through McMurry coupling of the appropriate ketones. The presence of the malonate group resulted in a pronounced stereospecificity in the reaction, since malonato-Tam was obtained only as the Z isomer, while malonato-hydroxy-Tam was obtained as an 80/20 E/Z mixture. Attribution of the isomeric structures was achieved by 2D NMR spectroscopy. The platinum complexes (DACH)Pt-malonato-Tam and (DACH)Pt-malonato-hydroxy-Tam were then prepared by coupling the barium salts derived from the malonato-Tam and malonato-hydroxy-Tam with the nitrate derived from (DACH)PtCl(2). Study of the biochemical properties of these two platinum complexes showed that, while the hydroxy-Tam complex is satisfactorily recognized by the estrogen receptor (relative binding affinity, RBA=6.4 %), the Tam complex is less well recognized (RBA=0.5 %). The effects of these complexes on two hormone-dependent breast cancer cell lines (MCF7 and MVLN) were studied in vitro. Both complexes showed an antiproliferative effect on MCF7 cells, and an antiestrogenic effect on MVLN cells. The observed effects appear to be essentially antihormonal, since incorporation of the (DACH)Pt fragment into the tamoxifen skeleton did not cause an increase in the cytotoxicity of the complexes.     

Chromic textiles: Colour fastness properties and irreversible colour change behaviour of textiles screen printed with thermochromic,photochromic and hydrochromic colourants

The objective of this work was to study how ultraviolet (UV) light exposure, washing and rubbing can influence colour and dynamic qualities of chromic textiles, and to explore how the results attained can be applied by designers for the development of colour changing palettes. The experimental work was conducted with 74% polyamide and 26% elastane elastics screen printed with thermochromic, photochromic and hydrochromic pigments in diverse colours. Initially, colourfastness properties of each pigment type versus colour were assessed. Although washing and rubbing can interfere in samples' colours by becoming lighter at different degrees, the results attained highlight the poor stability to lighting of thermochromic and photochromic pigments, which also present changes between hues along exposure time. For conventional textile applications, poor colour fastness commonly represents a limitation. This work proposes that the way textile colours and behaviour are permanently affected by the studied conditions can be interpreted as a creative variable in the design process. Research samples with a combination of pigments were developed and tested with a combination of cycles of different fastness tests, namely one washing cycle for every 4 h of UV light exposure, totalling 48 h and 12 washing cycles. Results demonstrate the possibility of creating interactive surfaces capable of displaying a wide range of colours that evolve to static within different hues, over stimuli conditions.     

Identification of Hck Inhibitors As Hits for the Development of Antileukemia and Anti‐HIV Agents

Hematopoietic cell kinase (Hck) is a member of the Src family of non‐receptor protein tyrosine kinases. High levels of Hck are associated with drug resistance in chronic myeloid leukemia. Furthermore, Hck activity has been connected with HIV‐1. Herein, structure‐based drug design efforts were aimed at identifying novel Hck inhibitors. First, an in‐house library of pyrazolo[3,4‐d]pyrimidine derivatives, which were previously shown to be dual Abl and c‐Src inhibitors, was analyzed by docking studies within the ATP binding site of Hck to select the best candidates to be tested in a cell‐free assay. Next, the same computational protocol was applied to screen a database of commercially available compounds. As a result, most of the selected compounds were found active against Hck, with K_i values ranging from 0.14 to 18.4 μM , confirming the suitability of the computational approach adopted. Furthermore, selected compounds showed an interesting antiproliferative activity profile against the human leukemia cell line KU‐812, and one compound was found to block HIV‐1 replication at sub‐toxic concentrations.     

A Stochastic Optimization approach for the design of Individualized Dosage Regimens

Quantitative methods for individualizing and optimizing the dosage regimen and clinically monitoring each patient are desirable to insure that each patient can obtain effective therapeutic benefit while minimizing undesirable side effects. This is of special concern for medicines that are expensive or whose toxic side effects are severe (e.g., oncological agents). The optimal dosage regimen for an individual is a combination of dose amount and/or dosing interval (i.e., time between doses) which minimizes the risk that the drug exposure deviates from the desired therapeutic window. The therapeutic window is defined as the range of drug exposure (e.g., blood concentration, area under the curve concentration‐time) which is below a threshold defining an acceptable toxic side effect and above a threshold defining a minimum acceptable level of therapeutic efficacy. In this work, the dosage regimen optimization problem defined in terms of general pharmacometric models (i.e., described by differential‐algebraic equations) is presented and a solution approach outlined which uses a scenario‐based stochastic optimization formulation that minimizes a risk metric. The scenarios are derived from the posterior joint probability distribution of the individual's pharmacometric parameters which is obtained following an approximate Bayesian inference approach. A Smolyak rule is used for the selection of the scenarios (i.e., combination of pharmacometric parameters) to be considered and for computing the approximation to the risk metric. Two case studies, gabapentin and cyclophosphamide, are presented to elucidate the advantages and limitations of the proposed approach. The numerical results demonstrate that low risk optimal solutions can be generated via the proposed stochastic optimization; while significantly reducing the computational burden in comparison with the conventional Markov chain Monte Carlo—grid search approach. This partially alleviates implementation issues preventing the deployment of dosage regimen individualization in clinical practice. Since stochastic optimization has been extensively used in other domains, the approach for uncertainty characterization proposed in this work may have general relevance beyond the pharmacometrics domain. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 3296–3307, 2013