Metabolomic Profiling of Plasma from Melioidosis Patients Using UHPLC-QTOF MS Reveals Novel Biomarkers for Diagnosis

To identify potential biomarkers for improving diagnosis of melioidosis, we compared plasma metabolome profiles of melioidosis patients compared to patients with other bacteremia and controls without active infection, using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the metabolomic profiles of melioidosis patients are distinguishable from bacteremia patients and controls. Using multivariate and univariate analysis, 12 significant metabolites from four lipid classes, acylcarnitine (n = 6), lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LysoPE) (n = 3), sphingomyelins (SM) (n = 2) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) (n = 1), with significantly higher levels in melioidosis patients than bacteremia patients and controls, were identified. Ten of the 12 metabolites showed area-under-receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) >0.80 when compared both between melioidosis and bacteremia patients, and between melioidosis patients and controls. SM(d18:2/16:0) possessed the largest AUC when compared, both between melioidosis and bacteremia patients (AUC 0.998, sensitivity 100% and specificity 91.7%), and between melioidosis patients and controls (AUC 1.000, sensitivity 96.7% and specificity 100%). Our results indicate that metabolome profiling might serve as a promising approach for diagnosis of melioidosis using patient plasma, with SM(d18:2/16:0) representing a potential biomarker. Since the 12 metabolites were related to various pathways for energy and lipid metabolism, further studies may reveal their possible role in the pathogenesis and host response in melioidosis.     

分子结构及炭黑粒子对丁苯橡胶挤出流变特性的影响

本工作主要通过毛细管流变仪,并结合多种表征测试手段,考察了丁苯橡胶分子结构以及炭黑用量对胶料挤出流变特性的影响。结果表明：ESBR1712纯胶及填充胶表观剪切黏度均大于SSBR2564A;ESBR1712与SSBR2564A两种纯胶的挤出稳定性相近,但炭黑填充SSBR2564A混炼胶的挤出稳定性更为优异,挤出物外观质量较好;与SSBR2564A相比,ESBR1712分子链柔顺性更好,炭黑在该体系中的分散性更好,结合胶含量更高。     

Preparation of in situ grown silicon carbide whiskers onto graphite for application in Al2O3-C refractories

C-SiC composite powders were prepared by salt-assisted synthesis from Si powders, graphite, and a molten salt medium (NaCl and NaF) with the molar ratio of Si/C =?1/2 at 1300?°C for 3?h. After the C-SiC composite powders part and complete replacement of the graphite, the mechanical properties, oxidation resistance and slag-corrosion resistance of the Al₂O₃-C materials were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), as well as with dedicated equipment. The results indicated that SiC whiskers, with lengths of 10–50?nm, formed on the surface of the flake graphite, and the activation energy of oxidation of the C-SiC composite powder increased by 45.72?kJ?mol^?1 as compared to that of flake graphite. Furthermore, the decarburization area and slag erosion area of the Al₂O₃-C material decreased after 3?wt% of C-SiC composite powder was substituted for the flake graphite. Meanwhile, the cold modulus of rupture was maintained when 3?wt% of C-SiC composite powder was added. This improved both the oxidation and slag resistance of the Al₂O₃-C materials.     

Quantified mass transfer and superior antiflooding performance of ordered macro‐mesoporous electrocatalysts

For oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), constructing porous catalysts are highly important for mass transfer inside. However, the various porous structures usually possess significantly different water buffer efficiency, that is, the antiflooding capability, for which one is still difficult to give a quantitative evaluation. In this work, we designed a special “rattle‐drum” like working electrode, by which an exactly quantitative assessment on the mass transfer efficiencies can be conducted. Particularly, ordered macro‐mesoporous Pt/C shows quantified mass transfer and antiflooding efficiency to be four times high as that of the commercial one. This observation should be attributed to their different pore characteristics, as the dual‐porosity Pt/C has 3.4 times the pore volume of the commercial one, together with regular pore arrangement. Simultaneously, it also demonstrated excellent durability, indicating that the macro‐mesoporous Pt/C indeed owns high stability in both antiflooding and durability. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 2881–2889, 2018     

Preparation of surface‐modified,micrometer‐sized carboxymethyl chitosan drug‐loaded microspheres

Drug‐loaded microspheres have attracted much attention in embolization therapy for liver cancer in recent years. Carboxymethyl chitosan has obvious advantages for biomedical applications because of its exceptional biocompatibility and biodegradability. In this study, surface‐modified carboxymethyl chitosan microspheres were prepared by the crosslinking reactions of carboxymethyl chitosan in a reverse suspension system with poly(ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether) (PEGDE) as the crosslinking agent; this was followed by the grafting polymerization of 2‐acrylamido‐2‐methyl propane sulfonic acid on the surface of the microspheres. The microspheres showed regular spherical shapes with size distributions ranging from 300 to 600 μm. Ion‐exchange groups (? COOH, ? SO₃H) were introduced into the microspheres; these groups could load doxorubicin with a loading rate as high as 34.6% in 24 h. This was an increase of 49.8% compared to that of the pure carboxymethyl chitosan microspheres. Additionally, the microspheres possessed large network structures because macromolecular PEGDE was used as the crosslinking agent. The drug‐release profile showed that the surface‐modified microspheres displayed a sustained‐release manner compared with the nonmodified microspheres in phosphate‐buffered saline. These microspheres have promising applications as drug‐loaded arterial embolization agents for the interventional treatment of tumors. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 45731.     

Laboratory measurements of light scattering properties of kaolinite dust at 532 nm

Light scattering by kaolinite dust samples at 532 nm is studied using a newly developed laboratory apparatus. During the experiments, dust samples are suspended in water, aerosolized by a nebulizer, and then injected into the scattering zone, with or without going through a diffusion drier, to generate either dried dust particles or water droplets with dust inclusions. The light source is a dual wavelength (532 and 1064 nm) diode-pumped solid state laser. Light scattered by an ensemble of particles is collected by a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, which is mounted on the rotating arm of a stepper motor. The stepper motor rotates the CCD to cover the scattering angle range from 3° to 177°. Polarized scattering light is measured for the horizontally and vertically polarized incident light. The apparatus is calibrated, using pure water droplets as the scattering media. The response function with respect to the scattering angle is obtained by comparing the measurements with Lorenz–Mie calculations and then used in the later data analysis. Measurements show that the backward scattering features of the water droplets are smoothened due to their dust inclusions. Numerical simulations and measurements are extensively compared and discussed. It is found that the Lorenz–Mie theory is inadequate to reproduce the scattering phase functions of either dust particles or water droplets with dust inclusions. A nonspherical aggregate model is applied to simulate the scattering phase functions. The simulation is able to reproduce the overall scattering features; however, substantial discrepancies still exist due to uncertainties in particle shape and refractive index.

Copyright © 2018 American Association for Aerosol Research     

管道流动体系中水合物颗粒粒径分布特性数值模拟

研究管道内水合物颗粒的粒径分布特性对深水流动安全保障具有十分重要的意义。为模拟管道流动体系中水合物颗粒的粒径分布特性,本文首先建立了基于水合物颗粒聚集动力学的群体平衡模型。该模型重点考虑水合物颗粒在流动过程中的碰撞频率、聚并效率、破碎频率及破碎后子颗粒的粒径分布函数,可较好地刻画管内水合物颗粒的流动行为。随后,根据文献中的实验装置建立三维几何模型,利用FLUENT 14.5软件对上述群体平衡模型和相关固液两相流模型进行联合求解,借此模拟水合物颗粒初始粒径分布、水合物体积分数、管内流速和水合物颗粒初始粒径大小对管内水合物颗粒粒径分布类型及分布规律的影响。本文模拟结果与文献中相关实验数据吻合良好,可为水合物防治技术的发展提供技术支持。     

活性污泥法石化工业废水处理动力学研究

利用活性污泥对石化工业废水进行降解研究 ,发现其降解过程反应遵循一级宏观反应动力学关系。计算了在各种操作条件下的反应速率K。通过比较反应速率K的大小 ,得知塔式曝气的效率远远高于传统的曝气池 ,而环流塔式曝气的效率又高于鼓泡塔式曝气     

Al_2O_3/ZrO_2层状复合陶瓷的结构设计与性能

以ZrO2 为基本组成相的层状材料 ,采用干法成型工艺 ,通过对表面层不同组分Al2 O3+ZrO2 和表面厚度的系统研究和设计 ,提出设计三层结构复合陶瓷层裂参数λ ,当λ小于 1.5时 ,表面层不会出现层裂 ,整体材料性能较好 .研究表明 ,表面残余压应力的存在 ,使得三层结构复合陶瓷较单层结构陶瓷表现出更高的强度、硬度、断裂韧性和其他性质 .45 %Al2 O3/ZrO2 / 45 %Al2 O3层状复合陶瓷的弯曲强度达 682MPa,断裂韧性达 16.2MPa·m1 /2 ;而单层ZrO2 陶瓷的弯曲强度和断裂韧性分别仅为 45 0MPa和 8.8MPa·m1     

WATER REMOVAL FROM SLUDGE IN A HORIZONTAL ELECTRIC FIELD

A new method for sludge dewatering was proposed, in which a horizontal electric field was applied in order to facilitate the dissipation of gases produced at electrodes and to keep the anode soaked in water during the dewatering process. The effects of operation conditions such as the magnitude of electric field strength, pH of aqueous phase, the pretreatment procedures including flocculation, freezing and heating on the water removal were examined, respectively. The morphological difference between the concentrated sludge produced by electrodewatering and by vacuum filtration was revealed with scanning electron microscopy, which shown that electrodewatering was effective in removing the capillary water in the sludge floc. At electric field strength of 1200 V/m, the sludge concentration could be increased from 3 to 8%(w/w), indicating that over 60% of water was removed from the sludge. Compared to those operated in a vertical electric field, the method described in the present study has the advantages in terms of high eficiency, simple structure and ease of operation.