Effect of Mg in Alumina-Supported Sb–V–O Catalysts for the Ammoxidation of Propane into Acrylonitrile

The effect of Mg as dopant on alumina-supported mixed Sb–V oxide catalysts during the ammoxidation of propane reaction is evaluated. The Mg-doped catalyst increases acrylonitrile selectivity compared to the un-doped Sb–V–O/Al₂O₃ system. The presence of magnesium facilitates the formation of a cationic vacancies enriched rutile VSbO₄ phase, involved in C–N triple bond formation. In addition, Mg increases isolation of V⁵⁺ structural site isolation, which may affect selectivity.     

Black Raspberry Seed Oil Improves Lipid Metabolism by Inhibiting Lipogenesis and Promoting Fatty‐Acid Oxidation in High‐Fat Diet‐Induced Obese Mice and db/db Mice

The objective of this study was to evaluate the beneficial effect of α‐linolenic acid‐rich black raspberry seed (BRS) oil on lipid metabolism in high‐fat diet (HFD)‐induced obese and db/db mice. Five‐week‐old C57BL/6 mice were fed diets consisting of 50% calories from lard, 5% from soybean, and 5% from corn oil (HFD), or 50% calories from lard and 10% from BRS oil (HFD + BRS oil diet) for 12 weeks. Six‐week‐old C57BL/KsJ‐db/db mice were fed diets consisting of 16% calories from soybean oil (standard diet), 8% from soybean, and 8% from BRS oil, or 16% from BRS oil for 10 weeks. The BRS oil diets lowered the levels of triacylglycerol, nonesterified fatty acids, and total cholesterol in serum and liver of both of the obese and db/db mice as compared with the HFD and standard diet, respectively. mRNA levels of lipogenesis markers including cluster of differentiation 36, fatty‐acid‐binding protein 1, sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c, fatty‐acid synthase, and solute carrier family 25 member 1 in the liver of the BRS oil groups were lower than those in the liver of the HFD and standard groups in the obese and db/db mice, respectively. On the other hand, fatty‐acid oxidation markers including carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A, acyl‐CoA dehydrogenase, hydroxylacyl‐CoA dehydrogenase α, and acyl‐CoA oxidase in the liver of the BRS oil groups were higher than those in the liver of the HFD and standard groups in the obese and db/db mice, respectively. Peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor α mRNA and protein levels increased in the liver and epididymal adipose tissue of the obese and db/db mice fed BRS oil compared with HFD and standard diet, respectively. BRS oil might improve lipid metabolism by inhibiting lipogenesis and promoting fatty‐acid oxidation in HFD‐induced obese and db/db mice.     

Delay‐range‐dependent control of nonlinear time‐delay systems under input saturation

This paper describes a delay‐range‐dependent local state feedback controller synthesis approach providing estimation of the region of stability for nonlinear time‐delay systems under input saturation. By employing a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional, properties of nonlinear functions, local sector condition and Jensen's inequality, a sufficient condition is derived for stabilization of nonlinear systems with interval delays varying within a range. Novel solutions to the delay‐range‐dependent and delay‐dependent stabilization problems for linear and nonlinear time‐delay systems, respectively, subject to input saturation are derived as specific scenarios of the proposed control strategy. Also, a delay‐rate‐independent condition for control of nonlinear systems in the presence of input saturation with unknown delay‐derivative bound information is established. And further, a robust state feedback controller synthesis scheme ensuring L₂ gain reduction from disturbance to output is devised to address the problem of the stabilization of input‐constrained nonlinear time‐delay systems with varying interval lags. The proposed design conditions can be solved using linear matrix inequality tools in connection with conventional cone complementary linearization algorithms. Simulation results for an unstable nonlinear time‐delay network and a large‐scale chemical reactor under input saturation and varying interval time‐delays are analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Advanced water treatment of high turbid source by hybrid module of ceramic microfiltration and activated carbon adsorption: Effect of organic/inorganic materials

We investigated the effect of organic or inorganic materials on membrane fouling in advanced drinking water treatment by hybrid module packed with granular activated carbon (GAC) outside a tubular ceramic microfiltration membrane. Instead of natural organic matters (NOM) and fine inorganic particles in the natural water source, synthetic water was prepared with humic acid and kaolin. Concentrations of kaolin or humic acid were changed to see effects of inorganic or organic matter. And periodic water-back-flushing using permeate water was performed during 10 sec per filtration of 10 min. As a result, both the resistance of membrane fouling (R _f ) and permeate flux (J) were influenced higher by concentration of humic acid rather than kaolin. It was proved that NOM like humic acid could be a more important factor on membrane fouling in drinking water treatment than fine inorganic particles. Treatment efficiencies of turbidity and UV₂₅₄ absorbance were very high above 97.4% and 92.0%, respectively. This article is dedicated to Professor Chang Kyun Choi for celebrating his retirement from the School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University.     

Wet surface heat transfer and pressure drop of aluminum parallel flow heat exchangers at different inclination angles

The effect of inclination angle on the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of brazed aluminum heat exchangers was experimentally investigated under wet conditions. Three samples having different fin pitches (1.25, 1.5 and 2.0 mm) were tested. Results show that heat transfer coefficients are not affected by the inclination angle. However, friction factors increase as the inclination angle increases with negligible difference between the forward and backward inclination. The effect of fin pitch on the heat transfer coefficient and on the pressure drop is also discussed. Comparison of the dry and wet surface heat transfer coefficients reveals that dry surface heat transfer coefficients are significantly larger than wet surface heat transfer coefficients. Possible explanation is provided by considering the condensate drainage pattern. The data are also compared with the existing correlation. This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Man-Yeong Ha Nae-Hyun Kim is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Incheon. His area of interest spans boiling and condensation, heat transfer enhancement and heat exchanger design. He has been active in heat transfer community, and was a Chairman of Thermal Engineering Division of KSME. He holds several editorial position including Journal of Enhanced Heat Transfer. He is a recipient of Asian Academic Award awarded by SAREK and JSRAE.     

Genome Editing Using CRISPR-Cas9 and Autoimmune Diseases: A Comprehensive Review

Autoimmune diseases are disorders that destruct or disrupt the body’s own tissues by its own immune system. Several studies have revealed that polymorphisms of multiple genes are involved in autoimmune diseases. Meanwhile, gene therapy has become a promising approach in autoimmune diseases, and clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9) has become one of the most prominent methods. It has been shown that CRISPR-Cas9 can be applied to knock out proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) or block PCSK9, resulting in lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In other studies, it can be used to treat rare diseases such as ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency and hereditary tyrosinemia. However, few studies on the treatment of autoimmune disease using CRISPR-Cas9 have been reported so far. In this review, we highlight the current and potential use of CRISPR-Cas9 in the management of autoimmune diseases. We summarize the potential target genes for immunomodulation using CRISPR-Cas9 in autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), multiple sclerosis (MS), type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM), psoriasis, and type 1 coeliac disease. This article will give a new perspective on understanding the use of CRISPR-Cas9 in autoimmune diseases not only through animal models but also in human models. Emerging approaches to investigate the potential target genes for CRISPR-Cas9 treatment may be promising for the tailored immunomodulation of some autoimmune diseases in the near future.     

Characterisation and food application of curcumin bound to sodium caseinate–polysaccharide electrostatic complexes

Electrostatic complexes between sodium caseinate (NaCas) and high‐methoxyl pectin (HMP) or carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) were used to stabilise curcumin in this study. Effect of pH on the characteristics of the complex was evaluated, finding pH 4 was optimum. Zeta potential of NaCas‐CMC (?33.59) was larger than that of NaCas‐HMP (?22.19) at pH 4, implying higher colloidal stability. The complexes protected curcumin from heat treatment, and antioxidant activity of curcumin bound to the complexes was similar to that of native curcumin. Incorporation of sucrose partially prevented freeze drying‐induced aggregation of the complex, especially for NaCas‐HMP. In a model beverage, curcumin bound to the complexes showed higher colour stability. In vitro bioaccessibility of curcumin bound to NaCas‐HMP (53.0%) and NaCas‐CMC (51.6%) was higher than the native curcumin (21.4%). This study suggests that curcumin bound to the complexes, especially NaCas‐HMP‐bound curcumin may be used as a potential food colourant where transparency is needed.     

Fatty acids,tocopherols, phenolic and antioxidant properties of six citrus fruit species: a comparative study

Citrus fruit is a rich source of bioactive phytochemicals. Information on the fatty acid and tocopherol composition of locally grown citrus fruits in Korea is elusive. This work was aimed to study fatty acid, tocopherols, ascorbic acid, antioxidant potential, and selected phenolics from peel and pulp of six citrus species. The most dominant fatty acid was linoleic acid (15–45%), followed by linolenic, palmitic, and oleic acid. Stearic acid was highly abundant in yuzu peel (14.45%) and pulp (15.88%) compared to the other fruits. Unsaturated fatty acids (54–74%) contributed higher composition than saturated fatty acids (25–46%). Peel exhibited better antioxidant potential and contained higher phytochemicals than pulp. The concentrations of α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol were ranged from 22.96 (yuzu) to 86.93 (cheonhyeyang) and 38.59 (yuzu) ~83.03 (tangerine) μg/g DW, respectively. J-Redhyeyang peel exhibited highest total flavonoids (4.17?±?0.10 mgQE/g DW) and DPPH radical scavenging activity (6.17?±?0.03 mgTE/g DW). FRAP values were highest (20.05?±?0.64 mgTE/g DW) in yuzu peel, while peel of cheonhyeyang was superior in total phenolic contents. Tangerine (3.02?±?0.05 mg/g DW) and yuzu (7.49?±?0.38 mg/g DW) had higher hesperidin concentrations in pulp and peel, respectively. Naringin was found in an appreciable amount in yuzu pulp (2.04?±?0.09 mg/g DW) and peel (6.30?±?0.19 mg/g DW) but not detected in all other fruit species. Our results indicate that citrus fruit peel is the rich source of antioxidant compounds, which can be used to prepare antioxidant rich food product.