In situ bioreduction of uranium (VI) to submicromolar levels and reoxidation by dissolved oxygen

Groundwater within Area 3 of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Remediation Sciences Program (ERSP) Field Research Center at Oak Ridge, TN (ORFRC) contains up to 135 microM uranium as U(VI). Through a series of experiments at a pilot scale test facility, we explored the lower limits of groundwater U(VI) that can be achieved by in-situ biostimulation and the effects of dissolved oxygen on immobilized uranium. Weekly 2 day additions of ethanol over a 2-year period stimulated growth of denitrifying, Fe(III)-reducing, and sulfate-reducing bacteria, and immobilization of uranium as U(IV), with dissolved uranium concentrations decreasing to low levels. Following sulfite addition to remove dissolved oxygen, aqueous U(VI) concentrations fell below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agengy maximum contaminant limit (MCL) for drinking water (< 30/microg L(-1) or 0.126 microM). Under anaerobic conditions, these low concentrations were stable, even in the absence of added ethanol. However, when sulfite additions stopped, and dissolved oxygen (4.0-5.5 mg L(-1)) entered the injection well, spatially variable changes in aqueous U(VI) occurred over a 60 day period, with concentrations increasing rapidly from < 0.13 to 2.0 microM at a multilevel sampling (MLS) well located close to the injection well, but changing little at an MLS well located further away. Resumption of ethanol addition restored reduction of Fe(III), sulfate, and U(VI) within 36 h. After 2 years of ethanol addition, X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) analyses indicated that U(IV) comprised 60-80% of the total uranium in sediment samples. Atthe completion of the project (day 1260), U concentrations in MLS wells were less than 0.1 microM. The microbial community at MLS wells with low U(VI) contained bacteria that are known to reduce uranium, including Desulfovibrio spp. and Geobacter spp., in both sediment and groundwater. The dominant Fe(III)-reducing species were Geothrix spp.     

Effect of annealing on wear resistance and electroconductivity of copper processed by high-pressure torsion

The influences of annealing temperature on the wear properties and electrical conductivity of Cu were studied after processing by high-pressure torsion (HPT). The annealing of Cu specimens processed by HPT leads to an increase in electroconductivity and a decrease in the wear rate. It is apparent that a nanotribolayer at the surface induced during wear sliding plays a more significant role than the ultrafine-grained structure. A slight increase was observed in the microhardness of HPT copper specimens upon annealing at a relatively low temperature (100 °C), and this is most likely due to a change in texture. The annealing leads to an increase in the Taylor factor by ~5 %, which is in good agreement with the increase in the microhardness level which is also by ~5 %. It is apparent that low-temperature annealing of HPT copper may produce optimal properties of the specimens including high strength and electroconductivity with a lower wear rate.     

Kinetic study of hydrated lime reaction with HCl

Hydrochloride (HCl) is an acidic pollutant present in the flue gas of most municipal or hazardous waste incinerators. Hydrated lime (Ca(OH)2) is often used as a dry sorbent for injection in a spray reactor to remove HCI. However, due to the short residence time encountered, this control method has generally been found to have low conversion efficiencies which results in the high lime usage and generates large amount of fly ash as solid wastes. A fundamental study was carried outto investigate the kinetics of HCl-lime reaction under simulated flue gas conditions in order to better understand the process thereby providing a basis for an optimized lime usage and reduced fly ash production. The initial reaction rate and conversion of three limes were studied using a thermogravimetric analyzer by varying the gas flow rate, temperature (170-400 degrees C), and HCI concentrations (600-1200 mg/m3) as well as the associated particle size and surface area of the limes. The initial lime conversions were found to rely mostly on the residence time, while the ultimate lime conversions were strongly influenced by temperature and the reaction products. CaOHCI was found to be the primary product in most cases, while for one specific lime, CaCl2 was the ultimate conversion product after an extended time period. The true utilization of lime in flue gas cleanup is thus higher when CaOHCl is considered as the final product than those based on CaCl2 as the final product, which has been commonly used in previous studies. The initial reaction was controlled by diffusion of HCl in gas phase and the subsequent reaction by gaseous diffusion through the developing product layer. Increasing the HCI concentration raised the initial rate as well as conversion. However, overloading the lime with excessive HCI caused clogging at its surface and a drop in the ultimate conversion. Limes with smaller particle diameters and higher surface areas were found to be more reactive. The effect of gas-phase mass transfer was minimized when an optimum flow rate was chosen, and in the absence of internal diffusion the reaction was found to be first order with respect to HCI concentration.     

Improved species identification of raw meat by double sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

An improved enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been developed to enable differentiation of unprocessed beef, sheep, horse, kangaroo, pig, camel, buffalo and goat meats to less than 1% level of detection. This double sandwich system utilises species-specific capture antibodies raised in sheep or cattle and coated on to microtitre plates. Antibody coated plates are then used to immunoextract soluble protein from prepared meat samples. Bound meat proteins are detected by the addition of species-specific rabbit antisera followed by staphyloccocal Protein A conjugated to horse-radish peroxidase (HRPO), or by antisera directly conjugated to HRPO. Adoption of a capture antibody provides a number of advantages over previously described ELISA systems. Sample preparation is not critical because colour production is approximately constant between sample dilutions of 1000 and 10 g litre^?1. Increased sensitivity and selectivity allows the bulking of samples for screening purposes. In addition, the assay is faster; testing may be carried out in less than 2 h.     

Psychological versus pharmacological treatments of bulimia nervosa: Predictors and processes of change.

This article extends the acute outcome findings from a study comparing psychological and pharmacological interventions for bulimia nervosa (B. T. Walsh et al., 1997) by examining 3 additional domains: predictive factors, therapeutic alliance, and time course of change. One hundred twenty women were randomized to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), supportive psychotherapy (SPT) plus antidepressant medication or a placebo, or a medication-alone condition. Results indicate that high baseline frequencies of binge eating and vomiting, as well as a positive history of substance abuse or dependence, are negative prognostic indicators. Although a greater overall therapeutic alliance may increase the likelihood of remission, symptom change over the course of treatment may have as much of an impact on patient ratings of alliance as the reverse. CBT was significantly more rapid than SPT in reducing binge eating and vomiting frequencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The bilevel structure of the Outcome Questionnaire–45.

The structure of the Outcome Questionnaire–45 (Lambert et al., 2001) was examined in a sample of 1,100 university counseling center clients using confirmatory factor analysis. Specifically, the relative fit of 1-factor, 3-factor orthogonal, 3-factor oblique, 4-factor hierarchical, and 4-factor bilevel models were examined. Although the 3-factor oblique, 4-factor hierarchical, and 4-factor bilevel models fit the data well, the 4-factor bilevel model fit the data best. The results provided support for the fit of the 4-factor bilevel model where each item loads on 1 of the 3 independent scales of Symptom Distress, Social Role Performance, and Interpersonal Relations, in addition to a nonoverlapping general distress factor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Network-Pharmacology-Based Study on Active Phytochemicals and Molecular Mechanism of Cnidium monnieri in Treating Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignancy with a high mortality rate globally. For thousands of years, Cnidium monnieri has been used to treat human ailments and is regarded as a veritable treasure trove for drug discovery. This study has investigated the key active phytochemicals and molecular mechanisms of Cnidium monnieri implicated in curing HCC. We utilized the TCMSP database to collect data on the phytochemicals of Cnidium monnieri. The SwissTargetPrediction website tool was used to predict the targets of phytochemicals of Cnidium monnieri. HCC-related genes were retrieved from OncoDB.HCC and Liverome, two liver-cancer-related databases. Using the DAVID bioinformatic website tool, Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG enrichment analysis were performed on the intersecting targets of HCC-related genes and active phytochemicals in Cnidium monnieri. A network of active phytochemicals and anti-HCC targets was constructed and analyzed using Cytoscape software. Molecular docking of key active phytochemicals was performed with anti-HCC targets using AutoDock Vina (version 1.2.0.). We identified 19 active phytochemicals in Cnidium monnieri, 532 potential targets of these phytochemicals, and 566 HCC-related genes. Results of GO enrichment indicated that Cnidium monnieri might be implicated in affecting gene targets involved in multiple biological processes, such as protein phosphorylation, negative regulation of the apoptotic process, which could be attributed to its anti-HCC effects. KEGG pathway analyses indicated that the PI3K–AKT signaling pathway, pathways in cancer, proteoglycans in cancer, the TNF signaling pathway, VEGF signaling pathway, ErbB signaling pathway, and EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance are the main pathways implicated in the anti-HCC effects of Cnidium monnieri. Molecular docking analyses showed that key active phytochemicals of Cnidium monnieri, such as ar-curcumene, diosmetin, and (E)-2,3-bis(2-keto-7-methoxy-chromen-8-yl)acrolein, can bind to core therapeutic targets EGFR, CASP3, ESR1, MAPK3, CCND1, and ERBB2. The results of the present study offer clues for further investigation of the anti-HCC phytochemicals and mechanisms of Cnidium monnieri and provide a basis for developing modern anti-HCC drugs based on phytochemicals in Cnidium monnieri.     

Exploring interfacial interactions,dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene/graphene oxide nanocomposites

Graphene oxide (GO) incorporated ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) nanocomposites were prepared by encapsulating GO by UHMWPE in an aqueous media via high-shear mixing, which were subsequently dried and compression molded. Morphological characterizations via scanning electron microscopy revealed the intercalation of UHMWPE chains in the graphitic stacks corresponding to GO. Further, dielectric permittivity of UHMWPE/GO nanocomposite of 1 wt% GO showed a drastic increase (~61) as compared to pure UHMWPE (~2) due to an enhanced interfacial polarization. A significantly higher value of remnant polarization (~10 nC/cm²) and coercive field (~3 kV/cm) was observed in UHMWPE/GO nanocomposite of 1 wt% GO, which showed a strong hysteresis loop of polarization versus electric field plot as compared to pure UHMWPE, which displayed a very weak hysteresis loop. The piezoelectric coefficient (d₃₃) of ~9.5 pm/V was estimated in UHMWPE/GO nanocomposite of 1 wt% GO via piezoresponse force microscopy. Nanocomposite sensor devices were also fabricated and piezoelectric output voltage of ~6 V was recorded in UHMWPE/GO nanocomposite of 1 wt% of GO. We report here for the first time the unique ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties displayed by UHMWPE/GO nanocomposites.