Concentrated solar energy for thermochemically producing liquid fuels from CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O

A two-step solar thermochemical cycle for producing syngas from H₂O and CO₂ via Zn/ZnO redox reactions is considered. The first, endothermic step is the thermolysis of ZnO to Zn and O₂ using concentrated solar radiation as the source of process heat. The second, non-solar, exothermic step is the reaction of Zn with mixtures of H₂O and CO₂ yielding high-quality syngas (mainly H₂ and CO) and ZnO; the latter is recycled to the first solar step, resulting in net reactions CO₂ = CO+0.5O₂ and H₂O= H₂ +0.5O₂. Syngas is further processed to liquid fuels via Fischer-Tropsch or other catalytic reforming processes. State-of-the-art reactor technologies and experimental results are provided for both steps of the cycle.     

Daytime Dependence of the Activity of the Rat Brain Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Corresponds to the Mitochondrial Sirtuin 3 Level and Acetylation of Brain Proteins,All Regulated by Thiamine Administration Decreasing Phosphorylation of PDHA Ser293

Coupling glycolysis and mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid cycle, pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex (PDHC) is highly responsive to cellular demands through multiple mechanisms, including PDH phosphorylation. PDHC also produces acetyl-CoA for protein acetylation involved in circadian regulation of metabolism. Thiamine (vitamin B1) diphosphate (ThDP) is known to activate PDH as both coenzyme and inhibitor of the PDH inactivating kinases. Molecular mechanisms integrating the function of thiamine-dependent PDHC into general redox metabolism, underlie physiological fitness of a cell or an organism. Here, we characterize the daytime- and thiamine-dependent changes in the rat brain PDHC function, expression and phosphorylation, assessing their impact on protein acetylation and metabolic regulation. Morning administration of thiamine significantly downregulates both the PDH phosphorylation at Ser293 and SIRT3 protein level, the effects not observed upon the evening administration. This action of thiamine nullifies the daytime-dependent changes in the brain PDHC activity and mitochondrial acetylation, inducing diurnal difference in the cytosolic acetylation and acetylation of total brain proteins. Screening the daytime dependence of central metabolic enzymes and proteins of thiol/disulfide metabolism reveals that thiamine also cancels daily changes in the malate dehydrogenase activity, opposite to those of the PDHC activity. Correlation analysis indicates that thiamine abrogates the strong positive correlation between the total acetylation of the brain proteins and PDHC function. Simultaneously, thiamine heightens interplay between the expression of PDHC components and total acetylation or SIRT2 protein level. These thiamine effects on the brain acetylation system change metabolic impact of acetylation. The changes are exemplified by the thiamine enhancement of the SIRT2 correlations with metabolic enzymes and proteins of thiol-disulfide metabolism. Thus, we show the daytime- and thiamine-dependent changes in the function and phosphorylation of brain PDHC, contributing to regulation of the brain acetylation system and redox metabolism. The daytime-dependent action of thiamine on PDHC and SIRT3 may be of therapeutic significance in correcting perturbed diurnal regulation.     

Synthesis of nitrogen-containing carbon nanofibers by catalytic decomposition of ethylene/ammonia mixture

The formation of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) doped with nitrogen was investigated during decomposition of C₂H₄/NH₃ mixtures at 450-675 °C over metal catalysts: 90Ni-Al₂O₃, 82Ni-8Cu-Al₂O₃, 65Ni-25Cu-Al₂O₃, 45Ni-45Cu-Al₂O₃, 90Fe-Al₂O₃, 85Fe-5Co-Al₂O₃, 62Fe-8Co-Al₂O₃, 62Fe-8Ni-Al₂O₃. It was found that the yield of CNFs, their structural and textural properties, as well as nitrogen content in CNFs are strongly dependent on the synthesis conditions such as: catalyst used, feed composition, temperature and duration. The 65Ni-25Cu-Al₂O₃ was proved to be the most efficient catalyst for the production of nitrogen-containing carbon nanofibers (N-CNFs) with nitrogen content up to 7 wt.%. Ammonia concentration in the feed equal 75 vol.%, temperature 550 °C and duration 1 h were found to be the optimum reaction parameters to reach the maximum nitrogen content in N-CNFs. TEM studies revealed that the nanofibers have a helical morphology and a “herringbone” structure composed of graphite sheets. According to the XPS data, the nitrogen incorporation in the N-CNF structure leads to the formation of two types of nitrogen coordination: pyridinic and quaternary, and their abundance depends on the reaction conditions.     

Efficient removal of microcystin-LR by UV-C/H₂O₂ in synthetic and natural water samples

The destruction of the commonly found cyanobacterial toxin, microcystin-LR (MC-LR), in surface waters by UV-C/H₂O₂ advanced oxidation process (AOP) was studied. Experiments were carried out in a bench scale photochemical apparatus with low pressure mercury vapor germicidal lamps emitting at 253.7 nm. The degradation of MC-LR was a function of UV fluence. A 93.9% removal with an initial MC-LR concentration of 1 μM was achieved with a UV fluence of 80 mJ/cm² and an initial H₂O₂ concentration of 882 μM. When increasing the concentration of MC-LR only, the UV fluence-based pseudo-first order reaction rate constant generally decreased, which was probably due to the competition between by-products and MC-LR for hydroxyl radicals. An increase in H₂O₂ concentration led to higher removal efficiency; however, the effect of HO scavenging by H₂O₂ became significant for high H₂O₂ concentrations. The impact of water quality parameters, such as pH, alkalinity and the presence of natural organic matter (NOM), was also studied. Field water samples from Lake Erie, Michigan and St. Johns River, Florida were employed to evaluate the potential application of this process for the degradation of MC-LR. Results showed that the presence of both alkalinity (as 89.6-117.8 mg CaCO₃/L) and NOM (as ∼2 to ∼9.5 mg/L TOC) contributed to a significant decrease in the destruction rate of MC-LR. However, a final concentration of MC-LR bellow the guideline value of 1 μg/L was still achievable under current experimental conditions when an initial MC-LR concentration of 2.5 μg/L was spiked into those real water samples.     

Preservation of the negative image of tooth enamel with dental impression material enhances morphometric measurements of gingival overgrowth

Gingival overgrowth is a common health problem caused by genetic and environmental risk factors. Animal models for quantitative histological studies are needed to uncover genetic predisposition and dose-response data that might put individuals at increased risk for gingival disease. Gingival height, thickness, inflammation, and the degree of encroachment of gingiva over the tooth, are clinical measures of overgrowth; most of these parameters can be measured histologically, but in order to quantify gingival coverage of the tooth, the image of the crown must be present. Tooth and bone typically require decalcification for histology; thus, the tooth crown, a critical landmark, is lost. We describe a method for imaging the crown histologically, using impression materials applied to dissected mouse mandibles. Four dental alginates, three polyvinyl siloxanes, and one polyether and gelatin were used. The impression-material/mandibular tissue blocks were processed routinely. Polyvinyl siloxanes were incompatible with embedding resin; alginates, polyether and gelatin could be fixed, decalcified, embedded, and sectioned. Alginates and gelatin could be stained. Success in imaging the tooth crown varied with the preparation, but the alginates, polyether, and gelatin permitted a useful degree of measurement of exposed crown and enamel thickness, along with other morphometric parameters such as thickness of the dentin, lateral mandibular ramus, rete pegs, height of the gingiva, and volume density of vessels and inflammatory cells in the lamina propria. In conclusion, this new application for impression materials allows gingival coverage of tooth crown, as well as numerous other parameters to be measured for comparison with clinical data.     

Generation of Liposomes to Study the Effect of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Lipids on HIV-1 cis- and trans-Infections

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death among HIV-1-infected individuals and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) co-infection is an early precipitate to AIDS. We aimed to determine whether Mtb strains differentially modulate cellular susceptibility to HIV-1 infection (cis- and trans-infection), via surface receptor interaction by their cell envelope lipids. Total lipids from pathogenic (lineage 4 Mtb H37Rv, CDC1551 and lineage 2 Mtb HN878, EU127) and non-pathogenic (Mycobacterium bovis BCG and Mycobacterium smegmatis) Mycobacterium strains were integrated into liposomes mimicking the lipid distribution and antigen accessibility of the mycobacterial cell wall. The resulting liposomes were tested for modulating in vitro HIV-1 cis- and trans-infection of TZM-bl cells using single-cycle infectious virus particles. Mtb glycolipids did not affect HIV-1 direct infection however, trans-infection of both R5 and X4 tropic HIV-1 strains were impaired in the presence of glycolipids from M. bovis, Mtb H37Rv and Mtb EU127 strains when using Raji-DC-SIGN cells or immature and mature dendritic cells (DCs) to capture virus. SL1, PDIM and TDM lipids were identified to be involved in DC-SIGN recognition and impairment of HIV-1 trans-infection. These findings indicate that variant strains of Mtb have differential effect on HIV-1 trans-infection with the potential to influence HIV-1 disease course in co-infected individuals.