Protein Engineering Strategies for Improved Pharmacokinetics

Protein therapeutics have gained momentum in recent years and become a pillar in treating many diseases and the only choice in several ailments. Protein therapeutics are highly specific, tunable, and less toxic than conventional small drug molecules. However, reaping the full benefits of therapeutic proteins in the clinics is often hindered by issues of immunogenicity and short half-life due essentially to fast renal clearance and enzymatic degradation. Advances in polymer chemistry and protein engineering allowed overcoming some of these limitations. Strategies to prolong the half-life of proteins rely on increasing their size and stability and/or fusing them to endogenous proteins (albumin, Fc fragment of antibody) to hijack physiological pathways involved in protein recycling. On the downside, these modifications might alter therapeutic proteins structure and function. Therefore, a compromise between half-life and activity is sought. This review covers half-life extension strategies using natural and synthetic polymers as well as fusion to other proteins and sheds light on genetic engineering strategies and chemical and enzymatic reactions to achieve this goal. Promising strategies and successful applications in the clinics are highlighted.     

Inhibiting Surface Diffusion to Synthesize 3D Bicontinuous Nanoporous N-Doped Carbon for Boosting Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Flexible All-Solid-State Al-Air Batteries

Catalyzing oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and accelerating oxygen diffusion are two key challenges for the requirements of the cathode catalysts in the metal-air batteries. A promising strategy for improving both ORR performance and mass diffusion simultaneously is to build carbon-based catalysts with ORR-active chemical dopants and 3D interconnected porosity. Herein, a 3D nanoporous N-doped carbon with bicontinuous porosity and interconnected open-pore channels is reported, which is prepared by a polyaniline-assisted template method. The polyaniline can efficiently inhibit the surface diffusion-caused template coarsening, achieving a small pore size of 35 nm. The small porous morphology gives rise to a high N-dopant concentration up to 7.20 at.%, which in turn exhibits a commercial Pt/C-comparable ORR performance together with satisfied durability in alkaline media. Using these nanoporous carbon catalysts as air electrodes, an all-solid-state flexible Al-air battery is assembled with the measured maximum power density reaching 130.5 mW cm⁻², as compared to 106.2 mW cm⁻² when the commercial Pt/C standard is used. This study provides an efficient method to synthesize 3D N-doped carbon with bicontinuous nano-sized pore channels for wide-ranging applications in portable and flexible devices.     

Computational Studies on Carbon Dots Electrocatalysis: A Review

Electrocatalytic reactions possess wide application prospects in solving the energy crisis. Recently, the emerging 0D carbon dots (CDs) have become potential candidate materials due to their low cost, high conductivity, easy modification, and simple synthesis. CDs-based composite materials showcase attractive electrocatalytic performances because of the abundant active sites and charge distribution on the material surface. Considering the complicated structure of CDs, it's important to identify the specific catalytic activity source and understand catalytic mechanisms with the aid of theoretical method. In this review, the latest advancements are presented on improving the electrocatalytic activity and stability of CDs-based composite materials from theoretical perspective. Meanwhile, the opportunity and challenges about developing high-performance CDs catalysts are also highlighted.     

SO_2在钒催化剂上氧化的宏观动力学

本文对 SO_2在钒催化剂上氧化的动力学进行了研究,由简化的平板模型提出了 S_(101)催化剂的宏观动力学方程,并以在不同预转化条件下测得的宏观动力学数据代入绘图.结果表明,不同预转化条件下 1nk～1/T 关系中出现了不同位置的转折点。回归得出了高低温段速度常数表达式,并经验求出了转折点温度 T_(■r) 与预转化率α之间的关联式。本文还对 1nk～1/T 关系中出现转折的原因进行了探讨,认为出现转折的原因是由于起催化作用的液相活性组分的量发生了改变之故。     

Organic–inorganic hybrid materials. II. Preparation and properties of higher silica containing polycarbonate–silica hybrid materials

The sol–gel reaction of a polycarbonate (PC) oligomer having triethoxysilyl groups at both ends of the PC chain (PCS) with a tetraethoxysilane or tetramethoxysilane oligomer provided transparent or semitransparent films of higher silica containing organic–inorganic hybrid materials (HSPC‐HMs). The films were superior to those from PC and from PCS in terms of the morphological homogeneity, heat resistance, and surface hardness. The HSPC‐HM films had minimum oxygen permeability at a PCS/tetraethoxysilane ratio of 3/7. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 4273–4279, 2006     

含铁络合物类光敏剂降解塑料性能的研究

合成了以二硫代氨基甲酸为配体的一系列铁络合物以及硬脂酸铁光敏剂。通过人工加速紫外光降解试验和自然暴露试验,研究了含光敏剂的LDPE膜的力学性能、粘均分子量、红外线吸收及羰基指数的变化,比较讨论含上述铁盐光敏剂的LDPE的光降解性能     

Characterization of Natural Water for Potential to Oxidize Organic Pollutants with Ozone

A laboratory study has been designed to investigate the decomposition of ozone in natural water and to determine its potential to produce hydroxyl free radicals for the oxidation of micropollutants during the ozonation process of drinking water. This report describes the first data obtained using a continuous flow reactor capable of observing reactions with relatively short time scales (Q = 34 mL/min; 1.4 < t_c < 27 sec). Rates of ozone decay were studied in fulvic acid solution in the presence, or in the absence of radical scavenger (tert-butyl alcohol) or of promoter of ozone decomposition (formic acid), and a micropollutant of interest (tetrachloroethylene). Also, three natural waters were studied, illustrating that OH radical formation depends on chemical composition of the waters.     

Influence of Alumina-Supported M–Pt Catalysts in DeNOx Reactions with M = Pd or Ir or Ru

To better understand N₂ formation in the selective catalytic reduction of NO _x by propene under oxidative atmosphere, we studied the catalytic behavior of bimetallics. Surface segregation phenomena may provoke geometric and electronic modifications of the catalytic active sites. To explain our results we invoked: (i) the facile way to oxidize the bimetallic aggregates, (ii) the presence of atoms with low coordination number able to be oxidized first and (iii) an eventual formation of like vic-diNO _x species on such bimetallics leading to N₂ formation.     

Effect of air oxidation of Rayon-based activated carbon fibers on the adsorption behavior for formaldehyde

The tailoring of pore surface chemistry of activated carbon fibers is shown to be an effective method for improving the adsorption efficiency of various volatile chemical compounds (VOCs). An oxidation treatment with air resulted in a significant increase in the adsorption capacities and breakthrough time for Rayon-based activated carbon fibers (ACFs) in removal of formaldehyde. The porous structure parameters of Rayon-based ACFs were determined with standard nitrogen adsorption analysis. The pore surface chemistry of samples under study was analyzed by Fourier Transform Infrared spectra (FTIR). Thus to some extent, the relationship between the adsorption properties, porous structure and pore surface chemistry was revealed.     

Sintering Behaviour of Al2O3-SiC-C Ramming Mix

Silicon fines, boron acid solid powders and microfine SiO2 as sintering agents were incorporated into Al2O3-SiC-C ramming mix in order to investigated their effects on the microstructure , mechanical properties and sintering behavior of the ramming mix. Results show that all the three agents could improved both densification and mehanical properties markedly, compared to that of non-agent specimens and the effect of the composite of boron acid solid powders and microfine SiO2 is the best. The oxidation resistance increased with the addition of agents, which is supported by densification. Microstructures showed that agent powders could fill pores or produce liquid phases at high temperature, therefore, improve the sintering of the ramming mix.