Monitoring the Reaction of the Body State to Antibiotic Treatment against Helicobacter pylori via Infrared Spectroscopy: A Case Study

The current understanding of deviations of human microbiota caused by antibiotic treatment is poor. In an attempt to improve it, a proof-of-principle spectroscopic study of the breath of one volunteer affected by a course of antibiotics for Helicobacter pylori eradication was performed. Fourier transform spectroscopy enabled searching for the absorption spectral structures sensitive to the treatment in the entire mid-infrared region. Two spectral ranges were found where the corresponding structures strongly correlated with the beginning and end of the treatment. The structures were identified as methyl ester of butyric acid and ethyl ester of pyruvic acid. Both acids generated by bacteria in the gut are involved in fundamental processes of human metabolism. Being confirmed by other studies, measurement of the methyl butyrate deviation could be a promising way for monitoring acute gastritis and anti-Helicobacter pylori antibiotic treatment.     

Dual gold nanoparticle lateflow immunoassay for sensitive detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7

Two patterns of signal amplification lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA), which used anti-mouse secondary antibody-linked gold nanoparticle (AuNP) for dual AuNP-LFIA were developed. Escherichia coli O157:H7 was selected as the model analyte. In the signal amplification direct LFIA method, anti-mouse secondary antibody-linked AuNP (anti-mouse-Ab-AuNP) was mixed with sample solution in an ELISA well, after which it was added to LFIA, which already contained anti-E. coli O157:H7 monoclonal antibody-AuNP (anti-E. coli O157:H7-mAb-AuNP) dispersed in the conjugate pad. Polyclonal antibody was the test line, and anti-mouse secondary antibody was the control line in nitrocellulose (NC) membrane. In the signal amplification indirect LFIA method, anti-mouse-Ab-AuNP was mixed with sample solution and anti-E. coli O157:H7-mAb-AuNP complex in ELISA well, creating a dual AuNP complex. This complex was added to LFIA, which had a polyclonal antibody as the test line and secondary antibody as the control line in NC membrane. The detection sensitivity of both LFIAs improved 100-fold and reached 1.14 × 10³ CFU mL⁻¹. The 28 nm and 45 nm AuNPs were demonstrated to be the optimal dual AuNP pairs. Signal amplification LFIA was perfectly applied to the detection of milk samples with E. coli O157:H7 via naked eye observation.     

Synthesis and characterisation of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) Zr(IV) monothiophosphate composite cation exchanger: analytical application in the selective separation of lead metal ions

In this study, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) zirconium(IV) monothiophosphate composite cation exchanger was prepared by sol–gel precipitation method. The presence of sulphur in the cation exchanger enhances affinity towards the heavy metal ions which can improve the selectivity of the material. The selectivity studies showed that the material is selective towards Pb(II) ions. To characterise the material, several physicochemical properties were also studied which includes X-ray, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy studies. The ion-exchange behaviour of this cation exchanger was studied by using some of the selected properties like ion-exhange capacity for various metal ions, elution, effect of eluent concentration, thermal effect on ion-exchange capacity (IEC). The results of IEC and physicochemical properties revealed that the material is nanocomposite, crystalline, chemically, mechanically and thermally stable. The analytical ability of this cation exchanger was demonstrated in binary separation of Pb(II) ions from a mixture of other metal ions. The recovery is qualitative and the separations are reproducible.     

制备工艺对Mn-Fe/ZSM-5催化剂在NH3-SCR催化还原反应中催化性能的影响

分别采用共沉淀法和浸渍法、不同铁前驱物以及不同焙烧温度等研究了制备工艺对Mn-Fe/ZSM-5催化剂的结构、化学组分及NH3-SCR活性的影响。结果显示,当采用Fe(NO3)3作为Fe前驱物,并用共沉淀法制备、300°C焙烧条件下得到的MFZ-CP-N-300样品低温活性最优,在120°C时,其NO的转化率达到96.7%,120-300°C范围内NO转化率始终保持在95%以上。同时利用XRD、NH3-TPD、XPS、SEM、TEM、氮吸附等手段对催化剂结构、晶相、酸位、锰铁氧化物的化学形态及表面的形貌特征进行表征分析。结果表明锰铁氧化物分别以MnO2-Mn2O3和Fe2O3的形式高度分散于催化剂表面,特别是当Mn4+/Mn3+比例为1.254时,有较强的表面中强酸和较多的酸位数,从而增加了NH3的吸附能力,提高NO的转化率。     

Simultaneous determination of naphazoline and pyridoxine in eye drops using excitation–emission matrix fluorescence coupled with second-order calibration method based on alternating trilinear decomposition algorithm

A novel method is developed for the direct determination of naphazoline hydrochloride(NAP) and pyridoxine hydrochloride(VB6) in commercial eye drops. By using excitation–emission matrix(EEM)fluorescence coupled with second-order calibration method based on the alternating trilinear decomposition(ATLD) algorithm, the proposed approach can achieve quantitative analysis successfully even in the presence of unknown and uncalibrated interferences. The method shows good linearity for NAP and VB6 with correlation coefficients greater than 0.99. The results were in good agreement with the labeled contents. To further confirm the feasibility and reliability of the proposed method, the same batch samples were analyzed by multiple reaction monitoring(MRM) based on LC–MS/MS method.T-test demonstrated that there are no significant differences between the prediction results of the two methods. The satisfactory results obtained in this work indicate that the use of the second-order calibration method coupled with the EEM is a promising tool for industrial quality control and pharmaceutical analysis due to its advantages of high sensitivity, low-cost and simple implementation.     

An efficient synthesis of novel benzo[b]pyrido[3',2':4,5] thieno[2,3-e][1,6]naphthy-ridine-8-ones

An efficient method for the synthesis of novel benzo[b]pyrido[3',2':4,5] thieno[2,3-e][1,6] naphthyridine-8-one derivatives has been developed using a Pictet-Spengler reaction between 4-(3-aminothieno[2,3-b]pyridin-2-yl)quinoline-2-ones, which could be obtained from the alkylation of 4-bromomethylquinoline-2-ones with 3-cyanopyridine-2-thione followed by a Thorpe-Ziegler isomerization, and aromatic aldehydes under p-TsOH as catalysis in good yields.     

Natural and artificial light-harvesting systems utilizing the functions of carotenoids

Carotenoids are essential pigments in natural photosynthesis. They absorb in the blue–green region of the solar spectrum and transfer the absorbed energy to (bacterio-)chlorophylls, and so expand the wavelength range of light that is able to drive photosynthesis. This process is an example of singlet–singlet energy transfer and so carotenoids serve to enhance the overall efficiency of photosynthetic light reactions. Carotenoids also act to protect photosynthetic organisms from the harmful effects of excess exposure to light. In this case, triplet–triplet energy transfer from (bacterio-)chlorophyll to carotenoid plays a key role in this photoprotective reaction. In the light-harvesting pigment–protein complexes from purple photosynthetic bacteria and chlorophytes, carotenoids have an additional role, namely the structural stabilization of those complexes. In this article we review what is currently known about how carotenoids discharge these functions. The molecular architecture of photosynthetic systems will be outlined to provide a basis from which to describe the photochemistry of carotenoids, which underlies most of their important functions in photosynthesis. Then, the possibility to utilize the functions of carotenoids in artificial photosynthetic light-harvesting systems will be discussed. Some examples of the model systems are introduced.     

变截面高层筒体结构的有限元线法整体稳定和二阶分析

本文用有限元线法对变截面的高层简体结构进行空间整体稳定和二阶分析。先把实际框筒结构分段连续化为正交各向异性折板结构；用有限元线法，通过有限条元半离散化，取结线上位移为基本未知函数，由势能驻值原理建立稳定和二阶分析的常微分方程组；由常微分方程求解器直接求解。     

冲击作用下凝聚态含能材料热点形成热－机械分析

应用动力有限元方法分析含能材料中热点形成机理。在假定凝聚态含能材料为可压缩的情况下，研究圆形和椭圆形微孔洞附近介质在冲击作用下热－机械响应过程，结果显示冲击波强度、空隙率、微孔洞尺寸和形状、熔点对热点温升有强烈影响，并讨论粘塑性功和固相压缩成为主要机制的条件。