微生物燃料电池阴极脱氮

微生物燃料电池(MFC)阴极电子受体的多样性可实现其阴极脱氮,从而将产生的电能合理利用,因此阴极脱氮成为了MFC的一个研究方向,同时也为实际废水中氮素的去除提供了新的可能。然而在反应过程中有众多因素会导致NOx-N与其他电子受体竞争阳极电子的现象,影响阴极反硝化过程对于电子的利用率,从而造成脱氮效率低等现实问题。目前已有许多研究通过优化MFC自身结构弥补产电的缺陷,及将与其他工艺系统耦合实现同步硝化反硝化等方法,取长补短以增加脱氮效率,降低对碳源的需求,以此解决微生物燃料电池阴极脱氮出现的问题。本文从MFC不同的脱氮历程、MFC工艺条件(pH、C/N、DO)、极室分隔材料等影响MFC阴极脱氮的因素及影响其阴极反硝化微生物群落构成等方面,进行了综述并预测未来研究方向。     

A benchmark of optimally folded protein structures using integer programming and the 3D-HP-SC model

The Protein Structure Prediction (PSP) problem comprises, among other issues, forecasting the three-dimensional native structure of proteins using only their primary structure information. Most computational studies in this area use synthetic data instead of real biological data. However, the closer to the real-world, the more the impact of results and their applicability. This work presents 17 real protein sequences extracted from the Protein Data Bank for a benchmark to the PSP problem using the tri-dimensional Hydrophobic-Polar with Side-Chains model (3D-HP-SC). The native structure of these proteins was found by maximizing the number of hydrophobic contacts between the side-chains of amino acids. The problem was treated as an optimization problem and solved by means of an Integer Programming approach. Although the method optimally solves the problem, the processing time has an exponential trend. Therefore, due to computational limitations, the method is a proof-of-concept and it is not applicable to large sequences. For unknown sequences, an upper bound of the number of hydrophobic contacts (using this model) can be found, due to a linear relationship with the number of hydrophobic residues. The comparison between the predicted and the biological structures showed that the highest similarity between them was found with distance thresholds around 5.2–8.2 Å. Both the dataset and the programs developed will be freely available to foster further research in the area.     

Synthesis,spectroscopic studies,thermal analyses,biological activity of tridentate-coordinated transition-metal complexes [M(L)X2] and crystal structure of [ZnBr2(2,6-bis(tert-butylthiomethyl)pyridine)]

A new terdentate acyclic pincer ligand, 2,6-bis(tert-butylthiomethyl)pyridine (tbtmp), was synthesized and reacted with several complexes of iron, zinc, nickel, cobalt, and copper. The ligand and its coordination compounds were characterized using elemental analysis, infrared, ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR-spectroscopy, thermal analyses, plus—for the Zn complex—single-crystal X-ray diffractometry. The structure of [Zn(L)Br₂] was solved in the tetragonal crystal system, chiral space groups P4₁2₁2 and P4₃2₁2 (No. 92 and No. 96, a = 947.2(1) pm, c = 2265.2(5) pm), revealing five-fold coordination of the metal atoms. According to spectroscopy, all complexes share the same coordination environment around the metal atoms, consisting of two halide anions and a sulfur-methylene-pyridine-methylene-sulfur entity; tbtmp acts as a tridentate ligand with the pyridine N atom and both tert-butylthio S atoms coordinating to the metal ions (NS2). The analysis results indicate that the metal ions are coordinated as distorted pseudo-bipyramids, LMX₂, with the chelate ligand meridionally arranged. One of the complexes contains ethanol as an additional ligand, resulting in a pseudo-octahedral coordination sphere [Ni(L)Cl₂EtOH]. The latter was obtained in the form of green crystals, which turn into a red powder with loss of the ethanol molecule. Fe (III), Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) metal complexes [M(L)Cl₂] were screened for their antibacterial activity against B. subtilis G(+) and Escherichia coli G(−) bacteria, and fungus (Candida albicans and Aspergillus flavus).     

The application of the Lattice Boltzmann method to the one-dimensional modeling of pulse waves in elastic vessels

The one-dimensional nonlinear equations for the blood flow motion in distensible vessels are considered using the kinetic approach. It is shown that the Lattice Boltzmann (LB) model for non-ideal gas is asymptotically equivalent to the blood flow equations for compliant vessels at the limit of low Knudsen numbers. The equations of state for non-ideal gas are transformed to the pressure-luminal area response. This property allows to model arbitrary pressure-luminal area relations. Several test problems are considered: the propagation of a sole nonlinear wave in an elastic vessel, the propagation of a pulse wave in a vessel with varying mechanical properties (artery stiffening) and in an artery bifurcation, in the last problem Resistor–Capacitor–Resistor (RCR) boundary conditions are considered. The comparison with the previous results shows a good precision.     

Synthesis of a graphene‐based nanocomposite for the dispersive solid‐phase extraction of vancomycin from biological samples

The approach of this work was to study the capability of graphene‐based materials in the field of biological sample preparation. A polypyrrole/graphene composite was synthesized and characterized. The potential of the nanocomposite was investigated as a sorbent in dispersive solid‐phase extraction followed by high‐performance liquid chromatography with UV detection for vancomycin as a model drug. The effect of different parameters influencing extraction efficiency such as sample pH and sample volume, ionic strength, extraction time, type, and volume of desorption solvent and desorption time were investigated. A comparison study was also conducted between polypyrrole/graphene and some different novel and classic sorbents. Under optimized conditions, the calibration curve for vancomycin showed linearity in the range of 0.05–10 μg/mL. In addition, limits of detection, and quantification were 0.003 and 0.01 μg/mL, respectively. The intraday and interday relative standard deviations at a concentration of 0.05 μg/mL (n = 3) were 1.6 and 2.1%, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of vancomycin in plasma and urine samples. The relative recoveries indicated the feasibility of graphene‐based sorbents in biological sample analysis.     

Direct electrochemical oxidation of a pesticide, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid,at the surface of a graphite felt electrode: Biodegradability improvement

Pesticides’ biorecalcitrance can be related to the presence of a complex aromatic chains or of specific bonds, such as halogenated bonds, which are the most widespread. In order to treat this pollution at its source, namely in the case of highly concentrated solutions, selective processes, such as electrochemical processes, can appear especially relevant to avoid the possible generation of toxic degradation products and to improve biodegradability in view of a subsequent biological mineralization. 2,4-D was found to be electroactive in oxidation, but not in reduction, and the absence of hydroxyl radicals formation during the electrochemical step was demonstrated, showing that the pretreatment can be considered as a “direct” electrochemical process instead of an advanced electrochemical oxidation process. The presence of several degradation products in the oxidized effluent showed that the pretreatment was not as selective as expected. However, the relevance of the proposed combined process was confirmed since the overall mineralization yield was close to 93%.     

Computational analysis for the determination of deleterious nsSNPs in human MTHFD1 gene

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most common genetic polymorphisms and play a major role in many inherited diseases. Methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 1 (MTHFD1) is one of the enzymes involved in folate metabolism. In the present study, the functional and structural consequences of nsSNPs of human MTHFD1 gene was analyzed using various computational tools like SIFT, PolyPhen2, PANTHER, PROVEAN, SNAP2, nsSNPAnalyzer, PhD-SNP, SNPs&GO, I-Mutant, MuPro, ConSurf, InterPro, NCBI Conserved Domain Search tool, ModPred, SPARKS-X, RAMPAGE, FT Site and PyMol. Out of 327 nsSNPs form human MTHFD1 gene, total 45 SNPs were predicted as functionally most significant SNPs, among which 17 were highly conserved and functional, 17 were highly conserved and structural residues. Among 45 most significant SNPs, 15 were predicted to be involved in post translational modifications. The p.Gly165Arg may interfere in homodimer interface formation. The p.Asn439Lys and p.Asp445Asn may interfere in binding interactions of MTHFD1 protein with cesium cation and potassium. The two SNPs (p.Asp562Gly and p.Gly637Cys) might interfere in interactions of MTHFD1 with ligand.     

Strong Inhibition of Ice Growth by Biomimetic Crowding Coacervates

The freezing of biological fluids is intensively studied but remains elusive as it is affected not only by the various components but also by the crowding nature of the biological fluids. Herein, we constructed spherical crowders, fibrous crowders, and coacervates by various components ranging from surfactants to polymers and proteins, to mimic three typical crowders in biological fluids, i.e., globular proteins, fibrous networks, and condensates of biomolecules. It is elucidated that the three crowders exhibit low, moderate, and strong ice growth inhibition activity, respectively, resulting from their different abilities in slowing down water dynamics. Intriguingly, the coacervate consisting of molecules without obvious ice growth inhibition activity strongly inhibits ice growth, which is firstly employed as a highly-potent cryoprotectant. This work provides new insights into the survival of freezing-tolerant organisms and opens an avenue for the design of ice-controlling materials.     

Nature-inspired biogenic synthesis of silver nanoparticles for antibacterial applications

In recent decades, nanotechnology has been empowered as a new and developing interdisciplinary region of science and innovation that coordinates material science and biology. Nanoscience and nanotechnology open up new streets of examination that are helpful in synthesizing novel nanomaterials with remarkable applications. Among different metal nanomaterials, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) attracted the attention of researchers due to their versatile antibacterial characteristics and biological properties. Biogenically synthesizing AgNPs from plants and microorganisms seems to be a highly promising alternative for developing a technology that is both environmentally benign and fast. Plants and microorganisms' ability to synthesize AgNPs has mostly remained untapped, and the lack of investigation is due to the vast variety of plants and microorganisms. This review aims to describe the current progress in various synthetic techniques for AgNPs and their potential for antibacterial applications. It discusses biogenic synthetic approaches, the role of various metabolites in the growth processes of AgNPs with antibacterial implications, bactericidal mechanisms, and the influence of operational parameters on AgNPs synthesis. Furthermore, the present status, critical challenges, and future outlook of AgNPs will be explored, which will definitely affect their present and future scenarios. We believe that by focusing readers' attention on nature-inspired, biogenically synthesized AgNPs and their bactericidal applications, this review will enable them to formulate a new perspective.