Production of water-soluble sugar from cellulose and corn stover via molten salt hydrate impregnation and separation

Cellulose - Saccharification of cellulose into glucose is a key step for the utilization of lignocellulose. Molten salt hydrate (MSH) is unique in selective hydrolysis of cellulose into glucose but...     

基于cypate光裂解的新型近红外光响应稀土上转换纳米载药系统※

光响应药物释放体系具有非侵入性、远程可控且时空分辨率高等特点, 在杀菌、抗癌等生物医学领域具有重要应用价值. 但目前近红外光响应的光裂解药物递送体系报道较少且光响应效率还有待提高. 本工作将稀土纳米颗粒包覆介孔二氧化硅, 逐步偶联近红外染料cypate、金刚烷胺和β-环糊精来封堵孔口, 利用cypate的自敏光氧化断键作为光响应开关, 成功构建了一种新型近红外光响应稀土上转换纳米载药系统. 该纳米载药系统负载抗生素氧氟沙星表现出极低的药物流失率和较高的808 nm光照释放效率, 并且通过控制光照时间可以满足不同的给药量需求. 体外抗菌实验结果进一步验证了该纳米载药系统的光响应药物释放性能. 此外, 该纳米载药系统在980 nm激光激发下的上转换发光较强且不影响药物释放, 可以实现纳米载药系统的药物定位和生物成像功能. 本研究为发展高效光响应载药体系提供了新的思路.     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(aryl ether ketone) ionomers with sulfonic acid groups on pendant aliphatic chains for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells

A series of parent poly(aryl ether ketone)s bearing different content of unsaturated pendant propenyl groups were synthesized via nucleophilic substitution polymerization from 3,3′-diallyl-4,4′-dihydroxybiphenyl, 9,9′-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) fluorene and 4,4′-difluorobenzophenone. The polymers with pendant aliphatic sulfonic acid groups were further synthesized by free radical thiol-ene coupling reactions between 3-mercapto-1-propanesulfonic sodium and the parent propenyl functional copolymers. The resulting sulfonated polymers with high inherent viscosity (1.83-4.69 dL/g) were soluble in polar organic solvents and can form flexible and transparent membranes by casting from their solutions. The copolymers with different ion exchange capacity could be conveniently synthesized by varying the monomers ratios. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to examine the microstructures of the membrane and the results revealed that significant hydrophilic/hydrophobic microphase separation with spherical, uniform-sized (5-10 nm) and well-dispersed hydrophilic domains was afforded. The proton conductivities of the as-prepared membranes and the state-of-the-art Nafion 117 membrane in fully hydrated state were investigated. The results revealed that the proton conductivity of the synthesized membranes increased more remarkably than that of Nafion 117 membrane with increasing temperature. The membrane with 1.69 mequiv/g of IEC had a conductivity of 2.5 × 10⁻² Scm⁻¹ at 100 °C. The membranes also possessed excellent mechanical properties, good thermal, oxidative, hydrolytic and dimensional stabilities.     

Simultaneous Determination of Testosterone and Testosterone Enanthate in Equine Plasma by UHPLC-MS-MS

Testosterone and testosterone enanthate are performance-enhancing substances that are banned in racehorses competing in the State of Pennsylvania (PA). A tolerance concentration of 2,000 pg mL^?1 plasma has been established for testosterone in intact colts and stallions at the time they are competing in PA. Testosterone enanthate is a precursor of testosterone and can be used to boost plasma testosterone concentration above natural, age and seasonally variable plasma concentration. To control abuse, a verifiable method for rapid determination of both substances in equine plasma was needed. For this reason, an ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for high-throughput analysis of both analytes in equine plasma was developed. Analytes were recovered from plasma by liquid–liquid extraction using mixture of methyl tert-butyl ether and ethyl acetate (50:50, v/v), separated on a C₁₈ sub-2 μm column and detected on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer using positive electrospray ionization mode with selected reaction monitoring scan. SRM ion transitions of m/z 289 → m/z 97, m/z 289 → m/z 109, m/z 289 → m/z 79 were used for testosterone identification while m/z 401 → m/z 253, m/z 401 → m/z 271, m/z 401 → m/z 97 were employed for testosterone enanthate. Retention time and product ion intensity ratio were used as confirmation criteria to ascertain the presence of both analytes in equine plasma. The limits of detection, quantification and confirmation were 50 pg 0.5 mL^?1, 100 pg 0.5 mL^?1 and 250 pg 0.5 mL^?1, respectively for both analytes. The method was validated for recovery efficiency, sensitivity, matrix effect, linearity, precision and accuracy. This method is routinely used in the PA program for androgenic anabolic steroids doping control in racehorses and in the on-going testosterone enanthate pharmacokinetics study. The method is defensible, fast, selective, specific and reproducibly reliable.     

Relationship between oversulfation and conformation of low and high molecular weight fucoidans and evaluation of their in vitro anticancer activity

Low and high molecular weight fucoidans (F(5-30K) and F(>30K)) were chemically modified through the addition of sulfate groups, and the effect of oversulfation on the in vitro anticancer activity was investigated. After the addition of sulfate groups, a considerable increase of 35.5 to 56.8% was observed in the sulfate content of the F(5-30K) fraction, while the sulfate content of the F(>30K) fraction increased to a lesser extent (from 31.7 to 41.2%). Significant differences in anticancer activity were observed between the oversulfated F(5-30K) and F(>30K) fractions, with activities of 37.3-68.0% and 20.6-35.8%, respectively. This variation in the anticancer activity of oversulfated fucoidan derivatives was likely due to differences in their sulfate content. The results suggest that the molecular conformation of these molecules is closely related to the extent of sulfation in the fucan backbones and that the sulfates are preferably substituted when the fucoidan polymers are in a loose molecular conformation.     

Length-Dependent Direction-Tunable Charge-Transfer Behavior of Second-Order Optical Nonlinearity in Keggin-Type Organosilicone Derivative [PW<Subscript>11</Subscript>O<Subscript>39</Subscript>(RSi)<Subscript>2</Subscript>O]<Superscript>3−</Superscript>: A TDDFT Study

The second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of Keggin-type organosilicone derivatives [PW₁₁O₃₉(RSi)₂O]³⁻ are investigated by time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). Our results indicated that the length of conjugated chain R has a crucial effect on the charge transfer (CT). The direction of CT alters with the end-cap-substituted electron donating or accepting moieties (NH₂ or NO₂), until the chain length reach a certain length, as the CT originates from the heteropolyanion to organosilicone moiety along the chain, further chain lengthening leaves this behavior invariant. The derivatives with long chain substitution and end-cap-substituted electron acceptor (NO₂) display excellent second-order NLO responses. The system 18 with the relevant long conjugated polyphenylethynyl chain and end-cap-substituted electron acceptor (NO₂) has the largest β ₀ value, 4538.1 × 10⁻³⁰ esu. The present investigation provides important insight into the characteristic of CT and NLO properties of Keggin-type organosilicone derivatives.     

A general protocol for temperature calibration of MAS NMR probes at arbitrary spinning speeds

A protocol using (207)Pb NMR of solid lead nitrate was developed to determine the temperature of magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR probes over a range of nominal set temperatures and spinning speeds. Using BioMAS and FastMAS probes with typical sample spinning rates of 8 and 35 kHz, respectively, empirical equations were devised to predict the respective sample temperatures. These procedures provide a straightforward recipe for temperature calibration of any MAS probe.     

Subunit exchange of MjHsp16.5 studied by single-molecule imaging and fluorescence resonance energy transfer

MjHsp16.5 was separately labeled by fluorescent dye Cy3 and Cy5.5. The dissociation event of a single 24-mer MjHsp16.5 molecule was captured by single-molecule imaging (SMI). Temperature-regulated subunit exchange was revealed by the real-time fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). The combination of single-molecular statistics and kinetic parameters from FRET experiments leads to the conclusion that below 75 degrees C the rate-determining step of the subunit exchange was the dissociation of the dye-labeled 24-mer in which the dimer was intact, whereas above 75 degrees C, smaller units emerged in the exchange and the rate-determining step had the character of a bimolecular reaction.     

Infrared multiphoton spectra from metal dication complexes in the gas phase

Infrared multiphoton spectra have been recorded for the first time from metal dication complexes held in an ion trap. The photofragmentation of [M(pyridine)4]2+ complexes has been observed in the range 920-1090 cm(-1) and for M=Cu2+, Mg2+ and Zn2+. The narrow absorption features are identified as vibrational modes of the pyridine molecule and comparisons with calculations suggest that the Mg2+ and Zn2+ ion complexes have D2d (compressed tetrahedron) structures, and that the Cu2+ complex is probably square-planar (D4h).