Sargassum fusiforme Polysaccharide-Based Hydrogel Microspheres Enhance Crystal Violet Dye Adsorption Properties

In this study, a polysaccharide-based hydrogel microsphere (SFP/SA) was prepared using S. fusiforme polysaccharide (SFP) and sodium alginate (SA). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) demonstrated that SFP was effectively loaded onto the hydrogel microsphere. Texture profile analysis (TPA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that, with the increase of SFP concentration, the hardness of SFP/SA decreased, while the springiness and cohesiveness of SFP/SA increased, and the thermal stability of SFP/SA improved. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of SFP/SA increased from 8.20 mg/g (without SFP) to 67.95 mg/g (SFP accounted 80%) without swelling, and from 35.05 mg/g (without SFP) to 81.98 mg/g (SFP accounted 80%) after 24 h swelling. The adsorption of crystal violet (CV) dye by SFP/SA followed pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order kinetics (both with R² > 0.99). The diffusion of intraparticle in CV dye was not the only influencing factor. Moreover, the adsorption of CV dye for SFP/SA (SFP accounted 60%) fit the Langmuir and Temkin isotherm models. SFP/SA exhibited good regenerative adsorption capacity. Its adsorption rate remained at > 97% at the 10th consecutive cycle while SFP accounted for 80%. The results showed that the addition of Sargassum fusiforme polysaccharide could increase the springiness, cohesiveness and thermal stability of the hydrogel microsphere, as well as improve the adsorption capacity of crystal violet dye.     

Genetically engineered materials: Proteins and beyond

Information-rich molecules provide opportunities for evolution. Genetically engineered materials are superior in that their properties are coded within genetic sequences and could be fine-tuned. In this review, we elaborate the concept of genetically engineered materials(GEMs) using examples ranging from engineered protein materials to engineered living materials. Proteinbased materials are the materials of choice by nature. Recent progress in protein engineering has led to opportunities to tune...     

Visible-light-induced,autopromoted nickel-catalyzed three-component arylsulfonation of 1,3-enynes and mechanistic insights

A light-induced, nickel-catalyzed three-component arylsulfonation of 1,3-enynes in the absence of photocatalyst is reported.This methodology exhibited mild conditions, broad scope and high efficiency, and its synthetic utility has been demonstrated by a concise total synthesis of sulfone-containing drug molecule. Detailed mechanistic studies indicated that this light induced nickel catalysis is autopromoted by in situ produced allene, which plays a key role as co-ligand in the photoactive excite...     

SIMULATIONS OF MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF POLYCRYSTALLINE COPPER WITH NANO-TWINS

Mechanical behavior and microstructure evolution of polycrystalline copper with nano-twins were investigated in the present work by finite element simulations. The fracture of grain boundaries are described by a cohesive interface constitutive model based on the strain gradient plasticity theory. A systematic study of the strength and ductility for different grain sizes and twin lamellae distributions is performed. The results show that the material strength and ductility strongly depend on the grain size and the distribution of twin lamellae microstructures in the polycrystalline copper.     

ELECTRICALLY FORCED THICKNESS-SHEAR VIBRATIONS OF QUARTZ PLATE WITH NONLINEAR COUPLING TO EXTENSION

We study electrically forced nonlinear thickness-shear vibrations of a quartz plate resonator with relatively large amplitude. It is shown that thickness-shear is nonlinearly coupled to extension due to the well-known Poynting effect in nonlinear elasticity. This coupling is relatively strong when the resonant frequency of the extensional mode is about twice the resonant frequency of the thickness-shear mode. This happens when the plate length/thickness ratio assumes certain values. With this nonlinear coupling, the thickness-shear motion is no longer sinusoidal. Coupling to extension also affects energy trapping which is related to device mounting. When damping is 0.01, nonlinear coupling causes a frequency shift of the order of 10^-6 which is not insignificant,and an amplitude change of the order of 10^-8. The effects are expected to be stronger under real damping of 10^-5 or larger. To avoid nonlinear coupling to extension, certain values of the aspect ratio of the plate should be avoided.     

Water Status and Predictive Models of Moisture Content during Drying of Soybean Dregs Based on LF-NMR

To explore the drying characteristics of soybean dregs and a nondestructive moisture content test method, in this study, soybean dregs were dried with hot air (80 °C), the moisture content was measured using the drying method, water status was analyzed using low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) and the moisture content prediction models were built and validated. The results revealed that the moisture contents of the soybean dregs were 0.57 and 0.01 g/g(w.b.), respectively, after drying for 5 and 7 h. The effective moisture diffusivity increased with the decrease in moisture content; it ranged from 5.27 × 10⁻⁹ to 6.96 × 10⁻⁸ m²·s⁻¹. Soybean dregs contained bound water (T₂₁), immobilized water (T₂₂) and free water (T₂₃ and T₂₃’). With the proceeding of drying, all of the relaxation peaks shifted left until a new peak (T₂₃’) appeared; then, the structure of soybean dregs changed, and the relaxation peaks reformed, and the peak shifted left again. The peak area may predict the moisture content of soybean dregs, and the gray values of images predict the moisture contents mainly composed of free water or immobilized water. The results may provide a reference for drying of soybean dregs and a new moisture detection method.     

Five New Polyoxypregnane Glycosides from the Vines of Aspidopterys obcordata and Their Antinephrolithiasis Activity

From the dried vines of Aspidopterys obcordata Hemsl, five new polyoxypregnane glycosides, named obcordatas J–N (1–5), were obtained. Their structures were fully elucidated and characterized by HRESIMS and extensive spectroscopic data. In addition, all of the new compounds were screened for their antinephrolithiasis activity in vitro. The results showed that compounds 1–3 have prominent protective effects on calcium oxalate crystal-induced human kidney 2 (HK-2) cells, with EC₅₀ values ranging from 6.72 to 14.00 μM, which is consistent with the application value of A. obcordata in folk medicine for kidney stones.     

Joint Detection of Community and Structural Hole Spanner of Networks in Hyperbolic Space

Community detection and structural hole spanner (the node bridging different communities) identification, revealing the mesoscopic and microscopic structural properties of complex networks, have drawn much attention in recent years. As the determinant of mesoscopic structure, communities and structural hole spanners discover the clustering and hierarchy of networks, which has a key impact on transmission phenomena such as epidemic transmission, information diffusion, etc. However, most existing studies address the two tasks independently, which ignores the structural correlation between mesoscale and microscale and suffers from high computational costs. In this article, we propose an algorithm for simultaneously detecting communities and structural hole spanners via hyperbolic embedding (SDHE). Specifically, we first embed networks into a hyperbolic plane, in which, the angular distribution of the nodes reveals community structures of the embedded network. Then, we analyze the critical gap to detect communities and the angular region where structural hole spanners may exist. Finally, we identify structural hole spanners via two-step connectivity. Experimental results on synthetic networks and real networks demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm compared with several state-of-the-art methods.     

Cloning,Expression, Purification,and Characterization of β-Galactosidase from Bifidobacterium longum and Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum

Expression and purification of β-galactosidases derived from Bifidobacterium provide a new resource for efficient lactose hydrolysis and lactose intolerance alleviation. Here, we cloned and expressed two β-galactosidases derived from Bifidobacterium. The optimal pH for BLGLB1 was 5.5, and the optimal temperature was 45 °C, at which the enzyme activity of BLGLB1 was higher than that of commercial enzyme E (300 ± 3.6 U/mg) under its optimal conditions, reaching 2200 ± 15 U/mg. The optimal pH and temperature for BPGLB1 were 6.0 and 45 °C, respectively, and the enzyme activity (0.58 ± 0.03 U/mg) under optimum conditions was significantly lower than that of BLGLB1. The structures of the two β-galactosidase were similar, with all known key sites conserved. When o-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactoside (oNPG) was used as an enzyme reaction substrate, the maximum reaction velocity (V_max) for BLGLB1 and BPGLB1 was 3700 ± 100 U/mg and 1.1 ± 0.1 U/mg, respectively. The kinetic constant (K_m) of BLGLB1 and BPGLB1 was 1.9 ± 0.1 and 1.3 ± 0.3 mmol/L, respectively. The respective catalytic constant (k_cat) of BLGLB1 and BPGLB1 was 1700 ± 40 s⁻¹ and 0.5 ± 0.02 s⁻¹, respectively; the respective k_cat/K_m value of BLGLB1 and BPGLB1 was 870 L/(mmol∙s) and 0.36 L/(mmol∙s), respectively. The K_m, k_cat and V_max values of BLGLB1 were superior to those of earlier reported β-galactosidase derived from Bifidobacterium. Overall, BLGLB1 has potential application in the food industry.     

Removal of Carbamazepine in Aqueous Solution by CoS2/Fe2+/PMS Process

Carbamazepine (CBZ), as a typical pharmaceutical and personal care product (PPCP), cannot be efficiently removed by the conventional drinking water and wastewater treatment process. In this work, the CoS₂/Fe²⁺/PMS process was applied for efficient elimination of CBZ. The CBZ removal efficiency of CoS₂/Fe²⁺/PMS was 2.5 times and 23 times higher than that of CoS₂/PMS and Fe²⁺/PMS, respectively. The intensity of DMPO-HO• and DMPO-SO4•− followed the order of Fe²⁺/PMS < CoS₂/PMS < CoS₂/Fe²⁺/PMS, also suggesting the CoS₂/Fe²⁺/PMS process has the highest oxidation activity. The effects of reaction conditions (e.g., CoS₂ dosage, Fe²⁺ concentration, PMS concentration, initial CBZ concentration, pH, temperature) and water quality parameters (e.g., SO42−, NO3−, H2PO4−, Cl−, NH4+, humic acid) on the degradation of CBZ were also studied. Response surface methodology analysis was carried out to obtain the best conditions for the removal of CBZ, which are: Fe²⁺ = 70 µmol/L, PMS = 240 µmol/L, CoS₂ = 0.59 g/L. The sustainability test demonstrated that the repeated use of CoS₂ for 8 successive cycles resulted in little function decrease (<10%). These findings suggest that CoS₂/Fe²⁺/PMS may be a promising method for advanced treatment of tailwater from sewage treatment plant.