In Silico Prediction of Cross-Reactive Epitopes of Tropomyosin from Shrimp and Other Arthropods Involved in Allergy

Tropomyosin in shellfish is considered a major cross-reactive allergen in house dust mites and cockroaches; however, the specific epitopes have not been elucidated. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the consensus antigenic determinant among shrimp, house dust mites, and cockroaches using in silico methods. The protein sequences of tropomyosin, including Der f 10, Mac r 1, Pen a 1, Pen m 1, Per a 7, and Bla g 7, were retrieved from the UniProt database. The 3D structures were derived from the AlphaFold or modeled using the Robetta. The determination of linear epitopes was performed by AlgPRED and BepiPRED for B cell epitope, and NetMHCIIpan and NetMHCII for T cell epitope, while Ellipro was used to evaluate conformational epitopes. Fourteen peptides were discovered as the consensus linear B cell epitopes, while seventeen peptides were identified as linear T cell epitopes specific to high-frequency HLA-DR and HLA-DQ alleles. The conformational determination of B cell epitopes provided nine peptides, in which residues 209, 212, 255–256, and 258–259 were found in both linear B cell and linear T cell epitope analysis. This data could be utilized for further in vitro study and may contribute to immunotherapy for allergic diseases associated with tropomyosin.     

辐射照相系统中转换屏的分辨率研究

在高能X光辐射照相系统中,通常使用闪烁体材料的转换屏将X光转换为可见光进行探测。建立了转换屏空间分辨率的计算模型,模拟了转换屏的空间分辨率随屏的厚度、材料及X光子能量的变化关系,为系统的设计提供了参数。     

电子照相技术成像模拟研究

针对高能电子照相的关键物理过程开展蒙特卡罗照相模拟研究,采用Geant4围绕2.5 GeV电子在四极透镜组内的输运、电子与物质相互作用衰减等照相基本过程展开研究。通过设计不同材料、不同厚度的含缺陷平板作为模拟照相客体,开展放大型电子照相系统缺陷分辨能力模拟。此外,采用不同材料、不同厚度的台阶样品,模拟获得了电子束流穿过相应面密度材料后的线扩展函数,进一步评估电子照相对实心客体的探测分辨能力。     

Dust modelling using a combined CFD and discrete element formulation

The production and dispersal of airborne dust is an important issue in both environmental and industrial contexts. Dust pollution is a major environmental concern, and long exposure in occupational settings has been linked with numerous respiratory health issues. Industrial dust pollution can also present a significant explosion hazard, even in facilities with dust extraction systems. Computational models for dust generation and dispersal have, however, generally been formulated for specific geophysical applications and restricted to static, two‐dimensional, approaches. Here, we present a method for simulating dust production from a dynamic granular bed by using a three‐dimensional coupled discrete element method and Navier–Stokes computational model. Dust production is based on an energy formulation in which micro‐scale dust particles are assumed to overcome cohesion to macro‐scale grains. This model is used over the entire range of energies present within the system, from macro‐scale collisions to aerodynamic entrainment and bombardment of micro‐scale particles. The dust concentration is modelled as a scalar density field, which is advected and diffused through turbulence in the gas flow field. The model is tested against empirical predictions for two test cases, a slug of granular material dropped from a set height and air flow over a granular stockpile. Both give good agreement to the empirical relations, showing that the model can accurately predict the production and subsequent dispersal of dust from a dynamic granular bed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coconut coir dust extract: a novel eco-friendly corrosion inhibitor for Al in HCl solutions

Abstract

Corrosion inhibition of aluminium in 1 M HCl by coconut coir dust extract (CCDE) was studied using weight loss and hydrogen evolution techniques at 30 and 60°C. It was found that the studied extract exhibits a very good performance as inhibitor for aluminium corrosion in 1 M HCl. Results show that the inhibition efficiency increases with increasing temperature and concentration of the extract. Inhibitive effect was afforded by adsorption of the extracts' components which was found to accord with Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Inhibition mechanism is deduced from the temperature dependence of the inhibition efficiency and was further corroborated by the values of activation parameters obtained from the experimental data.     

Deflagration-to-detonation transition process for spherical aluminum dust/epoxypropane mist/air mixtures in a large-scale experimental tube

The deflagration-to-detonation transitions (DDTs) for clouds of spherical aluminum dust (SAD) mixed with air or epoxypropane mist (EPM) and air were investigated in a 29.6-m-long experimental tube of 199 mm in diameter. The clouds formed through the injection of SAD and SAD/liquid epoxypropane samples into the experimental tube. Explosions of the SAD/air mixture were initiated using a 7-m-long EPM/air cloud explosion ignited by a 40-J electric spark. Explosions in SAD/EPM/air clouds were initiated using a 1...     

An empirical formula for scattered neutron components in fast neutron radiography

Scattering neutrons are one of the key factors that may affect the images of fast neutron radiog- raphy. In this paper, a mathematical model for scattered neutrons is developed on a cylinder sample, and an empirical formula for scattered neutrons is obtained. According to the results given by Monte Carlo methods, the parameters in the empirical formula are obtained with curve fitting, which confirms the logicality of the empirical formula. The curve-fitted parameters of common materials such as <'6>LiD are given.     

Free convection of a dusty‐gas flow along a semi‐infinite vertical cylinder

An analysis is performed to study the free convection of a dusty‐gas flow along a semi‐infinite isothermal vertical cylinder. The governing equations of the flow problem are transformed into non‐dimensional form and the resulting nonlinear, coupled parabolic partial differential equations have been solved numerically using an implicit finite difference scheme of Crank–Nicholson type. The flow variables such as gas–velocity, dust‐particle velocity and temperature, shearing stress and heat transfer coefficients are calculated numerically for various parameters occurring in the problem. It is observed that due to the presence of dust particles, the gas velocity is found to decrease. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of Pd,Rh, Pt,Au in road dust by electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with slurry sampling

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry coupled with ultrasonic slurry sampling electrothermal vaporization (USS-ETV-ICP-MS) has been applied to determine Pd, Rh, Pt and Au in 0.5% m/v slurries of several road dust samples. 2% m/v ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (APDC) was used as the modifier to enhance the ion count. The influence of instrument operating conditions, slurry preparation and interferences on the ion count was reported. This method has been applied to the determination of Pd, Rh, Pt and Au in BCR 723 Road Dust and NIST SRM 2709 San Joaquin Soil reference materials and two road dust samples collected locally. The analysis results of the standard reference materials agreed with the certified values. Precision between sample replicates was better than 10% for all the determinations. The method detection limits estimated from standard addition curves were 0.9, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.4 ng g⁻¹ for Pd, Rh, Pt and Au, respectively, in original dust samples.     

Efficient Synthesis of Aryl Hydroxylactams by Reducing Imides With Activated Zinc Dust

A series of aryl hydroxylactams (2a, 2b, 2d–2g, 2i–2k, 2m, and 2n) was synthesized by partially reducing aryl cyclic imides in moderate to excellent yields with activated zinc dust alone in acetic acid. This method was regiospecific and can be employed as an alternative for reported methods to partially reduce aryl cyclic imides.