Predicting the subcellular location of apoptosis proteins based on recurrence quantification analysis and the Hilbertben Huang transform

Apoptosis proteins play an important role in the development and homeostasis of an organism. The elucidation of the subcellular locations and functions of these proteins is helpful for understanding the mechanism of programmed cell death. In this paper, the recurrent quantification analysis, Hilbert-Huang transform methods, the maximum relevance and minimum redundancy method and support vector machine are used to predict the subcellular location of apoptosis proteins. The validation of the jackknife test suggests that the proposed method can improve the prediction accuracy of the subcellular location of apoptosis proteins and its application may be promising in other fields.     

Modelling the specific pathway of CH4 and CO2 formation using carbon isotope fractionation: an example for a boreal mesotrophic fen

We described mathematically the process of peat methanization in a boreal mesotrophic fen. Gaseous and dissolved CH₄ and CO₂ as well as their δ¹³C signatures were considered in the dynamic equations for incubation bottles. In accordance with the model, acetate, H₂, and CO₂ were produced during cellulose hydrolysis and acidogenesis. ¹³C/¹²C in CO₂ was a key variable reflecting dynamic changes in the rates of cellulose hydrolysis and acidogenesis, acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. As CO₂ is the substrate in hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis, δ¹³C–CO₂ increased from the start till the dissolved hydrogen concentration became very low. Thereafter, the rate of acetoclastic methanogenesis with the significant current acetate concentration dominated over the rate of hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis leading to the decreasing δ¹³C–CO₂ and the increasing δ¹³C–CH₄. The model was validated by describing the system’s dynamics under strong and weak inhibition of acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis by methyl fluoride, respectively. During peat methanization at the lowered temperature of 10?°C, the processes of hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis and homoacetogenesis competing for H₂ may occur. However, based on dynamics of the carbon isotope signatures, especially on dynamics of δ¹³C–CO₂, the model showed no significant contribution of homoacetogens in peat methanization.     

大港减压渣油的多层次分离与组成结构研究

采用超临界戊烷萃取分馏技术,分离了大港减压渣油,得到16个窄馏分和1个萃余残渣,对其组成和结构进行了表征;对超临界萃取分离窄馏分进行了四组分分离,研究了饱和分、芳香分、胶质和沥青质等亚组分的元素组成、相对分子质量分布和平均分子结构。结果表明,由窄馏分得到的四组分（SARA）性质结构差别很大,饱和分的平均分子结构最简单,芳香分的平均相对分子质量最小,胶质中的硫、氮含量最多,从萃余残渣中得到的沥青质相对分子质量分布范围最宽（200~40000）。     

Selective Cytotoxicity of Portuguese Propolis Ethyl Acetate Fraction towards Renal Cancer Cells

Renal cell carcinoma is the most lethal cancer of the urological system due to late diagnosis and treatment resistance. Propolis, a beehive product, is a valuable natural source of compounds with bioactivities and may be a beneficial addition to current anticancer treatments. A Portuguese propolis sample, its fractions (n-hexane, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water) and three subfractions (P1–P3), were tested for their toxicity on A498, 786-O and Caki-2 renal cell carcinoma cell lines and the non-neoplastic HK2 kidney cells. The ethyl acetate fraction showed the strongest toxicity against A498 (IC₅₀ = 0.162 µg mL⁻¹) and 786-O (IC₅₀ = 0.271 µg mL⁻¹) cells. With similar toxicity against 786-O, P1 (IC₅₀ = 3.8 µg mL⁻¹) and P3 (IC₅₀ = 3.1 µg mL⁻¹) exhibited greater effect when combined (IC₅₀ = 2.5 µg mL⁻¹). Results support the potential of propolis and its constituents as promising coadjuvants in renal cell carcinoma treatment.     

Next Challenges for the Comprehensive Molecular Characterization of Complex Organic Mixtures in the Field of Sustainable Energy

The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass by pyrolysis or hydrothermal liquefaction gives access to a wide variety of molecules that can be used as fuel or as building blocks in the chemical industry. For such purposes, it is necessary to obtain their detailed chemical composition to adapt the conversion process, including the upgrading steps. Petroleomics has emerged as an integral approach to cover a missing link in the investigation bio-oils and linked products. It relies on ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry to attempt to unravel the contribution of many compounds in complex samples by a non-targeted approach. The most recent developments in petroleomics partially alter the discriminating nature of the non-targeted analyses. However, a peak referring to one chemical formula possibly hides a forest of isomeric compounds, which may present a large chemical diversity concerning the nature of the chemical functions. This identification of chemical functions is essential in the context of the upgrading of bio-oils. The latest developments dedicated to this analytical challenge will be reviewed and discussed, particularly by integrating ion source features and incorporating new steps in the analytical workflow. The representativeness of the data obtained by the petroleomic approach is still an important issue.     

Phenomenological Modeling of Formic Acid Fractionation of Sugarcane Bagasse by Integration of Operation Parameters as an Extended Combined Severity Factor

In order to more conveniently simulate and optimize the solubilization of sugarcane bagasse components during formic acid (FA) fractionation, an extended combined severity factor (CSF_ext) was defined to integrate various operation parameters as a single factor. Two phenomenological models based on Arrhenius and Logistic equations were further used to describe the phenomenological kinetics. Different data-processing methods were compared to fit the severity parameters and model constants. Both Arrhenius-based and Logistic-based models show satisfying fitting results, though the values of Arrhenius-based CSF_ext (A-CSF_ext) and Logistic-based CSF_ext (L-CSF_ext) were somewhat different under the same fractionation condition. The solubilization of biomass components increased with CSF_ext, but two distinct stages could be observed with inflection points at A-CSF_ext of 42 or L-CSF_ext of 43, corresponding to bulk and residual solubilization stages, respectively. For the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic solids, the highest initial enzymatic glucan conversion (EGC@6h) was obtained at A-CSF_ext of 39–40 or A-CSF_ext of 40–41; however, for a long hydrolysis period (72 h), relatively high glucan conversion (EGC@72h) was observed at A-CSF_ext of 42–43 or A-CSF_ext of 43–44. Post-treatment for deformylation with a small amount of lime could help to recover the cellulose digestibility.     

An experimental and numerical study on crystallization analysis fractionation (Crystaf)

Crystallization analysis fractionation (Crystaf) is a new technique used to estimate the chemical composition distribution (CCD) of semi-crystalline copolymers. In this study, the effect of chain microstructure and operation parameters on Crystaf profiles was investigated using a series of ethylene/1-hexene copolymers and their blends. The Crystaf profiles were also modeled via stochastic simulation based on the distribution of average ethylene sequence lengths.     

纳米和微米一水草酸钙对Vero细胞毒性的浓度效应

采用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、激光共聚焦显微镜(LSM)和流式细胞仪等技术比较了纳米级和微米级一水草酸钙(COM)对非洲绿猴肾上皮细胞(Vero)的毒性差异。结果显示,尺寸为100 nm和6μm的COM晶体都能引起Vero细胞活力下降、乳酸脱氢酶(LDH)释放量升高、透明质酸(HA)表达量增多、溶酶体完整性降低、线粒体膜电位下降、细胞死亡率升高和细胞周期滞留,表明这些晶体对Vero细胞都有损伤作用且呈现浓度依赖性,但纳米COM的毒性及其在细胞表面的粘附量均大于微米COM晶体。