Front roughening in three-dimensional imbibition

We investigate the structure and dynamics of the interface between two immiscible liquids in a three-dimensional disordered porous medium. We apply a phase-field model that includes explicitly disorder and discuss both spontaneous and forced imbibition. The structure of the interface is dominated by a length scale ξ_× which arises from liquid conservation. We further show that disorder in the capillary and permeability act on different length scales and give rise to different scalings and structures of the interface properties. We conclude with a range of applications.     

机械密封焊接金属波纹管膜片结构的有限元分析

在Linux操作平台下应用FAST_wmg有限元前后处理软件对机械密封焊接金属波纹管膜片建立了有限元模型并进行了非线性有限元分析．在同等条件下对焊接金属波纹管采用了S型膜片和V型膜片，并分别进行了有限元强度评价和对比分析．结果表明，两种膜片最大应力集中都在膜片两端周围发生．这与文献所叙述的波纹管的主要失效发生在膜片两端与焊谷接近的部位非常吻合，但是，在同样边界条件下，在同样位移量时S型膜片最大应力值比V型膜片最大应力值小，压缩量大．     

Liquid Chromatographic Determination of NSAIDs in Urine After Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction Based on Solidification of Floating Organic Droplets

An environmentally benign method of sample preparation based on dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and solidification of floating organic droplets (DLLME-SFO) coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection has been developed for analysis of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in biological fluids. A low-toxicity solvent was used to replace the chlorinated solvents commonly used in conventional DLLME. Seven conditions were investigated and optimized: type and volume of extraction solvent and dispersive solvent, extraction time, effect of addition of salt, and sample pH. Under the optimum conditions, good linearity was obtained in the range 0.01–10 µg mL⁻¹, with coefficients of determination (r ²) >0.9949. Detection limits were in the range 0.0034–0.0052 µg mL⁻¹ with good reproducibility (RSD) and satisfactory inter-day and intra-day recovery (95.7–115.6 %). The method was successfully used for analysis of diclofenac, mefenamic acid, and ketoprofen in human urine. Analysis of urine samples from a patient 2 and 4 h after administration of diclofenac revealed concentrations of 1.20 and 0.34 µg mL⁻¹, respectively.

     

Determination of pesticides in water by cone-shaped membrane protected liquid phase microextraction prior to micro-liquid chromatography

A new sample pre-treatment technique termed cone-shaped membrane liquid phase microextraction (CSM-LPME) was developed and combined with micro-liquid chromatography (micro-LC) for the determination of selected pesticides in water samples. Four pesticides (hexaconazole, procymidone, quinalphos and vinclozolin) were considered as target analytes. Several important extraction parameters such as types of extraction solvent, agitation rate, pH value, total exposure time and effect of salt and humic acids were optimized. Enrichment factors of > 50 folds were easily achieved within 20 min of extraction. The analytical data demonstrated relative standard deviations for the reproducibility of the optimized CSM-LPME method ranging from 6.3 to 7.5%. The correlation coefficients of the calibration curves were at least 0.9995 across a concentration range of 2-100 microg/L. The detection limits for all the analytes were found to be in the range of 1.1-1.9 microg/L.     

Quantitative assessment of the enzymatic degradation of amorphous cellulose by using a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring

The systematic evaluation of the degradation of an amorphous cellulose film by a monocomponent endoglucanase (EG I) by using a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) identified several important aspects relevant to the study the kinetics of cellulose degradation by enzymes. It was demonstrated that, to properly evaluate the mechanism of action, steady state conditions in the experimental set up need to be reached. Rinsing or diluting the enzyme, as well as concentration of the enzyme, can have a pronounced effect on the hydrolysis. Quantification of the actual hydrolysis was carried out by measuring the film thickness reduction by atomic force microscopy after the enzymatic treatment. The values correlated well with the frequency data obtained by QCM-D measurement for corresponding films. This demonstrated that the evaluation of hydrolysis by QCM-D can be done quantitatively. Tuning of the initial thickness of films enabled variation of the volume of substrate available for hydrolysis which was then utilized in establishing a correlation between substrate volume and hydrolytic activity of EG I as measured by QCM-D. It was shown that, although the amount of substrate affects the absolute rate of hydrolysis, the relative rate of hydrolysis does not depend on the initial amount of substrate in steady state system. With this experimental setup it was also possible to demonstrate the impact of concentration on crowding of enzyme and subsequent hydrolysis efficiency. This effort also shows the action of EG I on a fully amorphous substrate as observed by QCM-D. The enzyme was shown to work uniformly within the whole volume of swollen film, however being unable to fully degrade the amorphous film.     

Chemical Proteomics and Phenotypic Profiling Identifies the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor as a Molecular Target of the Utrophin Modulator Ezutromid

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal muscle‐wasting disease arising from mutations in the dystrophin gene. Upregulation of utrophin to compensate for the missing dystrophin offers a potential therapy independent of patient genotype. The first‐in‐class utrophin modulator ezutromid/SMT C1100 was developed from a phenotypic screen through to a Phase 2 clinical trial. Promising efficacy and evidence of target engagement was observed in DMD patients after 24 weeks of treatment, however trial endpoints were not met after 48 weeks. The objective of this study was to understand the mechanism of action of ezutromid which could explain the lack of sustained efficacy and help development of new generations of utrophin modulators. Using chemical proteomics and phenotypic profiling we show that the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a target of ezutromid. Several lines of evidence demonstrate that ezutromid binds AhR with an apparent K_D of 50 nm  and behaves as an AhR antagonist. Furthermore, other reported AhR antagonists also upregulate utrophin, showing that this pathway, which is currently being explored in other clinical applications including oncology and rheumatoid arthritis, could also be exploited in future DMD therapies.     

Rapid and direct determination of glyphosate,glufosinate, and aminophosphonic acid by online preconcentration CE with contactless conductivity detection

Rapid and direct online preconcentration followed by CE with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (CE‐C⁴D) is evaluated as a new approach for the determination of glyphosate, glufosinate (GLUF), and aminophosphonic acid (AMPA) in drinking water. Two online preconcentration techniques, namely large volume sample stacking without polarity switching and field‐enhanced sample injection, coupled with CE‐C⁴D were successfully developed and optimized. Under optimized conditions, LODs in the range of 0.01–0.1 μM (1.7–11.1 μg/L) and sensitivity enhancements of 48‐ to 53‐fold were achieved with the large volume sample stacking‐CE‐C⁴D method. By performing the field‐enhanced sample injection‐CE‐C⁴D procedure, excellent LODs down to 0.0005–0.02 μM (0.1–2.2 μg/L) as well as sensitivity enhancements of up to 245‐ to 1002‐fold were obtained. Both techniques showed satisfactory reproducibility with RSDs of peak height of better than 10%. The newly established approaches were successfully applied to the analysis of glyphosate, glufosinate, and aminophosphonic acid in spiked tap drinking water.     

Dynamic supported liquid membrane tip extraction of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid followed by capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection

A dynamic supported liquid membrane tip extraction (SLMTE) procedure for the effective extraction and preconcentration of glyphosate (GLYP) and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in water has been investigated. The SLMTE procedure was performed in a semi-automated dynamic mode and demonstrated a greater performance against a static extraction. Several important extraction parameters such as donor phase pH, cationic carrier concentration, type of membrane solvent, type of acceptor stripping phase, agitation and extraction time were comprehensively optimized. A solution of Aliquat-336, a cationic carrier, in dihexyl ether was selected as the supported liquid incorporated into the membrane phase. Quantification of GLYP and AMPA was carried out using capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection. An electrolyte solution consisting of 12 mM histidine (His), 8 mM 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (MES), 75 μM cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), 3% methanol, pH 6.3, was used as running buffer. Under the optimum extraction conditions, the method showed good linearity in the range of 0.01–200 μg/L (GLYP) and 0.1–400 μg/L (AMPA), acceptable reproducibility (RSD 5–7%, n = 5), low limits of detection of 0.005 μg/L for GLYP and 0.06 μg/L for AMPA, and satisfactory relative recoveries (90–94%). Due to the low cost, the SLMTE device was disposed after each run which additionally eliminated the possibility of carry-over between runs. The validated method was tested for the analysis of both analytes in spiked tap water and river water with good success.