Non-Gravitational Effects with Density-Matching in Evaluating the Influence of Sedimentation on Colloidal Coagulation

The method of density matching between the solid and liquid phases is often adopted to effectively eliminate the effect of sedimentation of suspensions in studies on dynamic behaviour of a colloidal system. However, the associated changes in the solvent composition may bring side effects to the properties investigated and therefore might lead to a faulty conclusion if the relevant correction is not made. To illustrate the importance of this side effect, we present an example of the sedimentation influence on the coagulation rate of suspensions of 2 μm (diameter) polystyrene. The liquid mixtures, in the proper proportions of water (H2O), deuterium oxide (D2O) and methanol (MeOH) as the liquid phase, density-matched and unmatched experiments are performed. Besides the influence of viscosity, the presence of methanol in solvent media, used to enhance the sedimentation effect, causes significant changes (reduction) in rapid coagulation rates compared to that in pure water. Without the relevant corrections for those non-gravitational factors it seems that gravitational sedimentation would retard the coagulation. The magnitude of the contribution from the non-gravitational factor is quantitatively determined, making the relevant correction possible. After necessary corrections for all factors, our experiments show that the influence of the sedimentation on coagulation rates at the initial stage of the coagulation is not observable.

柴油、甲醇和水三组元乳化液流变特性的研究

对柴油、甲醇和水三组元乳化液的流变特性进行了研究。实验发现，乳化液在本实验的组分配比下近似为牛顿流体，而且乳化剂的种类、含量以及乳化液的组分均对乳化液的流变特性具有显著的影响。对于组分相同的乳化液，乳化液的粘度随着乳化剂含量和粘度的增加而增加；当乳化剂的含量和粘度相同时，若甲醇和水之间的相对质量分数保持不变，减少乳化液中柴油的质量分数（不少于50%），乳化液的粘度随之增加。水和甲醇的含量对乳化液粘度的影响比较复杂，还需要做深入细致的机理研究。

Two-Phase Flow In Fuel Cells In Short-Term Microgravity Condition

A visual observation of liquid-gas two-phase flow in anode channels of a direct methanol proton exchange membrane fuel cells in microgravity has been carried out in a drop tower. The anode flow bed consisted of 2 manifolds and 11 parallel straight channels. The length, width and depth of single channel with rectangular cross section was 48.0 mm, 2.5 mm and 2.0 mm, respectively. The experimental results indicated that the size of bubbles in microgravity condition is bigger than that in normal gravity. The longer the time, the bigger the bubbles. The velocity of bubbles rising is slower than that in normal gravity because buoyancy lift is very weak in microgravity. The flow pattern in anode channels could change from bubbly flow in normal gravity to slug flow in microgravity. The gas slugs blocked supply of reactants from channels to anode catalyst layer through gas diffusion layer. When the weakened mass transfer causes concentration polarization, the output performance of fuel cells declines.

柴油、甲醇和水三组元乳化液滴微爆过程的研究

分别采用激光全息摄影技术和高速数字摄影技术观察了柴油、甲醇和水乳化液喷雾在高温高压(773K,3.1MPa)环境中发生微爆现象的瞬间和全过程,证实了微爆现象的存在.由于微爆机理的复杂性,尚难以用数学方法准确描述该过程.实验分析表明:若环境温度处于"最佳温度"范围内,乳化液滴表面首先形成"无水层",液滴内部形成一个水滴的概率很小,可能形成几个相对较大的水滴,只要其中一个较大水滴的蒸汽压力大于液滴的表面张力和环境压力之和,液滴就有可能发生微爆,微爆不仅与液滴直径、组分的质量分数和组分间的沸点差等乳化液的本身特性有关,而且环境温度和压力的影响也不容忽视.该研究可以为乳化液喷雾微爆过程的数学模拟提供参考.

The Droplet Group Micro-Explosions, Viscosity and Atomization Characteristics of W/O Emulsions

The spray of emulsified fuel, composed of diesel fuel, water and methanol can make micro-explosion under high temperature conditions, and the viscosity and the atomization characteristics of emulsion have significant effects on the micro- explosion of emulsions. To clarify the combustion mechanism of water-in-oil emulsion sprays, combustion bomb experiments were carried out, and the droplet group micro- explosions in W/O fuel emulsion sprays in a high-pressure, high-temperature bomb were observed clearly by a multi-pulsed, off-axis, image-plane ruby laser holocamera and continuously by a high-speed CCD camera.The viscosity and atomization characteristics of emulsions were also studied experimentally. The experimental results show that the higher concentration of the aqueous phase (water-methanol) (<50%) increases the viscosity of the emulsions, especially for higher agent concentration, and higher aqueous phase concentration and higher viscosity results in lager Sauter Mean Diameter (SMD). The experiment results also show that the different kinds of emulsifying agents, with different Hydrophile-Lipophile Balance (HLB) values, have significant influence on the viscosity of the emulsions.

Two-phase Flow in Fuel Cells in Short-term Microgravity Condition

A visual observation of liquid-gas two-phase flow in anode channels of a direct methanol proton exchange membrane fuel cells in microgravity has been carried out in a drop tower. The anode flow bed consisted of 2 manifolds and 11 parallel straight channels. The length, width and depth of single channel with rectangular cross section was 48.0 mm, 2.5 mm and 2.0 mm, respectively. The experimental results indicated that the size of bubbles in microgravity condition is bigger than that in normal gravity. The longer the time, the bigger the bubbles. The velocity of bubbles rising is slower than that in normal gravity because buoyancy lift is very weak in microgravity. The flow pattern in anode channels could change from bubbly flow in normal gravity to slug flow in microgravity. The gas slugs blocked supply of reactants from channels to anode catalyst layer through gas diffusion layer. When the weakened mass transfer causes concentration polarization, the output performance of fuel cells declines.

溶胶-凝胶光波导环形谐振腔的挥发性有机化合物传感特性

采用溶胶-凝胶法制作波导环形谐振腔, 讨论了环形谐振腔器件的传输特性。测量了在不同物质、不同体积分数的挥发性有机化合物(VOC)蒸气气氛下器件的传输光谱的敏感性。结果表明, 谐振波长随甲醇、乙醇、丙醇等醇类化合物, 以及丙酮、甲醛等蒸气体积分数的上升而向长波方向移动, 具有高的灵敏度, 且两者基本呈线性关系。其中, 对丙醇最敏感, 灵敏度达到1.403 pm/10-6。对甲烷和二甲苯也有微弱反应, 但是其灵敏度很低。也测量了水蒸气对传输谱特性的影响。观察到传输谱衬比度对不同挥发性有机化合物物质蒸气的不同敏

新型多氮杂环金属配合物的合成及其光谱研究

采用溶液析出法,合成了以2-（2′-羟基-5′-甲基苯基）苯并三唑（HMPB）为配体的多氮杂环金属配合物M（HMPB）2（M=Co,Ni）,利用元素分析、激光解析飞行时间质谱等进行了表征,并研究了新配合物的红外特征光谱和紫外-可见电子吸收光谱。结果表明：HMPB配体通过N和O原子与中心金属以二齿形式配位,中心金属的配位数为4;配合物红外特征吸收谱带位于400～2 500 cm^-1,形成金属配合物后,2-（2′-羟基-5′-甲基苯基）苯并三唑的羟基的伸缩振动吸收、CN振动峰和C─O特征吸收有明显改变,同时确定了配位键M─N和M─O的特征峰位置;配合物在紫外区有强吸收,其最大吸收峰位于335～345 nm。

Characterization of a new bradykinin-potentiating peptide (TmF) from Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus

A novel bradykinin-potentiating peptide (BPP), designated as TmF, has been purified to homogeneity from the venom of Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus by 70% cold methanol extraction, Sephadex G-15 gel filtration and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The amino acid sequence of TmF was determined to be pGlu-Gly-Arg-Pro-Leu-Gly-Pro-Pro-Ile-Pro-Pro (pGlu denotes pyroglutamic acid), which shared high homology with other BPPs. The molecular mass of TmF was 1.1107 kD as determinated by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), which was in accordance with the calculated value of 1.1106 kD. The potentiating "unit" of TmF to bradykinin-induced (BK-induced) contraction on the guinea-pig ileum in vitro was (1.13 +/- 0.3) unit (mg/L), and TmF (5.0 x 10(-4) mg/kg) increased the pressure-lowering-effect of bradykinin (5.0 x 10(-5) mg/kg) with approximate descent value of (14 +/- 2) mmHg. In addition, TmF inhibited the conversion of angiotensin I to angiotensin 11, 2 x 10(-3) mg of TmF caused 50% inhibition (IC50) of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) hydrolyzing activity to bradykinin.

Allelopathic effects of phenolic compounds present in submerged macrophytes on Microcystis aeruginosa

In laboratory studies, the allelopathic effects of 3 (Hydrocharitaceae family) submerged macrophytes (Elodea nuttallii (Planch) St. John, Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle and Vallisneria spiralis L.) were investigated on two strains of Microcystis aeruginosa. Both aqueous methanol extracts and exudates of three macrophytes inhibited the growth of both strains of Microcystis aeruginosa, After 3-days culture, E nuttallii, H. verticillata and V. spiralis excreted 0.8, 0.3 and 1.0% of total phenolic compounds (TPC), respectively, into the surrounding water. After removing phenolic compounds by polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP)), the plant exudates showed very weak activity. The inhibitory rates of exudates of E. nuttallii, H. verticillata and V. spiralis, against non-toxic M. aeruginosa were decreased by 35.7, 43.4 and 59.1% respectively. Thus 3 submerged macrophytes released the phenolic compounds into the surrounding water, to inhibit the growth of M. aeruginosa. This information may help us in understanding the mechanism of allelopathy in aquatic ecosystems and to control the algal bloom in eutrophic water bodies.

Detection of the hepatotoxic microcystins in 36 kinds of cyanobacteria Spirulina food products in China

Gel filtration chromatography, ultra-filtration, and solid-phase extraction silica gel clean-up were evaluated for their ability to remove microcystins selectively from extracts of cyanobacteria Spirulina samples after using the reversed-phase octadecylsilyl ODS cartridge for subsequent analysis by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The reversed-phase ODS cartridge/silica gel combination were effective and the optimal wash and elution conditions were: H2O (wash), 20% methanol in water (wash), and 90% methanol in water (elution) for the reversed-phase ODS cartridge, followed by 80% methanol in water elution in the silica gel cartridge. The presence of microcystins in 36 kinds of cyanobacteria Spirulina health food samples obtained from various retail outlets in China were detected by LC-MS/MS, and 34 samples (94%) contained microcystins ranging from 2 to 163 ng g(-1) (mean=1427 ng g(-1)), which were significantly lower than microcystins present in blue green alga products previously reported. MC-RR-which contains two molecules of arginine (R)-(in 94.4% samples) was the predominant microcystin, followed by MC-LR-where L is leucine-(30.6%) and MC-YR-where Y is tyrose-(27.8%). The possible potential health risks from chronic exposure to microcystins from contaminated cyanobacteria Spirulina health food should not be ignored, even if the toxin concentrations were low. The method presented herein is proposed to detect microcystins present in commercial cyanobacteria Spirulina samples.

Cell surface display of functionally active lipases from Yarrowia lipolytica in Pichia pastoris

The lipase genes of Yarrowia lipolytica, LIPY7 and LIPY8, fused with FLO-flocculation domain sequence from Saccharomyces cerevisiae at their N-termini, were expressed in Pichia pastoris KM71. Following the induction with methanol, the recombinant proteins were displayed on the cell surface of P. pastoris, as confirmed by the confocal laser scanning microscopy. The LipY7p and LipY8p were anchored on P. pastoris via the flocculation functional domain of Flo 1 p. The surface-displayed lipases were characterized for their application as the whole-cell biocatalyst. These lipases can also be cleaved off from their anchor by enterokinase treatment to yield functionally active proteins in the supernatant offering an alternative purification method for LipY7p and LipY8p. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The optimization of high performance liquid chromatographic method for analysis of trace microcystins in natural water bodies

The ratio of methanol., water and trifluoroacetic acid ( TFA) was regulated to change the polarity and the pH of the rinse solution and the eluent, so as to improve the high performance liquid chromatography HPLC) detection method for trace microcystines (MCs) in natural water bodies. The results showed that 40 % similar to 45 % methanol-water solution containing 0. 1 % TFA could get good effects on the rinse of impurity, and 70% methanol-water solution containing 0. 1% TFA could elute all the MCs in solid phase extraction ( SPE) cartridge ( C-18), In this way. it is suggested that, in analysis of environmental samples with high concentration of impurity, impurity should be washed with 40% similar to 45% methanol-water solution containing 0. 1% TFA, and MCs should be eluted with 70% similar to 100% methanol-water solution containing 0. 1% TFA.

Measurement of estrogen activity in two Chinese lakes

Estrogenic activities of samples from two Chinese lakes, Ya-Er Lake and Donghu Lake, were measured by in vitro recombinant yeast assay and found in both lakes polluted with industrial and domestic wastewater. In methanol extracts of lake water samples the estrogen-like activity was higher than in toluene extracts. These results have been inverted for solid samples. Furthermore, the EC50 value of the water samples was close to the original concentration in the lake.