A novel laser light-scattering study of enzymatic biodegradation of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanoparticles

A successful micronization of water-insoluble poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) into narrowly distributed nanoparticles stable in water has not only enabled us to study the enzymatic biodegradation of PCL in water at 25 degrees C by a combination of static and dynamic laser light scattering (LLS), but also to shorten the biodegradation time by a factor of more than 10(3) compared with using a thin PCL film, i.e. a 1 week conventional experiment becomes a 4 min one. The time-average scattering intensity decreased linearly. It was interesting to find that the decrease of the scattering intensity was not accompanied by a decrease of the average size of the PCL nanoparticles, indicating that the enzyme, Lipase Pseudomonas (PS), ''eats'' the PCL nanoparticles one-by-one, so that the biodegradation rate is determined mainly by the: enzyme concentration. Moreover, we found that using anionic sodium lauryl sulphate instead of cationic hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide as surfactant in the micronization can prevent the biodegradation, suggesting that the biodegradation involves two essential steps: the adsorption of slightly negatively charged Lipase PS onto the PCL nanoparticles and the interaction between Lipase PS and PCL. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Solvent extraction of scandium(III) by Cyanex 923 and Cyanex 925

The extraction equilibria of Sc(III), Zr(IV), Ti(IV), Th(IV), Fe(III) and Lu(III) from sulphuric or hydrochloric acid media by Cyanex 923 (mixture of straight chain alkylated phosphine oxides) and Cyanex 925 (mixture of branched chain alkylated phosphine oxides) were studied at various aqueous acidities. The extractant Cyanex 923 demonstrated better scandium loading and selectivity for TI(IV). Fe(III) and Lu(III) than Cyanex 925. The effects of extractant concentration on the extractions of sulphuric acid and Sc(III) by Cyanex 923 were examined. The stoichiometries of the extraction reactions were postulated based on slope analysis. The experimental results indicate that Cyanex 923 can be employed to recover scandium directly from the hydrolytic mother solution arising from TiO2 production via the sulphate process. The parameters studied were scandium loading capacity, phase ratio, concentrations of Ti(IV) scrubbing and Sc(III) stripping agents. A new solvent extraction technology of scandium recovery was developed. The purity of the final Sc(III) product is above 95% with a yield > 94%. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY AND IN-SITU IR MICROSPECTROELECTROCHEMISTRY IN A VERSATILE THIN-LAYER REFLECTION FOURIER-TRANSFORM IR MICROSPECTROELECTROCHEMICAL CELL

A simple, convenient and versatile thin layer reflection Fourier transform IR microspectroelectrochemical (FTIRMSEC) cell has been described and characterized. Electrochemistry and in situ FTIR microspectroscopy were studied by using the hexacyanoferrate redox couple in aqueous sulphate solution, indicating that this type of cell is characteristic of both micro- or ultramicroelectrode and thin layer spectroelectrochemistry. Furthermore, the application of this FTIRMSEC cell to IR for characterization of the products of electrochemical reactions was carried out for the oxidation of (mesotetraphenylporphinato)manganese(III) perchlorate in dichloromethane + tetrabutylammonium perchlorate solution. Finally, the advantages and problems of this type of cell compared with a conventional optically transparent thin layer FTIR spectroelectrochemical cell were discussed.

IN-SITU SCANNING-TUNNELING-MICROSCOPY IMAGE OF A HIGHLY ORIENTED PYROLYTIC-GRAPHITE ELECTRODE MODIFIED WITH POTASSIUM BIS(11-MOLYBDOSILICATO) DYSPROSATE(III) IN SODIUM-SULFATE SOLUTION

The variation in molecule adsorption mode on pretreated highly oriented pyrolytic graphite electrodes, modified with the title complex K10H3[Dy(SiMo11O39)(2)] by cyclic voltammetry in the title complex solution, was observed in situ by electrochemical scanning tunnelling microscopy (ECSTM) with molecular resolution in sodium sulphate solution. According to the ECSTM images and the known molecular structure we conclude that the adsorption mode of the title complex modified electrode changed during potential cycling from ''vertical'' to ''inclined'' and then ''horizontal'' or ''flat'' mode, i.e. the title complex adsorbed on the surface of electrode by one ligand of the complex at first, then began to incline and was finally adsorbed by two ligands of the complex. This result indicates that the adsorption mode on the modified electrode surface changed during potential cycling in the sulphate solution and a much more stable molecular layer was formed. The change in adlattice of adsorbates on the modified electrode surface from hexagonal to rectangular was also observed by ECSTM. A plausible model was given to explain this process.

INVESTIGATIONS OF HYDROLYSIS KINETICS OF ATROPINE SULFATE BY ELECTROANALYSIS AT THE WATER NITROBENZENE INTERFACE

The hydrolysis kinetics of atropine sulphate has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry at the water/nitrobenzene interface. The transfer process is diffusion controlled and the transfer species is a 1:1 proton-atropine complex. Two main factors, pH and temperature, which have notable effects on the hydrolysis rate, are illustrated. The most suitable pH for atropine to be preserved in aqueous solution and related parameters were estimated.

POLYANILINE CHEMICALLY MODIFIED ELECTRODE FOR DETECTION OF ANIONS IN FLOW-INJECTION ANALYSIS AND ION CHROMATOGRAPHY

An electrochemical detector based on a polyaniline conducting polymer chemically modified electrode (PAn CME) was developed for use in flow-injection analysis and ion chromatography. Iodide, bromide, thiocyanate and thiosulphate are detected by using ion chromatography with a PAn CME electrochemical detector. The detection limits are 1, 5, 10 and 10 mgl-1, respectively. The CME response for electroinactive anions varies selectively with the mobile phase composition in flow-injection analysis. By this approach, perchlorate, sulphate, nitrate, iodide, acetate and oxalate can be detected conveniently and reproducibly over a linear concentration range of at least 3 orders of magnitude. The electrode is stable for over 2 weeks with no evidence of chemical or mechanical deterioration.

A novel anti-tumor protein extracted from Meretrix meretrix Linnaeus induces cell death by increasing cell permeability and inhibiting tubulin polymerization

Discovery and development of new pharmaceuticals from marine organisms are attracting increasing interest. Several agents derived from marine organisms are under preclinical and clinical evaluation as potential anticancer drugs. We extracted and purified a novel anti-tumor protein from the coelomic fluid of Meretrix meretrix Linnaeus by ammonium sulphate fractionation, ion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The molecular weight of the highly purified protein, designated MML, was 40 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE analysis. MML exhibited significant cytotoxicity to several cancer cell types, including human hepatoma BEL-7402, human breast cancer MCF-7 and human colon cancer HCT116 cells. However, no inhibitory effect was found when treating murine normal fibroblasts NIH3T3 and benign human breast MCF-10A cells with MML. The cell death induced by MML was characterized by cell morphological changes. The induction of apoptosis of BEL-7402 cells by MML was weak by DNA ladder assay. The possible mechanisms of its anti-tumor effect might be the changes in cell membrane permeability and inhibition of tubulin polymerization. MML may be developed as a novel, highly selective and effective anti-cancer drug.

羟基自由基降解琼胶及其产物的活性研究

琼胶是一种从石花菜等红藻中提取的，目前生产工艺和结构等方面研究比较成熟的海藻多糖，广泛应用于医药、仪器等行业。但是，海藻多糖因为具有分子量大，粘度大，溶解度较小的等特点，而使其应用范围受到限制。利用降解的手段对其进行修饰，降低分子量和粘度，改善溶解性，可以拓展其应用范围。并且根据文献报道，琼 胶寡糖具有一些特殊的生物活性，如抗氧化性，抗炎症等。因此，对琼胶降解的研究具有生要意义。本研究中，为了选择一种合适的降解方法，进行了几种水解方法的尝试，其中包括在不同湿度和酸度下盐酸水解，过氧化氢和醋酸催化水解，Fenton体系羟基自由基降解。对于酸水解和Fenton体系氧化还原降解方法，通过粘度法对反应的速度进行了比较，表明氧化还原降解反应中琼胶的粘度降低比较快，并且具有代表性和新意，确定为本实验的降解琼胶的方法并对氧化还原降解所得的产物进行了活性实验。通过模仿自然界普遍存在的氧化还原降解反应，利用Vc诱导的Fenton体系产生的羟基自由基氧化还原降解琼胶得到低分子量的琼胶。降解产物经过高速离心、60％乙醇沉淀，除去分子量比较大的降解产物和磷酸盐，得到可溶于60％乙醇的分子量估计小于3000的降争产物，其产率为85％。利用经Sephadex-G25凝胶色谱分离所香的不同分子量的级分进行分子量和α－葡萄糖苷酶抑制活性关系的实验。降解产物对α－葡萄糖苷酶的抑制率和各级分的浓度呈线性正相关，并且各级分的IC_(50)则随着分子量的降低而降低。另外，对所得的降解产物混合物进行了红外吸收光谱、质子去偶核磁共震碳谱和负离子基质辅助激光诱导－飞行时间质谱结构分析。结果表明，氧化还原降解反应的专一性差，在得到寡糖的同时，在光谱图中出现一些比较复杂的副产物的结构信息。最后，根据MTT法的原理，以有体皮肤成纤维细胞为材料，通过紫外线辐射产生自由基造成氧化损伤，研究降解产物对成纤维细胞的保护作用。当无紫外线辐射时，降解产物对成纤维细胞具有显著的促进生长增殖作用：当经UVa、UBb辐射时则可以显著地表现出对损伤的保护作用，并且这种促进生长和保护作用呈显著的量效关系，表明降解产物具有清除基自由基的作用。但是，因为氧化还原降解以应的机理尚不十分明的以及琼羟胶的特殊结构，使得反应的副产物很难预测，也就使得分离工作难以进行，所以，根据目前所得的信息，尚不能确定是降解产物的什么级分产生的以上两种生物活性。

扬子地区上奥陶－下志留统黑色岩系形成机理

The black rock series of the Upper Ordovician - Lower Silurian in Yangtze area are important source rocks and have exceptional characteristics of sediment, biology, element geochemistry, carbon and oxygen isotope, organic geochemistry and etc. These characteristics are the reflection of important geology events. Due to scarce system research, many problems that relate to the development mechanism of source rocks are not solved. And this restricts the exploration of Oil and gas in South China. In this paper, author studied the palaeo-climate, palaeo-structure and palaeo-environment of the Upper Ordovician - Lower Silurian in Yangtze area by sedimentology, palaeobiology and geochemistry, especially the element geochemistry and isotope geochemistry. The environment model of source rocks is established and some conclusions are drawn. The Upper Ordovician - Lower Silurian sediment types in Yangtze area are mostly black shales, next, mudstone, shell limestone and siltystone. During the Late Ordovician and Earily Silurian periods, a series of big upheaval and depressed are distributed in Yangtze area, and the strata pattern of interphase upheaval and depressed led to Yangtze palaeosea isolated with outside sea. So the stagnant and anoxic environment that are the favorable factor of rich organic black shales sediment is formed in Yangtze area. That Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) values of the lower Wufeng formation and Longmaxi formation exhibits moderate chemistry weathering suggests they were deposited under the circumstances of the warm and humid climate. However, the large difference of the CIA values of N.extraordinarius-N.ojsuensis biozone suggests that climate is changeful. Therefore, there were two different kinds of climates in the course of the deposition of the Wufeng formation and Longmaxi formation. During the Late Ordovician - Earily Silurian periods, in Yangtze palaeosea, the surface water which is full of rich nutriment and abundant bacterium - algae has high palaeo-productivity that is obvious difference in the different space – time. The content of sulphate changes gradually from the surface water columns to the deep water columns. That is, salinity in the surface water columns is serious low and the salinity in deep water columns is normal. Salinity delamination is favor of the forming of deep anoxic environment. During Wufeng period, the oxidated and low sulfate environment exists in the upper Yangtze palaeosea, while the anoxic and normal salinity environment occurs in the lower Yangtze palaeosea. During the Late Wufeng and Guanyinqiao periods, the steady anoxic environment is replaced by oxidated environment. During the Longmaxi period, layered and anoxic environment recur. In Yangtze area, studies of δ13C of sedimentary organic carbon show a positive δ13C excursion up to 4‰ in the Guanyinqiao stage and then, acute negative excursion in the earily Longmaxi stage. These organic carbon isotopes curve are not only efficient measure of carving up strata borderline, but also reflected the change of originality productivity. These organic carbon isotopes curves showed the process of the enhanced embedding of the global organic carbon. Anoxic event is the main factor of increasing organic carbon embedding speed. And the reduced organic carbon embedding in Hirnantian stage is due to the water column with abundant oxygen. The δ34S values are gradually positive excursion from P.pacificus biozone to N.extraordinarius biozone, and reach the maximum in the Upper Hirnantian stage. Then, the δ34S values are negative excursion. The excursions of δ13C and δ34S reflect the acute change of environment. The formation of source rocks is largely dependent on the nature of organisms from which kerogen is derived and the preservation conditions of organic matter, which are fundamentally dependent on a favourable combination of various elements in which organisms live and are subsequently buried. These elements include palaeoclimate, palaeostructure and palaeoenvironmental conditions. Based on above mentioned circumstance, the coupling connection of source rock and the palaeoclimate, and of palaeostructure and palaeoenvironmental conditions are confirmed, and the “anoxic-marginal depression-photosynthesis” environemental model is established. It is indicated that anoxic played important role in production of organic matter. The produced organic matter was accumulated in marginal depression of the Yangtze area. The photosynthesis is favor of the high productivity. Source rocks have a good perspective, like that of “hot shale” deposited in North Africa.

富硫流体的成因与硫酸盐还原作用研究

Origins of H_2S, thiols, thiophenes in natural gases and sulphur-enriched oils are complicated and thus some debates exist on them. The post-doctoral research is based upon oil- and gas-field data. Cases for study include Triassic Jianglingjiang Formation natural gases, Wolonghe Field, Sichuan Basin, Paleozoic oils and bitumen, Central Tarim, gases reserviored nearby Carboniferious - Ordovician unconformity, Hetianhe Field, Tarim Basin and sulphur-enriched oils in Tertiary reserviors in Jinxian Sag, Bohai Bay Basin. We have carried out analyses on the oils and gases for chemistry, δ~(13)C, δ~(34)S, and molecular composition of biomarkers, analyzed authigenetic pyrite forδ~(34)S, formation water for chemistry and δD and δ~(18)O along with petroleum system and burial history analyses, The aims are to assess the origins of the H2S and authigenetic pyrite, to discuss the possibility of reduced sulphur incorporation into hydrocarbons and to determine the mechanisms of hydrocarbon secondary alteration in the above four cases by comparison. The research shows that the reduced sulphur in the four cases is the result of thermochemical and biological sulphate reduction., TSR and BSR, respectively. No evidence indicates an origin of decomposition of organic matter or mantle - derived H2S in the cases. Elevated H_2S contents (up to 32%) in the Triassic Jialingjiang Formation are considered to result from TSR while relatively low H_2S (up to 2000ppm) in the Hetianhe Field resulted from BSR. However, it is not the case for the Central Tarim where relatively low H2S but abundant authigenetic pyrite occurr. Part of the H_2S in the Central Tarim reservoirs has reacted with iron released from clay minerals to precipitate pyrite. Thus, reduced sulphur δ~(34)S and reservoir temperatures rather than the H2S amount are reliable parameters to distinguish between TSR and BSR. TSR in Sichuan Basin Triassic Jialingjiang Formation and Central Tarim Paleozoic reservoirs are showed to take place at more than 125℃. the H2S and authigenetic pyrite have δ~(34)S close to parent anhydrite. In contrast, BSR in the reservoirs near the Carboniferous - Ordovician unconformity in the Hetianhe Field and in the Tertiary in the Jinxian Sag took place at temperatures less than 80℃with sulphide δ~(34)S as light as -24.9‰ and -12.5‰, anhydrite δ~(34)S as heavy as +26‰and +3 5-+40‰, respectively. Chemistry and isotopic composition of the natural gases change as the result of sulphate reduction. It has been observed that relative composition of light hydrocarbon gases is changed along with a rise in H_2S and CO_2. TSR in the Triassic Jialingjiang Formation and BSR in the Hetianhe Field result in a greater degree of preferential depletion of methane than larger molecular hydrocarbon gases. As TSR or BSR proceeds, hydrocarbon gases evolved to heavier carbon isotope as the result of kinetic isotopic fractionation, i.e., selective anaerobic oxidation of ~(12)C. Using the model of residual methane (Whiticar, 1999) to describe the relationship among the proportion of methane oxidation, isotopic shift and fraction factor, about 30% methane is calculated to have been oxidized during BSR in the western part of the Hetianhe Field. From the above, it can be concluded that in the area where H_2S is abundant, empiricalδ~(13)C -Ro relationships do not work. Sulphate reduction results in a rise in sulphur content, gravity and viscosity of an oil as well as changes in δ~(13)C and δ~(34)S. On special conditions, the reduced sulphur from sulphates might be incorporated into oils, i.e., the increasing sulphur is derived from secondarily reduced sulphur. A positive correlative relationship exists between sulphur content and δ~(34)S in the oils in Paleozoic reservoirs in Central Tarim, indicating that enhanced sulphur is ~(34)S-enriched, originated from TSR. The Jinxian oil with the highest sulphur content has the lightest δ~(34)S, suggesting part of the sulphur in the oil is ~(34)S-depleted, originated from BSR. In the Jinxian oil with increasing sulphur content, asphaltenes shows higher content and more negative δ~(13)C, and saturates shows evidence of biodegradetion and a decreasing content and a positive δ~(13)C shift. Thus, asphaltenes have δ~(13)C values closer to saturates. All the above indicate that the reduced sulphur has been incorporated into biodegradated saturates to generate new asphaltenes with relatively light δ~(13)C of saturates. Thiols and thiophenes in natural gases in the Triassic Jialingjiang Formation may result from reaction of H_2S with hydrocarbon. In the Jialingjiang Formation hydrocarbon gases are dominated by methane thus have a high dryness coefficient and thiols are showed to be positively related to H_2S content, suggesting that the thiols may result from H_2S reaction with short chain hydrocarbons. In contrast, high thiophenes occur in wet gases in Jurassic reservoirs with their source rock from sulphur - depleted type I kerogen, indicating that thiophenes may be a product of reaction of H2S with longer chain hydrocarbons.