PEGylated Phospholipid Membrane on Polymer Cushion and Its Interaction with Cholesterol

By employing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) shielding and a polymer cushion to achieve air stability of the lipid membrane, we have analyzed PEG influence on dried membranes and the interaction with cholesterol. Small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) formed by the mixture of 1,2-dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) with different molar fraction of 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[methoxy(poly(ethylene glycol))-2000] (DSPE-PEG(2000)) adsorb and fuse into membranes on different polymer-modified silicon dioxide surfaces, including chitosan, poly(L-lysine) (PLL), and hyaluronic acid, Dried membranes arc further examined by ellipsometer and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Only chitosan can support a visible and uniform lipid array. The thickness of dry PEGylated lipid membrane is reduced gradually as the molar fraction of PEG increases. AFM scanning confirms the lipid membrane stacking for vesicles containing low PEG, and only a proper amount of PEG can maintain a single lipid hi lover; however, the air stability of the membrane will be destroyed if overloading. PEG. Cholesterol incorporation can greatly improve the structural stability of lipid membrane, especially for those containing high molar fraction of PEG. Different amounts of cholesterol influence the thickness and surface morphology of dried membrane.

捷安肽素对采后柑桔青绿霉菌抑制效果及作用机理研究

捷安肽素是一种由枯草芽孢杆菌（Bacillus subtilis）ZK 产生的抗真菌多肽。本文以柑桔青霉菌（Penicillium italicum）和绿霉菌（Penicillium digitaum）为供试真菌，研究了捷安肽素的抑菌性能及作用机理，为捷安肽素开发为有效的生物杀菌剂提供理论依据。全文共分两部分：第一部分：捷安肽素对柑桔青霉菌和绿霉菌抑制效果研究。采用琼脂扩散法测定捷安肽素对柑桔青霉菌和绿霉菌的抑菌活性。53.9 µg/mL 捷安肽素对绿霉菌和青霉菌的抑菌圈直径分别为26.7mm 和24.1mm。结果表明捷安肽素能够抑制柑桔青绿霉菌的生长，柑桔绿霉菌比青霉菌对捷安肽素敏感。在柑桔果实上，研究了不同浓度、不同接入时间的捷安肽素对柑桔青霉病和绿霉病的防治效果，并与常用化学杀菌剂抑霉唑、咪鲜胺、甲基硫菌灵和多菌灵作比较。53.9 µg/mL捷安肽素处理柑桔果实，柑桔青霉病和绿霉病发病率分别为5.0 %和5.3 %,比对照低95.0 %和94.7 %；柑桔青霉病和绿霉病的病情指数分别为1.87 和2.18，比对照低73.73 和97.82。结果表明，捷安肽素能够有效地防治柑桔青绿霉病。与对照相比，捷安肽素先于或后于柑桔青绿霉菌接入时，对柑桔青绿霉菌均有抑制作用，但抑制效果随接入间隔时间的增长而降低。第二部分：捷安肽素对绿霉菌作用机理研究。首先在光学显微镜和透射电镜下观察捷安肽素处理后绿霉菌菌丝表面形态结构与菌丝体内超微结构的变化。形态观察发现，捷安肽素处理24h以内，绿霉菌菌丝结构无变化。捷安肽素作用36h后，绿霉菌菌丝不规则缢缩和膨大。48h后，在绿霉菌菌丝顶端、中部、末端的多处细胞均可发生畸形的球状结构，这种畸变结构随处理的延长而增加，致使细胞成为捻珠状。处理72 h后，畸变球形细胞开始断裂离解。处理96h后，镜下几乎无完整菌丝，成单个的球状细胞，部分细胞出现破裂。而对照菌丝表面光滑，结构完整。通过透射电镜观察发现，与对照相比，捷安肽素处理后，绿霉菌细胞壁、细胞膜轮廓模糊不清，细胞质外泄。推测捷安肽素能够使绿霉菌细胞膜通透性发生改变。进一步实验利用紫外-可见分光光度计检测捷安肽素作用后绿霉菌胞外液紫外吸光度的变化，表明捷安肽素作用于绿霉菌菌丝后，细胞内蛋白质、核酸缓慢泄漏。通过Atomscan Advantage单道扫描等离子体发射光谱仪(ICP)测定捷安肽素作用后菌丝体内K+浓度的改变，结果表明捷安肽素作用于柑桔绿霉菌1h内，菌丝体内K+含量迅速下降，为对照绿霉菌K+含量的37.53 %，1 h后菌丝体内K+含量变化趋于平缓。K+的迅速泄漏，以及蛋白质、核酸的泄漏表明捷安肽素通过迅速改变绿霉菌细胞膜通透性，使绿霉菌菌丝生长受到抑制。Jiean-peptide produced by Bacillus subtilis ZK has broad-spectrumresistance to plant pathogens. In this study, we investigated the antifungal propertyand the possible antifungal mechanism of jiean-peptide against two commonphytopathogenic fungi of citrus fruits: blue molds (P. italicum) and green molds (P.digitatum).The paper involved two parts:Part 1 is the study of the antifungal property of jiean-peptide against blue moldsand green molds of citrus fruits. The in vitro inhibition effect of jiean-peptide againstblue molds and green molds was detected by agar diffusion method. The diameters ofinhibition zones of green molds and blue molds are 26.7mm and 24.1mm respectivelyby treating with 53.9 µg/mL jiean-peptide. It shows that jiean-peptide effectivelyinhibits the both phytopathogenic fungi, and it is more effective for inhibiting greenmolds than blue molds. The effectiveness of jiean-peptde to inhibit green molds andblue molds in vivo was investigated compared with four conventional fungicides thatare imazalil, prochloraz, carbendazin and methylthiophanate. The result is that the incidences of the blue mold disease and green mold disease are 5.0 % and 5.3 %, thedisease severities are 1.87 and 2.18 respectively when citrus are inoculated with 53.9µg/ml jiean-peptide. The decay incidences and disease severities were significantlyreduced by treating with jiean-peptide compared with the control. The results indicateJiean-peptide is effective for controlling blue molds and green molds on citrus. Theoptimized inoculation time was also investigated. When inoculated with jiean-peptideat 0 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h and 48 h before or after pathogens’ inoculation, Jiean-peptidecan suppress the occurrence of blue molds and green molds compared with the control, but the effect of later inoculation decreases compared with the inoculation at the sametime.In Part 2, we investigated the possible antifungal mechanism against greenmolds of citrus. At first, we observed the exterior morphological changes andultrastructural changes of blue molds under light microscopy (LM) and transmissionelectron microscopy (TEM). Compared with untreated control cells which aregenerally uniform in shape, the appearances of treated hyphae change obviously. Itshows that some cells of hyphae irregularly shrink or enlarge when cultured for 36h.When the treating time of jiean-peptide increases, the aberrance of the hyphaebecomes more obvious, and hyphae exhibit the moniliform appearances. Finally, thereis no intact hypha leaved except only single cells, and some of which appear fractured.By transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation, we find that the outline ofthe cell wall and the cell membrane of hyphae are blurry, and the cytoplasma oozesout. The observation result under LM and TEM suggests that jiean-peptide mightchange the permeability of the cell membrane. So we conducted further experiment todetect the change of permeability when the cells of blue molds were treated withjiean-peptide. And the effect of jiean-peptide on non-growing cells of blue molds wastested. By the spectrophotometer measurement, we found that compounds with lightabsorption at 260 nm and 280 nm were released and amounts increased within 12 hcompared with the control. Moreover, by the ICP measurement, the leakage of K+occurred immediately in the presence of jiean-peptide within 1 h, but with nearly nofurther change after 1 h. All these results indicate that jiean-peptide could change themembrane permeability of blue molds immediately and result in leaking nucleotides,proteins and K+ from cells.

超声与磁粉强化含单宁废水生物处理研究

单宁是一种典型的有毒难降解污染物，在制革、造纸、制药、印染等行业废水中广泛存在，对水环境造成污染并且影响废水生物处理效果。本研究针对含单宁废水生物处理效率低、较高浓度时微生物受抑制且污泥容易膨胀等问题，采用超声和磁粉来强化含单宁废水生物处理，研究超声和磁粉对微生物活性、污染物去除及污泥沉降性能的影响，并对其作用机理进行了分析和探讨。 研究结果表明，活性污泥系统中单宁酸容积负荷可以达到1.8kgCOD/(m3·d)，单宁酸和COD去除率分别达到85.2%和79.6%，但如果负荷进一步增大则微生物活性迅速降低。系统在pH 5~8、温度20~35℃、DO>1 mg/L的条件下具有较好的单宁酸降解效果和处理稳定性。单宁降解动力学参数为：μmax =0.208h-1；Ks=226mg/L；Ki=522mg/L；kd=0.0092h-1；Y =0.594。 磁粉对系统处理效果和污泥沉降性能有一定的促进作用，且效果要优于外磁场。适宜的磁粉粒径和投加量分别为0.05~0.15mm和1.0g/L，COD去除率比对照系统提高6.4%，SVI降低28.6%，污泥絮体结构紧密。磁粉强化主要是通过其对污泥菌胶团的凝聚、吸附作用以及对微生物活性的强化作用实现。 在适当强度（0.4W/cm2）和辐照时间（20min）的超声作用下污泥絮体和细胞膜通透性增大，酶分泌也增多，系统的COD去除率比对照提高了8.8%，单宁酶酶活提高了11%。但超声也使污泥絮体结构松散，沉降性能下降，SVI比对照系统升高9.3%。 由于污泥流失加剧导致污泥浓度相对较低，声磁联合强化系统相对于磁粉强化系统其处理效果并没有提高。但相对于单纯活性污泥系统，声磁联合作用下系统处理效果、污泥沉降性能以及系统运行稳定性都得到明显改善。本研究为难降解废水的生物处理提供了一个新的思路。 Tannins are typical refractory and toxic pollutants that commonly exist in wastewater from dye, medicine, paper and leather industries and cause many problems associated with environmental pollution and biological treatment of wastewater. Biological treatment efficiency of tannin-containing wastewater is usually low owing to its biological toxicity and low biodegradability, microbes are usually inhibited under high tannin concentration and sludge bulking frequently occurs. In this study, ultrasound and magnetic powder were used to improve the biological treatment performance of simulated tannic acid-containing wastewater. The effects of ultrasonic irradiation and magnetic powder on microbial activity, tannic acid degradation rate and sludge sedimentation were investigated. The augmentation mechanisms were analyzed and discussed. The experimental results showed that the microbes were prominently inhibited under high tannic acid concentration, but moderate degradation efficiency can be maintained under a tannic acid load of up to 1.8kgCOD/(m3·d), with the tannic acid degradation and COD removal percentage of 85.2% and 79.6% respectively. The highest degradation rates and treatment stability were achieved at pH range of 5~8, temperature range of 20~35℃ and DO concentration of above 1mg/L. The kinetic parameters were estimated, including: μmax =0.208h-1；Ks=226mg/L；Ki=522mg/L；kd=0.0092h-1；Y =0.594. The microbial activity, tannic acid degradation rate and sludge sedimentation were improved by adding Fe3O4 magnetic powder, and the augmentation performance was better than external magnetic field. The appropriate particle size and dosage of magnetic powder were found to be 0.05~0.15mm and 1.0g/L, respectively, under which the COD removal percentage was improved by 6.4% and SVI value decreased by 28.6%, and compact floc structure was observed. This was mainly caused by the flocculation and adsorption effects of magnetic powder against sludge floc and the stimulation of microbial activity under appropriate magnetic field. Under appropriate ultrasonic irradiation (ultrasonic intensity 0.4W/cm2, ultrasonic irradiation time 20min), the permeability of floc and cell membrane are improved, transfer of substrate and oxygen were reinforced; meanwhile, more enzyme were produced by microbes under the slight damage caused by ultrasound. However, the floc structure became loose under ultrasonic irradiation, leading to relatively poor sedimentation, with the SVI value 9.3% higher than the control system. Although the magnetic powder-ultrasonic irradiation combined augmentation system showed no improvement in treatment performance compared with sole magnetic augmentation system owing to its relatively low sludge concentration, it guaranteed the stable operation of system, meanwhile the tannic acid degradation and sludge sedimentation were significantly improved compared with sole activated sludge system. This study gives a new idea for biological treatment of refractory wastewater.

Guiding of 150 keV O6+ ions through nanocapillaries in an uncoated Al2O3 membrane: special time dependence of the transmission profile width

This paper reports that the transmission of O6+ ions with energy of 150keV through capillaries in an uncoated Al2O3 membrane was measured, and agreements with previously reported results in general angular distribution of the transmitted ions and the transmission fractions as a function of the tilt angle well fitted to Gaussian-like functions were observed. Due to using an uncoated capillary membrane, our c is larger than that using a gold-coated one with a smaller value of E-p/q, which suggests a larger equilibrium charge Q(infinity) in our experiment. The observed special width variation with time and a larger width than that using a smaller E-p/q were qualitatively explained by using mean-field classical transport theory based on a classical-trajectory Monte Carlo simulation.

Methanol synthesis from CO2 using a silicone rubber/ceramic composite membrane reactor

A one-dimensional isothermal pseudo-homogeneous parallel flow model was developed for the methanol synthesis from CO2 in a silicone rubber/ceramic composite membrane reactor. The fourth-order Runge-Kutta method was adopted to simulate the process behaviors in the membrane reactor. How those parameters affect the reaction behaviors in the membrane reactor, such as Damkohler number Da, pressure ratio p(r), reaction temperature T, membrane separation factor alpha, membrane permeation parameter phi , as well as the non-uniform parameter of membrane permeation L-1, were discussed in detail. Parts of the theoretical results were tested and verified; the experimental results showed that the conversion of the main reaction in the membrane reactor increased by 22% against traditional fixed bed reactor, and the optimal non-uniform parameter of membrane permeation rate, L-1.opt ,does exist. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Synthesis of NaA zeolite membrane on a ceramic hollow fiber

NaA zeolite membrane was successfully synthesized on a ceramic hollow fiber with an outer diameter of 400 mum, a thickness of 100 mum and an average pore radius of 0.1 mum. The as-synthesized membranes were characterized by XRD, SEM as well as gas permeation. A continuous C NaA zeolite membrane formed after a three-stage synthesis. The membrane thickness was similar to5 mum. Gas permeation data indicated that a relatively high quality NaA zeolite membrane formed on the ceramic hollow fiber support. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of drying method on morphology and properties of asymmetric cellulose hollow fiber membrane

Using a dry/wet spinning process, asymmetric cellulose hollow fiber membranes (CHFM) were prepared from a dope composed of cellulose/N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide/water. The formation mechanism for the finger-like macrovoids at the inner portion of as-spun fibers was explained. Naturally drying and three solvent exchange drying methods were tried to investigate their influence on morphology and properties of CHFM. It was found that the ethanol-hexane exchange drying was an appropriate method to minimize morphology change of the as-spun CHFM, whereas the naturally drying caused the greatest shrinkage of the fibers that made the porous membrane become dense. The result, CHFM from ethanol-hexane exchange drying performed the highest gas permeation rate but gas permeation of the naturally dried membrane could not be detectable. The resultant CHFM from the ethanol-hexane exchange drying also showed acceptable, mechanical properties, thus it was proposed to be an appropriate method for gas separation purpose. The experimental results supported the proposed drying mechanism of CHFM. The free water would evaporate or be replaced by a solvent that subsequently would evaporate but the bonded water would remain in the membrane. What dominated the changes of membrane morphology during drying should be. the molecular affinities of cellulose-water, water-solvent and solvent-solvent. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.