Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Hydrate Decomposition Under Action of Alcohol Inhibitors

The molecular dynamics method is used to investigate decomposition of methane hydrate at different temperatures,pressures and concentrations of inhibitor.By analyzing the parameters of system conformation,mean square displacement and radial distribution function,the decomposition of hydrate in the presence of alcohol inhibitors ethylene glycol and glycerol is explored.The results show that the hydroxyl groups in alcohol molecules can destroy the cage structure of hydrate,and form hydrogen bonds with nearby water molecules to effectively prevent the reformation of hydrate.Therefore,ethylene glycol and glycerol serve as inhibitors of methane hydrate,furthermore,in terms of inhibition effect,glycerol is better than ethylene glycol by comparing rate of hydrate decomposition.

Protective effect of Cordyceps sinensis extract on rat brain microvascular endothelial cells injured by oxygen-glucose deprivation

Objective:To investigate the protective effect of Cordyceps sinensis extract (CSE)on injury of primary cultured rat brain microvascular endothelial cells (rBMECs) induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD).Methods:We isolated and cultured primary rBMECs in order to establish an in vitro OGD model.Cellular activity was detected using a cell counting kit to determine the appropriate dosage.The rBMECs were divided into control,model,low-,mid-,and high-dose (5,10,20 μg.mL-1) CSE groups under OGD for 6 hours.CSE was dissolved in cell culture medium to the appropriate concentration,passed through a 0.22 μm sterile filter,and administered for 12 hours before and during OGD.Cellular morphology was observed under a microscope.Lactate dehydrogenase level in cultural supernatant,superoxide dismutase activity,and the content of nitric oxide and malondialdehyde in cells were tested by colorimetric methods.Levels of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1 beta in cells were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results:After 12-hour administration of CSE at the concentration of 5,10,20 iμg.mL-1 before and during OGD,compared with the model group,the CSE groups obviously alleviated the damage of rBMECs induced by OGD,inhibited the apoptosis and the necrosis of the cells,and improved cellular morphology of rBMECs.Additionally,compared with the model group,CSE also restrained lactate dehydrogenase leakage in hypoxic cells (P <.01),significantly increased superoxide dismutase activity (P <.05),and reduced the levels of nitric oxide,malondialdehyde,tumor necrosis factor-α,and interleukin-1 beta (P <.05).Conclusion:C.sinensis extract plays a significant role in protecting injured primary cultured rBMECs induced by OGD.The mechanism may be related with the increase of cellular antioxidative capacity and anti-inflammatory effect.

Cloning and characterization of a new endo-type polyG-specific alginate lyase from bacteria Vibrio sp. QD-5

Seven bacterial clones with alginate-utilizing activity were isolated from rotten kelp. By activity test, the Vibrio sp. QD-5 with the potential alginate-degrading capability was chosen to carry out the draft genome sequencing, and the result showed that the Vibrio sp. QD-5 containing an alginate lyase gene cluster. One of these genes, aly-IV, was cloned and characterized for the first time. After overexpression, Aly-IV, with a molecular mass of about 62 kDa and a theoretical isoelectric point (pI) of 5.12, was purified to a specific activity of 1 256.78 U/mg and showed highest activity at 35°C in the Tris-HCl buffer at pH of 8.9. Moreover, the enzyme activity was enhanced by the metal ions of Na+, K+ and Mg2+ under certain concentration. Aly-IV degraded favorably polyG blocks in an endo-type, yielding monomer and dimer as the main products. Due to its high substrate specificity, Aly-IV could be used as a potential tool for production of polyG oligosaccharides with low degree of polymerization (DP) and for determining the fine structure of alginate.

中国英语泛读研究发展趋势:质性综合分析研究

泛读教学法在中国的英语教育中受到过广泛关注,但其理论依据和教学实践并不完善。本文旨在综合分析过去五十多年(1962-2019)英语泛读教学在中国的研究,以全局的角度提出新的设想。通过质性综合研究,本文共编码分析了81篇发表在信誉良好期刊上的学术论文,并发现三类问题:1)多数研究者缺乏对泛读教学法本质特征(即享受阅读)和教学原则的准确理解;2)实证研究存在设计缺陷;3)研究对象和研究方法十分受限。基于以上结论,本文对未来泛读研究和教学提出了具体建议。

Fully Developed Turbulence of Power⁃Law Fluids in Circular Pipe Based on Large Eddy Simulation

In this study,Large eddy simulation(LES)of the fully developed turbulence of power⁃law fluids in a circular pipe was performed using the dynamic subgrid⁃scale model.Under a specific Reynolds number,the flow information of three fluids with a range of power⁃law indexes was obtained.The trends of the mean axial velocity and the normalized apparent viscosity were analyzed.Simulation results show that shearing⁃thinning fluid displayed more noticeable non⁃Newtonian characteristics than shear⁃thickening fluid.The predicted friction factors were approximately equal to the Dodge and Metzner correlation and Gomes correlation.The peak values of root mean squares(RMS)and Reynolds stress increased as the power⁃law index increased.The turbulence statistics(skewness and flatness)from the wall to the pipe center were calculated.From the calculated results,the velocity fluctuation near the wall had strong intermittent and asymmetry.As demonstrated by the contours of the normalized instantaneous axial velocity and viscosity,the turbulence was more developed as the power⁃law index increased.It is concluded that the LES is feasible to predict the turbulence of pipe flow under higher Reynolds numbers.

多孔介质内颗粒流动特性的格子Boltzmann模拟

地下岩石孔隙中小颗粒的运移和沉积会使得储层渗透性能降低,影响石油开发。为了探究悬浮颗粒在多孔介质中的流动过程,采用格子Boltzmann方法对三维多孔介质内流体和颗粒的运动过程进行了数值模拟,采用有限体积颗粒法构建多孔介质中骨架颗粒和悬浮颗粒。通过Half-Way反弹格式实现流体与颗粒间的相互作用,考虑孔隙结构、入口流速、孔隙率和颗粒直径对颗粒流动特性的影响,探究颗粒的运移和沉积规律。结果表明,入口速度对不同孔隙结构下颗粒的运动作用显著。随着入口速度增大,颗粒与颗粒、孔隙壁面以及流体之间的动量和能量交换作用增强,缩短了颗粒的运移路径,颗粒沉积率逐渐变小,颗粒拟温度增大。孔隙率的下降强化了颗粒间的碰撞,孔隙率由0.581降低至0.400,使得颗粒拟温度提升至9倍。颗粒拟温度随颗粒直径的增加而增加。但随着孔隙率增加,颗粒轴向速度增加,颗粒最高轴向速度可达入口流速的11倍,而颗粒接触力降低。

A bacterial symbiont in the gill of the marine scallop Argopecten irradians irradians metabolizes dimethylsulfoniopropionate

Microbial lysis of dimethylsulfoniopropionate(DMSP)is a key step in marine organic sulfur cycling and has been recently demonstrated to play an important role in mediating interactions between bacteria,algae,and zooplankton.To date,microbes that have been found to lyse DMSP are largely confined to free‐living and surface‐attached bacteria.In this study,we report for the first time that a symbiont(termed“Rhodobiaceae bacterium HWgs001”)in the gill of the marine scallop Argopecten irradians irradians can lyse and metabolize DMSP.Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences suggested that HWgs001 accounted for up to 93%of the gill microbiota.Microscopic observations suggested that HWgs001 lived within the gill tissue.Unlike symbionts of other bivalves,HWgs001 belongs to Alphaproteobacteria rather than Gammaproteobacteria,and no genes for carbon fixation were identified in its small genome.Moreover,HWgs001 was found to possess a dddP gene,responsible for the lysis of DMSP to acrylate.The enzymatic activity of dddP was confirmed using the heterologous expression,and in situ transcription of the gene in scallop gill tissues was demonstrated using reverse‐transcription PCR.Together,these results revealed a taxonomically and functionally unique symbiont,which represents the first‐documented DMSP‐metabolizing symbiont likely to play significant roles in coastal marine ecosystems.

Design Strategies for Cellular Nanosponges as Medical Countermeasures

The interest in using therapeutic nanoparticles to bind with harmful molecules or pathogens and subsequently neutralize their bioactivity has grown tremendously.Among various nanomedicine platforms,cell membrane-coated nanoparticles,namely,“cellular nanosponges,”stand out for their broadspectrum neutralization capability challenging to achieve in traditional countermeasure technologies.Such ability is attributable to their cellular function-based rather than target structure-based working principle.Integrating cellular nanosponges with various synthetic substrates further makes their applications exceptionally versatile and adaptive.This review discusses the latest cellular nanosponge technology focusing on how the structure–function relationship in different designs has led to versatile and potent medical countermeasures.Four design strategies are discussed,including harnessing native cell membrane functions for biological neutralization,functionalizing cell membrane coatings to enhance neutralization capabilities,combining cell membranes and functional cores for multimodal neutralization,and integrating cellular nanosponges with hydrogels for localized applications.Examples in each design strategy are selected,and the discussion is to highlight their structure–function relationships in complex disease settings.The review may inspire additional design strategies for cellular nanosponges and fulfill even broader medical applications.

Numerical simulation of particle flow behavior in a screw conveyor using the discrete element method

Particle motion in a screw conveyor was simulated w让h the discrete element method. The particle flow behavior and transport processes at different screw rotating speeds and filling levels were investigated in this study. The spatial distributions of particle velocity were predicted. The predicted mass flow rate increased w让h increasing screw rotating speed and filling level. The contact forces and granular temperatures of particles were also calculated. The simulation results showed that the translational granular particle temperatures were higher than the rotational granular particle temperatures. In add让ion, the configurational temperatures of particles were calculated from simulated instantaneous particle overlaps, and results indicated that deformation of elastic particles contributed to the rate of energy dissipation. Good agreement between the numerical simulation and experimental results was achieved in this study.

Numerical simulation of gas-solid flow with two fluid model in a spouted-fluid bed

The flow characteristics in a spouted-fluid bed differ from those in spouted or fluidized beds because of the injection of the spouting gas and the introduction of a fluidizing gas.The flow behavior of gas-solid phases was predicted using the Eulerian-Eulerian two-fluid model(TFM) approach with kinetic theory for granular flow to obtain the flow patterns in spouted-fluid beds.The gas flux and gas incident angle have a significant influence on the porosity and particle concentration in gas-solid spouted-fluid beds.The fluidizing gas flux affects the flow behavior of particles in the fountain.In the spouted-fluid bed,the solids volume fraction is low in the spout and high in the annulus.However,the solids volume fraction is reduced near the wall.

Accelerated generation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells from human induced pluripotent stem cells by forced expression of Sox10 and Olig2

Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells(OPCs) hold great promise for treatment of dysmyelinating disorders, such as multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. Recent studies on generation of human OPCs mainly use human embryonic stem cells(hESCs) or neural stem cells(NSCs) as starter cell sources for the differentiation process. However, NSCs are restricted in availability and the present method for generation of oligodendrocytes(OLs) from ESCs often requires a lengthy period of time. Here, we demonstrated a protocol to efficiently derive OPCs from human induced pluripotent stem cells(hiPSCs) by forced expression of two transcription factors(2TFs), Sox10 and Olig2. With this method, PDGFRα+ OPCs can be obtained in 14 days and O4^+ OPCs in 56 days.Furthermore, OPCs may be able to differentiate to mature OLs that could ensheath axons when co-cultured with rat cortical neurons. The results have implications in the development of autologous cell therapies.

Effect of NOx and SO2 on the photooxidation of methylglyoxal:Implications in secondary aerosol formation

Methylglyoxal(CH3COCHO,MG),which is one of the most abundant α-dicarbonyl compounds in the atmosphere,has been reported as a major source of secondary organic aerosol(SOA).In this work,the reaction of MG with hydroxyl radicals was studied in a 500 L smog chamber at(293±3)K,atmospheric pressure,(18±2)%relative humidity,and under different NOx and SO2.Particle size distribution was measured by using a scanning mobility particle sizer(SMPS)and the results showed that the addition of SO2 can promote SOA formation,while different NOx concentrations have different influences on SOA production.High NOx suppressed the SOA formation,whereas the particle mass concentration,particle number concentration and particle geometric mean diameter increased with the increasing NOx concentration at low NOx concentration in the presence of SO2.In addition,the products of the OH-initiated oxidation of MG and the functional groups of the particle phase in the MG/OH/SO2 and MG/OH/NOx/SO2 reaction systems were detected by gas chromatography mass spectrometry(GC-MS)and attenuated total reflection fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy(ATR-FTIR)analysis.Two products,glyoxylic acid and oxalic acid,were detected by GC-MS.The mechanism of the reaction of MG and OH radicals that follows two main pathways,H atom abstraction and hydration,is proposed.Evidence is provided for the formation of organic nitrates and organic sulfate in particle phase from IR spectra.Incorporation of NOx and SO2 influence suggested that SOA formation from anthropogenic hydrocarbons may be more efficient in polluted environment.

Investigation on effect of drag models on flow behavior of power-law fluid–solid two-phase flow in fluidized bed

In this study,a Eulerian-Eulerian two-fluid model combined with the kinetic theory of granular flow is adopted to simulate power-law fluid–solid two-phase flow in the fluidized bed.Two new power-law liquid–solid drag models are proposed based on the rheological equation of power-law fluid and pressure drop.One called model A is a modified drag model considering tortuosity of flow channel and ratio of the throat to pore,and the other called model B is a blending drag model combining drag coefficients of high and low particle concentrations.Predictions are compared with experimental data measured by Lali et al.,where the computed porosities from model B are closer to the measured data than other models.Furthermore,the predicted pressure drop rises as liquid velocity increases,while it decreases with the increase of particle size.Simulation results indicate that the increases of consistency coefficient and flow behavior index lead to the decrease of drag coefficient,and particle concentration,granular temperature,granular pressure,and granular viscosity go down accordingly.