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We designed three cholesterol-modified carboxylated pullulan (CHSP) polymers modified with different degrees of substitution (DS). Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to characterize CHSP pol...

Leaching of scheelite ore with phytate is a novel and clean hydrometallurgical method of isolating tungsten, which achieves efficient decomposition under atmospheric pressure. However, realizing the separation and recycling of tungstate and phytate has become an additional and subsequent problem, which had not been encountered in the traditional tungsten metallurgical process. In determining ways to overcome this obstacle, ion exchange methods exhibit promising routes to separate tungstate and phytate. Before performing this new method, it is prudent to study the kinetics of the ion exchange process. The effects of WO3 concentration, phytate concentration, resin particle size, and reaction temperature were investigated. Results show that a pseudo-second-order model can describe the adsorption kinetic behavior of phytate and tungstate in the mixed solution. The apparent activation energies of WO3 and phytate, based on the Arrhenius expression, were calculated as 21.4 kJ/mol and 21.8 kJ/mol, indicating that the adsorption processes of phytate and tungstate are diffusion-controlled.

African swine fever (ASF) is an infectious transboundary disease of domestic pigs and wild boar and spreading throughout Eurasia. There is no vaccine and treatment available. Complex immune escape strategies of African swine fever virus (ASFV) are crucial factors affecting immune prevention and vaccine development. MGF360 genes have been implicated in the modulation of the IFN-I response. The molecular mechanisms contributing to innate immunity are poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated that ASFV MGF360-12L (MGF360 families 12L protein) significantly inhibited the mRNA transcription and promoter activity of IFN-β and NF-κB, accompanied by decreases of IRF3, STING, TBK1, ISG54, ISG56 and AP-1 mRNA transcription. Also, MGF360-12L might suppress the nuclear localization of p50 and p65 mediated by classical nuclear localization signal (NLS). Additionally, MGF360-12L could interact with KPNA2, KPNA3, and KPNA4, which interrupted the interaction between p65 and KPNA2, KPNA3, KPNA4. We further found that MGF360-12L could interfere with the NF-κB nuclear translocation by competitively inhibiting the interaction between NF-κB and nuclear transport proteins. These findings suggested that MGF360-12L could inhibit the IFN-I production by blocking the interaction of importin α and NF-κB signaling pathway, which might reveal a novel strategy for ASFV to escape the host innate immune response. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s12250-020-00304-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A simple, green and effective method, which combined lithium iron phosphate battery charging mechanism and slurry electrolysis process, is proposed for recycling spent lithium iron phosphate. Li and FePO4 can be separation in anionic membrane slurry electrolysis without the addition of chemical reagent. The leaching efficiency of Li can reach to 98% and over 96% of Fe are recycled as FePO4/C. Kinetics analysis indicates that the surface chemical reaction is the control step during the slurry electrolysis. Additionally, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) characterization and thermodynamic analysis are employed to investigate the leaching mechanism. It is found that the spent LiFePO4 is delithiated and oxidized to FePO4 by the function of e-, which is similar as the LiFePO4 battery charging process. EIS analysis also verify the kinetics results, the charge transfer resistance controlled the leaching process. Finally, a novel process for recovery of spent LiFePO4 is proposed. The recovered Li2CO3 and FePO4/C can be used for resynthesize LiFePO4, and the resynthesized LiFePO4 exhibits reversible capacities of 143.6 mAh g-1 at 1C and high current efficiency, stable cycle performances at 0.1 and 0.5C which meets the basic requirements for reuse.

Rapid and simple detection of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is vital for individualized diagnosis and eventual treatment in the current clinical setting. In this study, we developed a tetra-primer ARMS-PCR combined lateral flow assay (T-ARMS-PCR-LFA) method for simultaneous visual detection of two alleles. By using four primers labeled with digoxin, biotin and Cy5 separately in one PCR reaction, the amplified allele-specific products could be captured by streptavidin and the anti-Cy5 antibody on two separated test lines of a LFA strip, which allows the presentation of both alleles within the single LFA strip. Both DNA and whole blood can be used as templates in this genotyping method in which the whole detection process is completed within 75 minutes. The performance assay of T-ARMS-PCR-LFA demonstrates the accuracy, specificity and sensitivity of this method. One hundred human whole blood samples were used for MTHFR C677T genotyping in T-ARMS-PCR-LFA. The concordance rate of the results detected was up to 100% when compared with that of the sequencing results. Collectively, this newly developed method is highly applicable for SNP screening in clinical practices.

Background & AimsGastric mucosa-associated lymphoma (GML) is a mature B cell tumor related to Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) infection. The clinical manifestations of GML are not specific, so GML is often misdiagnosed, leading to excessive treatment. The pathogenesis of H.pylori-induced GML is not well understood and there are no molecular markers for early GML diagnosis.MethodsGlycopeptidomics analyses of host cell lines (a BCG823 cell line, C823) and C823 cells infected by H. pylori isolated from patients with GML (GMALT823), gastritis (GAT823), gastric ulcer (GAU823) and gastric cancer (GAC823) were carried out to clarify the host reaction mechanism against GML and to identify potential molecular criteria for the early diagnosis of GML.ResultsThirty-three samples were analyzed and approximately 2000 proteins, 200 glycoproteins and 500 glycopeptides were detected in each sample. O-glycans were the dominant glycoforms in GMALT823 cells only. Four specific glycoforms in GMALT823 cells and 2 specific glycoforms in C823 and GMALT823 cells were identified. Eight specific glycopeptides from 7 glycoproteins were found in GMALT823 cells; of these glycopeptides, 6 and 3 specific glycopeptides had high affinity for T cell epitopes and have conformational B cell epitopes, respectively.ConclusionThe predominant glycoforms of host cells infected by MALT H. pylori isolates differ from others, and the glycoproteins, glycosylation sites and glycoforms might be closely related to the formation of GML, which provides new insights into the pathogenic mechanisms of H. pylori infection and suggests molecular indicators for the early diagnosis of GML.

Pig transportation is associated with intestinal oxidative stress and results in destruction of intestinal integrity. Autophagy has been contributed to maintain cell homeostasis under stresses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of transport stress on morphology, intestinal mucosal barrier and autophagy/mitophagy levels in pig jejunum. A total of 16 finishing pigs were randomly divided into two groups. The control group was directly transported to the slaughterhouse and rested for 24 hr. The experimental groups were transported for 5 hr and slaughtered immediately. The results showed that transportation induced obvious stress responses with morphological and histological damage in jejunum accompanying with an elevated level of malondialdehyde (MDA; p < .05), endotoxin (LPS; p < .05), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH; p < .05) and a decreased level of serum superoxide dismutase (SOD; p < .05). Also, hemeoxy genase 1 (HO-1; p < .01) as well as tight junction protein (claudin-1 [p < .001], occludin [p < .05] and zonula occludens 1 [ZO-1; p < 0.05]) levels were attenuated in jejunum tissue, and NADPH oxidase 1 (NOX1; p < .01) mRNA expression was up-regulated. Further research indicated that transport stress could induce autophagy through increasing microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3; p < .05) and autophagy-related gene 5 (ATG5; p < .01) levels and suppressing p62 expression. Additionally, transport stress increased the protein levels of PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1; p < .05) and Parkin (p < .05) which was associated with mitophagy. In conclusions, transport stress could induce the destruction of intestinal integrity and involve in the intestinal mucosal barrier oxidative damage, and also contribute to activation of autophagy/mitophagy.

Three-dimensional palladium nanoflowers (Pd NF) composed of ultrathin Pd nanosheets had been synthesized by a solvothermal approach in our previous work. Here, the effects of preparation conditions on the morphology and electrochemical performance of palladium nanostructures were investigated. The explored conditions are as follows: the ratio of reducing agent to capping agent, the concentration of PdCl2 precursor, the amount of HCl (used for PdCl2 dissolution), the reaction temperature and time. Only when these conditions are strictly controlled, the obtained Pd material displays a uniformly nanoflower-like morphology, otherwise the Pd samples with nanoparticles or incomplete flowers can only be obtained. Then, the relationship between the morphology of Pd and its electrocatalytic activity was further studied. The results indicate that the Pd with perfect nanoflowers morphology possesses superior activity for formic acid electro-oxidation, while the Pd with incomplete flowers and ordinary (or irregular) particle morphology shows moderate and inferior activity. Therefore, the morphology-dependent electrocatalytic activity has been demonstrated in this work.

We report the photoelectrochemical (PEC) oxidation of glucose at tungsten trioxide nanoplate (WO3NP) electrode for glucose sensing application and photo fuel cell (PFC) application. The WO3-based PEC sensor shows high sensitivity of 68.15 μA cm−2 mM−1 in glucose detection for the concentrations in the range of 0.1~0.5 mM and displays good selectivity toward the interferents of ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA). Moreover, electricity can be extracted from photo-oxidizing of glucose on WO3NP electrode in a PFC device and the output strongly depends on the concentration of glucose fuel. In addition, the power performance of PFC obtained under irradiation shows 60-fold higher than that of achieved in the dark, indicating that photo-oxidation of glucose on the WO3NP anode is the essence for this fuel cell electricity generation. The work expands the application of WO3 in the field of glucose analysis and provides a possible way to detect glucose without inputting external power.

HpaA as an outer membrane protein of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) plays a significant role in the adhesion to the human stomach, but the functional relation between HpaA and gastric epithelial cells is still not clear. To screen the interaction between HpaA and cellular proteins in gastric epithelial cells, the HpaA protein from H. pylori 26695 fused with a tag (6× His) was expressed and purified successfully, the secondary structure was estimated by the Circular Dichroism (CD) spectrum, and the purified recombinant protein was used to perform the pull-down assays with gastric cancer cell lines (AGS and SGC-7901) lysates, respectively. The pull-down proteins were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry system (HPLC-MS/MS). A total of 9 and 13 proteins related were analyzed from AGS and SGC-7901 cell lysates, respectively. ANXA2 was considered as putative HpaA functional partner discovered from lysates of both cell lines with high score and coverage. It is hypothesized that HpaA may be involved in the biological process of regulation of transcription and nucleic acid metabolism during the adhesion of H. pylori to human gastric epithelial cells, and HpaA-binding proteins also be used as targets for the development of antiadhesion drugs against H. pylori.

Reducing the dosage of chemotherapeutic drugs via enhancing the delivery efficiency using novel nanoparticles has great potential for cancer treatment. Here, we focused on improving mitoxantrone delivery by using cholesterol-substituted pullulan polymers (CHPs) and selected a suitable nano-drug size to inhibit the growth of bladder cancer cells. We synthesized three kinds of CHPs, named CHP-1, CHP-2, CHP-3. Their chemical structures were identified by NMR, and the degree of cholesterol substitution was 6.82%, 5.78%, and 2.74%, respectively. Their diameters were 86.4, 162.30, and 222.28 nm. We tested the release rate of mitoxantrone in phosphate-buffered saline for 48 h: the release rate was 38.73%, 42.35%, and 58.89% for the three CHPs. The hydrophobic substitution degree in the polymer was associated with the self-assembly process of the nanoparticles, which affected their size and therefore drug release rate. The release of the three drug-loaded nanoparticles was significantly accelerated in acid release media. The larger the nanoparticle, the greater the drug release velocity. At 24 h, the IC50 value was 0.25 M, for the best inhibition of mitoxantrone on bladder cancer cells. 3-(4,5-Dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) experiments demonstrated that drug-loaded CHP-3 nanoparticles with the largest size were the most toxic to bladder cancer cells. Immunofluorescence and flow cytometry revealed that drug-loaded CHP-3 nanoparticles with the largest size had the strongest effect on promoting apoptosis of bladder cancer cells. Also, the three drug-loaded nanoparticles could all inhibit the migration of MB49 cells, with large-size CHP-3 nanoparticles having the most powerful inhibition.

A variety of NaYF4:Yb/Er upconversion materials were successfully synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method by altering the volume ratios (0:1, 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:1) of ethanol to water and various alcohols (methanol, n-propyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, ethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, and phemethylol), and the grain size and luminescence of the materials were effectively tailored. The addition of alcohol effectively reduces the grain size of the materials and simultaneously leads to the surprising enhancement of the UC emission. The increase in the volume ratio of EtOH/H2O causes the transformation of the crystal structure of the materials from hexagonal to cubic phase. The particle size of the material with the EtOH/H2O of 2:1 is almost 1000 times smaller than that of the material without EtOH, and the strongest luminescence is observed at the EtOH/H2O of 2:1. The type of alcohol in the solvent exhibits a significant influence on the luminescent properties of the materials. The NaYF4:Yb/Er n...

Electrochemical De-intercalation/Intercalation system (EDIs) has attached much attention for lithium extraction from brines. However, the preparation of the matched olivine-FePO4 cathodes faced various problems. Herein, a simple and efficient method by using sodium persulfate for the preparation of olivine-FePO4 was proposed, and the optimal operation conditions (30–40 °C, 0.05–0.10 M Na2S2O8, and 1.5–2 h) was obtained. Furthermore, the relationship between the open-circuit voltage and solution redox potential with the de-lithiation rate was determined, and the value of the solution redox potential can be used for the online monitoring of the preparation of FePO4 electrode. Additionally, the prepared FePO4 electrode exhibited good selectively and cycle performance for lithium extraction. Using it as cathode to extract lithium from West Taijinar brine, the Mg/Li ratio decreased from 54.27 in the brine to 1.65 in obtained anolyte, and the recovery rate of Li+ in brine reached 85.30%. Besides, the average current density of the extraction process reaches 15.65 and 13.11 A·m−2 respectively. In summary, this electrode preparation method has been introduced to be of high preparation efficiency and easy to control, which would be more suitable for industrial applications.

With the growing demand for lithium from electric vehicles, efficient recovery of lithium from brines is attracting more attention. However, it is difficult to produce high purity lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) from brine in a rapid and energy-efficient manner. In this work, a closed-loop process was developed to recover lithium from brine and produce high-purity Li2CO3. The lithium in the brine was first selectively recovered by Electrochemical Deintercalation/Intercalation system (EDIs), and then a high concentration of lithium solution was obtained by precipitation, which replaced the traditional time-consuming evaporation process. The lithium yield of each step was above 87%, and the purity of Li2CO3 reached the battery-grade standard after three times washing. In addition, the Fe3+ and PO43- used in the process can be reused, and basically no waste residue was generated. This research has potential applications in the rapid concentration of low Li+ concentration solution obtained from brine and the preparation of high purity Li2CO3.

The alkali residue formed during the alkaline decomposition of scheelite produces serious environmental pollution. A new acidic decomposition method for scheelite using sulfur-phosphorus mixed acid process has been industrialized, but it requires a high concentration of phosphoric acid. In this paper, sodium phytate, a green and natural organic phytic acid salt, was used as a chelating agent to decompose scheelite under acidic conditions. In the leaching process, calcium was precipitated by H2SO4 to generate insoluble CaSO4 in the residue, while tungsten was chelated by sodium phytate to form stable macromolecular multinuclear organic chelates in the solution. A satisfactory tungsten leaching extent of 99.39% was achieved using 10 g/L sodium phytate, 1 mol/L H2SO4, and a liquid/solid ratio of 8:1 at 353 K for 3.5 h. As such, the phosphorus consumption was significantly reduced in the sodium phytate leaching system without high temperature and pressure. This innovative process provides a new method for extracting tungsten from scheelite, which reduces the consumption of phosphorus and is environmentally friendly.

During the decomposition of low-grade scheelite ore using HCl-H3PO4 solution, a large amount of Ca and Fe in the ore are released into the leach liquor, which complicates subsequent purification. Due to the difficulties of separation, a novel solvent extraction process was developed for extracting tungsten from acidic solutions rich in calcium and iron. The impacts of calcium and iron impurities on the extraction were investigated, and the results showed that co-extraction of calcium led to the loss of tungsten. Therefore, pre-decalcification was carried out by adding H2SO4 to the acidic leach liquor before extraction, and a high-quality gypsum product with a low tungsten content (

In this paper, tungsten was extracted from wolframite using sulfuric-phosphoric acid mixtures. During leaching, wolframite was decomposed under acidic conditions, and phosphotungsten heteropoly acid was formed by the complexation of tungsten and phosphorus. The XRD results showed that after wolframite leaching, the residue contained unleached wolframite, quartz, small amounts of calcium sulfate (anhydrite) and phosphotungstate salts. When the concentration of H2SO4 was 2.5 mol/L, the concentration of H3PO4 was 2.0 mol/L, the liquid–solid ratio was 10 mL/g, the reaction time was 4 h, and the reaction temperature was 140 ℃, the maximum leaching efficiency of tungsten reached 98.8%. This method broadens the applicability of the sulfuric-phosphoric mixed acid system to the decomposition of wolframite under pressure hydrometallurgical conditions.

Impurity of iron phosphide (Fe2P) may weaken the cycle performance of the LiFePO4 battery cell, and it is mandatory to get rid of this impurity in actual production. In order to suppress the formation of Fe2P, the phase transformation and thermodynamic analysis of Li2CO3-Fe2O3-NH4H2PO4-C/CO system for LiFePO4 synthesis were studied in this paper. The phase diagram for LiFePO4 synthesis indicated that LiFePO4 will be respectively decomposed to form FeP, Fe2P, and Fe3P at 718, 776, and 836 °C, corresponding with the insulating Li3PO4 being yielded. Considering the practical synthesis, the sintering temperature should be controlled below 776 °C to avoid the formation of Fe2P impurity in theory. The thermodynamic analysis successfully explained why the sintering temperature for pure LiFePO4 preparation currently controlled to be 650–750 °C. Besides the sintering temperature, adding excess of Li resource is an effective measure to avoid the formation of Fe2P and other impurities.

A variety of nano/microstructured YF3:0.125Eu3+, 0.5%Bi3+ samples with specific morphologies was successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method using various fluoride sources as microstructure-directing agents, and the grain morphology and fluorescence were effectively tailored. The YF3:0.125Eu3+, 0.5%Bi3+ samples using NH4F, NH4HF2, LiF, NaF, KF, MgF2, CaF2, and BaF2 as fluoride source are abbreviated as S1–S8, respectively. Except for the sample S8, all the diffraction peaks of the other materials (S1–S7) can be indexed to pure YF3 with orthorhombic symmetry. Granule-like nanoparticles, truncated octahedron, octahedron, and bipyramid morphologies were observed in S1–S2, S3–S4, S5–S7, and S8 samples, respectively. The grain size of the materials is positively correlated with the cationic radius in fluoride sources, which gives the values of 64 nm to 4.2 μm. The schematic diagram showing grain formation process has been proposed on the basis of fluoride source-induced morphological evolution. The morph...

To improve the anticorrosive performance of aluminum powder, a common functional filler in polymer coatings, we report a novel method to prepare graphene oxide modified aluminum powder (GO-Al) using 3-aminoproplyphosphoic acid as “link” agent. The GO nanosheets were firstly functionalized with 3-aminoproplyphosphoic acid (APSA) by the reaction of amine groups of APSA and the epoxy groups of GO. Subsequently, a layer of GO nanosheets uniformly and tightly covered the surface of flaky aluminum particle though the strong linking strength between -PO(OH) 2 functional groups of the modified GO and aluminum. The hydrogen evolution experiment suggests that the GO attached on the aluminum powder could effectively improve the anticorrosive performance of the pigments.

Determined by the unique S-Mo-S sandwich layer structure, molybdenite is so chemical inert and hydrophobic that it is quite refractory in hydrometallurgical route. To improve Mo leaching by changing mineral structure of molybdenite prior to leaching might be a potential alternative. In this work, a mineral phase reconstruction (MPR) method is presented to treat molybdenite. The transformation of molybdenum-bearing sulfides by this method and leaching performance of MPR product were investigated. Results show that molybdenite can be reconstructed to a ternary sulfide FexMo6S8 by smelting with iron. The ternary sulfide can be leached much faster and more complete than molybdenite under the same conditions. Moreover, laboratory research and commercial practice show that sulfur of molybdenite being totally oxidized to sulfate. But as for the ternary sulfide, sulfur was converted into elemental state. An autocatalytic reaction kinetic equation was applied to fit the experimental data of MPR products leaching with HNO3-H2SO4 mixed solution. The apparent activation energy was calculated to be 76 kJ·mol− 1 indicating the process being chemical reaction controlled. The reaction is of the 1.5 and 0.6 order related to HNO3 and H2SO4 concentration respectively. Finally, a kinetic equation is established for the leaching reaction.

Acquisition of novel resistance genes is a key driver of multidrug resistance in the nosocomial pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii. To investigate the DNA uptake ability among clinical A. baumannii strains, a planktonic salt-free transformation assay was developed. A total of 142 clinical A. baumannii isolates with divergent genetic distance were selected, and 86 of them belong to international clonal lineage II (ICL2). Using this new transformation assay, 38% of the clinical A. baumannii isolates were natural competent. Among the multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates, the transformable isolates all belonging to the ICLs, and showed significant higher transformation frequency compared with sensitive isolates. In addition, some of the ICL2 isolates triggered competence much earlier than the sensitive isolates with similar transformation frequencies. This may give them more opportunities to obtain successful transformation in their natural environment and provides an important clue to explain the severe drug resistance and clinical successfulness of ICL2.

Alkali extraction is the main process for extracting tungsten from wolframite. But it produces hazardous waste residues which are difficult to dispose of. Acid decomposition and hydrogen peroxide dissolving tungstic acid from decomposition residue is a new route for extracting tungsten from wolframite. The new method can resolve problems caused by alkali route. The dissolution behavior of tungstic acid in the hydrogen peroxide solution is very critical for extracting tungsten. In this research, the dissolution behavior of different forms of tungstic acid in hydrogen peroxide is investigated. The results showed that under the conditions of 1 mol/L H2O2, a pH of 2, a reaction time of 30 min, a liquid-solid ratio of 50:1, and a temperature of 60 °C, the dissolution percentage of WO3∙H2O reached 99.9%. Under the conditions of 1 mol/L H2O2, a pH of 3, a reaction time of 30 min, a liquid-solid ratio of 50:1, and a temperature of 60°C, the dissolution percentage of WO3·2H2O reached 100%. Under the conditions of a hydrogen peroxide concentration of 3 mol/L, a pH of 4, a liquid-solid ratio of 50:1, a reaction emperature of 60 °C, and a reaction time of 8 h, the dissolution percentage of WO3·0.33H2O reached 99%. In addition, the doping experiments showed that when the mass fraction of manganese ions was >5%, the dissolution percentage was >99%, indicating that a small quantity of manganese ions had almost no effect on the dissolution of WO3·H2O in hydrogen peroxide solution. However, the dissolution percentage was only 58.1% when the iron mass fraction was 4.1%, revealing that the presence of iron ions significantly inhibited the dissolution percentage of WO3·H2O in hydrogen peroxide.

Some amoxicillin-resistant strains of H. pylori show a sharp decrease in amoxicillin resistance after freezing. In China, most clinical gastric mucosal specimens are frozen and transported for isolation and drug susceptibility testing for H. pylori, which may lead to an underestimation of the amoxicillin resistance. The objective of this study is to investigated reasons for the decreased amoxicillin resistance after cryopreservation. A high-level amoxicillin-resistant clone (NX24r) was obtained through amoxicillin pressure screening. After cryopreservation at −80 °C for 3 months, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of NX24r was reduced sharply. Mutations and changes of transcriptome were analyzed after amoxicillin screening and cryopreservation. Mutations in PBP1 (I370T, E428K, T556S) and HefC (M337K, L378F, D976V) were detected in NX24r, which may be the main reason for the induced amoxicillin resistance. No mutations were found in PBP1 or HefC after cryopreservation. However, transcriptome analysis showed that down-regulated genes in the cryopreserved clone were significantly enriched in plasma membrane (GO:0005886), including lepB, secD, gluP, hp0871 and hp1071. These plasma membrane genes are involved in the biosynthesis and transport function of the membrane. The decreased amoxicillin resistance after cryopreservation may be related to the down-regulation of genes involved in membrane structure and transport function.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) adhesion to human gastric epithelial cells is closely linked with fucosylated glycans. Therefore, investigation of fucosylation in the interaction of gastric epithelial cells with H. pylori is critical. In this study we used lectin microarrays to detect the expression of fucosylated glycans in gastric epithelial cells (GES-1) infected with H. pylori strains isolated from patients with different diseases including chronic gastritis, duodenal ulcers, and gastric cancer (each containing two strains) at 4 h. In addition, we investigated the time-course expression of fucosyltransferase (FUT) 1–6 genes in GES-1 cells stimulated with H. pylori strains at 0.5–8 h. At 4 h post-infection, Lotus, AAA, BC2LCN, PA-IIL, CNL and ACG lectins had increased signals in H. pylori-infected GES-1 cells compared to uninfected cells. Higher expression of FUT1 and FUT2 was detected in all H. pylori-infected GES-1 cells within 2 h, regardless of the H. pylori strain. In particular, the expression of FUT2 was higher in H. pylori-infected GES-1 cells with a higher fold change in levels of BC2LCN lectin specific to α1-2 linked fucose (Fuc) at 4 h. The results suggest that the high levels of α1, 2-linked Fuc synthesized by FUT1/2, might play a role in the preliminary stage of H. pylori infection. This provides us with pivotal information to understand the adhesion of H. pylori to human gastric epithelial cells.

Tungsten and rare earth (La) in scheelite can be leached effectively using H2SO4-H3PO4 mixed acid leaching liquor, which contains W, La, and high concentrations of sulfuric and phosphoric acids. It is important to recover W and La from the leaching liquor to efficiently use scheelite. In this study, N1923 extraction and a two-step stripping process were developed to efficiently extract and separate W and La from the leaching liquor. First, W and La were directly extracted using N1923 from the leaching liquor (100 g/L sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid). Under the optimal conditions of N1923 (30% v/v), isooctanol (10% v/v), sulfonated kerosene (60% v/v, O/A (organic/aqueous ratio) 1:1, temperature 25 °C, and contact time 10 min), 99.9% W, and 96.5% La were extracted. High concentrations of sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid were not beneficial for this extraction process. Next, La was separated from the loaded organic phase by stripping using an HCl solution. Under the optimum conditions (HCl 2.5 mol/L, stripping time 20 min, O/A 1:1, and 40 °C) 89.7% La and almost no W were stripped after single-stage stripping. After three cross-current stripping stages, the total La and WO3 stripping reached 99.0% and approximately 0.1%, respectively. La was successfully separated from W. Finally, the remaining W was stripped using an ammonia solution. The amount of WO3 stripped exceeded 99% under the optimum ammonia concentration of 4.0 mol/L, stripping temperature of 40 °C, stripping time of 10 min, and organic/aqueous ratio of 1:1. W and La were extracted and separated efficiently from the H2SO4-H3PO4 mixed acid leaching liquor by N1923 and two-step stripping, respectively.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) oxidation of glucose on bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) electrode for sensor application and solar-to-electricity production was investigated in this work. The BiVO4-based PEC sensor displays a sensitivity of 17.38 μA cm−2 mM−1 for glucose sensing in the concentration range of 5–35 mM. Furthermore, electricity can be collected by extracting solar energy and bioenergy in a certain photo fuel cell (PFC) device via anodic reaction of photo-oxidizing glucose and cathodic reaction of oxygen reduction. This study offers a promising strategy for glucose sensing and provides a cost-effective way for solar-to-electricity generation.

Hydrogel nanocomposites incorporated with magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were widely researched as promising candidate for environment-responsive drug delivery, due to their unique magnetic properties and quick response to an external magnetic field. In this study, dextran-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4) with various particle size were prepared and embedded physically into dextran microgels formed via Schiff base reactions between aldehyded dextran and diamine in W/O inverse microemulsion, leading to a series of magnetic microgels with MNPs content of 3, 6, 9% by weight percentage. Similar superparamagnetic properties of as prepared microgels with Fe3O4 nanoparticles were proved, and their saturation magnetization increased with the increasing particle size or content of the MNPs. Antitumor drug doxorubicin (DOX) was encapsulated into the magnetic dextran microgels, and pH/magnetic field dual-responsive release profiles of DOX were demonstrated. Moreover, the release rate of DOX decreased obviously with the increasing MNPs content, probably due to the diffusion barrier for drug movement resulted from the reduced pore size of hydrogel matrix in respond to external magnetic field. These results indicate that the magnetic dextran microgels can serve as stimuli-sensitive drug delivery systems.

Olivine structure LiFePO 4 has attracted much attention as a promising cathode material for lithium ion batteries, and many approaches have been developed to produce electrochemically active LiFePO 4 at low cost. Here lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO 4 ) was prepared via co-precipitation method by using FeSO 4 ·7H 2 O, LiOH·H 2 O, and o -H 3 PO 4 as the raw materials. The effects of Li:Fe:P molar ratios and solution pH value on the synthesis of LiFePO 4 were studied. The results illustrated that besides of the pH value parameter which was reported in many other previous researches, excess Li + in the solution was another essential condition for pure LiFePO 4 preparation. It suggested that excessive LiOH was not only a pH regulator, but also a precipitation promoter. Maintaining a certain excess Li + ion in solution was an efficient measure to avoid the formation of impurities.

Dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA)-grafted graphene oxide hybrid materials (GO-g-P) were fabricated using γ-ray irradiation at ambient temperature. The morphology and structure of GO-g-P were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It was confirmed that DMAEMA was grafted successfully on the surface of graphene sheet. The grafting yield of GO-g-P increased with monomer concentration (0–2.5 mol L −1 ) and dose (0–40 kGy). The resulting adsorbent (GO-g-P) with amine groups was highly efficient for removing Cr(VI) from its acidic aqueous solution and could be easily separated by filtration. The optimum pH for Cr(VI) removal was observed at pH 1.1 and the Cr(VI) uptake of GO-g-P at this pH was 82.4 mg g −1 .

CdS/reduced graphene oxide (CdS/RGO) nanocomposites were successfully synthesized via a one-step gamma-ray radiation-induced reduction method. The composition and structure of the prepared nanocomposites were characterized by thermal gravimetric analysis, micro FTIR spectroscopy, UV–vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that increasing dose could improve the degree of reduction of graphite oxide (GO), and the feed ratio of GO to CdCl 2 · 2.5H 2 O significantly influenced the size and dispersion of the CdS nanoparticles. The nanocomposites prepared under dose of 300 kGy and the feed ratio of GO to CdCl 2 · 2.5H 2 O 1.0 wt% exhibited high visible-light photocatalytic performance for the degradation of Rhodamine B with degradation efficiency of 93%. This work provides a novel and facile method to produce the nanocomposites as efficient photocatalysts for the removal of organic contaminants from aqueous solution.

The preparation of Li2CO3 from brine with a high mass ratio of Mg/Li is a worldwide technology problem. Membrane separation is considered as a green and efficient method. In this paper, a comprehensive Li2CO3 preparation process, which involves electrochemical intercalation-deintercalation, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, evaporation, and precipitation, was constructed. Concretely, the electrochemical intercalation-deintercalation method shows excellent separation performance of lithium and magnesium, and the mass ratio of Mg/Li decreased from the initial 58.5 in the brine to 0.93 in the obtained lithium-containing anolyte. Subsequently, the purification and concentration are performed based on nanofiltration and reverse osmosis technologies, which remove mass magnesium and enrich lithium, respectively. After further evaporation and purification, industrial-grade Li2CO3 can be prepared directly. The direct recovery of lithium from the high Mg/Li brine to the production of Li2CO3 can reach 68.7%, considering that most of the solutions are cycled in the system, the total recovery of lithium will be greater than 85%. In general, this new integrated lithium extraction system provides a new perspective for preparing lithium carbonate from high Mg/Li brine.

A new molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) electrochemical sensor was prepared applying one-step electro-copolymerization of 3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) and methacrylic acid (MAA) in the presence of sulfadimidine as a template molecule on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) which modified with graphene quantum dots (GQDs)-Pt nanoparticles (PtNPs). A computational approach was employed to screen the suitable functional monomer, and the simulation data suggested that EDOT and MAA as bifunctional monomers exhibited a preferable capability to recognize the target molecule compared to other monomers. The MIP material was characterized with scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The performance of MIP sensor was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The results indicated that the electro-copolymerization of EDOT and MAA provides large amounts of functional groups for the binding of the template molecules, which significantly enhances the sensitivity of the MIP sensor. The calibration curve demonstrated linearity over a concentration range of 0.1 nM-0.1 mM with a detection limit of 0.023 nM. This study provides complete and valuable information on the rational design, preparation, and application of sulfadimidine molecularly imprinted polymers using advanced materials and new bi-functional monomers.

Recovery of low-concentration lithium resources by Li3PO4 precipitation is an effective method and using saponified D2EHPA-kerosene is a promising method for the treatment of Li3PO4. In this paper, the effects of additives on the extraction of lithium from Li3PO4 leaching liquor and the mechanism of lithium extraction by saponified D2EHPA were investigated. The results showed that the addition of tributyl phosphate (TBP) could promote lithium stripping. Experiments confirmed that lithium in solution could be extracted by one-to-one cation exchange with sodium in the organic phase. Slope analysis showed that LiR·NaR was formed when lithium was extracted by saponified D2EHPA, and LiR·NaR·0.1TBP was formed when adding TBP (R is D2EHPA anion). Infrared spectroscopy indicated that the addition of TBP or the saponification of the organic phase depolymerized the D2EHPA dimer. Adding TBP improved lithium's stripping ratio and the concentration of lithium in the stripping solution, which are favorable to the subsequent Li2CO3 precipitation process. This paper provides a deeper understanding of the conversion of lithium phosphate to lithium carbonate using a saponified D2EHPA system.

The separation and extration of tin and tungsten from wolframite – scheelite mixed ore with high tin content is urgently needed given the increasingly exhaustion of the high-grade tungsten ore. However, current tungsten hydrometallurgy technologies suffer from considerably drawbacks, such as low recovery of tin, high consumption of chemicals, and large sodium salt waste water discharge. In this study, a novel reduction melting pretreatment method was used for the thorough separation of tin in the purification process and to improve the recovery of tin and tungsten. In this process, tin was first separated from tungsten and recovered in the form of SnS. Approximately 99% of tin was volatilized under the optimized conditions of the [WO3]/[CaSO4]/[C] molar ratio of 1:2:4 after blowing nitrogen at a flow rate of 3 L/min for 15 min, and the tin content in the reduction melting products was less than 0.05%. Meanwhile, wolframite was converted to scheelite and ferric calcium tungstate that then were easily digested by the mixed sulphuric-phosphoric acid solution, and the leaching ratio of tungsten reached 99%. The leaching residue of calcium sulfate was reused as the sulfurizing reagent in the reduction melting process. The efficient separation and extraction of tin and tungsten of this technology indicated its potential for industrial application.

Scheelite is a calcium tungstate mineral that is an important ore of tungsten. It also contains small amounts of rare-earth metals, that enter the leaching liquor along with tungsten (W) after decomposition of the ore with H2SO4–H3PO4 mixed acid. In this study, a novel process was developed to effectively extract and separate tungsten and light rare earth (LRE) from this leaching liquor. La will represent LREs including La, Ce and Nd to be extracted in this research. First, W and La were extracted from the leaching liquor using a tertiary amine (N235). The results showed that 99.8% of W and 99.5% of La were extracted in the form of La-phosphotungstic acid complex anions under the conditions of N235 10% v/v, isooctanol 4% v/v, organic/aqueous (O/A) ratio of 1:1, pH of 2.6, temperature of 30 °C, and contact time of 10 min. Then, W and La were separated using a stripping process with H2SO4 solution. Nearly 99% of the La was recovered after single-stage stripping under the optimum stripping conditions of 1.5 mol/L H2SO4 solution, 10 min stripping time and O/A 1:1 at 45 °C, while almost no tungsten was stripped. After stripping with two cross-current extraction stages, the total La stripping reached 99.5%. Finally, the tungsten loaded on the organic phase was stripped with ammonia solution. Under the same optimum conditions, W stripping exceeded 99%. Extraction and two-stage stripping enabled effective recovery and separation of W and La from the leaching liquor. Based on above results, the process flowchart for extracting tungsten and light rare earth from scheelite was proposed. The proposed method is expected to promote further exploitation of valuable tungsten and rare-earth metals from scheelite ores.

Dual and multi-stimuli responsive polymeric nanoparticles that can respond to two or more signals have been demonstrated as prospective drug carriers with enhanced tumor accumulation and on-demand drug release profiles. In this study, dextran-based (Dex-SS) nanogels were developed via a facile method based on the disulfide containing Schiff base formation between polyaldehyde dextran and cystamine in water-in-oil inverse microemulsion. Acidic and reductive (GSH) environment sensitive degradation behaviors of the resulted nanogels were investigated by morphology analysis of the treated nanogels using SEM imaging. Doxorubicin (DOX) was covalently conjugated into the dextran nanogels via Schiff base linkages, and pH/GSH dual sensitive drug release profiles were demonstrated. Effective cell uptake of the DOX-loaded nanogels was finally identified by human cancer cell line of H1299. Take advantage of the acidic and reductive tumor microenvironment, the dual-stimuli responsive Dex-SS nanogels can serve as microenvironment-sensitive drug delivery systems for tumor therapy.

Magnetic hybrid nanogels composed of magnetic nanoparticles and polymer hydrogel matrix have drawn much attention because of their unique superparamagnetic properties and biocompatibility as biomaterials. In this study, a facile method was developed for the preparation of iron oxide nanoparticle-loaded magnetic dextran nanogel as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) probe. Water soluble superparamagnetic iron oxide nanocrystals (Fe3O4) was pre-synthesized and physically doped into a Schiff base-containing dextran nanogel formed using W/O microemulsion as nanoreactor. Magnetic dextran nanogel (Fe3O4@Dex) with particle size of 300–1000 nm was obtained with multiple Fe3O4 nanoparticles randomly encapsulated in the hydrogel networks. Magnetization and T2 relaxivity study shows that the resulted magnetic nanogel has similar superparamagneitc behaviors with single Fe3O4 nanocrystals, and relatively higher T2 relaxivity (277.2 mMFe−1·s−1) as MRI probe. Notably, Schiff base linkages and aldehyde groups on the dextran hydrogel matrix endow the magnetic nanogel with pH-sensitiveness and reactive groups for further modifications, which make the magnetic dextran nanogel a promising nanoplatform as MRI-guided drug delivery system with acid environment-responsiveness.

A facile and environmentally friendly method is proposed to prepare reduced graphene oxide&ndash, nickel (RGO&ndash, Ni) nanocomposites using &gamma, ray irradiation. Graphene oxide (GO) and Ni2+ are reduced by the electrons which originated from the gamma radiolysis of H2O. The structure and morphology of the obtained RGO&ndash, Ni nanocomposites were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that Ni nanoparticles were dispersed uniformly on the surface of the RGO nanosheets. As expected, the combination of RGO nanosheets and Ni nanoparticles improved the electromagnetic wave absorption because of the better impedance matching. RGO&ndash, Ni nanocomposites exhibited efficient electromagnetic wave absorption performance. The minimum reflection loss (RL) of RGO&ndash, Ni reached &minus, 24.8 dB, and the highest effective absorption bandwidth was up to 6.9 GHz (RL &lt, &minus, 10 dB) with a layer thickness of 9 mm.

Polyethylene glycolated (PEGylated)curcumin-grafted-chitosan (PCC) conjugates were synthesized with three PEG/chitosan feed molar ratios (1/5, 1/7.5, and 1/10), namely PCC1, PCC2 and PCC3. Chemical structures of these conjugates were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR). The degrees of substitution (DS) of PEG were 0.75%, 0.45% and 0.33%, respectively, for PCC1, PCC2 and PCC3by ¹H NMR analysis. Self-assembled PCC nanoparticles (NPs) were spherical as observed in transmission electron microscope images. Mitoxantrone (MTO)-loaded PCC NPs were prepared to analyze the particle size, zeta potential, drug loading, drug release and in vitro cytotoxicity. The MTO-loaded PCC3 NP (DS = 0.33%) possessed the smallest size (~183.1 nm), highest zeta potential (~+34.0 mV) and the largest loading capacity of curcumin (CUR, ~16.1%) and MTO (~8.30%). The release results showed that MTO-loaded PCC3 NP demonstrated the lowest percentage of MTO release and increased as pH decreased, but the CUR release could only be detected at pH 4.0. In the cytotoxicity study, MTO-loaded PCC3 NP displayed the highest cytotoxicity in HepG2 cell line and the best synergistic effect among the tested NPs. Our results suggest that the DS of PEG has impacts on the structures and functions of PCC NPs: the smaller DS of PEG was associated with the smaller size, the higher zeta potential, the slower drug release, and the higher cytotoxicity of NPs.

In this study, a novel absorber with a high performance microwave absorption property was prepared by innovatively coupling flaky carbonyl iron (FCI) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets into a homogenous composite. The rGO nanosheets are tightly coated on the surface of FCI, which gives typical dielectric dispersion behavior of complex permittivity and resultantly optimizes characteristic impedance matching. Meanwhile, the introduction of rGO as a dielectric lossy material endows FCI with improved dielectric loss ability and unfading magnetic loss ability. In the frequency range of 2.0–18.0 GHz, the rGO-coated FCI composite gives a minimum value of reflection loss with −65.4 dB at 5.2 GHz when the absorber thickness is 3.87 mm and always shows effective bandwidth under −20 dB when absorber thickness is from 1.5 mm to 5 mm. The contribution of typical dielectric dispersion behavior in rGO-coated FCI is demonstrated by a delta-function method to characteristic impedance matching and the excellent microwave absorbing performance.

The reaction kinetics for the leaching of scheelite with hydrogen peroxide and hydrochloric acid have been studied to determine the effect of process parameters, such as temperature, concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and hydrochloric acid and particle sizes. The Avrami–Erofeev equation and the Mampel equation were proposed based on the experimental data. Comparing the curve obtained from the kinetic model equation and experimental data, it was determined that both equations were well-fitted to the experimental data. Comparison of the results also demonstrated that Avrami–Erofeev equation was the best kinetic model equation. The Avrami–Erofeev equation was as follows: − ln 1 − x = 5.60 × 10 2 ⋅ C H 2 O 2 0.29 ⋅ e − 38930 RT ⋅ t 1.01 .

Simotinib is a novel epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor. This study presented a sensitive and specific liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry method using erlotinib as internal standard for the determination of simotinib in human plasma. The method involved a simple liquid–liquid extraction using diethyl ether. The analytes were separated with isocratic gradient elution on an Agilent TC-C18 column (4.6 × 150 mm, 5 μm). Mass spectrometric detector equipped with electrospray ionization source was carried out in the mode of multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). The monitored transitions were m/z 501.2 → 182.1 for simotinib and m/z 394.4 → 278.1 for erlotinib. The calibration curve of simotinib was established over the range of 2.058–3000 μg L −1 ( r 2 = 0.9924). The intra- and inter-day precisions were all less than 10%, and all the biases were not more than 7%. This validated method was then successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study involving twelve healthy Chinese volunteers. The mean C max and T max for simotinib were 254.79 ± 98.30 μg L −1 and 1.71 ± 0.48 h, respectively. Plasma concentrations declined with a t 1/2 of 5.37 ± 2.32 h. AUC 0–t and AUC 0→∞ values obtained were 1262.59 ± 501.41 μg L −1 h and 1329.95 ± 517.42 μg L −1 h, respectively.

There is a dramatically increasing demand for lithium calls, which requires processing all viable resources. A solution with low Li+ concentration is often generated during the production process of lithium and its compounds. Recovery of these resources via Li3PO4 precipitation is a promising method, but there are few effective methods for the subsequent processing of the Li3PO4. In this work, a novel method for treating lithium phosphate is proposed. After dissolving Li3PO4 with acid, a high concentration of Li and P existed in the form of cations and anions respectively in the solution. The saponified di-2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid (D2EHPA)-kerosene system was used to separate the Li and P. The Li was effectively extracted, while P remained in the raffinate. The extraction was a process of cation-exchange between Li+ and Na+. Under the optimized conditions, the concentrations of Li and entrained P in the stripping solution were 18.1 g/L and 0.08 g/L. The mass ratio of P/Li of the stripping solution was reduced to 0.0044 (336 times lower compared to the feed solution P/Li ratio of 1.48). The stripping solution was precipitated with sodium carbonate, and the Li2CO3 precipitation ratio reached 90% at 80 °C under the CO32–/Li+ molar ratio of 1.23:2. The final product of lithium carbonate was in accordance with the standard specification (Li2CO3-0, GB/T 11075-2013). The results of this study provide an efficient process for recovering low-concentration lithium resources.

Eu3+-doped MWO4 (M = Zn, Cd, Ca, Sr, or Ba) nanorods and rodlike, spherical, dumbbell-like, and double-tapter-like grains have been obtained via a hydrothermal method. The distinct differences in cationic radius lead to a special morphology, which is attributed to the symmetry of the crystal structure and the differences in the growth rates of various crystals, and it further leads to the variation of luminescence. It was found that the charge transfer band of MWO4:0.04Eu3+ exhibits a blue shift with an increasing cationic radius, and the shift is ascribed to less covalency being caused by an increase in the cationic radius. The emission intensity obviously increases with cationic radius, increasing for the samples with a monoclinic phase; however, it is the opposite for the samples with a tetragonal phase, and CaWO4:0.04Eu3+ exhibits an optimal emission intensity. In addition, the possible reasons for the decay lifetime are also discussed in detail. Our results indicate that cations can effectively contr...

Nano-Al 2 O 3 is added into the insulating paper in preparation. The composite paper and ordinary paper samples are thermally aged in mineral insulating oil at the temperature of 130 °C for 31 days. The variation of degree of polymerization (DP) and tensile strength with aging time are obtained in this work. The furfural content and dissolved CO and CO 2 in oil are analyzed. The results show that, comparing with ordinary paper, the DP and tensile strength of composite paper decrease more slowly during the aging process. The furfural content and dissolved CO and CO 2 in oil which impregnate composite paper are less. It can be thought that the nano-Al 2 O 3 can inhibit the thermal aging of insulating paper. Additionally, it is considered that the hydroxy on the surface of nano-Al 2 O 3 can effectively adsorb H 2 O and neutralize low molecular weight acid in the thermal aging process, which restrains the catalysis of H+ in thermal aging reaction and reduces the thermal aging of insulating paper.

The p1 genes of 60 Mycoplasma pneumoniae clinical isolates were sequenced and compared to previously reported p1 gene sequences. An AGT trinucleotide variable-number tandem repeat was identified that ranged in copy number from 5 to 14 among the isolates. In addition, a novel p1 gene variant named 2c was identified in 6 of the isolates.

A simple and effective liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry method was devoleped for mornitoring iodinated casein (IC) in feed premixes. In this method, iodothyronines released from IC upon sample hydrolysis were used as markers. Samples were treated with Na2S and hydrolyzed with Ba(OH)2·H2O followed by cleaned up using a SampliQ SPE cartridge. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a C18 column with isocratic elution using water (0.1% formic acid, v/v) and acetonitrile as the mobile phase. Ion detection was performed using electrospray ionization in positive mode using selected ion monitoring at m/z 606, 652, 732 and 778. IC levels were mornitored by qualitative analysis of the iodothyronines and quantification of thyroxine. Validation data demonstrated that the method was selective and sensitive (≤0.5 mg g−1) with acceptable accuracy (70.2–128.2% recovery) and precison (RSD 5.5–15.2%).

The effects of the mixed biocide Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner with abamectin (BtA) on the development of the parasitoid Microplitis mediator (Haliday) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and its cotton bollworm host, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), were evaluated in the laboratory. Weight gain in larvae of H. armigera was initially delayed, but larval developmental period increased and pupal weight increased when they were fed on a diet containing BtA. Due to increased longevity of the host larvae, the susceptible period to parasitization of H. armigera by M. mediator increased when the host larvae were reared on diets containing BtA at concentrations of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 μg g -1 . The longevity of female and male parasitoids significantly decreased when newly emerged wasps were fed a honey solution containing 200 μg ml -1 BtA in comparison with those fed only a honey solution. Mean longevity was significantly prolonged when parasitoids were fed a honey solution and BtA-honey solution in comparison with those fed BtA-distilled water, distilled water, or nothing. There were no significant differences compared with the control in any biological characteristics for the offspring of female parasitoids fed the honey solutions containing BtA at concentrations of 50, 100, and 200 μg ml -1 ; characteristics measured include the egg-larval period, pupal weight, male and female pupal periods, adult fresh weight, and adult longevity. When female parasitoids parasitized host larvae that had been fed the diet containing BtA, their male and female pupal periods were significantly prolonged compared with the control (without BtA).

A series of epoxy resin composites containing different contents of alkoxysilane functionalized polycaprolactone/polydimethylsiloxane (PCS-2Si) were prepared after curing with polyamidoamine curing agent at different temperatures. The effects of PCS-2Si content and curing temperature on morphologies, solvent resistance, and surface properties of the composites were studied. The scanning electron microscope results showed that increasing the PCS-2Si content and curing temperature caused the changes of miscibility between epoxy and modifier, leading to different morphologies. Other data from solvent swelling and surface tension of composites cured at the same temperature illustrated that the modified epoxy resins with higher content of PCS-2Si had less crosslinked networks, but lower surface tension. At the same time, the composites cured at higher curing temperature generally had more resistance to chemicals and higher surface tension due to the formation of highly crosslinked networks. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009