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(Br−)CH3-Pyridinium-MOF-1 integrated reactive Lewis acid sites and Br− nucleophilic anions and exhibited efficient catalytic activity for the cycloaddition of CO2 to epoxides.

A MOF with strong deep blue light emission and high quantum efficiency has high selectivity and sensitivity for detecting 2,6-dichloro-4-nitroaniline.

Building metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) covalently modified by onium halides is a promising approach to develop efficient MOF-based heterogeneous catalysts for the cycloaddition of CO

IntroductionSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with placental dysfunctions during pregnancy, which may cause multiple adverse fetal and maternal outcomes. G-protein subunits α-11 (GNA11) and -14 (GNA14) participate actively in angiogenesis via the modulation of endothelial function. This study aimed to determine whether GNA11 and GNA14 levels in placental tissues differed between SLE and normal term pregnancies.Material and methodsTwenty-four individuals, including 14 patients with SLE and 10 normal pregnant women, were included in this study. The expression levels of GNA11 and GNA14 in the placentas were examined using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and Western blotting analyses. The localization of GNA11 and GNA14 in placental tissues was evaluated using immunohistochemistry. The correlations between relative mRNA and protein expression levels of GNA11,14 and the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) scores were also analyzed.ResultsRT-qPCR revealed that the mRNA levels of GNA14, but not GNA11, were significantly decreased by 50% (P = 0.01) in SLE vs. normal term placentas. Western blotting showed that the protein levels of GNA14, but not GNA11, were significantly increased by 3.52-fold (P = 0.02) in SLE vs. normal term placentas. Using immunohistochemistry, positive staining for GNA11 and GNA14 was present in trophoblasts and villous stromal cells of the placental tissues. The expression levels of GNA11 and GNA14 were not significantly correlated with the SLEDAI scores (r2=0.02~0.24, P = 0.08~0.75).ConclusionsThe dysregulation of GNA14 in the placentas indicates a regulatory role during human SLE pregnancies.

In this paper, the modified attapulgite-reduced graphene oxide composite aerogel (ATP-RGO CA) was prepared by sol-gel method using modified attapulgite as silica source. The removal of the cationic dye malachite green (MG) and azo dye methyl orange (MO) onto ATP-RGO CA from unitary and binary systems was investigated. Morphology and microstructure studies of ATP-RGO CA were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and specific surface area and porosity analysis. Experiments were carried out as a function of pH, contact time, initial dye concentration, and temperature in unitary and binary systems. The adsorption kinetics, isotherms, thermodynamics, and dye desorption were studied in unitary and binary dye systems. The adsorption kinetics was modeled using the pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion kinetics equations. The equilibrium adsorption data of MG and MO dyes on ATP-RGO CA were analyzed. Thermodynamic parameters of dye adsorption were obtained. In addition, the regeneration of ATP-RGO CA was studied using dye desorption in unitary and binary dye systems. The adsorption kinetics of the dyes followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. The results indicate that the Langmuir model provides the best correlation of the experimental data. The thermodynamic studies showed that the dye adsorption onto ATP-RGO CA was a spontaneous and endothermic reaction. High desorption of MG and MO showed the regeneration of ATP-RGO CA. It can be concluded that ATP-RGO CA is suitable as an adsorbent material to remove MG and MO dyes from unitary and binary systems.

In recent years, subacute care units (SCUs) have emerged as alternatives to acute hospitalization for selected emergency department (ED) patients who might benefit from a short period of inpatient stay within a less acute setting. We developed a new protocol to directly admit selected older patients from our acute hospital's (AH) ED to the SCU of a partner community hospital, making use of our ED's short-stay ward as a transit area to overcome administrative, financial, and clinical barriers. The new protocol has removed the need for intervening stays of longer than 24 hours at our AH, reduced overall length of stay across both institutions, decreased hospital admissions, and reduced the number of patient hand-offs.

Gymnadenia conopsea R. Br. is a traditional Tibetan medicinal plant that grows at altitudes above 3000 m, which is used to treat neurasthenia, asthma, coughs, and chronic hepatitis. However, a comprehensive configuration of the chemical profile of this plant has not been reported because of the complexity of its chemical constituents. In this study, a rapid and precise method based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) combined with an Orbitrap mass spectrometer (UPLC&ndash, Orbitrap&ndash, MS/MS) was established in both positive- and negative-ion modes to rapidly identify various chemical components in the tubers of G. conopsea for the first time. Finally, a total of 91 compounds, including 17 succinic acid ester glycosides, 9 stilbenes, 6 phenanthrenes, 19 alkaloids, 11 terpenoids and steroids, 20 phenolic acid derivatives, and 9 others, were identified in the tubers of G. conopsea based on the accurate mass within 3 ppm error. Furthermore, many alkaloids, phenolic acid derivates, and terpenes were reported from G. conopsea for the first time. This rapid method provides an important scientific basis for further study on the cultivation, clinical application, and functional food of G. conopsea.

S-licarbazepine was synthesized by asymmetric reduction of oxcarbazepine in organic solvent/phosphate buffer biphasic system with Bacillus anthracis CGMCC No.12337 as catalyst. Effects of many factors on reduction were studied. Dibutyl phthalate/phosphate buffer was selected as the optimal biphasic system for reduction. The optimum reduction conditions are as follows: volume ratio of dibutyl phthalate and phosphate buffer 1:1, 30 g/L iospropanol as co-substrate, phosphate buffer pH 5, substrate concentration 7.92 mmol/L, cell concentration 30 g/L, 32°C，180 rpm. The conversion and enantiometric excess of S-licarbazepine reached 97.32% and 99.80%. An efficient method for synthesis of S-licarbazepine was provided.

Summary: Newborn neurons undergo inside-out migration to their final destinations during neocortical development. Reelin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of disabled 1 (Dab1) is a critical mechanism controlling cortical neuron migration. However, the roles of Reelin-independent phosphorylation of Dab1 remain unclear. Here, we report that deleted in colorectal carcinoma (DCC) interacts with Dab1 via its P3 domain. Netrin 1, a DCC ligand, induces Dab1 phosphorylation at Y220 and Y232. Interestingly, knockdown of DCC or truncation of its P3 domain dramatically delays neuronal migration and impairs the multipolar-to-bipolar transition of migrating neurons. Notably, the migration delay and morphological transition defects are rescued by the expression of a phospho-mimetic Dab1 or a constitutively active form of Fyn proto-oncogene (Fyn), a member of the Src-family tyrosine kinases that effectively induces Dab1 phosphorylation. Collectively, these findings illustrate a DCC-Dab1 interaction that ensures proper neuronal migration during neocortical development. : Non-Reelin-induced Dab1 phosphorylation was previously identified, but not characterized. Zhang et al. find that DCC interacts with Dab1, and DCC-mediated signaling effectively induces Dab1 phosphorylation. The DCC/Dab1 signaling complex is essential for neuronal migration, especially during the multipolar-to-bipolar transition. Keywords: Dab1, DCC, Fyn, morphological transition, netrin 1, neocortex development, neuronal migration, Reelin, tyrosine phosphorylation

In the daily life of human beings, sewage discharge and oil spill accidents occur from time to time. New types of controllable oil/water separation interface materials have received more attention. In this study, we proposed a simple and environmentally friendly method to prepare a Nickel filter with switchable wettability. The final product is prepared by high temperature calcination and soaked with stearic acid ethanol solution. The prepared filter screen has selective separation performance for oil/water mixture with switchable surface wettability between superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic. The separation efficiency is higher than 99.50%, and the flux rate is as high as 46.25 L m−2s−1 for water-removing process and 40.22 L m−2s−1 for oil-removing process. The wettability conversion of the membrane can be achieved through heating treatment and soaking treatment, and it still has good oil/water separation performance. After 20 times of cycles, the separation efficiency remains unchanged, and the flux remain above 40.06 L m−2s−1 for oil removal and 36.81 L m−2s−1 for water removal process. The results show that the prepared nickel filter screen has good practical application prospects such as water reclamation and oil spill treatment.

Agricultural application studies, including field experiments and acute toxicity tests, were conducted for lipopeptides secreted by marine-derived Bacillus marinus B-9987. Benefiting from commercially available scaled-up lipopeptide purification, the sample of impurities (isolated from target lipopeptides), raw extracted sample (purity: 9.08%), partially purified sample (purity: 20.86%), and highly purified sample (purity: 87.51%) were prepared from B. marinus B-9987 fermentation broth, and used in lab-scale antagonism tests, field experiments, swarming motility tests, and acute toxicity tests. Operations and conditions in field experiments were consistent with the Pesticide-Guidelines for the Field Efficacy Trials (GB/T 17980.28-2000), and acute toxicity tests were executed according to Toxicological Test Methods of Pesticides for Registration (GB 15670-1995). In agar diffusion tests in vitro and pot tests in vivo, all lipopeptide samples with different purities significantly inhibited Botrytis cinerea; meanwhile the sample of impurities isolated from target lipopeptides were not effective against B. cinerea. Results of lab-scale tests showed that the target lipopeptides were effective substances against B. cinerea. Thus, partially purified and raw extracted samples were used in field experiments instead of the highly purified sample for cost saving. In the field experiments against rose grey mold, biological control efficacy of 500 mg L−1 lipopeptides reached 67.53%, slightly lower than 74.05% reached by the agrochemical pyrimethanil. However, pyrimethanil severely suppressed B. marinus B-9987, whereas the lipopeptides promoted swarming motility and biocontrol efficacy of Bacillus biomass. Lipopeptides at 87.51% purity were tested for systemic acute toxicity and confirmed as low-toxicity substances. In conclusion, low-toxicity lipopeptides were potential alternatives to agrochemicals, and they also performed good promotion when combined with homologous biological control microorganism. There were 2 breakthroughs in this research: (1) marine-derived bacterial lipopeptides inhibited grey mold caused by B. cinerea in field experiments; and (2) purified bacterial lipopeptides (sample purity: >87.51%) were determined to be low-toxicity substances by systemic acute toxicity tests, satisfying the strict requirement of pesticide registration in China (required purity: >85%). This study provides support for using extracellular Bacillus-derived lipopeptides commercially similar to Bacillus-based biological control agents.

Two novel γ-butyrolactones ghanamycins A (1) and B (2) were isolated from the fermentation broth of marine-derived Streptomyces ghanaensis TXC6-16. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis. These two novel compounds exhibited antimicrobial activities against some phytopathogens. The minimum IC (MIC) of 2 against Pseudomonas syringae and Erwinia sp. were 50 μg ml−1.

Nowadays, various machine learning-based approaches using sequence information alone have been proposed for identifying DNA-binding proteins, which are crucial to many cellular processes, such as DNA replication, DNA repair and DNA modification. Among these methods, building a meaningful feature representation of the sequences and choosing an appropriate classifier are the most trivial tasks. Disclosing the significances and contributions of different feature spaces and classifiers to the final prediction is of the utmost importance, not only for the prediction performances, but also the practical clues of biological experiment designs. In this study, we propose a model stacking framework by orchestrating multi-view features and classifiers (MSFBinder) to investigate how to integrate and evaluate loosely-coupled models for predicting DNA-binding proteins. The framework integrates multi-view features including Local_DPP, 188D, Position-Specific Scoring Matrix (PSSM)_DWT and autocross-covariance of secondary structures(AC_Struc), which were extracted based on evolutionary information, sequence composition, physiochemical properties and predicted structural information, respectively. These features are fed into various loosely-coupled classifiers such as SVM and random forest. Then, a logistic regression model was applied to evaluate the contributions of these individual classifiers and to make the final prediction. When performing on the training dataset PDB1075, the proposed method achieves an accuracy of 83.53%. On the independent dataset PDB186, the method achieves an accuracy of 81.72%, which outperforms many existing methods. These results suggest that the framework is able to orchestrate various predicted models flexibly with good performances.

Provincial capital has a significant status and influence on the development of regional economy as a focus of a province in China. This paper finds that the provincial capital bias, which is the ratio of a capital city’s population in a province’s population, embodies an increasing tendency in the migration of population using a panel data of 19 provinces from 2000 to 2016. Based on a theoretical analysis, this paper constructs regression models and studies the economic effects of provincial capital bias from 3 aspects. The results show: provincial capital bias promotes the growth of provincial economy significantly; provincial capital bias has no impact on the provincial income inequality; provincial capital bias provides a significant spread effect to surrounding regions. Therefore, China should adjust its urban development strategy to promote the population to further gather into the provincial capital cities.

Soil black carbon (BC) is considered to be the main component of passive C pool because of its inherent biochemical recalcitrance. In this paper, soil BC in the middle part of Great Xing'an Mountains was quantified, the distribution of BC in different particle size fractions was analyzed, and BC stabilization mechanism and its important role in soil C pool were discussed. The results showed that BC expressed obvious accumulation in surface soil, accounting for about 68.7% in the whole horizon (64 cm), and then decreased with the increasing soil depth, however, BC/OC showed an opposite pattern. Climate conditions redistributed BC in study area, and the soil under cooler and moister conditions would sequester more BC. BC proportion in different particle size fractions was in the order of claysiltfine sandcoarse sand. Although BC content in clay was the highest and was enhanced with increasing soil depth, BC/OC in clay did not show a marked change. Thus, the rise of BC/OC was attributed to the preservation of BC particles in the fine sand and silt fractions. Biochemical recalcitrance was the main stabilization mechanism for surface BC, and with the increasing soil depth, the chemical protection from clay mineral gradually played a predominant role. BC not only was the essential component of soil stable carbon pool, but also took up a sizable proportion in particulate organic carbon pool. Therefore, the storage of soil stable carbon and the potential of soil carbon sequestration would be enhanced owing to the existence of BC.土壤黑碳由于具有生物化学惰性被视为土壤稳定碳库的主要成分.本文量化了大兴安岭中段森林土壤黑碳，分析了黑碳在各粒级内的分布，并探讨了黑碳的稳定机制及其在土壤碳库中的重要性.结果表明： 土壤黑碳表聚现象明显，表层黑碳占总剖面(64 cm)的68.7%，随着土层加深黑碳含量显著降低，但黑碳占有机碳的比例却呈现上升趋势.气候条件影响大兴安岭地区土壤黑碳的分布，相对寒冷和湿润的气候条件提高了土壤固持黑碳的潜力；土壤黑碳在各粒级内所占比例表现为黏粒粉粒细砂粗砂，尽管黏粒中黑碳含量最高，并随土层深度增加而升高，但黏粒中黑碳占有机碳的比例却无明显变化，黑碳/有机碳的升高主要源于细砂与粉粒中黑碳的增加；黑碳的生物化学惰性是表层黑碳的主要稳定机制，而深层的黑碳除了其自身抗性外，黏粒矿物的化学保护发挥着重要作用；黑碳不仅作为稳定碳库的主要成分，在颗粒有机碳组分中仍占相当大的比例，因此黑碳的存在提高了土壤稳定性碳储量与碳汇能力.

Fatty acids (FAs) play essential roles in regulating differentiation and proliferation by affecting gene expression in various cell types. However, their potential functions in bovine cells remain unclear. Herein, we examine the differentiation and proliferation of bovine skeletal muscle-derived satellite cells (MDSCs) after incubation with three types of representative FAs (palmitic acid, oleic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) by western blotting, immunofluorescence assays, flow cytometry analysis and EdU incorporation assays. The myotube fusion rate, myotube length and expression levels of muscle differentiation-related gene myogenin (MYOG) and myosin heavy chain 3 (MYH3) increased significantly, although the FAs did not affect proliferation. Additionally, FA-induced bovine MDSC differentiation increased ELOVL3 expression and relocation of ELOVL3 to cytoplasmic lipid droplets in the differentiation of bovine MDSCs. Moreover, the effect of FAs on bovine MDSC differentiation was inhibited upon ELOVL3 downregulation. Collectively, these data indicate that FAs promote bovine MDSC differentiation by regulating ELOVL3 expression.

ELOVL3 is involved in elongating saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, and is a critical enzyme for lipid accumulation in brown adipocytes during the early phase of tissue recruitment. In addition, ELOVL3 is related to increased fatty acid oxidation in brown adipocytes. However, the potential functions of ELOVL3 in bovine cells remain unclear. Herein, we aimed to elucidate the effect of the ELOVL3 on the differentiation of bovine skeletal muscle-derived satellite cells (MDSCs). Western blot and immunofluorescence analyses were used for elucidating ELOVL3 expression pattern in bovine MDSCs during differentiation in vitro. We activated or inhibited ELOVL3 to study the effect of alterations in its expression on in vitro differentiation of bovine MDSCs. ELOVL3 expression increased gradually during bovine MDSC differentiation, and its levels were higher in the more highly differentiated myotubes. Activation of ELOVL3 promoted MDSC differentiation, while inhibition of ELOVL3 hindered differentiation of these cells. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate the importance of ELOVL3 during bovine MDSC differentiation, which may assist in increasing beef cattle muscularity.

In order to prove the effect of bromate formation by chlorination in drinking water treatment process, by carrying out laboratory chlorination test in simulated water, Harbin drinking water and the Songhua River raw water samples, the influences of bromine ion be oxidated into bromate by chlorine were investigated. The results showed that when chlorine quantity was 5 mg/L, the conversion rate of bromide ion to bromate was less than 1.3%. On a large amount of chlorine (5 mg/L), significant bromate generation changes could not cause by the long-term existence of chlorine in the water, and the bromate concentration did not change significantly for a long period of time. In the conditions of high concentration of organic matter in water, the risk of bromate formation was low. When chlorine content reached 5 mg/L, a very small amount of bromate was detected in the raw water. New excessive risk caused by the presence of residual chlorine would not exist in the process of water supply.

Herein, we report construction of one kind of nesting-Fibonacci-super-lattice phononic crystal, in which the super-lattice cell is a well-defined Fibonacci generation sequence. We present a comparative study on band-gap structures of acoustic waves propagating in one-dimensional, nesting Fibonacci-periodic structure and simple-periodic structure. We find that there are more band gaps in nesting Fibonacci super-lattice models, and that they present behavior different from the split-up of band gaps with different generation numbers. With the increase of generation number, more band gaps split and occur. Additionally, when generation number becomes larger, Bragg scattering becomes more significant: the characteristic curves become flatter and band gaps become wider. Furthermore, we study the effect of various parameters such as density, thickness and defects on band-gap structures. Our work is significant both for understanding the intrinsic physical properties of nesting Fibonacci sequences and for providing flexible choices to meet real engineering requirements.

Objectives Paclitaxel (PTX) is frequently used in the clinical treatment of solid tumors. But the PTX-resistance is a great obstacle in cancer treatment. Exploration of the mechanisms of drug resistance suggests that tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) play a key role in the response of chemotherapeutic drugs. TSGs, a set of genes that are often inactivated in cancers, can regulate various biological processes. In this study, an overview of the contribution of TSGs to PTX resistance and their underlying relationship in cancers are reported by using GeneMANIA, a web-based tool for gene/protein function prediction. Methods Using PubMed online database and Google web site, the terms “paclitaxel resistance” or “taxol resistance” or “drug resistance” or “chemotherapy resistance”, and “cancer” or “carcinoma”, and “tumor suppressor genes” or “TSGs” or “negative regulated protein” or “antioncogenes” were searched and analyzed. GeneMANIA data base was used to predict gene/protein interactions and functions. Results We identified 22 TSGs involved in PTX resistance, including BRCA1, TP53, PTEN, APC, CDKN1A, CDKN2A, HIN-1, RASSF1, YAP, ING4, PLK2, FBW7, BLU, LZTS1, REST, FADD, PDCD4, TGFBI, ING1, Bax, PinX1 and hEx. The TSGs were found to have direct and indirect relationships with each other, and thus they could contribute to PTX resistance as a group. The varied expression status and regulation function of the TSGs on cell cycle in different cancers might play an important role in PTX resistance. Conclusion A further understanding of the roles of tumor suppressor genes in drug resistance is an important step to overcome chemotherapy tolerance. Tumor suppressor gene therapy targets the altered genes and signaling pathways and can be a new strategy to reverse chemotherapy resistance.

Two coordination polymers, [Y(H 2 O) 4 (H 3 chhc)]·6H 2 O ( 1 ) and [Cu 5 (H 2 O) 10 (Hchhc) 2 ]·4H 2 O ( 2 ) with H 6 chhc = cyclohexane-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexacarboxylic acid) represent rare examples of metal complexes with partially protonated cyclohexane-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexacarboxylato ligands. The [Y(H 2 O) 4 ] 3+ units in 1 are interlinked by the triprotonated (H 3 chhc) 3− anions in a η 5 μ 4 bridging mode to form 2D (4 3 ) 2 (4 6 ·6 6 ·8 3 ) topological networks, which are stacked along [0 1 0] direction in ···ABAB··· fashion with the lattice H 2 O molecules sandwiched between layers. The pentameric [Cu 5 (H 2 O) 10 ] 10+ units in 2 are bridged by monoprotonated (Hchhc) 5− anions in a η 8 μ 6 fashion to generate a 3D MOF of an unprecendented (4 3 )(4 5 ·6 7 ·8 3 ) topology with the lattice H 2 O molecules in channels. The temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility data of 2 could be modeled to a combination of a linear chain of equally-spaced Cu(II) ions ( J 1 = 1.86 cm −1 ) with an isosceles triangular Cu 3 unit ( J 2 = 5.86 cm −1 ).

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality. While non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common histological type of lung cancer and dominates almost 85% of all lung cancer cases. Conventional therapy, such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy, scarify normal cells during the curing progress are becoming unfavorable. To avoid harmful side-effect on normal cell, target-based therapy is the mainstream of modern cancer therapy. For example, gefitinib is a clinically-marketed drug which acts as tyrosine kinase inhibitor to inhibit epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activating signaling pathway. For the NSCLC patients who harbor activating substitution from leucine to arginine at amino acid 858 (L858R) point mutation and in-frame exon 19 deletion on EGFR, response well to gefitinib and these two common mutation are used a biomarkers for gefitinib prescription. However, gefitinib-resistance commonly happens due to further substitution mutation from threonine to methionine at amino acid position 790 (T790M) occurred after one year or less gefitinib treatment. Therefore, developing new treatment strategy to tackle gefitinib-resistance is urgently. Abnormal energy metabolism is accepted as new cancer hallmark. Recently, a metabolism rate-limiting enzyme 5'-adenosine menophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has become a promising anti-cancer target. In this study, we have applied computational docking to perform in silico virtual screening, and we have identified a novel direct AMPK agonist, D561-0775 from a compound library. Using enzyme activation assay, we demonstrated that D561-0775 activates directly on AMPK α subunit. In addition, D561-0775 exhibited significant inhibitory effect on gefitinib-resistant NSCLC cell lines but is less cytotoxicity on normal lung fibroblast cells. D561-0775 also activates AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway, resulting in induction of apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, suppressing glycolysis and cholesterol synthesis in gefitinib-resistant H1975 lung cancer cells. Taken together, D561-0775 has provided clue on a new chemical structure that could be developed as cancer drug for gefitinib-resistant NSCLC patients through inhibition lipid metabolism by directly targeting at AMPK directly. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by Macau Science and Technology Development Fund (Project No: 021/2013/A1, 074/2011/A3 & 082/2013/A3) Citation Format: Xi Chen, Chun Xie, Xing Xing Fan, Ze Bo Jiang, Vincent Wong, Jia Hui Xu, Xiao Jun Yao, Liang Liu, Elaine L. Leung. Novel direct AMPK activator suppresses non-small cell lung cancer through inhibition of lipid metabolism [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1674.

The growing energy consumption and environmental pressures call for economic and friendly green manufacturing. The paper creatively studies an economic part feeding scheduling problem with a cooperative mechanism to coordinate multiple mobile robots in the fullest sense. When solving the economic co-scheduling problem in mixed-model assembly lines, this paper jointly considers the objective of energy saving as well as the robot employment cost, which incorporates traditional performance criterion with growing energy concerns. In order to improve the performance and diversity of solutions, a multi-phase adaptive search (MPAS) algorithm is proposed which is integrated with clustering heuristics, specific destroy and repair rules, adaptive selection and perturbation strategy. Computational experiments are conducted in order to test and verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed MPAS algorithm. Comparison tests are carried out between the proposed MPAS and two widely-applied benchmark algorithms. The results obtained in this study might be inspiring for future studies on energy-efficient cooperative scheduling topics. [Received 16 February 2018; Revised 22 May 2018; Accepted 22 June 2018]

In order to protect the environment and public health, microwave irradiation was investigated as a means of reducing the nitrosamines level of tobacco smoke under mild conditions where the microwave energy was 1 kW and the irradiation time was shorter than 2 min. The microwave-induced elimination of nitrosamines such as N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR) and N-nitrosodiphenylamine (NDPA) was investigated and the impact of the presence of water and salt in the medium on the reduction was assessed in detail. The existence of water in the medium was crucial for the microwave-induced reduction of NDPA, because the rapid movement of water molecules under the influence of microwaves strongly affects the adjacent nitrosamines leading to their decomposition. This was the first time that microwaves have been used to directly irradiate cigarettes sealed in their packaging, and the nitrosamines content of tobacco and smoke of these irradiated cigarettes were analyzed with care. Irradiation for 90 s with microwave energy of 11,W was seen to reduce 25 to 30% of the nitrosamines in tobacco and 50 to 60% of the levels present in the mainstream smoke of the cigarette. Moreover, lower mutagenic activity and higher CHO cell livability were found for the irradiated cigarettes in comparison with the control according to the results of in vitro tests.

A feasible method to synthesize NaA and NaY zeolite from stellerite, the very cheap raw material found in China, was reported in this article to reduce the cost of zeolite synthesis for the first time. After stellerite is calcined above 973 K with sodium carbonate, this natural zeolite can be slowly dissolved in alkali solution and partly forms the gels, then transforms to zeolite NaA or NaY by structural rearrangement. The effect of synthetic conditions such as the ratio of different cation used in the reactive mixture on the resulting zeolite is examined. Furthermore, a new NaA/MCM-41 composite possessing both micropore and mesopore is synthesized by adding the NaA zeolite into the synthetic system, and the impact of zeolite additive on the pore structure of final porous composite is also explored.

Mesoporous silica with Ia3d structure has been successfully prepared utilizing a triblock copolymer (EO20PO70EO20)−acetate mixture for structure direction in aqueous solution over a wide pH range, even above the isoelectric point of silica, where the pH value could be finely tuned by varying the concentration of HCl and/or acetate. Characterization by XRD, TEM, and N2 sorption measurements show that the cubic Ia3d materials possess high surface areas (about 900 m2/g), large pore volumes (about 1.2 cm3/g), and uniform pore diameters (about 9.2 nm). Further, the phase diagram in the SiO2−P123−ZnAc2−H2O−HCl system is drawn to map the range of cubic mesophase. Salt effect has been investigated during the phase transformation process, which reveals that the nature and concentration of cations can also determine the mesostructure. In addition, when two different acetates are introduced into the solution at one time, metal oxides-modified cubic mesoporous silica can be directly synthesized. Among others, copper-...

Superbasic sites have been generated on the mesoporous silica materials for the first time, through a new strategy to prepare the MgO-modified SBA-15 in one-pot synthesis and then to disperse KNO3, possessing the good textural structure of the host and the high basic strength (H-) of 27.0. The in situ coated Mg species passivated the silanol groups on the surface of siliceous SBA-15 so that the mesostructure of SBA-15 could be reserved after the composite was loaded with KNO3 and activated at high temperature. Existence of the special protection layer of MgO on the surface of SBA-15 was also beneficial for decomposition of KNO3 to form superbasic sites on the mesoporous silica. The influence of coating amount of MgO on the protection of the textural properties of SBA-15 is examined and discussed in terms of consuming surface silanol groups. Dispersion and decomposition of KNO3 on the MgO layer is also explored. Other metal oxides such as CaO, ZnO, and Al2O3 are in situ coated on the surface of SBA-15 thro...

The latest progresses of the series of research on the trapper of nitrosamines are reported in this paper, involving the attempts to elevate the selective adsorption of zeolites through enhancing adsorbent-adsorbate interaction, in order to prepare the new functional nanoporous materials with high efficiency to eliminate the carcinogenic pollutants in environment and to protect public health. Incorporation of metal oxide such as copper oxide in NaY accelerated adsorption of volatile nitrosamines and anthracene, and moreover, coating zirconia onto the zeolite could dramatically suppress the release of nitrogen oxides in the decomposition ofN-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR) during temperature-programmed surface reaction (TPSR) process.

Two novel porous nitrosamine traps have been synthesized in order to eliminate carcinogens from the environment. A functional mesoporous material, CuO/SBA-15, has been synthesized by using an in-situ coating method, with the addition of a guest salt to the reaction system to modify the porous materials before the particles of SBA-15 were incubated; the synthesis and modification processes were performed in a single step. The resulting mesoporous composites selectively adsorb N-nitroso-pyrrolidine (NPYR), a typical volatile nitrosamine, and are potential cigarette additives that can be used for the removal of nitrosamines from cigarette smoke, thereby protecting public health and the environment. In another reaction, silica gel is modified by being coated with magnesia and then corroded by NaOH solution.The magnesia is dispersed onto the silica by impregnating it with a magnesium acetate solution, followed by calcination. After corrosion of the calcined sample with caustic soda, only the silica particles that are completely covered by magnesia remain. This material exhibits a similar ability to SBA-15 and zeolite NaY in its selective adsorption of NPYR.

The adsorption and thermal degradation of volatile nitrosamines on cyclodextrins have been investigated for the first time. Cyclodextrins can selectively adsorb nitrosamines to form host–guest complex but the adsorption model differs from that on zeolite. When nitrosamine is enclosed into cyclodextrin, the alkyl group is trapped into the wider rim of cavity and the oxygen in –N–N O group of nitrosamine bonds to the HO-group of the host through establishment of hydrogen bond. The temperature programmed surface reaction (TPSR) and TG-DTA results indicate no desorption of nitrosamines but formation of nitrogen in the degradation of nitrosamines trapped in cyclodextrin, which are very important and valuable for removal of the carcinogen.

Adsorption of N-nitrosohexamethyleneimine (NHMI) on a series of zeolites with different pore sizes and surface acidity was studied by in situ infrared technique, combined with temperature programmed surface reaction (TPSR). The adsorption manner of bulky NHMI in zeolite KA and NaA with pore sizes smaller than the molecular diameter of adsorbate was explored; also the impact of adsorbent pore structure and temperature on the adsorption of the volatile nitrosamines was examined. In comparison, the ordered mesoporous silica SBA-15 was employed to adsorb NHMI, and the acceleration of selective adsorption of nitrosamines by incorporating copper or zinc was checked and directly confirmed, which would be beneficial for expanding the application of mesoporous materials in environment protection and public health.

Copper oxide was incorporated into MCM-41 by a one-pot synthesis under acidic conditions to prepare a new mesoporous nitrosamines trap for protection of the environment. The resulting composites were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption, and H2 temperature-programmed reduction techniques, and their adsorption capabilities were assessed in the gaseous adsorption of N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR). The adsorption isotherms were consistent with the Freundlich equation. The copper salt was deposited onto MCM-41 during the evaporation stage and was fixed on the host in the calcination process that followed. MCM-41 was able to capture NPYR in air below 373 K but not at 453 K. Loading of copper oxide on MCM-41 greatly improved its adsorption capability at elevated temperatures. The influence of the incorporation of copper into MCM-41 samples and the adsorption behavior of these samples are discussed in detail.

New solid base with large-scale pore sizes and strong basicity was prepared by coating magnesia on amorphous silica, resulting in a composite with a basic strength ( H -) of 22.5 and large surface area exceeded 230 m 2 ·g −1 . With multi-scale structure, the modified silica exhibit a comparable ability to mesoporous materials SBA-15 and zeolite in adsorption of volatile nitrosamines like N -nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR) or N -nitrosohexamethyleneimine (NHMI).

SBA-15 was modified by incoporating acidic zeolite fragments or plugging, and showed a significantly enhanced efficiency for the removal of nitrosamines in mild conditions. The impact of pore structure and acidicity of mesoporous materials on their adsorptive feature is examined, in comparison with those coated with copper oxide, in order to prepare new functional materials for environment protection.

Adsorption of bulky nitrosamines like N -nitrosohexamethyleneimine (NHMI) and N ′-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) on the zeolite with small pore size was firstly studied by use of TPSR (temperature programmed surface reaction), selective adsorption and FTIR methods, and the adsorption manner was discussed combined with simulation of the structure of nitrosamines. Both NNN and NHMI could be adsorbed on zeolite KA and NaA, furthermore they can be degraded in the process of TPSR, though the pore size of adsorbent was much smaller than the molecular diameter of the adsorbate.

Modification of zeolite with copper oxide significantly promotes the selectively adsorption of volatile nitrosamines, beneficial for the removal of nitrosamines in cigarette smoke.

In the title compound, [Co(C(12)H(15)O(4))(2)(H(2)O)(2)](n), adjacent Co(II) atoms ( symmetry) are bridged by 3-carboxy-adamantane-1-carboxyl-ate anions, forming a chain running along [001]. Inter-chain O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the chains into layers parallel to (100); the layers are further connected via inter-layer hydrogen bonds inter-actions, forming a three-dimensional framework.