Effect of ambient polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nicotine on the structure of Aβ42 protein

● B[a]P, nicotine and phenanthrene molecules altered the secondary structure of Aβ₄₂. ● β-content of the peptide was significantly enhanced in the presence of the PAHs. ● Nicotine made stable cluster with Aβ₄₂ peptide via hydrogen bonds. ● Phenanthrene due to its small size, interfered with the Aβ₄₂ monomer more strongly. Recent studies have correlated the chronic impact of ambient environmental pollutants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with the progression of neurodegenerative disorders, either by using statistical data from various cities, or via tracking biomarkers during in-vivo experiments. Among different neurodegenerative disorders, PAHs are known to cause increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease, related to the development of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide oligomers. However, the complex molecular interactions between peptide monomers and organic pollutants remains obscured. In this work, we performed an atomistic molecular dynamics study via GROMACS to investigate the structure of Aβ₄₂ peptide monomer in the presence of benzo[a]pyrene, nicotine, and phenanthrene. Interestingly the results revealed strong hydrophobic, and hydrogen-bond based interactions between Aβ peptides and these environmental pollutants that resulted in the formation of stable intermolecular clusters. The strong interactions affected the secondary structure of the Aβ₄₂ peptide in the presence of the organic pollutants, with almost 50 % decrease in the α-helix and 2 %–10 % increase in the β-sheets of the peptide. Overall, the undergoing changes in the secondary structure of the peptide monomer in the presence of the pollutants under the study indicates an enhanced formation of Aβ peptide oligomers, and consequent progression of Alzheimer’s disease.     

Molecular docking analysis on antifungal properties of acid condensate produced from palm kernel shell

The rise in the number of fungi that resisted antifungal action is of serious concern nowadays. In this study, the potential of acid condensate (AC) produced from microwave-assisted pyrolysis of palm kernel shell (PKS) was investigated for its antifungal properties through molecular docking evaluation. The phenolic-rich AC was determined for its chemical compositions using the GC–MS analysis where compounds with the highest phenolics content were further evaluated (using the Autodock Tools 1.5.7) for its potential enzymes/protein binding properties. From the GC–MS analysis, catechol, guaiacol and syringol were present at highest percentages. This directly correlates with results obtained from the molecular docking works where all these ligands managed to bind (indicated by H-bond, π-stacking, hydrophobic interaction) with some of the amino acid at the active sites which indicate its potential to inhibit substrate binding of this enzyme. As a conclusion, this study demonstrated the potential use of AC from agricultural biomass such as PKS as a natural-based antifungal agent that can reduce environmental and health impacts.     

Numerical simulation of small-scale pool fires of LNG

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been largely indicated as a promising alternative solution for the transportation and storage of natural gas. In the case of accidental release on the ground, a pool fire scenario may occur. Despite the relevance of this accident, due to its likelihood and potential to trigger domino effects, accurate analyses addressing the characterization of pool fires of LNG are still missing.In this work, the fire dynamic simulator (FDS) has been adopted for the evaluation of the effects of the released amount of fuel and its composition (methane, ethane, and propane), on the thermal and chemical properties of small-scale LNG pool fire. More specifically, the heat release rate, the burning rate, the flame height, and thermal radiation, at different initial conditions, have been evaluated for pool having diameter smaller than 10 m. Safety distances have been calculated for all the investigated conditions, as well.Results have also been compared with data and correlations retrieved from the current literature. The equation of Thomas seems to work properly for the definition of the height over diameter ratio of the LNG pool fire for all the mixture and the investigated diameters.The addition of ethane and propane significantly affects the obtained results, especially in terms of radiative thermal radiation peaks, thus indicating the inadequacy of the commonly adopted assumption of pure methane as single, surrogate species for the LNG mixture.     

不同分子量的腐殖酸存在下2种无机砷的生物毒性效应研究

水环境中天然有机质会与砷形成络合物,进而影响砷的迁移、转化和生物毒性。研究利用超滤方法将腐殖酸(humic acid, HA)分为5个不同分子量的组分,以大型溞为受试生物,探究了不同分子量HA存在下砷对大型溞的毒性效应。结果表明,不同分子量的HA均缓解了As(Ⅲ)和As(Ⅴ)对大型溞的氧化应激损伤和细胞膜损伤,并降低了砷对MT的诱导量。其中1～30 k Da的HA对砷的缓解效果最好,1 k Da的HA毒性缓解效果最差,可能的原因是HA与砷的络合增加溶液中络合态砷的含量,而络合态砷难以进入细胞并被生物利用。不同分子量的HA对砷毒性的缓解差异与其跟砷的络合比例不同有关。     

System dynamics research of non-adaptive evacuation psychology in toxic gas leakage emergencies of chemical park

Chemical industry park plays an important role in optimizing the allocation of resources, but an emergency may make a great deal of personnel casualty and property loss. Many casualties are not the result of accidents but are caused by extreme behavior because of the non-adaptive psychology of the evacuees. Panic is one of the non-adaptive psychological behaviors during an evacuation, which is influenced by a variety of factors. Based on the consideration of the disaster environment and the evolution of crowd emotion, a system dynamics model of panic spread is established by using Anylogic software, and simulation experiments are carried out for different disaster severity, visibility, and groups. The results show that the number of people with severe panic increase when visibility decreases or disaster diffuses. Besides, the appropriate proportion of groups can effectively reduce the cooling time of crowd and ease the fears. However, continue to increase the number of groups has no significant effect on the panic control. This work can provide some reasonable guidance for regional emergency evacuation in chemical park.     

突发事件下安全舆情的传播与演变——以江苏响水天嘉宜化工有限公司“3.21”特别重大爆炸事故为例

为明确突发事件安全舆情传播与演变路径，提高企业防控突发事件安全舆情传播风险能力，降低衍生灾害发生概率，在文献分析及事故致因理论基础上，构建突发事件安全舆情传播与演变过程的系统动力学（SD）模型，并运用Vensim软件对以江苏响水天嘉宜化工有限公司“3.21”特别重大爆炸事故为例进行仿真实验，模拟安全舆情传播与演变动态过程。结果表明:突发事件安全舆情传播与演变主要受事件自身、媒体、相关企业监管层、相关企业执行层4个主体的共同影响，其中事件自身因素起效时间最早，相关企业监管层影响作用最大、维持时间最持久，相关企业执行层影响最直接。     

Mapping shifts in spatial synchrony in grassland birds to inform conservation planning

Spatial synchrony, defined as the correlated fluctuations in abundance of spatially separated populations, can be caused by regional fluctuations in natural and anthropogenic environmental population drivers. Investigations into the geography of synchrony can provide useful insight to inform conservation planning efforts by revealing regions of common population drivers and metapopulation extinction vulnerability. We examined the geography of spatial synchrony and decadal changes in these patterns for grassland birds in the United States and Canada, which are experiencing widespread and persistent population declines. We used Bayesian hierarchical models and over 50 years of abundance data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey to generate population indices within a 2° latitude by 2° longitude grid. We computed and mapped mean local spatial synchrony for each cell (mean detrended correlation of the index among neighboring cells), along with associated uncertainty, for 19 species in 2, 26-year periods, 1968–1993 and 1994–2019. Grassland birds were predicted to increase in spatial synchrony where agricultural intensification, climate change, or interactions between the 2 increased. We found no evidence of an overall increase in synchrony among grassland bird species. However, based on the geography of these changes, there was considerable spatial heterogeneity within species. Averaging across species, we identified clusters of increasing spatial synchrony in the Prairie Pothole and Shortgrass Prairie regions and a region of decreasing spatial synchrony in the eastern United States. Our approach has the potential to inform continental-scale conservation planning by adding an additional layer of relevant information to species status assessments and spatial prioritization of policy and management actions. Our work adds to a growing literature suggesting that global change may result in shifting patterns of spatial synchrony in population dynamics across taxa with broad implications for biodiversity conservation.     

Meta-analysis of the differential effects of habitat fragmentation and degradation on plant genetic diversity

Genetic diversity is a key factor for population survival and evolution. However, anthropogenic habitat disturbance can erode it, making populations more prone to extinction. Aiming to assess the global effects of habitat disturbance on plant genetic variation, we conducted a meta-analysis based on 92 case studies obtained from published literature. We compared the effects of habitat fragmentation and degradation on plant allelic richness and gene diversity (equivalent to expected heterozygosity) and tested whether such changes are sensitive to different life-forms, life spans, mating systems, and commonness. Anthropogenic disturbance had a negative effect on allelic richness, but not on gene diversity. Habitat fragmentation had a negative effect on genetic variation, whereas habitat degradation had no effect. When we examined the individual effects in fragmented habitats, allelic richness and gene diversity decreased, but this decrease was strongly dependent on certain plant traits. Specifically, common long-lived trees and self-incompatible species were more susceptible to allelic richness loss. Conversely, gene diversity decreased in common short-lived species (herbs) with self-compatible reproduction. In a wider geographical context, tropical plant communities were more sensitive to allelic richness loss, whereas temperate plant communities were more sensitive to gene diversity loss. Our synthesis showed complex responses to habitat disturbance among plant species. In many cases, the absence of effects could be the result of the time elapsed since the disturbance event or reproductive systems favoring self-pollination, but attention must be paid to those plant species that are more susceptible to losing genetic diversity, and appropriate conservation should be actions taken.     

变压器油池火燃烧规律的实验研究*

为对变压器油池火灾进行准确有效的灭火，研究不同尺寸和不同厚度下变压器油的火灾动力学特征和基本燃烧特性，具体分析变压器油的燃烧过程和变压器油燃烧速率、火焰温度以及辐射热流随油池直径以及厚度的变化规律。结果表明:整个油品的燃烧过程分为预热燃烧阶段、稳定燃烧阶段和火焰熄灭阶段。对于厚度大于10 mm的油池燃烧，稳定阶段的燃烧速率与油层厚度无关，稳定阶段的燃烧速率随着油池直径的增加而增加。同时，变压器油火灾连续火焰区温度接近750 ℃。对于稳定燃烧阶段下的变压器油燃烧，基于辐射通量可得出在燃烧过程中，辐射热量占总燃烧热的占比约为1/3。研究结果可丰富变压器油燃烧的基础数据，为变压器火灾的灭火提供参考。     

分子识别作用下光催化降解偶氮染料酸性红GR

合成了β-环糊精(β-CD)与偶氮染料酸性红GR(ARGR)的包结物,并采用红外光谱仪对ARGR、β-CD及β-CD与ARGR的包结物进行了表征,表征结果显示,β-CD与ARGR的包结物的特征峰的峰形和强度与β-CD相似,但峰位有明显的偏移,说明ARGR进入了β-CD空腔与β-CD发生了分子识别作用。采用TiO2作为催化剂,研究了β-CD分子识别后ARGR的光催化降解行为,实验结果表明,在ARGR质量浓度为20.0 mg/L、β-CD浓度为1.8×10-5 mol/L、体系pH为4.0、TiO2加入量为1.0 g/L、光催化反应时间为60 min的条件下,经β-CD分子识别后ARGR的光催化降解率可达100%。