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.     

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.     

低剂量镉诱导细胞氧化损伤的机理研究

镉是一种有毒重金属,能诱导酿酒酵母的氧化损伤.为了研究低剂量镉诱导细胞氧化损伤的作用,通过有葡萄糖和无葡萄糖的酵母培养基,用浓度2 μmol/L和10 μmol/L的CdCl2染毒酿酒酵母10 h后,统计酿酒酵母细胞的存活率,并用HPLC-EC法测定酿酒酵母线粒体DNA中8-OH-dG/105dG比值.结果表明:无葡萄糖条件下,10μmol/L的CdCl2染毒时酿酒酵母对Cd2 的耐受性比有葡萄糖时明显高(P＜0.01),而且线粒体DNA氧化损伤程度也明显低(P＜0 01);但2 μmol/L的CdCl2染毒时,酿酒酵母对Cd2 的耐受性和线粒体DNA氧化损伤程度与有葡萄糖条件下相比差异不显著(P＞0.05).因此,本文认为低浓度Cr主要对酿酒酵母细胞质中蛋白造成氧化损伤,浓度升高时则对线粒体DNA也产生氧化损伤.     

久效磷对黄鳝乙酰胆碱酯酶、羧酸酯酶和磷酸酶活性的影响

采用静态急性毒性实验方法,研究了久效磷对黄鳝脑乙酰胆碱酯酶及肝脏、肾脏羧酸酯酶、碱性磷酸酶、酸性磷酸酶活性的影响.结果表明,在水温(20±2)℃条件下,经0.25 mg·L-1、0.50 mg·L-1、1.00mg·L-1和2.00mg·L-1的久效磷暴露96 h,黄鳝肝脏、肾脏羧酸酯酶和脑乙酰胆碱酯酶活性均显著下降,但两者表现出不同的抑制模式.随着暴露质量浓度的升高,肝脏和肾脏羧酸酯酶活性的下降幅度逐渐变小,而脑乙酰胆碱酯酶活性下降幅度却由小变大.久效磷暴露黄鳝96 h,肝脏、肾脏酸性磷酸酶活性均升高;而肝脏碱性磷酸酶活性升高;肾脏碱性磷酸酶活性降低.久效磷暴露质量浓度与脑乙酰胆碱酯酶和肝脏、肾脏羧酸酯酶活性之间具有剂量-效应关系,酸性磷酸酶和碱性磷酸酶可能在鱼体抵御有机磷农药毒性作用中有着重要的作用,其机理有待进一步研究.此外,本文还探讨了有机磷农药靶标酶乙酰胆碱酯酶和解毒酶羧酸酯酶、磷酸酶之间的相关性.     

Application of CFD on the sensitivity analyses of some parameters of the modified Hartmann tube

The aim of this work is to determine the influence of operating parameters such as the dispersion pressure, the ignition delay and height on the dust flammability. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation, based on an Euler–Lagrange approach, was developed with Ansys Fluent™ and validated experimentally. Such analysis will facilitate the choice of the most conservative conditions for a flammability test. This paper is focused on a case study performed on wheat starch with the modified Hartmann tube. The dispersion process of the powder was studied with granulometric analyses performed in situ and high speed videos. Tests were performed with injections at gas pressure ranging from 3 to 6 bars and the evolution of the particle size distribution (PSD) was recorded at different ignition heights (5, 10 and 15 cm over the dispersion nozzle). The observations highlighted the presence of agglomeration/deagglomeration processes and dust segregation. Besides, a CFD simulation analysis was aimed at evaluating the impact of a set of parameters on the PSD and the local turbulence, which are closely linked to some flammability parameters. For this computational analysis, the CFD simulation was coupled with a collision treatment based on a Discrete Element Method (DEM) in order to consider the cohesive behavior of the combustible dust. Thus the results suggest performing the injection of the gases at approximately 5 bars for the flammability tests of wheat starch in order to obtain the finest PSD at a given ignition height. It is also shown that the finest PSD are obtained at 5 cm over the dispersion nozzle. However, the local instabilities and turbulence levels are so high during the first stages of the dispersion that the flame growth can be disturbed for short ignition delays. Moreover, the stabilization of the bulk of the dust cloud requires longer periods of time when the ignition sources are located at 15 cm. As a result, the recommended height to perform a flammability test is 10 cm in this case. Finally, this study proposes some tools that might improve the procedure of dust flammability testing.     

Blast wave clearing behavior for positive and negative phases

The purpose of the research was to improve prediction of response of buildings to blast waves by including the negative phase and considering clearing of both positive and negative phases. Commonly used structural design practices, which trace their origins to military design manuals, often ignore the negative phase as well as positive phase clearing. For high explosive threats, this approach is conservative in most circumstances. However, negative phase clearing had not previously been studied for blast waves, and the implications for structural response had not been evaluated. This paper presents results of modeling negative phase blast clearing behavior for a typical blast wave and discusses the differences from positive phase clearing. The implications of including positive and negative phase clearing in building blast damage analysis are also investigated through single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) analyses.Blast waves from explosion sources like a vapor cloud explosion (VCE), pressure vessel burst or high explosive exhibit both positive and negative phases, and the relative magnitude of the positive and negative phases varies among explosion sources and the specific circumstances of each source. A fully reflected blast wave is produced if an incident blast wave were to strike an infinitely tall and wide wall in a normal orientation. Both the positive and negative phases of the blast wave are enhanced by the reflection process. However, when an incident blast wave strikes a wall of finite size in a normal orientation, rarefaction waves are created at the edges of the wall, and the rarefactions sweep down from the roof and inward from sides. The rarefaction waves result in a clearing effect for both the positive and negative phases.Clearing relieves some of the applied blast load on the reflected wall for the positive phase. However, this is not always the case for the negative phase. As shown by the results presented in this paper, clearing may either relieve or enhance the applied negative phase blast load, depending on the duration of the blast wave and the wall dimensions.The impact of negative phase clearing on structural response for generic building components was also investigated. Nonlinear SDOF methods were used to characterize response in terms of peak positive and negative displacements. It was found that the influence of the negative phase is significant and the peak structural response can occur during negative (outward) displacement.     

抗生素药物诺氟沙星对锦鲤的毒性效应

为明确抗生素药物诺氟沙星对锦鲤的毒性效应,采用鱼类毒性试验方法,研究了诺氟沙星(Norfloxacin,NFLX)对锦鲤的急性毒性和亚急性毒性效应.结果表明,当NFLX暴露质量浓度达到1 000 mg/L时,NFLX对锦鲤无急性毒性.NFLK暴露15 d,在1 mg/L、5 mg/L、25mg/L和125 mg/L 4个组中,5 mg/L组锦鲤肝脏SOD活性在6d时达到最大(p＜0.01);125 mg./L组MDA含量在15 d时达到最大值(p＜0.01);25 mg/L、125 mg/L组锦鲤肝脏中MDA含量与暴露时间呈正相关,相关系数分别为0.938 1、0.953 5.各组GST活性和GSH质量比均受到不同程度的诱导,1 mg/L组NFLX可使鱼肝GST与GSH产生适应性反应;5 mg/L组诱导GST与GSH效应最为显著,呈现“钟形”变化趋势,5 mg/L很可能是NFLX对GST活性和GSH质量比影响的一个阈值或转折点.鱼肝GPT与GOT活性变化表现出一定的相似性,均呈现先升高后降低的变化规律,其中5 mg/L组被诱导效应最为显著(p＜0.01).5 mg/L很可能是锦鲤适应NFLX暴露和机体中生物酶发挥作用的一个转折点.比较上述抗氧化和转氨酶指标的敏感性和稳定性发现,在NFLX作用下,锦鲤肝脏中GST、GSH两个指标对NFLX的反应比SOD、MDA、GPT、GOT灵敏,变化规律稳定,更适合评价水环境中NFLX暴露的毒性效应.     

Recent application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in process safety and loss prevention: A review

In recent years, significant progress has been made to ensure that process industries are among the safest workplaces in the world. However, with the increasing complexity of existing technologies and new problems brought about by emerging technologies, a strong need still exists to study the fundamentals of process safety and predict possible scenarios. This is attained by conducting the corresponding consequence modeling and risk assessments. As a result of the continuous advancement of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools and exponentially increased computation capabilities along with better understandings of the underlying physics, CFD simulations have been applied widely in the areas of process safety and loss prevention to gain new insights, improve existing models, and assess new hazardous scenarios. In this review, 126 papers from 2010 to 2020 have been included in order to systematically categorize and summarize recent applications of CFD for fires, explosions, dispersions of flammable and toxic materials from accidental releases, incident investigations and reconstructions, and other areas of process safety. The advantages of CFD modeling are discussed and the future of CFD applications in this research area is outlined.     

Metal contents of marine turtle eggs (Chelonia mydas; Lepidochelys olivacea) from the tropical eastern pacific and the implications for human health

Concentrations of eight elements were measured in Chelonia mydas and Lepidochelys olivacea eggs collected along the Pacific coast of Panama. Manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) concentrations were similar to previous reports of these species from around the world, while lead (Pb) was lower than previous reports. Cd posed the highest health risk to people who regularly eat the eggs, with average consumption rates leading to target hazard quotients (THQ) of up to 0.35 ± 0.15. Our conclusions indicate that current turtle egg consumption in isolated, coastal Pacific communities may pose a health concern for young children, and that youth and young adults should limit their consumption of turtle eggs to reduce their total intake of nonessential metals.     

农药环境风险评估中常用的计算毒理学模型软件

农药的大量使用为我国带来了严重的环境和健康问题,仅依靠传统生物测试和环境监测的方法已经不能满足农药风险评估的需要。利用计算毒理学模型,可以实现农药的高通量风险评估。本文主要介绍了农药环境风险评估中常用免费的EPI Suite、QSAR Toolbox和PBT Profiler等定量结构-活性关系(Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship,QSAR)模型软件和SCIGROW、PRZM-GW、China-PEARL和EQC等环境多介质模型软件,以期能为农药的风险评估和科学管理提供参考。