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.     

分子印迹硅纳米改性氧化石墨烯复合材料的制备及其对双酚A的吸附研究

制备了分子印迹硅纳米-氧化石墨烯复合吸附材料,并研究了复合材料对双酚A(Bisphenol A,BPA)的吸附性能.实验结果表明:复合吸附材料对BPA的吸附在35min内达到吸附平衡,Langmuir等温线模型得出最大吸附容量约为338.3mg/g;相对于BPA的结构类似物,对BPA具有良好的选择吸附性能;在溶液pH接...     

FT-ICR mass spectrometry for molecular characterization of water-insoluble organic compounds in winter atmospheric fine particulate matters

Water-insoluble organic compounds（WIOCs） are an important fraction of atmospheric fine particulate matters(PM_2.5), which could affect the climate system and threaten human health potentially. In this study, molecular characterization of WIOCs in PM_2.5 were investigated by 15 T Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry（FT-ICR MS） with atmospheric pressure photoionization（APPI） source in positive ion mode. A total of 2573 and1875 molecular formulas were iden...     

Effect of organic matter on phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge subjected to microwave hybrid pretreatment

Microwave (MW) hybrid processes are able to disrupt the flocculent structure of complex waste activated sludge, and help promote the recovery of phosphorus as struvite. In this study, to optimize struvite yield, (1) the characteristics of matter released in MW-hybrid treatments were compared, including MW, MW-acid, MW-alkali, MW-H₂O₂, and MW-H₂O₂-alkali. The results showed that selective release of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, Ca^2 +, and Mg^2 + achieved by sludge pretreatment using MW-hybrid processes. MW-H₂O₂ is the recommended sludge pretreatment process for phosphorus recovery in the form of struvite. The ratio of Mg^2 +:NH₄⁺-N:PO₄^3 −-P was 1.2:2.9:1 in the supernatant. (2) To clarify the effects of organic matter on struvite recovery, the composition and molecular weight distribution of organic matters were analyzed. Low molecular weight COD was found to facilitate the removal rate of NH₄⁺-N and PO₄³-P via crystallization, and the amorphous struvite crystals (< 1 kDa) from the filtered solutions had high purity. Therefore, the present study reveals the necessity of taking into consideration the interference effect of high molecular weight organic matters during struvite crystallization from sewage sludge.     

酚类化合物气相色谱保留指数的定量结构相关性研究

应用偏最小二乘回归技术建立了102种酚类化合物气相色谱保留指数与分子全息结构间的相关模型,在最佳建模条件下得到非交叉验证相关系数(r2)为0.965,交叉验证相关系数(q_LOO2)为0.963. 从102种酚类化合物中随机选出68种作为训练集,其余作为测试集,来验证分子全息QSRR模型的预测能力和稳健性. 在最佳建模条件对训练集进行偏最小二乘回归分析,r2为0.967,q_LOO2为0.927. 用训练集数据所建立的QSRR模型预测测试集中酚类化合物的色谱保留指数,结果表明,基于训练集所建立的QSRR模型具有很高的预测能力和稳健性,可以对测试集酚类化合物的气相色谱保留指数进行很好的预测. 此外,利用最佳全息定量结构保留关系(HQSRR)模型的色码图,探讨酚类化合物中的不同侧链基团对其色谱保留性质的影响,及其在固定相上的色谱保留机理.      

SBR生物反应器出水溶解态有机物性质特点研究

研究中考察了SBR生物反应器处理实际生活污水过程中,反应器内部溶解性有机物的变化情况,重点分析了污泥龄对于SBR反应器出水溶解态有机物性质特点的影响.研究结果表明,生物降解过程中,以分子量650Da、1700Da和2000Da为代表的腐殖质类有机物逐渐积累,小分子量有机物(<200Da)逐渐转化为具有中间分子量(500...     

水环境中致病菌分子生物学检测技术研究进展

总结了水环境中主要致病菌及其导致的疾病;介绍了检测水环境样品中致病菌的聚合酶链式反应（PCR）、实时定量PCR、等温扩增技术、生物传感器和高通量测序等分子生物学技术研究进展;分析了不同检测技术的优缺点和应用特点;提出了水环境中致病菌分子生物学检测技术的未来发展方向,为水环境中致病菌分析检测和风险控制提供研究思路和技术支撑。     

Influences and mechanisms of nanofullerene on the horizontal transfer of plasmid-encoded antibiotic resistance genes between E. coli strains

• Sub-inhibitory levels of nC₆₀ promote conjugative transfer of ARGs. • nC₆₀ can induce ROS generation, oxidative stress and SOS response. • nC₆₀ can increase cell membrane permeability and alter gene expression. • Results provide evidence of nC₆₀ promoting antibiotic resistance dissemination. The spread and development of antibiotic resistance globally have led to severe public health problems. It has been shown that some non-antibiotic substances can also promote the diffusion and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Nanofullerene (nC₆₀) is a type of nanomaterial widely used around the world, and some studies have discovered both the biological toxicity and environmental toxicity of nC₆₀. In this study, cellular and molecular biology techniques were employed to investigate the influences of nC₆₀ at sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) on the conjugation of ARGs between the E. coli strains. Compared with the control group, nC₆₀ significantly increased the conjugation rates of ARGs by 1.32‒10.82 folds within the concentration range of 7.03‒1800 mg/L. This study further explored the mechanism of this phenomenon, finding that sub-MICs of nC₆₀ could induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), trigger SOS-response and oxidative stress, affect the expression of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) genes, increase membrane permeability, and thus promote the occurrence of conjugation. This research enriches our understanding of the environmental toxicity of nC₆₀, raises our risk awareness toward nC₆₀, and may promote the more rational employment of nC₆₀ materials.     

Kinetic mechanism and effects of molecular structure on thermal hazards of azo compounds

In this paper, the kinetic mechanism of AIBN, AMBN, and ABVN was proposed, and the effect of molecular structure on their thermal hazards based on the kinetic mechanism was investigated. Calculated by non-isothermal DSC datum, the kinetic mechanism of AIBN, AMBN, and ABVN is revealed by the linear relationship between the integrated form of mechanical function and reaction time. The results indicate that the thermal decomposition process is controlled by the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami equation. Based on the determination of kinetic mechanism function, the reaction rate constants at various heating rates are directly calculated, and the intercept of the best fitting straight line of reaction rate constants with heating rate is approximately equal to the reaction rate constant under isothermal conditions. Besides, theoretical values obtained by multiplying kinetic mechanism function by reaction rate are well consistent with the experimental values, suggesting that the kinetic mechanism obtained is credible. Bond Dissociation Energies (BDE) calculated by quantum chemical equations are employed to evaluate the thermodynamics stability of AIBN, AMBN, and ABVN. Depending on similar molecular structures, the influence of differentiated group structure on the thermodynamic stability represented by BDE and heat release and the kinetic stability characterized by reaction rate constant were revealed. Finally, the results demonstrate that the thermal hazard increases as the volume of substituent group and molecular weight.     

用超滤法处理洗毛污水

本文就聚砜中空纤维超滤法处理洗毛污水进行了研究，首先考查了不同截留分子量的超滤膜对超滤性能的影响，发现截留分子量为３万的膜超滤性能较佳；然后考查了压力、温度、浓度及流速等操作参数对超滤性能的影响；污水经过超滤后，脂、总固体及ＣＯＤ去除率分别在９８％、８０％和９５％以上．