An investigation of methods for enriching trophoblast from maternal blood

Trophoblast deportation is known to occur in normal human pregnancy, but it is not yet clear whether these cells routinely enter the maternal peripheral circulation and are available as a source of fetal DNA for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis of genetic disorders. To resolve this issue requires an efficient method of enriching trophoblast from maternal blood combined with a means to confirm its identity. Five different techniques were tested on ten retroplacental blood samples to determine the most sensitive and operator-efficient method. Lysis of red cells alone gave the best recovery of trophoblast but had to be discounted, together with Ficoll density gradient centrifugation, due to the very low purity and the excessive time required. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) of pre-enriched trophoblast resulted in the lowest recovery rate (8 per cent) despite a 3250-fold enrichment and a very high purity. Immunomagnetic beads (Dynabeads) coated with anti-CD 16 antibody proved to be the best method for the subsequent immunocytochemical characterization of deported trophoblast. However, IO beads coated with anti-CD45 antibody may be more useful for isolating trophoblast for prenatal diagnosis due to the high purity, enrichment (32-fold), and recovery rate (78 per cent) obtained with this method.     

Effect of transition metal doping under reducing calcination atmosphere on photocatalytic property of TiO2 immobilized on SiO2 beads

TiO₂ immobilized on SiO₂ (TiO₂/SiO₂) have been prepared by sol-gel method and various ions of transition metals (Cr³⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Zn²⁺) were doped on the photocatalyst using wet impregnation method under reducing calcination atmosphere. The photocatalytic activity of metal doped TiO₂/SiO₂ towards phenol degradation under black light irradiation were investigated and compared with undoped TiO₂/SiO₂. The results showed that the photoresponse of Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ doped TiO₂/SiO₂ were larger than undoped TiO₂/SiO₂, indicating that the photogenerated carriers were separated more efficiently in Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ doped TiO₂/SiO₂. The reactivity was in the order of Cu²⁺ > Zn²⁺ > Ni²⁺ > Cr³⁺ > Co²⁺. The different photoreactivity was ascribed to combine effect of the different ionic radii and photocorrison tendency of the dopants. The sample was also characterized by surface analytical methods such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron micrograph/electron dispersive X-ray analyzer and UV-Vis absorption spectrum.     

掺杂聚乙烯醇的壳聚糖小球对铜离子-腐殖酸的单一和连续吸附行为

以三聚磷酸钠作为离子交联剂,合成了一种掺杂聚乙烯醇的壳聚糖小球,采用SEM和FTIR表征了小球的表面性能及官能团分布情况,进一步研究了这种小球对腐殖酸和铜离子的单独吸附行为、连续吸附行为及两者共存状态下的吸附行为,并通过XPS能谱分析了吸附过程的机理.结果表明:在单独吸附过程中,壳聚糖小球与腐殖酸和铜的作用方式主要是通过静电引力和络合作用;在连续吸附过程中,先吸附了腐殖酸的小球,后续对铜离子的吸附效果变弱;而先吸附了铜离子的小球,后续对腐殖酸的吸附能力变强,说明这种小球在吸附过程中可以被连续使用.而在腐殖酸和铜离子共存的吸附实验中发现,壳聚糖小球除了会吸附溶液中的铜离子和腐殖酸外,还导致它们的聚集沉降.     

Charging behavior of glass beads using a spiral air type tribocharging apparatus that utilizes a Faraday cup

This paper introduces a novel tribocharging apparatus that utilizes a Faraday cup and experimentally investigates the charging behavior of glass beads. The novel apparatus mainly consists of four parts: an air supply part to control air duration and pressure, a powder supply part for setting the desired amount of powder (1 g in this experiment), a metal pipeline for generating a tribocharge, and a cyclone for collecting the powder that has passed through the pipeline. Four different sizes of spherical glass beads were used in this experiment. As for the results, the charge clearly increased as the glass bead particles passed through the pipeline for all four types of glass beads. The charge amount of the glass beads and the charge amount obtained from the pipeline had a very similar trend and absolute values. This confirmed the reliability of the test and showed that there was no disturbance due to external noise. In all of the tests, the net charge was observed to be negative for all glass beads. This agrees with the triboelectric series relating to the work functions of metals and glass particles. Smaller particles had larger charge amounts than did larger ones with good reproducibility. The charge amount of all glass beads increased as the supplied spiral air pressure increased.     

Application of Defined Co-Immobilized Microbial Consortium as a Ready-to-Use Seed Inoculum in Bod Analysis

A number of microorganisms were isolated from sewage. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD-5 day) analysis was carried out by individual pure cultures. The cultures giving higher or equal BOD values as compared to reference GGA solution were selected for the formulation of a defined mixed microbial consortium. This microbial consortium was co-immobilized on calcium-alginate beads. Four synthetic and six industrial samples were tested for BOD by using immobilized beads as well as sewage as source of seeding materials. BOD values obtained with beads for all the synthetic as well as industrial samples were fairly comparable with those obtained with sewage. Reusability of prepared microbial beads was also checked with different synthetic and industrial samples and was compared with reference GGA solution. The same microbial beads can be reused three times for different BOD-5 day estimations. It is recommended that immobilized microbial beads can be used as a ready-to-use seeding material for BOD analysis.     

Recovery of gold by chicken egg shell membrane-conjugated chitosan beads

We have successfully prepared a bead-type adsorbent from two materials with different adsorption characteristics. Heavy metals were removed by greatly swollen egg shell membrane-conjugated chitosan beads. The egg shell membrane accumulated and removed precious metal ions from a dilute aqueous solution with a high affinity in a short contact time. Experiments suggested that chitosan beads could take up gold ions with great capacity and selectivity by conjugation with egg shell membrane. Under certain conditions, the selective removal of gold and copper in a mixture of gold and copper ions by egg shell membrane-conjugated chitosan beads was 100% and 2%, respectively. Egg shell membrane-conjugated chitosan beads can be seen as a promising material to recover gold in wastewater from various industries, such as electroplating.     

Chromium sorption on grape stalks encapsulated in calcium alginate beads

A novel sorbent based on 2% grape stalk wastes encapsulated in calcium alginate beads was investigated for the removal of Cr(VI) and Cr(III) from aqueous solutions. The sorbent proved to be efficient for chromium removal in both hexavalent and trivalent forms from aqueous solution at pH 3.0. In binary mixtures, the presence in solution of one of the forms enhances the sorption of the other which results in an increase of the amount of total chromium removed. This study suggests that the proposed sorbent can be used for the removal of chromium from wastewaters through a cost-effective and environmentally friendly process.     

Electrochemical reduction of Cr(VI) in the presence of sodium alginate and its application in water purification

Chromium (Cr) is used in many manufacturing processes, and its release into natural waters is a major environmental problem today. Low concentrations of Cr(VI) are toxic to human health and living organisms due to the carcinogenic and mutagenic nature of this mineral. This work examined the conversion of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) via electrochemical reduction using gold electrode in an acidic sodium alginate (SA) solution and subsequent removal of the produced Cr(III)-SA by the polymer-enhanced ultrafiltration (PEUF) technique. A solution of SA in nitric acid was used both as an electrolytic medium during the voltammetric measurements and bulk electrolysis and as an extracting agent during the PEUF technique. The electroanalysis of Cr(VI) was performed by linear sweep voltammetry in the presence of acidic SA solution to study its voltammetric behavior as a function of the Cr(VI) concentration, pH, presence of Cr(III), SA concentration and scan rate. In addition, the quantitative reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) was studied through the bulk electrolysis technique.The results showed efficient reduction with well-defined peaks at approximately 0.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl, using a gold working electrode. As the pH increased, the reduction signal strongly decreased until its disappearance. The optimum SA concentration was 10 mmol/L, and it was observed that the presence of Cr(III) did not interfere in the Cr(VI) electroanalysis. Through the quantitative reduction by bulk electrolysis in the presence of acidic SA solution, it was possible to reduce all Cr(VI) to Cr(III) followed by its removal via PEUF.     

砂土与EPS颗粒混合的轻质土(LSES)临界循环应力比的试验研究

循环荷载下,砂土与EPS颗粒混合的轻质土(LSES)存在临界循环应力比Sth,将割线弹性模量衰减系数δ与循环次数的关系曲线能保持平缓的最大循环应力比定义为Sth,它是结构稳定与破坏两种状态的界限指标,根据动三轴试验结果,认为影响Sth的主要因素有围压、水泥掺量和EPS颗粒含量。一般来说,水泥掺量的增加、围压和EPS颗粒含量的减小均会提高Sth,但由于高围压下的结构重塑,水泥掺量低且EPS颗粒含量高的试样的Sth表现出一些不同的性状。     

基于PCA-BP神经网络的多股铜导线 熔痕定量金相识别方法研究

为实现火灾现场中多股铜导线熔痕的自动识别,采用主成分分析(PCA)和反向传播(BP)神经网络算法对四种多股铜导线熔痕(一次短路熔痕、二次短路熔痕、过负荷熔痕和火烧熔痕)的金相组织进行了识别研究。利用Image-Pro Plus 6.0和Axio-Imaging软件获取每种熔痕30组17维金相组织参数数据,采用PCA对四种熔痕共120组数据降维,获得前6个主成分得分矩阵,建立具有6个输入层节点,10个隐层节点和4个输出节点的神经网络模式识别模型。随机抽取每种熔痕的20组样品的主成分得分矩阵作为训练集,将每种熔痕的剩余10组主成分得分为测试数据,输入最终训练完成的模型进行识别,其识别准确率达到92.5%。实验结果表明采用PCA+BP神经网络的算法,可以较好地实现多股铜导线熔痕识别,为火灾物证鉴定工作提供了有力的工具。