Effects of various pretreatments on biohydrogen production from sewage sludge

The sewage sludge of wastewater treatment plant is a kind of biomass which contains many organics, mainly carbohydrates and proteins. Four pretreatments, acid pretreatment, alkaline pretreatment, thermal pretreatment and ultrasonic pretreatment, were used to enhance biohydrogen production from sewage sludge. The experimental results showed that the four pretreatments could all increase the soluble chemical oxygen demand （SCOD） of sludge and decrease the dry solid （DS） and volatile solid （VS） because the pretreatments could disrupt the floc structure and even the microbial cells of sludge. The results of batch anaerobic fermentation experiments demonstrated that all of the four pretreat- ments could select hydrogen-producing microorganisms from the microflora of sludge and enhance the hydrogen production. The hydrogen yield of the alkaline pretreated sludge at initial pH of 11.5 was the maximal （11.68 mL H2/g VS） and that of the thermal pretreated sludge was the next （8.62 mL H2/g VS）. The result showed that the hydrogen yield of pretreated sludge was correlative with its SCOD. The hydrogen yields of acid pretreated sludge and alkaline pretreated sludge were also influenced by their initial pH. No methane could be detected in the anaerobic fermentation of alkaline pretreated sludge and thermal pretreated sludge, which suggested that these pretreatments could fully inhibit the activity of methanogens. The volatile fatty acids （VFA） production in anaerobic fermentation of alkaline pretreated sludge was the maximum and the next is that of thermal pretreated sludge.     

VFA作为衡量生物除磷指标的研究

污水中的最初VFA量以及通过污水中其他有机物发酵形成的VFA量代表了污水含有的潜在的VFA总量．在生物除磷过程中,污水中潜在的VFA总量与溶解磷的吸收量具有良好的相互关系,去除1mg溶解磷大约需要20mgVFA-COD．提出通过好氧呼吸测定的有机物含量不能较好地衡量被聚磷菌所利用的基质量,而测定污水中潜在的VFA不仅可以衡量污水生物除磷的可行性。而且可以作为生物除磷厌氧段优化的指标,以此来判断除磷效果。     

Prediction of gas chromatographic retention indices of organophosphorus compounds by holographic QSRR

A new molecular structure representation, molecular hologram, is employed to investigate the quantitative relationship between gas chromatographic retention indices and molecular structures for 41 methylesterified organophosphorus compounds (OPs). The quantitative structure-retention relationship (QSRR) model has been constructed for GC-RI of the selected OPs through partial least squares regression, which shows high statistical quality and predictive value with non-cross validation correlation coefficient ...     

Combining docking and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis （COMSIA） to predict estrogen activity and probe molecular mechanisms of estrogen activity for estrogen compounds

Estrogen compounds are suspected of disrupting endocrine functions by mimicking natural hormones, and such compounds may pose a serious threat to the health of humans and wildlife. Close attention has been paid to the prediction and molecular mechanisms of estrogen activity for estrogen com- pounds. In this article, estrogen receptor a subtype （ERa） -based comparative molecular similarity indices analysis （COMSIA） was performed on 44 estrogen compounds with structural diversity to find out the structural relationship with the activity and to predict the activity. The model with the significant correlation and the best predictive power （R^2= 0.965, Q^2 LOO： 0.599, R^2 pred ： 0.825） was achieved. The COMSIA and docking results revealed the structural features for estrogen activity and key amino acid residues in binding pocket, and provided an insight into the interaction between the ligands and these amino acid residues.     

Study on elastic modulus of individual ferritin

The mechanical property of individual ferritin was measured with force-volume mapping (FV) under contact mode of atomic force microscopy (AFM) in this work. The elastic modulus of individual ferritin was estimated by the Hertz mode. The estimated value of the elastic modulus of individual ferritin was about 250－800 MPa under a small deformation. In addition, the elastic modulus of individual ferritin was compared with that of the colloid gold nanoparticle.     

Coexistence of normal, super-, and hyper-deformation in nuclei: A study with angular momentum projection method

Angular-momentum-projected energy surface calculations for A ≈ 110 nuclei indicate three distinct energy minima occurring at different angular-momenta. These correspond to normal, super-, and hy- per-deformed shapes coexisting in one nucleus. 110Pd is studied in detail, with a quantitative prediction on super- and hyper-deformed spectra by the Projected Shell Model calculation. It is found that several other neighboring nuclei in the A-110 mass region, with the neutron number around 64, also exhibit clear s...     

Pulping performance of transgenic poplar with depressed Caffeoyl-CoA O-methyltransferase

This paper evaluated pulping performance of 3-year-old field-grown transgenic poplar （Populus tremula × Populus alba）. The transgenic poplar with anti-sense CCoAOMT had an about 13% decreased lignin content, in which a slight increment was found in S/G ratio. Chemical analysis showed that the transgenic poplar had significantly less benezene-ethanol extractive than that of control wood, but no significant differences were found in contents of ash, cold water extractive, hot water extractive, 1% NaOH extractive, holocellulose, pentosans and cellulose. Fiber assay demonstrated that down-regulation of CCoAOMT expression improved the fiber quality in transgenic poplar. Kraft pulping showed that lower lignin in transgenic poplar led to remarkable improved pulp quality and increased pulp yield.     

Breast cancer-specific serum peptide profiles

Early detection of breast cancer is paramount to successful clinical therapy. Yet, early-stage breast cancer lacks specific symptoms or biomarkers. With the emerging of the mass spectrometric (MS)–based signatures as biomarkers, we investigated breast cancer-related serum profile pattern through class prediction and independent validation, and used Fourier transfer MS to identify breast cancer signature. We now show a distinctive serum peptide pattern that discriminates breast cancer from healthy controls with 93.2% sensitivity and 95.4% specificity. m/z 5901.70 and 4465.74 of ion fragment of FPA and alpha1-antichymotrypsin are found in the signatures that predominantly discriminate breast cancer from healthy individuals. These novel findings identify an MS-based serum peptide pattern of breast cancer that may have direct clinical utility in future. Contributed equally to this work Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30321003) and National Key Basic Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2004CB518800)     

两相厌氧生物技术处理环氧树脂生产废水

研究采用两相厌氧生物技术处理环氧树脂生产废水。试验结果表明:经过AMBR和EGSB反应器处理后,COD去除率达到91%,SS去除率达到67%;进水在产酸器AMBR反应后,pH值由6.8降至5.86,VFA由1265 mg/L升至3862 mg/L,酸化效果较好;经产甲烷器EGSB反应后,pH值和VFA分别为7.61和206 mg/L,产甲烷效果良好;经过后续工艺SBR处理后,出水符合国家污水综合排放标准。     

Estimating divergence times among subfamilies in Nymphalidae

The mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit Ⅰ （COⅠ） gene and the nuclear elongation factor 1α （EF-1α） gene were sequenced from 13 species of Nymphalidae. Phylogenetic trees of Nymphalidae, which is the largest family in butterflies, were constructed based on the sequences determined from 13 species sequenced in our laboratory and an additional 43 species obtained from GenBank using the maximum likelihood （ML） and Bayesian methods. Relative-rate tests between lineages in these phylogenetic trees were performed. On the basis of the results of the relative-rate tests and fossil information of Satyrinae, Nymphalinae and Biblidinae, the average divergence times among the subfamilies are estimated as 44.2-87.1 million years ago （Ma）. These results will be helpful for better understanding of the origin and evolution of this family, as well as the divergence time of butterflies and other complex taxa.     

Crack spacing of unsaturated soils in the critical state

The cracking mechanism of unsaturated soils due to evaporation is poorly understood, and the magnitude of crack spacing is usually hard to estimate. In this work, cracks were postulated to occur succedently rather than simultaneously, that is, secondary cracks appear after primary cracks as evaporation continues. Formulae of the secondary crack spacing and secondary trend crack spacing were then derived after stress analysis. The calculated spacing values were consistent with the published experimental data. Meanwhile, the effect of the Poisson ratio on the crack spacing was analyzed, which showed that the magnitude of crack spacing was proportional to the Poisson ratio in the range of [0.30, 0.35].     

可见-短波近红外光谱用于血红蛋白分析及其稳定性

基于随机性、相似性和稳定性,通过定标集、预测集、检验集的建模过程,采用可见-近红外(NIR)光谱结合偏最小二乘(PLS)方法建立人类溶血液样品的血红蛋白(Hb)的分析模型。将全谱扫描区(400—249 8 nm)分成可见区(400—780nm)、短波近红外区(780—110 0 nm)、长波近红外区(1100—249 8 nm)、可见-短波近红外区(400-1100 nm)、全近红外区(780—249 8 nm)。经过比较、检验,结果表明,可见-短波近红外区达到了最好的模型效果和稳定性,最优PLS因子数为7,检验的预测均方根误差(V-SEP)和预测相关系数(V-RP)分别为4.42 g.L-1、0.967,达到了高的预测精度和稳定性。     

Preparation of pH-responsive ceramic composite membranes by grafting acrylic acid onto α-alumina membranes

A pH-responsive ceramic composite membrane was prepared by chemical graft polymerization of acrylic acid （AA） onto the KH-570 modified （x-alumina membrane. The influence of monomer concentration on the gating characteristics of the pH-responsive membrane was investigated. The FT-IR spectrum, contact angle and water filtration rate of the membrane were measured. The monomer concentration was found to have a remarkable effect on the pH-response coefficient and the water filtration rate. In addition, the grafted membrane exhibited fast and reversible response to the pH change in the external solution.     

Vitellogenic responses of male Chinese loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) exposed to the individual or binary mixtures of 17β-estradiol and nonylphenol

Male Chinese loaches were exposed to 17β-estradiol (E2) and nonylphenol (NP) both singly and in combination for 42 days using semi-static waterborne exposure system. Plasma vitellogenin (Vtg) was chosen as determining endpoint. The results demonstrated that 0.5 μg/L E2 could induce the enhancement of Vtg contents in male Chinese loaches after exposure for 21 days, which showed a time-related increasing manner; NP was also estrogenic to male Chinese loach, and the vitellogenic responses showed in a time-and dose-related manner, which was less potent than that of E2. The bi- nary mixtures of E2 and NP can significantly elicit the production of Vtg in male Chinese loaches, which was more potent than that of individual compounds, and Vtg induced in the binary mixture groups was higher than the summation of Vtg induced in the corresponding single-compound groups at the same concentration.     

Influence of location-dependent protuberance damage on cell viability

The influence of femtosecond laser-induced damages on viability of olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) is investigated. Several cytokinetic processes including cellular damage, recovery and death are discussed. Using femtosecond laser with the power of 100 μW and cutting speed of 2 μm/s, we cut the cellular protuberance with smaller diameter twice in different locations, and then observe the viability of the damaged cells. Under the same conditions, the root of protuberance with larger diameter is cut six times to observe changes of cellular shape. Whether the damage is located in the end, middle or root of protuberance with smaller diameter, the cell viability can recover within 3 h. When the damage is located in the root of protuberance with larger diameter, the damaged cell will die in the way of oncosis. Cytokinetic phenomena including intracellular high Ca²⁺ concentration, cellular morphologic change, recovery and oncosis are discussed. Meanwhile, high Ca²⁺ concentration is observed after femtosecond laser surgery. Therefore, femtosecond laser surgery is an important tool for establishing cell damage model and studying cytokinetics. Supported by National High Technology Research & Development Program of China (Grant No. 2006AA04Z307), Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of PR China (Grant No. 2006039), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50775104), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK2006507) and Jiangsu Provincial Research Innovation Program for College Graduates (Grant No. CX07B_086z)     

Arctic dipole anomaly and summer rainfall in Northeast China

A dipole structure anomaly in summer Arctic atmospheric variability is identified in this study, which is characterized by the second mode of empirical orthogonal function （EOF） analysis of summer monthly mean sea level pressure （SLP） north of 70°N, accounting for 12.94% of the variance. The dipole anomaly shows a quasi-barotropic structure with opposite anomalous centers over the Canadian Arctic and the Beaufort Sea and between the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea. The dipole anomaly reflects alternating variations in location of the polar vortex between the western and eastern Arctic regions. The positive phase of the dipole anomaly corresponds to the center of the polar vortex over the western Arctic, leading to an increase in summer mean rainfall in Northeast China. The dipole anomaly has a predominant 6-year periodicity, and shows interdecadal variations in recent decades.     

Adhesive contact of a rigid sphere to finitely stretched substrates

Exemplified by adhesive contact of a rigid sphere with equiaxially stretched elastomeric substrates, the effect of finite pre-strain on adhesion behavior is studied based on the JKR model. The analysis indi- cates that the pre-strain reduces the contact area between the sphere and the substrate, but does not alter the adhesion strength.     

Ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography with femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser and photonic crystal fiber

Optical coherence tomography （OCT） with ultrahigh axial resolution was achieved by the super-continuum generated by coupling femtosecond pulses from a commercial Ti：sapphire laser into an air-silica microstructure fiber. The visible spectrum of the super-continuum from 450 to 700 nm centered at 540 nm can be generated. A free-space axial OCT resolution of 0.64 pm was achieved. The sensitivity of OCT system was 108 dB with incident light power 3 mW at sample, only 7dB below the theoretical limit. Subcellular OCT imaging was also demonstrated, showing great potential for biomedical application.     

A preliminary knowledge-driven prediction model of snail distribution in the Poyang Lake region

Present monitoring and prediction of schistosomiasis＇s intermediate parasite, snail, are based on remote sensing image＇s spectral signatures, and the calculation result is in fact an incomplete-constraints solution. TM image of the Poyang Lake region on October 31, 2005 was combined with GIS thematic data （DEM, boundary of the Poyang Lake, vegetation, soil and land use） to make a prediction on snail spatial distribution in the region by remote sensing, geo-informaUcs and knowledge-driven modeling according to mechanism of snail occurrence. Result shows that with change of overall fuzzy membership of snail occurrence from high to low, snail occurrence of the snail samples of validation group goes up to 81% within 10% high fuzzy membership range, denoting high efficiency of the model in predicting snail occurrence.     

Records of volcanic events since AD 1800 in the East Rongbuk ice core from Mt. Qomolangma

Continuous Bi profile of the East Rongbuk (ER) ice core near Mt. Qomolangma reveals nine major volcanic events since AD 1800. Compared with Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), it shows that the concentrations of Bi in the ER ice core can reflect the major volcanic events within the key areas. This provides a good horizon layer for ice core dating, as well as a basis for reconstructing a long sequence of volcanic records from the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau ice cores. Supported jointly by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2007CB411501), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 90411003), Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KZCX3-SW-344) and Hundred Talents Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences