Pretreatment of lignocellulosic wheat straw in ethanolwater co-solvents

Pretreatment is the key process for lignocellulosic biomass conversion, which is necessary to alter the structure of biomass to make cellulose and hemicellulose more accessible to the enzymes that convert the carbohydrate polymers into fermentable sugars. The present study reports the use of 15 ml ethanol-water co-solvents (1:1, v/v) for the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass (1.5 g) to produce cellulosic residual solid under varying conditions of temperature (220-310 °C) and time (20-100 min). Kinetic analysis was performed to examine the decomposition behavior of biomass in the co-solvents. The results showed that the optimal conditions for the pretreatment were 250 °C and 40 min. The maximum yield of residual solid under the optimized pretreatment conditions was 49.6% (0.744 g), which consisted of 91.4% holocellulose (cellulose and hemicellulose). Microstructure analysis showed that the compact monolithic structure of biomass had decomposed into a loose filamentous structure

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Hydrolysis of Microcrystalline Cellulose for Fermentable Hexose in Supercritical Water

Ethanol extracted from cellulose has attracted considerable attention and previous studies have shown that hydrolysis is a key process for extraction of hexose from cellulose. This study describes the effects of solid-liquid ratio of cellulose/water on production of fermentable hexose by hydrolyzing microcrystalline cellulose in supercritical water (400°C) at different reaction times (6, 7, and 8 min). Thermal property of microcrystalline cellulose was characterized by thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. The concentration of fermentable hexose (glucose and fructose) was determined by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was carried out to observe the morphology of the hydrolysis residues. The results demonstrate that the concentration of hexose produced increased with increasing the solid-liquid ratio of cellulose/water in the hydrolysis process. The maximum concentration of fermentable hexose (37.98 g/L), corresponding to a hexose yield of 11.39%, was achieved at the solid-liquid ratio of cellulose/water of 250 (g/L) at 6 min. Various holes and spherical particles were observed on the surface of hydrolyzed cellulose, which suggests that the dissolving ability of supercritical water was restricted. The results show that many chars were produced as residues, which results in a low-hydrolysis yield but a high-hexose concentration. This study provides an important guide of producing high-concentration solution of hexose from cellulose for fermentation

Comparison of Nail-holding Performance of Pinus massoniana and Cunninghamia lanceolata Dimension Lumber Based on Round Steel Nails

In this study, the influence of the diameter of round steel nails, the guiding bores, and the wood sections on the nail holding performance of Pinus massoniana and Cunninghamia lanceolata dimension lumber was explored. The results showed that the nail-holding power of round steel nails mainly came from their friction with wood fibers, while the radial and tangential sections were also affected by the shearing action of wood fibers. The tangential section reached the largest nail-holding power, followed by the radial section and cross section. Greater wood density was associated with higher nail holding power. Under a large nail diameter, however, high-density wood was prone to plastic cracking, which influenced the nail holding power greatly. Prefabricated guiding bores could prevent plastic cracking in wood to some extent and improve the nail holding power of Pinus massoniana and Cunninghamia lanceolata dimension lumber when diameter of round steel nails was more than 3.0 mm. For Cunninghamia lanceolata characterized by low density and rigidity, the wood fiber was in close contact with the round steel nail and internal cracking could not be easily generated under a large diameter of round steel nails

Modeling and initial assessment of the inter-frequency clock bias for COMPASS GEO satellites

The COMPASS system is a project established by China to develop an independent global satellite navigation system, which has five GEO (Geostationary Orbit) satellites and thirty Non-GEO satellites. An apparent inter-frequency clock bias (IFCB) for COMPASS GEO satellites is investigated using the real data. The bias also is modeled by the different models. Based on the 15 months (DOY 121, 2011-214, 2012) single-day-estimated results, the periodic variation of IFCBs of the COMPASS GEO satellite is studied using a harmonic analysis. The notable periods of 12 h and 8 h are noted. The harmonics-based models with different periods and different orders and quadratic function based model are used to describe the IFCB. The performances show that the 4-order harmonics-based model with the periods of 24, 12, 8 and 6 h is most optimal than others for describing the IFCB of COMPASS GEO satellite. Its amplitudes and phases estimated from a least square fit are used to study the features of the IFCB. The results show that the current amplitudes and phases do not present special features. Although the irregular amplitudes and phases of the model are disadvantageous for the long-term prediction of IFCB, it is obvious that the modeling IFCB can simple its service and a few of coefficients can replace the IFCB series. The performance of the model in short-term prediction IFCB is tested using the ten-day data (DOY 215-224, 2012). (C) 2013 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Data underlying the publication: Cytotoxic activities against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of Trachelospermum jasminoides extracts in vitro

cytotoxic activities against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 and the antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of the extracts of Trachelospermum jasminoides in vitr

Effects of Dowel Rotation Welding Conditions on Connection Performance for Chinese Fir Dimension Lumbers

In this study, the rotating welding process of Chinese fir (Keteleeriafortunei) in Guizhou, China, was systematically analyzed. The effects of rotating welding conditions, including the dowel-to-guide hole diameter ratio, welding time, depth, base surface, angle, and dowel type, on the performance of welded Chinese fir were explored. Moreover, the physical and chemical changes oftheChinese fir interface during welding were revealed by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results indicated the following: (1) The rotating welding technology can quickly achieve a strong connection between wood through friction heat without chemical adhesives and compared with traditional wood connection technology such as gluing or mechanical fixing;it has the advantages of simple operation, high production efficiency; and environmental friendliness. (2) Aftertherotating welding, the wood underwent significant pyrolysis, especially the degradation of hemicellulose. The heat generated in the welding process caused good melting and mechanical interlocking between the dowel and the wall of the guide hole, but it was also accompanied by afriction loss of the dowel and the substrate. (3) The welding parameters affected the wood’s connection strength and stability by altering heat production, distribution, transfer, and frictional losses. The impact of the dowel-to-guide hole diameter ratio had a great influence on the connection strength. When the diameter ratio was 1:0.7, the tensile strength was the highest, reaching 2.27 MPa. (4) The analyses of XPS, FTIR, XRD, and SEM proved thatthechemical composition changes at the interface, leading to a more structured crystalline bond and enhanced connection strength due to fiber entanglement and interlocking. This research providesatheoretical and experimental basis forthefurther innovation and development of wood processing technology and provides a new technical path forthegreen manufacturing of wood structure buildings

Dysprosium Heteroleptic Corrole-Phthalocyanine Triple-Decker Complexes: Synthesis, Crystal Structure, and Electrochemical and Magnetic Properties

Two triple-decker dinuclear sandwich dysprosium complexes, which are represented as Dy₂[Pc­(OC₅H₁₁)₈]₂[Cor­(FPh)₃] (<b>1</b>) and Dy₂[Pc­(OC₅H₁₁)₈]₂[Cor­(ClPh)₃] (<b>2</b>), were synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic and electrochemical methods in nonaqueous media. Their electronic structures were also investigated on the basis of TD-DFT calculations. The sandwich triple-decker nature with the molecular conformation of [Pc­(OC₅H₁₁)₈]­Dy­[Cor­(FPh)₃]­Dy­[Pc­(OC₅H₁₁)₈] for compound <b>1</b> was unambiguously revealed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and showed each dyprosium ion to be octacoordinated by the isoindole and pyrrole nitrogen atoms of an outer phthalocyanine ring and the central corrole ring, respectively. In addition, the magnetic properties of both compounds have also been characterized for exploring the functionalities of these types of triple-decker complexes