Unimolecular branched block copolymer nanoparticles in methanol for the preparation of poorly water-soluble drug nanoparticles

Unimolecular branched polymer nanoparticles are formed in methanol via a simple thermal annealing process, which can be used to produce aqueous drug nanoparticle suspensions.</p

Experimental study on the influence of surfactant foam properties on the slow release of gas in coal

In the process of mining coal resources, the abnormal emission of gas associated with coal may lead to serious gas overrun, and trigger problems such as gas disaster or greenhouse effect. Many studies have shown that injecting surfactant solutions into coal seam is one of the effective and important means of gas management. Surfactant mixed with gas is easy to form stable foam. However, there are few studies on the influence of foam properties on gas desorption. Therefore, this paper studied the influence of surfactant foam properties on the slow release law of gas. Two surfactants, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) and alkyl glycoside (APG0810), were selected to test the surface tension, viscosity, foaming, stability and foam morphology of solutions. The effects of surfactant foam properties on gas release was investigated using a self-developed experimental apparatus. The experimental results shown that with the increase of surfactant mass fraction, the surface tension of liquid decreased greatly at first, the foaming rate increased obviously, and the foaming stability increased gradually. When approaching the critical micelle concentration, the decrease amplitude of surface tension slowed down, and the foaming and foaming stability increased gently. At a mass fraction of 0.15%, the foaming heights of SDBS and APG0810 after air injection were 44 mm and 40 mm, respectively, and the maximum half-life of SDBS foam was 786.5 s. The slow release effect of solution foam on gas was well correlated with its foaming rate and half-life. At the same mass fraction, SDBS was generally better than APG0810 in the slow release of gas. At a mass fraction of 0.15%, the gas slow release rate of APG0810 and SDBS within 10 min were about 37.4% and 12.7%, respectively, and that of SDBS within 2 h was still about 50.84%. This study can provide a new perspective to investigate the inhibition and its mechanism of gas desorption in coal by surfactants, and also a certain theoretical support for the prevention and control of gas in mines and the green mining of coal

Atlas of Mineral Deposits Distribution in China (2020)

This open access book includes instruction of national mineral database 2020 and atlas of national mineral deposits distribution derived from national mineral database 2020. National mineral database 2020 is based on data from National Geological Archives China(NGAC). Moreover, it introduces the construction method and updates maintenance mechanism of the mineral deposits database and proposes the concept of updating data based on collected archives. The construction guideline on national mineral deposits database provides guiding framework for the future development on geological database

Experimental study on the influence of middle and low rank coal functional groups on coal wettability

Coal seam water injection can effectively inhibit gas gushing in the process of coal mining, and its inhibition effect mainly depends on the wetting characteristics of coal seam. The chemical structure of coal is one of the important factors affecting the wettability of coal. In order to study the relationship between the functional groups of medium and low rank coal and its wettability, the coal quality characteristics of typical medium and low rank coal samples were analyzed, and the parameters of different coal samples were obtained by Nicolet iN10 Fourier Transform microscopic infrared spectrometer. In this paper, the size of the contact Angle of deionized water at the solid-liquid-gas junction on the coal surface is used to characterize the wettability of coal. JC2000D contact Angle measuring instrument is used to obtain the contact Angle of different coal samples. Zeta potential can reflect wettability and ionization degree of coal surface functional groups, so as to establish the relationship between hydrophilic functional groups (hydroxyl functional groups, other oxygen-containing functional groups), contact Angle and Zeta potential of coal samples. The experimental results show that with the deepening of coal metamorphism, the strength of hydrophilic functional groups of coal samples decreases gradually, the peak height of hydrophilic functional groups of middle rank coal decreases by 0.13 compared with that of low rank coal, and the absorption peak area decreases by 58.91. The hydrophilic functional groups are negatively correlated with the contact Angle of coal samples, that is, the contact Angle decreases gradually with the increase of absorption peak intensity of hydrophilic functional groups, and the contact Angle decreases by 8.27 ° from middle rank coal samples to low rank coal samples. The relationship between hydrophilic functional groups and Zeta potential of coal samples shows a first-order exponential decay function, and the correlation coefficient is as high as 0.95. That is to say, the absolute value of Zeta potential increases gradually with the increase of absorption peak area of hydrophilic functional groups. The surface electronicity of coal samples is strong, and the hydrophilicity of coal is good. Among them, the hydroxyl functional group has a great influence on the wettability of coal, and the hydrogen bond formed by self-associating hydroxyl group is the main factor affecting the wettability of coal. Other oxygen-containing functional groups, such as carboxyl and ether bond hydrophilic functional groups, combine with water molecules under intermolecular force, showing strong vitality and improving the hydrophilicity of coal

Study on synergistic water-resisting stability of upper and lower soil layers and bedrock layer in shallow coal seam group

The roof water inrush of shallow buried coal seam is caused by the water flowing fractured zone through the aquifuge. With the downward mining of coal seam group, the mechanism of synergistic water isolation between soil layer and bedrock layer needs to be clarified. In order to analyze the failure mechanism of aquiclude under the background of downward mining of coal seam group, so as to accurately predict the water inrush problem of coal mine roof, taking the downward mining of 2−2, 3−1 and 4−2 coal seams in Han Jiawan Coal Mine of Shenfu Mining Area in Northern Shaanxi as the research background, the differences in the properties of aquiclude at different depths were obtained by in-situ borehole coring experiments. The development form of cracks is described by establishing the mechanical model of seepage expansion of upper aquifuge soil layer. Using the mechanical model of soil-rock composite aquiclude, the mechanical criterion of the lower aquiclude in the overall stable state is calculated under the condition of ‘given deformation’. The research shows that the aquiclude can be divided into upper aquiclude and lower aquiclude according to its different properties. By comparing the total load with the tensile strength of the upper aquifuge, when the total load is less than or equal to the tensile strength of the upper aquifuge, the crack no longer develops downward to obtain the crack development length. Under the condition of ‘given deformation’, when the tensile stress generated at the middle position of the long side of the aquiclude is less than or equal to the tensile strength threshold, the overall structure of the lower aquiclude is in a stable state, and no tensile failure will occur. According to the geological conditions of Han Jiawan coal mine, the numerical simulation results are consistent with the theoretical analysis results. The research can provide reference for roof water inrush prediction under similar geological conditions

High-quality genome assembly and comparative genomic profiling of yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolia) revealed environmental adaptation footprints and seed oil contents variations

Yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolia) is a species of deciduous tree that is native to Northern and Central China, including Loess Plateau. The yellowhorn tree is a hardy plant, tolerating a wide range of growing conditions, and is often grown for ornamental purposes in parks, gardens, and other landscaped areas. The seeds of yellowhorn are edible and contain rich oil and fatty acid contents, making it an ideal plant for oil production. However, the mechanism of its ability to adapt to extreme environments and the genetic basis of oil synthesis remains to be elucidated. In this study, we reported a high-quality and near gap-less yellowhorn genome assembly, containing the highest genome continuity with a contig N50 of 32.5 Mb. Comparative genomics analysis showed that 1,237 and 231 gene families under expansion and the yellowhorn-specific gene family NB-ARC were enriched in photosynthesis and root cap development, which may contribute to the environmental adaption and abiotic stress resistance of yellowhorn. A 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase (KAT) gene (Xso_LG02_00600) was identified under positive selection, which may be associated with variations of seed oil content among different yellowhorn cultivars. This study provided insights into environmental adaptation and seed oil content variations of yellowhorn to accelerate its genetic improvement

The prognostic significance of circulating plasma cells in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients

ObjectiveMultiple myeloma (MM) is a highly characteristic tumor that is influenced by numerous factors that determine its prognosis. Studies indicate that the presence of circulating plasma cells (cPCs) is a detrimental factor that significantly impacts the prognosis of patients with MM.MethodsThis study retrospectively analyzed the prognostic value of cPCs quantified by 10-color flow cytometry in 145 newly diagnosed MM (NDMM) cases in the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from November 2018 to February 2021. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the hospital (2021 No. 93).ResultsOf the 145 patients, 99 (68.2%) were detected cPCs. Through receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis, an optimal threshold of 0.165% was identified as a predictor for overall survival (OS). The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 33 months in patients with cPCs ≥0.165%, whereas those with cPCs &lt;0.165% had a PFS of &lt;33 months (p=0.001). The median OS was not reached for two groups; the 3-year OS for patients with cPCs ≥0.165% was 71% compared with 87% for those with cPCs &lt;0.165% (p=0.003). In transplant patients, cPCs ≥0.165% also predicted worse prognosis. Similarly, when considering cytogenetic risk factors in conjunction with cPC levels, comparable results were obtained. To evaluate whether the Revised International Staging System (R-ISS) groups could be further stratified based on different prognostic factors related to cPCs, our study revealed similar median PFS and OS rates in R-ISS II stage patients with cPCs ≥0.165% compared to those in the III stage (p=0.659 and 0.249, respectively).ConclusionThis study demonstrates that a high ratio of cPCs serves as a reliable indicator for predicting a poorer prognosis in MM cases. Furthermore, incorporating the R-ISS system and cytogenetic risk factors alongside the level of cPCs enhances the accuracy of prognostic predictions for patients with MM

Rapid Diagnosis of HIV-1 virus by Near Infrared Spectroscopy: based on Partial least squares regression

Currently, the laboratory diagnostic tests available for HIV-1 viral infection are mainly based on serological testing which relies on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for blood HIV antigen detection and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for HIV specific RNA sequence identification. However, these methods are expensive and time-consuming, and suffer from false positive and/or false negative results. Thus, there is an urgent need for developing a cost effective, rapid and accurate diagnostic method for HIV-1 infection. In order to reduce the barriers for effective diagnosis, a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) method was used to detect the HIV-1 virus in human serum, specifically, three absorption peaks with dose-dependent at 1582nm, 1810nm and 2363nm were found by multiple FBiPLSR test analysis for HIV-nano and HIV-EGFP, but not for MLV. Therefore, we recommend the use of 1582nm, 1810nm and 2363nm as the characteristic spectrum peak, for early screening and rapid diagnosis of serum HIV

Influence of pre-exsiting surface defects on the vibrational properties of Ag nanowires

Large-scale molecular dynamics simulations are performed to characterize the effects of pre-existing surface defects on the vibrational properties of Ag nanowires. It is found that the first order natural frequency of the nanowire appears insensitive to different surface defects, indicating a defect insensitivity property of the nanowire’s Young’s modulus. In the meanwhile, an increase of the quality (Q)-factor is observed due to the presence of defects. Particular, a beat phenomenon is observed for the nanowire with the presence of a surface edge defect, which is driven by a single actuation. It is concluded that different surface defects could act as an effective mean to tune the vibrational properties of nanowires. This study sheds lights on the better understanding of nanowire’s mechanical performance when surface defects are presented, which would benefit the development of nanowire-based devices