Control of a Ternary Extractive Distillation Process with Recycle Splitting Using a Mixed Entrainer

Dynamic control of the ternary extractive distillation process is complex, due to the relatively high number of operating parameters and interactions between multiple azeotropes. In this research, the control structures of the ternary extractive distillation using dimethyl sulfoxide and a mixed solvent of dimethyl sulfoxide and ethylene glycol, as the entrainer, were explored for separating tetrahydrofuran/ethanol/water. A composition with a ratio of reboiler duty to mole feed flow rate control structure was proposed to obtain good dynamic responses for the ternary extractive distillation process with dimethyl sulfoxide and mixed entrainer. Moreover, control comparisons of the ternary extractive distillation with dimethyl sulfoxide and mixed entrainer demonstrated that the dynamic performances of the extractive distillation with mixed entrainer were better compared with the process using dimethyl sulfoxide. These studies contribute to the development of controllability for ternary extractive distillation processes for separating ternary or multicomponent azeotropic mixtures

Polymethoxyflavone–Enriched Fraction from Ougan (Citrus reticulata cv. Suavissima) Attenuated Diabetes and Modulated Gut Microbiota in Diabetic KK‑A^y Mice

Diabetes mellitus is a serious, chronic disease worldwide; yet it is largely preventable through physical activity and healthy diets. Ougan (Citrus reticulata cv. Suavissima) is a characteristic citrus variety rich in polymethoxyflavones. In the present study, the anti-diabetic effects of the polymethoxyflavone-enriched fraction from Ougan (OG-PMFs) were investigated. Diabetic KK-Ay mice were supplemented with different doses of OG-PMFs for 5 weeks. Our results demonstrated that OG-PMFs exhibited robust protective effects against diabetes symptoms in KK-Ay mice. The potential mechanisms may partially be attributed to the restoration of hepatic GLUT2 and catalase expression. Notably, OG-PMF administration significantly altered the gut microbiota composition in diabetic KK-Ay, indicated by the suppression of metabolic disease-associated genera Desulfovibrio, Lachnoclostridium, Enterorhabdus, and Ralstonia, implying that the gut microbiota might be another target for OG-PMFs to show effects. Taken together, our results provided a supplementation for the metabolic-protective effects of PMFs and highlighted that OG-PMFs hold great potential to be developed as a functional food ingredient

Surface density of polyarginine influence the size, zeta potential, cellular uptake and tissue distribution of the nanostructured lipid carrier

<p>Poly-arginines are strong tools to elevate the cellular uptake of nanopreparations. To learn the influence of poly-arginine (RRRRRRRR, R8) density on a series of properties of nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC), we build six R8 modified NLCs with different R8 densities (nR-NLC, where n represents the R8 ratio) by fusion–emulsion method with the aid of stearyl-R8. The pharmaceutical characteristics like size, zeta potential and <i>in vitro</i> drug release, cellular uptake, cytotoxicity to A549 cells and tissue distribution in S180 tumor-bearing mice of the six nR-NLCs are all investigated. It turns out that with as little as 2% weight ratio of stearyl-R8 modified on NLC, its pharmaceutical properties, especially zeta potential changes astonishingly; however, the stearyl-R8 ratio should be higher than 4% to upgrade the cellular uptake and cytotoxicity evidently; in the <i>ex vivo</i> tissue distribution assessment, the nR-NLC with less than 8% R8 showed similar tissue accumulation, while NLC with 10% R8 shows obvious acute toxicity to mice. Our study pays attention to the effect of the R8 ratio on the changes of cargo properties, and the results indicate that this topic is essential and worth to be further developed.</p