Total Reaction Time Research Articles

Production of Water-Soluble Carbohydrates from Aspen Wood Flour with Hydrogen Chloride Gas.

The aim of this study was to optimize the reaction conditions for concentrated acid hydrolysis of aspen wood flour by employing anhydrous hydrogen chloride gas to produce fermentable sugars. Gas hydrolysis with HCl was conducted both with and without temperature control during hydrolysis under a relatively low pressure of 0.1 MPa. Process parameters for HCl gas hydrolysis included the moisture content of aspen wood flour (0.7-50%) and reaction time under pressure (30 min to 24 h). In addition, liquid-phase hydrolysis with concentrated hydrochloric acid was conducted in concentrations of 32-42% and 15 min to 24 h reaction times for comparison with the gas-phase process. The highest yields (>90%) for water-soluble carbohydrates from aspen wood flour were achieved with temperature-controlled gas hydrolysis using 50% moisture content and 2 h total reaction time, which is in line with the previous research and comparable to hydrolysis with concentrated (42%) hydrochloric acid.

Multicomponent hexaborides with low work functions by ultra-fast high temperature sintering

A reduction of the work function (Wf) in multicomponent hexaborides has been achieved by doping with highly electropositive Ba, which enhances electron emission. Single-phase bulk multicomponent polycrystalline hexaborides of La0.5Ba0.5B6, Ce0.5Ba0.5B6, and BaB6 powders were first synthesized and then densified by ultra-fast high temperature sintering. Using a total reaction and densification time of 6 min, a density of ∼90% theoretical was reached. The UHS sintering is a resistive heating technique, which enables a high heating rate (∼103–104 °C/min) to reach the synthesis/sintering temperature in a minute and facilitates in synthesizing single phase solid solution product very quickly (in 6 min). Measurements of Wf were carried out by Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy, yielding values of Wf = 2.05 ± 0.10 and 2.00 ± 0.10 for La0.5Ba0.5B6 and Ce0.5Ba0.5B6 respectively. These values of Wf are similar to those predicted by first-principles calculations. Ba-substitution is shown to be a general approach to reduce Wf (∼25%) in various multicomponent hexaborides.

B-320 Development of Two-step Sandwich CLEIA Kit for Tacrolimus With Automated Sample-Pretreatment Process, LUMIPULSE Presto® iTACT® Tacrolimus

Abstract Background Tacrolimus (The other name: FK506) is an immunosuppressive drug used for preventing rejection of allotransplantation and treating atopic dermatitis or rheumatoid arthritis. The complex consisting of Tacrolimus and FK506 binding protein binds to calcineurin and suppresses expression of Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and IL-2 induced immune response. Although tacrolimus is a useful immunosuppressive drug, this medicine causes serious side effects, such as renal dysfunction, opportunistic infections due to the excessive immunosuppression, and so on. Therefore, the measurement of the tacrolimus concentration in blood is required to obtain the maximum tacrolimus therapeutic effect without side effects. It is known that 95 percent of tacrolimus in blood localizes in the inside of erythrocyte, and this localization imposes cumbersome pretreatment process of whole blood. Almost all diagnostic reagents for tacrolimus need the manual whole blood pretreatment process that defaces the reliability of measurement values. And the existing diagnostic reagents often show the high cross-reactivity against the metabolite products of tacrolimus. To solve these inconveniences, we developed a highly-specific chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA) for tacrolimus using a new automated sample-pretreatment process on a fully automated LUMIPULSE® L2400 analyzer. In this study, we report the basic performance of this new tacrolimus assay named as LUMIPULSE Presto® iTACT® Tacrolimus. Methods LUMIPULSE Presto® iTACT® Tacrolimus is the two-step sandwich CLEIA with the on-board sample-pretreatment process. All evaluations were executed on LUMIPULSE® L2400 analyzer (FUJIREBIO INC.). The on-board sample-pretreatment process is performed simultaneously with the first immune-reaction in sandwich CLEIA, and the total reaction time is 20 min. Limit of detection (LoD) and Limit of quantification (LoQ), within-run precision, day-to-day reproducibility, linearity, endogenous interferences, anticoagulative interferences, tacrolimus metabolites interferences and the correlation with current tacrolimus assay were evaluated in LUMIPULSE Presto® iTACT® Tacrolimus. Results Both of LoD and LoQ of LUMIPULSE Presto® iTACT® Tacrolimus were 0.12 ng/mL. Within-run precisions (% CVs) using three control samples were 0.4%–2.5%. Day-to-day reproducibility in five days were 0.4%–1.9%. We determined the linearity ranged from 0.29 to 48.80 ng/mL. Up to 19.7 mg/dL of conjugated bilirubin, 18.8 mg/dL of free bilirubin, 1620 FTU of chyle, 2000 mg/dL of triglycerides, 1000 IU/mL of RF, and 1010 ng/mL of HAMA, and 4–12 g/dL of proteins including albumin did not affect tacrolimus measurements. In addition, there was no influence by EDTA 2K and EDTA 2Na up to 10 mg/mL. The cross-reactivities of four tacrolimus metabolites (M-I, M-II, M-III, and M-IV) were respectively 0.4%–1.0%, 0.0%–0.8%, -0.7%–0.2%, and 0.7%–1.6%. Comparing to the existing chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) with 128 specimens, the correlation coefficient was 1.0, and the slope calculated by Passing-Bablok method is 1.04. Comparing to the existing electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) with 137 specimens, the correlation coefficient was 1.0, and the slope calculated by Passing-Bablok method is 1.07. Conclusion The fundamental performance of LUMIPULSE Presto® iTACT® Tacrolimus is satisfactory and the on-board sample-pretreatment process of this assay is expected to contribute to reducing the burden and inconvenience of laboratory personnel.

Initial Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Characteristics and Recovery Patterns Among Females Across the United States Military Service Academies: A Report from the NCAA-DoD CARE Consortium.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has been described in the United States (US) military service academy cadet population, but female-specific characteristics and recovery outcomes are poorly characterized despite sex being a confounder. Our objective was to describe female cadets' initial characteristics, assessment performance, and return-to-activity outcomes post-mTBI. Female cadets (n = 472) from the four US military service academies who experienced a mTBI completed standardized mTBI assessments from pre-injury to acute initial injury and unrestricted return-to-duty (uRTD). Initial injury presentation characteristics (e.g., delayed symptoms, retrograde amnesia) and return-to-activity outcomes [i.e., return-to-learn, initiate return-to-duty protocol (iRTD), uRTD] were documented. Descriptive statistics summarized female cadets' injury characteristics, return-to-activity outcomes, and post-mTBI assessment performance change categorization (worsened, unchanged, improved) relative to pre-injury baseline using established change score confidence rank criteria for each assessment score. The median (interquartile range) days to return-to-learn (n = 157) was 7.0 (3.0-14.0), to iRTD (n = 412) was 14.7 (8.6-25.8), and to uRTD (n = 431) was 26.0 (17.7-41.8). The majority experienced worse SCAT total symptom severity (77.8%) and ImPACT reaction time (97.0%) acutely < 24-h versus baseline, but unchanged BESS total errors (75.2%), SAC total score (72%), BSI-18 total score (69.6%), and ImPACT verbal memory (62.3%), visual memory (58.4%), and visual motor speed (52.5%). We observed similar return-to-activity times in the present female cadet cohort relative to the existing female-specific literature. Confidence ranks categorizing post-mTBI performance were heterogenous and indicate multimodal assessments are necessary. Our findings provide clinically relevant insights to female cadets experiencing mTBI across the US service academies for stakeholders providing healthcare.

Influence of vent duct bend angle on inner dust explosion

A visualized tank was applied to carry out explosion venting experiments to investigate the effect of the bend angle of the vent duct on the venting dynamics process during the dust explosion. By changing the bend angle of the duct and comparing the conventional ductless and straight duct venting, the distribution law of venting overpressure and the development process of flame shape in the duct and container were analysed. There are typically three-peaked features in the duct caused by film-breaking shock waves, secondary explosions, and continuous combustion of the flame in the container. The secondary explosion strength in the duct increases with the bend angle, which exacerbates the severity of the explosion compared to conventional ductless or straight duct explosions. In the case of bend venting, as the bend angle of the duct increases, the Pmax and the (dP/dt)max all show an increasing trend in the container, and the Pred,max difference on both sides of the bend is positively correlated with the bend angle. In addition, with an increase in the bend angle, the total reaction time in the container gradually decreased, namely, the flame duration shortened.

Genetic identification of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from cultured milk samples of bovine mastitis using isothermal amplification with CRISPR/Cas12a-based molecular assay.

Bovine mastitis, a common and costly disease in dairy cattle, is primarily caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Timely and accurate detection of this pathogen is crucial for effective disease management. In this study, we developed and validated a novel molecular diagnostic assay based on the CRISPR/Cas12a system coupled with Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA) and Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP). We utilized specific primers targeting the nucleotide sequences of the S.aureus genes of interest, such as nuc and sea. RPA/LAMP reactions were performed under optimized conditions, and the resulting products were subsequently subjected to CRISPR/Cas12a detection. The CRISPR/Cas12a assay successfully detected the target nuc and sea genes, with a limit of detection of 104 and 102 gene copies per reaction, respectively. All 13 S.aureus clinical isolates were identified by RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a assay. The total reaction time is approximately 1h. The assay demonstrated high sensitivity for the detection of S.aureus in both laboratory and clinical samples.

Synthesis of CeO2–BiVO4 nano photocatalyst material and used for the degradation of gaseous formaldehyde

Formaldehyde is one of the common volatile organic compound (VOC) found in indoor environment. Reducing indoor formaldehyde exposure levels is an important issue because toxicological studies have demonstrated its carcinogenicity. In this study, hydrothermal method was used to prepare ceria-bismuth vanadate (CeO2–BiVO4) composite photocatalyst. CeO2–BiVO4 has the advantages of high-efficiency photocatalytic activity, and high stability making it a promising photocatalytic material in the fields of energy conversion and environmental protection. As-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), reflection ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). XRD, TEM, and SEM verified that the material was successfully prepared. The energy level was measured by UV–Vis, and it was verified by PL that the CeO2–BiVO4 can reduce the recombination rate of electron holes. Here, BiVO4 is added to reduce the band gap of CeO2 to produce a visible light-driven catalyst. The photodegradation reaction of formaldehyde is carried out by mixing in different proportions of BiVO4 in to CeO2. The light source used in this experiment is a green light. In the experiment of formaldehyde degradation by irradiating CeO2/BiVO4 with a green light, the concentration of product carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) increases with the irradiation time. The experimental results show that CeO2-BiVO4 (4:1) catalyst has the highest formaldehyde degradation rate of 78%, and the total reaction time is 240 min. The importance of CeO2–BiVO4 as a photocatalytic material in formaldehyde degradation is to provide an environmentally friendly and efficient method to purify indoor air. It can help reduce the potential harm of formaldehyde to human health, improve indoor air quality, and contribute to creating a healthier and more comfortable indoor environment.

Web Platform for Gathering and Analyzing Data from the Neurogame Mobile Application.

Today's cell phones are now smartphones, providing a wide range of possibilities for their use, much more than just simple phones. The custom application for the Android operating system, based on an open-source platform for mobile devices is intended for the examination of cognitive functions: attention, concentration and fine motor skills in children of different age groups. The Neurogame application for mobile devices and web platform development is used for retrieving and analyzing mobile application data, providing relevant indicators for the executive functions of the respondents. Material and methods: The research included 50 children with the developmental disorders ADHD and dyslexia (study group) and 50 healthy children (control group), randomly selected, evenly represented by gender and age. Using the application, we determine attention, concentration and motor skills (reaction speed) as part of the executive functions of the respondents. The web platform has the purpose of gathering and processing the data from the mobile application, as well as their automatic visual representation. Results: The ANOVA test showed that there are no gender differences in all the studied groups. A statistical correlation analysis showed that age does not affect the results in healthy school children. In children with dyslexia, age affects positively for total hits and negatively for total misses. In children with ADHD, there is a positive correlation with age for all variables except total hits (t H). Student's T-test showed that there were significant differences for the variables' total hits (t H) and total reaction time (t h) in milliseconds between healthy school children and children with dyslexia. Additionally, Student's t-test indicated that there were significant differences for the variables' total tries (t T) and total hits (t H) between healthy school children and children with ADHD. Finally, Student's t-test indicated that there were significant differences for the variable total tries (t T) between children with dyslexia and children with ADHD. Multiple Regression Results showed a significant difference between healthy school children, children with ADHD and children with dyslexia for all variables (total tries (t T), total hits (t H), total misses (t M) and total reaction time in milliseconds (t h)). Conclusion: The Neurogame application provides a opportunity to assess the motor skills and concentration level, as well as the focus of the target population by measuring the total number of tries, the total number of hits, the total number of misses and the reaction time expressed in milliseconds which are defined as monitoring variables. The development of the web platform and the connection to the application enabled easier access and distribution of the analyzed results to the stakeholders (parents, teachers, therapists or health professionals) in order to further treat the ascertained condition.

Is there an association between daytime napping, cognitive function, and brain volume? A Mendelian randomization study in the UK Biobank

ObjectivesDaytime napping has been associated with cognitive function and brain health in observational studies. However, it remains elusive whether these associations are causal. Using Mendelian randomization, we studied the relationship between habitual daytime napping and cognition and brain structure. MethodsData were from UK Biobank (maximum n = 378,932 and mean age = 57 years). Our exposure (daytime napping) was instrumented using 92 previously identified genome-wide, independent genetic variants (single-nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs). Our outcomes were total brain volume, hippocampal volume, reaction time, and visual memory. Inverse-variance weighted was implemented, with sensitivity analyses (Mendelian randomization-Egger and Weighted Median Estimator) for horizontal pleiotropy. We tested different daytime napping instruments to ensure the robustness of our results. ResultsUsing Mendelian randomization, we found an association between habitual daytime napping and larger total brain volume (unstandardized ß = 15.80 cm3 and 95% CI = 0.25; 31.34) but not hippocampal volume (ß = −0.03 cm3 and 95% CI = −0.13;0.06), reaction time (expß = 1.01 and 95% CI = 1.00;1.03), or visual memory (expß = 0.99 and 95% CI = 0.94;1.05). Additional analyses with 47 SNPs (adjusted for excessive daytime sleepiness), 86 SNPs (excluding sleep apnea), and 17 SNPs (no sample overlap with UK Biobank) were largely consistent with our main findings. No evidence of horizontal pleiotropy was found. ConclusionsOur findings suggest a modest causal association between habitual daytime napping and larger total brain volume. Future studies could focus on the associations between napping and other cognitive or brain outcomes and replication of these findings using other datasets and methods.

Research on the distribution of S species in the pressure oxidation leaching process of SrS solution

Strontium compounds apply extensively in a variety of domains. Commonly, strontium compounds are made by carbonization of SrS solution. H2S is readily generated in this process. To avoid H2S byproducing, a novel strategy for the pressure oxidation leaching process of SrS solution was used. The overoxidation of sulfides was restrained, and a higher separation efficiency of Sr and S was obtained, which was beneficial for synthesizing other strontium compounds. The effects of the oxidation pH environment, reaction temperature, initial total sulfide concentration and reaction time on the conversion ratio of S species were investigated. The results showed that S0 was preferably generated in a near-neutral, low-temperature and low initial total sulfide concentration oxidation environment. The optimum oxidation conditions were summarized experimentally: 48 mL/L HCl (pH = 7.11), 25 °C reaction temperature, 8.2 g/L initial total sulfide concentration and 60 min reaction time. The optimum conversion ratios were obtained under optimum oxidation conditions as follows: χsulfide 2.3%, χH2S 0.5%, χS0 81.5%, χinter 10.0% and χS - Sr 5.7%. SrCl2 crystal was recovered finally from the leachate. At last, the pressure oxidation mechanism of SrS was discussed.

Solar light assistance for remediation of hypersaline petrochemical wastewater: kinetics and artificial neural network models

ABSTRACT Nowadays, treatment of xenobiotic and refractory hypersaline petrochemical wastewater (HSPW) has been widely pointed out as one of the main environmental challenges. In the current study, the effectiveness of solar light and sulphate radical advanced oxidation process is evaluated for the remediation of a real phenolic-HSPW. Therefore, the effect of persulphate (PS) concentration, Fe(II) dosage, pH, initial total phenol (TP) concentration, reaction time, temperature and solar radiation intensity were examined. An artificial neural network system also investigated to model the processes. The results showed that solar radiation enhanced dramatically the performance of processes and >99% TP removal was achieved. The efficiency of the processes was followed: summertime solar‒Fe(II)/PS (99.8%) > wintertime solar‒Fe(II)/PS (70.0%) > Fe(II)/PS (26.3%) > sole PS (<5%). The corresponding values for the removal of COD (with the initial concentration of 1016 mg/L) were found 61, 31, 24, and <3%, respectively. According to artificial neural network model, pH and temperature played the most important role for removal of the TP from the HSPW. Finally, our results proved that solar-induced AOP systems are promising novel solution to combat emerging contaminants in petrochemical effluents.

Potential impact of metabolic syndrome on cognitive function in US firefighters.

Among US firefighters, sudden cardiac arrest and psychological stress (i.e., PTSD) are the leading cause of on-duty death. Metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) may influence both cardiometabolic and cognitive health. Here, we examined differences in cardiometabolic disease risk factors, cognitive function, and physical fitness in US firefighters with vs. without MetSyn. One hundred fourteen male firefighters, aged 20 to 60 years, participated in the study. US firefighters with MetSyn vs. non-MetSyn were divided by AHA/NHLBI criteria. Of them, we performed a paired-match analysis with respect to the age and BMI of firefighters with (n = 18) vs. without MetSyn (n = 18). The cardiometabolic disease risk factors included blood pressure, fasting glucose, blood lipid profiles [HDL-C, triglyceride (TG)], and surrogate markers of insulin resistance [TG/HDL-C, TG glucose index (TyG)]. The cognitive test included a psychomotor vigilance task as a measure of reaction time and a delayed-match-to-sample task (DMS) as a measure of memory, using the computer-based Psychological Experiment Building Language Version 2.0 program. The differences between MetSyn and non-MetSyn groups in US firefighters were analyzed using an independent t-test adjusted for age and BMI. In addition, Spearman correlation and stepwise multiple regression were conducted. US firefighters with MetSyn exhibited severe insulin resistance estimated by TG/HDL-C and TyG (Cohen's d > 0.8, all p < 0.01) compared with their age- and BMI-matched counterparts without MetSyn. In addition, US firefighters with MetSyn exhibited higher DMS total time and reaction time compared with non-MetSyn (Cohen's d > 0.8, all p < 0.01). In stepwise linear regression, HDL-C predicted DMS total time (β = - 0.440, R2 = 0.194, p < 0.05), and TyG (β = 0.432, R2 = 0.186, p < 0.05) predicted DMS reaction time. US firefighters with vs. without MetSyn were predisposed to metabolic risk factors, surrogate markers of insulin resistance, and cognitive function, even when matched for age and BMI, and there was a negative association between metabolic characteristics and cognitive function in US firefighters. The findings of this study suggest that the prevention of MetSyn may be beneficial to supporting firefighters' safety and occupational performance.

Highly Distorted Bismuth–Nickel(II) Complex

The synthesis and characterization of a series of nickel complexes bearing a bismuth-containing pincer ligand are presented herein. In particular, synthesis of a 4-coordinate Bi-Ni(II) complex allows the influence of bismuth on a d8 Ni(II) ion to be investigated. A trigonal-bipyramidal complex, (BiP2)Ni(PPh) (1), possessing an anionic bismuth donor was prepared via the Bi-C bond cleavage of a BiP3 ligand (BiP3 = Bi(o-PiPr2-C6H4)3) mediated by Ni(0). To remove a PPh moiety, compound 1 was treated with MeI to give a 5-coordinate nickel(II) complex (MeBiP2)Ni(PPh)(I) (2), followed by its exposure to heat or UV irradiation, resulting in the formation of a nickel halide complex, (BiP2)Ni(I) (3). The X-ray crystal structure of 2 revealed that the methyl moiety binds to a bismuth site, providing a neutral MeBiP2 ligand, while the iodide anion is bound to the nickel(II) center, displacing one phosphine donor. Because of the methylation on a Bi site, the Bi-Ni bond in 2 is clearly elongated relative to that of 1, which indicates that the bonding interactions between Bi and Ni are substantially different. Interestingly, compound 3 revealing a sawhorse geometry is significantly distorted away from a square-planar structure compared to the previously reported nickel(II) pincer complexes, (NP2)Ni(Cl) and (PP2)Ni(I). Such difference indicates that a bismuth donor can be a structurally influencing cooperative site for a nickel(II) ion, leading to have a Ni(I)-Bi(II) character. Migratory insertion of CO into a Ni-C bond of 1 gives (BiP2)Ni(COPPh) (4), which further leads to an analogous methylated product (MeBiP2)Ni(COPPh)(I) (5) from reaction with MeI. Due to the structural influence of a carbonyl group in each step, the total reaction time from 1 to 3 was dramatically reduced. The bimetallic cooperativity of the complexes and unusual bonding properties presented here highlight the potential of a bismuth-nickel moiety as a new type of heterobimetallic site for the design of bimetallic complexes to facilitate a variety of chemical transformations.

Immobilized Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase Beads for Catalytic Carboxylation in Carbon Dioxide-Containing Gas–Liquid Flow

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) catalyzes the Mg2+-dependent carboxylation reaction in aqueous phase with a carbon source. Performing enzymatic reactions in a bioreactor with gas–liquid contacting is challenging because proteins potentially undergo conformational change at the gas–liquid interface. In the present work, immobilized phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase polystyrene beads (PEPC-PSBs) were prepared and applied to catalyze the carboxylation of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) producing oxaloacetate (OAA) in an external loop airlift bubble column (ELBC). For a typical reaction, ELBC was charged with 10 mL of a 0.2 M potassium phosphate buffer solution (pH = 7.5) initially containing 3.1 mM PEP and 9.7 mM MgSO4. When ELBC was operated at 25 °C with 20 PEPC-PSBs ([PEPC] = 2.0 μg/mL) by continuously introducing CO2 gas bubbles at the superficial gas velocity of 1.0 cm/s, the conversion of PEP of 77% was obtained at the reaction time of 300 min. After the reaction, PEPC-PSBs could be recovered from the reaction mixture followed by washing for reuse. PEPC-PSBs were storable at 4 °C and physically robust enough for handling. The catalytic activity of PEPC-PSBs was observed for the total reaction time of 900–1080 min in the gas–liquid flow. On the other hand, no detectable amount of OAA was produced with free PEPC in ELBC operated under the comparable condition to the PEPC-PSB-catalyzed reaction. Adsorption of free PEPC to CO2 gas bubbles was indicated to cause a rapid decrease in the concentration of biologically active PEPC in ELBC. The polystyrene beads with rough surface were suggested to offer an environment for the immobilized enzyme to stably catalyze the prolonged carboxylation of PEP with continuously supplied CO2-containing gas bubbles.

Degradation of PCB77 in spiked soils by ferrous sulfide-activated persulfate combined with potassium permanganate

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in soil are difficult to remove by biodegradation, photodegradation and other conventional oxidation methods. This work tried to use FeS-activated persulfate (PS) combined with permanganate (KMnO4) to treat PCBs contaminated soil using 3,3′,4,4′-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB77) as a model pollutant. Compared with Fe0/PS and KMnO4/PS systems, the FeS/PS system showed a stronger degradation effect on PCB77. After reacting for 4 h in FeS/PS system, the addition of KMnO4 could increase the degradation efficiency of PCB77 from 50.27% to 79.20% in a total reaction time of 8 h. In FeS/PS/KMnO4 system, the degradation efficiency of PCB77 was directly proportional to the concentration of FeS, and greater amount of PCB77 was removed when more spiked soils were treated. Based on electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis and radical quenching experiments, •OH, SO4•-, 1O2 and O2•- were determined to play an important role in the oxidation of PCB77. Combined with identified intermediates and theoretical calculations, six main possible reaction pathways were proposed, including dechlorination, hydroxyl substitution, hydroxyl addition, sulfate substitution, sulfate addition, and C-C bridge bond cleavage. Acute toxicity and bioconcentration factors of intermediate products were predicted by T.E.S.T software, and the results showed that the ecotoxicity of PCB77 in soil was effectively reduced during the FeS/PS/KMnO4 treatment process. This work demonstrated that FeS/PS/KMnO4 system is applicable to treat PCB77 contaminated soil and has a great potential for soil remediation.

Active inhibition of the retro-cue effect in visual working memory: Evidence from event-related potential.

This study used the event-related potential (ERP) technique to investigate whether active inhibition exists in retro-cue Effect (RCE) in visual working memory using modified retro-cue tasks. In this modified task, the participants were first asked to memorize six color blocks and then presented with directed remembering or directed forgetting cues; finally, their working memory performance was tested. For behavioral results, due to the extension of the memory interval, this study did not find RCE in accuracy but reflected it in the total reaction time. For ERP results, the frontal late positive potential (LPP) followed by the directed forgetting condition was larger than that followed by directed remembering and baseline conditions, and there was no significant difference between directed remembering and baseline conditions. There was no significant difference in parietal P3 followed by both the directed remembering and directed forgetting conditions, which were significantly larger than the baseline condition. This result reveals that active inhibition plays an important role in directed forgetting RCE. There was a correlation between parietal P3 and frontal LPP with the same time window but different scalp regions in the directed forgetting condition, indicating a potential relationship between active inhibition and retelling in directed forgetting RCE.

Psychometric Calibration of a Tool Based on 360 Degree Videos for the Assessment of Executive Functions.

Over the last decades, interactive technologies appeared a promising solution in the ecological evaluation of executive functioning. We have developed the EXecutive-functions Innovative Tool 360° (EXIT 360°), a new instrument that exploits 360° technologies to provide an ecologically valid assessment of executive functioning. This work wanted to evaluate the convergent validity of the EXIT 360°, comparing it with traditional neuropsychological tests (NPS) for executive functioning. Seventy-seven healthy subjects underwent an evaluation that involved: (1) a paper-and-pencil neuropsychological assessment, (2) an EXIT 360° session, involving seven subtasks delivered by VR headset, and (3) a usability assessment. To evaluate convergent validity, statistical correlation analyses were performed between NPS and EXIT 360° scores. The data showed that participants had completed the whole task in about 8 min, with 88.3% obtaining a high total score (≥12). Regarding convergent validity, the data revealed a significant correlation between the EXIT 360° total score and all NPS. Furthermore, data showed a correlation between the EXIT 360° total reaction time and timed neuropsychological tests. Finally, the usability assessment showed a good score. This work appears as a first validation step towards considering the EXIT 360° as a standardized instrument that uses 360° technologies to conduct an ecologically valid assessment of executive functioning. Further studies will be necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the EXIT 360° in discriminating between healthy control subjects and patients with executive dysfunctions.

The Spatial Distribution of Microbially Induced Carbonate Precipitation in Sand Column with Different Grouting Strategies

For ground improvement via microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP), the spatial distribution of biocementation considerably affects the mechanical performance of soil. This study systematically assessed the CaCO3 spatial distribution in sand columns with various grouting strategies. CaCO3 dispersion along the radial and vertical directions was quantitatively evaluated. Furthermore, a series of biochemical monitoring experiments was conducted to investigate the MICP process in sand. The results indicated that the reversed and downward chemical solution grouting and high rates of microbial grouting all promoted CaCO3 vertical uniformity. Moreover, the grouting strategy slightly affected the dispersion degree of radially distributed CaCO3. The variation coefficient basically ranged from 0.1 to 0.3. However, the variation coefficient for radially distributed CaCO3 along the vertical direction was significantly affected by the chemical grouting direction. The biochemical monitoring results indicated that 38% Ca2+ was even consumed near the chemical solution outlet in the chemical solution grouting process. The initial Ca2+ concentration during the intermittent period gradually decreased along the chemical solution grouting direction. The CaCO3 vertical distribution was controlled by a combination of the total MICP reaction time, biomass, and Ca2+ availability in the intermittent phase. Different CaCO3 distributions resulted in each grouting strategy exhibiting specific applicable engineering requirements. Furthermore, the carbon footprint was preliminarily evaluated. The results in this study provide references for the selection of grouting strategies for the MICP technique in engineering applications.

Constructing a novel strategy for one-step colorimetric glucose biosensing based on Co-Nx sites on porous carbon as oxidase mimetics

Nanozyme-based sensing strategy for glucose generally involves a two-step H2O2-bridged cascade reaction. However, this two-step cascade reaction always shows a limited detection efficiency for glucose, which hardly makes simply operation, rapid detection, and sensitivity all promised. Herein, a novel strategy for one-step glucose detection was proposed based on the efficiently competitive relationship between glucose oxidase catalyzed glucose oxidation and oxidase nanozyme catalyzed 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) colorimetric oxidation. As a proof of concept, Co-Nx sites on porous carbon (Co-Nx/PC) derived from ZIF-67 was selected as the oxidase nanozyme with O2-sensitive nature, which can activate O2 to produce 1O2 for TMB colorimetric oxidation. In the presence of glucose, the competitive reaction of glucose oxidase catalyzed glucose oxidation occurs, which will obviously inhibit the Co-Nx/PC catalyzed TMB colorimetric oxidation to construct method for glucose detection. The usage of the same reactant O2 and the production of suppressive H2O2 cause a dual effect to this inhibition. In addition, the available pH range of Co-Nx/PC overlaps with that of glucose oxidase, promising a one pot reaction. The proposed method with Co-Nx/PC as oxidase nanozyme based on one-step competitive strategy for glucose detection possesses high detection efficiency with convenience (one-pot), rapidness (total reaction time of 10 min) and sensitivity (LOD of 0.31 μM) all promised, which is superior among the methods based on two-step one-pot or two-pot cascade strategy. The strategy can be successfully applied into the blood glucose detection in human serums with satisfactory results. Also, the strategy can be scalable to other oxidase nanozyme like Mn3O4.

Aqueous microwave assisted novel synthesis of isothiocyanates by amine catalyzed thionation of isocyanides with Lawesson's reagent

A green and sustainable chemistry approach for organic synthesis is described here, which involves microwave exposure of reactants in the presence of water. A general, practical, and highly efficient protocol for the preparation of a broad range of functionalized isothiocyanates has been developed from their corresponding isocyanides using Lawesson's reagent and catalytic amount of amine bases, particularly triethylamine under microwave irradiation conditions. As opposed to established approaches that employ toxic or volatile electrophilic liquids (thiophosgene, its derivatives, or CS2). In addition, these compounds were synthesized also by conventional heating procedures for comparison. Comparison between conventional and microwave-assisted synthesis was carried out by comparing total reaction time and percentage yield. The results suggest that microwave-assisted syntheses lead to higher yields within very short reaction times. From isocyanides to isothiocyanates using Lawesson’s reagent in the presence of triethylamine under conventional and microwave heating conditions.