Two-component Mixture Research Articles

Honeycomb-like AgNPs@TiO2 array SERS sensor for the quantification of micro/nanoplastics in the environmental water samples

There has been a growing concern over the micro/nanoplastics pollution and treatment. The fast qualitative and quantitative analysis of these small plastic particles is the crucial issues. Herein, a novel honeycomb-like AgNPs@TiO2 array-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor was developed for efficient identification and analysis of the micro/nanoplastics in the environmental water samples. The plasmonic AgNPs were uniformly anchored within the periodic TiO2 nanocage arrays to form a AgNPs@TiO2 array. The dual enhancement mechanisms in the AgNPs@TiO2 hybrid structure endow the SERS sensor high sensitivity to detect trace amount of micro/nanoplastics down to 50 μg/mL with a hand-held Raman spectrometer. Further, this SERS sensor successfully discerns two-component mixtures of the micro/nanoplastics due to the fingerprint feature. In addition, the superior reproducibility (RSD of 9.69%) of the SERS sensor assures the quantitative detection reliability, realizing quantitative analysis of Polystyrene (PS) microplastics in tap water, lake water, soil water and seawater with detection limits of 100 μg/mL, 100 μg/mL, 100 μg/mL, 100 μg/mL and 250 μg/mL, respectively. The recovery rates of PS microspheres in four water environments ranged from 97.6% to 109.7%, with the RSD ranging from 0.49% to 10.23%. This honeycomb AgNPs@TiO2 array sensor provides a promising application prospect in the detection of micro/nanoplastics contaminants from the environmental water.

Synergism of Surfactant Mixture in Lowering Vapor-Liquid Interfacial Tension.

Through employing molecular dynamics, in this work, we study how a two-component surfactant mixture cooperatively reduces the interfacial tension of a flat vapor-liquid interface. Our simulation results show that in the presence of a given insoluble surfactant, adding a secondary surfactant would either further reduce interfacial tension, indicating a positive synergistic effect, or increase the interfacial tension instead, indicating a negative synergistic effect. The synergism of the surfactant mixture in lowering surface tension is found to depend strongly on the structure complementary effect between different surfactant components. The synergistic mechanisms are then interpreted with minimization of the bending free energy of the composite surfactant monolayer via cooperatively changing the monolayer spontaneous curvature. By roughly describing the monolayer spontaneous curvature with the balanced distribution of surfactant heads and tails, we confirm that the positive synergistic effect in lowering surface tension is featured with the increasingly symmetric head-tail distributions, while the negative synergistic effect is featured with the increasingly asymmetric head-tail distributions. Furthermore, our simulation results indicate that minimal interfacial tension can only be observed when the spontaneous curvature is nearly zero.

Resin structure impacts two-component protein adsorption and separation in anion exchange chromatography

The influence of the resin structure, on the competitive binding and separation of a two-component protein mixture with anion exchange resins is evaluated using conalbumin and green fluorescent protein as a model system. Two macroporous resins, one with large open pores and one with smaller pores, are compared to a resin with grafted polymers. Investigations include measurements of single and two-component isotherms, batch uptake kinetics and two-component column breakthrough. On both macroporous resins, the weaker binding protein, conalbumin, is displaced by the stronger binding green fluorescent protein. For the large pore resin, this results in a pronounced overshoot and efficient separation by frontal chromatography. The polymer-grafted resin exhibits superior capacity and kinetics for one-component adsorption, but is unable to achieve separation due to strongly hindered counter-diffusion. Intermediate separation efficiency is obtained with the smaller pore resin. Confocal laser scanning microscopy provides a mechanistic explanation of the underlying intra-particle diffusional phenomena revealing whether unhindered counter-diffusion of the displaced protein can occur or not. This study demonstrates that the resin's intra-particle structure and its effects on diffusional transport are crucial for an efficient separation process. The novelty of this work lies in its comprehensive nature which includes examples of the three most commonly used resin structures: a small pore agarose matrix, a large-pore polymeric matrix, and a polymer grafted resin. Comparison of the protein adsorption properties of these materials provides valuable clues about advantages and disadvantages of each for anion exchange chromatography applications.

The effect of different proportions of Medicago media Pers. in two-component alfalfa-grass mixtures on the macronutrient content of aboveground biomass

The effect of different proportions of Medicago media Pers. in two-component alfalfa-grass mixtures on the macronutrient content of aboveground biomass

Genetic least square estimation approach to wind power curve modelling and wind power prediction

Wind power curve (WPC) is an important index of wind turbines, and it plays an important role in wind power prediction and condition monitoring of wind turbines. Motivated by model parameter estimation of logistic function in WPC modelling, aimed at the problem of selecting initial value of model parameter estimation and local optimum result, based on the combination of genetic algorithm and least square estimation method, a genetic least square estimation (GLSE) method of parameter estimation is proposed, and the global optimum estimation result can be obtained. Six evaluation indices including the root mean square error, the coefficient of determination R2, the mean absolute error, the mean absolute percentage error, the improved Akaike information criterion and the Bayesian information criterion are used to select the optimal power curve model in the different candidate models, and avoid the model’s over-fitting. Finally, to predict the annual energy production and output power of wind turbines, a two-component Weibull mixture distribution wind speed model and five-parameter logistic function power curve model are applied in a wind farm of Jiangsu Province, China. The results show that the GLSE approach proposed in this paper is feasible and effective in WPC modelling and wind power prediction, which can improve the accuracy of model parameter estimation, and five-parameter logistic function can be preferred compared with high-order polynomial and four-parameter logistic function when the fitting accuracy is close.

Physico-Chemical Study of the Possibility of Utilization of Coal Ash by Processing as Secondary Raw Materials to Obtain a Composite Cement Clinker

A significant amount of energy waste has accumulated in the world, in particular, large-tonnage fine ash from central heating stations (coal ash), which can negatively affect the natural environment and the health of the population. However, at the same time, due to its chemical composition, this waste can be disposed of by complex processing as a secondary mineral component, thus reducing the anthropogenic load on the natural environment. This article presents a physico-chemical study of coal ash for its further use as a secondary mineral component, in particular, a component of a raw mixture with limestone to produce a composite Portland cement clinker. Coal ash and limestone were subjected to granulometric, chemical, differential thermal, scanning electron microscopy, elemental chemical and X-ray structural analyses, as well as modeling to assess the possibility of optimizing the raw material and mineralogical composition of the composite Portland cement clinker. During the research, the chemical and elemental compositions of the coal ash and limestone were determined and SEM images of the coal ash were obtained; it was found that 68.04% of the coal ash was represented by the fraction with granules <0.16 mm. Using X-ray diffraction analysis, the main limestone minerals were identified, which were represented by calcite and silica. Based on the results of mathematical modeling of the utilization of coal ash from a thermal power plant by processing with limestone, a two-component raw material mixture containing 23.66% fly ash and 76.34% limestone was optimized and the optimal mineralogical composition of the composite Portland cement clinker was determined. Utilization of coal ash by processing as a secondary raw material can be carried out at almost any ash storage facility anywhere in the world, taking into account the chemical composition of the processed ash. It was found that the replacement of natural raw materials with man-made raw materials in the form of coal ash contributed to a reduction in fuel consumption for firing (kg of conventional fuel) by 13.76% and a decrease in the thermal effect of clinker formation by 5.063%.

Condensate States of Atomic Bose-Fermi Gas Mixtures

We report on the different types of condensates possible in two-component atomic gas mixtures in one dimension involving both bosons and fermions. When the interactions are attractive, we show there is a rich variety of coherent ground-state phases that vary with their intrinsic and relative strength. We avoid any artifacts of lattice discretization by developing a novel implementation of a continuous matrix-product-state ansatz for mixtures that we first show to systematically converge towards exact results for the Lai-Yang-model integrable case.

Quantum Monte Carlo-based density functional for one-dimensional Bose-Bose mixtures

We propose and benchmark a Gross-Pitaevskii-like equation for two-component Bose mixtures with competing interactions in 1D. Our approach follows the density-functional theory with the energy functional based on the exact Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations. Our model covers, but goes beyond, the popular approach with the Lee-Huang-Yang corrections. We first benchmark our approach against available QMC data in all interaction regimes and then study dynamical properties, inaccessible by ab initio many-body simulations. Our analysis includes a study of monopole modes and reveals the presence of anomalous dark solitons.

Substitution of Pork Fat with Beeswax-Structured Oleogels in Semi-Smoked Sausages

The expansion of the assortment of low-saturated-fat sausages is a trend in healthy eating, and the use of alternative ways to reduce their saturated fat content is required. This study aimed to partially substitute pork fat with 7% and 10% oleogel, obtained by structuring sunflower oil with a two-component mixture of monoglyceride and beeswax, in the recipe for semi-smoked sausage. The physicochemical characteristics of the sausages were evaluated, and the fatty acid profile and sensory properties were analyzed. In the samples where pork fat was partially replaced with oleogel at 7% and 10%, there was a decrease in the content of saturated fatty acids (SFA) by 35% and 38%, respectively. The addition of oleogel to sausages significantly reduced the content of stearic and palmitic acid, increased the content of linoleic acid, and improved the fatty acid profile. The microstructure of the sausages showed a more homogeneous structure with a lower content of large lipid granules as the amount of oleogel added increased. The sensory analysis showed that the addition of 7% oleogel did not deteriorate the organoleptic properties. Therefore, the partial substitution of pork fat with 7% oleogel can be recommended to produce healthy sausages with improved fatty acid profile and sensory properties.

Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition with Rabi-coupled bosons

We theoretically investigate the superfluid-normal-state Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in a binary mixture of bosonic atoms with Rabi coupling under balanced densities. We find the nonmonotonic behavior of the transition temperature with respect to the intercomponent coupling and amplification of the transition temperature for finite values of Rabi coupling, but for small intracomponent couplings. We develop the Nelson-Kosterlitz renormalization-group equations in the two-component Bose mixture and obtain the Nelson-Kosterlitz criterion modified by a fractional parameter, which is responsible for half-integer vortices, and by Rabi coupling. Adopting the renormalization-group approach, we clarify the dependence of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition temperature on the Rabi coupling and the intercomponent coupling. Analysis of the first and second sound velocities also reveals the suppression of quasicrossing of the two sound modes with a finite Rabi coupling in the low-temperature regime. Our results for a two-dimensional binary Bose superfluid contribute to the understanding of a broad range of multicomponent quantum systems such as two-dimensional multiband superconductors.

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ ВЛИЯНИЯ ЩЕЛЕВЫХ ОТВЕРСТИЙ В ЛОПАСТЯХ ГОРИЗОНТАЛЬНОГО ЛОПАСТНОГО СМЕСИТЕЛЯ НА КАЧЕСТВО ПОДГОТОВКИ ДВУХКОМПОНЕНТНОЙ СУХОЙ СМЕСИ

The degree of uniformity of distribution in the mixture of components largely determines the qualitative characteristics of the product prepared from it. For dry mixing of components, the use of horizontal blade mixers is quite widespread in enterprises of various industries. In the competitive conditions of the operation of enterprises, it becomes necessary to develop technical solutions that allow to increase the efficiency of operating mixing equipment at enterprises in the conditions of planned repair measures. Possibility of increasing degree of homogeneity of fine-grained mixture in horizontal blade mixer when through slot holes are made in blades is considered. Using a known software product, imitated simulations of dry mixing processes of two fine-grained components in models of a mixer body with different blade designs are performed. To study the mixing process, the method of mathematical planning of the experiment is used. Researches of obtained regression dependence characterizing change of coefficient of heterogeneity of two-component dry mixture depending on number of slit holes and their width are carried out, areas of rational values of studied parameters are established. State of mixture in mixer housings is compared with slotted holes in blades and without holes. It has been found that with steady state mixing processes, the mixture in the mixer body model with slotted holes in the blades has a more uniform particle distribution. The heterogeneity factor characterizing the quality of this mixture is less than that of the mixture in the model of a body with blades without holes.

Corrosion of Metals Modified with Formulations Based on Organosilanes

Methods for preliminary modification of the surface of structural metals with formulations based on organosilanes, including both solutions of individual organosilanes and two-component mixtures consisting of two organosilanes or an organosilane with an organic corrosion inhibitor, have been developed. As a result of this modification, a self-assembling siloxane polymeric/oligomeric nanoscale layer is formed on the metal surface. Such layers are capable of changing the physicochemical properties of the metal surface, in particular reducing the susceptibility of the metal to corrosive destruction. In this work, the mechanism of formation of organosilicon nanolayers and their effect on the electrochemical and corrosion behavior of metals have been studied in detail by a set of electrochemical methods, while laboratory studies and accelerated corrosion tests of carbon steel and zinc, modified with formulations based on organosilanes, have been carried out. The greatest inhibitory effect is demonstrated by two-component modifying formulations, namely mixtures of vinyl with aminosilane and vinylsilane with benzotriazole. The mechanism of corrosion inhibition by surface nanolayers formed upon surface modification with two-component mixtures has been considered.

Abstract 1489: Overexpression of ribosomal L22-like1 (RPL22L1) enhances cancer stem cell properties and promotes tumor progression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

Abstract The abnormality of ribosomal biogenesis is found to be involved in carcinogenesis and progression in various types of cancer. RPL22L1 gene is a highly homologous paralog of RPL22, both of which belong to the L22E family of ribosomal proteins and take part in encoding a cytoplasmic ribosomal protein that is a component of the 60S subunit of ribosomes. Our previous work has established a CRISPR/Cas9 genome-wide knockout screening profile and developed a two-component mixture model to identify cancer-specific essential genes in 436 cancer cell lines. Bioinformatics analysis reveals that RPL22L1 acts as a feature gene to predict cancer-specific essential genes in human cancer. Previous studies suggest that RPL22L1 is correlated with tumor progression and adverse prognosis in several cancer types, while its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unknown. In the present study, we found that RPL22L1 is highly expressed in embryonic stem cells (ES) and liver progenitor cells, which were acquired from a vitro hepatic differentiation model originating from ES cells. Hence, we hypothesized that RPL22L1 enhances cancer stem cell properties in HCC. Functional assays showed that RPL22L1 would promote sphere formation in vitro. qRT-PCR and Western Blotting results indicated that RPL22L1 could promote stemness-related gene expressions such as CD133, CD44, and SOX9 in HCC cell lines. Overexpression of RPL22L1 increased aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity, which was decreased when RPL22L1 was silenced with short hairpin RNA (shRNA). Extreme limiting dilution assay showed that RPL22L1 overexpression stimulated self-renewal ability in immunodeficient mice. Furthermore, higher RPL22L1 expression can also promote cell proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal-transition, as well as drug resistance to 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) and cisplatin (CDDP). Silver nitrate staining demonstrated that RPL22L1 overexpression correlated with a larger size and number of nucleoli. The expression of RPL22L1 was also associated with adverse prognosis in HCC clinical samples. In conclusion, our study reveals aberrant ribosomal protein activity in HCC and the role of RPL22L1 in promoting HCC tumor progression. Citation Format: JinLin Huang, Zhenyang Guo, Jie Luo, Beilei Liu, Lanqi Gong, Xiaona Fang, Dora Lai-wan Kwong, Xinyuan Guan. Overexpression of ribosomal L22-like1 (RPL22L1) enhances cancer stem cell properties and promotes tumor progression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 1489.

Rapid and precise tracking of water influx and efflux across cell membranes induced by a pulsed electric field.

Quantitative measurements of water content within a single cell are notoriously difficult. In this work, we introduce a single-shot optical method for tracking the intracellular water content, by mass and volume, of a single cell at video rate. We utilize quantitative phase imaging and a priori knowledge of a spherical cellular geometry, leveraging a two-component mixture model to compute the intracellular water content. We apply this technique to study CHO-K1 cells responding to a pulsed electric field, which induces membrane permeabilization and rapid water influx or efflux depending upon the osmotic environment. The effects of mercury and gadolinium on water uptake in Jurkat cells following electropermeabilization are also examined.

Development of Software and Analytical Tools for Determining the Concentration of Acoustic Control and Composition of Products

In this paper, a mathematical model for numerical-analytical studies for the design of high-quality composite heterogeneous materials is considered, in which acoustic methods for determining the concentration of a component in a two-component heterogeneous mixture by measuring the speed of sound are described. In the work, new computational algorithms were developed for the first time and new software was created for the study of wave phenomena in constructions, which describes the method of accurate determination of the concentration of components by measuring the speed of sound of a mixture of heterogeneous two-component products. Specific expressions for the concentration of components depending on the speed of sound in the mixture are found. It is shown that the mixture can be liquid or solid. Heterogeneous products, the advantages and features of which are described in detail in the acoustic control composition of the mixture. It is established that all measurements are valid for mixtures of the gas – liquid, gas – elastic medium, and liquid – elastic medium types, which are convenient to consider as phonon crystals.

Understanding the effect of component proportions on disease control in two-component cultivar cereal mixtures using a pathogen dispersal scaling hypothesis

A field experiment was carried out to determine the importance of component cultivar proportions to spring barley mixture efficacy against rhynchosporium or scald symptoms caused by the splash-dispersed pathogen Rhynchosporium commune. A larger effect than expected was observed of small amounts of one component on another for reducing disease overall, but relative insensitivity to proportion as amounts of each component become more similar. An established theoretical framework, the ‘Dispersal scaling hypothesis’, was used to model the expected effect of mixing proportions on the spatiotemporal spread of disease. The model captured the unequal effect of mixing different proportions on disease spread and there was good agreement between predictions and observations. The dispersal scaling hypothesis therefore provides a conceptual framework to explain the observed phenomenon, and a tool to predict the proportion of mixing at which mixture performance is maximized.

Analysis of a Thermodynamic Determination of the Surface Tension of a Two-Component Vapor–Liquid System

A numerical analysis is performed of a thermodynamic determination of the surface tension (ST) of a vapor–liquid binary mixture and interfacial tension (IT) between two liquid phases as the excess value of free energy ΔF of a two-phase system with and without for a phase boundary. Calculations are made in the simplest version of the lattice gas model (LGM), allowing for the interaction of nearest neighbors in a quasi-chemical approximation. Each node of a two-component mixture in the LGM system can be occupied by mixture components A + B and vacancy V. The two main ways of calculating ST, expressed in terms of different partial contributions Miq to excess free energy ΔF (where i = A, B, V are vacancies; 1 ≤ q ≤ κ, q is the number of the monolayer inside the boundary; and κ is its width), are compared, as are calculations of ST and IT as excess free energy ΔF for a lattice model with no vacancies. The ambiguity of ST and IT values depending on the type of Miq functions is obtained by calculating the temperature dependence for a flat boundary and the dependence of ST and IT on droplet size at a fixed temperature. The role of vacancies in the LGM as the main mechanical characteristic of the system under the condition of strict phase equilibrium in three equilibria (mechanical, energy, and chemical) is discussed.

Correlated dynamics of collective droplet excitations in a one-dimensional harmonic trap

We address the existence and dynamics of one-dimensional harmonically confined quantum droplets, appearing in two-component mixtures by deploying a nonperturbative approach. We find that, in symmetric homonuclear settings, beyond Lee-Huang-Yang correlations result in flat-top droplet configurations for either decreasing intercomponent attraction or larger atom number. Asymmetric mixtures feature spatial mixing among the involved components with the more strongly interacting or heavier one exhibiting flat-top structures. Applying quenches on the harmonic trap we trigger the lowest-lying collective droplet excitations. The interaction-dependent breathing frequency, being slightly reduced in the presence of correlations, shows a decreasing trend for stronger attractions. Semi-analytical predictions are also obtained within the Lee-Huang-Yang framework. For relatively large quench amplitudes the droplet progressively delocalizes and higher-lying motional excitations develop in its core. Simultaneously, enhanced intercomponent entanglement and long-range two-body intracomponent correlations arise. In sharp contrast, the dipole motion remains robust irrespectively of the system parameters. Species selective quenches lead to a correlation-induced dephasing of the droplet or to irregular dipole patterns due to intercomponent collisions.

Electrosprayed microparticles from inulin and poly(vinyl) alcohol for colon targeted delivery of prebiotics

Recent studies have highlighted the prebiotic effect of inulin through the selective promotion of colon-residing bacteria, modulation of the composition of the gut microbiome, and consequent generation of beneficial effects on gastrointestinal inflammation, diabetes, and cancer. However, as a water-soluble polysaccharide, the prebiotic effect of inulin is limited by low delivery efficiency and short retention time within the colon. In this study, inulin microparticles (MPs) were produced by the electrospray method, and their material properties and bioavailability were evaluated. Inulin was electrosprayed with poly(vinyl) alcohol (PVA) (MW = 89,000–98,000 g/mol) to improve its processability and mucoadhesive properties. MPs produced at PVA:Inulin mass ratio 1:3 were of diameter 0.42 ± 0.46 μm. FTIR and confocal laser scanning microscopy confirmed the presence and colocalization of the PVA and inulin in the particles. MP suspensions exhibited a time dependent viscoelastic rheological response that trended with time toward the response of the inulin suspension. Additionally, MP suspensions exhibited greater viscosity and shear thinning behavior than their individual components and two-component mixtures. The gut retention of inulin in mice was prolonged when delivered in these MP suspensions relative to inulin suspensions and PVA-inulin two-component mixtures. The increased retention is hypothesized to be a result of the effect of PVA on rheological and mucoadhesive properties. The increased retention of inulin leads to improved availability of inulin for gut microbiota which can support applications in drug delivery and foods.

Population estimate and inter-island movement of sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, in the Eastern Caribbean Sea

When a population extends across international boundaries, management becomes more complex. This is especially true within a confined multinational area such as the Caribbean Sea. The population size of sperm whales in the Eastern Caribbean is estimated and the inter-island movements of individuals are quantified using a database of 1,394 photographic identifications taken between 1984 and 2006 by several research groups. A total of 194 individual sperm whales were identified off the leeward coasts of the islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe, Grenada, St. Lucia and Martinique. Population size was estimated using two-component finite mixture models. About 145 (95% CI=94- 219) sperm whales used Lesser Antillean waters in 1995 and this population appears to be growing slowly. There are differences amongst the individuals in their probability of identification. Of all individuals, 57 (29.4%) were identified during more than one year between 1995 and 2006. Long-term reidentification of associated females suggests that social units may be using the area for periods of at least 11 years. Twenty seven confirmed matches were made between islands, the majority (92.6%) of which were between Guadeloupe and Dominica, although there were two longer movements by single individuals between Dominica and the islands of St. Lucia and Grenada. High reidentification rates within the Lesser Antilles and no matches with identifications from nearby seas suggest the population in the Eastern Caribbean Sea is small and quite isolated. As such, we recommend that management actions be taken on a multi-island basis for the Eastern Caribbean, by encouraging the ratification of the SPAW protocols and that the current stock classification for the North Atlantic be reconsidered.