Actin linked regulatory mechanisms are known to contribute contraction/relaxation in smooth muscle. In order to clarify whether modulation of polymerization/depolymerization of actin filaments ...affects relaxation process, we examined the effects of cytochalasin D on relaxation process by Ca
removal after Ca
-induced contraction of β-escin skinned (cell membrane permeabilized) taenia cecum and carotid artery preparations from guinea pigs. Cytochalasin D, an inhibitor of actin polymerization, significantly suppressed the force during relaxation both in skinned taenia cecum and carotid artery. The data fitting analysis of the relaxation processes indicates that cytochalasin D accelerates slow (latch-like) bridge dissociation. Cytochalasin D seems to directly disrupts actin filament organization or its length, resulting in modulation of actin filament structure that prevents myosin binding.
Hard carbon (HC) is the most promising candidate for sodium‐ion battery anode materials. Several material properties such as intensity ratio of the Raman spectrum, lateral size of HC crystallite ...(La), and interlayer distance (d002) have been discussed as factors affecting anode performance. However, these factors do not reflect the bulk property of the Na+ intercalation reaction directly, since Raman analysis has high surface sensitivity and La and d002 provide only one‐dimensional crystalline information. Herein, it was proposed that the crystallite interlayer area (Ai) defined using La, d002, and stacking height (Lc) governs Na+ intercalation behavior of various HCs. It was revealed that various wood‐derived HCs exhibited the similar total capacity of approximately 250 mAh g−1, whereas the Na+ intercalation capacity (Ci) was proportional to Ai with the correlation coefficient of R2=0.94. The evaluation factor of Ai was also adaptable to previous reports and strongly correlated with their Ci, indicating that Ai is more widely adaptable than the conventional evaluation methods.
Interesting interlayer: Factors affecting hard carbon performances as Na‐ion battery anodes are still controversial. In this report, using hard carbons derived from six wood species, it was found for the first time that the total interlayer area of crystallite (Ai) is proportionally correlated with the intercalation capacity. Ai also shows strong correlations in previous reports, indicating that Ai is a more critical factor than conventional ones.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
As one of the most important lithium-ion battery cathode materials for electric vehicles, LiMn2O4 (LMO) cathode material was used as the feedstock of metal recovery in this study. Through a ...hydrothermal treatment with citric acid (0.3 mol/L), Li and Mn ions were completely leached from a commercial LMO cathode material at 120 °C for 2 min. More importantly, simultaneously with complete leaching of Li and Mn ions from LMO, the Mn component was precipitated and separated as a Mn–citrate complex by adjusting the parameters such as citric acid concentration and holding time. This process avoided the use of high-concentration acids, alkalis, and reductants, and skipped the second separation step, thereby realizing the direct recovery of the Mn component from LMO cathode materials via a green and single-step route. The Mn–citrate complex was identified to be pure C6H8MnO8 or Mn(C6H6O7)H2O, in which Mn existed as in a divalent state. Furthermore, the morphology of the Mn–citrate complex was characterized, and a mechanism was proposed to explain the reactions during this one-step hydrothermal process. Even though the research is just at the initial stage, the Mn–citrate complex reported here is expected to open a new path to the organic acid leaching step of traditional hydrometallurgy and the Mn separation process.
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Nitrogen-containing compounds, especially primary amines, are vital building blocks in nature and industry. Herein, a protocol is developed that shows in situ formed N-formyl quasi-catalytic species ...afford highly selective synthesis of formamides or amines with controllable levels from a variety of aldehyde- and ketone-derived platform chemical substrates under solvent-free conditions. Up to 99% yields of mono-substituted formamides are obtained in 3 min. The C-N bond formation and N-formyl species are prevalent in the cascade reaction sequence. Kinetic and isotope labeling experiments explicitly demonstrate that the C-N bond is activated for subsequent hydrogenation, in which formic acid acts as acid catalyst, hydrogen donor and as N-formyl species source that stabilize amine intermediates elucidated with density functional theory. The protocol provides access to imides from aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, and mixed-substrates, requires no special catalysts, solvents or techniques and provides new avenues for amination chemistry.
► Extraction of bitumen into supercritical water attenuated coke formation. ► A continuous hydrothermal extraction method with subcritical water was employed. ► Simultaneous upgrading of bitumen and ...suppression of coke formation was possible. ► We propose that asphaltene core can work as coke precursor as well as good solvent.
Upgrading bitumen by converting asphaltene to maltene whilst suppressing coke formation is desirable though technically difficult. Mass transfer behavior under sub- and super critical water conditions was observed in an autoclave-type reactor revealing that the dissolution of asphaltene core attenuates coke formation and promotes the formation of upgraded products. On the basis of this new information, a continuous hydrothermal extraction method using near supercritical water in a column flow reactor was tested. The results at 300°C, 3–6MPa, and water flow of 3–10g/min, showed higher degree of upgrading than in the autoclave reactor. Significant conversion of asphaltene to maltene with lighter maltene composition was obtained, while coke formation was completely suppressed. A continuous hydrothermal extraction method using a column flow reactor has thus been shown can solve the problem of incompatibility between enhancing the degree of upgrading of heavy oils and suppressing the formation of coke. In the proposed mechanism, low levels of asphaltene core extraction results in the formation of coke in the oil phase, whereas high levels of asphaltene core extraction results in the suppression of coke formation due to low concentrations of asphaltene core remaining in the oil phase, and the solvent properties that asphaltene core acquires at high concentrations in the water phase.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Traditional disposal methods of biomass and plastic waste, such as landfill, combustion, and compost, no longer meet the requirements of carbon reduction, carbon neutrality, and sustainable society ...due to low utilization efficiency and severe pollution. As a green, efficient and environmentally-friendly method, hydrothermal technology has been paid much attention to and has already been applied to recycle or reuse various plastic and biomass wastes. No matter for the single or mixed type of waste, it is expected to achieve efficient recycling and obtain value-added products through the hydrothermal process. This review summarized the basic knowledge of hydrothermal technology and the possible reaction mechanism of biomass and plastics under hydrothermal conditions and listed the previous reports on the application of hydrothermal technology for converting wastes of biomass, plastic, and biomass/plastic mixtures to solid fuels. Moreover, regarding the future of hydrothermal technology, four points related to reaction mechanism, synergistic effect, catalysis, and scaled-up application, were provided for consideration.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Catalytic dehydration of D-fructose to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) in acetone/dimethyl sulfoxide solvent mixtures was studied in the presence of a strong acidic cation-exchange resin catalyst ...(DOWEX 50WX8−100) by microwave heating. The addition of acetone to the dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solvent promoted the formation of 5-HMF from D-fructose. For a D-fructose conversion of 97.9%, the 5-HMF selectivity was 91.7% for a 20-min reaction time in 70:30 (w/w) acetone/DMSO solvent mixtures. Concentrations as high as 10 wt % D-fructose were studied, for which it was found that 5-HMF yields of 82.1% for a reaction time of 10 min could be obtained. The stability of the ion-exchange resin used as the catalyst was confirmed. Compared to pure DMSO solvent, the combination of low-boiling-point acetone with DMSO used as the reaction medium not only gives highly selective 5-HMF formation, but also improves the separation efficiency and reduces environmental risk.
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•Dimethyl ether (DME) owns many special properties that make it suitable for extraction applications.•The liquefied DME extraction shows many advantages and strong potential market ...competitiveness.•Liquefied DME can extract water, lipid/oil, and specific ingredients from various natural resources.•Liquefied DME technology is continuously improved and optimized in both lab and industrial scales.•This review summarized the valuable works on the extraction technologies using pure liquefied DME.
This review summarized the valuable works on the extraction technologies using pure liquefied dimethyl ether (DME) as the organic solvent. DME is a colorless gas with a slight ether-like fragrance at room temperature and pressure. Due to some special properties, such as the strong ability for extracting organic compounds and water, high extraction rate, cheap price, low extraction temperature, and energy consumption, environmental friendliness, safety, and good compressibility, the application of liquefied DME to the extraction process shows many advantages and has strong potential market competitiveness. On the other hand, the drawbacks of liquefied DME extraction technology were also revealed, mainly on fire hazards, solvent loss, and lack of large-scale application. Furthermore, the previous studies on the application of liquefied DME extraction technology were divided into three parts based on the extracts (water, lipid/oil, and specific ingredients) and listed one by one. The research of the liquefied DME extraction process is still in development. In the future, it is expected that this technology can be continuously improved and optimized in both lab and industrial scales, together with the extension of its application range to more various natural resources.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Although the causes of and impacts against forest road failure differ according to the type of damage that occurs, the statistical understanding of the trends in the type of failure is insufficient. ...In this study, we collected data on 526 forest road failures due to heavy rainfall during 2006–2010 in the mountainous regions of Japan and statistically analyzed the characteristics. The forest roads covered in this study include those used primarily for timber extraction as well as those used for public purposes. Forest road segments were classified into four categories: streamside, stream crossings, zero-order basin, and others, and comparisons were made regarding the length of damage, the relative probability of occurrence, repair costs, and induced rainfall intensity in each category. Streamside segments accounted for only 15% of the total length of routes analyzed but 42% of all damaged segments. Furthermore, the relative risk of the streamside segments was about 6.0 times higher than that of the other categories of segments, indicating that they were the most likely to be damaged in this analysis. It is clear that the most important issue in the target area is to prevent damage to streamside segments.
Herein, we report the colloidal stability of emulsifier-free (EF-) triolein-in-water (TO/W) emulsions prepared by mixing TO and water using a high-powered bath-type ultrasonicator (HPBath-US; 28 kHz, ...300 W) in the absence of emulsifiers such as surfactants. In particular, the effect of the temperature (15-60℃) on the colloidal stability of EF-TO/W emulsions was examined because this is important for the practical application of EF-TO/W emulsions, for example, in foods, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. We found that the colloidal stability of the EF-TO/W emulsions decreased with increase in the temperature from 15 to 25°C, whereas it increased with increase in temperature from 25 to 40°C, and the high colloidal stability of the EF-TO/W emulsions was maintained above 40°C. The reduction in the colloidal stability of EF-TO/W emulsions between 15 and 25°C is likely a result of the TO droplets formed by thermal motion, as well as enhanced Ostwald ripening at higher temperatures. On the other hand, the increase in the colloidal stability of the EF-TO/W emulsions from 25 to 40°C and their high colloidal stability above 40℃ is attributed to the reduction in the interfacial tension between TO and water at higher temperatures. This decrease in the interfacial tension between TO and water with temperature increase is related to the transformation of short-range ordered domains (clusters) of TO molecules in the liquid state, which increases the colloidal stability of the EF-TO/W emulsions.
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