With low melting point, extremely low vapor pressure and non-flammability, ionic liquids have been attracting much attention from academic and industrial fields. Great efforts have been made to ...facilitate their applications in catalytic processes, extraction, desulfurization, gas separation, hydrogenation, electronic manufacturing,
etc.
To reduce the cost and environmental effects, different technologies have been proposed to recover the ionic liquids from different solutions after their application. This review is mainly focused on the recent advances of the recovery and purification of ionic liquids from solutions. Several methods for recovery of ionic liquids including distillation, extraction, adsorption, membrane separation, aqueous two-phase extraction, crystallization and external force field separation, are introduced and discussed systematically. Some industrial applications of ionic liquid recovery and purification methods are selected for discussion. Additionally, considerations on the combined design of different methods and process optimization have also been touched on to provide potential insights for future development of ionic liquid recovery and purification.
Recovery and purification of ionic liquids from solutions.
Hyperoside is an active ingredient in plants, such as
in Hypericaceae,
in Rosaceae and
in Polygonaceae. Its pharmacologic effects include preventing cancer and protecting the brain, neurons, heart, ...kidneys, lung, blood vessels, bones, joints and liver, among others. Pharmacokinetic analysis of hyperoside has revealed that it mainly accumulates in the kidney. However, long-term application of high-dose hyperoside should be avoided in clinical practice because of its renal toxicity. This review summarises the structure, synthesis, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and toxicity of hyperoside.
With the ever increasing demand for energy to meet the needs of growth in population and improvement in the living standards in particular in developing countries, the abundant unconventional oil ...reserves (about 70% of total world oil), such as heavy oil, oil/tar sands and shale oil, are playing an increasingly important role in securing global energy supply. Compared with the conventional reserves unconventional oil reserves are characterized by extremely high viscosity and density, combined with complex chemistry. As a result, petroleum production from unconventional oil reserves is much more difficult and costly with more serious environmental impacts. As a key underpinning science, understanding the interfacial phenomena involved in unconventional petroleum production, such as oil liberation from host rocks, oil-water emulsions and demulsification, is critical for developing novel processes to improve oil production while reducing GHG emission and other environmental impacts at a lower operating cost. In the past decade, significant efforts and advances have been made in applying the principles of interfacial sciences to better understand complex unconventional oil-systems, while many environmental and production challenges remain. In this critical review, the recent research findings and progress in the interfacial sciences related to unconventional petroleum production are critically reviewed. In particular, the chemistry of unconventional oils, liberation mechanisms of oil from host rocks and mechanisms of emulsion stability and destabilization in unconventional oil production systems are discussed in detail. This review also seeks to summarize the current state-of-the-art characterization techniques and brings forward the challenges and opportunities for future research in this important field of physical chemistry and petroleum.
With the ever increasing demand for energy to meet the needs of growth in population and improvement in the living standards, in particular in developing countries, the abundant unconventional oil reserves (about 70% of total world oil), such as heavy oil, oil/tar sands and shale oil, are playing an increasingly important role in securing global energy supply.
Introduction: In the past several decades, declining incidences of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) have been observed in Chinese populations in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Los Angeles, and Singapore. A ...previous study indicated that the incidence of NPC in Sihui County, South China remained stable until 2002, but whether age, diagnosis period, and birth cohort affect the incidence of NPC remains unknown. Methods: Age-standardized rates (ASRs) of NPC incidence based on the world standard population were examined in both males and females in Sihui County from 1987 to 2011. Joinpoint regression analysis was conducted to quantify the changes in incidence trends. A Poisson regression age-period-cohort model was used to assess the effects of age, diagnosis period, and birth cohort on the risk of NPC. Results: The ASRs of NPC incidence during the study period were 30.29/100,000 for males and 13.09/100,000 for females. The incidence of NPC remained stable at a non-significant average annual percent change of 0.2% for males and -1.6% for females throughout the entire period, A significantly increased estimated annual percent change of 6.8% (95% confidence interval, 0.1%-14.0%) was observed from 2003 to 2009 for males. The relative risk of NPC increased with advancing age up to 50-59 and decreased at ages 〉60 years. The period effect curves on NPC were nearly fiat for males and females. The birth cohort effect curve for males showed an increase from the 1922 cohort to the 1957 cohort and a decrease thereafter. In females, there was an undulating increase in the relative risk from the 1922 cohort to the 1972 cohort. Conclusions: The incidence trends for NPC remained generally stable in Sihui from 1987 to 2011, with an increase from 2003 to 2009. The relative risks of NPC increased in younger females.
Burnout is recognized as an occupational hazard, and nursing has a high risk of burnout. This study aims to explore the relationship between psychological capital (PsyCap) and burnout among Chinese ...nurses and the mediating role of coping style in this relationship.
A total of 1,496 nurses (effective response rate: 80.11%) from two large general hospitals in Daqing City of China were selected as participants. Data were collected via the Chinese Maslach Burnout Inventory (CMBI), the psychological capital questionnaire (PCQ-24), the Chinese Trait Coping Style Questionnaire (TCSQ) and demographic and caregiver-patient relationship. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed to explore the mediating role of positive coping and negative coping, and we used the Bootstrap method to confirm the mediating effect.
Self-efficacy, hope, resilience and optimism of nurses were all negatively related with emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment among Chinese nurses. Positive coping partially mediated the relationship between hope/optimism and emotional exhaustion and between self-efficacy/optimism and reduced personal accomplishment. Negative coping fully mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and emotional exhaustion, and in the regression model self-efficacy was positively correlated with emotional exhaustion. And negative coping also partially mediated the relationship between hope/optimism and emotional exhaustion and between optimism and depersonalization.
PsyCap had effects on burnout and coping style was a mediator in this relationship among Chinese nurses. Nurses who had a strong sense of self-efficacy adopted more negative coping style, which in turn would lead to higher levels of emotional exhaustion. These findings shed light on the influence of negative coping on burnout, and positive coping was a positive resource for fighting against nurses' burnout. Hence, in order to avoid negative coping style, improve skill of coping and enhance PsyCap of nurses, active interventions should be developed in the future.
Oil–water emulsions are widely generated in industries, which may facilitate some processes (e.g., transportation of heavy oil, storage of milk, synthesis of chemicals or materials, etc.) or lead to ...serious upgrading or environmental issues (e.g., pipeline plugging, corrosions to equipment, water pollution, soil pollution, etc.). Herein, the sources, classification, formation, stabilization, and separation of oil–water emulsions are systematically summarized. The roles of different interfacially active materials–especially the fine particles–in stabilizing the emulsions have been discussed. The advanced development of micro force measurement technologies for oil–water emulsion investigation has also been presented. To provide insights for future industrial application, the separation of oil–water emulsions by different methods are summarized, as well as the introduction of some industrial equipment and advanced combined processes. The gaps between some demulsification processes and industrial applications are also touched upon. Finally, the development perspectives of oil–water treatment technology are discussed for the purpose of achieving high-efficiency, energy-saving, and multi-functional treatment. We hope this review could bring forward the challenges and opportunities for future research in the fields of petroleum production, coal production, iron making, and environmental protection, etc.
CXCL3 belongs to the CXC‐type chemokine family and is known to play a multifaceted role in various human malignancies. While its clinical significance and mechanisms of action in uterine cervical ...cancer (UCC) remain unclear. This investigation demonstrated that the UCC cell line HeLa expressed CXCL3, and strong expression of CXCL3 was detected in UCC tissues relative to nontumor tissues. In addition, CXCL3 expression was strongly correlated with CXCL5 expression in UCC tissues. In vitro, HeLa cells overexpressing CXCL3, HeLa cells treated with exogenous CXCL3 or treated with conditioned medium from WPMY cells overexpressing CXCL3, exhibited enhanced proliferation and migration activities. In agreement with these findings, CXCL3 overexpression was also associated with the generation of HeLa cell tumor xenografts in athymic nude mice. Subsequent mechanistic studies demonstrated that CXCL3 overexpressing influenced the expression of extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway associated genes, including ERK1/2, Bcl‐2, and Bax, whereas the CXCL3‐induced proliferation and migration effects were attenuated by exogenous administration of the ERK1/2 blocker PD98059. The data of the current investigation support that CXCL3 appears to hold promise as a potential tumor marker and interference target for UCC.
CXCL3 was significantly overexpressed in uterine cervical cancer (UCC), and its upregulation was positively related to the clinical stage. In vitro and in vivo, CXCL3 may act as a tumor promoter involved in the malignant processes of UCC through the Bcl‐2/Bax and ERK pathways.
Chemical profile and antioxidant potency of essential oils (EOs) of Thymus quinquecostatus Celak. (thyme oils) obtained from Loess Plateau in China had been studied. 130 constituents of thyme oils ...were determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and carvacrol ethyl ether was firstly reported as a new natural product, which has been used as a synthetic flavoring substance with no safety concern. The thyme oils showed the anti-oxidant activity using 2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and conferred protection against oxidative stress in zebrafish. In addition, a class of carvacrol analogues was found to develop as potential natural antioxidant products of thyme oils from Loess Plateau by the correlation analysis. YL-thyme oil performed the best antioxidant activity in this research, which could be recommended as preferred sources of thyme oils. Furthermore, YL-thyme oil exhibited a potent antioxidant capacity by reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging, enhancing the endogenous antioxidant system, inhibiting lipid peroxidation and activation of Keap1/Nrf2 pathway in zebrafish.
The "myodural bridge" was described in literatures as a dense fibrous tissue connecting the sub-occipital musculature with the spinal dura mater in human studies. Now the concept of "myodural bridge" ...was perceived as an exact anatomical structure presumably essential for critical physiological functions in human body, and might exist in other mammals as well. To determine the existence of the "myodural bridge" in other mammals and to lay a foundation for the functional study, we examined representatives in five different mammalian orders. Based on the anatomical dissections, P45 plastinated sections and histological sections, we found that a dense fibrous tissue connected the rectus capitisdorsalis minor and the spinal dura mater through the dorsal atlanto-occipital interspace with or without the medium of the posterior atlanto-occipital membrane. These observed connective tissues were very similar to the "myodural bridge" previously described in humans. We proposed that the "myodural bridge", as an evolutionally conserved structure, presents in many other mammals. Moreover, we believed that the "myodural bridge" might be a homologous organ in mammals. Thus, this study could provide an insight for our understanding the physiological significance of the "myodural bridge", especially in human.
A new, simple one-step approach has been developed to synthesize lignin and lignin amine coated Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. These nanoparticles (lignin magnetic nanoparticles (LMNPs) and lignin amine ...magnetic nanoparticles (LAMNPs)) are found to possess not only magnetic response but also pH-dependent adsorption behavior. Results show that the combination of lignin with nanoparticles increased the adsorption capacities 2-5 times higher than other traditional single lignin based adsorbents (211.42 mg/g for methylene blue (MB) by LMNPs and 176.49 mg/g for acid scarlet GR (AS-GR) by LAMNPs). Meanwhile, by simply adjusting the pH, the dye-loaded adsorbents can be regenerated to recycle both adsorbents and dyes with a desorption efficiency up to 90%. Mechanistic study shows that dye structure and surface charges of adsorbents play the most important part in adsorption where dyes interact with the adsorbent surface via π-π stacking and electrostatic attraction interactions. The efficient fabrication method, eco-friendly reactant, quick magnetic separation, high adsorption and desorption efficiency suggest this novel type of nano-adsorbents to be promising materials for efficient dye pollutant removal and recovery.