黄土丘陵区表层土壤有机碳沿降水梯度的分布

沿368～591 mm降水量梯度选取7个调查地点、共63个调查样点,在每个样点选择恢复年限相近的林地、草地和农地,调查表层（0～30 cm）土壤有机碳的分布特征,分析气候、土层深度和土地利用类型等因素对土壤有机碳分布的影响.结果表明： 在黄土丘陵区368～591 mm的降水量范围内,表层土壤有机碳含量表现为草地（8.70 g·kg^-1）>林地（7.88 g·kg^-1）>农地（7.73 g·kg^-1）,土壤有机碳密度表现为草地（20.28 kg·m^-2）>农地（19.34 kg·m^-2）>林地（17.14 kg·m^-2）.林地、草地、农地的土壤有机碳含量无显著差异,综合3种土地利用类型的数据分析表明,不同降雨梯度下土壤有机碳含量差异显著（P<0.001）,土壤有机碳含量（r=0.838,P<0.001）与年均降水量间存在显著线性正相关关系;由北向南（以最北端鄂尔多斯为起点）,土壤有机碳含量沿着368～591 mm的年均降水量梯度的递增速率为0.04 g·kg^-1·mm^-1,土壤有机碳密度的递增速率为0.08 kg·m^-2·mm^-1.年均降水量、土壤黏粒含量、林下枯落物蓄积量和农作物根系密度可较好地模拟表层土壤有机碳分布.     

Continuous precipitation of process related impurities from clarified cell culture supernatant using a novel coiled flow inversion reactor (CFIR)

Coiled Flow Inverter Reactor (CFIR) has recently been explored for facilitating continuous operation of several unit operations involved in downstream processing of biopharmaceuticals such as viral inactivation and protein refolding. The application of CFIR for continuous precipitation of clarified cell culture supernatant has been explored. The pH based precipitation is optimized in the batch mode and then in the continuous mode in CFIR using a design of experiments (DOE) study. Improved clearance of host cell DNA (52× vs. 39× in batch), improved clearance of host cell proteins (HCP) (7× vs. 6× in batch) and comparable recovery (90 vs. 91.5 % in batch) are observed along with six times higher productivity. To further demonstrate wider applicability of CFIR in performing continuous precipitation, two more case studies involving use of two different precipitation protocols (CaCl₂ based and caprylic acid based) are also performed. In both cases, clearance of host cell DNA, HCP, and product recovery are found to be comparable or better in CFIR than in batch operations. Moreover, increase in productivity of 16 times (CaCl₂ based) and eight times (caprylic acid based) is obtained for the two precipitation protocols, respectively. The data clearly demonstrate that CFIR can be seamlessly integrated into a continuous bioprocess train for performing continuous precipitation of clarified cell culture supernatant. To our knowledge this is the first report of such use.     

A rapid non-equilibrium critical precipitation assay to assess aluminium-ligand interactions

Abstract

In many natural situations (e.g. environmental and biological) aqueous metal-ligand interactions occur in complex, dynamic solutions and do not adhere to true equilibrium. Nonetheless, equilibrium-based assays in simple solutions are generally used to model metal-ligand interactions of natural systems. Moreover, these are time consuming and not easily applied or understood by many applied scientists. Here, a ‘critical precipitation assay’ was used to investigate the interaction of common ligands with aluminium at pH 7.0, under non-equilibrium conditions. Results obtained were correlated with literature-derived stability constants for the aluminium-ligand interactions, while high-resolution ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H NMR) was used to confirm the nature of observed interactions. Weak interaction with aluminium was confirmed for traditional weak ligands (e.g. bicarbonate) as these were unable to compete with the hydroxide ion for aluminium at pH 7.0. Two types of interaction were seen for the ‘stronger’ ligands that could compete with hydroxy-polymerisation. Firstly, distinct aluminium:ligand stoichiometric ratios were observed for ligands such as ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid (1:1) or 1,3,5-trideoxy-1,3,5-tris( dimethylamino)-cis-inositol (1:2). Secondly, most ligands, including citrate and maltol, did not prevent hydroxy-polymerisation but did maintain more aluminium ‘in solution’ (approximately 2.5:1 aluminium:ligand) than permitted by acceptable aluminium:ligand stoichiometric ratios, suggesting the formation of dynamic metastable hydroxy-bridged aluminium-ligand complexes. ¹H NMR with aluminium and maltol or citrate, supported this idea as complex spectral patterns were observed prior to precipitation. Aluminium maintained in solution at pH 7.0 correlated, with literature-derived stability constants suggesting that non-equilibrium aluminium-ligand interactions approximate to equilibrium and that this assay could be used as a quick screening method for investigation of aluminium-ligand interactions.     

Bioclimatic analysis in a region of southern Italy (Calabria)

In this study, an analysis of precipitation and temperature data has been performed over 67 series observed in a region of southern Italy (Calabria). At first, to detect possible trends in the time series, an analysis was performed with the Mann–Kendall non-parametric test applied at monthly and seasonal scale. An additional investigation, useful for checking the climate change effects on vegetation, has also been included analysing bioclimatic indicators. In particular, Emberger, Rivas-Martinez and De Martonne indices were calculated by using monthly temperature and precipitation data in the period 1916–2010. The spatial pattern of the indices has been evaluated and, in order to link the vegetation and the indices, different indices maps have been intersected with the land cover data, given by the Corine Land Cover map. Moreover, the temporal evolution of the indices and of the vegetation has been analysed. Results suggest that climate change may be responsible for the forest cover change, but, given also the good relationship between the various types of bioclimate and forest formations, human activities must be considered.     

Separate mechanisms act concurrently to shed and release the prion protein from the cell

The cellular prion protein (PrP^C) is attached to the cell membrane via its glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchor and is constitutively shed into the extracellular space. Here, three different mechanisms are presented that concurrently shed PrP^C from the cell. The fast α-cleavage released a N-terminal fragment (N1) into the medium and the extreme C-terminal cleavage shed soluble full-length (FL-S) PrP and C-terminally cleaved (C1-S) fragments outside the cell. Also, a slow exosomal release of full-length (FL) and C1-fragment (C1) was demonstrated. The three separate mechanisms acting simultaneously, but with different kinetics, have to be taken into consideration when elucidating functional roles of PrP^C and also when processing of PrP^C is considered as a target for intervention in prion diseases. Further, in this study it was shown that metalloprotease inhibitors affected the extreme C-terminal cleavage and shedding of PrP^C. The metalloprotease inhibitors did not influence the α-cleavage or the exosomal release. Taken together, these results are important for understanding the different mechanisms acting in parallel in the shedding and cleavage of PrP^C.     

Development and optimization of fractional precipitation for the pre-purification of (+)-dihydromyricetin

A novel fractional precipitation process, both simple and efficient, was developed for producing (+)-dihydromyricetin in high purity and high yield from crude extracts. The optimal acetone composition in water, initial (+)-dihydromyricetin concentration in crude extract, storage temperature, storage time, and pH were 1/5 (v/v), 0.1 g/mL, 4°C, 32 h, and 9.0, respectively. Crude extracts were efficiently pre-purified using fractional precipitation of (+)-dihydromyricetin by differences of solubility in an acetone solution, increasing purity from 55.0 to over 84.9% with an overall yield of 97.5%. The use of fractional precipitation for pre-purification allowed for rapid and efficient separation of (+)-dihydromyricetin from interfering compounds and dramatically increased the purity of crude (+)-dihydromyricetin for subsequent purification steps.