Facile One-Step Pyrolysis of ZnO/Biochar Nanocomposite for Highly Efficient Removal of Methylene Blue Dye from Aqueous Solution.

In this work, we developed a facile one-step pyrolysis method for preparing porous ZnO/biochar nanocomposites (ZBCs) with a large surface area to enhance the removal efficiency of dye from aqueous solution. Peanut shells were pyrolyzed under oxygen-limited conditions with a molten salt ZnCl2, which played the roles of the activating agent and precursor for the formation of nanoparticles. The effects of the mass ratio between the molten salt ZnCl2 and peanut shells as well as pyrolysis temperature on the formation of ZBCs were investigated. Characterization results revealed that the as-synthesized ZBCs exhibited a highly porous structure with a specific surface area of 832.12 m2/g, suggesting a good adsorbent for efficient removal of methylene blue (MB). The maximum adsorption capacity of ZBCs on MB was 826.44 mg/g, which surpassed recently reported adsorbents. The formation mechanism of ZnO nanoparticles on the biochar surface was due to ZnCl2 vaporization and reaction with water molecules extracted from the lignocellulosic structures. This study provides a basis for developing a simple and large-scale synthesis method for wastewater with a high adsorption capacity.

Implementation of fuel additive MAZ 100 for performance enhancement of compressed natural gas engine converted from in-used gasoline engine.

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) has been applied worldwide for in-used engines, especially CNG engines that are converted from the conventional engines. However, it encounters the problem related to the low power and high fuel consumption of the conventional engine fueled by CNG. This paper presents an experimental study on performance enhancement of a CNG engine converted from the spark-ignition engine by the implementation of fuel additive Maz 100. In experimental work, a fuel additive supplying system was developed to impose a certain amount of fuel additive to the intake manifold of the test engine. The study results show that when using Maz 100, the brake power of the test engine improves approximately 6.75% on average at full load conditions. The brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) reduces 6.49% on average at full load and 3.53% on average at partial load condition. In addition, besides the benefit of performance enhancement, exhaust emissions of the test engine in the case of operating with fuel additive have changed considerably. Particularly, the CO emission reduces 36.1% at full load and 18.4% on average at partial load conditions. The HC emission reduces 37.1% at full load and 35.0% on average at partial load conditions. The NOx emission increases slightly in low-speed regimes and reduces in high-speed regimes when the engine operates at the full opened throttle condition. At partial load condition and speed of 3000 rpm, the NOx emission reduces 22.6% on average. Implications: This paper presents a solution for performance enhancement and emission reduction of natural gas engine by using fuel additive. Performance and emission characteristics of the natural gas engine fueled with fuel additive have been assessed in the laboratory. The performance of the test engine improves remarkably. The brake power of the test engine improves approximately 6.75% on average at full load conditions when the engine operates with fuel additive. The brake specific fuel consumption reduces 3.53% on average at partial load condition. The emission of pollution has different trends. The CO and HC emission reduces at testing conditions. The NOx emission increases slightly in low-speed regimes and reduces in high-speed regimes when the engine operates at the full opened throttle condition. The implementation of fuel additive is a potential solution for power improvement and emission reduction of natural gas engine.

Rapid Disappearance of Poliovirus Type 2 (PV2) Immunity in Young Children Following Withdrawal of Oral PV2-Containing Vaccine in Vietnam.

BACKGROUND: Due to global shortage of inactivated poliovirus vaccine and withdrawal of oral vaccine containing poliovirus type 2 (PV2), a PV2-containing vaccine was not used in Vietnam May 2016 to October 2018. We assessed the population immunity gap to PV2. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey in children aged 1-18 months was carried out in January 2018. One blood sample per child was analyzed for presence of poliovirus neutralizing antibodies. In children with detectable anti-PV2 antibodies, a second sample was analyzed 4 months later to distinguish between passive (maternally derived) and active (induced by secondary transmission or vaccination) immunity. RESULTS: Sera were obtained from 1106/1110 children. Seroprevalence of PV2 antibodies was 87/368 (23.6%) at age 1-7 months, 27/471 (5.7%) at 8-15 months, and 19/267 (7.1%) at 16-18 months. Seroprevalence declined with age in the 1-7 months group; in the 8-18 months group there was no significant change with age. Four months later, 11/87 (14%), 9/27 (32%), and 12/19 (37%) remained seropositive in 1-7, 8-15, and 16-18 months age groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We found declining immunity to PV2, suggesting Vietnam is at risk for an outbreak of type 2 vaccine-derived poliovirus following virus importation or new emergence.

Effect of the fourth nucleotide at the 3′ end of neuraminidase and matrix viral genomic RNA on the pathogenicity of influenza virus A/PR/8/34

Twelve nucleotides located at the 3′ end of viral genomic RNA (vRNA) are conserved among influenza A viruses (IAV) and have a promoter function. Hoffmann's 8-plasmid reverse genetics vector system introduced mutations at position 4, C nucleotide (C4) to U nucleotide (U4), of the 3′ ends of neuraminidase (NA) and matrix (M) vRNAs of wild-type A/PR/8/34 (PR8). This resulted in a constellation of C4 and U4 vRNAs coding for low (polymerases) and relatively high (all others) copy number proteins, respectively. U4 has been reported to increase promoter activity in comparison to C4, but the constellation effect on the replication efficiency and pathogenicity of reverse genetics PR8 (rgPR8) has not been fully elucidated. In the present study, we generated 3 recombinant viruses with C4 in the NA and/or M vRNAs and rgPR8 by using reverse genetics and compared their pathobiological traits. The mutant viruses showed lower replication efficiency than rgPR8 due to the low transcription levels of NA and/or M genes. Furthermore, C4 in the NA and/or M vRNAs induced lower PR8 virus pathogenicity in BALB/c mice. The results suggest that the constellation of C4 and U4 among vRNAs may be one of the multigenic determinants of IAV pathogenicity.

Regulation of acetoin and 2,3-butanediol utilization in Bacillus licheniformis.

The acoABCL and acuABC operons of Bacillus licheniformis DSM13 are strongly induced at the transcriptional level during glucose starvation conditions. Primer extension analyses of this study indicate that the acoABCL operon is controlled by a sigmaL-dependent promoter and the acuABC operon by a sigmaA-dependent promoter. Transcription at the acoA promoter is repressed by glucose but induced by acetoin as soon as the preferred carbon source glucose is exhausted. The acuA promoter shows a similar induction pattern, but its activity is independent from the presence of acetoin. It is demonstrated that the acoABCL operon is mainly responsible for acetoin and 2,3-butanediol degradation in B. licheniformis.