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BackgroundOver the last ten years, miniaturized multiplexed immunoassays have become robust, reliable research tools that enable researchers to simultaneously determine a multitude of parameters. Among the numerous analytical protein arrays available, bead-based assay systems have evolved into a key technology that enables the quantitative protein profiling of biological samples whilst requiring only a minimal amount of sample material.Methodology/Principal FindingsA microfluidic bead-based immunoassay, µFBI, was developed to perform bead-based multiplexed sandwich immunoassays in a capillary. This setup allows the simultaneous detection of several parameters and only requires 200 ng of tissue lysate in a 1 µL assay volume. In addition, only 1 µL of detection antibodies and 1 µL of the reporter molecule Streptavidin-Phycoerythrin were required. The µFBI was used to compare the expression of seven receptor tyrosine kinases and their degree of tyrosine phosphorylation in breast cancer tissue and in normal tissue lysates. The total amount of HER-2, as well the degree of tyrosine phosphorylation was much higher in breast cancer tissue than in normal tissue. µFBI and a standard bead-based assay led to identical protein expression data. Moreover, it was possible to reduce the quantity of sample material required by a factor of 100 and the quantity of reagents by a factor of 30.Conclusions/SignificanceThe µFBI, microfluidic bead-based immunoassay, allows the analysis of multiple parameters from a very small amount of sample material, such as tumor biopsies or tissue sections.

Understanding spatial and temporal variations in river water quality and quantitatively evaluating the trend of changes are important in order to study and efficiently manage water resources. In this study, an analysis of Water Pollution Index (WPI), Daniel Trend Test, Cluster Analysis and Discriminant Analysis are applied as an integrated approach to quantitatively explore the spatial and temporal variations and the latent sources of water pollution in the Shanchong River basin, Northwest Basin of Lake Fuxian, China. We group all field surveys into 2 clusters (dry season and rainy season). Moreover, 14 sampling sites have been grouped into 3 clusters for the rainy season (highly polluted, moderately polluted and less polluted sites) and 2 clusters for the dry season (highly polluted and less polluted sites) based on their similarities and the level of pollution during the two seasons. The results show that the main trend of pollution was aggravated during the transition from the dry to the rainy season. The Water Pollution Index of Total Nitrogen is the highest of all pollution parameters, whereas the Chemical Oxygen Demand (Chromium) is the lowest. Our results also show that the main sources of pollution are farming activities alongside the Shanchong River, soil erosion and fish culture at Shanchong River reservoir area and domestic sewage from scattered rural residential area. Our results suggest that strategies to prevent water pollutionat the Shanchong River basin need to focus on non-point pollution control by employing appropriate fertilizer formulas in farming, and take the measures of soil and water conservation at Shanchong reservoir area, and purifying sewage from scattered villages.

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In order to improve the detonation performance of emulsion explosives, a new type of emulsion explosives with TiH 2 powders is developed. The influences of the amount of sensitizers GMs and energetic additives TiH 2 on explosion characteristics of emulsion explosives are studied to determine the optimum compositions. Underwater explosion and brisance testing experiments show that, compared to traditional GMs sensitized emulsion explosives, the shock wave specific impulse I and total energy E of GMs-TiH 2 sensitized emulsion explosives are improved significantly, and the effect of TiH 2 powders on improving the explosion power of emulsion explosives is better than that of Ti powders. The brisance of GMs-TiH 2 emulsion explosives is 23.80 mm compression of lead block, 7.7 mm more than that of the emulsion explosives sensitized by GMs alone. Therefore, the hydrogen containing material TiH 2 could be a promising energetic additive for developing high-power emulsion explosives.

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The removal of gaseous hydrogen sulfide using FeOCl/H 2 O 2 was studied. The effects of the FeOCl dosage, the H 2 O 2 concentration, the reaction temperature, and the gas flow rate on the removal of H 2 S were investigated. The reaction products were analyzed, and the characterization of FeOCl was carried out by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Xray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Furthermore, radical quenching experiments were carried out using butylated hydroxytoluene, isopropanol, and benzoquinone. It was found that the H 2 S removal rate for a H 2 S gas concentration of 160 ppm reached 85.6% when bubbling through 100 mL of an aqueous solution containing FeOCl (1 g/L) and H 2 O 2 (0.33 mol/L) at 293 K with a flow rate of 135 mL/min. Although the dissolution of chlorine in FeOCl was found to result in reduced catalytic performance, the activity was restored after soaking the catalyst in concentrated hydrochloric acid (37%) and subsequent calcination. The mechanism of H 2 S removal was also discussed, and it was found that this process was controlled by H 2 S diffusion. FeOCl was found to activate H 2 O 2 and produce radicals, such as • OH and • O 2 − , resulting in the formation of a water film rich in radicals on the FeOCl surface. Following the diffusion of H 2 S into the water film, it underwent oxidation by radicals to produce SO 4 2− . Overall, the catalyst and the product can be effectively separated.