This work attempted to establish the relationship between the dispersion morphology and the viscous flow behavior of clay dispersions in soybean oil fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) at 2 and 65 °C. The clays used in this study include raw montmorillonite (Mt) and three kinds of organoclays prepared by ion exchange modification of Mt by cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (OC16), dihexadecyldimethylammonium chloride (ODC16), and trihexadecylmethylammonium chloride (OTC16), respectively. The X-ray diffraction and water contact angle results demonstrated that greater alkyl chain number of surfactants led to greater interlayer space and stronger hydrophobicity of organoclays. Due to the good affinity of the surfactant and FAEE, OC16 exhibited the most stable dispersion in FAEE between 2–65 °C, which resulted in the best flat rheological property. The molecular structures of multiple chain surfactants were quite different from that of FAEE, resulting in weak affinity between organoclays (ODC16 and OTC16) and FAEE. The sheets of ODC16 and OTC16 tended to aggregate at 2 °C, forming a gel structure, thus significantly increasing the low shear rate viscosity (LSRV) and yield stress. At 65 °C, with the expansion of FAEE and the stronger thermal motion of sheets, the dispersions of ODC16 and OTC16 were improved, destroying the original gel structure and resulting in significant decreases in LSRV and yield stress. This study confirmed that stable clay/FAEE dispersions tended to exhibit flat rheology, which could serve as a basis for the application of clay/biodiesel dispersion in deep-water drilling.

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Purpose Our aim was to determine the relationship between plasma and urine indoleamine 2.3-dioxygenase (IDO) activity and stage of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Patients and Methods Demographic and clinical parameters, including plasma and urine IDO activity, were recorded in 47 CKD patients and 30 controls. One-way ANOVA with the least significant difference method was used to compare means of variables that had normal distributions and homogeneous variance. Variables with non-normal distributions were log-transformed and compared using the rank sum test Pearson or Spearman correlation coefficients were determined. Binary logistic regression and ordinal logistic regression were used to identify independently significant factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed. Results The control group had higher levels of hemoglobin and albumin and lower levels of creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN; all P <0.01). The level of highly sensitive C reactive protein (hs-CRP) increased as CKD stage increased ( P< 0.01). Plasma and urine IDO activity were positively correlated (r=0.7, P<0.01). Plasma IDO activity correlated with age, creatinine, BUN, triglycerides, uric acid, albumin, and hemoglobin (all P< 0.05); urine IDO activity correlated with age, BMI, creatinine, BUN, and hemoglobin (all P< 0.05). There were positive correlations of hs-CRP level with plasma IDO activity and urine IDO activity (both P< 0.01). After adjusting for CKD-related factors, plasma IDO activity, urine IDO activity, and hs-CRP were independent risk factors for CKD (all P< 0.05). Ordinal logistic regression also indicated that plasma and urine IDO activity were significantly associated with CKD stage. ROC analysis indicated that plasma and urine IDO activity were good predictors of CKD and distinguished different stages of CKD. There was a strong correlation between plasma IDO activity and inflammatory status in patients with CKD (OR=1258.908, P< 0.01). Conclusion Plasma and urine IDO activity have potential use as biomarkers for early-stage CKD, progression of CKD, and inflammation status.