Inhibitory effects of curcumin and piperine on fluorescent advanced glycation end products formation in a bovine serum albumin–fructose model

This study investigated the inhibitory effects of curcumin and piperine on fluorescent advanced glycation end products (fAGEs) formation in a bovine serum albumin (BSA)–fructose model. Model systems of BSA and fructose were prepared, and curcumin or piperine was added. fAGEs and BSA oxidation product (dityrosine, kynurenine and N'-formylkynurenine) contents were determined. The results showed that fAGEs content decreased with increasing concentration of curcumin and piperine (P < 0.05). Addition of curcumin and piperine at 160 µg mL⁻¹ could inhibit fluorescent AGEs by 100% and 93% respectively. Dityrosine and N'-formylkynurenine contents decreased as curcumin and piperine concentration increased (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the result of principal component analysis indicated that curcumin and piperine markedly impeded BSA oxidation, resulting in a lower level of fAGEs in model systems. Therefore, adding curcumin and piperine may facilitate reduced fAGEs levels in BSA–fructose model.     

A dotted nanowire arrayed by 5 nm sized palladium and nickel composite nanopaticles showing significant electrocatalytic activity towards ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR)

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time to report the preparation of a dotted nanowire arrayed by 5 nm sized palladium and nickel composite nanoparticles (denoted as Pd_xNi_y NPs) via a hydrothermal method using NU and PdO·H₂O as the starting materials. The samples prepared at the mass ratio of NU to PdO·H₂O 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1 were, respectively, nominated as catalyst c₁, c₂ and c₃. The chemical compositions of all synthesized catalysts were mainly studied by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), revealing that metallic Ni was one main component of all prepared catalysts. Surprisingly, the main diffraction peaks appearing in the XRD patterns of all prepared catalysts were assigned to the metallic Ni rather than the metallic Pd. Very interestingly, as indicated by the TEM images, a large number of dotted nanowires arrayed by numerous equidistant 5 nm sized nanoparticles were distinctly exhibited in catalyst c₁. More importantly, when being used as electrocatalysts for EOR, all prepared catalysts exhibited an evident electrocatalytic activity towards EOR. In the cyclic voltammetry (CV) test, the peak current density of the forward peak of EOR on catalyst c₁ measured at 50 mV s^?1 was as high as 56.1 mA cm^?2, being almost 9 times higher than that of EOR on catalyst c₃ (6.3 mA cm^?2). Particularly, the polarized current density of EOR on catalyst c₁ at 3600 s, as indicated by the chronoamperometry (CA) experiment, was still maintained to be around 1.47 mA cm^?2, a value higher than the latest reported data of 1.3 mA cm^?2 (measured on the pure Pd/C electrode). Presenting a novel method to prepare dotted nanowires arranged by 5 nm sized nanoparticles and showing the significant eletrocatalytic activities of the newly prepared dotted nanowires towards EOR were the major contributions of this preliminary work.     

Characterization of barium titanate reinforced acrylonitrile butadiene rubber composites for flexible electronic applications: influences of barium titanate content

The aim of this study was to develop high dielectric constant flexible polymers with a highly efficient and cost‐effective approach using acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) as the polymer matrix and barium titanate (BT) as the high dielectric constant filler. The BT powder was synthesized with a solid‐state reaction and was characterized using a particle size analyzer, XRD, SEM and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. NBR/BT composites were fabricated using an internal mixer with various BT loadings up to 160 phr. The influence of BT loading on the cure characteristics and mechanical, dynamic mechanical, thermal, dielectric and morphological properties was determined. The incorporation of BT in the NBR matrix shortened scorch time and increased delta torque. The mechanical properties, thermal stability and dielectric constant were greatly improved and increased with BT loading. The results suggest that the reinforcement effect was achieved due to strong hydrogen bonding or polar–polar interactions between NBR matrix and BT filler. This is further corroborated by the good dispersion of BT filler in the NBR matrix observed with SEM imaging. These findings can be applied to produce high‐performance dielectric elastomers. © 2020 Society of Industrial Chemistry     

脱硫胶粉在乳化改性沥青中的应用

考察了不同规格胶粉及不同脱硫程度的脱硫胶粉对橡胶改性乳化沥青性能的影响,结果表明,采用100目胶粉即可制备出橡胶改性乳化沥青,但乳化沥青的性能较差;采用活化度为50%左右的100目脱硫胶粉制备乳化沥青时,脱硫胶粉的用量相比于胶粉可大幅提高;在通过外掺100目50%左右活化度的脱硫胶粉(质量分数15%,以沥青计,下同)和质量分数2%的苯乙烯-丁二烯-苯乙烯嵌段共聚物改性的乳化沥青中添加质量分数1%的丁苯胶乳,所制备橡胶改性乳化沥青无筛上剩余物,5 d储存稳定性为2.9%,蒸发残留物的25℃针入度、软化点和5℃延度分别为55 (0.1 mm)、64.5℃和22.5 cm,能够满足乳化改性沥青的技术指标要求。     

自愈合橡胶材料研究进展

具有自感知、自诊断、自愈合功能的智能聚合物材料是高分子科学领域的前沿材料之一。介绍了自愈合橡胶材料的自愈合机理,综述了自愈合橡胶材料的分类、特性和发展概况,展望了其应用及发展前景。     

A red code triggers an unintended approach motivation toward sweet ultra-processed foods: Possible implications for front-of-pack labels

Front-of-package labels (FOPL) are recommended to reduce consumer intake of ultra-processed food products (UPP). The multiple traffic-light label is one example of FOPL that indicates the content of target nutrients in products by displaying red (high), amber (medium), and/or green (low) color-coding. The red code may implicitly enhance sweetness perception and approach dispositions toward sweet UPP via cross-modal visual-taste interactions. We conducted two experiments to examine the possibility of contradictory influence of explicitly learned and implicit cross-modal associations on the emotional responses evoked by UPP pictures. In both experiments, we first explicitly associated the color codes with health-related meanings. In Experiment I (n = 78), a psychometric tool estimated the emotional responses (pleasantness and arousal ratings) evoked by UPP pictures when preceded by red, amber, or green color-codes. In Experiment II (n = 24), we recorded participants’ electrocortical brain activity to assess the early posterior negativity (EPN) component as an index of the emotional responses to UPP. The reported pleasantness (Experiment I) and the EPN amplitude (Experiment II) were greater for sweet UPP relative to salty UPP when primed with red codes but not when primed with green or amber. A red code increased positive emotions toward sweet UPP despite its explicit association with increased health-risks. Thus, the use of multiple traffic-lights might lead to an unintended implicit approach behavior toward sweet UPP. Designers, researchers, and policy makers may consider color-taste cross-modal associations when designing, testing, and applying FOPL.     

基于压缩机-支架系统的异常噪声研究

针对某乘用车发动机转速在1 573 r/min，压缩机开启时车内噪声异常的问题，对样车进行试验分析与诊断，对压缩机-支架系统进行仿真分析，提出改进方案并验证改进效果。利用LMS声振信号采集系统采集振动噪声数据，采用频谱分析、阶次追踪等方法，并结合压缩机-支架系统模态仿真结果，确定车内异常噪声是压缩机轴频21阶与压缩机-支架系统3阶模态频率接近发生共振造成的。通过优化支架结构来提高压缩机-支架系统3阶模态频率以此来避免共振，并换装橡胶驱动盘缓和压缩机输入扭矩波动。将改进结构进行整车试验，结果表明：匀速工况空调开启时问题转速下，车内噪声降低了2.5 dB(A)；匀加速工况空调开启时发动机转速1 500~1 650 r/min区间，车内噪声无峰值，其余转速空调开启时改进前/后车内噪声基本不变，噪声波动趋势平缓。