Conventional and Unconventional Mechanisms by which Exocytosis Proteins Oversee β-cell Function and Protection

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is one of the prominent causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States and beyond, reaching global pandemic proportions. One hallmark of T2D is dysfunctional glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from the pancreatic β-cell. Insulin is secreted via the recruitment of insulin secretory granules to the plasma membrane, where the soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) and SNARE regulators work together to dock the secretory granules and release insulin into the circulation. SNARE proteins and their regulators include the Syntaxins, SNAPs, Sec1/Munc18, VAMPs, and double C2-domain proteins. Recent studies using genomics, proteomics, and biochemical approaches have linked deficiencies of exocytosis proteins with the onset and progression of T2D. Promising results are also emerging wherein restoration or enhancement of certain exocytosis proteins to β-cells improves whole-body glucose homeostasis, enhances β-cell function, and surprisingly, protection of β-cell mass. Intriguingly, overexpression and knockout studies have revealed novel functions of certain exocytosis proteins, like Syntaxin 4, suggesting that exocytosis proteins can impact a variety of pathways, including inflammatory signaling and aging. In this review, we present the conventional and unconventional functions of β-cell exocytosis proteins in normal physiology and T2D and describe how these insights might improve clinical care for T2D.     

基于DOC的嵌入式远程数据采集系统开发

片上磁盘(DiskOnChip,简称DOC)具有体积小、存储容量大等特点,非常适合用于嵌入式系统。本文介绍了如何开发一个基于DOC的嵌入式远程数据采集系统。该方法可以完全脱离对磁盘的依赖是一种非常实用的高效率低成本的方法。     

机构自由度公式的统一形式及其物理内涵

由于并联机器人机构的发展,最近十多年,提出了6种新的主要的机构自由度（DOF）公式.在简述这6种公式的结构与特点的基础上给出了这些公式的统一形式及其物理意义,以及DOF公式取得进展的原因;对基于约束螺旋系的统一形式的DOF公式,提出了DOF计算方法的改进建议,并给出两个实例;而基于运动分析的统一形式的DOF公式,只适用于不含非独立运动元素的机构,仅是具有一般性的基于方位特征集的DOF公式的特例.     

一种新型半对称三平移一转动（3T1R）并联操作手的运动学研究

基于方位特征（POC）方程的并联机构拓扑结构设计理论与方法,提出了一种能实现三平移一转动（3T1R）的2RRPaR+2RSS并联操作手机构。对该机构进行了结构特性分析,计算了其自由度及POC集,并得出其耦合度为2;依据该机构的结构特性及几何约束条件,采用二维搜索法对该机构的位置正解进行了求解,推导出了其位置逆解,并验证了位置正逆解的正确性;基于该机构的逆解公式,计算出其三维工作空间,并得到了一组Z向不同截面的切片形状,同时对Z=1000 mm截面处的转动能力进行了分析;最后,基于雅可比矩阵对机构奇异位形进行了分析。研究结果表明：所提2RRPaR+2RSS机构在与H4机构主要尺寸参数相同的情况下,其工作性能总体优于H4机构。与H4机构相比,所提机构的工作空间增加了27.87%,其转动能力提高了4.35%。     

Peat filter performance under changing environmental conditions

Peat is a candidate filter material for in situ treatment of urban runoff, contaminated groundwater and landfill leachates. Until now research has focused on peat sorption in batch experiments and there is a lack of knowledge on peat performance in filter beds. In this project column tests were carried out to evaluate the capacity of peat to remove As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn in multi-metal solution under a range of environmental conditions that may be encountered in real-life applications (draining, water stagnation, freezing, change in pH and metal concentrations, input of NaCl and elevated DOC). The removal capacity was 91–98% for Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni and Pb and the efficiency was unaffected by the changes of physical factors, but temporarily inhibited for solutions containing NaCl. Leaching of DOC from peat was detected in the initial samples and temporarily decreased metal removal. The peat filters showed high removal rates for Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni and Pb under all experimental conditions and are recommended for treatment of waters containing these elements. In contrast, peat was not found to be efficient for treatment of As and Cr in the multi-metal contaminated water at the pH range (6.7–8.0) studied.     

Characterization procedure for adsorption of DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon) from synthetic wastewater

A characterization method to evaluate the composition of background organic matters in terms of adsorbability was presented and applied to synthetic and domestic wastewater. The binomial distribution of DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon) fraction in relation of a characterizing variable, the Freundlich coefficient, k, was proposed to describe the initial composition of wastewater by a finite number of pseudospecies. This method was tested for removal of DOC by using granular and powdered activated carbons. These experiments enable us to get information on the distribution function of species in the solution. From the results obtained in this work, kinetic experimental data were predicted on the assumption that the diffusion coefficients were unchanged during the experiments. It was confirmed to be effective in determining the initial composition and describing the equilibria of the DOC. From the experiments, it was found that this synthetic solution has a sigmoid type isotherm on activated carbons. This implies that there are two different adsorption regions in a system, favourable and unfavourable cases, depending on the solution concentration. This unfamiliar problem can be solved by using a characterization method based on IAST-Freundlich model.     

Estimating DOC regime in a wastewater treatment plant by UV deconvolution

A UV-deconvolution method was modified, and applied to estimation of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) along a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Catalonia, Spain. One grab sample was taken every 2h at four sampling points, for 1 week (336 samples), in order to characterise day/night and weekday/weekend DOC regimes along the plant. Samples were centrifuged before DOC determination or estimation. Four components were selected for describing wastewater composition and spectra. Reference spectra for these components were taken from the literature and proved to correctly explain the sample spectra. A two-step deconvolution method was developed, which avoided negative nitrate coefficients while keeping deconvolution error low. The calibration file for DOC estimation was determined by analysing DOC and acquiring UV spectra from 48 samples. DOC values were correlated to UV spectra by multiple linear regression. Determination coefficient and standard error were comparable to the values found in the literature. In raw or diluted samples with an absorbance between 2.0 and 2.5, DOC was probably underestimated by the method. This points to some nonlinearity for absorbances above 2.0, rather than the 2.5 limit suggested by the original method. DOC calculation through UV deconvolution allowed for the estimation of DOC regime along the WWTP. Time bands for higher and lower DOC concentrations were determined and characterised at each sampling point, for weekdays and the weekend. Except for the plant effluent, clear time bands were found. In effluent, DOC was always low, and very small oscillations were detected, due to DOC removal and intense mixing in the biological process. DOC profiles at each point are discussed in this paper. The modified deconvolution method has proved to be an accurate and efficient technique for estimating DOC of a large number of raw and diluted samples.     

基于DOC的嵌入式系统引导研究与实现

采用NAND Flash技术的DiskOnChip电子盘有更好的成本和容量优势,满足了大容量嵌入式存储的要求。但是相比基于NOR Flash的系统,基于DOC的系统引导过程要相对复杂。首先描述了采用DOC的嵌入式系统的引导过程,然后在分析其二进制分区格式的基础之上,详细研究了IPL的实现方法,最后给出了通过修改Redboot来生成SPL的方法和思路。     

闪存设备在嵌入式Linux系统中的应用

论述了多种闪存设备在嵌入式Linux系统应用过程中的关键问题的解决方法。分析了内核对不同闪存的支持和相关代码，给出了文件系统的设计和使用方法。对嵌入式系统存储设备的设计具有借鉴意义。