Detecting Cysteine in Bioimaging with a Near-Infrared Probe Based on a Novel Fluorescence Quenching Mechanism

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probes are very significant for detecting cysteine in biological systems. Herein, we report a highly selective and sensitive NIR turn-on fluorescent probe (BDP-NIR) based on BODIPY with large Stokes shift (105 nm) for detecting Cys. We clarified the sensing mechanism based on the different thiol-induced S_NAr substitution/rearrangement reaction of the probe with cysteine and homocysteine/glutathione, which leads to the corresponding amino- and thiol-BODIPY dyes with distinct photophysical properties. Moreover, a novel mechanism of fluorescence quenching was demonstrated by density functional theory calculation. The reason for the fluorescence quenching of the probe might be intersystem crossing (from singlet to triplet excited state). Moreover, BDP-NIR had a high linear dynamic range of 0–500 μM, which was promising for detecting cysteine quantificationally. Significantly, BDP-NIR was capable of sensing endogenous cysteine in living cells and in vivo.     

Multilevel adaptive control of nonlinear interconnected systems

This paper presents an adaptive backstepping-based multilevel approach for the first time to control nonlinear interconnected systems with unknown parameters. The system consists of a nonlinear controller at the first level to neutralize the interaction terms, and some adaptive controllers at the second level, in which the gains are optimally tuned using genetic algorithm. The presented scheme can be used in systems with strong couplings where completely ignoring the interactions leads to problems in performance or stability. In order to test the suitability of the method, two case studies are provided: the uncertain double and triple coupled inverted pendulums connected by springs with unknown parameters. The simulation results show that the method is capable of controlling the system effectively, in both regulation and tracking tasks.     

亲水性PET共混材料的制备及性能研究

以机械共混法制备亲水性聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（PET）共混材料，并通过接触角测定仪、差示扫描量热仪(DSC)和电子万能材料试验机等对共混材料的亲水性能、热性能和力学性能等进行研究与分析。结果表明，亲水处理剂聚乙二醇（PEG）、聚丙烯酸钠（PAAS）、聚乙烯吡咯烷酮（PVP）均能改善PET的亲水性能，影响PET的结晶性能，但亲水处理剂对PET的力学性能影响较小，其中PET/PEG共混材料的亲水性最优；随着PEG含量的增加，PET/PEG共混材料的亲水性先逐渐增强，当PEG含量高于5 %后，共混材料的亲水性变化很小；且PET的结晶度随着PEG的加入呈现先增大后减小的趋势。     

Reducing treatment zone diameter in orthokeratology and its effect on peripheral ocular refraction

PurposeTo determine whether orthokeratology (OK) induced treatment zone (TZ) diameter can be reduced by altering OK lens design, and if so the impact of modifying TZ diameter on relative peripheral refraction (RPR).Methods16 subjects (mean age 23.4 ± 1.5 years; 8 female) completed the study. Standard (Control) OK lens design (PJ, Capricornia, Australia) or a modified version (Test) where the back optic zone diameter was reduced, and back optic zone asphericity and intermediate lens curves were altered, were worn overnight only for 7-nights in a randomised double masked order, with a minimum 1-week wash out (no lens wear) between lens designs. Full correction of refractive error was targeted. Refraction; best corrected visual acuity (BCVA); RPR (Shin-Nippon NVision-k 5001) along the horizontal and vertical meridians; and corneal topography (Medmont E300) were measured before starting lens wear and in the morning after lens removal after the seventh night of lens wear for both lens designs. TZ diameter and decentration was calculated from corneal topography.ResultsAfter 7-nights of wear both lens designs created -2.00D refraction effect with no significant difference in refractive effect or change to BCVA between the designs. The Test design created a significantly smaller horizontal (4.78 ± 0.37 vs 5.70 ± 0.37 mm, p < 0.001) and vertical (5.09 ± 0.51 vs 5.92 ± 0.51 mm p < 0.001) TZ diameter. The TZ was decentered inferior temporal with no significant difference between designs. There was no significant difference between the lens designs in RPR along the horizontal and vertical meridians at any measurement period.ConclusionsOK induced TZ diameter can be reliably reduced by altering OK lens design without detrimentally effecting lens centration or refractive effect. Reducing TZ diameter did not alter RPR, though measurement artifacts could be responsible for masking an effect. Longitudinal studies are needed to assess whether smaller TZ OK lens designs increase efficacy for slowing progression of myopia.     

红枣多糖提取、分离纯化及生物活性研究进展

红枣作为我国传统的药食同源的天然保健果品,已有近四千多年的栽植和食用历史。红枣多糖是一种复合杂多糖,现代药理学研究表明多糖是红枣果中主要的功能活性成分之一,具有抗氧化、抗肿瘤、免疫保肝及调节肠道菌群等功能。本文系统地综述了国内外近年来关于红枣多糖提取、分离纯化、结构特征及生物活性的研究进展,以期为提高红枣多糖的利用以及为进一步深入研究红枣多糖构效关系提供理论依据。     

某高校既有建筑室内人员相关VOCs目标污染物的实测分析

为研究高校既有建筑室内人群散发对室内VOCs的影响，对高校不同人群样本的教室及会议室两类典型人群密集房间，共82个人群样本对象进行了VOCs采样分析，得到不同实际场景下的人员相关的VOCs浓度水平，并对其潜在的影响因素进行分析。结果表明，共确认了29种与室内人员相关的高检出率且较高浓度值的物质，包括芳香族化合物9种，烷烯烃类9种，酮类和醛类8种，醇酯类以及卤化物3种，并得到主要VOCs物质的浓度水平和I/O比。对影响因素的统计分析表明，室内人员密度、季节和房间类型对不同VOCs物质存在显著性影响，其中季节性因素对目标VOCs污染物影响最为广泛，其次是房间类型与室内人员密度。该研究可为进一步了解人员密集室内VOCs污染现状及控制策略提供一定的科学参考。     

生物可降解PCL/PLA开孔发泡材料制备及吸油性能

以聚己内酯（PCL）为基体，添加不同含量聚乳酸（PLA）熔融共混制备具有不同分散相形态的PCL/PLA共混物，利用超临界二氧化碳（scCO₂）微孔发泡工艺制备不同发泡倍率和开孔率的PCL/PLA多孔材料用于吸油应用。针对边长3 mm正方体样品溶解度实验发现100 min后CO₂在PCL中已达到饱和吸附状态。PLA分散相含量的增加显著增大了PCL/PLA共混物泡孔密度，并使共混泡孔尺寸减小且分布更加均匀；发泡温度升高6℃，泡孔尺寸增大50%，发泡倍率增大38%，开孔率减小了20%。PCL/PLA开孔材料具有明显的亲油疏水性，发泡倍率越高，疏水性越好；针对花生油和硅油的吸油实验发现材料吸油率与发泡倍率和开孔率整体呈正比，实际吸油量高于理论计算值，10次循环吸油测试后样品吸油率仅降低8.5%，材料吸油量与油品特性黏度关系不大。