Body weight management effect of burdock (Arctium lappa L.) root is associated with the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase in human HepG2 cells

Burdock (Arcticum lappa L.) root is used in folk medicine and also as a vegetable in Asian countries. In the present study, burdock root treatment significantly reduced body weight in rats. To evaluate the bioactive compounds, we successively extracted the burdock root with ethanol (AL-1), and fractionated it with n-hexane (AL-2), ethyl acetate (AL-3), n-butanol (AL-4), and water (AL-5). Among these fractions, AL-2 contained components with the most effective hypolipidemic potential in human hepatoma HepG2 cells. AL-2 decreased the expression of fatty acid synthase (FASN) and inhibited the activity of acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC) by stimulating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) through the LKB1 pathway. Three active compounds were identified from the AL-2, namely α-linolenic acid, methyl α-linolenate, and methyl oleate. These results suggest that burdock root is expected to be useful for body weight management.     

8-Alkylcoumarins from the Fruits of Cnidium monnieri Protect against Hydrogen Peroxide Induced Oxidative Stress Damage

Three new 8-alkylcoumarins, 7-O-methylphellodenol-B (1), 7-methoxy-8-(3-methyl-2,3-epoxy-1-oxobutyl)chromen-2-one (2), and 3′-O-methylvaginol (3), together with seven known compounds (4–10) were isolated from the fruits of Cnidium monnieri. Their structures were determined by detailed analysis of spectroscopic data and comparison with the data of known analogues. All the isolates were evaluated the cytoprotective activity by MTS cell proliferation assay and the results showed that all the three new 8-alkylcoumarins exhibited cytoprotective effect on Neuro-2a neuroblastoma cells injured by hydrogen peroxide.     

A study of the corrosion behavior of doubly-coated iron powder after compaction

Iron powder was coated with phosphate and polysiloxanes for anti-corrosion and insulation. Whether these coating layers sustain the hydraulic pressure of compaction was investigated. Electrochemical measurements were applied on the compacts comprising surface-coated iron powders to understand the performance of the coating layers undergone a series of compaction pressure. As phosphate coating was applied, the corrosion resistance was obviously enhanced; nevertheless, as the compaction pressure exceeded a threshold, the corrosion resistance dropped greatly due to the formation of cracks in the phosphate layer, suggesting the phosphate layer was brittle and could not bear high pressure. As a phosphate layer and a polymeric coating layer of amino polysiloxane were in turn applied, the corrosion resistance of the doubly-coated iron powder in the salt bath declined since the ammonium group absorbed chloride ions and deteriorated the anti-corrosion ability. After salt-fog treatment, the compacts with the grafted silane tended to form the rust layer with akaganeite phase while these without grafted silane did not, attesting that the polysiloxane did attract chloride ions. Interestingly, with the existence of polysiloxane, the cracking of the phosphate layer was effectively avoided. The polysiloxane layer could protect the underneath phosphate layer from cracking. Moreover, with the increase of compaction pressure, the corrosion resistance of the doubly-coated iron powder gradually increased due to the densification of the polysiloxane layer, which consequently hindered the chloride ions from diffusion into the surface of the iron particle.     

Lower-error and area-efficient antilogarithmic converters with bit-correction schemes

In this article, we have proposed fast lower-error and area-efficient antilogarithmic converters. By employing new approximation schemes with two-region shift-and-add operations, our proposed converters can perform high-speed conversions from logarithmic numbers to binary numbers. Synthesis results show that our proposed converters can achieve time savings of over 32.5% and can save 42.3% of the area used compared with previously proposed methods. In addition, the percent error ranges for various logarithmic number system (LNS)-based operations used by our proposed logarithmic processor are lower than those of previous methods. Our proposed converters can be applied to LNS-based processors to ease the tremendous computation overhead and boost the performance.     

Non-immersive Ultrasound Scanning and Inspection of Internal Defects Using a Water Droplet Coupling Device

This paper investigates a method for conducting conventional ultrasound image scanning (C-scan) in a non-immersive manner. An ultrasound coupling device is developed to couple a focusing ultrasound transducer with a sample under test through a water droplet. The transducer is immersed in a chamber filled with water. A hole-opening at the chamber’s bottom surface and a polymer film sealing the hole allow focused ultrasound to pass and reach the sample through a water droplet. An ultrasound scanning system is constructed and used for carrying out C-scan on two different samples containing pre-fabricated internal defects. By comparing the images obtained from using both conventional water immersion method and the proposed water-droplet coupling method, we demonstrate the feasibility and capability of this new type of non-immersive ultrasound image scanning method.     

Annealing effects on the optical and morphological properties of ZnO nanorods on AZO substrate by using aqueous solution method at low temperature

Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods (NRs) on aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) substrates were fabricated by a single-step aqueous solution method at low temperature. In order to optimize optical quality, the effects of annealing on optical and structural properties were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence (PL), and Raman spectroscopy. We found that the annealing temperature strongly affects both the near-band-edge (NBE) and visible (defect-related) emissions. The best characteristics have been obtained by employing annealing at 400°C in air for 2 h, bringing about a sharp and intense NBE emission. The defect-related recombinations were also suppressed effectively. However, the enhancement decreases with higher annealing temperature and prolonged annealing. PL study indicates that the NBE emission is dominated by radiative recombination associated with hydrogen donors. Thus, the enhancement of NBE is due to the activation of radiative recombinations associated with hydrogen donors. On the other hand, the reduction of visible emission is mainly attributed to the annihilation of OH groups. Our results provide insight to comprehend annealing effects and an effective way to improve optical properties of low-temperature-grown ZnO NRs for future facile device applications.     

Three-dimensional molecular dynamics study of aperture shape effect on nanojet ejection

Three-dimensional molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of nanojet ejection with different aperture shapes are reported. The simulations use the Lennard-Jones 12-6 (LJ) potential to describe the intermolecular interaction. Using non-equilibrium MD, argon nanojet ejection is simulated under vacuum conditions. According to the analysis, different aperture shapes influence the ejection processes. The ejection speeds were 23.7 and 63.2?m/s respectively in the simulation. The speed of spurting atoms in type A nanojet was slower than the other types and it became more obvious when the process time increased. The variations in velocity, density, pressure, and temperature were found with the aid of MD. The liquid temperatures were set at 50, 100, 150, and 200?K, respectively, to examine nanojet break-up characteristics. The liquid temperature inside the nanojet was found to be a factor that induce break-up. A higher temperature led to faster nanojet break-up.     

Temperature dependent coercivity of randomly assembled acicular Fe3O4 particles

Abstract

The Stoner‐Wohlfarth model and the chain‐of‐spheres fanning model are used to calculate temperature dependence of the coercivity of acicular single‐domain particles by taking thermal effect into consideration. Coercivity of the particles is evaluated by summing up the contributions of shape anisotropy, magnetocrystalline anisotropy and magnetostrictive anisotropy. The coercivities of randomly assembled Fe₃O₄ particles above the transition point (119°K) and below room temperature are calculated and compared with the published experimental data.