Association of Dietary Phytosterols with Cardiovascular Disease Biomarkers in Humans

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Elevated concentrations of serum total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) are major lipid biomarkers that contribute to the risk of CVD. Phytosterols well known for their cholesterol-lowering ability, are non-nutritive compounds that are naturally found in plant-based foods and can be classified into plant sterols and plant stanols. Numerous clinical trials demonstrated that 2 g phytosterols per day have LDL-C lowering efficacy ranges of 8–10%. Some observational studies also showed an inverse association between phytosterols and LDL-C reduction. Beyond the cholesterol-lowering beneficial effects of phytosterols, the association of phytosterols with CVD risk events such as coronary artery disease and premature atherosclerosis in sitosterolemia patients have also been reported. Furthermore, there is an increasing demand to determine the association of circulating phytosterols with vascular health biomarkers such as arterial stiffness biomarkers. Therefore, this review aims to examine the ability of phytosterols for CVD risk prevention by reviewing the current data that looks at the association between dietary phytosterols intake and serum lipid biomarkers, and the impact of circulating phytosterols level on vascular health biomarkers. The clinical studies in which the impact of phytosterols on vascular function is investigated show minor but beneficial phytosterols effects over vascular health. The aforementioned vascular health biomarkers are pulse wave velocity, augmentation index, and arterial blood pressure. The current review will serve to begin to address the research gap that exists between the association of dietary phytosterols with CVD risk biomarkers.     

LDPE/SEBS复合材料化学交联及相关性能的研究

采用二段混炼的方法,制备低密度聚乙烯/苯乙烯-乙烯-丁烯-苯乙烯嵌段共聚物(LDPE/SEBS)复合材料。探究SEBS的不同含量对LDPE/SEBS力学性能的影响。通过双叔丁基过氧异丙基苯(BIBP)化学交联LDPE/SEBS,制备LDPE/SEBS/BIBP复合材料,探究LDPE/SEBS/BIBP的力学性能、微观形貌、凝胶含量、热学性能和流变性能。结果表明:SEBS用量为50份时,LDPE/SEBS具有较好的力学性能。当BIBP用量为0.9份,LDPE/SEBS/BIBP的力学性能最佳,拉伸强度为26.22 MPa,断裂伸长率为732.23%。随着BIBP用量的增加,LDPE/SEBS/BIBP的界面相容性、凝胶含量和黏度上升,熔融温度、结晶度和损耗模量下降,储能模量曲线的斜率先下降后趋于稳定。     

低密度办公建筑研究

低密度办公建筑的出现源于办公的生态主义倾向与郊区化倾向.优美的周边环境、水平方向展开的建筑群体布局、三～五层带庭院的单体建筑是其外在特点;而生态性、人性化则是其内在品质.     

低密度住宅的规划设计与新技术的应用

本文对低密度住宅出现的原因作了简要分析，着重对《中国低密度住宅规划设计要点》及《低密度住宅新技术推广指南》进行了介绍，并对当前低密度住宅建设中的一些问题进行了阐释，以期对前尚处于起步阶段的低密度住宅建设能起到一定的借鉴作用。     

硬脂酸锰改性LDPE降解材料的研究

将维生素C、聚乙二醇1000和交联淀粉作为降解剂按一定配比加入到低密度聚乙烯(LDPE)基体中,采用不同用量的硬脂酸锰与上述LDPE降解材料制取薄膜并进行老化试验,用红外光谱、扫描电镜和力学性能分析研究了硬脂酸锰对LDPE降解材料热氧降解性和光降解性的影响。结果表明:当加入0.4%的硬脂酸锰时,LDPE的光和氧化降解性增强,降解过程中产生大量羰基,材料质量减少,其断面出现孔洞,可促使LDPE进一步完全降解。     

低密度聚乙烯反应挤出接枝衣康酸的研究

以过氧化二异丙苯(DCP)为引发剂,在双螺杆挤出机中制备了衣康酸(IA)熔融接枝低密度聚乙烯(LDPE)。考察了引发剂用量、单体用量、螺杆转速对接枝反应的影响,并探讨了苯乙烯(St)作共聚单体对接枝反应的影响。结果表明:St共聚单体可显著提高接枝率。     

Numerical study on the turbulent reacting flow in the vicinity of the injector of an LDPE tubular reactor

Three-dimensional (3-D), transient numerical simulations of the turbulent reacting flow in the vicinity of the initiator injection point of a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) tubular reactor using a large eddy simulation (LES) approach combined with a filtered density function (FDF) technique are presented. The numerical approach allows for detailed predictions of the turbulent flow field and the associated (passive and reactive) scalar mixing. The aim is to study the influence of the injector geometry and initiator injection temperature on the LDPE process in terms of product quality (average polymer chain length, and polydispersity) and process efficiency (such as initiator consumption).     

掺硅粉高水灰比水泥石高温强度衰退现象分析

实验发现,通过增加水固比为0.74获得的密度为1.65 g/cm3的低密度水泥浆（加有40%粗细搭配的硅粉）,在185℃、21 MPa养护48 h,抗压强度衰退率为20.3%,超声波强度衰退率高达50.6%。对该配方低密度水泥浆不同养护龄期的水泥石进行物相分析及微观形貌分析,认为其强度高温衰退的原因为:高水固比的水泥石机体内微孔隙本身较大,在高温养护过程中,随着水泥石机体内部物相的结晶化,微孔隙进一步增加,导致了强度衰退现象的发生,而且由于微孔隙对声波传输速度影响很大,这种衰退现象在声波强度上体现更加明显。通过外掺25%粒径为0.154 mm、密度为1.35 g/cm3的碳粉C-filler配制1.65 g/cm3低密度水泥浆,水固比降低为0.51,固相体积分数由32.0%升为46.0%,高温养护后水泥石密实、机体内微孔隙较少,强度衰退现象可得到改善。      

The HMG-CoA Reductase Gene and Lipid and Lipoprotein Levels: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

HMG-CoA reductase (HMGCR) is an enzyme involved in cholesterol synthesis. To investigate the contribution of the HMGCR gene to lipids and lipoprotein subfractions in different ethnicities, we performed an association study in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). In total, 2,444 MESA subjects [597 African-Americans (AA), 627 Chinese-Americans (CHA), 612 European-Americans (EA), and 608 Hispanic-Americans (HA)] without statin use were included. Participants had measurements of blood pressure, anthropometry, and fasting blood samples. Subjects were genotyped for 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). After excluding SNPs with minor allele frequency <5%, a single block was constructed. The most frequent haplotype was H1 (41–56%) in all ethnic groups except AA (H2a, 44.9%). Lower triglyceride level was associated with the H2a haplotype in AA and H2 in HA. In HA, H4 carriers had higher levels of triglyceride and small low-density lipoprotein (s-LDL), and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), while carriers with H7 or H8 had associations with these traits in the opposite direction. No significant association was discovered in both CHA and EA. The total variation for triglyceride that could be explained by H2 alone was 2.6% in HA and 1.4% in AA. In conclusion, HMGCR gene variation is associated with multiple lipid/lipoprotein traits, especially with triglyceride, s-LDL, and HDL-c. The impact of the genetic variance is modest and differs greatly among ethnicities.     

Napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum S.) protects oxidative damage of biomolecules and modulates antioxidant enzyme activity

The effects of water extract of napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum S.) (WEN) on oxidative damage of biomolecules and modulation of antioxidant enzyme activity were investigated. The results showed that WEN displayed marked free radical scavenging, reducing power, as well as ferrous ions chelating effects. WEN has a dose-dependent response for protective action on oxidation of phospholipid, deoxyribose and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in the range of 0–0.5 mg/ml, indicating that WEN had in vitro protective action on oxidative damage of biomolecules. Oxidative stress induced by H₂O₂ significantly decreased the viability of BNL cells. However, addition of WEN in the medium protected cells from H₂O₂-induced cytotoxicity. Furthermore, treatment of cells with WEN in the range of 0–0.2 mg/ml displayed protective effect from H₂O₂ induced oxidation in a concentration dependent manner. With respect to the effect of WEN on antioxidant enzymes, the results showed the WEN at 0.2 mg/ml enhanced activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione transferase (GST) and catalase (CAT) in BNL cells by 2.93-, 35.8-, 4.23-, and 2.78-fold, respectively, compared to the control; WEN increased the GSH content by 3.2-fold, implying that WEN may up-regulate the levels of GSH and antioxidant enzymes in BNL cells. WEN scavenged NO generated by a NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and suppressed NO production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. The determination of ascorbic acid and total anthocyanins as well as HPLC analysis revealed that ascorbic acid, rutin, epicatechin, anthocyanins, p-coumaric acid, quercetin and catechin were present in WEN, which function as in vitro antioxidants by virtue of their ability to scavenge ROS and RNS. Overall, the results obtained showed that WEN is rich in antioxidant components and they can serve as an excellent potential for use as a natural phytochemicals source.