The Plants of the Asteraceae Family as Agents in the Protection of Human Health

The Asteraceae family is one of the largest flowering plant families, with over 1600 genera and 2500 species worldwide. Some of its most well-known taxa are lettuce, chicory, artichoke, daisy and dandelion. The members of the Asteraceae have been used in the diet and for medicine for centuries. Despite their wide diversity, most family members share a similar chemical composition: for example, all species are good sources of inulin, a natural polysaccharide with strong prebiotic properties. They also demonstrate strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity, as well as diuretic and wound healing properties. Their pharmacological effects can be attributed to their range of phytochemical compounds, including polyphenols, phenolic acids, flavonoids, acetylenes and triterpenes. One such example is arctiin: a ligand with numerous antioxidant, antiproliferative and desmutagenic activities. The family is also a source of sesquiterpene lactones: the secondary metabolites responsible for the bitter taste of many plants. This mini review examines the current state of literature regarding the positive effect of the Asteraceae family on human health.     

A comprehensive review of wheat phytochemicals: From farm to fork and beyond

The health benefits of whole wheat consumption can be partially attributed to wheat's phytochemicals, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, alkylresorcinols, carotenoids, phytosterols, tocopherols, and tocotrienols. It is of increasing interest to produce whole wheat products that are rich in bioactive phytochemicals. This review provides the fundamentals of the chemistry, extraction, and occurrence of wheat phytochemicals and includes critical discussion of several long-lasting issues: (1) the commonly used nomenclature on distribution of wheat phenolic acids, namely, soluble-free, soluble-conjugated, and insoluble-bound phenolic acids; (2) different extraction protocols for wheat phytochemicals; and (3) the chemistry and application of in vitro antioxidant assays. This review further discusses recent advances on the effects of genotypes, environments, field management, and processing techniques including ultrafine grinding, germination, fermentation, enzymatic treatments, thermal treatments, and food processing. These results need to be interpreted with care due to varied sample preparation protocols and limitations of in vitro assays. The bioaccessibility, bioavailability, metabolism, and potential health benefits of wheat phytochemicals are also reviewed. This comprehensive and critical review will benefit scientific researchers in the field of bioactive compounds of cereal grains and also those in the cereal food industry to produce high-quality functional foods.     

基于深度学习的传感器优化布置方法

针对传感器优化布置(optimal sensor placement,简称OSP)问题,提出了一种新的使用深度神经网络的解决方案,并以简化的桥梁形状的桁架结构中的振动测试传感器优化为例进行了验证。首先,选择一种传统的传感器优化布置方法,对自动化生成的大量不同的桁架结构分别进行传感器优化布置计算,将所得优化布置结果在进行数据预处理后构建出深度学习方法所需要的训练集与验证集;其次,使用Python语言和深度学习框架TensorFlow设计实现与本研究问题适配的深度神经网络模型并训练;然后,随机生成了新的桁架结构参数;最后,将深度神经网络输出的传感器布置结果和传统方法的计算结果进行了比较,验证了本研究方法的有效性以及在速度上、可移植性与可扩展性方面的性能优势。     

提升生活排水系统卫生安全性能的关键问题

新冠肺炎确诊患者粪便病毒检测呈阳性,意味着新冠病毒可能会通过气溶胶的方式进行传播,使得生活排水系统的卫生安全问题时隔17年后再次摆在人们面前。以保障人的健康为出发点,从基础研究、排水机理、系统设计、施工监管、维护管理等多方面提出了提升生活排水系统卫生安全性能的关键问题,以期从全生命周期内切断排水系统可能传播病毒的隐形途径,切实保障居民居家健康。     

Economic effects of regulating the seismic strengthening of older buildings

The marked increase in the awareness of earthquake risk following the Canterbury earthquakes in New Zealand offered a unique opportunity to investigate the economic effect of disaster-mitigation regulations on the commercial building stock. A difference-in-differences (DD) framework was used to determine whether earthquake risk has been capitalized into the property prices of buildings constructed prior to 1976, as a response to the national policy requiring assessment and strengthening (or demolition) of the existing earthquake-prone building stock. A negative externality is found in the policy announcement on affected (pre-1970s) office and retail buildings which caused office buildings to suffer a 12.5% stigma discount. However, retail properties were less impacted suffering a 2.3% stigma loss. The value of the commercial building stock has been affected by the policy. These findings provide policy-makers with timely evidence as to the economic effects of New Zealand’s earthquake-prone buildings policy. Facing losses in property value and financial responsibility for retrofitting their assets, building owners will be looking for a workable set of regulatory and non-regulatory incentives to encourage disaster risk management and protect the built environment.     

Pregnancy by Assisted Reproductive Technology Is Associated with Shorter Telomere Length in Neonates

Telomere length (TL) influences the development of lifestyle-related diseases, and neonatal TL may influence their prevalence. Various factors have been reported to affect neonatal TL. Although the fetus is exposed to multiple conditions in utero, the main factors affecting the shortening of neonatal TL are still not known. In this study, we sought to identify factors that influence fetal TL. A total of 578 mother-newborn pairs were included for TL analysis. TL was measured in genomic DNA extracted from cord blood samples using quantitative PCR. The clinical factors examined at enrollment included the following intrauterine environmental factors: maternal age, assisted reproductive technology (ART) used, body mass index (BMI), gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), maternal stress, smoking, alcohol consumption, preterm delivery, small-for-gestational-age, neonatal sex, and placental weight. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to verify the relationship between neonatal TL and these clinical factors. The median neonatal TL to single-copy gene ratio was 1.0. Pregnancy with ART was among the 11 factors associated with shorter neonatal TL. From multiple regression analysis, we determined that neonatal TL was significantly shorter for pregnancies in the ART group than in the other groups. We conclude that pregnancy with ART is associated with shorter neonatal TL.     

一种标准模型下无证书签名方案的安全性分析与改进

无证书签名具有基于身份密码体制和传统公钥密码体制的优点，可解决复杂的公钥证书管理和密钥托管问题.Wu和Jing提出了一种强不可伪造的无证书签名方案，其安全性不依赖于理想的随机预言机.针对该方案的安全性，提出了两类伪造攻击.分析结果表明，该方案无法实现强不可伪造性，并在"malicious-but-passive"的密钥生成中心攻击下也是不安全的.为了提升该方案的安全性，设计了一个改进的无证书签名方案.在标准模型中证明了改进的方案对于适应性选择消息攻击是强不可伪造的，还能抵抗恶意的密钥生成中心攻击.此外，改进的方案具有较低的计算开销和较短的私钥长度，可应用于区块链、车联网、无线体域网等领域.     

Photomontage in the Present Perfect Continuous

In its first instance as art practice among the historical avant-garde, photomontage was considered indispensable for its claim to intervene in perceptual processes, stimulating a critical mode of apprehension that would redirect the viewer away from conventions of aesthetic experience and towards a lived reception of art with pronounced relevance to the sociopolitical landscape. The effect was understood as structural, that is, activated not so much by direct political content, but by the stark and shocking effects of juxtaposition. By this measure, one challenge to contemporary photomontage is clear: in a postindustrial and postdigital visual landscape dominated by the structural fragmentation of the attention economy, the ‘simultaneity of the radically disparate’ (as Peter Bürger put it) might no longer present as heterodoxy but rather threaten to sink into invisibility. Yet with the migration off-screen of the effects of electronic media, a new urgency around moving photomontage structures into physical, public space is rising in contemporary practices. Shannon Ebner’s multi-part project A Hudson Yard (2014–15) is emblematic of the new ways in which artists are manipulating photomontage as a form of fully sensory experience that gives the medium room to play critically in both virtual and material space. By constructing subtle interruptions of naturalised commercial space, A Hudson Yard activates a détournement of instrumentalised language, using structures of juxtaposition to divert the discursive surfaces of public space away from consumption and towards what could be called a public poesis.