Distinct Pharmacological Properties of Gaseous CO and CO-Releasing Molecule in Human Platelets

Carbon monoxide (CO)—gaseous or released by CO-RMs—both possess antiplatelet properties; however, it remains uncertain whether the mechanisms involved are the same. Here, we characterise the involvement of soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) in the effects of CO—delivered by gaseous CO–saturated buffer (CO_G) and generated by CORM-A1—on platelet aggregation and energy metabolism, as well as on vasodilatation in aorta, using light transmission aggregometry, Seahorse XFe technique, and wire myography, respectively. ODQ completely prevented the inhibitory effect of CO_G on platelet aggregation, but did not modify antiplatelet effect of CORM-A1. In turn, CO_G did not affect, whereas CORM-A1 substantially inhibited energy metabolism in platelets. Even though activation of sGC by BAY 41-2272 or BAY 58-2667 inhibited significantly platelet aggregation, their effects on energy metabolism in platelets were absent or weak and could not contribute to antiplatelet effects of sGC activation. In contrast, vasodilatation of murine aortic rings, induced either by CO_G or CORM-A1, was dependent on sGC. We conclude that the source (CO_G vs. CORM-A1) and kinetics (rapid vs. slow) of CO delivery represent key determinants of the mechanism of antiplatelet action of CO, involving either impairment of energy metabolism or activation of sGG.     

Computational Investigation Identified Potential Chemical Scaffolds for Heparanase as Anticancer Therapeutics

Heparanase (Hpse) is an endo-β-D-glucuronidase capable of cleaving heparan sulfate side chains. Its upregulated expression is implicated in tumor growth, metastasis and angiogenesis, thus making it an attractive target in cancer therapeutics. Currently, a few small molecule inhibitors have been reported to inhibit Hpse, with promising oral administration and pharmacokinetic (PK) properties. In the present study, a ligand-based pharmacophore model was generated from a dataset of well-known active small molecule Hpse inhibitors which were observed to display favorable PK properties. The compounds from the InterBioScreen database of natural (69,034) and synthetic (195,469) molecules were first filtered for their drug-likeness and the pharmacophore model was used to screen the drug-like database. The compounds acquired from screening were subjected to molecular docking with Heparanase, where two molecules used in pharmacophore generation were used as reference. From the docking analysis, 33 compounds displayed higher docking scores than the reference and favorable interactions with the catalytic residues. Complex interactions were further evaluated by molecular dynamics simulations to assess their stability over a period of 50 ns. Furthermore, the binding free energies of the 33 compounds revealed 2 natural and 2 synthetic compounds, with better binding affinities than reference molecules, and were, therefore, deemed as hits. The hit compounds presented from this in silico investigation could act as potent Heparanase inhibitors and further serve as lead scaffolds to develop compounds targeting Heparanase upregulation in cancer.     

高稳高效海上风电安装平台关键制造技术研究

海上风电作为可再生清洁能源之一,受到世界各国的高度重视与大力发展。我国将海上风电提升至解决能源危机、减缓气候变化、调整能源结构的国家战略高度,到2030年我国单位国内生产总值二氧化碳排放将比2005年下降65%以上,非化石能源占一次能源消费比重将达到25%左右。安装平台不足将是我国海上风电场无法如期建成投产的主要障碍。对自升自航式海上风电安装平台系列高端装备及其设计制造的三大技术难题——腿站立作业易“失稳”、大平台大跨距大倾覆力矩自升易“失控”、高空吊装巨型叶片逾百螺栓精准定位易“失准”,以及焊缝缺陷修复和局部裂纹损伤的激光锻造修复再制造进行了介绍,研制的具有不同规格的系列装备在中国、英国、丹麦、德国等国家的著名海上风电场建设应用情况良好。     

Relationships of tensile strength with crosslink density for the high-carbon black-filled EPDM compounds with various softeners

Equilibrium swelling and rheological tests were adopted to systematically investigate the effects of softener type and dosage on the crosslink densities. The results turned out that the chemical crosslink density could be distinguished from the physical crosslink density by comparing the results of equilibrium swelling and rheological tests. The liquid butadiene (LB) as a softener leads to the greatest reduction in crosslink density, followed by polyethylene wax (PW) and paraffinic oil (PO). The tensile strength decreases with increasing PO content while shows peak values with increase of LB and PW contents. The dependencies of chemical crosslink density on the aging time under 150°C are quite different for the three softeners, which can be expected from the double crosslinking networks consisting of small softener and large main crosslinking networks. Further investigation has been performed to correlate the tensile strength with chemical crosslink density of ethylene propylene diene monomer elastomer vulcanizates. Three different linear relationships can be obtained for the softeners independent of the aging time. It can now be expected from this study that the role of some new softeners in rubber compounds is not only confined to plasticization but also forms crosslinking networks in the peroxide-cured rubbers.     

Achieving excellent energy storage density of Pb0.97La0.02(ZrxSn0.05Ti0.95-x)O3 ceramics by the B-site modification

The applications of antiferroelectric (AFE) materials in miniaturized and integrated electronic devices are limited by their low energy density. To address the above issue, the antiferroelectricity of the reinforced material was designed to improve its AFE-ferroelectric (FE) phase transition under electric fields. In this present study, the composition of Zr⁴⁺ (0.72 Å) and Ti⁴⁺ (0.605 Å) at B-site of Pb_0.97La_0.02(Zr_xSn_0.05Ti_0.95-x)O₃ ceramics with orthogonal reflections are synthesized via the tape-casting method. These ceramics are modified to enhance their antiferroelectricity by reducing their tolerance factor. A recoverable energy storage density W_rec 12.1 J/cm³ was obtained for x = 0.93 under 376 kV/cm, which is superior value than reported until now in lead-based energy storage systems. Moreover, the discharge energy density can reach 10.23 J/cm³, and 90 % of which can be released within 5.66 μs. This work provides a new window and potential materials for further industrialization of pulse power capacitors.     

Effect of laser power density on the electrochromic properties of WO3 films obtained by pulsed laser deposition

Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) was used to prepare tungsten trioxide (WO₃) films on ITO substrates with a varying laser power density of 4.0–5.5 W/cm². XPS indicated that when the laser power density decreased, the peak positions of the W 4f and O 1s orbits shifted slightly to low energy due to the difference in oxygen vacancies. As the laser power density decreased, W⁶⁺ gradually replaced the lattice position of O^2?, increasing oxygen vacancies in the lattice. The transmittance modulated values (ΔT) were over 44% at 830 nm, indicating strong absorption by the WO₃ thin films in the near-infrared ray. The switching time of the WO₃ thin films between bleached states and coloured states decreased as the laser power density increased due to the amorphous structure, morphology, and lower oxygen deficiency at a high power density. The high ΔT and very fast switching time of t_b (1.09 s) and t_c (6.01 s) demonstrated the excellent electrochromic (EC) properties of the WO₃ films prepared by PLD.     

Nacre-Inspired,Liquid Metal-Based Ultrasensitive Electronic Skin by Spatially Regulated Cracking Strategy

The realization of liquid metal-based wearable systems will be a milestone toward high-performance, integrated electronic skin. However, despite the revolutionary progress achieved in many other components of electronic skin, liquid metal-based flexible sensors still suffer from poor sensitivity due to the insufficient resistance change of liquid metal to deformation. Herein, a nacre-inspired architecture composed of a biphasic pattern (liquid metal with Cr/Cu underlayer) as “bricks” and strain-sensitive Ag film as “mortar” is developed, which breaks the long-standing sensitivity bottleneck of liquid metal-based electronic skin. With 2 orders of magnitude of sensitivity amplification while maintaining wide (>85%) working range, for the first time, liquid metal-based strain sensors rival the state-of-art counterparts. This liquid metal composite features spatially regulated cracking behavior. On the one hand, hard Cr cells locally modulate the strain distribution, which avoids premature cut-through cracks and prolongs the defect propagation in the adjacent Ag film. On the other hand, the separated liquid metal cells prevent unfavorable continuous liquid-metal paths and create crack-free regions during strain. Demonstrated in diverse scenarios, the proposed design concept may spark more applications of ultrasensitive liquid metal-based electronic skins, and reveals a pathway for sensor development via crack engineering.     

Impact behavior of aminosilane functionalized nanosilica based shear thickening fluid impregnated Kevlar fabrics

In the present work, two types of shear thickening fluids have been synthesized by using neat and aminosilane functionalized silica nanoparticles and their viscosity curves have been obtained by the rheometer. Based on the values of peak viscosity of synthesized shear thickening fluids, the surface functionalized nanosilica based shear thickening fluid has been chosen as a best candidate due to the high viscosity for impregnation into the neat Kevlar of different layers viz. four (04) and eight (08) layers for velocity impact study. The experimental investigations reveal high energy absorption of shear thickening fluid impregnated Kevlar as compared to the neat Kevlar. The maximum energy absorption 62 J is achieved corresponding to the initial velocity 154 m∙s⁻¹ for 08 layers shear thickening fluid impregnated Kevlar specimen. The data have also been analytically determined and validated with the experimental data. The experimental data have good agreement with the analytical data within the accuracy of around 15 to 20%. The present findings can have significant inferences towards the fabrication of shear thickening fluids using nanomaterials for numerous applications such as soft armors, dampers, nanofinishing and so forth.     

生物质基喷气燃料的生产及应用进展

生物质基喷气燃料是指全部或大部分来源于生物资源的喷气燃料，符合清洁低碳、安全高效的现代能源体系的要求。以生物质基喷气燃料替代传统石油基喷气燃料有助于我国早日实现“碳达峰、碳中和”的远大目标。在阐述生物质基喷气燃料生产工艺的发展历程及生物质基喷气燃料应用现状的基础上，提出高密度的生物质基喷气燃料是未来喷气燃料的发展方向，具有多环结构的生物质是合成高密度生物质基喷气燃料组分的优质原料；同时，总结了高密度生物质基喷气燃料组分生产工艺的研究进展，展望了生物质基喷气燃料未来的发展及挑战。     

FE-SEA方法在平台支持船噪声预报中的应用

平台支持船由于作业需要通常配备有动力定位系统,其在侧推工况下舱室噪声超标较为严重。针对这个问题采用计算流体力学(CFD)方法,得到侧推螺旋桨作用在导管上的脉动压力,并将时域计算结果转换成噪声计算的激励条件。采用有限元(FE)与统计能量分析(SEA)混合方法建立船体中频段FE-SEA耦合模型并建立船体高频段SEA模型,对某65 m AHTS船侧推工况下全频段(63 Hz~8000 Hz)舱室噪声进行预报,分析该船噪声分布规律及主要影响因素。并建立起全船的SEA模型,在中频段对比SEA与FE-SEA两种方法得到的舱室声压级频谱曲线,验证了使用混合模型的必要性。