The ablation characteristics of laser-assisted pulsed plasma thruster with metal propellant

In this study,a laser-assisted pulsed plasma thruster (LA-PPT) with a novel configuration is proposed as an electric propulsion thruster which separates laser ablation and electromagnetic acceleration.Owing to the unique structure of the thruster,metals can also be used as propellants,and a higher specific impulse is expected.The ablation quality,morphology,and plume distribution of various metals (aluminium alloy,red copper,and carbon steel) with different laser energies were studied experimentally.The ablation morphology and plume distribution of red copper were more uniform,as compared to those of other metals,and the ablation quality was higher,indicating its greater suitability for LA-PPT.The plume generated by nanosecond laser ablation of aluminium alloy expanded faster,which indicated that the response time of the thruster with aluminium alloy as the propellant was shorter.In addition,when the background pressure was 0.005 Pa,an obvious plume splitting phenomenon was observed in the ablation plume of the pulsed laser irradiating aluminium alloy,which may significantly reduce the utilisation rate of the propellant.     

Multiple Chemical Features Impact Biological Performance Diversity of a Highly Active Natural Product-Inspired Library

A systematic, diversity-oriented synthesis approach was employed to access a natural product-inspired flavonoid library with diverse chemical features, including chemical properties, scaffold, stereochemistry, and appendages. Using Cell Painting, the effects of these diversity elements were evaluated, and multiple chemical features that predict biological performance diversity were identified. Scaffold identity appears to be the dominant predictor of performance diversity, but stereochemistry and appendages also contribute to a lesser degree. In addition, the diversity of chemical properties contributed to performance diversity, and the driving chemical property was dependent on the scaffold. These results highlight the importance of key chemical features that may inform the creation of small-molecule, performance-diverse libraries to improve the efficiency and success of high-throughput screening campaigns.     

酸枣仁油的研究与开发进展

酸枣仁油取自药食同源的酸枣仁,是一种安全的保健食用油,综述近年来有关酸枣仁油的提取工艺、组成成分分析及其生物活性研究,为酸枣仁油的进一步开发与应用提供参考。现有研究表明,酸枣仁油生产工艺简单,成品油中含有大量不饱和脂肪酸,其中油酸和亚油酸含量最高,同时还含有多种脂溶性成分。酸枣仁油具有多种生物活性,如镇静催眠、改善记忆力、抗抑郁、抗氧化、血脂调节及抗肿瘤等,但其发挥生物活性的物质基础及作用机理尚未完全明确,有待进一步研究。酸枣仁油的安全及多活性特点赋予其巨大的开发与应用潜力,相关产品具有广阔的市场前景。     

Allosteric p97 Inhibitors Can Overcome Resistance to ATP-Competitive p97 Inhibitors for Potential Anticancer Therapy

Abstract : A major challenge of targeted cancer therapy is the selection for drug-resistant mutations in tumor cells leading to loss of treatment effectiveness. p97/VCP is central regulator of protein homeostasis and a promising anticancer target because of its vital role in cell growth and survival. One ATP-competitive p97 inhibitor, CB-5083, has entered clinical trials. Selective pressure on HCT116 cells dosed with CB-5083 identified five different resistant mutants. Identification of p97 inhibitors with different mechanisms of action would offer the potential to overcome this class of resistance mutations. Our results demonstrate that two CB-5083 resistant p97 mutants, N660 K and T688 A, were also resistant to several other ATP-competitive p97 inhibitors, whereas inhibition by two allosteric p97 inhibitors NMS-873 and UPCDC-30245 were unaffected by these mutations. We also established a CB-5083 resistant cell line that harbors a new p97 double mutation (D649 A/T688 A). While CB-5083, NMS-873, and UPCDC-30245 all effectively inhibited proliferation of the parental HCT116 cell line, NMS-873 and UPCDC-30245 were 30-fold more potent in inhibiting the CB-5083 resistant D649 A/T688 A double mutant than CB-5083. Our results suggest that allosteric p97 inhibitors are promising alternatives when resistance to ATP-competitive p97 inhibitors arises during anticancer treatment.     

覆岩结构类型与开采覆岩损害特征分析

煤层开采打破了上覆岩层原有的平衡,必然引起岩层的移动、破断,导致应力场和裂隙场的改变,工作面出现矿压显现。上覆岩层的岩性和组合结构对工作面开采覆岩损害特征分布影响显著,一般岩性越坚硬,上覆岩层应力集中程度越高,采动裂隙越发育,矿压显现也越明显;坚硬岩层尤其是关键层对覆岩的破断运动起控制作用,覆岩破断发展到一定层位后软弱岩层往往是抑制覆岩破断进一步向上发展的关键。当工作面上覆岩层同时存在远近场关键层时,近场关键层的周期性破断引起裂隙带范围内岩层的运动和工作面周期来压;而远场关键层的周期性破断导致地表裂缝或台阶下沉,工作面压力急剧上升,有时甚至导致煤矿动压灾害,尤其是远近场关键层同步破断时动力现象更明显。通过地面钻孔使远场关键层提前破断是防止此类动力灾害的关键。     

Synthesis,complexation and biological effects studies of new thiacrown ethers derived quinoline: part I

A series of new thiacrown ethers derived quinoline 7–9 were synthesized in good yield and in a simple way. Their transition metal ions complexation was studied using a conductometric method in acetonitrile at 25°C. Crowns 7 and 8 showed a continuous decrease in the molar conductances in their complexation with Ag⁺, Cu²⁺, Hg²⁺ and Zn²⁺ which begins to level off at a molar ratio of 1:1 crown to metal, indicating the formation of 1 stable 1:1 complex. On the other hand, crown 9 showed the formation of 1:1 complexes only with Ag⁺, Cu²⁺, Hg²⁺. The in vitro, a preliminary antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxic effects on breast tumor cells were also reported. Five bacterial test strains were included in the present study. Antioxidant activity was measured in terms of the radical scavenging ability and decolorization of 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals. Cytotoxic effect of thiacrown was evaluated using MDA MB-231 cell line (human breast adenocarcinoma, ATCC HTB-26).     

Living Materials Herald a New Era in Soft Robotics

Living beings have an unsurpassed range of ways to manipulate objects and interact with them. They can make autonomous decisions and can heal themselves. So far, a conventional robot cannot mimic this complexity even remotely. Classical robots are often used to help with lifting and gripping and thus to alleviate the effects of menial tasks. Sensors can render robots responsive, and artificial intelligence aims at enabling autonomous responses. Inanimate soft robots are a step in this direction, but it will only be in combination with living systems that full complexity will be achievable. The field of biohybrid soft robotics provides entirely new concepts to address current challenges, for example the ability to self‐heal, enable a soft touch, or to show situational versatility. Therefore, “living materials” are at the heart of this review. Similarly to biological taxonomy, there is a recent effort for taxonomy of biohybrid soft robotics. Here, an expansion is proposed to take into account not only function and origin of biohybrid soft robotic components, but also the materials. This materials taxonomy key demonstrates visually that materials science will drive the development of the field of soft biohybrid robotics.     

Clean hydrogen production in a full biological microbial electrolysis cell

The recent interest in microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) technology has led the research platform to develop full biological MECs (bioanode-biocathode, FB-MEC). This study focused on biohydrogen production from a biologically catalyzed MEC. A bioanode and a biocathode were initially enriched in a half biological MFC (bioanode-abiocathode, HB-MFC) and a half biological MEC (abioanode-biocathode, HB-MEC), respectively. The FB-MEC was established by transferring the biocathode of the HB-MEC and the bioanode of the HB-MFC to a two-chamber MEC. The FB-MEC was operated under batch (FB-MEC-B) and recirculation batch (FB-MEC-RB) modes of operation in the anodic chamber. The FB-MEC-B reached a maximum current density of 1.5 A/m² and the FB-MEC-RB reached a maximum current density of 2.5 A/m² at a similar applied voltage while the abiotic control system showed the maximum of 0.2 A/m². Hydrogen production rate decreased in the FB-MEC compared to that of the HB-MEC. However, the cathodic hydrogen recovery increased from 42% obtained in the HB-MEC to 56% in the FB-MEC-B and 65% in the FB-MEC-RB, suggesting the efficient oxidation and reduction rates in the FB-MEC compared to the HB-MEC. The onset potential for hydrogen evolution reaction detected by linear sweep voltammetry analysis were −0.780 and −0.860 V vs Ag/AgCl for the FB-MEC-RB and the FB-MEC-B (−1.26 for the abiotic control MEC), respectively. Moreover, the results suggested that the FB-MEC worked more efficiently when the biocathode and the bioanode were enriched initially in half biological systems before transferring to the FB-MEC compared to that of the simultaneously enriched in one system.     

α粒子与酒精联合作用致肝细胞恶性转化的影响

研究α粒子和酒精联合作用对肝细胞恶性转化生物效应的影响，为系统评价α粒子辐射风险提供实验依据。通过建立辐射和酒精联合作用细胞模型，分析比较α粒子辐射、酒精单因素与两者复合对人正常肝细胞的细胞周期、迁移和侵袭等恶性转化生物特征及相关基因mRNA水平表达的影响。与对照组比较，复合因素作用的细胞发生迁移和侵袭的细胞数量明显增多，在mRNA水平抑癌相关基因p53和细胞粘附蛋白相关基因cdh1表达量明显降低，原癌相关基因mdm2表达量明显升高，复合因素作用下肝细胞发生明显的恶性转化趋势。辐射和酒精均能诱导肝细胞发生恶性转化，肝细胞经α粒子辐照后再受酒精作用其发生恶性转化的风险高于单纯接受α粒子辐照的细胞，酒精增加了α粒子辐照后肝细胞恶性转化风险，可能与影响肝细胞表面E型粘连蛋白的表达有关，导致细胞之间粘连性降低，促进细胞发生迁移和侵袭。因此，在评价α粒子内照射对健康的影响时需要考虑职业人员的饮酒习惯。     

Performance assessment of gas crossover phenomenon and water transport mechanism in high pressure PEM electrolyzer

To improve proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzes’ performance the voltage loss through them should be avoided. In this work, it is intended to analyze losses including of diffusion loss, ohmic loss due to electrode, bipolar plate (BP), and membrane resistances, and gas crossover associated with the water transferring mechanisms. All of the losses are associated with water transferring mechanisms, which is created due to electro-osmoic drag, pressure differential between the anode and cathode sides, and diffusion. Furthermore, the effect of membrane thickness, cathode pressure, and operating temperature on the hydrogen crossover is examined. In addition, the contribution of ohmic loss due to electrode bipolar plate (BP), and membrane resistances is studied and, the contribution of different losses on the cell performance is discussed. Results show that raising cathode pressure from 1 to 40 bar lead to the increment of anodic hydrogen content from 1.038% to 21% at the specific current density of 10,000 A/m2. Enhancing the thickness of membrane has considerable impact on decrementing anodic hydrogen content, but the mass transfer loss rises from 0.022 to 0.027 V with enhancing membrane thickness from 50 to 300 μm, respectively. Furthermore, the contribution of voltage losses, assigned to each of losses are equal to 85%, 3%, and 12% for activation, diffusion and ohmic losses, respectively. It is found that, from the reported contribution for ohmic loss, the contribution of electrode BP, and membrane resistances are 31% and 69%, respectively.