不同细颗粒含量甲烷水合物沉积物三轴剪切试验研究

海域试开采区域含水合物沉积物的粒度分析结果表明水合物沉积物骨架由粗、细颗粒混合构成,通过开展多组低温、高压三轴排水剪切试验研究细颗粒含量和密度对含甲烷水合物沉积物和无水合物沉积物的强度和变形特性的影响。试验结果表明,含水合物沉积物抗剪强度及剪胀性都随细粒含量提高而显著增强。这是由于细颗粒含量增加改变了颗粒间水合物的样貌和分布特征,形成了由水合物包裹着粗颗粒-细颗粒的团簇状集合体。然而,细颗粒含量对无水合物沉积物的强度和变形特性的影响却表现出相反趋势。另外,含水合物沉积物的剪胀关系可以使用修正剑桥模型中的剪胀关系式进行描述。结果表明,剪胀关系的拟合曲线依赖于水合物饱和度的大小。通过对比研究发现,天然水合物和实验室合成水合物试样在较高饱和度时的峰值摩擦角大小及其伴随水合物饱和度的增长趋势存在差异,这种差异主要来源于水合物在沉积物骨架颗粒孔隙中不同的赋存模式及分布特征。     

Influence of air addition on surface modification of polyethylene terephthalate treated by an atmospheric pressure argon plasma brush

An atmospheric pressure argon plasma brush with air addition is employed to treat polyethylene terephthalate(PET) surface in order to improve its hydrophilicity. Results indicate that the plasma plume generated by the plasma brush presents periodically pulsed current despite a direct current voltage is applied. Voltage-current curve reveals that there is a transition from a Townsend discharge regime to a glow one during one discharge period. Optical emission spectrum indicates that more oxygen atoms are produced in the plume with increasing air content, which leads to the better hydrophilicity of PET surface after plasma treatment. Besides,an aging behavior is also observed. The hydrophilicity improvement is attributed to the production of oxygen functional groups, which increase in number with increasing air content.Moreover, some grain-like structures are observed on the treated PET surface, and its mean roughness increases with increasing air content. These results are of great importance for the hydrophilicity improvement of PET surface with a large scale.     

四旋翼长续航飞行模式的设计与实现

更长的飞行时间是四旋翼无人机领域研究热点方向之一;在对实际飞行中瞬时消耗电流和电池电压数据的研究中发现,过大姿态角下电池电量消耗显著提升;为了延长飞行时间和提升电池电量使用效率,提出一种长续航飞行模式;在该模式下,基于现有的角速度串级PID姿态控制器,将飞行加速度的控制算法改为飞行速度控制,限制过大姿态角的操作;在无风、微风和强风环境下的飞行实验表明,长续航飞行模式比传统飞行方式飞行时间增加8%~20%;长续航飞行模式可广泛应用于多种无需快速变换飞行路径,但需要更长飞行时间的的应用场景中。     

微通道板表面羟基化工艺研究北大核心

研究了3种微通道板基底羟基化的方法,测量了羟基化处理后微通道板基底表面水接触角及通道端面的形貌变化,分析了各种方法中微通道板基底的亲水性和腐蚀情况。实验结果表明:氨水双氧水溶液对基体表面的亲水性能提升不大,NaOH溶液对基体有腐蚀作用,经食人鱼溶液处理的基体表面亲水性明显提高且无腐蚀作用。研究了微通道板在食人鱼溶液中的浸泡时间和浸泡温度对表面亲水性的影响。结果表明:随着浸泡温度的增加,微通道板表面水接触角先减小后增大,当温度为80℃时达到极小值,浸泡时间对微通道板表面的亲水性影响不大。最终确定了微通道板表面羟基化工艺:浸泡温度为80℃,静置时间为20~60 min。     

Mesoscale pore structure of a high-performance concrete by coupling focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy and small angle X-ray scattering

This contribution couples (a) Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments of a high-performance concrete (HPC) at the millimetric scale, and (b) Focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM) of the cement paste of the HPC, with 10-20 nm voxel size. The aim is to improve the understanding of the 3D pore network of the HPC at the mesoscale (tens of nm), which is relevant for fluid transport. The mature HPC is an industrial concrete, based on pure Portland CEMI cement, and planned for use as structural elements for deep underground nuclear waste storage. Small angle X-ray scattering patterns are computed from the 3D pore images given by FIB/SEM (volumes of 61-118 μm³). They are positively correlated with SAXS measurements (volumes of 5 mm³). Aside from correlations with FIB/SEM data, experimental SAXS allows to investigate a wider range of effects on the pore structure. These are mainly the HPC drying state, the presence of aggregates (by analyzing data on cement paste alone), and the use of Poly Methyl MethAcrylate resin impregnation.     

Human DDX17 Unwinds Rift Valley Fever Virus Non-Coding RNAs

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a mosquito-transmitted virus from the Bunyaviridae family that causes high rates of mortality and morbidity in humans and ruminant animals. Previous studies indicated that DEAD-box helicase 17 (DDX17) restricts RVFV replication by recognizing two primary non-coding RNAs in the S-segment of the genome: the intergenic region (IGR) and 5′ non-coding region (NCR). However, we lack molecular insights into the direct binding of DDX17 with RVFV non-coding RNAs and information on the unwinding of both non-coding RNAs by DDX17. Therefore, we performed an extensive biophysical analysis of the DDX17 helicase domain (DDX17_135–555) and RVFV non-coding RNAs, IGR and 5’ NCR. The homogeneity studies using analytical ultracentrifugation indicated that DDX17_135–555, IGR, and 5’ NCR are pure. Next, we performed small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments, which suggested that DDX17 and both RNAs are homogenous as well. SAXS analysis also demonstrated that DDX17 is globular to an extent, whereas the RNAs adopt an extended conformation in solution. Subsequently, microscale thermophoresis (MST) experiments were performed to investigate the direct binding of DDX17 to the non-coding RNAs. The MST experiments demonstrated that DDX17 binds with the IGR and 5’ NCR with a dissociation constant of 5.77 ± 0.15 µM and 9.85 ± 0.11 µM, respectively. As DDX17_135–555 is an RNA helicase, we next determined if it could unwind IGR and NCR. We developed a helicase assay using MST and fluorescently-labeled oligos, which suggested DDX17_135–555 can unwind both RNAs. Overall, our study provides direct evidence of DDX17_135–555 interacting with and unwinding RVFV non-coding regions.     

Crosstalk between MicroRNA and Oxidative Stress in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays a key role in the pathogenesis of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), a chronic neurodegenerative disease that damages the trabecular meshwork (TM) cells, inducing apoptosis of the retinal ganglion cells (RGC), deteriorating the optic nerve head, and leading to blindness. Aqueous humor (AH) outflow resistance and intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation contribute to disease progression. Nevertheless, despite the existence of pharmacological and surgical treatments, there is room for the development of additional treatment approaches. The following review is aimed at investigating the role of different microRNAs (miRNAs) in the expression of genes and proteins involved in the regulation of inflammatory and degenerative processes, focusing on the delicate balance of synthesis and deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) regulated by chronic oxidative stress in POAG related tissues. The neutralizing activity of a couple of miRNAs was described, suggesting effective downregulation of pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic signaling pathways, including nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kB), transforming growth factor-beta 2 (TGF-β2), Wnt/β-Catenin, and PI3K/AKT. In addition, with regards to the elevated IOP in many POAG patients due to increased outflow resistance, Collagen type I degradation was stimulated by some miRNAs and prevented ECM deposition in TM cells. Mitochondrial dysfunction as a consequence of oxidative stress was suppressed following exposure to different miRNAs. In contrast, increased oxidative damage by inhibiting the mTOR signaling pathway was described as part of the action of selected miRNAs. Summarizing, specific miRNAs may be promising therapeutic targets for lowering or preventing oxidative stress injury in POAG patients.     

Investigating the effect of silver nanorods embedded in polydimethylsiloxane matrix using nanoindentation and its use for flexible electronics

The stretchable electrodes with excellent flexibility, electrical conductivity, and mechanical durability are the most fundamental components in the emerging and exciting field of flexible electronics. This article proposes a method for fabrication of such a stretchable electrode by embedding silver nanorods (AgNRs) into a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix that is grown by a unique glancing angle deposition technique. The surface, mechanical, and electrical properties of PDMS are significantly changed after embedding the AgNRs in it. The results show that surface roughness and polarity increase after AgNRs are embedded in the PDMS matrix. Elastic modulus (E) and hardness (H) decrease with an increase in the indentation load as a result of the indentation depth effect. Due to strong interfacial adhesion of AgNRs embedded in the PDMS matrix, the E and H of nanocomposite are increased by 167.6 and 93.3% compared with PDMS film, respectively. Furthermore, the AgNRs-PDMS film has an electrical resistivity value in the order of 10⁻⁷ Ωm. It remains conductive during various mechanical strains such as bending, twisting, and stretching, which is demonstrated using a light-emitting diode circuit. Simultaneously, the antimicrobial activity of silver could make it a promising candidate for wearable electronics.     

VTI介质角度叠加逆时偏移

常规各向同性逆时偏移方法在处理各向异性问题时会导致层位成像不准确、同相轴能量不聚焦等问题，并且利用拉普拉斯滤波算子等简单滤波方法不能彻底去除成像结果中的强振幅低频噪声。针对这些问题，首先应用声波近似方程模拟qP波在各向异性VTI介质中的传播，在震源激发位置设定平滑的各向同性或椭圆各向异性震源环以压制qSV波的影响；在此基础上提出了VTI介质逆时偏移的角度叠加实现策略，利用角度域共成像点道集中不同角度成像结果的叠加压制低频噪声，提高成像精度。模型试算和应用实例偏移结果表明，该方法能够对高陡复杂构造准确成像，且能量均衡、低频噪声压制效果较好。     

An experimental study on the spray characteristics of pressure nozzle in a fluid bed granulation

The particles with a narrow size distribution are proper products in a fluid bed granulation and coating. As well, the process efficiency is one of the most important parameters, and the wall deposition of sprayed liquid reduces it. The modality of spray volume distribution is a key parameter in the definition of particle size distribution and process efficiency. This work is done in two steps: In the first step, an experimental study on spray characteristics including spray flux distribution, spray cone angle, and discharge coefficient is conducted. Based on the experimental data, the curves of liquid volume flux versus nozzle pressure and height are obtained. The results indicate that the flux distribution changes significantly with even small pressure and height changes. In the second step, the granulation process is carried out in a semi-industrial conical fluid bed, and the particles size distribution curves and the deposited mass on the bed wall are obtained. The results show that the precise determination of the spray flux distribution is an appropriate way to predict the well-advised nozzle pressure/height in order to achieve the narrow particle size distribution and high efficiency of the process.