Electrochemical Quantification of Neurotransmitters in Single Live Cell Vesicles Shows Exocytosis is Predominantly Partial

Exocytosis plays an essential role in the communication between cells in the nervous system. Understanding the regulation of neurotransmitter release during exocytosis and the amount of neurotransmitter content that is stored in vesicles is of importance, as it provides fundamental insights to understand how the brain works and how neurons elicit a certain behavior. In this minireview, we summarize recent progress in amperometric measurements for monitoring exocytosis in single cells and electrochemical cytometry measurements of vesicular neurotransmitter content in individual vesicles. Important steps have increased our understanding of the different mechanisms of exocytosis. Increasing evidence is firmly establishing that partial release is the primary mechanism of release in multiple cell types.     

闭式外腔循环太阳能墙集热效果实验研究

文章设计了闭式外腔循环太阳能墙系统,从理论和实验两方面研究太阳能墙传热传质规律。以大连市冬季为研究背景,基于对实验测温点不同时刻的持续监测,从逐时曲线中分析了不同环境下闭式外腔循环系统内部温度以及室内获得热量后室温的变化情况。结果表明,太阳能墙集热效率与太阳辐射强度密切相关,在晴朗天气下,白天部分时段单一太阳能墙就能满足采暖要求,不满足采暖要求时可以选择空气源热泵辅助采暖。     

Nature inspired supply chain solutions: definitions,analogies, and future research directions

ABSTRACT

Supply chains are becoming increasingly complex, and many companies and researchers are looking to nature for finding solutions. In this paper, we provide a narrative synthesis and systematic review to explore state-of-the-art, and identify key areas for exploration of nature inspired solutions in the supply chain area. We consider strategic, tactical, and operational decisions within supply chains and identify analogies between biological systems and supply chains to create a new research agenda. Our findings show that the majority of the research in nature inspired supply chains from the systemic perspective focuses on closed loop supply chains. In contrast, similar systemic solutions such as industrial symbiosis, circular economy, and industrial ecology have not been explored as frequently. Reducing production waste (industrial symbiosis) in addition to end-of-life product waste (closed loop supply chains), optimising raw material use and extending the life of used resources (circular economy), investigating the interactions between biosphere and technosphere (industrial ecology), and seeking solutions to industrial problems from nature (biomimicry) are all possible paths for reaching a zero-waste economy. These systemic solutions have a considerable impact on the supply chains at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels, which need to be explored to identify efficient and effective solutions.     

闭口闪点测定方法的对比分析

对我国常用的闭口闪点测定方法宾斯基-马丁闭口杯法、阿贝尔闭口杯法和泰格闭口杯法的测定原理进行对比分析，并采用这3种方法分别对2种有证标准样品、4种有机试剂样品和7种喷气燃料样品的闭口闪点进行测定。结果表明：这3种方法在适用范围、仪器结构、升温速率和点火操作要求等方面都有一定差异，导致采用这3种方法测定同一样品的闭口闪点结果略有差异，闪点测定结果之间的最大差值与样品闪点的高低呈正相关；与阿贝尔闭口杯法相比，宾斯基-马丁闭口杯法测得的闪点结果较高，对于3号喷气燃料，二者之差为0～1.0 ℃，阿贝尔闭口杯法更适合3号喷气燃料闭口闪点的测定；对于纯有机试剂样品，阿贝尔闭口杯法和宾斯基-马丁闭口杯法测得的闪点结果呈现较好的线性关系。     

喷淋液滴在空气环境下的运动特性

本文以喷淋液滴在空气环境下运动特性为工程背景，建立单个液滴在常温、常压空气环境中的动量方程，分析液滴沉降特性、追赶特性及运动轨迹行为。计算结果表明，不同喷淋液滴初始条件下，短时间内存在重力大于曳力和重力小于曳力两种情况，但最终减速液滴均会达到受力平衡状态；液滴离开喷淋头后，垂向位移均迅速增大，液滴粒径越大、初始速度越大，垂向位移增长的速率也越大，达到相同位移的用时越短；液滴尺寸、初始速度相差越大，液滴追赶所用的时间越短，追赶位移越小，液滴尺寸、初始速度越接近，液滴追赶所用的时间越长，追赶位移越大；液滴初始速度越大、初始直径越大、喷射角度越大，横向速度消失越慢，达到的横向位移越大，喷射液滴覆盖的面积也越大。计算结果有助于优化工程实际中喷淋系统的设计与布置。     

Maximizing Convergence Speed for Second Order Consensus in Leaderless Multi-Agent Systems

The paper deals with the consensus problem in a leaderless network of agents that have to reach a common velocity while forming a uniformly spaced string. Moreover, the final common velocity (reference velocity) is determined by the agents in a distributed and leaderless way. Then, the consensus protocol parameters are optimized for networks characterized by a communication topology described by a class of directed graphs having a directed spanning tree, in order to maximize the convergence rate and avoid oscillations. The advantages of the optimized consensus protocol are enlightened by some simulation results and comparison with a protocol proposed in the related literature. The presented protocol can be applied to coordinate agents such as mobile robots, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous vehicles that have to move with the same velocity and a common inter-space gap.      

Recent progress of green sorbents-based technologies for low concentration CO2 capture

The increased concentration of CO₂ due to continuous breathing and no discharge of human beings in the manned closed space, like spacecraft and submarines, can be a threat to health and safety. Effective removal of low concentration CO₂ from the manned closed space is essential to meet the requirements of long-term space or deep-sea exploration, which is an international frontier and trend. Ionic liquids (ILs), as a widespread and green solvent, already showed its excellent performance on CO₂ capture and absorption, indicating its potential application in low concentration CO₂ capture. In this review, we first summarized the current methods and strategies for direct capture from low concentration CO₂ in both the atmosphere and manned closed spaces. Then, the multi-scale simulation methods of CO₂ capture by ionic liquids are described in detail, including screening ionic liquids by COSMO-RS methods, capture mechanism by density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulation, and absorption process by computational fluid dynamics simulation. Lastly, some typical IL-based green technologies for low concentration CO₂ capture, such as functionalized ILs, co-solvent systems with ILs, and supported materials based on ILs, are introduced, and analyzed the subtle possibility in manned closed spaces. Finally, we look forward to the technology and development of low concentration CO₂ capture, which can meet the needs of human survival in closed space and proposed that supported materials with ionic liquids have great advantages and infinite possibilities in the vital area.     

电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法测定土壤中8种组分

为满足土地质量调查的需求,实现土壤中多组分的同时消解及准确测定,提高大批量样品的分析效率,建立了土壤样品经高压密闭消解后,采用电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法(ICP-AES)测定K₂O、Na₂O、CaO、MgO、Ba、Mn、Cu、Zn的方法。通过对消解体系、酸用量、消解温度等方面的考察,确定最佳实验条件;并对待测液中共存元素Al、Fe的干扰进行探讨,两者均不干扰测定。各组分校准曲线线性相关系数均大于0.999;检出限为0.01~10μg/g。实验方法用于测定土壤标准样品GBW07385、GBW07386、GBW07388中K₂O、Na₂O、CaO、MgO、Ba、Mn、Cu、Zn,测定结果的相对标准偏差(RSD,n=12)为1.1%~4.3%,相对误差RE为-4.0%~4.6%。采用实验方法对土壤实际样品中K₂O、Na₂O、CaO、MgO、Ba、Mn、Cu、Zn进行测定,结果的RSD(n=6)为1.2%~4.6%;并与地矿行业标准方法DZ/T 0279.2—2016测定结果进行比对,测得结果基本一致。     

Mathematical representation of radiality constraint in distribution system reconfiguration problem

Distribution systems are most commonly operated in a radial configuration for a number of reasons. In order to impose radiality constraint in the optimal network reconfiguration problem, an efficient algorithm is introduced in this paper based on graph theory. The paper shows that the normally followed methods of imposing radiality constraint within a mixed-integer programming formulation of the reconfiguration problem may not be sufficient. The minimum-loss network reconfiguration problem is formulated using different ways to impose radiality constraint. It is shown, through simulations, that the formulated problem using the proposed method for representing radiality constraint can be solved more efficiently, as opposed to the previously proposed formulations. This results in up to 30% reduction in CPU time for the test systems used in this study.