Polycrystalline mullite fibers and novel zirconia-toughened mullite (ZTM) fibers with average diameters between 9.7 and 10.3 μm containing 3, 7 and 15 wt.-% tetragonal ZrO2 (ZTM3, ZTM7, ZTM15) in the final ceramic were prepared via dry spinning followed by continuous calcination and sintering in air. A shift in the formation of transient alumina phases and tetragonal ZrO2 to higher temperatures with increasing amounts of ZrO2 was observed. Concomitantly, the mullite formation temperature was lowered to 1229 °C for ZTM15 fibers. X-ray diffraction revealed formation of the desired tetragonal crystal structure of ZrO2 directly from the amorphous precursor. Room temperature Weibull strengths of 1320, 1390 and 1740 MPa and Weibull moduli of 9.5, 7.1 and 9.0 were determined for mullite, ZTM3 and ZTM15 fibers, respectively. Average Young’s moduli ranged from 190 to 220 GPa. SEM images revealed crack-free fiber surfaces and compact microstructures independent of the amount of ZrO2. 相似文献
The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of high-intensity ultrasound (HIU) on physical properties, degree of oxidation, and oxidative stability of structured lipids (SLs). Caprylic acid (C) and stearic acid (S) were incorporated into menhaden oil using Lipozyme® 435 lipase to obtain five samples: (1) LC 20 (menhaden oil with 20% of C), (2) LC 30 (menhaden oil with 30% C), (3) LS 20 (menhaden oil with 20% S), (4) LS 30 (menhaden oil with 30% S), and (5) Blend C (menhaden oil with 16.24% C and 13.04% S). Samples were crystallized for 90 min at the following temperatures: (1) LC 20 at 15.5°C, (2) LC 30 at 17.5°C, (3) LS 20 at 24°C, (4) LS 30 at 30°C, and (5) Blend C at 18.0°C, and HIU was applied at the onset of crystallization. Physical properties, degree of oxidation, and oxidative stability were evaluated in sonicated and nonsonicated samples. All SLs had statistically higher G′ after sonication. Sonicated LS 30, LC 30, and Blend C had a higher melting enthalpy than the nonsonicated ones, while enthalpy values in sonicated LS 20 and LC 20 samples were not statistically different than the nonsonicated ones. No significant difference between sonicated and nonsonicated samples was observed in peroxide values (1.2 ± 0.1 meq/kg, p > 0.05) and in the oxidative stability index (6.3 ± 0.2 h, p > 0.05). These results showed that HIU was effective at changing physical properties without affecting the oxidation of the samples. 相似文献
The orexin system is responsible for regulating the sleep-wake cycle. Suvorexant, a dual orexin receptor antagonist (DORA) is approved by the FDA for the treatment of insomnia disorders. Herein, we report the optimization efforts toward a DORA, where our starting point was (5-methoxy-4-methyl-2-[1,2,3]triazol-2-yl-phenyl)-{(S)-2-[5-(2-trifluoromethoxy-phenyl)-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl]-pyrrolidin-1-yl}methanone ( 6 ), a compound which emerged from our in-house research program. Compound 6 was shown to be a potent, brain-penetrating DORA with in vivo efficacy similar to suvorexant in rats. However, shortcomings from low metabolic stability, high plasma protein binding (PPB), low brain free fraction (fu brain), and low aqueous solubility, were identified and hence, compound 6 was not an ideal candidate for further development. Our optimization efforts addressing the above-mentioned shortcomings resulted in the identification of (4-chloro-2-[1,2,3]triazol-2-yl-phenyl)-{(S)-2-methyl-2-[5-(2-trifluoromethoxy-phenyl)-4H-[1,2,4]triazol-3-yl]-pyrrolidin-1-yl}l-methanone ( 42 ), a DORA with improved in vivo efficacy compared to 6 . 相似文献
Aphids have long been recognized as good phytochemists. They are small sap-feeding plant herbivores with complex life cycles that can involve cyclical parthenogenesis and seasonal host plant alternation, and most are plant specialists. Aphids have distinctive traits for identifying and exploiting their host plants, including the expression of polyphenisms, a form of discrete phenotypic plasticity characteristic of insects, but taken to extreme in aphids. In a relatively small number of species, a social polyphenism occurs, involving sub-adult “soldiers” that are behaviorally or morphologically specialized to defend their nestmates from predators. Soldiers are sterile in many species, constituting a form of eusociality and reproductive division of labor that bears striking resemblances with other social insects. Despite a wealth of knowledge about the chemical ecology of non-social aphids and their phytophagous lifestyles, the molecular and chemoecological mechanisms involved in social polyphenisms in aphids are poorly understood. We provide a brief primer on aspects of aphid life cycles and chemical ecology for the non-specialists, and an overview of the social biology of aphids, with special attention to chemoecological perspectives. We discuss some of our own efforts to characterize how host plant chemistry may shape social traits in aphids. As good phytochemists, social aphids provide a bridge between the study of insect social evolution sociality, and the chemical ecology of plant-insect interactions. Aphids provide many promising opportunities for the study of sociality in insects, and to understand both the convergent and novel traits that characterize complex sociality on plants. 相似文献
Endotoxin exacerbates asthma. We designed the Louisa Environmental Intervention Project (LEIP) and assessed its effectiveness in reducing household endotoxin and improving asthma symptoms in rural Iowa children. Asthmatic school children (N = 104 from 89 homes) of Louisa and Keokuk counties in Iowa (aged 5-14 years) were recruited and block-randomized to receive extensive (education + professional cleaning) or educational interventions. Environmental sampling collection and respiratory survey administration were done at baseline and during three follow-up visits. Mixed-model analyses were used to assess the effect of the intervention on endotoxin levels and asthma symptoms in the main analysis and of endotoxin reduction on asthma symptoms in exploratory analysis. In the extensive intervention group, dust endotoxin load was significantly reduced in post-intervention visits. The extensive compared with the educational intervention was associated with significantly decreased dust endotoxin load in farm homes and less frequent nighttime asthma symptoms. In exploratory analysis, dust endotoxin load reduction from baseline was associated with lower total asthma symptoms score (Odds ratio: 0.52, 95% confidence interval: 0.29-0.92). In conclusion, the LEIP intervention reduced household dust endotoxin and improved asthma symptoms. However, endotoxin reductions were not sustained post-intervention by residents. 相似文献
Controlling the electromechanical response of piezoelectric biological structures including tissues, peptides, and amino acids provides new applications for biocompatible, sustainable materials in electronics and medicine. Here, the piezoelectric effect is revealed in another class of biological materials, with robust longitudinal and shear piezoelectricity measured in single crystals of the transmembrane protein ba3 cytochrome c oxidase from Thermus thermophilus. The experimental findings from piezoresponse force microscopy are substantiated using a range of control measurements and molecular models. The observed longitudinal and shear piezoelectric responses of ≈ 2 and 8 pm V−1, respectively, are comparable to or exceed the performance of commonly used inorganic piezoelectric materials including quartz, aluminum nitride, and zinc oxide. This suggests that transmembrane proteins may provide, in addition to physiological energy transduction, technologically useful piezoelectric material derived entirely from nature. Membrane proteins could extend the range of rationally designed biopiezoelectric materials far beyond the minimalistic peptide motifs currently used in miniaturized energy harvesters, and the finding of robust piezoelectric response in a transmembrane protein also raises fundamental questions regarding the molecular evolution, activation, and role of regulatory proteins in the cellular nanomachinery, indicating that piezoelectricity might be important for fundamental physiological processes. 相似文献
Hexanoic acid, 1-octanol, 1,8-octanediol, octyl hexanoate, 1,8-octanediol monohexanoate, and 1,8-octanediol dihexanoate were identified in headspace volatiles collected from the crushed abdomen of a female click beetle of the species Parallelostethus attenuatus (Say) (Elaterinae, tribe Elaterini). In field trials carried out in Illinois, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, adult male beetles were strongly attracted to 1,8-octanediol dihexanoate alone. Blends of the dihexanoate with one or more of the other compounds proved to be less attractive than the dihexanoate alone, suggesting that the pheromone of this species may consist of a single compound. The symmetrical diester structure of the pheromone is a novel natural product and appears to be structurally unique among insect pheromones.