The anticancer and antiobesity effects of Mediterranean diet

Cancers have been the leading cause of death worldwide and the prevalence of obesity is also increasing in these few decades. Interestingly, there is a direct association between cancer and obesity. Each year, more than 90,000 cancer deaths are caused by obesity or overweight. The dietary pattern in Crete, referred as the traditional Mediterranean diet, is believed to confer Crete people the low mortality rates from cancers. Nevertheless, the antiobesity effect of the Mediterranean diet is less studied. Given the causal relationship between obesity and cancer, the antiobesity effect of traditional Mediterranean diet might contribute to its anticancer effects. In this regard, we will critically review the anticancer and antiobesity effects of this diet and its dietary factors. The possible mechanisms underlying these effects will also be discussed.     

Effect of cyclic GMP reduction on regional myocardial mechanics and metabolism in experimental left ventricular hypertrophy

We tested the hypotheses that decreased myocardial cyclic GMP levels produced by intracoronary injection of methylene blue would increase local myocardial work and O2 consumption while decreasing intracellular cyclic GMP and that the relation between work, O2 consumption, and cyclic GMP may be altered in left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) produced by aortic valve plication. In 8 control and 8 LVH open-chest anesthetized dogs, 1 mg/kg/min methylene blue was infused into the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD); the circumflex region (CFX) served as control area. Regional work was calculated as the integrated product of force (miniature transducer) and segment shortening (sonomicrometry). Regional myocardial O2 consumption was calculated from flow measurements (radioactive microspheres), and regional O2 saturations (microspectrophotometry). A radioimmunoassay was used to determine intracellular level of cyclic GMP in the myocardium. Global hemodynamics and blood gases were unchanged by methylene blue in both control and LVH animals. Intracoronary methylene blue increased regional work from 762 +/- 129 to 1,451 +/- 307 g center dot mm/min in controls and from 912 +/- 173 to 1581 +/- 253 g center dot mm/min in the LVH groups. No significant changes in CFX regional work were observed. Regional blood flow, O2 extraction, and O2 consumption remained unchanged after injection of methylene blue in both control and LVH animals. The basal levels of cyclic GMP in the LVH group were fivefold higher than that in controls. In both groups, cyclic GMP levels were significantly decreased by methylene blue and to a greater extent in the LVH animals (from 6.16 +/- 1.2 to 3.34 +/- 0.44 pmol/g) than in the control animals (from 1.32 +/- 0.20 to 1.09 +/- 0.19 pmol/g). Therefore, intracoronary methylene blue increased regional myocardial work equally in control and LVH hearts without affecting regional metabolism (i.e., increased efficiency). For the same increased mechanical function, the hypertrophic myocardium exhibited a greater reduction in cyclic GMP pool size.     

Observer-estimators for discrete-time systems

The theory of observer-estimators for linear discrete-time systems is described. Both deterministic and stochastic cases are considered; in particular, the case that some observations are noise free while others are noisy is considered. Asymptotic properties for both time-varying and time-invariant systems are analyzed and the influence of observability and detectability assumptions is considered. The results unify approaches to deterministic and stochastic state estimation problems for linear discrete-time systems. Optimal filtering in the presence of colored noise is considered as a special case.     

Wide-sense adaptive dual control for nonlinear stochastic systems

A new approach is presented for the problem of stochastic control of nonlinear systems. It is well known that, except for the linear-quadratic problem, the optimal stochastic controller cannot be obtained in practice. In general it is the curse of dimensionality that makes the strict application of the principle of optimality infeasible. The two subproblems of stochastic control, estimation and control proper, are, except for the linear-quadratic case, intercoupled. As pointed out by Feldbaum, in addition to its effects on the state of the system, the control also affects the estimation performance. In this paper, the control problem is formulated such that this dual property of the control appears explicitly. The resulting control sequence exhibits the closed-loop property, i.e., it takes into account the past observations and also the future observation program. Thus, in addition to being adaptive, this control also plans its future learning according to the control objective. Some preliminary simulation results illustrate these properties of the control.     

Acoustic detection of controlled laser-induced microbubble creation in gelatin

A high-frequency (85 MHz) acoustic technique is used to identify system parameters for controlled laser-induced microbubble creation inside tissue-mimicking, gelatin phantoms. Microbubbles are generated at the focus of an ultrafast 793-nm laser source and simultaneously monitored through ultrasonic pulse-echo recordings. Displayed in wavefield form, these recordings illustrate microbubble creation, and integrated backscatter plots provide specifics about microbubble characteristics and dissolution behavior. By varying laser parameters, including pulse fluence (or pulse energy flux, J/cm2), total number of pulses delivered, and the period between pulses, the size, lifetime, and dissolution dynamics of laser-induced microbubbles may be independently controlled. Pulse fluence is the main size-controlling parameter, whereas both increases in pulse fluence and pulse number can lengthen microbubble lifetime from tens to hundreds of milliseconds. In short, a microbubble of particular lifetime does not necessarily have to be of a particular size. Microbubble behavior, furthermore, is independent of pulse periods below a fluence-dependent threshold value, but it exhibits stochastic behavior if pulse repetition is too slow. These results demonstrate that laser pulse fluence, number, and period may be varied to deposit energy in a specific temporal manner, creating and stabilizing microbubbles with particular characteristics and, therefore, potential uses in sensitive acoustic detection and manipulation schemes.     

A fluorescent intercalator displacement assay for establishing DNA binding selectivity and affinity

A summary of the qualitative and quantitative elements of a fluorescent intercalator displacement (FID) assay useful for establishing the DNA binding selectivity, affinity, stoichiometry, and binding site size and distinguishing modes of DNA binding is provided.     

气相生长炭纤维增强酚醛树脂制炭/炭复合材料及其物性之研究

以气相生长炭纤维含浸酚醛树脂后经炭化及石墨化处理，制成炭／炭复合材料。观察了不同纤维百分含量的复合材料在升温过程的微细结构及物性之变化，探讨了其强度及电性的变化，并以扫瞄式电子显微镜（SEM）观察破断表面，观察各种复合材料经不同温度处理后之破坏行为。研究结果显示，以气相生长炭纤维所制复材经温度处理后，可以改善其抗弯强度及导电性，最佳纤维含量质量分数为0．5％。超过此比率后，制成之复合材料无论是空孔率或强度皆呈下降。     

开关功率变换器中的间歇现象 ——仿真与实验

 文章从电路耦合滤波的角度考虑,分析了一类间歇分谐波与间歇混沌现象产生的原理,确定耦合电路传导和辐射干扰是产生该现象的根源,并构造了一个开关变换器模型作为研究对象,仿真与实验均得到了相似的非线性现象,同时对不同的电路参数集,讨论并分析了其对间歇现象产生所起的不同影响,为变换器的稳定设计提供信息.该研究方法也可推广到其他非线性电路系统的类似研究中.     

Estimation of fatigue damage and fatigue life of components under random loading

To examine the applicability of methods proposed in the estimation of fatigue damage and fatigue life of components under random loading, a batch of specimens made of 7075-T651 aluminium alloy has been studied and some of the results are reported in the present paper. The paper describes different methods and rules in the calculation of fatigue damage, especially when random loading is considered. The methods and rules are then verified by the results of a series of low-cycle fatigue tests. It is concluded that a ‘plastic work interaction damage rule’ proposed by Morrow gives us better fatigue damage prediction than the widely used Palmgren-Miner rule, and a formula derived in random vibration books can be used to predict the fatigue damage very easily. It is also found that fatigue lives of the tested specimens can be fitted appropriately by normal or log-normal probability density function. The fatigue reliability of a component made of the same material can therefore be estimated based on the above information.