Effect of green mate in overweight volunteers: A randomized placebo-controlled human study

Overweight and obesity have become a global epidemic and they may impair health. Traditional use and growing evidence indicate that mate (Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil.) may be helpful in losing excessive weight and fat. The present randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluated efficacy and safety of an extract from green mate in 60 overweight subjects aged 20–39 years during 6-weeks. Body composition was measured by Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) at baseline and after 6 weeks. Body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and various safety parameters were monitored. After 6 weeks, subjects taking mate experienced a significantly greater reduction of percent of body fat (?0.3% vs. +0.6%, p = 0.04) and fat mass (?0.5 kg vs. +0.2 kg, p = 0.04) than placebo. No significant differences were observed in other measurements. No adverse events occurred and all safety parameters were within normal ranges during the study in both groups. Thus, taking green mate extract reduced body fat after 6 weeks, while the treatment was safe and well tolerated.     

园林景观设计在电厂中的应用

本文运用中国传统造园的思路，采用不拘一格的艺术手法，在有限的空间内点缀假山、树木，安排亭台楼阁、池塘小桥，创造出具有诗情画意的电厂厂前建筑景观。     

重载排水沥青路面功能性与粗集料压碎值关系研究

粗集料压碎值对排水性沥青混合料性质有着极其重要的影响,对于重载排水沥青路面影响尤甚。通过干料击实模拟试验、对排水性沥青混合料试件成型后进行级配检验、马歇尔试验、冻融劈裂试验,以及飞散试验和车辙试验,得出集料的压碎值会影响排水沥青路面的排水功能以及排水性沥青混合料的抗水损坏性能的结论。     

Potassium sorbate controlled release from corn starch films

Active starch films with glycerol and potassium sorbate were obtained by casting. Native and acetylated corn starches, as well as the mixture of them in equal proportions were used and filmogenic suspensions with pH 4.5 were also prepared. Sorbate concentration decreased during film storage due to its oxidative degradation. Active films resulted more yellow and less transparent than films without sorbate. The minimum inhibitory concentration of sorbate resulted 0.3%, regardless of the starch type and the formulation pH. The use of antimicrobial package was more effective to prevent microbial growth on food surfaces than the use of conventional methods. Additive kinetic release was neither affected by the starch type nor by the formulation pH. Sorbate diffusion process was mathematically modeled satisfactorily. Active films were able to inhibit Candida spp., Penicillium spp., S. aureus and Salmonella spp. growth. Active films extended 21% the shelf life of refrigerated cheese, regardless of the formulation pH.     

Microbubble generator excited by fluidic oscillator's third harmonic frequency

Efficient generation of sub-millimetre microbubbles was recently made possible by pulsating the flow of gas supplied into a parallel-exits aerator, using a fluidic oscillator for the purpose. Without moving parts, it can generate oscillation at high frequency, an important factor due to bubble natural frequency rapidly increasing with the desirable decrease of their size. This paper discusses development of an unusual oscillator – a part of an integral oscillator/aerator unit – capable of generating a particularly high driving frequency, in the kilohertz range, in a layout that promotes a strong third harmonic frequency of the basic oscillation.     

Noise covariance matrices in state‐space models: A survey and comparison of estimation methods—Part I

This paper deals with the estimation of the noise covariance matrices of systems described by state‐space models. Stress is laid on the systematic survey and classification of both the recursive and batch processing methods proposed in the literature with a special focus on the correlation methods. Besides the correlation methods, representatives of other groups are introduced also with respect to their basic idea, estimate properties, assumptions and possible extensions, and user‐defined parameters. Common and dual properties of the methods are highlighted, and a simulation comparison using exemplary MATLAB implementations of the methods is provided.     

Vibration and noise characteristics of coaxial magnetic gear according to low-speed rotor structure

This paper presents the analysis of the vibration and noise characteristics of Coaxial magnetic gears (CMGs) according to the Lowspeed rotor (LSR) structure. Surface-mounted permanent magnet CMG (SPM_CMG) and Flux concentrated CMG (FC_CMG) are selected for the comparison models. The electromagnetic force distributions in the air-gap adjacent to the LSR are calculated to predict the deformed shape of the LSR. In addition, the electromagnetic forces acting on each pole of the LSR according to the rotation of the rotors and their frequencies are obtained to investigate the vibration and noise characteristics. The mode shapes of the LSR core and their resonant frequencies are obtained through modal analysis to consider the resonance of the analytical models. The vibration and noise analysis result indicates that SPM_CMG has less vibration and noise compared than the FC_CMG.     

A multifunctional ribonuclease A-conjugated carbon dot cluster nanosystem for synchronous cancer imaging and therapy

Carbon dots exhibit great potential in applications such as molecular imaging and in vivo molecular tracking. However, how to enhance fluorescence intensity of carbon dots has become a great challenge. Herein, we report for the first time a new strategy to synthesize fluorescent carbon dots (C-dots) with high quantum yields by using ribonuclease A (RNase A) as a biomolecular templating agent under microwave irradiation. The synthesized RNase A-conjugated carbon dots (RNase A@C-dots) exhibited quantum yields of 24.20%. The fluorescent color of the RNase A@C-dots can easily be adjusted by varying the microwave reaction time and microwave power. Moreover, the emission wavelength and intensity of RNase A@C-dots displayed a marked excitation wavelength-dependent character. As the excitation wavelength alters from 300 to 500 nm, the photoluminescence (PL) peak exhibits gradually redshifts from 450 to 550 nm, and the intensity reaches its maximum at an excitation wavelength of 380 nm. Its Stokes shift is about 80 nm. Notably, the PL intensity is gradually decreasing as the pH increases, almost linearly dependent, and it reaches the maximum at a pH = 2 condition; the emission peaks also show clearly a redshift, which may be caused by the high activity and perfective dispersion of RNase A in a lower pH solution. In high pH solution, RNase A tends to form RNase A warped carbon dot nanoclusters. Cell imaging confirmed that the RNase A@C-dots could enter into the cytoplasm through cell endocytosis. 3D confocal imaging and transmission electron microscopy observation confirmed partial RNase A@C-dots located inside the nucleus. MTT and real-time cell electronic sensing (RT-CES) analysis showed that the RNase A@C-dots could effectively inhibit the growth of MGC-803 cells. Intra-tumor injection test of RNase A@C-dots showed that RNase A@C-dots could be used for imaging in vivo gastric cancer cells. In conclusion, the as-prepared RNase A@C-dots are suitable for simultaneous therapy and in vivo fluorescence imaging of nude mice loaded with gastric cancer or other tumors.