Molecular Dynamics of Synthetic Flagelliform Silk Fiber Assembly

In order to better understand the relationship between flagelliform (Flag) spider silk molecular structural organization and the mechanisms of fiber assembly, the Nephilengys cruentata Flag spidroin analogue rNcFlag2222 is designed and produced. The recombinant proteins are composed by the elastic repetitive glycine-rich motifs (GPGGX/GGX) and the spacer region, rich in hydrophilic charged amino acids, present at the native silk spidroin. Using different approaches for nanomolecular protein analysis, the structural data of rNcFlag2222 recombinant proteins are compared in their fibrillar and fully solvated states. Based on the results, it is possible to identify the molecular structural dynamics of NcFlag2222 prior to and after fiber formation. Overall rNcFlag2222 shows a mixture of semiflexible and rigid conformations, characterized mostly by the presence of polyproline type II helix (PPII), β-turn, and β-sheet. These results agree with previous studies and bring insights about the molecular mechanisms that might drive Flag silk fibers assembly and elastomeric behavior.     

介绍一种多媒体CAI开发工具

本文通过对 ANTEUS 多媒体软件开发平台的介绍,指出用该平台开发计算机辅助教学软件的可行性及开发方     

Sensing polymer inhomogeneity in coated metals during the early stages of coating degradation

Negative-feedback scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) is successfully applied to visualize spatially resolved differences in the topography of coated metal samples upon exposure to aqueous electrolyte solutions of different composition. This method allows the investigation of the uptake of reactants from the electrolyte phase through the polymeric matrix to the metal/polymer interface to be performed even at early exposures. Yet, the method must be carefully checked to discard transport processes from the organic matrix into the solution phase, such as those related to lixiviation. In this later case, the topography of the polymer layer may evolve with time accordingly, not longer exclusively responding to the uptake by the polymer matrix of components from the electrolyte phase. Furthermore, lixiviated species may also react with the SECM tip, eventually leading to the continuous modification of the active surface area of the electrode during the measurements. In this work, the effect of lixiviation from a nickel foil coated with plasticized PVC (PVC Plastisol) on its topographic characterization by SECM was investigated.     

Poly(lactide-co-glycolide)/silver nanoparticles: Synthesis,characterization, antimicrobial activity,cytotoxicity assessment and ROS-inducing potential

Silver nanoparticles (AgNps) were prepared by modified chemical reduction with poly (α, γ, l-glutamic acid) (PGA) as capping agent. These Ag/PGA nanoparticles (AgNpPGAs) were highly stable over long periods of time without signs of precipitation. In addition to obtaining stable AgNpPGAs, a further aim was to examine their encapsulation in the poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) polymer matrix. The current interest of polymer-AgNps in biomedical applications is because a versatile system must have antimicrobial activity upon target contact, without the release of toxic biocides. The synthesis of these PLGA/AgNpPGAs used physicochemical methods with solvent/non-solvent systems. Degradation of these PLGA/AgNpPGAs and the release rate of their AgNPs were studied in physiological solution over three months. The antimicrobial activity of the samples was investigated towards six laboratory control strains from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and one clinical isolate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain by the broth microdilution method and the results showed superior and extended activity of PLGA/AgNpPGAs. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay indicated good biocompatibility of these PLGA/AgNpPGAs. The formation of intracellular reactive oxygen species was measured spectrophotometrically using a fluorescent probe, which showed that these PLGA/AgNpPGAs are not inducers of such species. The samples were characterized by UV–VIS spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, zeta potential measurements, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy.     

Hyperspectral image segmentation through evolved cellular automata

Segmenting multidimensional images, in particular hyperspectral images, is still an open subject. Two are the most important issues in this field. On one hand, most methods do not preserve the multidimensional character of the signals throughout the segmentation process. They usually perform an early projection of the hyperspectral information to a two dimensional representation with the consequent loss of the large amount of spectral information these images provide. On the other hand, there is usually very little and dubious ground truth available, making it very hard to train and tune appropriate segmentation and classification strategies. This paper describes an approach to the problem of segmenting and classifying regions in multidimensional images that performs a joint two-step process. The first step is based on the application of cellular automata (CA) and their emergent behavior over the hyperspectral cube in order to produce homogeneous regions. The second step employs a more traditional SVM in order to provide labels for these regions to classify them. The use of cellular automata for segmentation in hyperspectral images is not new, but most approaches to this problem involve hand designing the rules for the automata and, in general, average out the spectral information present. The main contribution of this paper is the study of the application of evolutionary methods to produce the CA rule sets that result in the best possible segmentation properties under different circumstances without resorting to any form of projection until the information is presented to the user. In addition, we show that the evolution process we propose to obtain the rules can be carried out over RGB images and then the resulting automata can be used to process multidimensional hyperspectral images successfully, thus avoiding the problem of lack of appropriately labeled ground truth images. The procedure has been tested over synthetic and real hyperspectral images and the results are very competitive.     

Characterization of coating systems by scanning electrochemical microscopy: Surface topology and blistering

Operation of the scanning electrochemical microscope used in feedback mode over a coated metal allows changes in the state of the coating surface to be monitored during immersion in aqueous electrolytes. This paper reports changes in the coating induced by specific anions in the electrolyte in situ during immersion. Significant surface roughening is observed for immersion times shorter than 1 day when the electrolyte contains chloride ions. This effect is also observed when the oxygen dissolved in the electrolytic phase is employed as redox mediator for SECM imaging. The coated system exposed to chloride-free electrolytes containing sulphate or nitrate maintains a featureless topography within the same time scale. The observed features are due to the nucleation and growth of blisters at the metal/coating interface induced by chloride ions in the environment. The implication is that ionic migration occurs simultaneously with the absorption of water by the coating already from the beginning of exposure to the aqueous environment. The unique role of chloride ions compared with sulphate or nitrate ions towards coating performance has been established at a very early stage following immersion of the sample.