Stearic acid unlike shorter-chain saturated fatty acids is poorly utilized for triacylglycerol synthesis and β-oxidation in cultured rat hepatocytes

Utilization of stearate as compared to various saturated fatty acids for cholesterol and lipid synthesis and β-oxidation was determined in primary culture of rat hepatocytes. At 0.5 mmol/L in the medium, stearate (18:0) adequately solubilized by albumin was less inhibitory to cholesterol synthesis from [2-¹⁴C] acetate than myristate (14:0) and palmitate (16:0) (68% vs. 91 and 88% inhibition, respectively). The rate of incorporation into cholesterol from [1-¹⁴C] stearate (3.0±0.6 nmol/mg protein/4 h) was 37-, 1.8-, and 7.8-fold of that from myristate, palmitate, and oleate, respectively. Conversely, the rate of [1-¹⁴C] stearate incorporation into total glycerolipids was 88–90% lower than that of labeled palmitate, myristate, and oleate. The rate of [1-¹⁴C] stearate incorporation into triacylglycerol (3.6±0.4 nmol/mg protein/4 h) was 6–8% of that from myristate, palmitate, oleate, and linoleate. The rate of stearate incorporation into phospholipids was the lowest among tested fatty acids, whereas the rate of mono- and diacylglycerol synthesis was the highest with stearate treatment. The rate of β-oxidation as measured by CO₂ and acid soluble metabolite production was also the lowest with [1-¹⁴C] stearate treatment at 22.7 nmol/mg protein/4 h, which was 35–40% of those from other [1-¹⁴C] labeled fatty acids. A greater proportion of stearate than other fatty acids taken up by the hepatocytes remained free and was not metabolized. Clearly, stearate as compared to shorter-chain saturated fatty acids was less efficiently oxidized and esterified to triacylglycerol in cultured rat hepatocytes.     

On the examination of recycle on heat (and mass) transfer in concentric tubes

The effect of recycle on heat (and mass) transfer in concentric circular tubes has been investigated by finite difference methods. Theoretical results show that recycle can enhance the heat transfer rate for large Graetz numbers compared with that in an open tube (without an inner tube inserted and without recycle). Competition between a preheating effect and a residence-time effect can be used to explain the heat transfer behavior. The heat transfer rate can be further augmented, with nearly no increase in total pressure drop, by employing flow pattern B instead of flow pattern A.     

Moisture absorption behavior of rubber‐modified epoxy resins

The moisture absorption behavior of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A/ethylene diamine resins incorporating a carboxy‐terminated butadiene–acrylonitrile rubber was investigated and associated with their morphology of phase separation. Although the diffusion coefficient of moisture was increased with the rubber content, its activation energy and free volume for moisture diffusion were barely changed until phase inversion occurred. After phase inversion, the free volume was significantly increased, and the activation energy decreased. In addition, the moisture absorption also reduced the β‐transition temperature of the resins and slightly increased the glass‐transition temperature before phase inversion. However, the reverse was found after phase inversion. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 3718–3724, 2002     

Surface modification and physical properties of various UHMWPE‐fiber‐reinforced modified epoxy composites

Two surface modification methods—plasma surface treatment and chemical agent treatment—were used to investigate their effects on the surface properties of ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers. In the analyses, performed using electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis, changes in weight, and scanning electron microscope observations, demonstrated that the two fiber‐surface‐modified composites formed between UHMWPE fiber and epoxy matrix exhibited improved interfacial adhesion and slight improvements in tensile strengths, but notable decreases in elongation, relative to those properties of the composites reinforced with the untreated UHMWPE fibers. In addition, three kinds of epoxy resins—neat DGEBA, polyurethane‐crosslinked DGEBA, and BHHBP‐DGEBA—were used as resin matrices to examine the tensile and elongation properties of their UHMWPE fiber‐reinforced composites. From stress/strain measurements and scanning electron microscope observations, the resin matrix improved the tensile strength apparently, but did not affect the elongation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 655–665, 2007     

Spinning and drawing properties of ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polyethylene fibers prepared at varying concentrations and temperatures

The concentrations and temperatures of ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) gel solutions exhibited a significant influence on their rheological and spinning properties. The shear viscosities of UHMWPE solutions increased consistently with increasing concentrations at a constant temperature above 80°C. Tremendously high shear viscosities of UHMWPE gel solutions were found as the temperatures reached 120–140°C, at which their shear viscosity values approached the maximum. The spinnable solutions are those gel solutions with optimum shear viscosities and relatively good homogeneity in nature. Moreover, the gel solution concentrations and spinning temperatures exhibited a significant influence on the drawability and microstructure of the as‐spun fibers. At each spinning temperature, the achievable draw ratios obtained for as‐spun fibers prepared near the optimum concentration are significantly higher than those of as‐spun fibers prepared at other concentrations. The critical draw ratio of the as‐spun fiber prepared at the optimum concentration approached a maximum value, as the spinning temperature reached the optimum value of 150°C. Further investigations indicated that the best orientation of the precursors of shish‐kebab‐like entities, birefringence, crystallinity, thermal and tensile properties were always accompanied with the as‐spun fiber prepared at the optimum concentration and temperature. Similar to those found for the as‐spun fibers, the birefringence and tensile properties of the draw fibers prepared at the optimum condition were always higher than those of drawn fibers prepared at other conditions but stretched to the same draw ratio. Possible mechanisms accounting for these interesting phenomena are proposed.     

可加工氮化硅/氮化硼复相陶瓷的制备

以硅(Si)粉、六方氮化硼(h-BN)为原料,在氮气(N2)中用燃烧合成(combustion synthesis,CS)气固反应法,原位生成可加工氮化硅/氮化硼(Si3N4/h-BN)复相陶瓷.考察了h-BN不同体积分数(下同)对Si3N4/h-BN复相陶瓷可加工性的影响.结果表明:在实验条件下,Si粉氮化完全,不存在残余的游离Si.Si3N4/h-BN复相陶瓷中以柱状β-Si3N4为主相,β-Si3N4晶粒之间为针状h-BN相.随着h-BN相含量的增加,Si3N4/h-BN复相陶瓷的可加工性提高,抗弯强度先减小后增加.h-BN含量为25%时,Si3N4/h-BN复相陶瓷的抗弯强度最低.     

Synthesis and dielectric properties of polystyrene‐clay nanocomposite materials

Polystyrene‐clay nanocomposite (PsCN) materials were synthesized and their properties of crystallinity, thermal behavior, and dielectric characteristics were investigated. A polymerizable cationic surfactant, [2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl]triphenylphonium bromide, was used for the intercalation of montmorillonite (MMT). The organophilic MMT was prepared by Na⁺‐exchanged MMT and ammonium cations of a cationic surfactant in an aqueous medium. Organophilic styrene monomers were intercalated into the interlayer regions of organophilic clay hosts followed by a free‐radical polymerization. Exfoliation to 2 wt % MMT in the polystyrene (PS) matrix was achieved as revealed by X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Thermal properties by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were also studied. The dielectric properties of PsCNs in the form of film with clay loading from 1.0 to 5.0 wt % were measured under frequencies of 100 Hz–1 MHz at 25–70°C. A decreased dielectric constant and low dielectric loss were observed for PsCN materials. The dielectric response at low frequency that originated from dipole orientation was suppressed due to the intercalation of clay materials. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 1368–1373, 2004     

高光谱遥感反演土壤重金属含量研究进展

土壤重金属污染是当今重要的世界性环境问题之一。如何快速高效地获取土壤重金属含量及分布信息是进行污染风险评价及预测研究的前提。高光谱遥感具有无损、实时获取信息的优势,利用高光谱技术反演土壤重金属含量仍处于探讨阶段,对其反演机理和建模方法的研究成果进行了介绍和分析。认为充分研究不同类型土壤对重金属的吸附特性,是深入理解重金属含量反演机理的基础。加强不同土壤类型、不同污染程度的案例对比分析,发展光谱信号处理方法,引入非线性建模算法,构建重金属形态量反演模型,是土壤重金属含量遥感估算研究的重要研究方向。     

An efficient and secure approach for a cloud collaborative editing

The demand for cloud-based collaborative editing service is rising along with the tremendously increased popularity in cloud computing. In the cloud-based collaborative editing environment, the data are stored in the cloud and able to be accessed from everywhere through every compatible device with the Internet. The information is shared with every accredited user in a group. In other words, multiple authorized users of the group are able to work on the same document and edit the document collaboratively and synchronously online. Meanwhile, during the whole collaborative editing process, the encryption technique is eventually applied to protect and secure the data. The encryption for the collaborative editing, however, could require much time to operate. To elevate the efficiency of the encryption, this study first analyzes the text editing in the collaborative service and presents a framework of the Red–Black tree, named as rbTree-Doc. The rbTree-Doc can reduce the amount of data to be encrypted. Although the trade-off for creating the Red–Black tree introduces extra cost, the experimental results of using rbTree-Doc in text editing operations, such as insertion and removal, show improved efficiency compared with other whole-document encryption strategy. Using rbTree-Doc, the efficiency is improved by 31.04% compared to that 3DES encryption is applied and by 23.94% compared to that AES encryption is applied.     

Supervisory adaptive dynamic RBF-based neural-fuzzy control system design for unknown nonlinear systems

Many published papers show that a TSK-type fuzzy system provides more powerful representation than a Mamdani-type fuzzy system. Radial basis function (RBF) network has a similar feature to the fuzzy system. As this result, this article proposes a dynamic TSK-type RBF-based neural-fuzzy (DTRN) system, in which the learning algorithm not only online generates and prunes the fuzzy rules but also online adjusts the parameters. Then, a supervisory adaptive dynamic RBF-based neural-fuzzy control (SADRNC) system which is composed of a DTRN controller and a supervisory compensator is proposed. The DTRN controller is designed to online estimate an ideal controller based on the gradient descent method, and the supervisory compensator is designed to eliminate the effect of the approximation error introduced by the DTRN controller upon the system stability in the Lyapunov sense. Finally, the proposed SADRNC system is applied to control a chaotic system and an inverted pendulum to illustrate its effectiveness. The stability of the proposed SADRNC scheme is proved analytically and its effectiveness has been shown through some simulations.