基于荧光显微镜的毛细管电泳系统的构建

毛细管电泳仪具有灵敏度高、分析速度快等优势,为降低其生产成本,基于电泳原理,以荧光显微镜为基础,设计了一套毛细管电泳系统。以20 bp(base pairs,碱基对)DNA ladder和100 bp DNA ladder为样本,全面分析了系统的稳定性、灵敏度和分离效果。结果表明:该系统在9 min内可以实现1500 bp以内DNA片段的高效分离,系统检测极限为0.1 ng/μL;在优化的电泳条件下,对限制性内切酶φX174-HincⅡ作用过的λ-DNA片段5 min内实现了291 bp与297 bp DNA片段的区分。     

Novel high-efficiency concentrator for optical fiber communication

A novel high-efficiency concentrator based on nonimaging optics has been designed and fabricated with micromachining technique. The shape of the concentrator utilizes compound parabolic concentrator (CPC), which can concentrate the all rays that have the angles less than a critical angle &thetas;_c. The theoretical concentration efficiency was calculated by ray trace simulation considering the reflectance of the concentrator's reflective layer. The metal reflection layer of reflectance 95% was formed by gold-nickel mirror plating method in a glass hole. As a result, the concentration efficiency of the concentrator was measured as 89%     

Intermittent Hypoxia Increased the Expression of DBH and PNMT in Neuroblastoma Cells via MicroRNA-375-Mediated Mechanism

Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS), characterized by recurrent episodes of oxygen desaturation and reoxygenation (intermittent hypoxia (IH)), is a risk factor for hypertension and insulin resistance. We report a correlation between IH and insulin resistance/diabetes. However, the reason why hypertension is induced by IH is elusive. Here, we investigated the effect of IH on the expression of catecholamine-metabolizing enzymes using an in vitro IH system. Human and mouse neuroblastoma cells (NB-1 and Neuro-2a) were exposed to IH or normoxia for 24 h. Real-time RT-PCR revealed that IH significantly increased the mRNA levels of dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH) and phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) in both NB-1 and Neuro-2a. Western blot showed that the expression of DBH and PNMT in the NB-1 cells was significantly increased by IH. Reporter assays revealed that promoter activities of DBH and PNMT were not increased by IH. The miR-375 level of IH-treated cells was significantly decreased relative to that of normoxia-treated cells. The IH-induced up-regulation of DBH and PNMT was abolished by the introduction of the miR-375 mimic, but not by the control RNA. These results indicate that IH stress increases levels of DBH and PNMT via the inhibition of miR-375-mediated mRNA degradation, potentially playing a role in the emergence of hypertension in SAS patients.     

IGCC系统中空气气化炉与氧气气化炉的对比研究

目前国内对IGCC的研究形成一股热潮,发表了不少研究结果和文章,但都集中在纯氧气流床气化工艺。日本三菱公司近二十年来致力于空气气化IGCC系统的研究,其示范电厂将于2007年投运,但国内对这方面的信息和了解不多。本文基于文献和作者对开发空气气化IGCC系统的三菱长崎研究所的访问和调研,采用Aspen Plus软件,对此系统作了详细分析,并与Shell气化炉和IGCC系统作了对比,得出了一些有益的结论。     

Uterine Deletion of Bmal1 Impairs Placental Vascularization and Induces Intrauterine Fetal Death in Mice

Recently, it was demonstrated that the expression of BMAL1 was decreased in the endometrium of women suffering from recurrent spontaneous abortion. To investigate the pathological roles of uterine clock genes during pregnancy, we produced conditional deletion of uterine Bmal1 (cKO) mice and found that cKO mice could receive embryo implantation but not sustain pregnancy. Gene ontology analysis of microarray suggested that uterine NK (uNK) cell function was suppressed in cKO mice. Histological examination revealed the poor formation of maternal vascular spaces in the placenta. In contrast to WT mice, uNK cells in the spongiotrophoblast layer, where maternal uNK cells are directly in contact with fetal trophoblast, hardly expressed an immunosuppressive NK marker, CD161, in cKO mice. By progesterone supplementation, pregnancy could be sustained until the end of pregnancy in some cKO mice. Although this treatment did not improve the structural abnormalities of the placenta, it recruited CD161-positive NK cells into the spongiotrophoblast layer in cKO mice. These findings indicate that the uterine clock system may be critical for pregnancy maintenance after embryo implantation.     

Die quenching limit of AA2024 aluminum alloy billet on servo press

Die quenching of AA2024 aluminum alloy billets was carried out on a servo press with ram-motion control of WC-20 mass%Co dies directly after solution heat treatment (SHT). To clarify the dependence on billet size for die quenching, two billets with a height of h₀ = 8 mm or 16 mm and with the same diameter of 16 mm were prepared. The cylindrical billets were heated in an electric furnace at 823 K and transferred to the press. Then the billets were uniaxially compressed with a reduction in height (Δh/h₀) of 2% or 5%, and further held between the dies. The sandwiching duration by dies (t_d.q.) was varied from 0 to 8 s. Based a measured temperature change, hardness and TG–DTA analysis, it is found that die quenching is successfully carried out without precipitation hardening only in the case of the billet with a height of 8 mm and t_d.q. > 6 s. The reduction in height is limited less than 5% by intergranular fracture on side surface of billet during the die quenching process.     

Towards the improvement of thermal efficiency in lignite‐fired power generation: Concerning the utilization of Polish lignite deposits in state‐of‐the‐art IGCC technology

Integrated coal Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) is the most advanced technology for coal‐fired power generation. The two‐stage entrained flow gasification process allows for the use of a wide range of coal, as long as the gasification temperature is above the ash melting point of a used fuel. In this gasification technology, lignite, which often has a low ash melting point, can be preferably utilized. However, ash fluidity is also another importance, because the behaviour of molten slag can diminish a stable ash discharge from a gasifier. As the eligibility of coal ash properties is a considerable factor, water physically and chemically kept in lignite (30 – 60% in mass) attributes to deteriorating gasification efficiency, because it causes significant heat loss and increasing oxygen consumption. Developing a thermal evaporative lignite drying method will be a necessary attempt to apply lignite to the coal gasification process. For those preceded objectives, coal and ash properties and drying characteristics of several grades of Polish lignite, extracted from Belchatow and Turow deposits, have been experimentally investigated in a preliminary study evaluating the applicability and consideration for its utilization in state‐of‐the‐art clean coal technology, IGCC. This paper particularly discusses the eligibility of Polish lignite from the perspective of the fusibility and fluidity of ash melts and the fundamental drying kinetics of lignite in superheated steam in the light of water removal. The viscosity of ash melts is measured at high temperature up to 1700 °C. In the drying tests, the significant influence of structural issues, because of the provenance and origin of lignite on the drying characteristics, was found by applying the method of sensitivity analysis of physical propensity. This paper concludes that the investigated Polish lignite has characteristics favourable for utilization in IGCC technology, once the precautions related to its high moisture have been carefully addressed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.