A smart multifunctional nanocomposite for intracellular targeted drug delivery and self-release

A multifunctional 'all-in-one' nanocomposite is fabricated using a colloid, template and surface-modification method. This material encompasses magnetic induced target delivery, cell uptake promotion and controlled drug release in one system. The nanocomposite is characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, N(2) adsorption and vibrating sample magnetometry. The prepared material has a diameter of 350-400 nm, a high surface area of 420.29 m(2) g(-1), a pore size of 1.91 nm and a saturation magnetization of 32 emu g(-1). Doxorubicin (DOX) is loaded in mesopores and acid-sensitive blockers are introduced onto the orifices of the mesopores by a Schiff base linker to implement pH-dependent self-release. Folate was also introduced to improve DOX targeted delivery and endocytosis. The linkers remained intact to block pores with ferrocene valves and inhibit the diffusion of DOX at neutral pH. However, in lysosomes of cancer cells, which have a weak acidic pH, hydrolysis of the Schiff base group removes the nanovalves and allows the trapped DOX to be released. These processes are demonstrated by UV-visible absorption spectra, confocal fluorescence microscopy images and methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assays in vitro, which suggest that the smart nanocomposite successfully integrates targeted drug delivery with internal stimulus induced self-release and is a potentially useful material for nanobiomedicine.     

Bio-inspired strategy for on-surface synthesis of silver nanoparticles for metal/organic hybrid nanomaterials and LDI-MS substrates

A strategy for the on-surface synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on a variety of two-?to three-dimensional material surfaces, utilizing polydopamine, an emerging surface modifying agent, is reported in this paper. This material-independent platform for AgNP synthesis is useful for fabricating organic/inorganic hybrid nanomaterials and for preparing substrates for laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LDI-ToF MS).     

水热温度对二氧化钛结构及光催化活性的影响

以四氯化钛、环氧丙烷和乙醇为原料,采用水热法在不同温度下分别合成了金红石相纳米二氧化钛及板钛矿相与金红石相混晶结构的纳米二氧化钛,并利用X射线衍射(XRD)、透射电镜(TEM)和N2吸附-脱附对其进行了表征。以甲基橙为探针研究了不同水热温度对二氧化钛光催化活性的影响。     

End Effect on the Twin—Wire Depth Probe

The end effect on the output voltage of a twin-wire depth probe was investigated both theoretically and ex-perimentally.It was found that the contribution of the end of the probe to the output voltage depends uponthe distance between the boundary and the end of the probe and the geometrical configuration of the probe.By mounting a piece of plate to the end of the electrodes,the end effect can be reduced.However,the size ofthe plate required to eliminate completely this effect is much larger than that usually mounted on commerciallyavailable probes.Comparison between theoretical and experimental results was made.Reasonable agreementwas obtained.     

储油罐内壁铁锈硫化及氧化反应

储罐内壁铁锈在低温有水的条件下与储罐中的硫化氢气体反应生成硫铁化物．硫铁化物的氧化放热是引起含硫油品储罐着火的主要原因．采用X-射线衍射仪鉴定铁锈成份,对铁锈主要成分室温下进行硫化及硫化产物的氧化实验,绘制硫化及硫化产物氧化反应温度-时间曲线,并鉴定分析硫化产物及硫化产物的氧化产物,研究对含硫储罐自燃的作用．结果表明,铁锈主要成分为Fe2O3和Fe3O4,室温硫化产物均为FeS,但FeS形状与其来源有关．形状、致密性不同,致使氧化自燃性不同．Fe2O3硫化产物比Fe3O4硫化产物的氧化自燃性高,对引发储罐自燃的危险性大．     

A novel high power density permanent magnet variable-speed motor

A novel polyphase, multipole, permanent magnet (PM) motor which possesses high power density, high efficiency and excellent controllability, yet can be produced by conventional fabrication techniques, is proposed. The basic operating principles, design features, performance analysis and control system are described. The experimental results for a 5 kW, 1500 RPM prototype PM motor and its comparison with other types of motors such as switched reluctance motors and induction motors are given. This motor also has superior dynamic performance     

Experimental investigation on the effect of natural gas composition on performance of autothermal reforming

This paper presents experimental study on catalytic autothermal reforming (ATR) of natural gas (NG) for hydrogen (_H2${\mathrm{H}}_2$) production over sulfide nickel catalyst supported on gamma alumina. The experiments are conducted on a cylindrical reactor of 30 mm in diameter and 200 mm in length with “simulated” NG of different composition under thermal-neutral conditions and fed with different molar air to fuel ratio (A/F$A/F$) and molar water to fuel ratio (W/F)$(W/F)$. The results showed that reforming performance is significantly dependent on A/F$A/F$, W/F$W/F$ and concentration of _C2+${\mathrm{C}}_{2+}$ hydrocarbons in inlet fuel. Fuels containing higher _C2+${\mathrm{C}}_{2+}$ hydrocarbons concentration have optimum performance in terms of more _H2${\mathrm{H}}_2$ at higher A/F$A/F$ and W/F$W/F$ but lower conversion efficiency. Good performance for ATR of fuel containing 15%–20% _C2H6${\mathrm{C}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_6$ can be achieved at A/F=5–7$A/F=5–7$ and W/F=4–6$W/F=4–6$, much higher than that for optimum performance of ATR of methane (A/F=3,W/F=2–2.5$A/F=3,W/F=2–2.5$). _CO2${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ in the inlet fuel does not have significant effect on the reversed water–gas shift reaction. Its effect on reforming performance is mainly due to the dilution of inlet fuel and products.     

Fine‐Grained FSMD Power Gating Considering Power Overhead

As a fine‐grained power gating method for achieving greater power savings, our approach takes advantage of the finite state machine with a datapath (FSMD) characteristic which shows sequential idleness among subcircuits. In an FSMD‐based power gating, while only an active subcircuit is expected to be turned on, more subcircuits should be activated due to the power overhead. To reduce the number of missed opportunities for power savings, we deactivated some of the turned‐on subcircuits by slowing the FSMD down and predicting its behavior. Our microprocessor experiments showed that the power savings are close to the upper bound.     

Lightweight and provably secure user authentication with anonymity for the global mobility network

Seamless roaming in the global mobility network (GLOMONET) is highly desirable for mobile users, although their proper authentication is challenging. This is because not only are wireless networks susceptible to attacks, but also mobile terminals have limited computational power. Recently, some authentication schemes with anonymity for the GLOMONET have been proposed. This paper shows some security weaknesses in those schemes. Furthermore, a lightweight and provably secure user authentication scheme with anonymity for the GLOMONET is proposed. It uses only symmetric cryptographic and hash operation primitives for secure authentication. Besides, it takes only four message exchanges among the user, foreign agent and home agent. We also demonstrate that this protocol enjoys important security attributes including prevention of various attacks, single registration, user anonymity, user friendly, no password/verifier table, and use of one‐time session key between mobile user and foreign agent. The security properties of the proposed protocol are formally validated by a model checking tool called AVISPA. Furthermore, as one of the new features in our protocol, it can defend smart card security breaches. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance enhancement in organic photovoltaic devices using plasma-polymerized fluorocarbon-modified Ag nanoparticles

In this work, Ag nanoparticles were modified by an ultra-thin plasma-polymerized fluorocarbon film (CF_X) to form a composite CF_X-modified Ag nanoparticles/indium tin oxide (ITO) anode for application in organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. A CF_X-modified Ag nanoparticles/ITO anode exhibited a superior surface work function of 5.4 eV suited for application in OPV devices. The performance of zinc phthalocyanine:fullerene-based OPV devices showed a significant improvement when the structural identical cells are made with the CF_X-modified Ag nanoparticles/ITO. This work yielded a promising power conversion efficiency of 3.5 ± 0.1%, notably higher than that with a bare ITO anode (2.7 ± 0.1%).