Inhibitory effects of curcumin and piperine on fluorescent advanced glycation end products formation in a bovine serum albumin–fructose model

This study investigated the inhibitory effects of curcumin and piperine on fluorescent advanced glycation end products (fAGEs) formation in a bovine serum albumin (BSA)–fructose model. Model systems of BSA and fructose were prepared, and curcumin or piperine was added. fAGEs and BSA oxidation product (dityrosine, kynurenine and N'-formylkynurenine) contents were determined. The results showed that fAGEs content decreased with increasing concentration of curcumin and piperine (P < 0.05). Addition of curcumin and piperine at 160 µg mL⁻¹ could inhibit fluorescent AGEs by 100% and 93% respectively. Dityrosine and N'-formylkynurenine contents decreased as curcumin and piperine concentration increased (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the result of principal component analysis indicated that curcumin and piperine markedly impeded BSA oxidation, resulting in a lower level of fAGEs in model systems. Therefore, adding curcumin and piperine may facilitate reduced fAGEs levels in BSA–fructose model.     

Developing novel liquid crystal technologies for display and photonic applications

Modern liquid crystal displays (LCDs) require novel technologies, such as new alignment methods to eliminate alignment layers, fast response and long operation time. To this end, we report an overview of recent efforts in LCD technologies devoted to realize more display modes having no alignment layer, faster switching time and low battery consumption. In particular, we overview recent advances on the liquid crystals (LCs) alignment for display applications, which includes superfine nanostructures, polymeric microchannels and polymer stabilized LCs. Furthermore, we analyze the main optical and electro-optical properties of new generation LCDs displays addressing a particular attention to LCs blue phase hosting gold nanoparticles. Moreover, we focus on the progress of electrofluidic displays, which demonstrates characteristics that are similar to LCDs, with attention on various pixel designs, operation principles and possible future trends of the technology.     

Design and Characterization of a New pVII Combinatorial Phage Display Peptide Library for Protease Substrate Mining Using Factor VII Activating Protease (FSAP) as Model

We describe a novel, easy and efficient combinatorial phage display peptide substrate-mining method to map the substrate specificity of proteases. The peptide library is displayed on the pVII capsid of the M13 bacteriophage, which renders pIII necessary for infectivity and efficient retrieval, in an unmodified state. As capture module, the 3XFLAG was chosen due to its very high binding efficiency to anti-FLAG mAbs and its independency of any post-translational modification. This library was tested with Factor-VII activating protease (WT-FSAP) and its single-nucleotide polymorphism variant Marburg-I (MI)-FSAP. The WT-FSAP results confirmed the previously reported Arg/Lys centered FSAP cleavage site consensus as dominant, as well as reinforcing MI-FSAP as a loss-of-function mutant. Surprisingly, rare substrate clones devoid of basic amino acids were also identified. Indeed one of these peptides was cleaved as free peptide, thus suggesting a broader range of WT-FSAP substrates than previously anticipated.     

Quantum Sensing in a Physiological‐Like Cell Niche Using Fluorescent Nanodiamonds Embedded in Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers

Fluorescent nanodiamonds (fNDs) containing nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers are promising candidates for quantum sensing in biological environments. This work describes the fabrication and implementation of electrospun poly lactic‐co‐glycolic acid (PLGA) nanofibers embedded with fNDs for optical quantum sensing in an environment, which recapitulates the nanoscale architecture and topography of the cell niche. A protocol that produces uniformly dispersed fNDs within electrospun nanofibers is demonstrated and the resulting fibers are characterized using fluorescent microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) and longitudinal spin relaxometry results for fNDs and embedded fNDs are compared. A new approach for fast detection of time varying magnetic fields external to the fND embedded nanofibers is demonstrated. ODMR spectra are successfully acquired from a culture of live differentiated neural stem cells functioning as a connected neural network grown on fND embedded nanofibers. This work advances the current state of the art in quantum sensing by providing a versatile sensing platform that can be tailored to produce physiological‐like cell niches to replicate biologically relevant growth environments and fast measurement protocols for the detection of co‐ordinated endogenous signals from clinically relevant populations of electrically active neuronal circuits.     

ZnO基薄膜晶体管的研究

ZnO是一种宽带隙的光电半导体材料,能应用于很多领域,如可用在压敏变阻器、声表面波器件、气敏元件、紫外光探测等。ZnO也可以作为有源层应用于薄膜晶体管(TFT)中。ZnO基薄膜晶体管具有以下突出优势:对于可见光部分平均具有80%以上的透射率,迁移率可以高达36cm2/V·s,开/关电流比大于106,可在较低温度(甚至室温)下制备。基于这些优点,ZnOTFT具有取代有源矩阵液晶显示器中常规a-SiTFT的趋势。同时对ZnOTFT的研究也推动了透明电子学的发展。本文阐述了ZnOTFT优越的电学性能,指出了其目前尚存在的不足,并对其发展前景进行了展望。     

图形点阵式液晶显示器MSP-G320240在高速处理器DSP中的应用

介绍了内置SD1335控制器的图形液晶显示器MSP-G320240的工作原理及应用方法，给出了MSP-G320240液晶显示器同DSP的简单接口电路，同时给出了相应的液晶显示器的初始化和清显示区的具体程序。     

基于单片机加压控制的PCD复合片真空扩散焊接

文章针对普通钎焊的聚晶金刚石钻头剪切强度不高，提出了采用单片机加压控制的PCD复合片真空扩散焊接的设计思想，在对原真空扩散焊机液压改造的基础上给出如何由单片机控制加压的电路和程序流程设计。实际应用表明，该技术经济实用，有较好的经济效益。     

原油常减压装置节能技术

由于常减压装置消耗能量约占炼油厂总用能的25％～30％，已成为炼油厂中消耗量最大的装置，因此，我国各炼油厂对常减压装置进行以降低能耗为中心的技术改造就显得十分必要。详细介绍了适用于常减压装置节能的新工艺、新设备以及优化操作。工艺方面主要有采用过滤脱盐新技术对原油进行深度脱盐、采用强化蒸馏新工艺提高原油蒸馏拔出率、优化产出、增产柴油；设备方面主要使用规整填料和新型塔板改善分馏塔分馏效率、使用新型燃烧器提高加热炉效率、使用新型换热器提高热回收率、采用变频技术降低装置电耗；优化操作方面主要有利用计算机进行监控与管理和改善操作条件。最后对国内原油常减压装置节能改造提出了一些建议，以供炼油企业在进行原油常减压装置改造时参考。     

Evaluation of Atmospheric and Vacuum Residues Using Molecular Distillation and Optimization

The term atmospheric residue describes the material at the bottom of the atmospheric distillation tower having a lower boiling point limit of about 340°C; the term vacuum residue (heavy petroleum fractions) refers to the bottom of the vacuum distillation, which has an atmospheric equivalent boiling point (AEBP) above 540°C. In this work, the objective is to evaluate the behavior of different kinds of Brazilian atmospheric and vacuum residues using molecular distillation. The Falling Film Molecular Distillator was used. For the results obtained through this process, a significant range of temperature can be explored avoiding the thermal decomposition of the material. So these results are very important to the refinery decisions and improvements. The Experimental Factorial Design results showed that the temperature has more influence on the process than the feed flow rate, when a higher percentage of distillate is required.     

主动雷达终端实时仿真软件的设计与实现

在主动雷达数据回放显示的基础上,通过使用D irectDraw和Intel IPP技术,设计了主动雷达终端实时仿真软件,包括信号处理、数据处理及终端显示等模块,极大地提高了软件的执行效率,使得整个仿真过程具有良好的实时性。本文介绍了该软件的设计及实现。