Dihydroaustrasulfone Alcohol (WA-25) Impedes Macrophage Foam Cell Formation by Regulating the Transforming Growth Factor-β1 Pathway

Atherosclerosis is considered an inflammatory disease. However, clinically used anti-atherosclerotic drugs, such as simvastatin, have many side effects. Recently, several unique marine compounds have been isolated that possess a variety of bioactivities. In a previous study, we found a synthetic precursor of the marine compound (austrasulfone), which is dihydroaustrasulfone alcohol (WA-25), has anti-atherosclerotic effects in vivo. However, the detailed mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, to clarify the mechanisms through which WA-25 exerts anti-atherosclerotic activity, we used RAW 264.7 macrophages as an in vitro model to evaluate the effects of WA-25. In lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells, WA-25 significantly inhibited expression of the pro-inflammatory proteins, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). In contrast, simvastatin increased the COX-2 expression compared to WA-25. In addition, WA-25 impedes foam cell formation and up-regulated the lysosomal and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling pathway. We also observed that transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) was up-regulated by WA-25 and simvastatin in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells, and the promising anti-atherosclerosis effects of WA-25 were disrupted by blockade of TGF-β1 signaling. Besides, WA-25 might act through increasing lipolysis than through alteration of lipid export. Taken together, these data demonstrate that WA-25 may have potential as an anti-atherosclerotic drug with anti-inflammatory effects.     

Fault‐tolerant leader‐follower formation control of marine surface vessels with unknown dynamics and actuator faults

This paper concentrates on the leader‐follower formation control problem for marine surface vessels with unknown nonlinear dynamics and actuator faults. The unknown inertia matrix and multiplicative fault render the existing methods infeasible. To solve this problem, a low‐complexity prescribed performance controller is first proposed without the help of auxiliary neural/fuzzy systems or adaptive mechanisms. A modification technique is further adopted to relax the initial condition, such that global closed‐loop stability is guaranteed. Finally, simulation results illustrate the above theoretical results.     

船舶发电机组负荷突加突卸测试系统设计

针对船舶发电机组负荷突加突卸时间短、波动大、不易测量的状况,采用NI公司的数据采集卡USB6009为核心构建了船舶发电机组测试系统的硬件。基于LabVIEW开发环境,研究了其软件设计并作了相应的实验验证了该系统的可行性与有效性。实验表明,该测试系统界面友好,性能稳定,有良好的实时性和测量精度。     

船用冷凝器结构特点浅析

根据船用换热器的设计与使用经验,介绍了船用冷凝器的结构特点.针对船用设备在设计过程中遇到的实际问题,包括渔船上设备操作空间的限制、船体海上捕捞作业的颠簸情况,及海水对设备的强腐蚀性等方面,对船用冷凝器结构形式的选取以及其区别于陆用产品的特殊结构做出了说明.     

海陆交互相沉积软土固结效应

海陆交互相沉积软土是珠江三角洲内广泛分布的不良地基土，土类主要为含粉细砂的淤泥和淤泥质黏土，基本力学特性较一般海相软土有所不同。基于广州南沙万顷沙组（Q₄W）灰黑色淤泥质土的一系列室内试验成果，系统分析和研究了土体固结作用对基本力学特性的影响，包括渗透特性、剪切强度特性、次固结特性、直接剪切蠕变特性、三轴压缩蠕变特性、回弹特性等，提出了考虑固结效应的量化分析方法。为适应工程需要，这些分析方法所涉及的参数大多可通过简单／常规的试验方法确定。