Potential of Silver Nanoparticles in Overcoming the Intrinsic Resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to Secondary Metabolites from Carnivorous Plants

Carnivorous plants are exemplary natural sources of secondary metabolites with biological activity. However, the therapeutic antimicrobial potential of these compounds is limited due to intrinsic resistance of selected bacterial pathogens, among which Pseudomonas aeruginosa represents an extreme example. The objective of the study was to overcome the intrinsic resistance of P. aeruginosa by combining silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with secondary metabolites from selected carnivorous plant species. We employed the broth microdilution method, the checkerboard titration technique and comprehensive phytochemical analyses to define interactions between nanoparticles and active compounds from carnivorous plants. It has been confirmed that P. aeruginosa is resistant to a broad range of secondary metabolites from carnivorous plants, i.e., naphthoquinones, flavonoids, phenolic acids (MBC = 512 µg mL⁻¹) and only weakly sensitive to their mixtures, i.e., extracts and extracts’ fractions. However, it was shown that the antimicrobial activity of extracts and fractions with a significant level of naphthoquinone (plumbagin) was significantly enhanced by AgNPs. Our studies clearly demonstrated a crucial role of naphthoquinones in AgNPs and extract interaction, as well as depicted the potential of AgNPs to restore the bactericidal activity of naphthoquinones towards P. aeruginosa. Our findings indicate the significant potential of nanoparticles to modulate the activity of selected secondary metabolites and revisit their antimicrobial potential towards human pathogenic bacteria.     

Antisense Oligonucleotide-Based Rescue of Aberrant Splicing Defects Caused by 15 Pathogenic Variants in ABCA4

The discovery of novel intronic variants in the ABCA4 locus has contributed significantly to solving the missing heritability in Stargardt disease (STGD1). The increasing number of variants affecting pre-mRNA splicing makes ABCA4 a suitable candidate for antisense oligonucleotide (AON)-based splicing modulation therapies. In this study, AON-based splicing modulation was assessed for 15 recently described intronic variants (three near-exon and 12 deep-intronic variants). In total, 26 AONs were designed and tested in vitro using a midigene-based splice system. Overall, partial or complete splicing correction was observed for two variants causing exon elongation and all variants causing pseudoexon inclusion. Together, our results confirm the high potential of AONs for the development of future RNA therapies to correct splicing defects causing STGD1.     

高灵敏度弱磁传感器研究

磁传感器在生物医学、资源探测和航空航天等领域有巨大的应用价值,基于原子自旋的弱磁传感器拥有目前最高的磁场测量灵敏度。但通常的方案采用射频场调制或远离共振的激光检测,前者增加了磁力仪的线宽,而后者对激光频率的锁定带来了困难。为了解决以上问题,提出了一种基于激光强度调制和圆二向色性检测的原子弱磁传感器方案,详细描述了其工作原理和系统构成,并对原子弱磁传感器的性能进行了测试。实验结果表明:原子弱磁传感器的磁共振线宽为22 Hz,在对恒定磁场进行30 min连续测量时,峰峰值抖动小于9 pT,灵敏度达到了0.12 pT/Hz1/2。     

Surface characterization of cross-linked elastomers by shear modulation force microscopy

Brominated poly(isobutylene-co-4-methylstyrene) (BIMS) is a synthetic terpolymer which can be stoichiometrically cross-linked by N,N′-dicinnamylidene-1,6-hexanediamine (DIAK). The degree of cross-links on bulk samples was determined by measuring the low frequency shear modulus with parallel plate method. The surface modulus of the same samples was measured using a new method, shear modulation force microscopy (SMFM). The moduli of the bulk sample and the surface were found to have the same scaling with the cross-link density, and good agreement with rubber elasticity theory was obtained in both cases. The SMFM was then used to monitor the cross-linking process, as a function of DIAK concentration and curing time, in thin films where standard rheological methods cannot be applied. The results show that in all cases the cross-linking reaction at the surface reaches saturation in less than 10 min as compared to at least 1 h in the bulk samples.     

光学镜头调制传递函数的测试

为了定量、客观、全面地评价光学镜头的像质,介绍了光学镜头调制传递函数的测试。先简要叙述了测试的原理,并给出计算公式;然后介绍了测试步骤,其中包括固定、穿轴、测试中心视场和测试轴外视场;最后介绍了测试时的注意事项,包括对测试工装的要求、对测试平面的要求和正、负轴外视场测试值相差较大时的处理办法。     

一种用于目标跟踪的波形自适应选择算法

提出了一种用于雷达目标跟踪的自适应广义调频波形设计算法。该算法根据跟踪器的动态需求,以广义调频信号为样板波形自适应设计下一时刻的发射波形,其目的是最小化预测的目标跟踪均方误差,并假定高信噪比条件,且目标跟踪运动模型和观测模型均为线性,利用与某一波形相对应的克拉美--罗下限（CRLB）以及卡尔曼滤波器,通过最小化预测的跟踪均方误差来实现广义调频波形的自适应设计。仿真结果表明：在信噪比相同的情况下,与使用固定参数、自适应参数的线性调频波形设计算法相比,所提出的算法能够获得更低的目标跟踪均方误差。     

基于DMWT和QIMM 的图像水印算法

利用多尺度分析的思想,对原始图像进行重复行信号预滤波,把标量小波变换扩展到多小波变换后选取变换出来的低频子带进行水印嵌入。为了保证水印信息的安全性,对水印进行加密置乱处理。然后结合量化索引模数调制（QIMM）的优越性能,根据水印的信息不同选择不同的子块进行嵌入并实现了水印的盲提取。实验证明,算法具有良好的视觉性和鲁棒性,并大大扩展了水印的容量。     

基于多重分形特征的防空雷达目标分类方法

在介绍常规雷达飞机目标回波数学模型的基础上,利用多重分形测度分析手段,分析了常规雷达飞机目标回波的多重分形特性及其多重分形特征的提取方法,并从模式分类的角度,提出了利用多重分形特征对喷气式飞机、螺旋桨飞机和直升机等三类飞机目标进行分类的方法.实验表明,上述三类飞机的目标回波数据具有显著不同的多重分形特征,所定义的多重分形特征参数可以作为飞机目标分类和识别的有效特征,仿真实验验证了所提方法的有效性.     

Matlab在《通信原理》课程中的应用研究

在《通信原理》课程教学中,运用Matlab构建了一个通信系统仿真平台辅助课堂教学,能够将抽象乏味的原理以图形的形式直观的显示出来,并能方便的改变参数来观察波形的变化,这使学生能够更好的掌握原理,并能调动学生的学习积极性,能获得较好的教学效果。该文以常规双边带调幅（AM）为例,运用Matlab软件仿真辅助教学,实际教学效果良好。     

基于信道识别的WPM解调性能改善研究

小波包调制的主要优势是其调制结构以及解调策略上的灵活性。该文利用小波包调制多速率传输特性,通过信道识别,采用联合估计的方法,探讨了小波包调制系统在不同信道中的性能改善问题。仿真结果表明该方法明显提高了小波包调制系统在不同信道中的传输性能以及抗干扰能力。