Marine Phospholipids from Fishery By-Products Attenuate Atherosclerosis

In this study, the anti-atherosclerotic properties of three marine phospholipids (MPLs) extracts from fishery by-products including codfish roe, squid gonad, and shrimp head are verified. Their effects on key factors involved in atherosclerosis are examined and compared to explore whether the differences in their constitutions lead to the differences in the function. All three MPLs dampen oxidation of low- density lipoproteins (LDL) in vitro. Treating RAW264.7 macrophages and HUVECs endothelial cells with each MPLs ranging 10–100 µg mL⁻¹ does not decrease cell viability, yet ox-LDL caused cytotoxicity of both cells are alleviated by 50 or 100 µg mL⁻¹ MPLs treatment. In addition, the three MPLs reduce ox-LDL induced macrophage foam-like transition, mainly through inhibition of lipid uptake. Of the three MPLs, the one from squid gonad exhibits the best effect. On the other hand, all three MPLs modulate inflammatory responses, equally, by inhibiting the adhesion of monocytes to endothelial cells, and decreasing secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and MCP-1. Using a high-cholesterol diet induced zebrafish model, it is found that all three MPLs, especially the one from squid gonad, alleviates cholesterol accumulation in early plaques, and decreases total cholesterol as well as lipid peroxide in vivo. Practical Applications: As a way of making the best of the increasingly scarce marine resources, valuable lipid components can be recovered from by-products and wastes from the fishery industry. Here, we tested the anti-atherosclerotic effects and the mechanisms of three MPLs extracted from codfish roe, squid gonad, and shrimp head. Our study provides further evidence that marine phospholipids extracted from fishery by-products could protect against atherosclerosis, and helps to elucidate the structure-function relationship of MPLs.     

On the local behavior of spaces of range image patches

We focus on the quantitative and local topological properties of range images. We consider the spaces M_m of m × m high-contrast patches of range images for m=?3, 5, 7, 9, 11. Using computational topological tools to analyze range image patches, we detect that M₃ (M₉, M₁₁) has core subsets with the topology of a circle, M₃, M₅, M₇, M₉ and that M₁₁ have some subspaces with the topology of a Klein bottle. We also discover that the largest subspace with the Klein bottle’s topology decreases as the measurements of patches increase, which generalizes the results in the paper of H. Adams and G. Carlsson, and demonstrates properties among optical images and range image patches, which are more similar than those established by Lee et al.

     

Fabrication of BSCF-based mixed ionic-electronic conducting membrane by electrophoretic deposition for oxygen separation application

Ba_0.5Sr_0.5Co_0.8Fe_0.2O_3-δ (BSCF), which exhibits a high mixed oxide ionic-electronic conduction, was used for the fabrication of an oxygen separation membrane. An asymmetric structure, which was a thin and dense BSCF membrane layer supported on a porous BSCF substrate, was fabricated by the electrophoretic deposition method (EPD). Porous BSCF supports were prepared by the uniaxial pressing method using a powder mixture with BSCF and starch as the pore-forming agent (0–50 wt.%). The sintering behaviors of the porous support and the thin layer were separately characterized by dilatometry to determine the co-fired temperature at which cracking did not occur. A crack-free and thin dense membrane layer, which had about a 15 μm thickness and >95% relative density, was obtained after optimizing the processes of EPD and sintering. The dense/porous interface was well-bonded and the oxygen permeation flux was 2.5 ml (STP) min⁻¹ cm^-2 at 850 °C.     

Application of spent grains to increase porosity in bricks

The dumping of spent grains is going to be more difficult because of the increasing number of cattle. That means new ways of dumping must be developed.The goal of the work was to test the technical properties of bricks produced with spent grains added to increase porosity.The flexural strength of the fired samples remained at 8.5 MPa; the air-dried samples exhibited a small increase in flexural strength. The shrinkage and true density were almost identical, while the raw density, capacity for water absorption and open porosity showed minor differences.In the large-scale experiment no problems were observed during the production. The bricks produced with spent grains possessed a comparable or higher strength, a higher porosity and a reduced density after firing than those from a standard production clay. Because of the lower sintering temperatures the fired clay product was more strongly sintered, exhibiting both greater strength and higher porosity.     

Double Medical Images Zero-Watermarking Algorithm Based on the Chaotic System and Ternary Accurate Polar Complex Exponential Transform

Journal of Mathematical Imaging and Vision - Different from the traditional watermarking schemes, zero-watermarking schemes are lossless embedding methods, which are applicable to be used in...     

Molecular Dynamics Simulations Based on 1-Phenyl-4-Benzoyl-1-Hydro-Triazole ERRα Inverse Agonists

Estrogen-related receptor α (ERRα), which is overexpressed in a variety of cancers has been considered as an effective target for anticancer therapy. ERRα inverse agonists have been proven to effectively inhibit the migration and invasion of cancer cells. As few crystalline complexes have been reported, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out in this study to deepen the understanding of the interaction mechanism between inverse agonists and ERRα. The binding free energy was analyzed by the MM-GBSA method. The results show that the total binding free energy was positively correlated with the biological activity of an inverse agonist. The interaction of the inverse agonist with the hydrophobic interlayer composed of Phe328 and Phe495 had an important impact on the biological activity of inverse agonists, which was confirmed by the decomposition of energy on residues. As Glu331 flipped and formed a hydrogen bond with Arg372 in the MD simulation process, the formation of hydrogen bond interaction with Glu331 was not a necessary condition for the compound to act as an inverse agonist. These rules provide guidance for the design of new inverse agonists.     

低磷共聚物对黄铜的缓蚀作用

采用失重法、能量散射X-射线、电化学方法，研究了自制低磷共聚物在配制冷却水中对黄铜的缓蚀作用，分析了空白实验和加入低磷共聚物后黄铜试片的表面元素组成，探讨了低磷共聚物的缓蚀机理。结果表明，低磷共聚物在黄铜试片表面活性位置吸附抑制了阳极电化学过程。     

肠溶型药物包衣用丙烯酸树脂的制备工艺

采用乳液聚合法制备肠溶型药物包衣用丙烯酸树脂,采用甲基丙烯酸与甲基丙烯酸甲酯作为共聚单体、过硫酸钾作为引发剂、十二烷基硫酸钠及OP-10复配作为乳化剂、苯乙烯的二聚体作为分子量调节剂、碳酸氢钠作为pH值调节剂,考察了乳化剂配比及用量、引发剂及分子量调节剂的用量、反应温度、加料方式、相比等因素的影响,最终确定了实验制备药物包衣用丙烯酸树脂的最佳条件。利用乌氏粘度计测定其相对分子量,并作了红外光谱测试,结果表明,乳液符合国家药典要求。该制备过程避免了有机溶剂的使用,有明显的经济和环保效益。     

纳米复合金属陶瓷模具材料的研究进展

纳米复合金属陶瓷材料不仅具有较好的综合机械性能,如高强度、高硬度、耐高温、耐磨损,而且具有较好的化学稳定性、抗氧化性能和耐腐蚀性能,在模具制造方面具有广阔前景.本文综述了纳米复合金属陶瓷材料的研究现状及存在问题,并指出了今后研究的发展趋势.     

隧道窑预热带烟气流动对上下温差的影响

为减小隧道窑预热带上下温差,利用计算机数值模拟对预热带温度场进行研究,找出烟气流动对隧道窑预热带上下温差的影响规律.在预热带内来流烟气的温度保持不变,速度为0.5～1.0 m/s时,窑内温度均匀性较好.在保持来流烟气温度和速度不变的情况下,码料密度的合适值为孔隙率在0.208～0.408范围内,可提高产品的质量和产量.