Bee Bread Ameliorates Vascular Inflammation and Impaired Vasorelaxation in Obesity-Induced Vascular Damage Rat Model: The Role of eNOS/NO/cGMP-Signaling Pathway

Obesity and hyperlipidemia are major risk factors for developing vascular diseases. Bee bread (BB) has been reported to exhibit some biological actions, including anti-obesity and anti-hyperlipidemic. This study aims to investigate whether bee bread can ameliorate vascular inflammation and impaired vasorelaxation activity through eNOS/NO/cGMP pathway in obese rats. Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups (n = 10/group), namely: control (normal group), obese rats (OB group), obese rats treated with bee bread (0.5 g/kg/day, OB/BB group) and obese rats treated with orlistat (10 mg/kg/day, OB/OR group). The latter three groups were given a high-fat diet (HFD) for 6 weeks to induced obesity before being administered with their respective treatments for another 6 weeks. After 12 weeks of the total experimental period, rats in the OB group demonstrated significantly higher Lee obesity index, lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein), aortic proinflammatory markers (tumor necrosis factor-α, nuclear factor-κβ), aortic structural damage and impairment in vasorelaxation response to acetylcholine (ACh). Bee bread significantly ameliorated the obesity-induced vascular damage manifested by improvements in the lipid profile, aortic inflammatory markers, and the impaired vasorelaxation activity by significantly enhancing nitric oxide release, promoting endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) immunoexpression. These findings suggest that the administration of bee bread ameliorates the impaired vasorelaxation response to ACh by improving eNOS/NO/cGMP-signaling pathway in obese rats, suggesting its vascular therapeutic role.     

Designing Semipermeable Hydrogel Shells with Controlled Thickness through Internal Osmosis in Triple-Emulsion Droplets

Hydrogel shells that compartmentalize the water core from the aqueous surrounding provide molecular selectivity on size and charge in transmembrane transport. It is highly demanding to produce thin hydrogel shells to minimize diffusion length and maximize core volume. Here, internal osmosis in water-in-oil-in-water-in-oil (W/O/W/O) triple-emulsion droplets is used to produce thin hydrogel shells enclosing a large water core. The triple-emulsion droplets are prepared to have an ultrathin middle oil layer using a capillary microfluidic device. The innermost water droplet has a higher osmolarity than the outer water layer containing photopolymerizable hydrogel precursors, which pumps water from the outer layer to the core through the ultrathin oil layer by the osmosis. Therefore, the outer layer gets thinner and hydrogel precursors are enriched while the size of the triple-emulsion droplets remains unchanged. Through photopolymerization of precursors and phase transfer from oil to water, hydrogel shells enclosing water core are produced in the water environment; the oil layer is ruptured for molecular exchange through the shells. The thickness and composition of the hydrogel shells are precisely controllable by the osmotic conditions. The shells show a high permeation rate due to the thinness as well as controlled cut-off threshold of permeation for neutral and charged molecules.     

Platinum nanoparticles decorated on graphitic carbon nitride-ZIF-67 composite support: An electrocatalyst for the oxidation of butanol in fuel cell applications

In the present study, we report an eco-friendly and simple route to design and synthesize novel nanocomposite catalyst based on platinum nanoparticles anchored on binary support of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) and cobalt-metal-organic framework (ZIF-67). For this purpose, ZIF-67 was prepared by precipitation method and g-C₃N₄ was prepared through thermal polymerization method. Later, ZIF-67 and g-C₃N₄ were hybridized through sonication to get homogeneous g–C₃N₄–ZIF-67 nanocomposite support material. Platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) were uniformly deposited on g–C₃N₄–ZIF-67 by an electrochemical method. The as-developed nanocatalyst was characterized by morphological, structural and electrochemical techniques. The electrocatalytic activity of PtNPs@g–C₃N₄–ZIF-67 nanocatalyst towards butanol oxidation was evaluated via CV, CA, LSV and EIS in an alkaline medium. Results revealed that the proposed catalyst showed greatly enhanced electrooxidation of butanol in terms of high magnificent current density, lower oxidation potential, excellent long-term stability, large surface area, low charge transfer resistance and less toxic ability. Enhanced catalytic performance of the proposed catalyst could be ascribed to the synergistic effect of g–C₃N₄–ZIF-67 nanocomposite and PtNPs. The PtNPs@g–C₃N₄–ZIF-67 catalyst holds promising potential applications to be used as an anodic electrocatalyst for the development of high-performance alkaline fuel cells.     

渤海湾盆地石油地质储量和产量增长趋势的预测

渤海湾盆地的石油地质储量发现过程具有明显的渐进性、阶段性和长期性，石油产量的增长也具有一定的起伏性，用一个周期的单旋回哈伯特模型难以预测其发展趋势。通过分析渤海湾盆地的勘探开发历程，结合新一轮常规油气资源评价的结果，分别采用4个和3个哈伯特旋回拟合石油地质储量发现和产量增长曲线。预测结果显示，2005-2015年渤海湾盆地处于石油地质储量发现高峰期，2015年左右其石油产量达到高峰，之后处于下降趋势。实践证明，利用多旋回哈伯特模型对具有“多峰”特征的石油地质储量和产量的未来趋势进行预测是一种有效的方法。     

水资源承载力及其研究

文章简要介绍了我国水资源情况,分析了我国水资源承载力与可持续发展的关系,并阐述了水资源承载力 研究的特点和方法。     

Concurrent error detection in array multipliers forGF(2m) fields

Based on Lee-Lu-Lee's array multipliers and the RESO method, a concurrent error detection scheme in array multipliers for GF(2^m ) fields is presented and only one clock cycle is added. The fault tolerant capability in such array multipliers is also included and only two extra clock cycles are required     

利用反射纵波评价裂缝倾角的模拟实验研究

声波全波列测井中的反射纵波可以用来评价高角度裂缝和对井周附近地质结构进行成像。目前的研究主要侧重于直接从波形资料处理出发计算裂缝的位置和倾角 ,其可靠性和准确性无从评价和校验。文中采用模拟实验的方法记录了倾角为 6 0°～80°范围内的 8种倾角裂缝的反射脉冲纵波波形 ,自行推导了反演裂缝倾角的公式 ,结合波场分离技术对实验测量波形数据进行了处理 ,计算出的裂缝倾角与实际值具有良好的一致性。本文结果表明 ,利用至少 2个深度点的纵波反射波波形资料就可以准确地反演裂缝的倾角