Changes in the content and antioxidative activity of β-carotene and its metabolite vitamin A during gastrointestinal digestion and absorption and optimisation of HPLC-based detection

The β-Carotene (BC), an important precursor of vitamin A (VA), possesses antioxidant activity but is fat-soluble and has low bioavailability. In previous in-vitro assays evaluating antioxidant and 2,2′-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH) free radical scavenging, both BC and VA showed a strong ability to scavenge radicals and protected cells from oxidative stress. Here, we used artificially simulated gastrointestinal digestion and Caco-2 cell absorption models to evaluate the bioavailability of the BC during gastrointestinal digestion and absorption using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. We observed high absorptive and transfer rates of BC and detected retinol metabolites (Vitamin A). Therefore, BC can be detected in the acidic gastrointestinal environment using HPLC. Optimised method provided better separation of BC and VA in the column, improving the accuracy of the test results.     

Metal-polyphenol-network coated CaCO3 as pH-responsive nanocarriers to enable effective intratumoral penetration and reversal of multidrug resistance for augmented cancer treatments

Construction of multifunctional stimuli-responsive nanotherapeutics enabling improved intratumoral penetration of therapeutics and reversal of multiple-drug resistance (MDR) is potent to achieve effective cancer treatment. Herein, we report a general method to synthesize pH-dissociable calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) hollow nanoparticles with amorphous CaCO₃ as the template, gallic acid (GA) as the organic ligand, and ferrous ions as the metallic center via a one-pot coordination reaction. The obtained GA–Fe@CaCO₃ exhibits high loading efficiencies to both oxidized cisplatin prodrug and doxorubicin, yielding drug loaded GA–Fe@CaCO₃ nanotherapeutics featured in pH-responsive size shrinkage, drug release, and Fenton catalytic activity. Compared to nonresponsive GA–Fe@silica nanoparticles prepared with silica nanoparticles as the template, such GA–Fe@CaCO₃ confers significantly improved intratumoral penetration capacity. Moreover, both types of drug-loaded GA–Fe@CaCO₃ nanotherapeutics exhibit synergistic therapeutic efficacies to corresponding MDR cancer cells because of the GA–Fe mediated intracellular oxidative stress amplification that could reduce the efflux of engulfed drugs by impairing the mitochondrial-mediated production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). As a result, it is found that the doxorubicin loaded GA–Fe@CaCO₃ exhibits superior therapeutic effect towards doxorubicin-resistant 4T1 breast tumors via combined chemodynamic and chemo-therapies. This work highlights the preparation of pH-dissociable CaCO₃-based nanotherapeutics to enable effective tumor penetration for enhanced treatment of drug-resistant tumors.

     

Precise Extraction of Charge Carrier Mobility for Organic Transistors

Unreliable mobility values, and particularly greatly overestimated values and severely distorted temperature dependences, have recently hampered the development of the organic transistor field. Given that organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) have been routinely used to evaluate mobility, precise parameter extraction using the electrical properties of OFETs is thus of primary importance. This review examines the origins of the various mobilities that must be determined for OFET applications, the relevant extraction methods, and the data selection limitations, which help in avoiding conceptual errors during mobility extraction. For increased precision, the review also discusses device fabrication considerations, calibration of both the specific gate‐dielectric capacitance and the threshold voltage, the contact effects, and the bias and temperature dependences, which must actually be handled with great care but have mostly been overlooked to date. This review serves as a systematic overview of the OFET mobility extraction process to ensure high precision and will also aid in improving future research.     

"砼"趣 ——记清水混凝土建筑荣成青少年活动中心设计施工点滴

从清水混凝土材料特点、空间适用性、肌理、细节和工艺等方面总结了荣成青少年活动中心复杂异形清水混凝土工程从设计到建造的全过程,展现了本土设计理念和地域环境的融合、创新型施工工艺的成功应用及项目最终呈现的高品质完成度.     

A unified critical state model for geomaterials with an application to tunnelling

This paper is prepared in honour of Professor E.T. Brown for his outstanding contributions to rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering and also for his personal influence on the first author's research career in geomechanics and geotechnical engineering. As a result, we have picked a topic that reflects two key research areas in which Professor E.T. Brown has made seminal contributions over a long and distinguished career. These two areas are concerned with the application of the critical state concept to modelling geomaterials and the analysis of underground excavation or tunnelling in geomaterials.Partially due to Professor Brown's influence, the first author has also been conducting research in these two areas over many years. In particular, this paper aims to describe briefly the development of a unified critical state model for geomaterials together with an application to cavity contraction problems and tunnelling in soils.     

A miniature triaxial apparatus for investigating the micromechanics of granular soils with in situ X-ray micro-tomography scanning

The development of a miniature triaxial apparatus is presented. In conjunction with an X-ray micro-tomography (termed as X-ray μCT hereafter) facility and advanced image processing techniques, this apparatus can be used for in situ investigation of the micro-scale mechanical behavior of granular soils under shear. The apparatus allows for triaxial testing of a miniature dry sample with a size of \mathrm{8}\hspace{0.17em}\mathrm{mm}\times \mathrm{16}\hspace{0.17em}\mathrm{mm} (diameter \times height). In situ triaxial testing of a 0.4–0.8 mm Leighton Buzzard sand (LBS) under a constant confining pressure of 500 kPa is presented. The evolutions of local porosities (i.e., the porosities of regions associated with individual particles), particle kinematics (i.e., particle translation and particle rotation) of the sample during the shear are quantitatively studied using image processing and analysis techniques. Meanwhile, a novel method is presented to quantify the volumetric strain distribution of the sample based on the results of local porosities and particle tracking. It is found that the sample, with nearly homogenous initial local porosities, starts to exhibit obvious inhomogeneity of local porosities and localization of particle kinematics and volumetric strain around the peak of deviatoric stress. In the post-peak shear stage, large local porosities and volumetric dilation mainly occur in a localized band. The developed triaxial apparatus, in its combined use of X-ray μCT imaging techniques, is a powerful tool to investigate the micro-scale mechanical behavior of granular soils.     

芳烃联合装置节能降耗方法探讨

结合芳烃联合装置的发展形势，通过对国内某4套典型芳烃联合装置运行能耗的构成进行分析，确定该类装置的主要能耗在于燃料、电和蒸汽的消耗。总结了目前国内外常用的芳烃联合装置节能降耗方法，利用实际经验和调研结果，从采用新型吸附剂、采用单台吸附塔新工艺、采用轻质解吸剂替代对二乙苯（PDEB）、优化吸附塔运行参数、加热炉节能优化和选用高效节能设备等角度探讨芳烃联合装置的节能降耗方法。芳烃联合装置节能降耗应该由设计单位和生产单位紧密结合，在设计阶段就应充分考虑生产过程面临的问题，充分优化工艺路线、方案和设备设计，尽可能降低装置的能耗。同样，装置运行过程中，生产部门应标准化、精细化管理，优化日常操作，从而进一步降低装置的操作能耗。     

低渗低温低压水敏性储气层压裂改造技术研究与应用

低渗低温低压水敏性储气层因压裂液快速破胶困难、黏土膨胀水敏伤害严重和压后压裂液返排动力不足等因素，使得压裂增产面临诸多难题。针对上述难题进行了技术攻关，形成了弱交联、低温活化剂与超量破胶剂的低温储层快速破胶技术、有机盐与无机盐双元体系复合防膨技术以及高比例液氮全程助排的排液技术。该压裂增产改造技术使牛101井头屯河组首次获得工业油气流，扩展了三塘湖盆地勘探空间。     

相关条件下基于N-P准则的分布式检测理论研究

本文针对并行网络、二元局部判决的情况,研究了在相关条件下基于N-P准则的分布式检测融合算法,给出了在联合概率密度已知和未知两种情况下的最优融合规则的理论推导及相应的解决方案,并在实验仿真的基础上,得到了部分有益的结论。     

基于实际井眼轨迹的抽油杆柱API设计方法

目前的抽油杆柱设计方法大都基于设计井眼轨迹或经验公式，因此设计的抽油杆柱与井眼的匹配性并没有达到最优，结果可能影响了抽油杆柱的受力特性和寿命。概述了目前现有的抽油杆柱设计方法，提出了基于实际井眼轨迹的抽油杆柱API设计方法，即考虑到在三维空间中井下粘滞阻力及动载的影响，利用微单元分析方法计算出轴向载荷与轴向应力，然后在此基础上进行杆柱组合设计，并给出了设计流程。以江苏油田永21-3井为例，对几种设计方法的设计结果进行了对比分析，结果表明，江苏油田目前采用的抽油杆柱设计方法包含了人为经验因素，并不是最优的杆柱设计结果，有待进一步改进。