Nutritional Value and Preventive Role of Nigella sativa L. and Its Main Component Thymoquinone in Cancer: An Evidenced-Based Review of Preclinical and Clinical Studies

In recent times, scientific attention has been paid to different foods and their bioactive components for the ability to inhibit the onset and progress of different types of cancer. Nigella sativa extract, powder and seed oil and its main components, thymoquinone and α-hederin, have showed potent anticancer and chemosensitizing effects against various types of cancer, such as liver, colon, breast, renal, cervical, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate and skin tumors, through the modulation of various molecular signaling pathways. Herein, the purpose of this review was to highlight the anticancer activity of Nigella sativa and it constitutes, focusing on different in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies and projects, in order to underline their antiproliferative, proapoptotic, cytotoxic and antimetastatic effects. Particular attention has been also given to the synergistic effect of Nigella sativa and it constitutes with chemotherapeutic drugs, and to the synthesized analogs of thymoquinone that seem to enhance the chemo-sensitizing potential. This review could be a useful step towards new research on N. sativa and cancer, to include this plant in the dietary treatments in support to conventional therapies, for the best achievement of therapeutic goals.     

Robust nickel silicate catalysts with high Ni loading for CO2 methanation

CO₂ is the main component of greenhouse gases and also an important carbon source. The hydrogenation of CO₂ to methane using Ni-based catalysts can not only alleviate CO₂ emissions but also obtain useful fuels. However, Ni-based catalysts face one major problem of the sintering of Ni nanoparticles in the process of CO₂ methanation. Thus, this work has synthesized a series of efficient and robust nickel silicate catalysts (NiPS−X) with different nickel content derived from nickel phyllosilicate by the hydrothermal method. It was found that the Ni loading plays a critical role in the structure and catalytic performance of the NiPS−X catalysts. The catalytic performance gradually increases with the increase of Ni loading. In particular, the highly dispersed NiPS-1.6 catalyst with a high Ni loading of 34.3 wt% could obtain the CO₂ conversion greater than 80%, and the methane selectivity was close to 100% for 48 h at 330 °C and the GHSV of 40,000 mL g⁻¹ h⁻¹. The excellent catalytic property can be assigned to the high dispersion of Ni nanoparticles and the strong interaction between the active component and the carrier, which is derived from a unique layered silicate structure with lots of nickel phyllosilicate and a large number of Lewis acid sites.     

爆轰波对碰驱动平面锡飞层的动力学及动载行为特征研究

强冲击下的物质变形、破坏及诱发的轻重介质混合问题,是内爆压缩科学和工程应用领域的研究重点.本文针对爆轰波对碰条件下的复杂加载动力学过程及其动载破坏形态特征,开展数值模拟研究与极曲线理论分析.设计了爆轰波对碰驱动平面锡飞层的计算模型,获得了爆轰加载动力学过程及波系相互作用物理图像,分析了锡飞层对碰区自由表面速度历史的典型特征.给出了锡飞层中折射激波对碰发生马赫反射的临界条件,解读了三波结构的传播行为,阐明了对碰区内存在"一维正冲击"区域,一维区外存在单次斜冲击向两次斜冲击过渡的复杂加载动力学过程,提出了对碰区冲击动力学模型,揭示了影响对碰区动载行为特征的机理.数值模拟结果与极曲线理论分析结果相互印证,符合较好.本文的研究成果,将为深入理解和解读对碰区特殊的物质破坏及混合现象提供重要的理论支撑.     

An axial flow cyclone to remove nanoparticles at low pressure conditions

In this study, the axial flow cyclone used in Tsai et al. (2004) was further tested for the collection efficiency of both solid (NaCl) and liquid (OA, oleic acid) nanoparticles. The results showed that the smallest cutoff aerodynamic diameters achieved for OA and NaCl nanoparticles were 21.7 nm (cyclone inlet pressure: 4.3 Torr, flow rate: 0.351 slpm) and 21.2 nm (5.4 Torr, 0.454 slpm), respectively. The collection efficiencies for NaCl and OA particles were close to each other for the aerodynamic diameter ranging from 25 to 180 nm indicating there was almost no solid particle bounce in the cyclone. The 3-D numerical simulation was conducted to calculate the flow field in the cyclone and the flow was found to be nearly paraboloid. Numerical simulation of the particle collection efficiency based on the paraboloid flow assumption showed that the collection efficiency was in good agreement with the experimental data with less than 15% of error. A semi-empirical equation for predicting the cutoff aerodynamic diameter at different inlet pressures and flow rates was also obtained. The semi-empirical equation is able to predict the cutoff aerodynamic diameter accurately within 9% of error. From the empirical cutoff aerodynamic diameter, a semi-empirical square root of the cutoff Stokes number, , was calculated and found to be a constant value of 0.241. This value is useful to the design of the cyclone operating in vacuum to remove nanoparticles.     

The Effects of a Third Generation Combined Oral Contraceptive Pill on the Classical Singing Voice

The success of professional operatic singers depends upon the quality of their vocal mechanism. This is known to be sensitive to changes in the endocrine environment. Despite a widespread belief among singers that vocal quality changes according to the stage of the menstrual cycle, this has received little attention. In particular, the possibility that use of the contraceptive pill might stabilize vocal quality by "dampening" hormonal fluctuations has not previously been studied systematically. Here, we show that drospirenone containing oral contraceptive pill (Yasmin, Schering AG, West Sussex, UK) with antiandrogenic and antimineralocorticoid properties demonstrates a significant reduction in the irregularity of the pattern of vibration of the vocal folds during the performance of highly trained classical singers. This study constitutes the first double blind, randomized placebo controlled trial to assess the effects of the contraceptive pill on the patterns of vibration of the vocal folds during the performance of Western classical singing repertoire.     

PEG接枝氧化石墨烯的制备与细胞成像

通过酯化反应将不同分子量的聚乙二醇(PEG)接枝到氧化石墨烯(GO)表面,得到系列GO-PEG。利用傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)、拉曼光谱(Raman)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)对GO-PEG的结构和形貌进行了表征,用热重分析(TGA)测定了GO-PEG中PEG的接枝量。SEM结果表明GO-PEG的剥离程度高于GO。GO-PEG在磷酸盐缓冲溶液中具有良好的分散稳定性,稳定性与接枝量呈正相关。GO-PEG通过非共价键合作用对荧光素(Flu)的负载量可达1.75 mg·mg-1,且负载量受接枝量影响;另外,GO-PEG对Flu的释放行为具有pH值触发药物释放性能。将接枝PEG的端羟基与Flu共价键合,所得GO-PEG6000-Flu荧光探针实现了对HepG2细胞的成像。     

高韧性合金钢断裂韧性及疲劳裂纹扩展门槛值的联合试验方法

在柴油机曲轴、连杆等关键零部件的可靠性设计和失效评估中,断裂韧性及疲劳裂纹扩展门槛值分别是衡量材料抵抗裂纹失稳扩展和裂纹开始扩展的重要指标．但是,对于高韧性合金材料,难以通过常规试验所推荐的厚度确定平面应变断裂韧性,而门槛值的测定通常不但非常耗时,且难以直接应用于不同循环特性的实际结构．本文针对高韧性合金钢34CrNi3MoA,提出一种将断裂韧性和疲劳裂纹扩展门槛值试验合二为一的试验方法,即用同一个试件可以同时测定门槛值和断裂韧性．利用断裂韧性关于试件厚度的渐近特性,以几种较薄试件的试验,确定平面应变状态下的断裂韧性．试验结果还表明,裂纹扩展门槛值的试件厚度依存性可以忽略,并给出了任意循环特性（应力比）下的门槛值计算公式．     

滑坡冲击铲刮变量的计算方法研究

高速远程滑坡运动过程中,冲击铲刮效应不仅增加滑坡的体积与规模,而且会增大滑坡成灾范围,风险预测与判断出现明显误差,导致灾难性事件的发生。目前对于高速滑坡的铲刮深度、铲刮范围和铲刮体积等变量计算往往是采用基于经验的铲刮率算法,其是通过体积增量来反算铲刮变量的数学方法,而实际情况中高速滑坡的冲击铲刮是滑体冲击力和地表可铲刮材料之间的力学屈服破坏作用的结果。本文基于接触力学、弹塑性力学和岩土力学,提出了地表可铲刮层在附加冲击荷载作用下铲刮变量的理论计算方法,认为竖向冲击和切向剪切是滑体冲击铲刮过程的两种主要作用方式。结合实际岩土体材料参数,发现不考虑切向荷载时,铲刮层塑性区主要以竖向破裂区为主,考虑切向荷载时,铲刮层塑性区沿切向迁移,直至塑性边界贯通至地表,符合实际情况,实现了对铲刮变量的定量化计算。     

阻尼对空爆荷载等效静载动力系数的影响

为考查阻尼参数对空爆荷载等效静载动力系数的影响,理论推导了空爆荷载下结构等效单自由体系弹塑性位移解及延性比解,设计并计算了阻尼比0.000 1～0.1、延性比1～4的20种典型工况的动力系数,并与现行抗爆设计规范动力系数公式结果进行了对比。结果表明:阻尼比小于0.000 1时可基本代表无阻尼状态,阻尼比0.01的动力系数比无阻尼的最大降低幅度为2.08%,数值差异很小,因此阻尼比为0.01以内时,可忽略阻尼对动力系数的影响;阻尼比0.05的动力系数比无阻尼的降低幅度约9.92%,数值差异较大,认为阻尼比0.05以上时将具有明显的经济效益;现行设计规范动力系数更适用于柔性结构体系,运用于刚性结构抗爆设计时,计算误差较大,对阻尼比较小的结构设计更不利。     

Fracture characteristics of concrete subjected to impact loading

This paper takes concrete as a four-phase composite made of the intact matrix and three mutually perpendicular groups of penny-shaped micro-cracks. The intact matrix is assumed to be elastic,homogeneous and isotropic,and the micro-cracks are penny-shaped. Combined with the failure mechanism of concrete subjected to impact loading,a dynamic constitutive model for concrete is developed based on Mori-Tanaka's average stress concept and Eshelby's equivalent inclusion theory. Experimental results show that concr...