Ultrasound-assisted extraction of phillyrin from Forsythia suspensa

Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl is one of the most widely used traditional Chinese medicines, and possesses important biological activities, such as antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Phillyrin is the main bioactive component of Forsythia suspensa. In this paper, ultrasound-assisted extraction of phillyrin from Forsythia suspensa was studied with HPLC-photodiode array detection. Effects of several experimental parameters, such as type and concentration of extracting solvent, ratio of liquid to material, extraction temperature, and time of sonication on extraction efficiencies of phillyrin from Forsythia suspensa were evaluated. The optimal extraction conditions were 1g plant sample with 10 ml of 20% methanol and the extraction for 60 min at 60°C under ultrasonic irradiation. Under the optimum conditions, the yield of phillyrin was 0.713±0.009 mg/g. The results indicated that the ultrasound-assisted extraction is a very useful method for the extraction of important phytochemicals from plant materials.     

Beam deflection and splitting using transformation optics

We propose a scheme to achieve beam defecting and splitting using a method of embedded coordinate transformation [1]. In this method one boundary of transformation region is not involved in the transformation, which means beam defecting and splitting can be realized by changing the geometric construction. Although there is a discontinuous boundary, the impendence is matched between transformation media and surrounding media according to the conventional transformation optics. Full-wave numerical simulations further verify the theoretical analysis.     

Ankyrin repeat and SOCS box containing protein 4 (Asb-4) colocalizes with insulin receptor substrate 4 (IRS4) in the hypothalamic neurons and mediates IRS4 degradation

Background

Cigarette smoking enhances the risk of stroke. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. The present study established an in vivo rat secondhand cigarette smoking (SHS) model and examined the hypothesis that SHS upregulates endothelin receptors with increased cerebrovascular contraction via the Raf/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) pathway.

Results

Rats were exposed to SHS for up to 8 weeks. The cerebral artery vasoconstriction was recorded by a sensitive myograph. The mRNA and protein expressions for endothelin receptors in cerebral arteries were studied by real-time PCR and Western blot. Compared to fresh air exposed rats, cerebral arteries from SHS rats exhibited stronger contractile responses (P < 0.05) mediated by endothelin type A (ET_A) receptors. The expressions of mRNA and protein for ET_A receptors in the cerebral arteries from SHS rats were higher (P < 0.05) than that in control. SHS did not affect endothelin type B (ET_B) receptor-mediated contractions, mRNA or protein levels. The results suggest that SHS upregulates ET_A, but not ET_B receptors in vivo. After SHS exposure, the mRNA levels of Raf-1 and ERK1/2, the protein expression of phosphorylated (p)-Raf-1 and p-ERK1/2 were increased (P < 0.05). Raf-1 inhibitor, GW5074 suppressed the enhanced ET_A receptor-mediated contraction, mRNA and protein levels induced by SHS. In addition, GW5074 inhibited the SHS-caused increased mRNA and phosphorylated protein levels of Raf-1 and ERK1/2, suggesting that SHS induces activation of the Raf/ERK/MAPK pathway.

Conclusions

SHS upregulates cerebrovascular ET_A receptors via the Raf/ERK/MAPK pathway, which provides novel understanding of mechanisms involved in SHS-associated stroke.     

Radially polarized and passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with composite structure of gain medium

We report on a radially polarized and passively Q-switched Nd:YAG/Cr4+:YAG laser.The bulk Nd:YAG crystal is bonded with two undoped YAG crystal end caps to weaken the thermal lens e?ect and thus,enhance the extraction of stored energy in the bulk gain material.In the absence of active water cooling,the average laser power reaches 383 mW with 33% slope efficiency,and the laser pulse achieves 1.457-W peak power,18.9-ns duration,and 13.9-kHz repetition rate with 97.6% polarization purity.     

Study of diode-pumped Yb:YAG disk lasers at low temperature

A Yb:YAG disk laser with V-shaped stable resonator and active-mirror configuration,end-pumped by a 940-nm InGaAs laser diode array,is demonstrated.Performances and optimization of the disk laser at low temperature over a range of 130-200 K are investigated theoretically and experimentally.Laser output energy of 1.46 J/pulse operating at 10-Hz repetition rate is obtained with the optimum output coupler transmission of 30%,and the corresponding optical-to-optical efficiency is 48.7%.     

Laser-induced quadrupoleben quadrupole collisional energy transfer in Xe-Kr

By considering the relative velocity distribution function and multipole expansion interaction Hamiltonian, a three-state model for calculating the cross section of laser-induced quadrupole-quadrupole collisional energy transfer is presented. Calculated results in Xe-Kr system show that in the present system, the laser-induced collision process occurs for ~4 ps, which is much shorter than the dipole-dipole laser-induced collisional energy transfer (LICET) process. The spectrum of laser-induced quadrupole-quadrupole collisional energy transfer in Xe-Kr system has wider tunable range in an order of magnitude than the dipole-dipole LICET spectra. The peak cross section decreases and moves to the quasi-static wing with increasing temperature and the full width at half peak of the profile becomes larger as the system temperature increases.     

Molecular dynamics simulations on local structure and diffusion in liquid TixAl1−x alloys

The microscopic structure and dynamics of liquid Ti_xAl_1-x alloys together with pure liquid Ti and Al metals were investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulations. This work gives the structural properties, including pair-correlation function, bond-angle distribution function, HA and Voronoi indices, and their composition dependence. The dynamical properties have also been studied. The calculated pair-correlation function, bond-angle distribution function, and HA and Voronoi indices suggest that the stoichiometric composition Ti_0.75Al_0.25 exhibits a different local structure order compared with other concentrations, which help us understand the appearance of the minimum diffusion coefficient at this composition. These results indicate that the mobility of atoms strongly depends on their atomic local structure.     

A possible origin of room temperature ferromagnetism in Indium-Tin oxide thin film: Surface spin polarization and ferromagnetism

Room temperature ferromagnetism in both transition-metals doped and undoped semiconductor thin films and nanostructures challenges our understanding of the magnetism in solids. In this report, we performed the magnetic measurement and Andreev reflection spectroscopy study on undoped Indium-Tin oxide (ITO) thin films and bulk samples. The magnetic measurement results of thin films show that the total magnetization/cm² is thickness independent. Prominent ferromagnetism signal was also discovered in bulk samples. Spin polarized electron transports were probed on ITO thin film/superconductor interface and bulk samples surface/superconductor interface. Based on the magnetic measurement results and spin polarization measurement data, we propose that the ferromagnetism in this material originates from the surface spin polarization and this surface polarization may also explain the room temperature ferromagnetism discovered in other undoped oxide semiconductor thin films and nanostructures.     

Donor impurity states in zinc-blende GaN/AlGaN quantum well: Quantum confinement and laser-dressed effects

Within the framework of effective-mass approximation, the effects of a laser field on the ground-state donor binding energy in zinc-blende (ZB) GaN/AlGaN quantum well (QW) have been investigated variationally. Numerical results show that the donor binding energy is highly dependent on QW structure parameters and Al composition in ZB GaN/AlGaN QW. The laser field effects are more noticeable on the donor binding energy of an impurity localized inside the QW with small well width and low Al composition. However, for the impurity located in the vicinity of the well edge of the QW, the donor binding energy is insensible to the variation of Al composition, well width and laser field intensity in ZB GaN/AlGaN QW. In particular, the competition effects between laser field and quantum confinement on impurity states have also been investigated in this paper.     

Self-consistent charging in dielectric films under defocused electron beam irradiation

We clarify the transient and equilibrium charging characteristics of grounded dielectrics due to low-energy defocused electron beam irradiation by a three-dimensional self-consistent simulation model. The model incorporates the electron scattering, transport and trapping. Results show that some electrons can arrive at the grounded substrate due to the internal field and density gradient, forming the leakage current. The transient charging process tends to equilibrium as the surface potential decreases and the leakage electron current increases. The positive and negative space charges are distributed alternately along the beam incident direction. In the equilibrium state, the surface potential and leakage electron current decrease to stable values with increasing film thickness and the trap density, but with decreasing electron mobility. Moreover, the surface potential of the dielectric thin film exhibits a maximum negative value with variation of the beam energy; for example, under the condition of the film thicknesses 0.5 μm and 2 μm, the maximum negative values of surface potentials are -13 V and -98 V in beam energies 2 keV and 3.5 keV, respectively. However, for the thick film, the surface potential decreases with the increase in beam energy.