Dendritic polyurethane-based prodrug as unimolecular micelles for precise ultrasound-activated localized drug delivery

Ultrasound has been recognized as an exciting tool to enhance the therapeutic efficacy in tumor chemotherapy owing to the triggered drug release, facilitated intracellular drug delivery, and improved spatial precision. Aiming for a precise localized drug delivery, novel dendritic polyurethane-based prodrug (DOX-DPU-PEG) was fabricated with a drug content of 18.9% here by conjugating DOX onto the end groups of the functionalized dendritic polyurethane via acid-labile imine bonds. It could easily form unimolecular micelles around 38 nm. Compared with the non-covalently drug-loaded unimolecular micelles (DOX@Ph-DPU-PEG), they showed excellent pH/ultrasound dual-triggered drug release performance, with drug leakage of only 4% at pH 7.4, but cumulative release of 14% and 88% at pH 5.0 without and with ultrasound, respectively. The ultrasound responsiveness was attributed to the unique strawberry-shaped topological structure of the DOX-DPU-PEG, in which DOX was embedded in the skin layer of the hydrophobic DPU cores. With ultrasound, the DOX-DPU-PEG unimolecular micelles possessed enhanced tumor growth inhibition than free DOX but showed no obvious cytotoxicity on the tumor cells without ultrasound. Such feature makes them promising potential for precise localized drug delivery.     

Sonochemical conversion of CO2 into hydrocarbons: The Sabatier reaction at ambient conditions

In this study, we investigated an alternative method for the chemical CO₂ reduction reaction in which power ultrasound (488 kHz ultrasonic plate transducer) was applied to CO₂-saturated (up to 3%) pure water, NaCl and synthetic seawater solutions. Under ultrasonic conditions, the converted CO₂ products were found to be mainly CH₄, C₂H₄ and C₂H₆ including large amount of CO which was subsequently converted into CH₄. We have found that introducing molecular H₂ plays a crucial role in the CO₂ conversion process and that increasing hydrogen concentration increased the yields of hydrocarbons. However, it was observed that at higher hydrogen concentrations, the overall conversion decreased since hydrogen, a diatomic gas, is known to decrease cavitational activity in liquids. It was also found that 1.0 M NaCl solutions saturated with 2% CO₂ + 98% H₂ led to maximum hydrocarbon yields (close to 5%) and increasing the salt concentrations further decreased the yield of hydrocarbons due to the combined physical and chemical effects of ultrasound. It was shown that CO₂ present in a synthetic industrial flue gas (86.74% N₂, 13% CO₂, 0.2% O₂ and 600 ppm of CO) could be converted into hydrocarbons through this method by diluting the flue gas with hydrogen. Moreover, it was observed that in addition to pure water, synthetic seawater can also be used as an ultrasonicating media for the sonochemical process where the presence of NaCl improves the yields of hydrocarbons by ca. 40%. We have also shown that by using low frequency high-power ultrasound in the absence of catalysts, it is possible to carry out the conversion process at ambient conditions i.e., at room temperature and pressure. We are postulating that each cavitation bubble formed during ultrasonication act as a “micro-reactor” where the so-called Sabatier reaction -$C{O}_2+4H_2\stackrel{\mathit{Ultrasonication}}{\to }C{H}_4+2H_{2}O$ - takes place upon collapse of the bubble. We are naming this novel approach as the “Islam-Pollet-Hihn process”.     

等离子体电极普克尔盒研究进展

等离子体电极普克尔盒(PEPC)用作多程放大控制、自激振荡抑制以及反激光隔离,是大型高功率固体激光器的核心器件。本文从高功率固体激光器的发展对光开关提出的要求出发,系统地综述了等离子体电极普克尔盒的性能特点以及研究进展。重点介绍了中国工程物理研究院激光聚变研究中心近年来在PEPC研究方面所取得的进展,包括单脉冲驱动的组合口径PEPC、低损耗PEPC以及重复频率运转的PEPC。     

油-气-水三相流超声传感器持气率测量*

为探索油-气-水三相流持气率测量难题,该文开展了脉冲透射式超声传感器持气率测量动态实验研究。首先,利用超声传感器与光纤传感器组合,测取了油-气-水三相流中段塞流、混状流、泡状流的响应信号;其次,提取了超声脉冲信号的最大值序列来反映不同流型时超声传感器响应特性,同时,借助双头光纤传感器与相关测速法,计算得到了流体中气泡弦长序列;最后,结合流型与泡径信息,利用超声传感器测量了不同流型下持气率,并分析了不同流型持气率预测的误差来源,为其他油-气-水三相流持气率测量传感器设计提供了借鉴。     

New insights on the role of ROS in the mechanisms of sonoporation-mediated gene delivery

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are hypothesized to play a role in the sonoporation mechanisms. Nevertheless, the acoustical phenomenon behind the ROS production as well as the exact mechanisms of ROS action involved in the increased cell membrane permeability are still not fully understood. Therefore, we investigated the key processes occurring at the molecular level in and around microbubbles subjected to ultrasound using computational chemistry methods. To confirm the molecular simulation predictions, we measured the ROS production by exposing SonoVue® microbubbles (MBs) to ultrasound using biological assays. To investigate the role of ROS in cell membrane permeabilization, cells were subjected to ultrasound in presence of MBs and plasmid encoding reporter gene, and the transfection level was assessed using flow cytometry. The molecular simulations showed that under sonoporation conditions, ROS can form inside the MBs. These radicals could easily diffuse through the MB shell toward the surrounding aqueous phase and participate in the permeabilization of nearby cell membranes. Experimental data confirmed that MBs favor spontaneous formation of a host of free radicals where HO was the main ROS species after US exposure. The presence of ROS scavengers/inhibitors during the sonoporation process decreased both the production of ROS and the subsequent transfection level without significant loss of cell viability. In conclusion, the exposure of MBs to ultrasound might be the origin of chemical effects, which play a role in the cell membrane permeabilization and in the in vitro gene delivery when generated in its proximity.     

Ultrasound irradiation effect on morphological and adsorptive properties of a nanoscale 3D Zn-coordination polymer and derived oxide

In this work, Zn-based coordination polymer [Zn₂(1,3-bdc)bzim₂]_n was successfully synthesized by the sonochemical method using a 13 mm probe-type ultrasound operating at 20 kHz and amplitudes of 30, 40 and 50% corresponding to an acoustic power of 5.5, 8.6, and 10.3 W, respectively. Additionally, a sample was prepared by the slow-diffusion method for comparison. The samples were characterized by FTIR, PXRD, SEM, and BET techniques. The influence of the time and sonication amplitude on the yield of the reaction, crystallite size, and morphology were also studied. It was found that the sonochemical method provided the desired product in 83.9% within 20 min of sonication using the highest level of sonication amplitude. Moreover, this approach resulted in regular, controlled morphology, smaller particles, and higher surface area of the Zn-sample and derived oxide, than the slow diffusion method. The samples prepared by different methodologies were tested for the adsorption of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) components in six different systems, and the uptakes were quantified by ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. Both samples showed excellent adsorption of benzene, 119.8 mmol/g, and 88.1 mmol/g, for the coordination polymers prepared via the sonochemical and slow-diffusion methods, respectively, corresponding to 63.9%, and 46.9%. These results are in agreement with the non-polar surface of these samples.     

基于CARS技术的超燃冲压发动机点火过程温度测量

相干anti-Stokes Raman散射（coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering，CARS）技术作为一种非接触测量手段，已广泛应用于多种发动机模型燃烧室温度测量及地面试验.然而，目前的工作主要集中在稳态燃烧场温度的测量，缺乏用高分辨率的单脉冲来测量瞬变的燃烧火焰温度及组分浓度的研究.基于CARS理论，结合多参数拟合算法，开发了基于MATLAB的CARS光谱计算和拟合程序CARSCF；利用McKenna平面火焰炉在不同工况下进行了温度测量，并与DLR测量结果进行对比，结果显示开发的CARSCF具有较高的测量重复性和准确性；最后将CARS技术应用于测量超燃冲压发动机点火过程中的温度测量，获取了点火过程中的温度.结果显示，在来流Mach数为3的条件下，H₂/air点火过程中温度呈现急剧上升然后缓慢下降，而CARS信号则呈现急剧上升然后急剧下降随后又缓慢上升的趋势，并且在点火过程中最高温度为1 511 K.      

大型偏心结构吊装欠约束问题研究

吊装施工过程中被吊模块的水平度是作业要求的重要指标,通常需要增加配重调平。传统有限元方法需要补充约束以消除单元刚体位移,且需要重复计算平衡方程来求解调平载荷,效率不高。将模块的运动分解为随动坐标系的整体运动以及相对该坐标系的弹性变形,可将欠约束问题化为多体系统的静平衡问题。基于虚功率原理推导了吊装平顺时刻的节点力平衡方程以及相应的切线刚度矩阵,并将配重表示为基础配重与载荷系数相乘的形式。通过对节点力平衡方程求导,得到一组以载荷系数为自变量的微分方程,通过求解微分方程并结合水平度判据,可快速搜寻满足水平度要求的载荷系数。数值算例表明,该方法在解决偏心模块吊装欠约束问题方面具有明显的优势,在确定配重载荷方面具有较快的速度和合理的精度。