Gaussian mixture model-based target feature extraction and visualization

Journal of Visualization - Effective extraction and visualization of complex target features from volume data are an important task, which allows the user to analyze and get insights of the complex...     

水溶性磺酸钠苯基卟啉及其金属配合物共价与非共价修饰多壁碳纳米管的研究

合成了meso-四(4-磺酸钠苯基)卟啉及其Zn, Cu, Mn配合物, 通过共价与非共价的方法将其分别修饰到多壁碳纳米管上. 采用红外光谱对产物结构进行表征|通过透射电镜(TEM)考察了卟啉-多壁碳纳米管复合物的形貌特征|通过紫外光谱、荧光光谱对比分析了两类复合物, 发现在卟啉与多壁碳纳米管之间存在较强的电子效应, 同时发现非共价修饰的卟啉-碳纳米管复合物的荧光淬灭率更高|热重分析(TGA)表明非共价的卟啉-碳纳米管复合物中卟啉的含量比较高. 对修饰后的复合物进行了溶解性测试, 结果表明共价修饰的复合物在水中有较好的溶解性和分散性.     

Spectroscopic evidence for triplet excitation energy transfer among carotenoids in the LH2 complex from photosynthetic bacterium <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhodopseudomonas palustris</Emphasis>

The LH2 complex from Rhodopsudomonas (Rps.) palustris is unique in the heterogeneous carotenoid compositions. The dynamics of triplet excited state Carotenoids (³Car* has been investigated by means of sub-microsecond time-resolved absorption spectroscopy both at physiological temperature (295 K) and at cryogenic temperature (77K). Broad and asymmetric T _n ←T ₁ transient absorption was observed at room temperature following the photo-excitation of Car at 532 nm, which suggests the contribution from various carotenoid compositions having different numbers of conjugated C=C double bonds (N_c=c). The triplet absorption bands of different carotenoids, which superimposed at room temperature, could be clearly distinguished upon decreasing the temperature down to 77 K. At room temperature the shorter-wavelength side of the main T_n04T₁ absorption band decayed rapidly to reach a spectral equilibration with a characteristic time constant of ∽1 μs, the same spectral dynamics, however, was not observed at 77 K. The aforementioned spectral dynamics can be explained in terms of the triplet-excitation transfer among heterogeneous carotenoid compositions. Global spectral analysis was applied to the time-resolved spectra at room temperature, which revealed two spectral components peaked at 545 and 565 nm, and assignable to the T_n04 T₁ absorption of Cars with Nc=c=11 and Nc=c=13, respectively. Surprisingly, the decay time constant of a shorter-conjugated Car, i.e. 0.72 ώs (aerobic) and 1.36 ώs (anaerobic), is smaller than that of a longer-conjugated Car, i.e. 2.12 us (aerobic) and 3.75 ώs (anaerobic), which is contradictory to the general rule of carotenoids and relative polyenes. The results are explained in terms of triplet-excitation transfer among different types of Cars. It is postulated that two Cars with different conjugation lengths coexist in an α, β-subunit in the LH2 complex.     

Influence of natural organic matter on the deposition kinetics of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on silica

The influence of humic acid and alginate, two major components of natural organic matter (NOM), on deposition kinetics of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on silica was examined in both NaCl and CaCl(2) solutions over a wide range of environmentally relevant ionic strengths utilizing a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation. Deposition kinetics of both soluble EPS and bound EPS extracted from four bacterial strains with different characteristics was investigated. EPS deposition on humic acid-coated silica surfaces was found to be much lower than that on bare silica surfaces under all examined conditions. In contrast, pre-coating the silica surfaces with alginate enhanced EPS deposition in both NaCl and CaCl(2) solutions. More repulsive electrostatic interaction between EPS and surface contributed to the reduced EPS deposition on humic acid-coated silica surface. The trapping effect induced by the rough alginate layer resulted in the greater EPS deposition on alginate-coated surfaces in NaCl solutions, whereas surface heterogeneities on alginate layer facilitated favorable interactions with EPS in CaCl(2) solutions. The presence of dissolved background humic acid and alginate in solutions both significantly retarded EPS deposition on silica surfaces due to the greater steric and electrostatics repulsion.     

Fluorescence Turn-On Analysis of Trace Protein Based on Carbon Nanodots and Hybridization Chain Reaction

In this work, an ultrasensitive method for trace protein detection based on fluorescent carbon nanodots and hybridization chain reaction (HCR) is designed. Generally, the synthesized bright carbon nanodots are conjugated with two hairpin-structured DNA probes, respectively, which act as subsequent HCR fuel strands. Since single-stranded parts of DNA probes could be easily absorbed on graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets, fluorescence emission of carbon nanodots is effectively quenched via fluorescence resonance energy transfer. However, in the presence of target protein, the aptamer sequence in another hairpin-structured DNA probe specially interacts with target and the hairpin is opened. A single-stranded region is thus exposed, which initiates HCR by coupling with the DNA fuel strands on carbon nanodots. The formed HCR product displays a rigid, long double-stranded structure, which facilitates the release of carbon nanodots from GO surface. As a result, fluorescence of carbon nanodots is recovered and initial concentration of target protein can be estimated. This protein detection method shows a favorable linear response with a low limit of detection (2.3 fg mL⁻¹). Furthermore, it is highly selective and capable of detecting target in biological fluids like serum samples, which demonstrates the promising applications of this method.     

Qualitative screening of absorbed indoloquinazoline alkaloids and their metabolites in rat plasma after the oral administration of Wu‐Zhu‐Yu decoction by high‐resolution mass spectrometry with multiple data mining algorithms

A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography with high‐resolution mass spectrometry method with multiple data processing algorithms was developed and applied for the metabolite profiling of evodiamine and its analogous alkaloids in rat plasma after the administration of Wu‐Zhu‐Yu decoction. All samples were purified using hydrophilic‐lipophilic balanced solid‐phase extraction cartridges and analyzed by a Sciex TripleTOF 5600⁺ mass spectrometer with a 35 min liquid chromatography gradient elution. High‐resolution full‐scan mass spectrometry and information‐dependent acquisition tandem mass spectrometry data were analyzed using multiple data processing approaches. The results indicated that the detected eight prototype alkaloids could be metabolized to 58 metabolites through both phase I and phase II reactions. Oxidation was demonstrated to be the principle metabolic pathway of the parent compounds. The study contributes to the understanding of the absorption and metabolism of the alkaloids in Wu‐Zhu‐Yu decoction and provides a detailed analysis of scientific data.     

Influence of natural organic matter on the transport and deposition of zinc oxide nanoparticles in saturated porous media

The significance of natural organic matter (NOM, both humic acid and alginate) on the transport and deposition kinetics of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) in irregular quartz sand was examined by direct comparison of both breakthrough curves and retained profiles with NOM present in NPs suspension versus those obtained without NOM. Packed column experiments were conducted in both NaCl and CaCl(2) solutions under a series of environmentally relevant ionic strengths. Under all examined conditions, breakthrough plateaus with NOM even at concentration as low as 1mgL(-1) of total organic carbon (TOC) were higher than those without NOM, indicating that presence of NOM in NPs suspensions enhanced ZnO NPs transport. Although hyper-exponential retained profiles were observed both in the presence and absence of NOM, the amount of retained ZnO NPs acquired in the presence of NOM decreased slowly as the transport distance increased. Straining induced by concurrent aggregation is found to cause the hyper-exponential decrease. In the presence of NOM, electrosteric interaction effectively reduced the ZnO NPs deposition on collector surfaces and NPs-NPs aggregation. Subsequently, the amount of NPs that jammed in the column inlet in the absence of NOM were markedly decreased, which therefore exhibited as flatter retained profiles.     

THE EFFECT OF POLAR ADDITIVES ON THE γ RADIATION INDUCED POLYMERIZATION OF STYRENE*

The γ induced polymerization of styrene in the presence of polar additives such as tributylphosphate, triethyl amine and ethanol was studied at dose rate of 5.0×10~(17) eV/ml. min. The re-sult shows that radiation induced polymerization of styrene was sensitized by the three kinds ofadditives at the approximate same rate and the experimental results were in agreement with thetheoretical calculation of WAS equation. The cause of sensitization is due to the proton transfer.     

Base-triggered self-amplifying degradable polyurethanes with the ability to translate local stimulation to continuous long-range degradation

A new type of base-triggered self-amplifying degradable polyurethane is reported that degrades under mild conditions, with the release of increasing amounts of amine product leading to self-amplified degradation. The polymer incorporates a base-sensitive Fmoc-derivative into every repeating unit to enable highly sensitive amine amplified degradation. A sigmoidal degradation curve for the linear polymer was observed consistent with a self-amplifying degradation mechanism. An analogous cross-linked polyurethane gel was prepared and also found to undergo amplified breakdown. In this case, a trace amount of localized base initiates the degradation, which in turn propagates through the material in an amplified manner. The results demonstrate the potential utility of these new generation polyurethanes in enhanced disposability and as stimuli responsive materials.

A new type of base-triggered self-amplifying degradable polyurethane is reported that degrades under mild conditions, with the release of increasing amounts of amine product leading to self-amplified degradation.