A Docosahexaenoic Acid Derivative (N-Benzyl Docosahexaenamide) as a Potential Therapeutic Candidate for Treatment of Ovarian Injury in the Mouse Model

Commonly used clinical chemotherapy drugs, such as cyclophosphamide (CTX), may cause injury to the ovaries. Hormone therapies can reduce the ovarian injury risk; however, they do not achieve the desired effect and have obvious side effects. Therefore, it is necessary to find a potential therapeutic candidate for ovarian injury after chemotherapy. N-Benzyl docosahexaenamide (NB-DHA) is a docosahexaenoic acid derivative. It was recently identified as the specific macamide with a high degree of unsaturation in maca (Lepidium meyenii). In this study, the purified NB-DHA was administered intragastrically to the mice with CTX-induced ovarian injury at three dose levels. Blood and tissue samples were collected to assess the regulation of NB-DHA on ovarian function. The results indicated that NB-DHA was effective in improving the disorder of estrous cycle, and the CTX+NB-H group can be recovered to normal levels. NB-DHA also significantly increased the number of primordial follicles, especially in the CTX+NB-M and CTX+NB-H groups. Follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone levels in all treatment groups and estradiol levels in the CTX+NB-H group returned to normal. mRNA expression of ovarian development-related genes was positive regulated. The proportion of granulosa cell apoptosis decreased significantly, especially in the CTX+NB-H group. The expression of anti-Müllerian hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone receptor significantly increased in ovarian tissues after NB-DHA treatment. NB-DHA may be a promising agent for treating ovarian injury.     

Bioavailability Enhancement of Cepharanthine via Pulmonary Administration in Rats and Its Therapeutic Potential for Pulmonary Fibrosis Associated with COVID-19 Infection

Cepharanthine (CEP) has excellent anti-SARS-CoV-2 properties, indicating its favorable potential for COVID-19 treatment. However, its application is challenged by its poor dissolubility and oral bioavailability. The present study aimed to improve the bioavailability of CEP by optimizing its solubility and through a pulmonary delivery method, which improved its bioavailability by five times when compared to that through the oral delivery method (68.07% vs. 13.15%). An ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for quantification of CEP in rat plasma was developed and validated to support the bioavailability and pharmacokinetic studies. In addition, pulmonary fibrosis was recognized as a sequela of COVID-19 infection, warranting further evaluation of the therapeutic potential of CEP on a rat lung fibrosis model. The antifibrotic effect was assessed by analysis of lung index and histopathological examination, detection of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, interleukin-6 (IL-6), α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and hydroxyproline level in serum or lung tissues. Our data demonstrated that CEP could significantly alleviate bleomycin (BLM)-induced collagen accumulation and inflammation, thereby exerting protective effects against pulmonary fibrosis. Our results provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that pulmonary delivery CEP may be a promising therapy for pulmonary fibrosis associated with COVID-19 infection.     

基于二代curvelet变换的图像融合研究

曲波(Curvelet)作为一种新的多尺度分析方法比小波更加适合分析二维图像中的曲线或直线状边缘特征,而且具有更高的逼近精度和更好的稀疏表达能力.将curvelet变换引入图像融合,能够更好地提取原始图像的特征,为融合图像提供更多的信息.第二代curvelet理论的提出也使得其理论更易理解和实现.因此,提出了一种基于第二代curvelet变换的图像融合方法,首先将图像进行curvelet变换,然后在相应尺度上利用融合规则将curvelet系数融合,最后进行重构得到融合结果.对多聚焦图像进行了实验,采用均方误差、偏差指数和相关系数对融合结果进行了客观评价,并与基于小波变换的融合进行了比较,实验结果表明该方法除分解2层时与小波性能相当,取其他分解层数时均获得更好的融合效果.     

Brightness Temperature Emitted by Radiometer Calibration Load at Millimeter Wave Band

In this paper, the DVRT (vector radiative transfer theory of densely distributed random discrete scatters) model to calculate the brightness temperature emitted by radiometer calibration load is presented. It takes the multiple scattering of isolation layer into account, which is neglected by the incoherent homogeneous model often used in calibration. Hence, it works much better than incoherent homogeneous model at millimeter wave band. Furthermore, the iteration of DVRT model is presented, and it proves that the incoherent homogeneous model is just the zero-order solution of DVRT model. Some numerical results are provided in the end.     

Engineering Plasmonic Environments for 2D Materials and 2D-Based Photodetectors

Two-dimensional layered materials are considered ideal platforms to study novel small-scale optoelectronic devices due to their unique electronic structures and fantastic physical properties. However, it is urgent to further improve the light–matter interaction in these materials because their light absorption efficiency is limited by the atomically thin thickness. One of the promising approaches is to engineer the plasmonic environment around 2D materials for modulating light–matter interaction in 2D materials. This method greatly benefits from the advances in the development of nanofabrication and out-plane van der Waals interaction of 2D materials. In this paper, we review a series of recent works on 2D materials integrated with plasmonic environments, including the plasmonic-enhanced photoluminescence quantum yield, strong coupling between plasmons and excitons, nonlinear optics in plasmonic nanocavities, manipulation of chiral optical signals in hybrid nanostructures, and the improvement of the performance of optoelectronic devices based on composite systems.     

On the non-symmetric planar aligned NLC cell

The planar aligned nematic liquid crystal cell with different anchoring for the two substrates (i.e. a non-symmetric NLC cell) is investigated by an analytical method. We deduce the basic equations and the boundary conditions of the tilt angle θ of the LC director. Expressions for threshold and saturation magnetic field are obtained, and numerical results of these two quantities with variation in anchoring parameters of the two substrates are given. A symmetry breaking parameter Δ is introduced and the relations between Δ and applied field, as well as the two sets of anchoring parameters are discussed in detail. A feasible experimental plan for measurement of anchoring strengths of a series of different substrates is proposed.     

Study on the flow resistance of the dispersion system of deformable preformed particle gel in porous media using LBM-DEM-IMB method

After being injected into the porous media, the dispersion system of preformed particle gel (PPG) tends to enter high permeability regions and block water channeling passages, which forces the subsequent water to turn to the low permeability regions and thus increases sweep efficiency and enhances oil recovery. However, it is still unclear about the influence factors and the mechanisms how PPG increases water flow resistance, which limits the application of PPG in more oilfields. Therefore, the paper combines the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), the discrete element method (DEM) and the improved immersed moving boundary (IMB) method to simulate the migration of deformable PPG in porous media. On the basis, the paper quantitatively analyzes the variation law of displacement pressure across the porous media and discusses the influence factors such as the PPG diameter, elasticity modulus and the number concentration. Results indicate that, because of the friction and retention of PPG in pore-throat, the displacement pressure across the porous media during PPG flooding is much higher than that during water flooding. In other words, the existence of PPG increases the flow resistance of injected water. Besides, the displacement pressure is always fluctuant resulting from the continuous process of PPG migration, retention, deformation and remigration. Influence factor analysis shows that the incremental value and fluctuation degree of flow resistance increase with the PPG diameter, elasticity modulus and the number concentration. The study not only provides useful reference for future PPG flooding, but also benefits the development of deformable particle flow theory.     

On the monitoring model of reference point of VLBI antenna

Some insights and analysis are presented concerning the monitoring model of the VLBI(Very Long Baseline Interferometry) antenna,settings of parameters and selection of constraints to the observation equation,which are verified via data simulation analysis to be reasonable and effective.The effects of the number of targets and antenna orientations,the precision of target positioning observations,the observation outliers detection and deletion on the determination precision of antenna parameters are also analyzed,and some preliminary conclusions are given.