Room-Temperature Phosphorescence Turn-on Detection of DNA Based on Riboflavin-Modulated Manganese Doped Zinc Sulfide Quantum Dots

A sensitive phosphorescent sensor based on riboflavin (RF)-modulated mercaptopropionic acid (MPA)-capped Mn-doped ZnS quantum dots (QDs) was developed and utilized as room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) sensor for DNA detection. The RTP of the MPA-capped Mn-doped ZnS QDs was stored via photoinduced electron transfer by RF, and formed an electrochemically nonactive QDs/RF nanohybrids through electrostatic attraction. In the presence of DNA, RF could bind with DNA, which has a double helical structure, via electrostatic interaction and intercalation. RF can be removed from the surface of the QDs, thus releasing the RTP of the QDs. On the basis of this principle, an RTP sensor for DNA detection was developed. Under optimal conditions, the detection limit for DNA was 15 μg mL^?1, the relative standard deviation was 1.9 %, and the method recovery ranged from 97 % to 103 %. The proposed method was applied to biological fluids, in which satisfactory results were obtained.     

A Turn-on and Reversible Fluorescence Sensor for Zinc Ion Based on 4,5-Diazafluorene Schiff Base

A new 4,5-diazafluorene-based fluorescent chemosensor has been synthesized by Schiff base condensation of 9,9-bis(3,5-dimethyl-4-aminophenyl)-4,5-diazafluorene with salicylaldehyde. The interaction of Schiff base with different metal ions has been studied over photofluorescent spectra. The results showed that Schiff base exhibited 194-fold enhancements in fluorescence at 465 nm after Zn²⁺ ions. Such fluorescent responses could be detected by naked eye under UV-lamp. The complex solution (L-Zn²⁺) exhibited reversibility with EDTA.     

Effect of spike-timing-dependent plasticity on coherence resonance and synchronization transitions by time delay in adaptive neuronal networks

In this paper, we numerically study how time delay induces multiple coherence resonance (MCR) and synchronization transitions (ST) in adaptive Hodgkin-Huxley neuronal networks with spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP). It is found that MCR induced by time delay STDP can be either enhanced or suppressed as the adjusting rate A_p of STDP changes, and ST by time delay varies with the increase of A_p, and there is optimal A_p by which the ST becomes strongest. It is also found that there are optimal network randomness and network size by which ST by time delay becomes strongest, and when A_p increases, the optimal network randomness and optimal network size increase and related ST is enhanced. These results show that STDP can either enhance or suppress MCR and optimal STDP can enhance ST induced by time delay in the adaptive neuronal networks. These findings provide a new insight into STDP’s role for the information processing and transmission in neural systems.     

一种新型的RS-422总线数据处理算法研究与实现

为了满足某型机试飞数据中新型RS-422总线参数的实时监控和事后数据处理需求,提出了针对该新型RS-422总线参数的算法设计和实现方案。通过分析该新型RS-422总线参数的通信协议及数据包格式,决定采用调整机载格栅中数据的帧结构排放以及重置带头中参数采样率的方式,实现了参数的解析及还原算法,并设计了相应的实时监控以及事后处理软件。该软件已经成功应用于该型机的飞行试验中,为飞机飞行安全监控以及事后数据处理分析提供了有力保障。     

Optimisation of Hydrocortisone Production by Curvularia lunata

A new method for breeding the hydrocortisone overproducing strain Curvularia lunata by screening ketoconazole-resistance mutant was developed. A hydrocortisone overproducing mutant C. lunata KA-91 with ketoconazole-resistance marker was obtained from protoplasts treated with ultraviolet radiation. The hydrocortisone conversion rate of C. lunata KA-91 was increased by 42.1% compared to the original strain CL-114 at the substrate 17α-hydroxypregn-4-en-3, 20-dione-21-acetate addition concentration of 1.0 g/L. The by-products produced by KA-91 were fewer than those of the original strain. It was assumed that the higher cytochrome P450 content of ketoconazole-resistance mutant resulted in the increase of 11β-hydroxylation capacity. The culture conditions for biotransformation of 17α-hydroxypregn-4-en-3, 20-dione-21-acetate to hydrocortisone were optimized by response surface methodology. Plackett–Burman design was applied to elucidate the key factors affecting the hydrocortisone production, and the results indicated that glucose, initial pH, and glucose to total nitrogen sources ratio (ω) had significant effects on hydrocortisone production. Box–Behnken design was employed to search for the optimal parameters of those three key factors. According to the model, the trial checking at the optimal conditions showed a high hydrocortisone conversion rate of 82.67%.     

Depurinating acylfulvene-DNA adducts: characterizing cellular chemical reactions of a selective antitumor agent

Acylfulvenes (AFs) are a class of semisynthetic agents with high toxicity toward certain tumor cells, and for one analogue, hydroxymethylacylfulvene (HMAF), clinical trials are in progress. DNA alkylation by AFs, mediated by bioreductive activation, is believed to contribute to cytotoxicity, but the structures and chemical properties of corresponding DNA adducts are unknown. This study provides the first structural characterization of AF-specific DNA adducts. In the presence of a reductive enzyme, alkenal/one oxidoreductase (AOR), AF selectively alkylates dAdo and dGuo in reactions with a monomeric nucleoside, as well as in reactions with naked or cellular DNA, with 3-alkyl-dAdo as the apparently most abundant AF-DNA adduct. Characterization of this adduct was facilitated by independent chemical synthesis of the corresponding 3-alkyl-Ade adduct. In addition, in naked or cellular DNA, evidence was obtained for the formation of an additional type of adduct resulting from direct conjugate addition of Ade to AF followed by hydrolytic cyclopropane ring-opening, indicating the potential for a competing reaction pathway involving direct DNA alkylation. The major AF-dAdo and AF-dGuo adducts are unstable under physiologically relevant conditions and depurinate to release an alkylated nucleobase in a process that has a half-life of 8.5 h for 3-alkyladenine and less than approximately 2 h for dGuo adducts. DNA alkylation further leads to single-stranded DNA cleavage, occurring exclusively at dGuo and dAdo sites, in a nonsequence-specific manner. In AF-treated cells that were transfected with either AOR or control vectors, the DNA adducts identified match those from in vitro studies. Moreover, a positive correlation was observed between DNA adduct levels and cell sensitivity to AF. The potential contributing roles of AOR-mediated bioactivation and adduct stability to the cytotoxicity of AF are discussed.     

Elastic and inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy of a new rectifying monolayer

Rectification of electrical current was observed in a Langmuir-Schaefer monolayer of fullerene-bis[ethylthio-tetrakis(3,4-dibutyl-2-thiophene-5-ethenyl)-5-bromo-3,4-dibutyl-2-thiophene] malonate, Au electrodes at room temperature (there are two regimes of asymmetry, at lower bias, i.e., between 0 and +/-2 V, and at higher bias), and also between Pb and Al electrodes at 4.2 K. The latter experiment was coupled with second harmonic detection of the second derivative of the current with respect to voltage (d2I/dV2). The d2I/dV2 spectrum shows intramolecular vibrations, and also two antisymmetric broad bands, centered at +/-0.65 V, due to resonant electron tunneling between the Fermi level(s) of the electrodes and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of the molecule.