利用内禀荧光探针研究蛋白相互作用中硫氧还蛋白的氧化还原态

细胞内蛋白质的氧化还原状态直接影响细胞的增殖、分化及凋亡,而氧化还原状态的改变对调控细胞的生存或死亡尤为重要。硫氧还蛋白(Thioredoxin, TRX)是一种广泛存在于生物体内的氧化还原调节蛋白,其在细胞内氧化还原状态的变化是发挥其氧化还原调控作用的重要过程。以TRX为对象并以其中的色氨酸残基(Trp)作为内禀荧光探针,利用蛋白质定点突变、SDS-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳(SDS-PAGE)、荧光光谱和圆二色谱等技术和方法,研究TRX与谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(glutathione peroxidase, GPX3)相互作用过程中氧化还原态的变化。通过观测TRX以及突变体中色氨酸荧光光谱的变化,研究蛋白相互作用的电子转移模式以及TRX氧化态-还原态之间的相互转化。结果表明氧化态的TRX与还原态的GPX3之间存在相互作用并发生电子交换,解释了二者之间电子传递模式为GPX3将电子传递给TRX,为揭示TRX在细胞信号传递过程中的物理化学机制提供了实验依据。     

Iron-catalyzed synthesis of phenanthrenes via intramolecular hydroarylation of arene-alkynes

An Fe(OTf)₃-catalyzed intramolecular hydroarylation of arene-alkynes with high functional group tolerance has been reported, affording a series of phenanthrene derivatives efficiently. A low catalytic amount of Fe(OTf)₃ is applied in this reaction. This transformation provides a convenient and practical method for the preparation of phenanthrenes.     

Nd(OTf)3-catalyzed intramolecular-intermolecular cascade cyclization reaction: An access to phenanthro[9,10-b]furan derivatives

An intramolecular-intermolecular cascade cyclization reaction via multi metal-carbene intermediates has been developed. This reaction uses catalytic amount of Nd(OTf)₃, which actives both alkyne and aldehyde moieties. This protocol provides a novel strategy for the synthesis of phenanthro[9,10-b]furans.     

Thermal decomposition behaviors and dust explosion characteristics of nano-polystyrene

With the development of nano-powder technology, polymeric nano-materials are widely used in various industries, while not much research on their thermal decomposition and dust explosion characteristics has been conducted. The thermal behaviors and explosion characteristic parameters of the nano-polystyrene (nano-PS) with a typical particle size of 90 nm were studied by employing thermogravimetric analysis (TG), MIE-D 1.2 minimum ignition energy (MIE) test device, and 20-L spherical dust explosion test equipment. The results showed that the thermal decomposition of the nano-PS occurred in a two-step process which was different from the single process for conventional PS. Meanwhile, the reaction rate of the thermal decomposition for nano-PS increased with the heating rate. The TG and DTG curves shifted to the higher-temperature zone when the heating rate increased, and the initial temperature, final temperature, temperature at the maximum rate, and the maximum rate also increased. The sensitivity parameter of the minimum ignition energy of nano-PS varied as the dust concentration altered, and the most sensitive explosive concentration was about 200 g m⁻³. Also, nano-PS was proved to be quite sensitive to the electrostatic spark, as its calculated MIE value was as low as 11 mJ. For the severity parameters, the explosion pressure and its rising rate of nano-PS tended to increase at first and then decrease with the increase in dust concentrations. According to the risk classification standard, the explosion risk class of nano-PS was St2. The results were further extensively compared to other previous works. The results demonstrated both the higher explosion possibility and severity of nano-PS. This study could provide guidance for the safety management of nano-PS in its manufacture, storage, and handling process.

     

Two new monoterpenoid indole alkaloids from Tabernaemontana divaricata

Two new monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, tabervarines A (1) and B (2), along with seven known monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, were isolated from the methanol extract of the twigs and leaves of Tabernaemontana divaricata. The structures including the absolute configurations of the new alkaloids were elucidated based on MS, NMR, and ECD calculation. The in vitro cytotoxic activities of the isolated alkaloids against several human cancer cell lines were also evaluated.     

Theory assisted design of N-doped tin oxides for enhanced electrochemical CO2 activation and reduction

Clearly understanding the structure-function relationship and rational design of efficient CO_2 electrocatalysts are still the challenges.This article describes the molecular origin of high selectivity of formic acid on N-doped SnO_2 nanoparticles,which obtained via thermal treatment of g-C_3N_4 and SnCl_2·2H_2O precursor.Combined with density functional theory(DFT)calculations,we discover that N-doping effectively introduces oxygen vacancies and increases the charge density of Sn sites,which plays a positive role in CO_2 activation.In addition,N-doping further regulates the adsorption energy of*OCHO,*COOH,*H and promotes HCOOH generation.Benefited from above modulation,the obtained N-doped SnO_2 catalysts with oxygen vacancies(Ov-N-SnO_2)exhibit faradaic efficiency of 93% for C_1 formation,88% for HCOOH production and well-suppression of H_2 evolution over a wide range of potentials.     

Electrochemical etching of n-type 15R-SiC and 6H-SiC without UV illumination

We report the formation of porous n-type 15R- and 6H-SiC and analyze the porous layers using scanning electron microscopy, Raman scattering and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The crystal structures and the preparation conditions of porous SiC are shown to have an effect on the structural and electrical properties of the material obtained. Raman spectra of porous SiC layers have shown some specific features compared with those of bulk SiC. For the porous 15R-SiC, the semi-cylindrical structure of the porous network has been observed and the porosity is about 66%.     

Tone model integration based on discriminative weight training for Putonghua speech recognition

A discriminative framework of tone model integration in continuous speech recognition was proposed. The method uses model dependent weights to scale probabilities of the hidden Markov models based on spectral features and tone models based on tonal features. The weights are discriminatively trained by minimum phone error criterion. Update equation of the model weights based on extended Baum-Welch algorithm is derived. Various schemes of model weight combination are evaluated and a smoothing technique is introduced to make training robust to over fitting. The proposed method is ewluated on tonal syllable output and character output speech recognition tasks. The experimental results show the proposed method has obtained 9.5% and 4.7% relative error reduction than global weight on the two tasks due to a better interpolation of the given models. This proves the effectiveness of discriminative trained model weights for tone model integration.     

Vibration mechanism of a mistuned bladed-disk

For coupling vibration of the mistuned bladed-disk in aeroengine, the vibration differential equation of the system is established using component-mode synthesis methods. Experimental mode analysis and mode correction are used to calculate some low-order modes of tuned blade and the disk with cone-flange. The models of actual mistuned bladed-disk is constructed by exerting some small perturbation on the mode stiffness of blades. The forced vibration experimentation of an actual mistuned bladed-disk in non-rotating status is carried out to verify the vibration model and calculation formulae. The results show that excessive vibration response of a single blade is caused by blade mistuning, and the random mistuning distribution of a small frequency difference is more profitable than other arrangements for depressing the maximal vibration level of the hapless blade. In this study, the better natural frequency difference amplitude of blades and the right working frequency range of aeroengine are also suggested according to the result analysis of several numerical calculations.     

Flexible integration of optical switch with optical power splitting and attenuating functions for optical fiber-based networking applications

A flexible integration of optical switch with optical power splitting and attenuating functions has been proposed to optimally serve optical fiber-based networking applications. In this switch, an etched binary-slope sidewall reflector is electrostatically actuated in and out of the plane to manipulate optical signals between input and output optical fibers. The fabrication process is a simple combination of a bulk-silicon micromachining process and silicon-to-glass anodic bonding where fiber alignment grooves, reflectors and actuators are fabricated on the same silicon substrate. Ball-lensed fibers are assembled with the device to achieve high coupling efficiency. Performances of the fabricated devices are measured and discussed. The switching time is less than 9 ms at 31 V. The excess loss of the device is less than 3 dB and the controllable attenuation range is up to 38 dB at 139 V, respectively. Moreover, polarization-dependent loss is less than 0.7 dB in the whole attenuation and splitting range.