Flower Extracts as Multifunctional Dyes in the Cosmetics Industry

Flowers are a natural source of bioactive compounds that not only have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-aging properties, but can also be used as natural dyes. For this reason, nowadays plants are widely used to produce natural cosmetics and foods. In these studies, the properties of the water extracts of Papaver rhoeas L., Punica granatum L., Clitoria ternatea L., Carthamus tinctorius L., and Gomphrena globosa L., as bioactive, natural dyes, were investigated. Plant flower extracts were tested for their antioxidant (ABTS and DPPH radical methods) and anti-inflammatory effects by determining the ability to inhibit the activity of lipoxygenase and proteinase. The extracts were tested for their cytotoxic effect on skin cells, using Alamar Blue and Neutral Red tests. The ability to inhibit the activity of enzymes responsible for the destruction of elastin and collagen was also studied. Research has shown that extracts have no toxic effect on skin cells, are a rich source of antioxidants and show the ability to inhibit the activity of elastase and collagenase enzymes. P. rhoeas extract showed the strongest antioxidant properties with IC50 value of 24.8 ± 0.42 µg/mL and 47.5 ± 1.01 µg/mL in ABTS and DPPH tests, respectively. The tested plants are also characterized by an anti-inflammatory property, for which the ability to inhibit lipoxygenase at a level above 80% and proteinase at the level of about 55% was noted. Extracts from P. rhoeas, C. ternatea, and C. tinctorius show the strongest coloring ability and can permanently dye cosmetic products, without significant color changes during the storage of the product.     

Network Bending: Expressive Manipulation of Generative Models in Multiple Domains

This paper presents the network bending framework, a new approach for manipulating and interacting with deep generative models. We present a comprehensive set of deterministic transformations that can be inserted as distinct layers into the computational graph of a trained generative neural network and applied during inference. In addition, we present a novel algorithm for analysing the deep generative model and clustering features based on their spatial activation maps. This allows features to be grouped together based on spatial similarity in an unsupervised fashion. This results in the meaningful manipulation of sets of features that correspond to the generation of a broad array of semantically significant features of the generated results. We outline this framework, demonstrating our results on deep generative models for both image and audio domains. We show how it allows for the direct manipulation of semantically meaningful aspects of the generative process as well as allowing for a broad range of expressive outcomes.     

一种新型枝化聚乙二醇的合成

以谷氨酸作为中心分子,首先对谷氨酸的氨基进行Boc保护,然后在4-二甲基氨基吡啶-二环己基碳二亚胺催化体系的作用下,将两条线性的单甲氧基聚乙二醇(mPEG)链连接到谷氨酸的两个羧基上,合成出含有两条聚乙二醇(PEG)链及一个活性氨基的新型枝化PEG[Glu(PEG)2],其结构经1H NMR,IR,GPC和VPO表征。     

Epistemic Communities under Active Inference

The spread of ideas is a fundamental concern of today’s news ecology. Understanding the dynamics of the spread of information and its co-option by interested parties is of critical importance. Research on this topic has shown that individuals tend to cluster in echo-chambers and are driven by confirmation bias. In this paper, we leverage the active inference framework to provide an in silico model of confirmation bias and its effect on echo-chamber formation. We build a model based on active inference, where agents tend to sample information in order to justify their own view of reality, which eventually leads to them to have a high degree of certainty about their own beliefs. We show that, once agents have reached a certain level of certainty about their beliefs, it becomes very difficult to get them to change their views. This system of self-confirming beliefs is upheld and reinforced by the evolving relationship between an agent’s beliefs and observations, which over time will continue to provide evidence for their ingrained ideas about the world. The epistemic communities that are consolidated by these shared beliefs, in turn, tend to produce perceptions of reality that reinforce those shared beliefs. We provide an active inference account of this community formation mechanism. We postulate that agents are driven by the epistemic value that they obtain from sampling or observing the behaviours of other agents. Inspired by digital social networks like Twitter, we build a generative model in which agents generate observable social claims or posts (e.g., ‘tweets’) while reading the socially observable claims of other agents that lend support to one of two mutually exclusive abstract topics. Agents can choose which other agent they pay attention to at each timestep, and crucially who they attend to and what they choose to read influences their beliefs about the world. Agents also assess their local network’s perspective, influencing which kinds of posts they expect to see other agents making. The model was built and simulated using the freely available Python package pymdp. The proposed active inference model can reproduce the formation of echo-chambers over social networks, and gives us insight into the cognitive processes that lead to this phenomenon.     

甲烷单加氧酶催化机理的研究进展

甲烷单加氧酶是甲烷营养细菌代谢过程中的重要酶系,同时也是一类能够很好地催化底物分子单加氧反应的生物催化剂,在工业应用、医药和环境治理方面有着广泛的应用前景。文章综述了近年来在甲烷单加氧酶催化机理方面的研究,着重阐述了含非血红素双铁核的结构及活化氧分子和底物的机理。     

高比表面积活性炭的制备及其储氢性能的研究进展

简要分析各种储氢材料和技术的基础上,重点介绍了高比表面积活性炭的制备方法,目前最常用的活化方法是以氢氧化钾为活化剂的化学活化法;并总结了近年来前人在高比表面积活性炭储氢方面的研究结果,同时简要分析了高比表面积活性炭储氢机理方面的研究进展.     

人顶体酶三维结构的同源模建及其与KF950的分子对接研究

采用同源模建方法首次构建了人顶体酶的三维结构模型, 模型的可靠性经Ramachandran图和Profile_3D图验证. 采用InsightII/Binding site方法准确定位了人顶体酶的活性位点, 并研究了顶体酶重要功能残基在活性位点的立体分布. 在此基础上, 通过柔性分子对接方法首次阐明了顶体酶高效抑制剂KF950与靶酶活性位点的相互作用模式, 发现特异性的氢键相互作用是KF950产生高抑制活性的重要分子基础. 其研究结果将为合理设计新型顶体酶抑制剂, 寻找男性口服避孕药奠定坚实基础.     

甲烷氧化偶联W-Mn/SiO2催化剂上O2-脉冲频率效应(PFE)的研究

采用频率脉冲反应方法,以Mn-Na2WO4/S iO2催化剂上甲烷氧化偶联为探针反应,通过实时、原位的四极质谱检测手段,研究氧物种对甲烷C-H键选择性活化的微观历程.首次发现了Mn-Na2WO4/S iO2催化剂上O2-脉冲频率效应,即脉冲反应产物量随氧脉冲注入频率的增加而增加.研究结果表明,在反应条件下,Mn-Na2WO4/S iO2催化剂上有两种活化甲烷的氧物种同时存在,它们活化甲烷的方式不同。     

茶汤及河水中铁的形态分析

本文采用阳离子交换、活性炭分离－光度法研究了铁的形态分离及测定条件，建立了铁的形态分析方法。应用此法测定了茶汤及河水中铁的总量、悬浮态、溶解态、无机态、有机态、Ｆｅ（Ⅲ）和Ｆｅ（Ⅱ）等形态，结果令人满意。