Evaluation,Pitfalls and Recommendations for the “Water Layer Test” for Solid Contact Ion‐selective Electrodes

The “water layer test” is a crucial validation step of solid‐contact ion‐selective electrodes. It can confirm or contest the claim that the tested electrode is indeed a genuine solid contact electrode without an aqueous film between the ion‐selective membrane and its solid contact. Information about the presence of a water layer is essential for the interpretation of drifts in the electrode potentials commonly experienced with solid contact electrodes. Since its publication, the water layer test has been ubiquitously used, but without a standardized protocol the interpretation (or misinterpretation) of the test results led to uncertainties in the conclusions. Through both experiments and simulations based on theoretical models we have investigated the experimental parameters that can influence the results of the water layer test. We propose guidelines to minimize the possibility of misinterpretation of the results of the water layer test by considering the key factors that affect the shape of transients recorded during the water layer test. Most importantly, we emphasize the importance of allowing sufficient time for conditioning the tested electrode before the water layer test and providing adequate time for equilibration during the experiment. Using a thin ion‐selective membrane and thin solid‐contact layer for the tests is also recommended.     

Effects of Grape Polyphenols on the Life Span and Neuroinflammatory Alterations Related to Neurodegenerative Parkinson Disease-Like Disturbances in Mice

Functional nutrition is a valuable supplementation to dietary therapy. Functional foods are enriched with biologically active substances. Plant polyphenols attract particular attention due to multiple beneficial properties attributed to their high antioxidant and other biological activities. We assessed the effect of grape polyphenols on the life span of C57BL/6 mice and on behavioral and neuroinflammatory alterations in a transgenic mouse model of Parkinson disease (PD) with overexpression of the A53T-mutant human α-synuclein. C57BL/6 mice were given a dietary supplement containing grape polyphenol concentrate (GPC—1.5 mL/kg/day) with drinking water from the age of 6–8 weeks for life. Transgenic PD mice received GPC beginning at the age of 10 weeks for four months. GPC significantly influenced the cumulative proportion of surviving and substantially augmented the average life span in mice. In the transgenic PD model, the grape polyphenol (GP) diet enhanced memory reconsolidation and diminished memory extinction in a passive avoidance test. Behavioral effects of GP treatment were accompanied by a decrease in α-synuclein accumulation in the frontal cortex and a reduction in the expression of neuroinflammatory markers (IBA1 and CD54) in the frontal cortex and hippocampus. Thus, a GP-rich diet is recommended as promising functional nutrition for aging people and patients with neurodegenerative disorders.     

A graph-based multi-sample test for identifying pathways associated with cancer progression

Cancer is in general not a result of an abnormality of a single gene but a consequence of changes in many genes, it is therefore of great importance to understand the roles of different oncogenic and tumor suppressor pathways in tumorigenesis. In recent years, there have been many computational models developed to study the genetic alterations of different pathways in the evolutionary process of cancer. However, most of the methods are knowledge-based enrichment analyses and inflexible to analyze user-defined pathways or gene sets. In this paper, we develop a nonparametric and data-driven approach to testing for the dynamic changes of pathways over the cancer progression. Our method is based on an expansion and refinement of the pathway being studied, followed by a graph-based multivariate test, which is very easy to implement in practice. The new test is applied to the rich Cancer Genome Atlas data to study the (epi)genetic alterations of 186 KEGG pathways in the development of serous ovarian cancer. To make use of the comprehensive data, we incorporate three data types in the analysis representing gene expression level, copy number and DNA methylation level. Our analysis suggests a list of nine pathways that are closely associated with serous ovarian cancer progression, including cell cycle, ERBB, JAK-STAT signaling and p53 signaling pathways. By pairwise tests, we found that most of the identified pathways contribute only to a particular transition step. For instance, the cell cycle and ERBB pathways play key roles in the early-stage transition, while the ECM receptor and apoptosis pathways contribute to the progression from stage III to stage IV. The proposed computational pipeline is powerful in detecting important pathways and gene sets that drive cancers at certain stage(s). It offers new insights into the understanding of molecular mechanism of cancer initiation and progression.     

碳纤维复合材料冲击模型率相关修正方法与试验研究

目前先进航空发动机的风扇叶片均采用复合材料结构,为了研究其在工作过程中可能受到的冲击损伤,即碳纤维增强树脂基复合材料受到高速冲击后的损伤与破坏过程,对其准静态下的正交各向异性本构模型和失效准则进行修正,建立了应变率相关的三维动态本构及损伤模型．该模型考虑了材料模量、强度和断裂韧性与应变率的相关性,并采用基于断裂韧性的渐进损伤模式对刚度进行折减来控制破坏过程．开展了不同应变率下的动态试验,得到基体方向拉伸与剪切的动态响应数据,拟合得到相应的动态修正因子．将该模型结合修正因子植入数值软件进行仿真计算,分析结果表明,所建立的率相关本构及损伤模型能够更准确地模拟层合板受冲击过程的损伤和破坏,与试验吻合较好．     

高韧性合金钢断裂韧性及疲劳裂纹扩展门槛值的联合试验方法

在柴油机曲轴、连杆等关键零部件的可靠性设计和失效评估中,断裂韧性及疲劳裂纹扩展门槛值分别是衡量材料抵抗裂纹失稳扩展和裂纹开始扩展的重要指标．但是,对于高韧性合金材料,难以通过常规试验所推荐的厚度确定平面应变断裂韧性,而门槛值的测定通常不但非常耗时,且难以直接应用于不同循环特性的实际结构．本文针对高韧性合金钢34CrNi3MoA,提出一种将断裂韧性和疲劳裂纹扩展门槛值试验合二为一的试验方法,即用同一个试件可以同时测定门槛值和断裂韧性．利用断裂韧性关于试件厚度的渐近特性,以几种较薄试件的试验,确定平面应变状态下的断裂韧性．试验结果还表明,裂纹扩展门槛值的试件厚度依存性可以忽略,并给出了任意循环特性（应力比）下的门槛值计算公式．     

Synthesis,antibacterial evaluation and survey on the thermophysical characteristics of novel medically applicable polyamides containing pharmaceutically outstanding triazole moieties

There are many different strategies to decrease the incidence of infection of medical device and food related containers. One way to prevent infection is by modifying the polymers used in making the devices and containers. Incorporation of antimicrobial agents in the bulk material or in formulations of medical devices production has been considered a viable alternative for systemic application of antibiotics. In this article, preparation of a series of triazole containing polymers, poly(triazole-amide-imide)s (PTAI)s and poly(triazole-amide) (PTA)s, and their monomers are reported. These polymers were readily soluble in a variety of organic solvents, showed significant thermal properties and also viscosities in the range of 0.55–0.66 dL/g. They have been tested against a range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens. The results indicated that these novel polymers containing triazole moiety in their repeating units can effectively control Gram-positive and negative pathogens and their physic-chemical properties besides their antibacterial characteristics make them unique candidate for using in the manufacturing of the medical devices.     

Magnetic fluid poly(ethylene glycol) with moderate anticancer activity

Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-containing magnetic fluids - magnetite (Fe₃O₄) stabilized by sodium oleate - were prepared. Magnetic measurements confirmed superparamagnetic behaviour at room temperature. The structure of that kind of magnetic fluid was characterized using different techniques, including electron microscopy, photon cross correlation spectroscopy and small-angle neutron scattering, while the adsorption of PEG on magnetic particles was analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. From the in vitro toxicity tests it was found that a magnetic fluid containing PEG (MFPEG) partially inhibited the growth of cancerous B16 cells at the highest tested dose (2.1 mg/ml of Fe₃O₄ in MFPEG).     

The effect of resistant starches on fat oxidation in healthy adults as measured by a 13CO2-breath test

A resistant starch (RS) mixture (MIX) consisting of fibre of potatoes (FP) and wrinkled pea starch (WPS), and high amylose maize starch (HAMS) were supplemented in adults to evaluate their effects on fat oxidation by means of a ¹³CO₂-breath test. Sixteen subjects received a regular diet either without or with the supplementation of MIX and HAMS in randomised order. After administration of a [U-¹³C]algal lipid mixture, exhaled air was collected over 14?h in 0.5- and 1-h intervals. The ¹³C abundances were measured by nondispersive infrared spectroscopy. In comparison to the dry run (DR), supplementation with MIX and with HAMS increased the cumulative percentage dose recovery: (DR: 16.7?%, MIX: 16.9?%, HAMS: 18.0?%), but without statistical significance. The colonic degradation of MIX and HAMS to short-chain fatty acids tends to lower the formation of carbohydrate-derived acetyl-CoA and contributes to a postprandial lipid oxidation increase by using fat-derived acetyl-CoA as a compensatory fuel source.     

S波段直线对撞机中具有膜片涂层加速腔的高功率实验(英文)

加速管中的高次模（HOM）能导至累积束流崩溃，因此这些模式必须被抑制．在S波段直线对撞机中（SBLC），采用了在束流孔膜片上复盖适当的损耗材料的方式．HOM的Q值被减小了5倍，而基模的Q值几乎保持不变．3种材料被考虑，即：stainlesssteel，kanthal和galvedc为了对具有这种涂层的加速腔进行高功率测试，一个两腔的谐振器结构被设计．本文描述了高功率测试的原理，过程以及初步的结果．     

Optical testing of star sensor (II): Alignment of star sensor from off-line pictures taken in orbital test

Alignment error of an image sensor relative to the optical axis of a star sensor head and alignment errors between four heads were calculated from pictures taken in an orbital experiment. When comparing the image sensor alignment parameters in the orbital test and a ground test, both values matched well. By determining the relative relationship of the four heads using four pictures taken at the same moment in orbit and uploading the parameters to the star sensor system in orbit, the estimated attitude error was improved from 0.29 to 0.17°, though the accuracy was limited by the ±0.2° determination accuracy of the satellite itself. We estimated the attitude determination accuracy from separation angles between boresights of the four heads, calculated from pattern matching between downloaded pictures and a star catalogue. The estimated accuracy, in terms of potential optical performance, was 0.60 arcmin at 3σ, which is sufficient to satisfy the specification of 1 arcmin.