An in vitro evaluation of the antibacterial activity of the non-volatile phenolic fraction from rosemary leaves

In this study, the aim was to evaluate the antimicrobial action of the non-volatile phenols of rosemary leaves against two Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and two Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis). Three extracts with different phenolic compositions were tested. By the agar disc diffusion method, Gram-positive bacteria were more sensitive to the extracts, and S. epidermidis showed the highest inhibition zones. Overall, all the extracts tested by the broth dilution method showed higher activity than results from the agar disc diffusion method. The minimal bactericidal concentration values indicated that E. coli was the most susceptible strain. This study demonstrated that the flavonoidic fraction of rosemary leaves does not play a crucial role as antimicrobial agents against these microorganisms. The most active extract was characterised by the highest amount of non-volatile terpenoidic compounds.     

关于有限圆盘内解析函数的Hadamard分解定理的结果

In this paper, we investigate the Hadamard factorization theorem of analytic functions in the finite disc DR = {z ∈ C : |z| = r R ∞}, where C is the whole complex plane. Examples are given to show that our results are sharp.     

磁绝缘传输线阻抗变化对空间电子流的影响

介绍了磁绝缘传输线的阻抗大小、传输电压及电流大小对其产生的空间电子流大小及阴极电子鞘层厚度的影响。运用CHIPIC软件建立四层圆盘锥形磁绝缘传输线A层的近似化三维模型进行模拟,对比理论计算值与模拟值,并与相关文献的二维模拟结果进行对照,验证三维模拟的正确性。最后,模拟研究了圆盘锥形磁绝缘传输线阴阳极之间的间距变化对传输效率的影响。     

Hidden in plain sight: unlocking the full potential of cyclic voltammetry with the thin-film rotating (ring) disk electrode studies for the investigation of oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts

Cyclic voltammetry conducted with a thin-film rotating disk electrode, or ring-disk electrode (CV-TF-R(R)DE) is a very popular ‘ex situ’ tool for the rapid screening of electrocatalysts for their activity in oxygen reduction reaction. Despite its popularity and broad use, in most instances only a small part of the information that could be accessed by CV-TF-R(R)DE is actually used by scientists in their research. This work outlines both innovative and more traditional (but half-forgotten) ways of using CV-TF-R(R)DE to its optimal or full potential in the ongoing quest to study the most relevant features of oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts and quickly identify the most promising candidates for their applications in fuel cells or other electrochemical devices.     

Particle Swarm Optimization-Based Approach for Optic Disc Segmentation

Fundus segmentation is an important step in the diagnosis of ophthalmic diseases, especially glaucoma. A modified particle swarm optimization algorithm for optic disc segmentation is proposed, considering the fact that the current public fundus datasets do not have enough images and are unevenly distributed. The particle swarm optimization algorithm has been proved to be a good tool to deal with various extreme value problems, which requires little data and does not require pre-training. In this paper, the segmentation problem is converted to a set of extreme value problems. The scheme performs data preprocessing based on the features of the fundus map, reduces noise on the picture, and simplifies the search space for particles. The search space is divided into multiple sub-search spaces according to the number of subgroups, and the particles inside the subgroups search for the optimal solution in their respective sub-search spaces. The gradient values are used to calculate the fitness of particles and contours. The entire group is divided into some subgroups. Every particle flies in their exploration for the best solution. During the iteration, particles are not only influenced by local and global optimal solutions but also additionally attracted by particles between adjacent subgroups. By collaboration and information sharing, the particles are capable of obtaining accurate disc segmentation. This method has been tested with the Drishti-GS and RIM-ONE V3 dataset. Compared to several state-of-the-art methods, the proposed method substantially improves the optic disc segmentation results on the tested datasets, which demonstrates the superiority of the proposed work.     

Selective and sensitive detection of nitrite based on NO sensing on a polymer-coated rotating disc electrode

A new effective way of nitrite detection in complex samples is presented. It is based on chemical conversion of nitrite to nitric monoxide (NO) in acidic aqueous solution containing hexacyanoferrate(II) as a reductor. NO is then detected on a poly-eugenol coated platinum electrode. When the electrode is rotating and the reduction medium is continuously purged with nitrogen, the addition of a nitrite-containing sample produces narrowed current spikes. The peak current is proportional to nitrite content in the sample over the range of 5.0–100 μM and detection limit is 0.6 μM. The method is simple and highly reproducible. Relative standard deviation of 10 repetitions is less than 4%. Practical utility of the proposed approach is demonstrated by nitrite determination in human saliva.     

高阶复线性微分方程解的角域增长性

本文研究了高阶复线性微分方程解在角域上的增长性问题.利用Nevanlinna理论和共形变换的方法,获得了一些使得方程非平凡解在角域上有快速增长的系数条件,这些结果丰富了复方程解在角域上增长性的研究.     

KARI酶及其抑制剂

酮醇酸还原异构酶(Keto-Acid Reducto－Isomerase, KARI或称作乙酰羟基酸异构还原酶, Aceto-Hydroxyacid Isomero-Reductase, AHIR)是植物、微生物中的支链氨基酸生物合成途径中第二步的关键性酶。由于哺乳动物和人体内并不存在这种酶,因此靶向KARI酶的抑制剂具有安全、高效等特点,成为农用除草剂以及医药抗真菌药物的一个引人注目的研究方向。本文综述了KARI的酶学,KARI抑制剂及其抑制机理和理论研究进展,并对其发展趋势进行了展望。     

Use of polystyrene spin-coated compact discs for microimmunoassaying

The analytical potential of polystyrene (PS) spin-coated modified compact discs (CDs) surface as platforms for the development of microarray immunoassays is presented. The surface maintained the optical characteristics of compact discs, obtaining a transparent and smooth film polymer of 70 nm thickness, the track being read (λ 780 nm) without errors in a commercial CD reader/writer. The analytical capability of the methodology was demonstrated through an analysis of a neurotoxic compound (2560 spots per disc), reaching 0.08 μg L⁻¹ as limit of detection. These figures demonstrate the enormous potential of using PS spin-coated compact discs in combination with CD players as an easy-to-operate and portable device to develop lab-on-a-disc analytical applications.     

Association between visual degeneration of intervertebral discs and the apparent diffusion coefficient

The value of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements in intervertebral disc has been studied because ADC provides an estimate of free diffusion of unbound water and could be used as a quantitative tool to estimate degenerative changes. However, the challenging nature of diffusion imaging of spine and limited numbers of subjects in earlier studies has produced contradictory findings. We aimed to determine the relation between ADC and visual degenerative changes in lumbar intervertebral discs in a sufficiently large homogeneous study group. Lumbar spines of 228 volunteer middle-aged men were MR imaged at 1.5 T including anatomic and diffusion-weighted imaging. ADC values, T2 signal intensity and height, and width of the three lowest lumbar intervertebral discs were measured and disc degeneration visually graded. The calculated average ADC of 530 measured discs was 2.01×10⁻³ mm²/s±0.29 (±S.D.). The reduction in ADC between visually normal and moderately degenerated discs was 4%. Severely degenerated discs showed 5% larger ADC values than normal discs, presumably due to free water in cracks and fissures of those discs. T2 signal intensity of the disc was significantly correlated with the ADC values, whereas other measured parameters did not show correlation. There was no evident difference in ADC between the studied anatomic lumbar levels. Because there is considerable overlap between ADC values of normal and degenerated discs, we conclude that ADC measurements of intervertebral discs, at least with current technology, have limited clinical value.