ALBERT

Description: Ultra-sensitive inertial sensors are one of the key components in satellite Earth’s gravity field recovery missions and space gravitational wave detection missions. Low-noise capacitive position transducers are crucial to these missions to achieve the scientific goal. However, in actual engineering applications, the sensor head and electronics unit usually place separately in the satellite platform where a connecting cable is needed. In this paper, we focus on the stray-capacitance influences of coaxial cables which are used to connect the mechanical core and the electronics. Specially, for the capacitive transducer with a differential transformer bridge structure usually used in high-precision space inertial sensors, a connecting method of a coaxial cable between the transformer’s secondary winding and front-end circuit’s preamplifier is proposed to transmit the AC modulated analog voltage signal. The measurement and noise models including the stray-capacitance of the coaxial cable under this configuration is analyzed. A prototype system is set up to investigate the influences of the cables experimentally. Three different types and lengths of coaxial cables are chosen in our experiments to compare their performances. The analysis shows that the stray-capacitance will alter the circuit’s resonant frequency which could be adjusted by additional tuning capacitance, then under the optimal resonant condition, the output voltage noises of the preamplifier are measured and the sensitivity coefficients are also calibrated. Meanwhile, the stray-capacitance of the cables is estimated. Finally, the experimental results show that the noise level of this circuit with the selected cables could all achieve 1–2 × 10−7 pF/Hz1/2 at 0.1 Hz.

Description: The optical system is one of the core components for star sensors, whose imaging quality directly influences the performance of star sensors for star detection, thereby determining the attitude control accuracy of spacecrafts. Here, we report a new type of optical system with a catadioptric structure and a large entrance pupil diameter for a 15-magnitude star sensor. It consists of an improved Cassegrain system (R-C system), an aperture correction spherical lens group and a field of view correction spherical lens group. By embedding the secondary mirror of the R-C system into the output surface of the negative spherical lens of the aperture correction spherical lens group, the blocking of incident light is eliminated from the secondary mirror holder. After the structure optimization, the catadioptric optical system (COS) had a spectral range of 450 nm–950 nm, an entrance pupil diameter of 250 mm, a half-diagonal field of view of 1.4° and a focal length of 390 mm. By using theoretical calculations and experimental measurements, it was verified that the COS, with the ability to correct astigmatism, lateral color and distortion, can fulfill the detection of 15-magnitude dark stars.

Description: Ginseng is a traditional medicinal herb commonly consumed world-wide owing to its unique family of saponins called ginsenosides. The absorption and bioavailability of ginsenosides mainly depend on an individual’s gastrointestinal bioconversion abilities. There is a need to improve ginseng processing to predictably increase the pharmacologically active of ginsenosides. Various types of ginseng, such as fresh, white, steamed, acid-processed, and fermented ginsengs, are available. The various ginseng processing methods produce a range ginsenoside compositions with diverse pharmacological properties. This review is intended to summarize the properties of the ginsenosides found in different Panax species as well as the different processing methods. The sugar moiety attached to the C–3, C–6, or C–20 deglycosylated to produce minor ginsenosides, such as Rb1, Rb2, Rc, Rd→Rg3, F2, Rh2; Re, Rf→Rg1, Rg2, F1, Rh1. The malonyl-Rb1, Rb2, Rc, and Rd were demalonylated into ginsenoside Rb1, Rb2, Rc, and Rd by dehydration. Dehydration also produces minor ginsenosides such as Rg3→Rk1, Rg5, Rz1; Rh2→Rk2, Rh3; Rh1→Rh4, Rk3; Rg2→Rg6, F4; Rs3→Rs4, Rs5; Rf→Rg9, Rg10. Acetylation of several ginsenosides may generate acetylated ginsenosides Rg5, Rk1, Rh4, Rk3, Rs4, Rs5, Rs6, and Rs7. Acid processing methods produces Rh1→Rk3, Rh4; Rh2→Rk1, Rg5; Rg3→Rk2, Rh3; Re, Rf, Rg2→F1, Rh1, Rf2, Rf3, Rg6, F4, Rg9. Alkaline produces Rh16, Rh3, Rh1, F4, Rk1, ginsenoslaloside-I, 20(S)-ginsenoside-Rh1-60-acetate, 20(R)-ginsenoside Rh19, zingibroside-R1 through hydrolysis, hydration addition reactions, and dehydration. Moreover, biological processing of ginseng generates the minor ginsenosides of Rg3, F2, Rh2, CK, Rh1, Mc, compound O, compound Y through hydrolysis reactions, and synthetic ginsenosides Rd12 and Ia are produced through glycosylation. This review with respect to the properties of particular ginsenosides could serve to increase the utilization of ginseng in agricultural products, food, dietary supplements, health supplements, and medicines, and may also spur future development of novel highly functional ginseng products through a combination of various processing methods.

Description: Among microporous storage materials copper benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (CuBTC MOF, Cu3(BTC)2 or HKUST-1) holds the greatest potential for clean energy gases. However, its usefulness is challenged by water vapor, either in the gas to be stored or in the environment. To determine the protection potential of graphene oxide (GO) HKUST-1@GO composites containing 0–25% GO were synthesized and studied. In the highest concentration, GO was found to strongly affect HKUST-1 crystal growth in solvothermal conditions by increasing the pH of the reaction mixture. Otherwise, the GO content had practically no influence on the H2, CH4 and CO2 storage capacities, which were very similar to those from the findings of other groups. The water vapor resistance of a selected composite was compared to that of HKUST-1. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric (TG/DTG) and N2 adsorption techniques were used to monitor the changes in the crystal and pore structure. It was found that GO saves the copper–carboxyl coordination bonds by sacrificing the ester groups, formed during the solvothermal synthesis, between ethanol and the carboxyl groups on the GO sheets.

Description: Anomalous changes of the cell mesenchymal–epithelial transition factor (c-Met) receptor tyrosine kinase signaling pathway play an important role in the occurrence and development of human cancers, including gastric cancer. In this study, we designed and synthesized a novel peptide (CM 7) targeting the tyrosine kinase receptor c-Met, that can inhibit c-Met-mediated signaling in MKN-45 and U87 cells. Its affinity to human c-Met protein or c-Met-positive cells was determined, which showed specific binding to c-Met with high affinity. Its biological activities against MKN-45 c-Met-positive cells were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. As a result, peptide CM 7 exhibited moderate regulation of c-Met-mediated cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and scattering. The inhibitory effect of peptide CM 7 on tumor growth in vivo was investigated by establishing a xenograft mouse model using MKN-45 cells, and the growth inhibition rate of tumor masses for peptide CM 7 was 62%. Based on our data, CM 7 could be a promising therapeutic peptide for c-Met-dependent cancer patients.

Description: In respect of rock-mass engineering, the detection of planar structures from the rock-mass point clouds plays a crucial role in the construction of a lightweight numerical model, while the establishment of high-quality models relies on the accurate results of surface analysis. However, the existing techniques are barely capable to segment the rock mass thoroughly, which is attributed to the cluttered and unpredictable surface structures of the rock mass. This paper proposes a high-precision plane detection approach for 3D rock-mass point clouds, which is effective in dealing with the complex surface structures, thus achieving a high level of detail in detection. Firstly, the input point cloud is fast segmented to voxels using spatial grids, while the local coplanarity test and the edge information calculation are performed to extract the major segments of planes. Secondly, to preserve as much detail as possible, supervoxel segmentation instead of traditional region growing is conducted to deal with scattered points. Finally, a patch-based region growing strategy applicable to rock mass is developed, while the completed planes are obtained by merging supervoxel patches. In this paper, an artificial icosahedron point cloud and four rock-mass point clouds are applied to validate the performance of the proposed method. As indicated by the experimental results, the proposed method can make high-precision plane detection achievable for rock-mass point clouds while ensuring high recall rate. Furthermore, the results of both qualitative and quantitative analyses evidence the superior performance of our algorithm.

Description: A major challenge for the silk textile industry and for the process of silk-based biomaterials is to find a degumming method that can completely remove sericin while avoiding obvious hydrolysis damage to the silk fibroin. In this study, papain was used to degum Bombyx mori silk fibers under nearly neutral conditions based on the specificity of papain to sericin. The degumming efficiency was investigated, as well as the mechanical properties and molecular weight of the sericin-free silk fibroin. The results indicated that increasing the papain concentration aided in sericin removal, as the concentration increased to 3.0 g/L, the degummed fibers showed a clean, smooth surface morphology and exhibited a yellow color when stained by picric acid and carmine, confirming the complete removal of sericin from silk fibroin. Furthermore, an analysis of the amino acid composition indicated that the silk fibroin suffered less damage because papain specifically cleaved the binding sites between L-arginine or L-lysine residue and another amino acid residue in sericin, leading to a significantly higher molecular weight and improved tensile strength compared to traditional sodium carbonate degumming. This study provides a novel degumming method which cannot only completely remove sericin, but also maintain the original strong mechanical properties and high molecular weight of silk fibroin.

Description: To counteract host antiviral RNA silencing, plant viruses encode numerous viral suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs). P0 proteins have been identified as VSRs in many poleroviruses. However, their suppressor function has not been fully characterized. Here, we investigated the function of P0 from pea mild chlorosis virus (PMCV) in the suppression of local and systemic RNA silencing via green fluorescent protein (GFP) co-infiltration assays in wild-type and GFP-transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana (line 16c). Amino acid deletion analysis showed that N-terminal residues Asn 2 and Val 3, but not the C-terminus residues from 230–270 aa, were necessary for PMCV P0 (P0PM) VSR activity. P0PM acted as an F-box protein, and triple LPP mutation (62LPxx79P) at the F-box-like motif abolished its VSR activity. In addition, P0PM failed to interact with S-phase kinase-associated protein 1 (SKP1), which was consistent with previous findings of P0 from potato leafroll virus. These data further support the notion that VSR activity of P0 is independent of P0–SKP1 interaction. Furthermore, we examined the effect of P0PM on ARGONAUTE1 (AGO1) protein stability, and co-expression analysis showed that P0PM triggered AGO1 degradation. Taken together, our findings suggest that P0PM promotes degradation of AGO1 to suppress RNA silencing independent of SKP1 interaction.

Description: The hydrolysate of golden cuttlefish (Sepia esculenta) was prepared by using papain, and then, it was further separated by ultrafiltration, gel filtration chromatography, and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The peptide components of the active fraction were identified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and then two novel peptides, SeP2 (DVEDLEAGLAK, 1159.27 Da) and SeP5 (EITSLAPSTM, 1049.22 Da), were obtained and displayed significant alleviation effects on oxidative stress in Caenorhabditis elegans. Studies indicated that S. esculenta antioxidant peptides (SePs) increase superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity but reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levelsin oxidation-damaged nematodes. Using transgenic CF1553 nematodes, the sod-3p::GFP expression in the worms treated with SePs was significantly higher than that of the control nematodes. Real-time PCR also demonstrated that the expression of stress-related genes such as sod-3 is up-regulated by SePs. Furthermore, studies showed that SePs could obviously decrease fat accumulation as well as reduce the elevated ROS and MDA levels in high-fat nematodes. Taken together, these results indicated that SePs are capable of the activation of antioxidant defense and the inhibition of free radicals and lipid peroxidation, play important roles in attenuating oxidative stress and fat accumulation in C. elegans, and might have the potential to be used in nutraceutical and functional foods.

Description: With the rapid development of thermal protection systems for the aerospace industry and power electronics, polyarylacetylene (PAA) resin plays an important role because of its good mechanical properties, high glass transition temperature (Tg), low water absorption, high char yield (Yc), and the fact that there is no byproduct released in the curing process. In order to further improve the thermal property of PAA based FRP for the thermal protection field, the introduction of a zirconium element into arylacetylene is promising. In this paper, zirconium modified arylacetylene (ZAA) resin was prepared by two-step synthesis. The FTIR analysis characterized its molecular structure and confirmed the products. The viscosity of ZAA was about 6.5 Pa·s when the temperature was above 120 °C. The DSC analysis showed that the ZAA had a low curing temperature, and its apparent activation energy was 103.86 kJ/mol in the Kissinger method and 106.46 kJ/mol in the Ozawa method. The dielectric constant at 1 MHz of poly(zirconium modified arylacetylene) (PZAA) was 3.4. The TG analysis showed that the temperatures of a weight loss of 5% (Td5) and char yield (Yc) at 800 °C of PZAA were 407.5 °C and 61.4%, respectively. The XRD results showed the presence of SiO2 and ZrO2 in the PZAA residue after ablation. The XRF results showed that the contents of SiO2 and ZrO2 in PZAA residual after ablation were, respectively, 15.3% and 12.4%. The SEM showed that the surface of PZAA after ablation had been covered with a dense and rigid ceramic phase composed of ZrO2 and SiO2. Therefore, the introduction of Zr into arylacetylene greatly improved the densification of the surface after ablation, and improved the heat resistant property.