Polylactide-based polyurethane and its shape-memory behavior

A series of polylactide polyurethanes (PLAUs) were synthesized from poly(L-lactide) diols, hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), and 1,4-butanediol (BDO). Their thermal and mechanical properties and shape-memory behavior were studied by infrared spectroscopy (IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXID), tensile testing, and thermal mechanical analysis (TMA). The T(g)s of these polymers were in the range of 33-53 degrees C, and influenced by the Mn of the PLA diol and the ratio of the soft-segment to the hard-segment. These materials can restore their shapes almost completely after 150% elongation or twofold compression. By changing the M-n of the PLA diol and the ratio of the hard-to-soft-segment, their Ts and shape-recovery temperatures can be adjusted to the neighborhood of the body temperature. Therefore, these PLAUs are expected to find practical medical applications.

Impact of astaxanthin-enriched algal powder of Haematococcus pluvialis on memory improvement in BALB/c mice

The impact of astaxanthin-enriched algal powder on auxiliary memory improvement was assessed in BALB/c mice pre-supplemented with different dosages of cracked green algal (Haematococcus pluvialis) powder daily for 30 days. The supplemented mice were first tested over 8 days to find a hidden platform by swimming in a Morris water maze. Then, for 5 days, the mice were used to search for a visible platform in a Morris water maze. After that, the mice practised finding a safe place-an insulated platform in a chamber-for 2 days. During these animal experimental periods, similar algal meals containing astaxanthin at 0, 0.26, 1.3 and 6.4 mg/kg body weight were continuously fed to each group of tested mice. Profiles of latency, distance, speed and the direction angle to the platforms as well as the diving frequency in each group were measured and analyzed. The process of mice jumping up onto the insulated platform and diving down to the copper-shuttered bottom with a 36 V electrical charge were also monitored by automatic video recording. The results of the Morris maze experiment showed that middle dosage of H. pluvialis meals (1.3 mg astaxanthin/kg body weight) significantly shortened the latency and distance required for mice to find a hidden platform. However, there was no obvious change in swim velocity in any of the supplemented groups. In contrast, the visible platform test showed a significant increase in latency and swim distance, and a significant decrease in swim speed for all groups of mice orally supplemented with H. pluvialis powder compared to the placebo group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Mice supplemented with the algal meal hesitantly turned around the original hidden platform, in contract to mice supplemented with placebo, who easily forgot the original location and accepted the visible platform as a new safe place. These results illustrate that astaxanthin-enriched H. pluvialis powder has the auxiliary property of memory improvement. The results from the platform diving test showed that the low and middle dosage of H. pluvialis powder, rather that the high dosage, increased the latency and reduced the frequency of diving from the safe insulated platform to the electrically stimulated copper shutter, especially in the low treatment group (P < 0.05). These results indicate that H. pluvialis powder is associated with dose-dependent memory improvement and that a low dosage of algal powder (<= middle treatment group) is really good for improving the memory.

BIST技术及其在Memory中的应用

阐述内建自检测(BIST)技术的特点、结构和原理,并介绍其在Memory单元电路中的实现过程。

基于可复制性的独立成分分析——应用于功能磁共振成像数据

This dissertation systematically depicted and improved the application of Independent Component Analysis (ICA) to Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), following the logic of verification, improvement, extension, and application. The concept of “reproducibility” was the philosophy throughout its four concluded studies. In the “verification” study, ICA was applied to the resting-state fMRI data, verified the resultant components with reproducibility, and examined the consistency of the results from ICA and traditional “seed voxel” method. At the meantime, the limitation of ICA application on fMRI data analysis was presented. In the “improvement” study, an improved ICA algorithm based on reproducibility, RAICAR, was developed to aid some of the limitations of ICA application. RAICAR was able to rank ICA components by reproducibility, determine the number of reliable components, and obtain more stable results. RAICAR provided useful tools for validation and interpretation of ICA results. In the “extension” study, RAICAR as well as the concept of “reproducibility” was extended to multi-subject ICA analysis, and gRAICAR algorithm was developed. gRAICAR allows some variation across subjects, examining common components among subjects. gRAICAR is also capable to detect potential subject grouping on some components. It is a new way for exploratory group analysis on fMRI. In the “application” study, two newly developed methods, RAICAR and gRAICAR, were used to investigate the effect of early music training on the brain mechanism of memory and learning. The results showed brain mechanism difference in memory retrieval and learning process between two groups of subjects. This study also verified the usefulness and importance of the new methods.