Application of xanthan gum and konjac gum to improve the texture, rheological properties and microstructure of Oviductus Ranae gel.

The effects of xanthan gum (XG), konjac gum (KG) and mixed gum of XG and KG (MG) on the gel properties of Oviductus Ranae (OR) were studied using texture analysis, dynamic rheometry, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The addition of both XG and MG can increase the hardness and water-holding capacity and energy storage modulus of the OR gel, but the addition of KG has the opposite effect. When the mass ratio of XG to KG is 1:1, the hardness (730 g), springiness (1.

Synthesis of Sea Urchin-Like NiCoO via Charge-Driven Self-Assembly Strategy for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries.

In this study, hydrothermal synthesis of sea urchin-like NiCoO was successfully demonstrated by a versatile charge-driven self-assembly strategy using positively charged poly(diallydimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) molecules. Physical characterizations implied that sea urchin-like microspheres of ~ 2.5 μm in size were formed by self-assembly of numerous nanoneedles with a typical dimension of ~ 100 nm in diameter.

Rectangular Co3O4 with micro-/nanoarchitectures: charge-driven PDDA-assisted synthesis and excellent lithium storage performance.

For the first time, two dimensional (2D) rectangular Co3O4 with micro-/nanoarchitectures is successfully synthesized by a facile hydrothermal treatment with the assistance of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA). Owing to the strong electrostatic interaction, positively charged PDDA molecules are considered as structure directing agents and play a crucial role in the formation of the unique 2D rectangular structure. Material characterization suggests that rectangular Co3O4 is typically endowed with a side length of 3-5 μm and a thickness of around 85 nm, and is composed of numerous interconnected nanocrystals about 15 nm in size.

Modified Log-LMS adaptive filter with low signal distortion for biomedical applications.

Life signals from human body, e.g. heartbeat or electrocardiography (ECG), are usually weak and susceptible to external noise and interference.

A closed-form solution to tensor voting: theory and applications.

We prove a closed-form solution to tensor voting (CFTV): Given a point set in any dimensions, our closed-form solution provides an exact, continuous, and efficient algorithm for computing a structure-aware tensor that simultaneously achieves salient structure detection and outlier attenuation. Using CFTV, we prove the convergence of tensor voting on a Markov random field (MRF), thus termed as MRFTV, where the structure-aware tensor at each input site reaches a stationary state upon convergence in structure propagation. We then embed structure-aware tensor into expectation maximization (EM) for optimizing a single linear structure to achieve efficient and robust parameter estimation.

Polycrystalline-Diamond MEMS Biosensors Including Neural Microelectrode-Arrays.

Diamond is a material of interest due to its unique combination of properties, including its chemical inertness and biocompatibility. Polycrystalline diamond (poly-C) has been used in experimental biosensors that utilize electrochemical methods and antigen-antibody binding for the detection of biological molecules. Boron-doped poly-C electrodes have been found to be very advantageous for electrochemical applications due to their large potential window, low background current and noise, and low detection limits (as low as 500 fM).

Coenzyme Q10 reduces beta-amyloid plaque in an APP/PS1 transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

We previously reported that coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) could reduce intracellular deposition in an aged transgenic mouse model. Here, we further tested the effect of CoQ10 on amyloid plaque in an amyloid precursor protein/presenilin 1 transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). By using immunohistochemistry and magnetic resonance imaging to determine the burden of amyloid plaque, we found that oral administration of CoQ10 can efficiently reduce the burden of the plaques in this mouse model.

Disparity estimation by pooling evidence from energy neurons.

In this paper, we propose an algorithm for disparity estimation from disparity energy neurons that seeks to maintain simplicity and biological plausibility, while also being based upon a formulation that enables us to interpret the model outputs probabilistically. We use the Bayes factor from statistical hypothesis testing to show that, in contradiction to the implicit assumption of many previously proposed biologically plausible models, a larger response from a disparity energy neuron does not imply more evidence for the hypothesis that the input disparity is close to the preferred disparity of the neuron. However, we find that the normalized response can be interpreted as evidence, and that information from different orientation channels can be combined by pooling the normalized responses.

Diet supplement CoQ10 delays brain atrophy in aged transgenic mice with mutations in the amyloid precursor protein: an in vivo volume MRI study.

We tested the hypotheses that supplemental intake of the diet supplement Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) could delay brain atrophy in double transgenic amyloid precursor protein (APP) / presenilin 1 (PS1), single transgenic APP and PS1 as well as wild type mice by volume MR image in vivo. One hundred and twelve mice (28 APP/PS1, 28 APP, 28 PS1 and 28 wild types) were studied. Half of each genotype group (n = 14 per group) was treated with CoQ10 2400 mg/kg/day, and the other half with placebo for 60 days.