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Curcumin is a polyphenolic compound derived from the plant turmeric and the structural instability of which limits its further clinical applications. In this study, 11 curcumin analogs with more stable scaffold were prepared and evaluated. The results indicated that the optimal compound Y-11 exhibited the strongest antiproliferative activities against lung cancer cells including H460 and H1650. Further studies showed that Y-11 potentially inhibited hDHODH, induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis as well as down-regulated crucial signal pathway protein expression in H1650 cells. In the conclusion, the newly designed curcumin analog Y-11 may be suitable for further development in lung cancer treatment.

Background:Stroke is a major cause of functional disability, which is in turn correlated with poor oral health.There is a dearth of studies that have investigated self-reported oral health, a measure of how individuals perceive their oral health and unmet treatment needs, in elders after stroke. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare self-perceived oral problems and oral care behaviors between stroke survivors with and without functional disability.Methods:Two-hundred and seven stroke survivors were recruited,comprised of 104 participants without functional disability, and 103 with functional disability, based on the modified Rankin Scale. Interviews were conducted to collect data regarding self-perceived oral problems, oral care behaviors, and dental attendance behaviors. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to compare the data between the two groups.Results: After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, the functional disability group was significantly less likely to brush their teeth twice a day (odds ratio [OR], 0.388;95%confidence interval [CI], 0.200-0.751), and both more likely to have a change in teeth cleaning after stroke (OR, 0.155; 95%CI,0.030-0.804), and to need help when cleaning their teeth (OR, 2.701; 95%CI,1.018-7.163). There were no significant differences in self-perceived oral problems or dental attendance behaviors between the two groups.Conclusion: Stroke survivors with functional disability had worse oral care behaviors compared with those without functional disability.

Sphingosine kinase functions to phosphorylate sphingosine to sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) to keep balance in the metabolites of sphingolipids. There are two isoforms of sphingosine kinase, sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1) and sphingosine kinase 2 (SphK2). Although SphK1 and SphK2 share high sequence similarity, SphK2 has distinct distribution, regulation and function. SphK2 is involved in the pathological processes of varieties of diseases including cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, stroke, cardiovascular diseases and inflammation. SphK2 may promote the proliferation of cancer cells and the progression of inflammation. The SphK2/S1P pathway is also involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders and stroke. S1P produced by SphK2 in the nucleus binds to HDACs, which then inhibits histone acetylation and regulates memory. The SphK2 pathway mediates platelet aggregation, thrombosis, cardioprotection and helps to ameliorate hepatic steatosis. This review focuses on the recent advances in research on SphK2 regulation and its potential roles in diseases, highlighting SphK2 may be a novel therapeutic strategy for diseases.

High performance pentacene organic thin film transistors (OTFT) were designed and fabricated using SiO2 deposited by electron beam evaporation as gate dielectric material. Pentacene thin films were prepared on glass substrate with S–D electrode pattern made from ITO by means of thermal evaporation through self-organized process. The threshold voltage VTH was −2.75±0.1V in 0 – −50V range, and that subthreshold slopes were 0.42±0.05V/dec. The field-effect mobility (μEF) of OTFT device increased with the increase of VDS, but the μEF of OTFT device increased and then decreased with increased VGS when VDS was kept constant. When VDS was −50V, on/off current ratio was 0.48 × 105 and subthreshold slope was 0.44V/dec. The μEF was 1.10cm2/(V-s), threshold voltage was −2.71V for the OTFT device.

In this paper, a fuzzy control method is proposed to improve vehicle yaw stability by integrated yaw moment control and active front steering. This control system is designed by actively controlling the front steering angle and the distribution of braking forces, using feed-forward regulation and feedback revision control strategy, and a fuzzy controller is designed to suppress the output error of yaw rate and side slip angle, which can keep the vehicle to follow the desired trajectories. A simulation based on this control method is performed with a vehicle at two different running conditions, and the simulation results by other different control methods are compared also. The results showed that the presented method can effectively control the yaw rate and side slip angle synchronously, the transient and steady response of vehicle is good, the vehicle yaw stability is improved.

A yaw stability controller based on generalized predictive control is presented in this paper. The predictive and the desired model of yaw rate are established based on a linearized vehicle model, the future output of yaw rate of the vehicle according to the information of vehicle speed and the steering wheel angle is predicted. Compared with a desired value, a controlling yaw moment is calculated based on the difference between the desired and the actual yaw rate. The predictive control of parameter model applied to the yaw stability control system based on GPC, in the known model situation, can predict the future output of yaw rate of the vehicle precisely and take control action before the yaw instability of vehicle occurs, so this method suits the yaw stability control system of vehicle. The simulation result indicates the yaw rate based on GPC algorithm can track the desired yaw rate well. Compares with the PID control algorithm, the curve of yaw rate has no obvious surge, and the overshoot reduces greatly.

In this paper, the electroluminescence quenching mechanism in a 5,6,11,12-tetraphenylnaphthacene (Rubrene) doped host-guest system is studied by utilizing a specially designed organic light-emitting diode with an emission layer consisting of a few periodic host/guest structures. Tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminium (Alq3) and Rubrene are used as the host and the guest, respectively. The thickness variation of the guest layer in each period enables the study of the effect of molecule aggregation, and the thickness variation of the host layer suggests a long range quenching mechanism of dipole–dipole interaction. The long range quenching mechanism is a Forster process, and the Forster radius of Rubrene is between 3 and 10 nm.

The surface morphology and crystallization of pentacene and CuPc films deposited on SiO2 substrate are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scaning electron microscopy (SEM). It was observed that the pentacene film has island structure, the sizes of islands were about 100nm. The pentacene has clearer orientation than CuPc. We also studied organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) with different active layers of pentacene and CuPc, fabricated by shadow mask to investigate the characteristics of the device. The active layers pentacene and CuPc have the thickness of 40nm, the thickness of gate insulator layer SiO2 is 250nm and the ratio of width to length (W/L) of device channel is 20. We analyzed the property of devices by Keithley 2410 I-V. The results presented here show that OTFTs devices in which pentacene and CuPc are used as active layer exhibited the field-effect mobility (μEF) of 1.201cm2/V·s and 0.0694cm2/V·s, threshold voltage (Vth) of -20V and -15V, and (on/off) current radio of 104 and 105, respectively.