Enzymatic dyeing and functional finishing of textile fibres with ferulic acid

The catalyzed polymerization of ferulic acid (FA) by laccase from Rhus vernicifera has been studied, and its polymeric products are used for the dyeing and functional finishing of silk, wool, nylon, viscose and cotton fabrics by two methods, namely simultaneous enzymatic polymerization of FA and dyeing at 50 oC (one-step method), and enzymatic polymerization of FA at 50 oC followed by dyeing at 90 oC (two-step method). The analyses of UV-Visible and FTIR spectra show the formation of yellow poly(ferulic acid) (PFA) in which FA units are mainly linked together with C–C bonds. The colouration of PFA on fabrics occurs due to physical adsorption, and not because of interaction of covalent bond between PFA and fibres. The enzymatically dyed fabrics display yellow to orange colour hues, and pale to moderate colour depth, depending on fibre species and dyeing methods. The dyed fabrics show excellent rub fastness and staining fastness during washing, relatively weak light fastness and colour change fastness during washing; the two-step method shows better wash fastness ratings for colour change. The enzymatic dyeing of FA provides fabrics with multifunctional properties of antioxidant activity, UV-protection and deodorization

Variable gain intelligent control of Multi-motor Synchronization system

2006-2007 > Academic research: refereed > Refereed conference paperVersion of RecordPublishe

Gut-Brain Axis: Probiotic, <em>Bacillus subtilis</em>, Prevents Aggression via the Modification of the Central Serotonergic System

Intestinal bacteria release various neuroactive compounds directly or indirectly regulating brain function to modulate host health and behavior through the gut-brain axis. Probiotics have been used as dietary supplements to target gut microbiota (microbiome) for prevention or therapeutic treatment of various diseases including mental disorders. In our study, chickens were used as an animal model to assess, if dietary supplementation of probiotic, Bacillus subtilis, reduces aggressive behaviors following social challenge. Chickens of an aggressive line were housed in single-hen cages. At 24 weeks of age, the hens were paired with similar body weight to identify the dominance rank (day 0). The subordinate and dominant of each pair were fed a regular layer diet or the diet mixed with 250 ppm probiotics for 2 weeks, then the second behavior test was performed between the same pair (day 14). The display of aggressive behaviors in the regular diet-fed chickens was not affected between the levels at day 0 and day 14, while the frequency of threat and aggressive pecking were reduced in the probiotic-fed chickens compared to the levels at day 0. These results suggest dietary probiotic, Bacillus subtilis, could be a suitable strategy for increasing hosts’ mental health

Fantastic Behavior of High-TC Superconductor Junctions: Tunable Superconductivity

Carrier injection performed in oxygen-deficient YBa2Cu3O7(YBCO) hetero-structure junctions exhibited tunable resistance that was entirely different with behaviors of semiconductor devices. Tunable superconductivity in YBCO junctions, increasing over 20 K in transition temperature, has achieved by using electric processes. To our knowledge, this is the first observation that intrinsic property of high TC superconductors superconductivity can be adjusted as tunable functional parameters of devices. The fantastic phenomenon caused by carrier injection was discussed based on a proposed charge carrier self-trapping model and BCS theory.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

FFTPL: An Analytic Placement Algorithm Using Fast Fourier Transform for Density Equalization

We propose a flat nonlinear placement algorithm FFTPL using fast Fourier transform for density equalization. The placement instance is modeled as an electrostatic system with the analogy of density cost to the potential energy. A well-defined Poisson's equation is proposed for gradient and cost computation. Our placer outperforms state-of-the-art placers with better solution quality and efficiency

Simulation of the integrated controller of the anti-lock braking system

Author name used in this publication: K. W. E. ChengVersion of RecordPublishe

4-(2-Hydroxy­benzyl­idene)-3-methyl­isoxazol-5(4H)-one

The mol­ecular skeleton of the title mol­ecule, C11H9NO3, is approximately planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0056 Å); the two rings form a dihedral angle of 6.5 (1)°. In the crystal structure, inter­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds involving the H atom of the hydr­oxy group and the N atom of the isoxazole ring link mol­ecules into chains running along the c axis

(S)-Ethyl 1,2,3,9-tetra­hydro­pyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazoline-1-carboxyl­ate

The title chiral compound, C14H16N2O2, was prepared by esterification of (S)-1,2,3,9-tetra­hydro­pyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazol­in-1-carboxylic acid in the presence of HCl/EtOH. In the mol­ecule, the quinazoline ring is non-planar and exhibits a distorted half-chair conformation, while the five-membered ring shows a typical envelope conformation. Inter­molecular C—H⋯N hydrogen bonding helps to stabilize the crystal structure