Objective
Changes in gut microbiota have been linked to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but knowledge is limited. Our study aimed to provide an in‐depth understanding of the contribution of gut ...microbiota to the immunopathogenesis of SLE.
Methods
Fecal metagenomes from 117 patients with untreated SLE and 52 SLE patients posttreatment were aligned with 115 matched healthy controls and analyzed by whole‐genome profiling. For comparison, we assessed the fecal metagenome of MRL/lpr mice. The oral microbiota origin of the gut species that existed in SLE patients was documented by single‐nucleotide polymorphism–based strain‐level analyses. Functional validation assays were performed to demonstrate the molecular mimicry of newly found microbial peptides.
Results
Gut microbiota from individuals with SLE displayed significant differences in microbial composition and function compared to healthy controls. Certain species, including the Clostridium species ATCC BAA‐442 as well as Atopobium rimae, Shuttleworthia satelles, Actinomyces massiliensis, Bacteroides fragilis, and Clostridium leptum, were enriched in SLE gut microbiota and reduced after treatment. Enhanced lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis aligned with reduced branched chain amino acid biosynthesis was observed in the gut of SLE patients. The findings in mice were consistent with our findings in human subjects. Interestingly, some species with an oral microbiota origin were enriched in the gut of SLE patients. Functional validation assays demonstrated the proinflammatory capacities of some microbial peptides derived from SLE‐enriched species.
Conclusion
This study provides detailed information on the microbiota of untreated patients with SLE, including their functional signatures, similarities with murine counterparts, oral origin, and the definition of autoantigen‐mimicking peptides. Our data demonstrate that microbiome‐altering approaches may offer valuable adjuvant therapies in SLE.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
LiMn0.5Fe0.5PO4 (LMFP) materials are synthesized by the hydrothermal approach in an organic-free and surfactant-free aqueous solution. The phase and morphological evolution of the material ...intermediates at different reaction temperatures and times are characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM, respectively. The results show that during temperature increase, the solubility product (Ksp) of the precursors (Li3PO4, Fe3(PO4)2 and (Mn,Fe)3(PO4)2) is the decisive parameter for the precipitation processes. Once the temperature locates at the range of 100-110 °C, the unstable precursors dissolve quickly and then LMFP nuclei are formed, followed by a dissolution-reprecipitation process. As the reaction progresses, the primary particles self-aggregate to form rod or plate particles to reduce the overall surface energy through oriented attachment (OA) and the Ostwald ripening (OR) mechanism. Moreover, the resultant concentration of the precursor significantly affects the crystal size of LMFP by altering the supersaturation degree of solution at the nucleation stage. The carbon coated LMFP nanostructure synthesized at 0.6 mol L(-1) (resultant concentration of PO4(3-)) delivers discharge capacities of 155, 100 and 81 mA h g(-1) at 0.1, 5 and 20 C rate, respectively. The understanding of nanostructural evolution and its influence on the electrochemical performance will pave a way for a high-performance LMFP cathode.
Graphene oxide (GO) membranes have shown enormous promise in desalination and molecular/ionic sieving. However, the instability of GO membranes in aqueous solutions seriously hinders their practical ...applications. Herein, we report a novel and simple strategy to fabricate stable GO membranes in water-based environments through the insertion of various metal cations from metal foils (e.g., copper (Cu), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) foils) and natural deposition. Based on the cation-π, coordination, and electrostatic interaction between metal cations and GO nanosheets, the aqueous stability and mechanical strength of the membranes are significantly improved. The permeation rates for acetone, toluene, and p-xylene molecules across the GO membrane cross-linked by copper ions with a deposition time of 24 h are 0.966, 0.074, and 0.100 mol m–2 h–1, respectively. Moreover, this membrane displays excellent separation performance, and the separation factor of K+/Mg2+ is up to 68.8 in mono-/multivalent metal cation sieving, which indicate the effective molecular/ionic sieving performance. Meanwhile, the ionic sieving of the GO membrane cross-linked by copper ions has excellent repeatability and long-term stability. The versatility of this natural deposition strategy to fabricate GO membranes cross-linked by metal cations is investigated by using Fe foil, Zn foil, and Ni foil as well as other porous substrates such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyethersulfone (PES), and nylon membranes and filter paper. This fabrication strategy also enables low-cost preparation of large-area GO membranes. Therefore, GO membranes cross-linked by metal cations and prepared by this simple metal cation incorporation strategy have large potential application for molecular/ionic sieving in various solution systems.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
GO membranes cross-linked by copper ion and intercalated with tannic acid exhibit superior ionic sieving performance and aqueous stability. The fabrication strategy is novel and simple.
Display ...omitted
•GO membranes cross-linked by copper ion and tannic acid are successfully prepared.•The aqueous stability and permeance of membranes are improved simultaneously.•Outstanding membrane performance for K+/Mg2+ and K+/Cr3+ separation.•GO-Cu-TA20 membrane exhibits a high K+ ion penetration rate of 0.75 mol m-2 h-1.•The membranes have great potentials in lithium extraction from salt lakes etc.
Graphene oxide (GO) membranes have exhibited excellent molecular sieving properties in several areas, such as water treatment and gas separation, but unsatisfactory permeability and/or selectivity for ionic separation. Meanwhile, the instability of pure GO membranes in acidic solution has significantly impeded the ionic sieving applications. In this study, a kind of GO composite membranes (GO-Cu-TAa) with exceptional aqueous stability and superior ionic sieving properties are successfully prepared by employing a unique natural deposition strategy to introduce copper ions and tannic acid (TA). Based on the synergistic effect of the two cross-linking agents of copper ion and TA, the structural stability and ionic sieving performance of GO-Cu-TAa membranes are obviously enhanced. The resultant membrane with 20% TA loading displays excellent ionic sieving performance in a mixed solution containing K+, Mg2+ and Cr3+ three metal cations, and the selectivities of K+/Mg2+ and K+/Cr3+ are 46.43 and 185.32, respectively. Especially, the permeation rate of K+ ion reaches up to 0.75 mol m-2 h-1. Meanwhile, the ionic sieving property of such GO membranes possesses outstanding reusability and long-term stability. Such a membrane can also effectively separate mono-/multivalent metal cations from the mixed solution contained of the nine metal cations. The selectivities of monovalent/divalent metal cations (such as K+/Pb2+, K+/Ca2+, K+/Mg2+) are as high as 7.69–51.49, and those of monovalent/trivalent metal cations (such as K+/Fe3+, K+/Cr3+, K+/Al3+) are as high as 247.62–346.67. These results indicate that the GO-Cu-TAa membranes fabricated by the method of natural deposition strategy are expected to be used in the practical applications of lithium extraction from Salt Lake and wastewater purification, etc.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Similar periodic structures have been widely used in engineering. In order to obtaining the optimal similar periodic structures, a topology optimization method of similar periodic structures with ...multiple displacement constraints is proposed in this paper. Firstly, in the proposed method, the design domain is divided into sub-domains. Secondly, a penalty term considering discrete conditions of density variables is introduced into the objective function, and the reciprocal density exponents of structural elements are taken as design variables. A topological optimization model of a similar periodic continuum structure with the objective function being the structural mass and the constraint functions being structural displacements is constructed in the proposed method. The optimization dual method is introduced and a set of iteration formula for Lagrange multipliers is built. Then, virtual sub-domain design variables are introduced to establish the relation of corresponding variables between all the sub-domains of the similar periodic continuum structure in order to enforce structurally similar periodic requirement. Three examples are provided to demonstrate that the proposed method is feasible and effective for obtaining optimal similar periodic structures.
AIM：To study the therapeutic efficacy of a new transnasal ileus tube advanced endoscopically for adhesive small bowel obstruction.METHODS：A total of 186 patients with adhesive small bowel obstruction ...treated from September 2007 to February 2011 were enrolled into this prospective randomized controlled study.The endoscopically advanced new ileus tube was used for gastrointestinal decompression in 96 patients and ordinary nasogastric tube（NGT） was used in 90 patients.The therapeutic efficacy was compared between the two groups.RESULTS：Compared with the NGT group,the ileus tube group experienced significantly shorter time for relief of clinical symptoms and improvement in the findings of abdominal radiograph（4.1 ± 2.3 d vs 8.5 ± 5.0 d） and laboratory tests（P 0.01）.The overall effectiveness rate was up to 89.6% in the ileus tube group and 46.7% in the NGT group（P 0.01）.And 10.4% of the patients in the ileus tube group and 53.3% of the NGT group underwent surgery.For recurrent adhesive bowel obstruction,ileus tube was also significantly more effective than NGT（95.8% vs 31.6%）.In the ileus tube group,the drainage output on the first day and the length of hospital stay were significantly different depending on the treatment success or failure（P 0.05）.The abdominal radiographic improvement was correlated with whether or not the patient underwent surgery.CONCLUSION：Ileus tube can be used for adhesive small bowel obstruction.Endoscopic placement of the ileus tube is convenient and worthy to be promoted despite the potential risks.
Mesoporous NiO single-crystalline nanosheet arrays grown on Ni foam with a thickness of about 5 μm have been fabricated by a facile hydrothermal approach and further investigated as a binder-free ...electrode for high-performance supercapacitors. Owing to the high conductivity of the single-crystalline NiO nanosheet arrays on the conducting substrate in combination with the large surface area provided by the mesoporous NiO nanosheets, the unique designed NiO nanosheet arrays on Ni foam have exhibited a high specific capacitance (674.2 F g −1 at a current density of 1 A g −1 ), good rate capability, and excellent cycling stability (93.5% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles). These results suggest that the single-crystalline NiO nanosheet array electrode is a promising candidate for high-performance supercapacitors and the rational design of this unique binder-free electrode demonstrated in this work provides a new and facile approach to fabricate other transition metal oxide arrays for electrochemical energy storage.
An efficient structural topological optimization method is proposed in this paper to obtain a well defined final design with multi-displacement constraints. In the proposed method, the whole ...optimization process is divided into two optimization phases and a phase transferring step. An optimization model is developed to deal with the varied displacement limits, design space adjustments, and reasonable relations between any element stiffness matrix, weight and its element topology variable. A procedure is then proposed to solve the optimization problem formulated in the first optimization phase. The design space is automatically adjusted when the design domain needs expansions. The final topology obtained by the proposed procedure in the first optimization phase can get close to the vicinity of the optimum topology. Another algorithm, in which element hard kills are incorporated, is given to improve the optimization efficiency and make the designed topology black/white in both the phase transferring step and the second optimization phase. Topology variable history information and a quadratic programming algorithm are adopted to reduce the number of heuristic parameters in this algorithm. The optimum topology can be easily obtained by the second phase optimization adjustments. Two examples are presented to show that the topologies obtained by the proposed method are of very good 0/1 design, and the computational efficiency is enhanced by reducing the element number of the design structural finite model in two optimization phases. And the examples also show that this method is robust and practicable.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
This paper discuss the cusp bifurcation of codimension 2 （i.e. Bogdanov-Takens bifurcation） in a Leslie~Gower predator-prey model with prey harvesting, which was not revealed by Zhu and Lan Phase ...portraits, Hopf bifurcation and limit cycles of Leslie-Gower predator-prey systems with harvesting rates, Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems Series B. 14（1） （2010）, 289-306. It is shown that there are different parameter values for which the model has a limit cycle or a homoclinic loop.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
LiMn
0.5
Fe
0.5
PO
4
(LMFP) materials are synthesized by the hydrothermal approach in an organic-free and surfactant-free aqueous solution. The phase and morphological evolution of the material ...intermediates at different reaction temperatures and times are characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM, respectively. The results show that during temperature increase, the solubility product (
K
sp
) of the precursors (Li
3
PO
4
, Fe
3
(PO
4
)
2
and (Mn,Fe)
3
(PO
4
)
2
) is the decisive parameter for the precipitation processes. Once the temperature locates at the range of 100-110 °C, the unstable precursors dissolve quickly and then LMFP nuclei are formed, followed by a dissolution-reprecipitation process. As the reaction progresses, the primary particles self-aggregate to form rod or plate particles to reduce the overall surface energy through oriented attachment (OA) and the Ostwald ripening (OR) mechanism. Moreover, the resultant concentration of the precursor significantly affects the crystal size of LMFP by altering the supersaturation degree of solution at the nucleation stage. The carbon coated LMFP nanostructure synthesized at 0.6 mol L
−1
(resultant concentration of PO
4
3−
) delivers discharge capacities of 155, 100 and 81 mA h g
−1
at 0.1, 5 and 20 C rate, respectively. The understanding of nanostructural evolution and its influence on the electrochemical performance will pave a way for a high-performance LMFP cathode.
Composition and crystallographic structural evolution of the intermediate involved in the organic free hydrothermal synthesis of LiMn
0.5
Fe
0.5
PO
4
nanostructures.
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