Designing nanocomposite hydrogels with oriented nanosheets has emerged as a promising toolkit to achieve preferential performances that go beyond their disordered counterparts. Although current ...fabrication strategies via electric/magnetic force fields have made remarkable achievements, they necessitate special properties of nanosheets and suffer from an inferior orientation degree of nanosheets. Herein, a facile and universal approach is discovered to elaborate MXene‐based nanocomposite hydrogels with highly oriented, heterogeneous architecture by virtue of supergravity to replace conventional force fields. The key to such architecture is to leverage bidirectional, force‐tunable attributes of supergravity containing coupled orthogonal shear and centrifugal force field for steering high‐efficient movement, pre‐orientation, and stacking of MXene nanosheets in the bottom. Such a synergetic effect allows for yielding heterogeneous nanocomposite hydrogels with a high‐orientation MXene‐rich layer (orientation degree, f = 0.83) and a polymer‐rich layer. The authors demonstrate that MXene‐based nanocomposite hydrogels leverage their high‐orientation, heterogeneous architecture to deliver an extraordinary electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of 55.2 dB at 12.4 GHz yet using a super‐low MXene of 0.3 wt%, surpassing most hydrogels‐based electromagnetic shielding materials. This versatile supergravity‐steered strategy can be further extended to arbitrary nanosheets including MoS2, GO, and C3N4, offering a paradigm in the development of oriented nanocomposites.
A novel supergravity‐steered approach is designed to manipulate the assembly of arbitrary nanosheets from MXene to MoS2, GO, and C3N4 for fabricating oriented nanocomposite hydrogels with heterogeneous architecture. The resultant MXene‐based nanocomposite hydrogels showcase an extraordinary electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) of 55.2 dB yet using a super‐low MXene of 0.3 wt%, surpassing most hydrogels‐based electromagnetic shielding materials.
To investigate the expression of matrix metal proteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 in adenoid cystic carcinoma of lacrimal gland as well as their relation with biological behaviour of adenoid cystic ...carcinoma.
Experimental study. The research objects were 60 cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma of lacrimal gland which were collected from No.2 Hospital of Tianjin Medical University from January 1991 to Jule 2011. There were 25 males and 35 females aged from 29 to 42 years. Based on histological revision, there were 36 cases of cribriform-tubular subtype and 24 cases of solid subtype. Forty-five cases were primary lesions and 15 cases were recurrent lesions. Ten samples of normal lacrimal gland around polymorphic adenoma were selected as the control group. The expression of CD105, MMP-2 and MMP-9 were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The microvessel density (MVD) was defined by expression of CD105. One way ANOVA, χ(2)-test and spearman correlation test were used to analyzed the data.
The number of MVD (17.71 ± 5.63)/10
The increasing use of diesel-powered equipment in confined spaces(underground mines) has the potential to over expose underground miners under the threat of diesel particulate matter(DPM). Miners in ...underground mines can be exposed to DPM concentrations far more than works in other industries. A great number of animal and epidemiological studies have shown that both short-term and long-term DPM exposure have adverse health effect. Based on reviews of related studies, especially some recent evidence, this paper investigated the long and short-term health effects based on animal studies and epidemiological studies. The exposure-response relationship studies were also explored and compared to the current DPM regulation or standards in some countries. This paper found that the DPM health effect studies specifically for miners are not sufficient to draw solid conclusions, and a recommendation limit of DPM concentration can be put in place for better protection of miners from DPM health risk. Current animal studies lack the use of species that have similar lung functions as human for understanding the cancer mode of action in human. And finally, the DPM health hazard will continue to be a challenging topic before the mode of action and reliable exposure-response relationship are established.
The increasing use of diesel-powered equipment in confined spaces (underground mines) has the potential to over expose underground miners under the threat of diesel particulate matter (DPM). Miners ...in underground mines can be exposed to DPM concentrations far more than works in other industries. A great number of animal and epidemiological studies have shown that both short-term and long-term DPM exposure have adverse health effect. Based on reviews of related studies, especially some recent evidence, this paper investigated the long and short-term health effects based on animal studies and epidemiological studies. The exposure-response relationship studies were also explored and compared to the current DPM regulation or standards in some countries. This paper found that the DPM health effect studies specifically for miners are not sufficient to draw solid conclusions, and a recommendation limit of DPM concentration can be put in place for better protection of miners from DPM health risk. Current animal studies lack the use of species that have similar lung functions as human for understanding the cancer mode of action in human. And finally, the DPM health hazard will continue to be a challenging topic before the mode of action and reliable exposure-response relationship are established.
Improving radiation use efficiency (RUE) of the canopy is necessary to increase wheat (Triticum aesfivum) production. Tridimensional uniform sowing (U) technology has previously been used to ...construct a uniformly distributed population structure that increases RUE. In this study, we used tridimensional uniform sowing to create a wheat canopy within which light was spread evenly to increase RUE. This study was done during 2014-2016 in the Shunyi District, Beijing, China. The soil type was sandy loam. Wheat was grown in two sowing patterns: (1) tridimensional uniform sowing (U); (2) conventional drilling (D). Four planting densities were used: 1.8, 2.7, 3.6, and 4.5 million plants ha-1. Several indices were measured to compare the wheat canopies: photosynthetic active radiation intercepted by the canopy (IPAR), leaf area index (LAI), leaf mass per unit area (LMA), canopy extinction coefficient (K), and RUE. In two sowing patterns, the K values decreased with increasing planting density, but the K values of U were lower than that of D. LMA and IPAR were higher for U than for D, whereas LAI was nearly the same for both sowing patterns. IPAR and LAI increased with increasing density under the same sowing pattern. However, the difference in IPAR and LAI between the 3.6 and 4.5 million plants ha-1 treatments was not significant for both sowing patterns. Therefore, LAI within the same planting density was not affected by sowing pattern. RUE was the largest for the U mode with a planting density of 3.6 million plants ha-1 treatment. For the D sowing pattern, the lowest planting density (1.8 million plants ha-1) resulted in the highest yield. Light radiation interception was minimal for the D mode with a planting density of 1.8 million plants ha-1 treatment, but the highest RUE and highest yield were observed under this condition. For the U sowing pattern, IPAR increased with increasing planting density, but yield and RUE were the highest with a planting density of 3.6 million plants ha-1. These results indicated that the optimal planting density for improving the canopy light environment differed between the sowing patterns. The effect of sowing patternxplanting density interaction on grain yield, yield components, RUE, IPAR, and LMA was significant (P〈0.05). Correlation analysis indicated that there is a positive significant correlation between grain yield and RUE (t=0.880, P〈0.01), LMA (r=0.613, P〈0.05), andspike number (t=0.624, P〈0.05). These results demonstrated that the tridimensional uniform sowing technique, particularly at a planting density of 3.6 million plants ha-0, can effectively increase light interception and utilization and unit leaf area. This leads to the production of more photosynthetic products that in turn lead to significantly increased spike number (P〈0.05), kernel number, grain weight, and an overall increase in yield.
The recovery of valuable metals from complex sulfide concentrates was investigated via chlorination roasting followed by water leaching. A reaction process is proposed on the basis of previous ...studies and the results of our preliminary experiments. During the process,various process parameters were studied, including the roasting temperature, the addition of NH4Cl, the roasting time, the leaching time, and the liquid-to-solid ratio. The roasted products and leach residues were characterized by X-ray diffraction and vibrational spectroscopy. Under the optimum condition, 95% of Ni, 98% of Cu, and 88% of Co were recovered. In addition, the removal of iron was studied in the water leaching stage. The results demonstrate that this process provides an effective approach for extracting multiple metals from complex concentrates or ores.
Unified analytical solutions are presented for the predictions of the stresses and displacements around a circular opening based on nonqinear unified failure criterion and the elastic-brittle-plastic ...softening model. Unified analytical solutions not only involve generally traditional solutions which are based on the Hock-Brown (H-B) failure criterion or the non-linear twin-shear failure criterion, but also involve other new results. The results of the radius of plastic zone, radial displacements and stresses are obviously different using three rock masses when different values of the unified failure criterion parameter or different material behavior models are used. For a given condition, the radius of plastic zone and radial displacements are reduced by increasing the unified failure criterion parameter. The latent potentialities of rock mass result from considering the effect of intermediate principal stress. It is shown that proper choices of the failure criterion and the material behavior model for rock mass are significant in the tunnel design.
To detect the oxidative DNA damage in diabetic patients and to investigate the relationship of oxidative DNA damage with diabetes and diabetic nephropathy.
Single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) was ...used to detect the DNA strand breaks in peripheral blood lymphocytes, and oxidative DNA damage product and serum 8-OHdG were determined by a competitive ELISA in 47 cases, including 25 patients without diabetic complications, 22 patients with diabetic nephropathy and 25 normal control subjects.
Diabetic patients showed greater oxidative damage to DNA. The percentage of comet cells and the length of DNA migration (comet tail length) of peripheral blood lymphocytes were significantly increased in patients with diabetes, and significantly higher in patients with diabetic nephropathy than in diabetic patients without vascular complications (P < 0.05). There was a significant increase in serum 8-OHdG in diabetic patients compared with normal subjects (P < 0.05). Moreover, serum 8-OHdG was much higher in patients with diabetic nephropathy than in diabetic patients without vascular complications (P < 0.05).
There is severe oxidative DNA damage in diabetic patients. Enhanced oxidative stress may be associated with diabetes, especially in patients with diabetic nephropathy.
Baicalein is a natural flavonoid extracted from the root of Scutellaria baicalensis that exhibits a variety of pharmacological activities. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms ...underlying the protective effect of baicalein against cardiac hypertrophy in vivo and in vitro. Cardiac hypertrophy was induced in mice by injection of isoproterenol (ISO, 30 mg·kg
·d
) for 15 days. The mice received caudal vein injection of baicalein (25 mg/kg) on 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, and 15th days. We showed that baicalein administration significantly attenuated ISO-induced cardiac hypertrophy and restored cardiac function. The protective effect of baicalein against cardiac hypertrophy was also observed in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes treated with ISO (10 μM). In cardiomyocytes, ISO treatment markedly increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inhibited autophagy, which were greatly alleviated by pretreatment with baicalein (30 μM). We found that baicalein pretreatment increased the expression of catalase and the mitophagy receptor FUN14 domain containing 1 (FUNDC1) to clear ROS and promote autophagy, thus attenuated ISO-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Furthermore, we revealed that baicalein bound to the transcription factor FOXO3a directly, promoting its transcription activity, and transactivated catalase and FUNDC1. In summary, our data provide new evidence for baicalein and FOXO3a in the regulation of ISO-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Baicalein has great potential for the treatment of cardiac hypertrophy.
Neoagaro-oligosaccharides (NAOS) have health benefits that are related to their amount and degree of polymerization (DP). However, the current methods that are used to quantify enzymatically released ...NAOS are un-specific and time-consuming. Agar has been extracted from
and has been degraded by AgaXa (a recombinant β-agarase). Polysaccharide analysis using carbohydrate gel electrophoresis (PACE) has been adapted in order to quantify NAOS. In addition, the anti-oxidant activity of the degraded samples has been assessed. We have found that the PACE method provided sensitive, precise, and accurate quantification for each of the six NAOS samples. PACE has revealed that the DP of the enzymatic products from the AgaXa digestion were mainly neoagaro-octaose and neoagaro-decaose. The degraded samples exhibited increased radical-scavenging activity towards 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline sulfonic acid) radicals. While the anti-oxidant activity may have been from NAOS activity and contributions from neoagaro-octaose and neoagaro-decaose. The adapted PACE method that has been presented here is promising for large sample analysis during quality control and for characterizing novel β-agarase degradation mechanisms.