Intrarenal Single-Cell Sequencing of Hepatitis B Virus Associated Membranous Nephropathy

To date, the pathogenesis of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated membranous nephropathy (MN) remains elusive. This study aimed to decipher the etiopathogenesis of HBV-associated MN by performing single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of kidney biopsy specimens from a patient with HBV-associated MN and two healthy individuals. We generated 4,114 intrarenal single-cell transcriptomes from the HBV-associated MN patient by scRNA-seq. Compared to healthy individuals, podocytes in the HBV-associated MN patient showed an increased expression of extracellular matrix formation-related genes, including HSPA5, CTGF, and EDIL3. Kidney endothelial cells (ECs) in the HBV-associated MN were enriched in inflammatory pathways, including NF-kappa B signaling, IL-17 signaling, TNF signaling and NOD-like receptor signaling. Gene ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis and Gene Set Variation Analysis (GSVA) further revealed that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of ECs from the HBV-associated MN patients were enriched in apoptotic signaling pathway, response to cytokine and leukocyte cell-cell adhesion. The up-regulated DEGs in glomerular ECs of HBV-associated MN patients were involved in biological processes such as viral gene expression, and protein targeting to endoplasmic reticulum. We further verified that the overexpressed genes in ECs from HBV-associated MN were mainly enriched in regulation of protein targeting to endoplasmic reticulum, exocytosis, viral gene expression, IL-6 and IL-1 secretion when compared with anti-phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R)-positive idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). The receptor-ligand crosstalk analysis revealed potential interactions between endothelial cells and other cells in HBV-associated-MN. These results offer new insight into the pathogenesis of HBV-associated MN and may identify new therapeutic targets for HBV-associated MN

Experimental study on migration attenuation law of two-phase flow in coal and gas outburst

In order to study the migration and attenuation law of coal and gas two-phase flow after coal and gas outburst, the characteristics of migration and separation of pulverized coal after outburst and the evolution law of impact pressure of coal and gas two-phase flow were studied by using the self-built experimental simulation system of coal and gas outburst. The results show that the relative outburst strength of pulverized coal is 55.1% when the axial stress is 0.54 MPa and the gas pressure is 0.5 MPa. The distribution of pulverized coal with particle size less than 1 mm shows a decreasing trend along the pipeline, while the distribution of pulverized coal with particle size 1-3 mm and larger than 1 mm shows an increasing trend along the pipeline. After the outburst starts, the impact pressure of two-phase flow increases first and then decreases, and the increase rate is greater than the decrease rate. The peak time of the impact pressure lags with the increase of the outburst distance. Due to the instantaneous outburst, the two-phase flow rapidly spits out from the state of incomplete expansion into the state of complete expansion, resulting in layer upon layer compression waves and finally forming shock waves, resulting in a sudden increase in the peak impact pressure in the front section of the pipeline, and the overall trend of oscillation attenuation

Preparation of an Anodic Alumina-Supported Ni Catalyst and Development of a Catalytic Plate Reformer for the Steam Reforming of Methane

A plate-type Al/Fe–Cr alloy/Al-clad substrate was used to prepare a sandwich-structured plate-type anodic alumina catalyst by anodization, post-modification treatment, and metal loading. The as-prepared plate-type catalyst was utilized in the design of a catalytic plate reactor for a methane steam reforming reaction, and a 3D model was developed to simulate the performance of tube-type and box-type reformers. The experimental results of the preparation of the clad materials showed that the hydrothermal treatment and subsequent high-temperature calcination transformed the amorphous skeletal alumina in the conventional anodic alumina layer into γ-alumina, and significantly increased its specific surface area. Simulation results showed that the temperature difference between the channel wall and the center of the gas phase of the thin-walled catalyst was only 30% of that of the particulate catalyst, indicating the potential advantages of the catalytic plate reactor in terms of heat transfer and energy saving. When the length-to-diameter ratio (or length-to-width ratio) of the reaction channel is small and the channel height is large, insufficient transverse mass transfer and backmixing are two major factors affecting reformer performance. For the tube-type channels, a length-to-diameter ratio of 10~35, and a diameter of 5~20 represent favorable choices. In contrast, for the box-type channel, the length-to-width ratio and the height should be set to 2~4 and 2~5 mm, respectively. Additionally, for box-type channels, the number of gas inlet ports has a significant effect on the reformer performance, and the distribution state provided by two inlet ports is close to the ideal distribution state