The Anti-Inflammatory Effects of a Yin Zhi Huang Soup in an Experimental Autoimmune Prostatitis Rat Model

The present study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of the Chinese herbal medicine Yin Zhi Huang soup (YZS) in an experimental autoimmune prostatitis (EAP) rat model. In total, 48 rats were randomly divided into the following four groups (n=12/group): saline group, pathological model group, Qianlietai group, and YZS group. We determined the average wet weight of the prostate tissue, the ratio of the wet weight of the prostate tissue to body weight, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) levels in the blood serum, the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the rats’ prostate tissues, and the pathological changes in the prostate tissue using light microscopy. YZS reduced the rats’ prostate wet weight, the ratio of the prostate wet weight to body weight, and TNF-α levels in the blood serum and inhibited the expression of iNOS in the rats’ prostate tissues (P<0.05). Following YZS treatment, the pathological changes in the rats’ prostates were improved compared with those in the model group (P<0.05). Furthermore, YZS treatment reduced inflammatory changes in the prostate tissue. It also significantly suppressed proinflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α, and chemokines, such as iNOS, in the rat model of EAP

Failure Modes and Mechanisms of Shallow Debris Landslides Using an Artificial Rainfall Model Experiment on Qin-ba Mountain

Landslides triggered by rainfall are a major multiple geological hazard on Qin-ba Mountain. Debris landslides in the shallow layer make up a large proportion of all landslides. A flume experiment was conducted to successfully initiate shallow debris landslides using artificial rainfall in Zhouzhi County, Qin-ba Mountain. The results confirmed a strong correlation between the deformation of the slope and porewater pressure and moisture content. Slope deformation and failure were observed, and a possible mechanism was interpreted based on the experimental results. The primary effects of rainfall on shallow debris landslides on Qin-ba Mountain are the generation of a seepage force and a decrease in the effective stress of the sliding surface as a result of increasing pore-water pressure. The effect of rainfall on the shear strength parameters is inconspicuous, which might be attributed to the relatively high saturation of debris soils under natural conditions. The failure type in Test 1 is considered to be a progressive failure, which is a typical failure mode for homogeneous shallow debris slopes on Qin-ba Mountain, particularly for slopes exposed to artificial excavation. The deformation in Test 2 with higher density, merely taking the form of surface erosion, usually occurs in the regions with the least artificial disturbance. The two deformation types can be primarily attributed to differences in the soil density; the higher density reflected the smaller number and size of inside pores and led to lower soil permeability, which further influenced the distribution of the pore-water pressure, direction of seepage force, and slope deformation. Therefore, higher soil density changed by compaction is beneficial for the stability of shallow debris slopes on Qin-ba Mountain, even with high pore-water pressure. In subsequent work, a series of experiments with various densities should be conducted to explore the dividing point between the two deformation modes, and in addition, tests with larger slope gradients should also be considered

Quantitative Research and Characterization of the Loess Microstructure in the Bai Lu Tableland, Shaanxi Province, China

Loess is a special geotechnical material with strong structural properties, and the microstructural characteristics of loess significantly influence its macroscopic physical features, mechanical properties, and catastrophic behavior. In this paper, serial samples were extracted from the continuous loess and paleosol strata of the Bai Lu tableland; with these samples, the optical microscopy-based serial sectioning method was adopted to study the quantitative characterization and variation in the loess microstructure. Three-dimensional characteristics and quantitative parameters of the particles, pores, and throats of the loess were obtained. The results indicate that the volume, Eq-Radius, and major-minor axis ratio of the loess particles satisfy third-order, third-order, and second-order Gaussian distributions, respectively. The Eq-Radius of the loess pores and throats satisfies a first-order Gaussian distribution, and the throat channel length satisfies a gamma distribution. With increasing stratum depth, the particles become more flattened, the throat radii become larger and the pore channels become slenderer. The variation in fitting parameters and the correlations between the macrophysical and mechanical properties of loess were then explored. The study of the microstructure of loess contributes to a better understanding of the catastrophic behavior of loess and the physical mechanism of geologic hazards in this area

Predicting Potential Distribution and Evaluating Suitable Soil Condition of Oil Tea Camellia in China

Oil tea Camellia, as a major cash and oil crop, has a high status in the forestry cultivation systems in China. To meet the current market demand for oil tea Camellia, its potential distribution and suitable soil condition was researched, to instruct its cultivation and popularization. The potential distribution of oil tea Camellia in China was predicted by the maximum entropy model, using global environmental and soil databases. Then, we collected 10-year literature data about oil tea Camellia soil and applied multiple imputation and factor modeling for an in-depth analysis of soil suitability for growing of oil tea Camellia. The prediction indicated that oil tea Camellia was mainly distributed in Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Hainan, East Hubei, Southwest Anhui and most of Guangdong. Climatic factors were more influential than soil factors. The minimum temperature of the coldest month, mean temperature of the coldest quarter and annual precipitation were the most significant contributors to the habitat suitability distribution. In the cultivated area of oil tea Camellia, soil fertility was poor, organic matter was the most significant factor for the soil conditions. Based on climatic and soil factor analyses, our data suggest there is a great potential to spread the oil tea Camellia cultivation industry

Laser micro-milling of microchannel on copper sheet as catalyst support used in microreactor for hydrogen production

Microchannel structure as catalyst support has been widely used to construct numerous microreactors for hydrogen production. In this work, the laser micro-milling technique was introduced into the fabrication process of microchannels with different geometry and dimensions. The effects of varying scanning speed, laser output power and number of scans on the surface morphology and geometrical dimension of microchannels have been investigated based on SEM observations. It is found that the change of scanning speed and laser output power significantly affected the surface morphology of microchannel. Moreover, the depth of microchannel was increased when the laser output power and number of scans were increased. Subsequently, the microchannels on copper sheet fabricated by the laser micro-milling technique were used as catalyst support to conduct the methanol steam reforming reaction. The better reaction performance of methanol steam reforming in microchannels indicates that laser micro-milling process is probably suitable to fabricate the microchannel reactor for the commercial application. ? 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 45

Formation of LiF-rich Cathode-Electrolyte Interphase by Electrolyte Reduction

The capacityof transitionmetal oxide cathodefor Li-ionbatteriescan be furtherenhancedby increas-ing the chargingpotential.However,these high voltagecathodessufferfrom fast capacitydecaybecausethelargevolumechangeof cathodebreaksthe activematerialsand cathode-electrolyteinterphase(CEI),resultingin electrolytepenetrationinto brokenactivematerialsand continuousside reactionsbetweencath-ode and electrolytes.Herein,a robustLiF-richCEI wasformedby potentiostaticreductionof fluorinatedelec-trolyteat a low potentialof 1.7 V. By takingLiCoO2asa modelcathode,we demonstratethat the LiF-richCEImaintainsthe structuralintegrityand suppresseselectro-lyte penetrationat a high cut-offpotentialof 4.6 V. TheLiCoO2with LiF-richCEI exhibiteda capacityof198 mAhghttps://doi.org/10.1002/anie.20220273

Crosstalk between NFκB-dependent astrocytic CXCL1 and neuron CXCR2 plays a role in descending pain facilitation

Abstract Background Despite accumulating evidence on the role of glial cells and their associated chemicals in mechanisms of pain, few studies have addressed the potential role of chemokines in the descending facilitation of chronic pain. We aimed to study the hypothesis that CXCL1/CXCR2 axis in the periaqueductal gray (PAG), a co-restructure of the descending nociceptive system, is involved in descending pain facilitation. Methods Intramedullary injection of Walker 256 mammary gland carcinoma cells of adult female Sprague Dawley rats was used to establish a bone cancer pain (BCP) model. RT-PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry were performed to detect pNfkb, Cxcl1, and Cxcr2 and their protein expression in the ventrolateral PAG (vlPAG). Immunohistochemical co-staining with NeuN, GFAP, and CD11 were used to examine the cellular location of pNFκB, CXCL1, and CXCR2. The effects of NFκB and CXCR2 antagonists and CXCL1 neutralizing antibody on pain hypersensitivity were evaluated by behavioral testing. Results BCP induced cortical bone damage and persistent mechanical allodynia and increased the expression of pNFκB, CXCL1, and CXCR2 in vlPAG. The induced phosphorylation of NFκB was co-localized with GFAP and NeuN, but not with CD11. Micro-injection of BAY11-7082 attenuated BCP and reduced CXCL1 increase in the spinal cord. The expression level of CXCL1 in vlPAG showed co-localization with GFAP, but not with CD11 and NeuN. Micro-administration of CXCL1 neutralizing antibody from 6 to 9 days after inoculation attenuated mechanical allodynia. Furthermore, vlPAG application of CXCL1 elicited pain hypersensitivity in normal rats. Interestingly, CXCR2 was upregulated in vlPAG neurons (not with CD11 and GFAP) after BCP. CXCR2 antagonist SB225002 completely blocked the CXCL1-induced mechanical allodynia and attenuated BCP-induced pain hypersensitivity. Conclusion The NFκB-dependent CXCL1-CXCR2 signaling cascade played a role in glial-neuron interactions and in descending facilitation of BCP