A two-step lineage reprogramming strategy to generate functionally competent human hepatocytes from fibroblasts

Terminally differentiated cells can be generated by lineage reprogramming, which is, however, hindered by incomplete conversion with residual initial cell identity and partial functionality. Here, we demonstrate a new reprogramming strategy by mimicking the natural regeneration route, which permits generating expandable hepatic progenitor cells and functionally competent human hepatocytes. Fibroblasts were first induced into human hepatic progenitor-like cells (hHPLCs), which could robustly expand in vitro and efficiently engraft in vivo. Moreover, hHPLCs could be efficiently induced into mature human hepatocytes (hiHeps) in vitro, whose molecular identity highly resembles primary human hepatocytes (PHHs). Most importantly, hiHeps could be generated in large quantity and were functionally competent to replace PHHs for drug-metabolism estimation, toxicity prediction and hepatitis B virus infection modeling. Our results highlight the advantages of the progenitor stage for successful lineage reprogramming. This strategy is promising for generating other mature human cell types by lineage reprogramming.</p

Observation of the Production of Three Massive Gauge Bosons at root s=13 TeV

The first observation is reported of the combined production of three massive gauge bosons (VVV with V = W, Z) in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The analysis is based on a data sample recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1). The searches for individualWWW, WWZ, WZZ, and ZZZ production are performed in final states with three, four, five, and six leptons (electrons or muons), or with two same-sign leptons plus one or two jets. The observed (expected) significance of the combinedVVV production signal is 5.7 (5.9) standard deviations and the corresponding measured cross section relative to the standard model prediction is 1.02(-0.23)(+0.26). The significances of the individual WWW and WWZ production are 3.3 and 3.4 standard deviations, respectively. Measured production cross sections for the individual triboson processes are also reported

Search for a light pseudoscalar Higgs boson in the boosted mu mu tau tau final state in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search for a light pseudoscalar Higgs boson (a) decaying from the 125 GeV (or a heavier) scalar Higgs boson (H) is performed using the 2016 LHC proton-proton collision data at root s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), collected by the CMS experiment. The analysis considers gluon fusion and vector boson fusion production of the H, followed by the decay H -> aa -> mu mu tau tau, and considers pseudoscalar masses in the range 3.6 aa -> mu mu tau tau, down to 1.5 (2.0)x10(-4) for m(H) = 125 (300) GeV. Model-dependent limits on B(H -> aa) are set within the context of two Higgs doublets plus singlet models, with the most stringent results obtained for Type-III models. These results extend current LHC searches for heavier a bosons that decay to resolved lepton pairs and provide the first such bounds for an H boson with a mass above 125 GeV.Peer reviewe

Nitrogen Atom-Doped Layered Graphene for High-Performance CO2/N2 Adsorption and Separation

The development of high-performance CO2 capture and separation adsorbents is critical to alleviate the deteriorating environmental issues. Herein, N atom-doped layered graphene (N-MGN) was introduced to form triazine and pyridine as potential CO2 capture and separation adsorbents via regulation of interlayer spacings. Structural analyses showed that accessible surface area of the N-MGN is 2521.72 m2 g&minus;1, the porosity increased from 9.43% to 84.86%. At ultra-low pressure, N-MGN_6.8 have exhibited a high CO2 adsorption capacity of 10.59 mmol/g at 298 K and 0.4 bar. At high pressure, the absolute adsorption capacities of CO2 in N-MGN_17.0 (40.16 mmol g&minus;1) at 7.0 MPa and 298 K are much larger than that of N-doping slit pore. At 298 K and 1.0 bar, the highest selectivity of CO2 over N2 reached up to ~133 in N-MGN_6.8. The research shows that N doping can effectively improve the adsorption and separation capacity of CO2 and N2 in layered graphene, and the interlayer spacing has an important influence on the adsorption capacity of CO2/N2. The adsorption heat and relative concentration curves further confirmed that the layered graphene with an interlayer spacing of 6.8 &Aring; has the best adsorption and separation ability of CO2 and N2 under low pressure. Under high pressure, the layered graphene with the interlayer spacing of 17.0 &Aring; has the best adsorption and separation ability of CO2 and N2

Design of the Threshold-Controllable Memristor Emulator Based on NDR Characteristics

Due to the high manufacturing cost of memristors, an equivalent emulator has been employed as one of the mainstream approaches of memristor research. A threshold-type memristor emulator based on negative differential resistance (NDR) characteristics is proposed, with the core part being the R-HBT network composed of transistors. The advantage of the NDR-based memristor emulator is the controllable threshold, where the state of the memristor can be changed by setting the control voltage, which makes the memristor circuit design more flexible. The operation frequency of the memristor emulator is about 250 kHz. The experimental results prove the feasibility and correctness of the threshold-controllable memristor emulator circuit

Development and Validation of Rapid 3D Radiation Field Evaluation Technique for Nuclear Power Plants

Rapid 3D radiation field evaluation is the key point of occupational dose optimization for design and operation of nuclear power plant. Based on the requirement analysis from designers and operators of nuclear power plant, three key technical issues are identified and solved through the development of the RPOS system, which are rapid calculation of 3D radiation field, reconstruction of the calculated 3D radiation field based on measured data, and occupational dose optimization based on 3D radiation field. Operational measurements of dose rate from in-service nuclear power plants are used to test the RPOS system, which shows that accurate 3D radiation field can be rapidly generated by the RPOS system and effectively used on the occupational dose optimization for on-site workers. The applications of the established rapid 3D radiation field evaluation technique on HPR1000 unit design provide evidence on its feasibility in a large scale, the improvement of radiation protection design efficiency and the enhancement of ALARA assessment and justification for nuclear power plants

Study of Supercritical State Characteristics of Miscible CO₂ Used in the Flooding Process

Carbon dioxide flooding is a strategic replacement technology for greatly enhancing oil recovery in low-permeability oilfields, which includes social benefits resulting from carbon emission reduction and economic benefits owing to the improvement of oil recovery. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop and apply the technology of CO2 flooding and storage in the petroleum industry. In reservoir conditions, CO2 is usually under a supercritical state, presenting both low viscosity and high diffusivity of a gaseous state and high density of a liquid state. The special phase behavior of CO2 directly affects its extraction capacity, resulting in the change of miscible behavior between CO2 and crude oil. In this paper, the ultra-high-pressure–high-temperature pressure–volume–temperature (PVT) system was used to evaluate the phase characteristics of CO2 during the process of reservoir development. The phase behaviors of the CO2/CH4/N2 crude oil system were compared and analyzed. Moreover, the matching mechanism between supercritical CO2 characteristics and oil–gas system miscibility was investigated and defined. This work deepened the understanding of the phase characteristics of CO2 in the process of miscible flooding, providing both theoretical guidance for the application of CO2 injection on oilfields and the essential scientific basis for the implementation of CCUS-EOR technology

Nitrogen Atom-Doped Layered Graphene for High-Performance CO₂/N₂ Adsorption and Separation

The development of high-performance CO2 capture and separation adsorbents is critical to alleviate the deteriorating environmental issues. Herein, N atom-doped layered graphene (N-MGN) was introduced to form triazine and pyridine as potential CO2 capture and separation adsorbents via regulation of interlayer spacings. Structural analyses showed that accessible surface area of the N-MGN is 2521.72 m2 g−1, the porosity increased from 9.43% to 84.86%. At ultra-low pressure, N-MGN_6.8 have exhibited a high CO2 adsorption capacity of 10.59 mmol/g at 298 K and 0.4 bar. At high pressure, the absolute adsorption capacities of CO2 in N-MGN_17.0 (40.16 mmol g−1) at 7.0 MPa and 298 K are much larger than that of N-doping slit pore. At 298 K and 1.0 bar, the highest selectivity of CO2 over N2 reached up to ~133 in N-MGN_6.8. The research shows that N doping can effectively improve the adsorption and separation capacity of CO2 and N2 in layered graphene, and the interlayer spacing has an important influence on the adsorption capacity of CO2/N2. The adsorption heat and relative concentration curves further confirmed that the layered graphene with an interlayer spacing of 6.8 Å has the best adsorption and separation ability of CO2 and N2 under low pressure. Under high pressure, the layered graphene with the interlayer spacing of 17.0 Å has the best adsorption and separation ability of CO2 and N2

Experiments on CO2 foam seepage characteristics in porous media

Simulative experiments were carried out for CO2 foam flooding process in homogeneous porous media prepared with the sand packing method, and the CO2 foam seepage characteristics in porous media were studied with CT technology. CO2 foam flooding experiments were carried out under different packing sand sizes, different surfactant concentrations and different gas-liquid ratios. CT technology was employed to visualize the displacement process and to obtain the water saturation data along the sample, and the pressure distribution in the sample during the foam seepage process was measured at the same time. Experimental results show that, CO2 foam flooding has higher pressure drop and lower water saturation entrance effect in the porous media with lower average grain sizes; when surfactant concentrations are higher than CMC (Critical Micelle Concentration), the generated foam is stable, without showing obvious difference for the foam displacement efficiency in the sample, and water saturation entrance effect gradually decreases with increase of surfactant concentrations; improving gas-liquid ratio can lead to higher foam seepage pressure drop, but has little effect on residue water saturation after foam displacement. Key words: CO2 flooding, CO2 foam, flooding experiment, seepage characteristics, CT technology, EO

The association between dietary mineral intake and the risk of preeclampsia in Chinese pregnant women: a matched case–control study

Abstract Previous studies on the relationship between dietary minerals and preeclampsia (PE) have given inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to further clarify the relationship between dietary minerals intake and PE in Chinese pregnant women. In this study, 440 pairs of hospital–based preeclamptic and healthy women were matched 1:1. Dietary intake was obtained through a 78–item semi–quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Multivariate conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Restricted cubic splines were plotted to evaluate the dose–response relationship between dietary minerals intake and PE. This study found significant inverse associations for dietary intake of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, copper, manganese and zinc and the risk of PE in both univariate and multivariate models (all P- trend < 0.05). After adjusting for possible confounders, compared with the lowest quartile, the odds ratio of the highest quartile was 0.74 (95% CI 0.56–0.98) for calcium, 0.63 (95% CI 0.42–0.93) for magnesium, 0.45 (95% CI 0.31–0.65) for phosphorus, 0.44 (95% CI 0.30–0.65) for iron, 0.72 (95% CI 0.53–0.97) for copper, 0.66 (95% CI 0.48–0.91) for manganese and 0.38 (95% CI 0.25–0.57) for zinc. In addition, a reverse J–shaped relationship between dietary minerals intake and PE risk was observed (P–overall association < 0.05). In Chinese pregnant women, a higher intake of dietary minerals, including calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, iron, manganese, and zinc was associated with a lower odds of PE