Protective Effect of 18 β

Triptolide (TP) is the major active component of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TWHF) and possesses multiple pharmacological effects. However, hepatotoxicity of TP which is one of the toxic properties slows its progression in clinical application. 18β-Glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) is the main bioactive ingredient of Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.), a herbal medicine famous for its detoxification. This study aims to investigate whether GA possesses protective effect against TP-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. TP interference markedly elevated serum levels of ALT, AST, and ALP, caused evident liver histopathological changes, and elevated hepatic TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, and IFN-γ as well as nuclear translocation of NF-κB. TP also significantly elevated liver MDA and declined hepatic activities of SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px. Assay of TUNEL and apoptosis proteins (Bax, Bcl-2, and active caspase-3) showed that TP induced severe hepatocellular apoptosis. In contrast, low-dose GA (50 mg/kg) significantly reversed TP-induced changes above. However, high-dose GA (100 mg/kg) had no such effect. Overall, these findings indicated that low-dose GA but not high-dose GA exhibited a protective effect against TP-induced hepatotoxicity in rats by anti-inflammation, antioxidation, and antiapoptosis, which suggests that the doses of GA/Licorice should be carefully considered when used together with TWHF or TWHF preparations

The Curing and Strength Properties of Highly Moist Waste Mud from Slurry Shield Tunnel Construction

The waste mud from slurry shield tunnel construction can easily cause environmental pollution. Thus, the RCSLP curing agent is developed to reutilize the waste mud produced in the Jinan Yellow River tunnel. The strength properties of the soils solidified with cement or RCSLP were tested, and their microstructures were studied by scanning electron microscopy. The results show that for the RCSLP curing agent, an optimum cement content of 15% and an optimum additive content of 12% improved the early compressive strength of the solidified soil. The mechanical properties of the RCSLP solidified soil were improved due to the significantly increased hydration products. The findings of this research could help achieve the utilization of waste mud from slurry shield tunnel construction

The Curing and Strength Properties of Highly Moist Waste Mud from Slurry Shield Tunnel Construction

The waste mud from slurry shield tunnel construction can easily cause environmental pollution. Thus, the RCSLP curing agent is developed to reutilize the waste mud produced in the Jinan Yellow River tunnel. The strength properties of the soils solidified with cement or RCSLP were tested, and their microstructures were studied by scanning electron microscopy. The results show that for the RCSLP curing agent, an optimum cement content of 15% and an optimum additive content of 12% improved the early compressive strength of the solidified soil. The mechanical properties of the RCSLP solidified soil were improved due to the significantly increased hydration products. The findings of this research could help achieve the utilization of waste mud from slurry shield tunnel construction

Instability Mechanism of Cavity-Bearing Formation under Tunnel Excavation Disturbance

Urban subway construction inevitably causes disturbances to the rock strata. It can even cause ground collapse accidents when construction encounters a bad geological body in the stratum. To verify the influence of cavities on surface settlement and the mechanism of formation instability, the instability mechanism of cavity-bearing strata under tunnel excavation disturbance was herein studied by tests using self-designed indoor models and numerical simulations. This study was based on the concrete project case of Qingdao Metro. Two groups of experiments (with and without cavities) were designed to simulate the four-step excavation by staged unloading of an airbag. The results show that the settlement value in the cavity state was about twice as much as that in the nonvoid state at the same stage. Besides the first step of excavation, in the numerical simulation, the settlement value of the same stage is about 1.3 times that of the model test. Simulating the deformation process of the surrounding rock in model tests shows that, in the excavation of the tunnel, the collapse surface of the tunnel arch roof will be connected with the sliding surface of the formation cavity. The cavity will gradually change from a regular circle to an ellipse or may even close, resulting in a sudden increase in land subsidence or even ground collapse. This indicates that disturbance during tunnel excavation would cause greater instability in a stratum when bad geological bodies, such as cavities, exist in the stratum

A π-conjugated N-containing compound as a high-capacity cathode for fast aqueous and flexible Zn-ion batteries

Aqueous zinc-ion battery is recognized as a strong and potential alternative to lithium-ion batteries in the fields of grid-scale energy storage and wearable electronics, due to its low cost and high safety. For developing new cathode materials of zinc-ion batteries with high-capacity, herein, trinitrohexaazanaphthalene (TNHATN) was synthesized and firstly evaluated as the cathode materials. Because of its multiple redox active sites, π-conjugated structure containing electron-withdrawing groups (nitro, -NO2) and insolubility in aqueous electrolytes, the TNHATN electrode exhibits a high specific capacity of 3246 mAh g-1 at a current density of 0.04 A g-1 during the first discharge, high rate-performance (239 mAh g-1 remains at 20 A g-1) and better cycling stability (67.3% capacity retention after 1000 cycles). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and various ex situ tests disclose that the uptake and removal of Zn2+ and H+ ions may be involved in the electrochemical reaction of the TNHATN electrode. Meanwhile, the fabricated flexible aqueous Zn//TNHATN battery also has long cycle life (71% capacity retention after 1000 cycles), excellent volumetric energy density (21.36 mWh cm-3), and excellent mechanical flexibility, displaying its application potential in wearable electronics

Soil Classification and Site Variability Analysis Based on CPT—A Case Study in the Yellow River Subaquatic Delta, China

The Yellow River Delta is located at the junction of the Yellow River and Bohai. The impact function from the river and the dynamics of the ocean tides make the soil composition and distribution in this area substantially complicated. In order to test the distribution and variation of the soil layers in the Yellow River Delta, the soil layers in the test area were classified and the variation was calculated using the cone penetration test (CPT). The following conclusions were drawn: (1) the soil in the measured area is mainly composed of sensitive fine-grained soil, accounting for about 70% of all soil types, and the content of sensitive fine-grained soil in the far-sea position is higher than that in the offshore position in the direction perpendicular to the coastline. (2) It has a high vertical variability index (VVI) at the near-shore location, above 45%, and a low vertical variability at the far coast, generally below 20%. (3) The horizontal variability index (HVI) changes significantly near the coast, and it remains below 45% in the test area

Protective Effect of Pogostone on 2,4,6-Trinitrobenzenesulfonic Acid-Induced Experimental Colitis via Inhibition of T Helper Cell

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic immune-related disease mainly caused by the disequilibrium of T helper (Th) cell paradigm? Pogostone (PO) is one of the major chemical constituents of Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth. The present study aims to investigate the potential benefit of PO against IBD in a 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced experimental colitis model. PO treatment by enema significantly brought down the disease activity index (DAI) of the TNBS-challenged rats, which was manifested by the ameliorated inflammatory features including ulceration, adhesion, and edema. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and immunohistochemistry analysis showed that PO effectively relived colon damage by restoring epithelium, and more importantly, by inhibiting the infiltration of pro-inflammatory Th1 and Th17 cells in the colon. Additionally, PO inhibited the activity of myeloperoxidase and secretion of inflammatory cytokines including IFN-γ, IL-12p70, IL-17A, and IL-10. Together with our previous findings, the present data indicated that the anti-IBD effect of PO probably related to its direct inhibition on Th cell proliferation and suppression of the cytokines secretion. These results highlighted the potential of PO as a promising candidate to relieve IBD

Study on the Influence of Mud Properties on the Stability of Excavated Face of Slurry Shield and the Quality of Filter Cake Formation

In the construction of subsea tunnels, the stability and control of the excavation surface are the main concerns of the engineering community. In this paper, the Xiamen Metro Line 2 is used as the study case. The filter cake formation of mud shields is experimentally studied, and the excavation surface is numerically simulated. It is found that the formation of filter cake does not require a large pressure difference, and can be formed under 0.06 MPa. With the increase of pressure, the quality of filter cake is further improved, and a small amount of seawater (volume ratio less than 3%) also has a significant effect on the viscosity of mud. Under different cross-section geological conditions, with the decrease of the support pressure of the excavation face, the vertical displacement and vertical (Y-direction) displacement of the excavation face dome gradually increase, the maximum longitudinal displacement is 9.7 mm, the maximum longitudinal displacement can reach 23.9 mm, and the growth trend is nonlinear. According to different stratum conditions, during the excavation of the tunnel, the plastic area of the excavation face is different

High-performance and chemically self-charging flexible aqueous zinc-ion batteries based on organic cathodes with Zn2+ and H+ storage

Chemically self-charging aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) via air oxidation will provide new opportunities for future wearable electronic devices. Herein, we display two high-performances flexible AZIBs based on trifluorohexaazatrinaphthylene (TFHATN)/trichlorohexaazatrinaphthylene (TCLHATN) cathode, which can be recharged via air without using external power supply. The flexible Zn//TFHATN/Zn//TCLHATN battery presents good mechanical flexibility and high volumetric energy density of 9.2/10.7 mWh cm-3. The air-recharging capability originates from a spontaneous redox reaction between the discharged TFHATN/TCLHATN cathode and O2 from air. After exposed to air for 15 h, the discharged Zn//TFHATN/Zn//TCLHATN battery can be recharged to 1.2 V around, exhibits high discharge capacity, high-rate performance, higher self-charging cycle stability (8 cycles), and works well in chemical or/and galvanostatic charging mixed modes, displaying good reusability. This work provides a strategy for developing high-performance flexible air-rechargeable AZIBs