Numerical Study on Mass Transfer Performance of a Spiral-like Interconnector for Planner Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

AbstractIn order to transfer more fuel of a planner SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell) from gas channel into porous anode, this paper has designed a novel spiral-like SOFC interconnector, a 3-D model is made by COMSOL 3.5a and the cell was operated with the mixture of H2 and H2O as fuel at 1023K. The result shows that, compared with conventional direct channel interconnectors, the new interconnector in this paper could not only improve the gas velocity parallel to the TPB(Triple Phase Boundary), but also with much higher gas velocity perpendicular to it, which has led to the H2 molar fraction close to the TPB in anode is almost two orders of magnitude higher than that of director channel interconnector SOFC, which would be helpful to improve the electrical performance of SOFCs

Propofol combined with hyperbaric oxygen improves the prognosis of spinal cord injury in rats via MAPK/ERK signaling pathway

Purpose: To determine the effect of propofol combined with hyperbaric oxygen on spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats.Methods: A total of 36 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into sham group (S group), model group (M group), and propofol combined with hyperbaric oxygen group (P group). The Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) scoring system was adopted to evaluate the recovery of motor function in rats. Subsequently, levels of interleukin-18 (IL-18) and IL-1β in the spinal cord tissues were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Nerve cell apoptosis in the spinal cord tissues were examined via terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Finally, the protein expression levels of MAPK/ERK in the spinal cord tissues were assessed by Western blotting.Results: Compared with S group, BBB score in M group decreased at days 3 and 10 after treatment. While the BBB score of rats in P group was significantly increased (p < 0.05), compared with S group. The expressions of IL-18 and IL-1β were significantly lower in S and P groups than in M group (p < 0.05). S and P groups had lower apoptosis rate in the spinal cord tissues than in M group. Furthermore, Western blotting results showed that protein expressions of MAPK/ERK pathway were higher in S group and P group than in M group (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Propofol, combined with hyperbaric oxygen improves the prognosis of SCI rats probably by regulating MAPK/ERK signaling pathway, thus paving way for the development of a potential treatment for the management of spinal cord injury in humans

Role of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 signaling underlying cardiac hypertrophy

Cardiac hypertrophy is the result of increased myocardial cell size responding to an increased workload and developmental signals. These extrinsic and intrinsic stimuli as key drivers of cardiac hypertrophy have spurred efforts to target their associated signaling pathways. The extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2), as an essential member of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), has been widely recognized for promoting cardiac growth. Several modified transgenic mouse models have been generated through either affecting the upstream kinase to change ERK1/2 activity, manipulating the direct role of ERK1/2 in the heart, or targeting phosphatases or MAPK scaffold proteins to alter total ERK1/2 activity in response to an increased workload. Using these models, both regulation of the upstream events and modulation of each isoform and indirect effector could provide important insights into how ERK1/2 modulates cardiomyocyte biology. Furthermore, a plethora of compounds, inhibitors, and regulators have emerged in consideration of ERK, or its MAPK kinases, are possible therapeutic targets against cardiac hypertrophic diseases. Herein, is a review of the available evidence regarding the exact role of ERK1/2 in regulating cardiac hypertrophy and a discussion of pharmacological strategy for treatment of cardiac hypertrophy

Quantum Logic Network for Probabilistic Teleportation of Two-Particle State of General Form

A simplification scheme of probabilistic teleportation of two-particle state of general form is given. By means of the primitive operations consisting of single-qubit gates, two-qubit controlled-not gates, Von Neumann measurement and classically controlled operations, we construct an efficient quantum logical network for implementing the new scheme of probabilistic teleportation of a two-particle state of general form.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure

Predisposing factors for predicting the therapeutic response of adenomyosis after uterine artery embolization: serum CA125 levels and accompanying endometriosis

PURPOSE:We aimed to identify predisposing factors that could help predict the therapeutic response of adenomyosis after uterine artery embolization (UAE).METHODS:This was a retrospective, single-center study of patients admitted to the hospital for adenomyosis between 2013 and 2015. Sixty-eight patients with adenomyosis who underwent UAE with tris-acryl gelatin microspheres were divided into two groups based on their therapeutic response (complete or incomplete necrosis of lesions), and pre- and postprocedural pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Patients were followed up for 12 months after UAE. Improvements in dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia were evaluated based on the symptom relief criteria. Improvement rates in both groups were analyzed and compared. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the predisposing factors from retrospectively gathered baseline data that might affect the therapeutic response, including MRI features, clinical symptoms, biochemical index, and accompanying diseases of adenomyosis. Then, a prognostic model was established, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of identified factors was drawn to determine their predictive value.RESULTS:Following UAE, 46 patients (67.6%) showed complete necrosis, while 22 patients (32.4%) showed incomplete necrosis. At 12-month follow-up, dysmenorrhea symptom improvement was seen in 94.7% of complete necrosis and 50% of incomplete necrosis group (P < 0.001); menorrhagia symptom improvement was seen in 96.2% of complete necrosis and 57.1% of incomplete necrosis groups (P = 0.004). Multivariate logistic regression analysis determined serum cancer antigen 125 (CA125) levels (odds ratio [OR], 1.006; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.002–1.010; P = 0.005) and accompanying endometriosis (OR, 6.869; 95% CI, 1.881–25.016; P = 0.004) as predisposing factors. The areas under the ROC curve of CA125, endometriosis, and these two indicators combined were 0.785, 0.708, and 0.845, which corresponded to sensitivities of 95.5%, 66.7%, and 68.2% and specificities of 52.2%, 80.0%, and 87.0% at optimal cutoff values, respectively.CONCLUSION:Symptom relief of dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia for patients with complete necrosis was significantly better than that for patients with incomplete necrosis. Serum CA125 levels and accompanying endometriosis can effectively distinguish complete necrosis from incomplete necrosis

Stemness And Chemotherapeutic Drug Resistance Induced By Eif5a2 Overexpression In Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most lethal malignancies of the digestive tract in East Asian countries. Multimodal therapies, including adjuvant chemotherapy and neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, have become more often used for patients with advanced ESCC. However, the chemotherapy effect is often limited by patients' drug resistance. This study demonstrated that EIF5A2 (eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A2) overexpression induced stemness and chemoresistance in ESCC cells. We showed that EIF5A2 overexpression in ESCC cells resulted in increased chemoresistance to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), docetaxel and taxol. In contrast, shRNAs suppressing eIF5A2 increased tumor sensitivity to these chemotherapeutic drugs. In addition, EIF5A2 overexpression was correlated with a poorer overall survival in patients with ESCC who underwent taxane-based chemotherapy after esophagectomy (P > 0.05). Based on these results, we suggest that EIF5A2 could be a predictive biomarker for selecting appropriate chemo-treatment for ESCC patients and EIF5A2 inhibitors might be considered as combination therapy to enhance chemosensitivity in patients with ESCC.published_or_final_versio

Investigation of Tumor Suppressing Function of CACNA2D3 in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Background: Deletion of 3p is one of the most frequent genetic alterations in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), suggesting the existence of one or more tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) within these regions. In this study, one TSG, CACNA2D3 at 3p21.1, was characterized. Methods: Expression of CACNA2D3 in ESCCs was tested by quantitative real-time PCR and tissue microarray. The mechanism of CACNA2D3 downregulation was investigated by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MS-PCR). The tumor suppressive function of CACNA2D3 was characterized by both in vitro and in vivo tumorigenic assays, cell migration and invasion assays. Results: CACNA2D3 was frequently downregulated in ESCCs (24/48, 50%), which was significantly associated with promoter methylation and allele loss (P<0.05). Tissue microarray result showed that downregulation of CACNA2D3 was detected in (127/224, 56.7%) ESCCs, which was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.01), TNM staging (P = 0.003) and poor outcome of ESCC patients (P<0.05). Functional studies demonstrated that CACNA2D3 could inhibit tumorigenicity, cell motility and induce apoptosis. Mechanism study found that CACNA2D3 could arrest cell cycle at G1/S checkpoint by increasing expressions of p21 and p53 and decreasing expression of CDK2. In addition, CACNA2D3 could upregulate intracellular free cytosolic Ca2+ and subsequently induce apoptosis. Conclusion: CACNA2D3 is a novel TSG responsible to the 3p21 deletion event and plays a critical suppressing role in the development and progression of ESCC. © 2013 Li et al.link_to_OA_fulltex

Sex-specific association of rs16996148 SNP in the NCAN/CILP2/PBX4 and serum lipid levels in the Mulao and Han populations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The association of rs16996148 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in <it>NCAN/CILP2/PBX4 </it>and serum lipid levels is inconsistent. Furthermore, little is known about the association of rs16996148 SNP and serum lipid levels in the Chinese population. We therefore aimed to detect the association of rs16996148 SNP and several environmental factors with serum lipid levels in the Guangxi Mulao and Han populations.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>A total of 712 subjects of Mulao nationality and 736 participants of Han nationality were randomly selected from our stratified randomized cluster samples. Genotyping of the rs16996148 SNP was performed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism combined with gel electrophoresis, and then confirmed by direct sequencing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The levels of apolipoprotein (Apo) B were higher in Mulao than in Han (<it>P </it>< 0.001). The frequencies of G and T alleles were 87.2% and 12.8% in Mulao, and 89.9% and 10.1% in Han (<it>P <</it>0.05); respectively. The frequencies of GG, GT and TT genotypes were 76.0%, 22.5% and 1.5% in Mulao, and 81.2%, 17.4% and 1.4% in Han (<it>P <</it>0.05); respectively. There were no significant differences in the genotypic and allelic frequencies between males and females in both ethnic groups. The levels of HDL-C, ApoAI, and the ratio of ApoAI to ApoB in Mulao were different between the GG and GT/TT genotypes in males but not in females (<it>P </it>< 0.01 for all), the subjects with GT/TT genotypes had higher serum levels of HDL-C, ApoAI, and the ratio of ApoAI to ApoB than the subjects with GG genotype. The levels of TC, TG, LDL-C, ApoAI, and ApoB in Han were different between the GG and GT/TT genotypes in males but not in females (<it>P </it>< 0.05-0.001), the T allele carriers had higher serum levels of TC, TG, LDL-C, ApoAI, and ApoB than the T allele noncarriers. The levels of HDL-C, ApoAI, and the ratio of ApoAI to ApoB in Mulao were correlated with the genotypes in males (<it>P </it>< 0.05-0.01) but not in females. The levels of TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, ApoAI and ApoB in Han were associated with the genotypes in males (<it>P </it>< 0.05-0.001) but not in females. Serum lipid parameters were also correlated with several enviromental factors in both ethnic groups (<it>P </it>< 0.05-0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The genotypic and allelic frequencies of rs16996148 SNP and the associations of the SNP and serum lipid levels are different in the Mulao and Han populations. Sex (male)-specific association of rs16996148 SNP in the <it>NCAN/CILP2/PBX4 </it>and serum lipid levels is also observed in the both ethnic groups.</p

Sex-specific association of ACAT-1 rs1044925 SNP and serum lipid levels in the hypercholesterolemic subjects

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) is a key enzyme in cellular cholesterol homeostasis and in atherosclerosis. The cellular cholesterol efflux correlated with serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations has shown to be impaired in hyperlipidemic mice. The present study was carried out to clarify the association of ACAT-1 rs1044925 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and serum lipid levels in the hyperlipidemic subjects.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 821 unrelated subjects (hyperlipidemia, 476; normolipidemia, 345) aged 15-80 were included in the study. Genotyping of the ACAT-1 rs1044925 SNP was performed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism combined with gel electrophoresis, and then confirmed by direct sequencing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was no significant difference in the genotypic and allelic frequencies of ACAT-1 rs1044925 SNP between the normolipidemic and hyperlipidemic subjects. The levels of total cholesterol (TC), HDL-C and apolipoprotein (Apo) AI in hyperlipidemic subjects were different between the AA and AC/CC genotypes in male but not in female (<it>P </it>< 0.05-0.01), the C allele carriers had higher serum TC, HDL-C and ApoAI levels than the C allele noncarriers. The association of genotypes and serum HDL-C and ApoAI levels in hyperlipidemia was found mainly in the male subjects with hypercholesterolemia but not in those with hypertriglyceridemia. There were no significant differences in serum lipid levels between the AA and AC/CC genotypes in the normolipidemic subjects.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present study shows that the C allele carriers of ACAT-1 rs1044925 SNP in male hyperlipidemic subjects had higher serum TC, HDL-C and ApoAI levels than the C allele noncarriers. There is a sex (male)-specific association of ACAT-1 rs1044925 SNP and serum HDL-C and ApoAI levels in the hypercholesterolemic subjects.</p

Theoretical and experimental investigation of variable stiffness finger seal

A finger seal is a flexible and dynamic contact seal, and many researches and experiments have proved its application potential in aviation engines, gas turbines, and other equipment. However, the contradiction between hysteresis leakage and wear life in the design and initial installation condition of finger seals seriously affects the integrated performance design effect. A variable stiffness finger seal is investigated in the present study to resolve the aforementioned problems, and the influence of initial installation condition is considered. First, a theoretical model of the finger seal is established to calculate the hysteresis characteristic and contact pressure between finger feet and rotor. The performances of the variable stiffness finger seal and traditional involute curved finger seal are compared to confirm the advantages of the variable stiffness finger seal. The results show that the initial conditions such as rotor structure and support bearing clearance have an important influence on the accuracy of finger sealing performance calculation. In addition, the variable stiffness structure improves the hysteresis characteristic of the finger seal with virtually no loss of wear life under low pressure differential and reduces the hysteresis rate by more than 50%. Under high pressure differential, the variable stiffness structure reduces the average contact pressure by more than 25%. Therefore, the leakage and wear performance of the finger seal are simultaneously improved by the variable stiffness structure. This characteristic does not change with an increase in rotor excitation. This indicates that the variable stiffness finger seal provides good synthetic performance and high dynamic adaptability to random operating conditions