中药复方的现代基础研究进展述评

中药复方的现代基础研究是中药现代化发展的必经之路。本文从中药复杂作用模式解析研究策略与方法、中药直接靶点发现技术与应用、系统生物学驱动的中药复杂作用解析三个方面,对中药复方的现代基础研究进行综述,并对其未来发展进行展望。

Recent advances in functional oxides for high energy density sodium-ion batteries

The rapid development of power generation from renewable energy,such as geothermal,wind,and tidal energy,arises the need for efficient and economic electrochemical energy storage systems for integrating electric power smoothly into power grids.The lithium-ion battery has been successfully utilized for a variety of portable electronic devices but its application in large-scale energy storage has raised concerns about safety,availability of lithium resources,and its increasing price.Alternatively,sodium-ion battery(SIB)has been in acquisition predominantly,because of the abundant sodium resources over the earth’s crust at low cost.Developing high energy density electrode materials is one of the most intensive research topics.Oxides have been extensively investigated as the cathode and anode materials for high-performance and durable SIBs,owing to their various advantages including facile synthesis,versatile compositions,and easy structural tuning.In this review,we provide an in-time thorough summary of recent advances in oxide materials for cathodes and anodes for high energy density SIBs.The energy storage mechanism,challenges,categories,and optimizations of both electrodes are discussed.Existing research gaps and future perspectives are also outlined.This review is expected to accelerate the research for developing new pathways for tuning the properties of the oxide electrodes based on different sodium storage mechanisms.

Generation of ring-shaped human iPSC-derived functional heart microtissues in a M?bius strip configuration

Although human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes(hi PSC-CMs) have been used for disease modeling and drug discovery, clinically relevant three-dimensional(3D) functional myocardial microtissues are lacking. Here, we developed a novel ring-shaped cardiac microtissue comprised of chamber-specific tissues to achieve a geometrically non-orientable ventricular myocardial band, similar to a M?bius loop. The ring-shaped cardiac tissue was constructed of hi PSC-CMs and human cardiac fibroblasts(h CFs) through a facile cellular self-assembly approach. It exhibited basic anatomical structure,positive cardiac troponin T(c Tn T) immunostaining, regular calcium transients, and cardiac-like mechanical strength. The cardiac rings can be self-assembled and scaled up into various sizes with outstanding stability, suggesting their potential for precise therapy, pathophysiological investigation, and large-scale drug screening.

Seamless and early gap healing of osteochondral defects by autologous mosaicplasty combined with bioactive supramolecular nanofiber-enabled gelatin methacryloyl(BSN-GelMA)hydrogel

Autologous mosaicplasty is a common approach used to treat osteochondral defects in clinical practice.Gap integration between host and transplanted plugs requires bone tissue reservation and hyaline cartilage regeneration without uneven surface,graft necrosis and sclerosis.However,poor gap integration is a serious concern,which eventually leads to deterioration of joint function.To deal with such complications,this study has developed a strategy to effectively enhance integration of the gap region following mosaicplasty by applying injectable bioactive supramolecular nanofiber-enabled gelatin methacryloyl(GelMA)hydrogel(BSN-GelMA).A rabbit osteochondral defect model demonstrated that BSN-GelMA achieved seamless osteochondral healing in the gap region between plugs of osteochondral defects following mosaicplasty,as early as six weeks.Moreover,the International Cartilage Repair Society score,histology score,glycosaminoglycan content,subchondral bone volume,and collagen II expression were observed to be the highest in the gap region of BSN-GelMA treated group.This improved outcome was due to bio-interactive materials,which acted as tissue fillers to bridge the gap,prevent cartilage degeneration,and promote graft survival and migration of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by releasing bioactive supramolecular nanofibers from the GelMA hydrogel.This study provides a powerful and applicable approach to improve gap integration after autologous mosaicplasty.It is also a promising off-the-shelf bioactive material for cell-free in situ tissue regeneration.

High-resolution aging niche of human adipose tissues

Dear Editor,Age-dependent adipose tissue malfunction raises the risk of diseases like diabetes,cardiovascular disease,and even cancer by contributing to metabolic decline,heterotopic fat storage,and chronic systemic inflammation.1 Understanding adipose tissue aging requires in-depth knowledge of the cellular and molecular properties of various adipose tissue cell types.Although the heterogeneity of the cell population during mouse aging has been studied,2 little is known about the cellular and molecular basis of human adipose tissues aging.

Leakage performance of floating ring seal in cold/hot state for aero-engine

Rotating experimental investigations were carried out to study the oil sealing capability of two different floating ring seals in cold/hot state for aero-engine. High-speed Floating Ring Seal(HFRS) is a seal with the inner diameter of 83.72 mm and maximum speed of 38000 r/min, and Low-speed Floating Ring Seal(LFRS) is another seal with the inner diameter of 40.01 mm and maximum speed of 18000 r/min. In hot state, sealing air with the temperature of 371 K and oil with the temperature of 343 K was employed to model the working conditions of an aero-engine. Comparisons between floating ring seal and labyrinth seal were done to inspect the leakage performance.More attention was paid to the critical pressure ratio where the oil leakage began. Results show that the critical pressure ratio in cold state is obviously larger than that in hot state for both seals. An underlying sealing mechanism for floating ring seal is clarified by the fluid film, which closely associates with the dimensionless parameter of clearance over rotating diameter(2 c/Dr). Another fantastic phenomenon is that the leakage coefficient in hot state, not the leakage magnitude, is unexpectedly larger than that in cold state. Overall, the leakage performance of the floating ring seal is better than the labyrinth seal.

Phytophthora Effectors Modulate Genome-wide Alternative Splicing of Host mRNAs to Reprogram Plant Immunity

Alternative splicing(AS)of pre-mRNAs increases transcriptome and proteome diversity,regulates gene expression through multiple mechanisms,and plays important roles in plant development and stress responses.However,the prevalence of genome-wide plant AS changes during infection and the mechanisms by which pathogens modulate AS remain poorly understood.Here,we examined the global AS changes in tomato leaves infected with Phytophthora infestans,the infamous Irish famine pathogen.We show that more than 2000 genes exhibiting significant changes in AS are not differentially expressed,indicating that AS is a distinct layer of transcriptome reprogramming during plant-pathogen interactions.Furthermore,our results show that P.infestans subverts host immunity by repressing the AS of positive regulators of plant immunity and promoting the AS of susceptibility factors.To study the underlying mechanism,we established a luminescence-based AS reporter system in Nicotiana benthamiana to screen pathogen effectors modulating plant AS.We identified nine splicing regulatory effectors(SREs)from 87 P.infestans effectors.Further studies revealed that SRE3 physically binds U1-70K to manipulate the plant AS machinery and subsequently modulates AS-mediated plant immunity.Our study not only unveils genome-wide plant AS reprogramming during infection but also establishes a novel AS screening tool to identify SREs from a wide range of plant pathogens,providing opportunities to understand the splicing regulatory mechanisms through which pathogens subvert plant immunity.

Numerical investigation of pyrolysis effects on heat transfer characteristics and flow resistance of n-decane under supercritical pressure

Pyrolysis of hydrocarbon fuel plays an important role in the regenerative cooling process. In this article, a Two-Dimensional（2D） numerical model is proposed to investigate the pyrolysis effects on the heat transfer characteristics and flow resistance of n-decane under supercritical pressure. The one-step global pyrolytic reaction mechanism consisting of 19 species is adopted to simulate the pyrolysis process of n-decane. The thermophysical and transport properties of the fluid mixture are computed and incorporated into the numerical model for simulation. Comparisons between the current predictions and the open published experimental data are carried out and good agreement is achieved. In order to better understand the complicated physicochemical process, further investigations on the turbulent flow and heat transfer coupled with pyrolysis in a tube have been performed under various operating conditions. The results indicate that the pyrolysis intensively takes place in the high fluid temperature region. The occurrence of the heat transfer deterioration would lead to increasing n-decane conversion at the beginning of the heated section. It is found that the pyrolysis could improve the heat transfer deterioration and promote the heat transfer enhancement. Meanwhile, pyrolysis gives rise to an abrupt increase of flow resistance. The mechanisms of the physicochemical phenomena are also analyzed in a systematic manner, which would be very helpful in the development of the regenerative cooling technology.

Fabrication of bimetallic Ag/Fe immobilized on modified biochar for removal of carbon tetrachloride

As an effective conventional absorbent, biochar exhibited limited adsorption ability toward small hydrophobic molecules. To enhance the adsorption capacity, a novel adsorbent was prepared by immobilizing nanoscale zero-valent iron onto modified biochar（MB） and then the elemental silver was attached to the surface of iron（Ag/Fe/MB）. It＇s noted that spherical Ag/Fe nanoparticles with diameter of 51 nm were highly dispersed on the surface of MB. As the typical hydrophobic contaminant, carbon tetrachloride was selected for examining the removal efficiency of the adsorbent. The removal efficiencies of carbon tetrachloride by original biochar（OB）, Ag/Fe, Ag/Fe/OB and Ag/Fe/MB were fully investigated. It＇s found that Ag/Fe/MB showed higher carbon tetrachloride removal efficiency, which is about 5.5 times higher than that of the OB sample due to utilizing the merits of high adsorption and reduction. Thermodynamic parameters revealed that the removal of carbon tetrachloride by Ag/Fe/MB was a spontaneous and exothermic process, which was affected by solution p H, initial carbon tetrachloride concentration and temperature. The novel Ag/Fe/MB composites provided a promising material for carbon tetrachloride removal from effluent.

Experimental investigation on operating behaviors of loop heat pipe with thermoelectric cooler under acceleration conditions

An experimental study was carried out in this article to investigate the transient operating performance of a Dual Compensation Chamber Loop Heat Pipe(DCCLHP) with Thermoelectric Cooler(TEC) under acceleration conditions and ammonia was selected as the working fluid.For the purpose of comparison, experimental work was conducted under terrestrial gravity.Sensitivity analysis was performed to explore the effect of several control parameters such as the heat load, acceleration magnitude and TEC assist on the startup and operating performance of the DCCLHP.Experimental results indicate that the DCCLHP can get to a steady-state operation when the heat load changes from 25 W to 300 W under terrestrial gravity.While under acceleration conditions, the DCCLHP can work at a high operating temperature or even fail to operate, which shows the acceleration effect plays a significant impact on the loop operation.The TEC assist with power of 10 W can improve the operating performance and reduce the operating temperature for the case of small heat load and acceleration magnitude.When the acceleration exceeds 3 g at large heat load, the effect of TEC assist on the operation at large heat load can be ignored.

Leakage performance of labyrinth seal for oil sealing of aero-engine

Experimental investigation has been done to evaluate the leakage performance of labyrinth seal for oil sealing on high-speed sealing test rig at different working and geometric parameters.Typical values of pressure ratio ranging from 1.0 to 2.0 were used and the rotating speed varied from 0 to 30,000 tpm.Dimensionless Taylor number was invited to response the effect of rotation.Oil was injected at the rate from 1.2 L/min to 2.8 L/min to check the sealing capacity.Leakage was measured at different seal configurations including sealing clearance,tooth tip thickness,pitch,teeth number,front inclined angle and oil-throwing angle.Different from gas sealing,the application of oil-throwing tooth in oil sealing attracted much interest as an obvious alternative to the conventional labyrinth seal.A blocking ring was captured during testing,which establishes understanding of underlying flow mechanisms in the clearance and plays an important role in oil sealing.There is a critical Taylor number at which the leakage coefficient drops drastically.After the critical Taylor number,a parabola rule appears.An optimal composition of tooth tip thickness,teeth number,oil-throwing angle and front inclined angle exists where the leakage performance behaves better.