Zhuangtongyin Ameliorates Cardiomyocyte Pyroptosis in Rats with Coronary Heart Disease by Regulating Caspase-1

Background: Recent studies have demonstrated that pyroptosis has an important impact on the pathological process of many cardiovascular diseases, and inhibiting this process can significantly reduce pathological damage. At the same time, some studies have proved that Zhuangtongy in (ZTY) has a certain protective effect on the myocardium of rats with coronary heart disease. Therefore, the aim of this study is to observe and explore the effects of ZTY on cardiomyocytes and its mechanism of action in rats with coronary heart disease based on the Caspase-1 mediated cellular pyroptosis pathway. Methods: Fifty SD rats were randomly divided into blank group, sham-operation group, model group, ZTY group and cysteinyl aspartate specific protease (Caspase-1) inhibitor group. The blank group did not receive any treatment, and the other groups established a rat model of coronary artery disease by ligating the left anterior descending branch of the coronary artery, but the sham-operation group was only threaded without ligation. After that, the sham-operated and model groups were gavaged with 0.1 ml/kg distilled water, the ZTY group was gavaged with 13.6 g/kg ZTY decoction based on the previous study, and the Caspase-1 inhibitor group was injected intraperitoneally with 3 mg/kg Ac-YVAD-cmk solvent once a day for four consecutive weeks. Transmission electron microscopy was used to observe the ultrastructure of cardiomyocytes, HE staining was used to observe the morphology of cardiac tissue, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa) was used to detect serum interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-18 (IL-18) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the rats. In addition, fluorescent probe was used to detect serum Reactive oxygen species (ROS). Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression of mRNAs of ASC, Nlrp3, Caspase-1 and gasdermin-D (GSDMD), and the protein expression of Caspase-1 and GSDMD was detected by immunohistochemistry. Results: There was no significant difference between the results of the blank and sham-operated groups. Compared with the blank group, the transmission electron microscopy results showed swollen and ruptured cardiomyocyte membranes in the model group, with pore formation, severe mitochondrial swelling, membrane lysis, and cristae breakage. The staining results showed myofibril breakage, severe intercellular oedema and vacuolation in the model group. The inflammatory factors IL-1β, IL-18, CRP and ROS were significantly elevated (P β, IL-18, CRP, ROS and the expression of ASC, Nlrp3, Caspase-1, and GSDMD mRNA were significantly elevated (P Conclusion: ZTY can reduce myocardial injury by lowering the expression of ROS and other inflammatory factors, inhibiting Caspase-1 mediated cellular pyroptosis, thus reducing myocardial inflammation and protecting cardiomyocytes.

International Students’Acculturation in China

With the development of globalization,more and more international students are pursuing their studies in China.The adjustment issues faced by these students should be explored in order to ensure the students’successful transition to the host country.This study aims at exploring the cultural adaptation of international students studying in China and their interests in the Chinese culture.

基于OpenFOAM模拟精馏塔板的气液流动

本研究对筛孔型精馏塔板上的空气-水两相流进行了模拟,模拟方法采用基于开源软件平台OpenFOAM的双流体模型框架。模拟体系选用Solari-Bell经典实验体系,研究了不同操作条件下的气液两相流动参数,包括清液层高度、气相速度、液相速度和塔板压降等,模拟结果与实验结果的变化趋势基本一致。基于CFD模拟结果,分析了不同工况下塔内气液两相速度场与气含率分布等流动参数,结果表明本工作可以较好地捕捉塔板上的气液流动特征。进一步地,讨论了应用OpenFOAM模拟精馏塔内气液两相流动的若干影响因素,在此基础上分析了气液错流体系相间曳力对模拟结果的影响,实现了与使用商业软件模拟结果相接近的预测效果,验证了使用OpenFOAM模拟精馏塔体系的可行性。

Surface Doping vs.Bulk Doping of Cathode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries:A Review

To address the capacity degradation,voltage fading,structural instability and adverse interface reactions in cathode materi-als of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs),numerous modification strategies have been developed,mainly including coating and doping.In particular,the important strategy of doping(surface doping and bulk doping)has been considered an effective strategy to modulate the crystal lattice structure of cathode materials.However,special insights into the mechanisms and effectiveness of the doping strategy,especially comparisons between surface doping and bulk doping in cathode materials,are still lacking.In this review,recent significant progress in surface doping and bulk doping strategies is demonstrated in detail by focusing on their inherent differences as well as effects on the structural stability,lithium-ion(Li-ion)diffusion and electrochemical properties of cathode materials from the following mechanistic insights:preventing the exposure of reactive Ni on the surface,stabilizing the Li slabs,mitigating the migration of transition metal(TM)ions,alleviating unde-sired structural transformations and adverse interface issues,enlarging the Li interslab spacing,forming three-dimensional(3D)Li-ion diffusion channels,and providing more active sites for the charge-transfer process.Moreover,insights into the correlation between the mechanisms of hybrid surface engineering strategies(doping and coating)and their influences on the electrochemical performance of cathode materials are provided by emphasizing the stabilization of the Li slabs,the enhancement of the surface chemical stability,and the alleviation of TM ion migration.Furthermore,the existing challenges and future perspectives in this promising field are indicated.

Quasi-real-time simulation of rotating drum using discrete element method with parallel GPU computing

Real-time simulation of industrial equipment is a huge challenge nowadays. The high performance and fine-grained parallel computing provided by graphics processing units （GPUs） bring us closer to our goals. In this article, an industrial-scale rotating drum is simulated using simplified discrete element method （DEM） without consideration of the tangential components of contact force and particle rotation. A single GPU is used first to simulate a small model system with about 8000 particles in real-time, and the simulation is then scaled up to industrial scale using more than 200 GPUs in a 1 D domain-decomposition parallelization mode. The overall speed is about 1/11 of the real-time. Optimization of the communication part of the parallel GPU codes can speed up the simulation further, indicating that such real-time simulations have not only methodological but also industrial implications in the near future.

Modeling coal pyrolysis in a cocurrent downer reactor

In this paper, a model for fast coal pyrolysis in a cocurrent downer reactor is developed, in which both hydrodynamics and coal pyrolysis kinetics are simultaneously considered. The results of simulations based on this model display reasonable agreement with experimental data obtained using Huolinhe coal as the feedstock, and this model is therefore suitable for predicting the fast pyrolysis of specific coal types. A series of simulations of fast coal pyrolysis in a cocurrent downer demonstrated that coal devolatilization is almost complete in the inlet region within a time span of 0.4 s, and that higher temperatures improve the pyrolysis efficiency. However, the yield of liquid products is decreased with increasing pyrolysis temperatures, especially above 670 ℃, because of additional cracking of the liquids.