肾阳亏虚证泄泻的现代生物学内涵

肾阳亏虚证作为泄泻常见中医证型,其发病机制较为复杂.本文从肠道菌群、信号通路、“肾-肠轴”相关分子三个层面探究肾阳亏虚证泄泻发生发展的作用机制,寻找肾阳亏虚证泄泻的生物标记物,对揭示肾阳亏虚证泄泻的现代生物学内涵以及推进后续临床的靶向治疗具有重要意义.

中医药调节肠道微生态研究技术进展

肠道是一个多元化的微生态系统,其结构及功能是生命科学及医学领域的研究热点,中医药调节肠道微生态的研究对中医基础理论、中医药疗效机制等的阐明具有重要意义.肠道微生态研究技术对该领域研究至关重要,笔者通过查阅相关资料,对中医药调节肠道微生态研究的相关技术如微生物培养技术、分子生物学技术(变性/温度梯度凝胶电泳技术(DGGE/TGGE)、基因芯片技术(Gene chip)、实时荧光定量PCR技术(PT-PCR)、末端限制性片段长度的多态性技术(T-RFLP)、扩增核糖体DNA限制性酶切片段分析技术(ARDRA)、荧光原位杂交技术(FISH)、高通量测序技术(HTS)、代谢水平分析技术、蛋白质组学技术)、肠道酶活性检测、肠道微生物活度检测技术以及体外模拟胃肠道环境实验进行总结,对中医药肠道微生态的研究及相关技术的应用提供参考.

Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α induces a tendency of differentiation and activation of rat hepatic stellate cells

AIM: To investigate the effect of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α(HNF4α) on the differentiation and transformation of hepatic stellate cells(HSCs).METHODS: By constructing the recombinant adenovirus vector expressing HNF4α and HNF4αshRNA vector, and manipulating HNF4α expression in HSC-T6 cells, we explored the influence of HNF4α and its induction capacity in the differentiation of rat HSCs into hepatocytes.RESULTS: With increased expression of HNF4αmediated by AdHNF4α, the relative expression of Nanog was downregulated in HSC-T6 cells(98.33 ±12.33 vs 41.33 ± 5.67, P < 0.001). Consequently, the expression of G-P-6 and PEPCK was upregulated(G-P-6:14.34 ± 3.33 vs 42.53 ± 5.87, P < 0.01; PEPCK: 10.10± 4.67 vs 56.56 ± 5.25, P < 0.001), the expression of AFP and ALB was positive, and the expression of Nanog, Type Ⅰ collagen, α-SMA, and TIMP-1 was significantly decreased. HNF4α also downregulated vimentin expression and enhanced E-cadherin expression. The ultrastructure of HNF4α-induced cells had more mitochondria and ribosomes compared with the parental cells. After silencing HNF4α expression,EPCK, E-cadherin, AFP, and ALB were downregulated and α-SMA and vimentin were upregulated.CONCLUSION: HNF4α can induce a tendency of differentiation of HSCs into hepatocyte-like cells. These findings may provide an effective way for the treatmentof liver diseases.

Enhanced electrochemical property of FePO_4-coated LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_4 as cathode materials for Li-ion battery

Pristine LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_4and FePO_4-coated one with Fd-3m space groups were prepared by a sol-gel method.The structure and performance were studied by X-ray diffraction(XRD)rietveld refinement,scanning electron microscopy(SEM),high resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM),energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS)mapping,electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)and chargedischarge tests,respectively.The lattice parameters of all samples almost remain the same from the Rietveld refinement,revealing that the crystallographic structure has no obvious difference between pristine LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_4and FePO_4-coated one.All materials show similar morphologies with uniform particle distribution with small particle size,and FePO_4coating does not affect the morphology of LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_4material.EDS mapping and HRTEM show that FePO_4may be successfully wrapped around the surfaces of LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_4particles,and provides an effective coating layer between the electrolyte and the surface of LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_4particles.FePO_4(1 wt%)-coated LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_4cathode shows the highest discharge capacity at high rate(2C)among all samples.After 80 cycles,the reversible discharge capacity of FePO_4(1 wt%)coated Li Ni-0.5Mn1.5O4is 117 m Ah g1,but the pristine one only has 50 m Ah g^(-1).FePO_4coating is an effective and controllable way to stabilize the LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_4/electrolyte interface,and avoids the direct contact between LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_4powders and electrolyte,then suppresses the side reactions and enhances the electrochemical performance of the LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_4.

Diagnostic Significance of Intraoperative Ultrasound Contrast in Evaluating the Resection Degree of Brain Glioma By Transmission Electron Microscopic Examination

Background：Contrast-enhanced ultrasound is a dynamic and continuous modality providing real-time view of vascularization and flow distribution patterns of different organs and tumors.In order to evaluate the diagnostic significance of intraoperative contrast-enhanced ultrasound in assessing the resection degree of brain glioma by transmission electron microscopic （TEM） examination,it is important to have specific knowledge about contrast-enhanced ultrasound.Methods：Ultrasound contrast was applied in operations of 120 cases of brain glioma,to evaluate the degree of tumor resection.Biopsy tissues were obtained the suspicious residual tumors surrounding the tumor cavity.The sensitivity and specificity of the residual tumors were determined by the intraoperative ultrasound contrast according to TEM examination results.Results：There were 44 cases of low-grade gliomas and 76 cases of high-grade gliomas.Three hundred and sixty biopsy tissues were obtained.The sensitivity of intraoperative ultrasound contrast in diagnosing the residual tumor was 62.2%,while the specificity degree of it was 92.8%.The consistency coefficient of the ultrasound contrast diagnosis and TEM examination results was 0.584 （Kappa =0.584）,which was between 0.4 and 0.6,therefore it was of medium consistency.Conclusions：Intraoperative ultrasound contrast was of a high sensitivity and specificity in evaluating the excision degree of tumor.The consistency of the residual tumor rate detected,respectively,by ultrasound contrast and TEM examination was of medium consistency.The application of intraoperative ultrasound contrast can improve the resection rate of brain glioma.

Development of sandwich joining piece to fabricate segmented half-Heusler/skutterudite thermoelectric joints

Sn/Ni-Sn/Sn sandwich joining piece was developed and applied to fabricate segmented half-Heusler/skutterudite thermoelectric joints,and high-temperature service behavior of the joints was studied.The microstructure and contact resistance of the joint before and after aging were investigated.The joints are well bonded and no cracks appear at the interfaces of the joint before and after aging,which can be attributed to the formation of high-melting point intermetallic compounds.The electrical resistance crosses the joining layer smoothly and the contact resistance is low.These results show that the sandwich joining piece is effective and flexible,and promising for the preparation of segmented thermoelectric devices.

Carbon Emissions Abatement(CEA)Allocation Based on Inverse Slack-Based Model(SBM)

Carbon emissions abatement(CEA)is an important issue that draws attention from both academicians and policymakers.Data envelopment analysis(DEA)has been a popular tool to allocate the CEA,and most previous works are based on radial DEA models.However,as shown in our paper,these models may give biased results due to their ignorance of slackness.To avoid such problems,we propose an allocation model based on the slack-based model and multiple-objective nonlinear programming to find the CEA allocation plan,which can minimize the GDP loss.The property of nonconvexity makes the model difficult to solve.Thus,we construct an approximation algorithm to solve this model with guaranteed error bounds and complexity.In the empirical application,we take regions of china as an illustrative example and find there is a significant region gap in China.Hence,we group the regions into eastern,central,and western,and give the main results,as well as the superiority of our allocation models compared with radial models.