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 H...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.展开更多
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 m...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.展开更多
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 diagnost...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.展开更多
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 an...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.展开更多
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 b...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.展开更多
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.81070359
文摘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.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51404002)Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation(1508085MB25)+1 种基金Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province(2016A030310127)Anhui Provincial Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars(gxyqZD2016066)
文摘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.
文摘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.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.U1738114,51372261 and 51879089)。
文摘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.
基金Key Laboratory of Management,Decision and Information Systems,Chinese Academy of Sciences.
文摘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.