New progress in understanding roles of nitric oxide during hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury

Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury(HIRI)is a major clinical cause of morbidity and mortality in liver surgery and transplantation.Many studies have found that nitric oxide(NO)plays an important role in the HIRI and its increase or decrease can affect the progression and outcome of HIRI.However,the role of NO in HIRI is controversial and complicated.NO derived by endothelial NO synthase(eNOS)shows a protective role in HIRI,while excessive NO derived by inducible NO synthase(iNOS)accelerates inflammation and increases oxidative stress,further aggravating HIRI.Nevertheless,the overexpression of eNOS may exacerbate HIRI and iNOS-derived NO in some cases reduces HIRI.Here we review the new progress in the understanding of the roles of NO during HIRI:(1)NO possesses different roles in HIRI by increasing NO bioavailability,down-regulating leukotriene C4 synthase,inhibiting the activation of the nuclear factorκB(NFκB)pathway,enhancing cell autophagy,and reducing inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species(ROS).And NO has both protective and deleterious effects by regulating apoptotic factors;(2)eNOS promotes NO production and suppresses its own overexpression,exerting a hepatoprotective effect reversely.Its activation is regulated by the PI3K/Akt and KLF2/AMPK pathways;and(3)iNOS derived NO mainly has deteriorating effects on HIRI,while it may have a protective function under some conditions.Their expression should reach a balance to reduce the adverse side and make NO protective in the treatment of HIRI.Thus,it can be inferred that NO modulating drugs may be a new direction in the treatment of HIRI or may be used as an adjunct to mitigate HIRI for the purpose of protecting the liver.

Selective synthesis of the B_(11)H_(14)^(-) and B_(12)H_(12)^(2-) borane derivatives and the general mechanisms of the B-H bond condensation

Polyhedral boranes are a class of well-known boron molecular clusters with unique physical and chemical properties,and great efforts have been made in the past decades to find more effective synthetic methods.However,the established synthetic methods suffer from low efficiency and low selectivity because the mechanism of the B-H bond condensation reaction,critical for the synthesis of the polyhedral boranes,is not well understood.Here we report highly selective and efficient synthetic methods of the salts of the tetradecahydridoundecaborate(1-)(B_(11)H^(-)_(14)) and dodecahydrido-dodecaborates(2-)(B_(12)H_(12)^(2-)) anions by employing commercially available and inexpensive starting materials.Both theoretical and experimental investigations are carried out to elucidate the reaction mechanisms.We have found that the nature of the B-H bond condensation is the dihydrogen bonding interaction in which the positively charged hydrogens(bridged hydrogens) play a crucial role.The current study has not only led to more effective and selective synthetic methods for B_(11)H^(-)_(14) and B_(12)H_(12)^(2-) but also unveiled the nature of the B-H bond condensation and the general formation mechanisms of polyhedral boranes.This finding will facilitate the development of more effective synthetic methods for polyhedral boranes and spur their wide application.

LES investigation of the tip vortex cavitating flow with special emphasis on the interaction between cavitation and vorticity by a modified cavitation model

Cavitation within the tip vortex(TV)flow remains a challenging issue in the design of high-speed and low-noise hydraulic machinery.In this paper,the TV cavitating flow around an elliptical hydrofoil is calculated by using large eddy simulation(LES)combined with a modified Schnerr-Sauer(S-S)cavitation model.The original S-S cavitation model is modified by taking into account the typical effect of vortex flow.The partial pressure term which can describe the vortex quantitatively and qualitatively is confirmed asρ_(m)ω^(2) x r _(c)^(2) ,and is considered into the R-P equation of the modified S-S cavitation model.Comparison between the numerical and experimental results shows good agreement in the form and evolution of cavities,including attached cavities(AC)and tip vortex cavities(TVC).The vorticity transport equation is utilized to investigate the dynamic mechanisms of the vortex development around the TVC.Further analyses indicate that cavitation in the TV flow influences the pressure in the core of the cavity and the local flow patterns.Typical vortex structures in the TV cavitating flow include TV,secondary vortex(SV)and wake vortex(WV).The direction and magnitude of the rotation effect can be described by axial vorticity which is drawn on the iso-surface of Q=1×105 s−2.The development of the TV cavitating flow can be divided into two stages:Stage I,the development and fusion of TV,SV,stage II,the dissipation of SV.The stretching term dominates the evolution of TV,and the dilatation term is the main reason in the mergence process of SV.

Effects of Ferulic Acid on Regulating the Neurovascular Unit:Implications for Ischemic Stroke Treatment

Ferulic acid(FA)is a phenolic phytochemical with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory pharmacological effects.In recent years,the neuroprotective effects of FA have been studied extensively.Many researchers have attempted to use FA to prevent and treat neurological diseases and have made some progress.This paper mainly collated the study of the protective effect of FA on stroke and summarized the protective effect of FA on ischemic stroke and the potential protective effects of FA on neurovascular units.

Time and Temperature Dependence of the Structural Evolution for Polyamide 1012

The rheological property evolution of polyamide 1012(PA1012)in the isothermal process in molten state has been investigated.The results show that the viscosity increases and crosslinking reaction occurs simultaneously together with the increase of temperature,thus causing the variation of storage modulus(G')and loss modulus(G")in the repeated frequency sweeps with residual time.This research has pointed out that the superposition is valid for monitoring the complex behavior composed of the viscosity increasing and crosslink occurring process by tracing the variation behavior of the crossover points of G'and G"with time,revealing the same time-temperature dependence of the two reactions in the isothermal process.A normalized master curve has been proposed to describe the melt behavior at a given temperature.