以肝肿大为主要表现的多器官AL型淀粉样变性1例

免疫球蛋白轻链(amyloid light,AL)型淀粉样变性也称为原发性系统性淀粉样变性,是一种蛋白质构象疾病,是由于不溶性纤维蛋白的异常折叠和沉积在器官或组织的细胞外区域,致使受累脏器功能衰竭的一种临床综合征。由于AL型淀粉样变性发病率低且临床表现复杂,其诊断具有挑战性,多器官累及的病例更加罕见。本文报道了1例多器官累及的AL型淀粉样变性,旨在为相关临床诊疗及预后提供参考。

可充电锌空气电池的双功能电催化剂（英文）

随着人类社会的发展,对能源的需求急剧增长,能源的过度消耗已经给人类敲响了警钟,可持续发展进入人们的视野,并迅速成为现代社会关注的焦点.众多的研究在绿色和可持续能源开发方面作出了巨大努力,极大地推动了电化学储能和转换技术的进步.目前,锂离子电池正在引领着能量存储领域.然而,可充电锂离子电池的能量密度不足,限制了它们进一步的应用和发展.金属空气电池的理论能量密度是最先进锂离子电池的几倍,使其成为锂离子电池良好的替代品.根据负极金属的种类,金属空气电池可分为几种不同类型,其中锂空气电池和锌空气电池是最具有潜力的金属空气电池.但是,锂空气电池存在一些缺点和潜在的危险,例如锂金属成本相对较高且化学性质十分活泼,有机电解质十分易燃.这些问题阻碍了未来锂空气电池的商业化进程和大规模应用.锌空气电池因具有能量密度高、安全性好、成本低和环保等特性而备受关注.但是,由于锌空气电池的可充电性能较差,实现其实际应用仍然是一个巨大的挑战.阻碍其发展的最大障碍是空气正极上固有的缓慢的反应动力学过程,包括放电过程中的氧还原反应和充电过程中的氧析出反应.寻找廉价高效的双功能氧电催化剂来取代传统的单功能贵金属催化剂是解决这些问题的关键.在这篇综述中,首先简要介绍了锌空气电池的结构和空气电极上基本的电化学反应.然后,详细介绍了最新的用于锌空气电池的双功能氧电催化剂,并将其分为无金属催化剂和金属催化剂两大类.对于不含金属的双功能催化剂,杂原子掺杂碳材料是研究重点,这是由于它们具有较高的催化活性、稳定性和低成本等特点.对于金属基双功能催化剂,根据其组成和制备分为三类:金属和碳/氮杂化材料;金属氧化物和碳杂化材料;MOF衍生材料.其中,过渡金属氧化物和碳的复合材料由于其独特的性质和协同效应而成为贵金属催化剂最有潜力的替代品.最后,本文对双功能氧电催化剂的设计方法和未来研究进行了展望.

Effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on zebrafish embryos and developing retina

AIM: To investigate the impact of titanium dioxide nanoparticles(Ti O2NPs) on embryonic development and retinal neurogenesis.METHODS: The agglomeration and sedimentation of Ti O2 NPs solutions at different dilutions were observed,and the ultraviolet-visible spectra of their supernatants were measured. Zebrafish embryos were experimentally exposed to Ti O2 NPs until 72 h postfertilization(hpf). The retinal neurogenesis and distribution of the microglia were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and whole mount in situ hybridization.RESULTS: The 1 mg/L was determined to be an appropriate exposure dose. Embryos exposed to Ti O2 NPs had a normal phenotype. The neurogenesis was initiated on time, and ganglion cells, cones and rods were well differentiated at 72 hpf. The expression of fms m RNA and the 4C4 antibody, which were specific to microglia in the central nervous system(CNS), closely resembled their endogenous profile.CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that short-term exposure to Ti O2 NPs at a low dose does not lead to delayed embryonic development or retinal neurotoxicity.

Effects of calculation approaches for thermal conductivity on the simulation accuracy of billet continuous casting

An unsteady, two-dimensional, explicitly solved fmite difference heat transfer model of a billet caster was presented to clarify the influence of the thermal conductivity of steel on model accuracy. Different approaches were utilized for calculating the thermal conductivity of solid, mushy and liquid steels. Model results predicted by these approaches were compared, and the advantages of advocated approaches were discussed. It is found that the approach for calculating the thermal conductivity of solid steel notably influences model predictions. Convection effects of liquid steel should be considered properly while calculating the thermal conductivity of mushy steel. Different values of the effective thermal conductivity of liquid steel adopted could partly be explained by the fact that different models adopted dissimilar ap- proaches for calculating the thermal conductivity of solid and mushy steels.

Expression of pituitary homeobox 1 gene in human gastric carcinogenesis and its clinicopathological significance

AIM: To investigate the effect of pituitary homeobox 1 (PITX1) expression in cases of human gastric cancer on cancer differentiation and progression, and carcinogenesis. METHODS: Using polyclonal PITX1 antibodies, we studied the expression of PITX1 in normal gastric mucosa, atypical hyperplasia, intestinal metaplasia, and cancer tissue samples from 83 gastric cancer patients by immunohistochemistry. Moreover, semi-reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (semi-RT-PCR) was performed to detect the mRNA level of PITX1 in three gastric cancer cell lines and a normal gastric epithelial cell line. Subsequently, somatic mutations of the PITX1 gene in 71 gastric cancer patients were analyzed by a combination of denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and DNA sequencing. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry showed that PITX1 was strongly or moderately expressed in the parietal cells of normal gastric mucosa (100%), while 55 (66.3%) out of 83 samples of gastric cancers showed decreased PITX1 expression. Moreover, PITX1 expression was reduced in 20 out of 28 cases (71.5%) of intestinal metaplasia, but in only 1 out of 9 cases (11%) of atypical hyperplasia. More importantly, PITX1 expression was significantly associated with the differentiation, position and invasion depth of gastric cancers (r = -0.316, P < 0.01; r = 0.213, P < 0.05; r = -0.259, P < 0.05, respectively). Similarly, levels of PITX1 mRNA were significantly decreased in 2 gastric cancer cell lines, BGC-823 and SGC-7901, compared with the normal gastric epithelial cell line GES-1 (0.306 ± 0.060 vs 0.722 ± 0.102, P < 0.05; 0.356 ± 0.081 vs 0.722 ± 0.102, P < 0.05, respectively). Nevertheless, no somatic mutation of PITX1 gene was found in 71 samples of gastric cancer by DHPLC analysis followed by sequencing. CONCLUSION: Down-regulation of PITX1 may be a frequent molecular event in gastric carcinogenesis. Aberrant levels of PITX1 expression may be closely correlated with the progression and differentiation of gastric cancer.

Superior machinability of steel enhanced with BN and MnS particles

The strategy that replacing part of MnS with BN was proposed in order to decrease the sulfur content in sulfur based free-cutting steel. The effects of BN and MnS inclusions on the microstructure and machinability of the steel were systematically investigated. The results show that most of the BN and MnS inclusions exist individually in the steel and only a small amount of them are in a composite state form- ing either isolated particles or clusters of particles. In the case of multi-phased steel, the theoretical calculation predicts that the volume of large BN particles should be 0.7 times of the volume of large MnS particles. The machinability of this type of BN and MnS alloy steel over a wide range of cutting speeds ranging from a low speed appropriate for drilling to a high speed appropriate for turning is confirmed as being equal to or superior to that of an MnS reference steel, even though the sulfur content in the composite steel is only half that of the MnS steel. The aptitude for cutting effect of 240 ppm nitrogen and 115 ppm boron in the composite steel is demonstrated to be equivalent or even better than 1000 ppm sulfur in MnS free-cutting steel.

含炔键的聚合物给体材料设计合成及在有机太阳能电池中的性能研究

利用结构简单、成本低廉的初始原料,设计合成了主链含炔键的聚合物给体材料PBEA-F和PBEA.由于炔键的强吸电子能力,分子的最高占有轨道能级(HOMO)得以降低,使得聚合物的带隙变宽.同时,引入炔键的聚合物给体材料与受体小分子材料BTP-eC9-4F共混制备有机太阳能电池器件,可实现较低的非辐射能量损失与高的开路电压(open circuit voltage,Voc).最终基于PBEA的器件可得到0.91 eV的Voc、20.70 mA/cm^(2)的短路电流密度(short-circuit current density,Jsc)和10.39%的能量转化效率(power conversion efficiency,PCE),远高于PBEA-F器件的PCE (5.50%).

A Simple Nonfused Ring Electron Acceptor with a Power Conversion Efficiency over 16%

By simplifying the r-bridge unit,a nonfused ring electron acceptor(NFREA)BM-2F was designed and synthesized with several high-yield steps.The specific molecular structure features of BM-2F are planar molecular backbone and out-of-plane side chain,which is favorable for charge transport and can suppress the over-aggregation.BM-2F based neat and blend films display obvious face-on molecular orientation.Specially,D18:BM-2F based blend film can form good bicontinuous interpenetrating network.More excitingly,a power conversion efficiency of 16.15%was achieved with D18:BM-2F based photovoltaic devices,which is the highest one based on NFREAs.Our researches manifest that NFREA is a promising direction for low-cost and high-performance organic solar cells.

Co-free/Co-poor high-Ni cathode for high energy,stable and low-cost lithium-ion batteries

Advanced cathode materials have been considered as the key to significantly improve the energy density of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs).High-Ni layer-structured cathodes,especially with Ni atomic content above 0.9(LiN1_(x)M_(1-x)O_(2),x≥0.9),exhibit high capacity to be commercially available in electric vehicles(EVs).However,the intrinsic structure instability of high-Ni materials and the negative impacts severely restrict their further applic ation.In addition,Co has various effective efforts to stabilize the layered structure.Nevertheless,due to the high cost of Co,it is required to be replaced.Therefore,modification methods on increasing the stability of high-Ni cathode with the reduction of Co content have been widely investigated.In this review,we summarized various effective research progresses and several potential modification strategies of Cofree/Co-poor layered c athodes with Ni content over 0.9.The challenges and development opportunities of high-Ni,Cofree/Co-poor cathodes are further overviewed to meet the future commercial energy demands.

基于多相流模型的深隧系统的入流竖井气-水-沙三相流动研究

该文以国内某深隧系统工程的入流竖井为研究对象,采用Eulerian模型与Realizable k-ε湍流模型对竖井段含沙水流动态入流过程开展数值模拟,通过物理模型试验验证所用计算模型的可靠性。通过分析不同工况下,竖井段气-水-沙三相流动特性,得到泥沙输移规律及淤积分布情况。结果表明:竖井段内泥沙淤积区域整体呈现对称性分布特征;含沙率越高,含沙水流运动受泥沙运动影响流速降低越明显,最终所形成的淤积区域与沉积量也更大。设计入流速度工况下(4.2m/s),沉沙池右侧淤积泥沙呈“先扩散,再聚拢”的运动趋势,淤积泥沙高度远低于溢流堰,证明该结构可有效避免已沉积泥沙被来流冲入竖井;较小入流速度工况下(3 m/s),沉沙池右侧的泥沙淤积区域中心最大流速相对于水流流动速度低50%,沉积泥沙的流动扩散性降低。

Long-term Effectiveness of Antiepileptic Drug Monotherapy in Partial Epileptic Patients： A 7-year Study in an Epilepsy Center in China

Background： It is important to choose an appropriate antiepileptic drug （AED） to manage partial epilepsy. Traditional AEDs, such as carbamazepine （CBZ） and valproate （VPA）, have been proven to have good therapeutic effects. However, in recent years, a variety of new AEDs have increasingly been used as first-line treatments for partial epilepsy. As the studies regarding the effectiveness of new drugs and comparisons between new AEDs and traditional AEDs are few, it is determined that these are areas in need of further research. Accordingly, this study investigated the long-term effectiveness of six AEDs used as monotherapy in patients with partial epilepsy. Methods： This is a retrospective, long-term observational study. Patients with partial epilepsy who received monotherapy with one of six AEDs, namely, CBZ, VPA, topiramate （TPM）, oxcarbazepine （OXC）, lamotrigine （LTG）, or levetiracetam （LEV）, were identified and followed up from May 2007 to October 2014, and time to first seizure after treatment, 12-month remission rate, retention rate, reasons for treatment discontinuation, and adverse effects were evaluated. Results： A total of 789 patients were enrolled. The median time of follow-up was 56.95 months. CBZ exhibited the best time to first seizure, with a median time to first seizure of 36.06 months （95% confidential interval： 30.64~4.07）. CBZ exhibited the highest 12-month remission rate （85.55%）, which was significantly higher than those of TPM （69.38%, P = 0.006）, LTG （70.79%, P= 0.001）, LEV （72.54%, P = 0.005）, and VPA （73.33%, P = 0.002）. CBZ, OXC, and LEV had the best retention rate, followed by LTG, TPM, and VPA. Overall, adverse effects occurred in 45.87% of patients, and the most common adverse effects were memory problems （8.09%）, rashes （7.76%）, abnormal hepatic function （6.24%）, and drowsiness （6.24%）. Conclusion： This study demonstrated that CBZ, OXC, and LEV are relatively effective in managing tbcal epilepsy as measured by time to first seizure, 12-month remission rate, and retention rate.

High-voltage LiCoO_(2) cathodes for high-energy-density lithiumion battery

As the earliest commercial cathode material for lithium-ion batteries,lithium cobalt oxide(LiCoO_(2)) shows various advantages,including high theoretical capacity,excellent rate capability,compressed electrode density,etc.Until now,it still plays an important role in the lithium-ion battery market.Due to these advantages,further increasing the charging cutoff voltage of LiCoO_(2)to guarantee higher energy density is an irresistible development trend of LiCoO_(2)cathode materials in the future.However,using high charging cutoff voltage may induce a lot of negative effects,especially the rapid decay of cycle capacity.These are mainly caused by rapid destruction of crystal structure and aggravation of interface side reaction at high voltage during the cycle.Therefore,how to maintain a stable crystal structure of LiCoO_(2)to ensure the excellent long cycle performance at high voltage is a hot research issue in the further application of LiCoO_(2).In this review,we summarized the failure causes and extensive solutions of LiCoO_(2)at high voltage and promoted some new modification strategies.Moreover,the development trend of solving the failure problem of high-voltage LiCoO_(2)in the future such as defect engineering and high-temperature shock technique is also discussed.

High-performance nonfused ring electron acceptor with a steric hindrance induced planar molecular backbone

Three nonfused ring electron acceptors (NFREAs) TTC6,TT-C8T and TT-TC8 were purposefully designed and synthesized.The molecular geometry can be adjusted by the steric hindrance of lateral substituents.According to the DFT calculations,from TTC6 to TT-C8T and TT-TC8,planarity of the molecular backbone is gradually improved,accompanying with the enhancing of intramolecular charge transfer effect.As for TT-TC8,the two phenyl substituents are almost perpendicular to the molecular backbone,which endues the acceptor with good solubility and suppresses it to form over-aggregation.Multidirectional regular molecular orientation and closer molecular stacking are formed in TT-TC8 film.As a result,TT-TC8 based devices afford the highest PCE of 13.13%,which is much higher than that of TTC6 (4.41%) and TT-C8T (10.42%) and among the highest PCE values based on NFREAs.

Effect of Polymer Chain Regularity on the Photovoltaic Performance of Organic Solar Cells

In this work,regio-regular and random polymers(reg-PTF and ran-PTF)comprising benzodithiophene and 3-fluorothiophene units are developed to investigate the influence of polymer chain regularity on the photovoltaic performance.Interestingly,reg-PTF exhibits higher HOMO energy level(∼0.2 eV)than that of ran-PTF due to the more ordered molecular structure and higher crystallization.As the result,the HOMO energy level offset between donor and acceptor can be well controlled by selecting different acceptors.Using BTP-ec9-4F with a much deep HOMO energy level as acceptor,reg-PTF-based devices display an inferior PCE of 7.66%compared with ran-PTF based ones(11.78%)due to the too large HOMO energy levels offset.When blending with Y18-1F,the PCE of reg-PTF-based devices is increased to 13.23%due to the appropriate energy level.In comparison,the ran-PTF-based devices nearly do not work because of the negative HOMO energy levels offset.This work indicates that both the polymer chain regularity and the energy level offset between the donor and acceptor material are important to the performance of organic solar cells.