Immunological response in alcoholic liver disease

The development of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) can be attributed to many factors that cause damage to the liver and alter its functions. Data collected over the last 30 years strongly suggests that an immune component may be involved in the onset of this disease. This is best evidenced by the detection of circulating autoantibodies, infiltration of immune cells in the liver, and the detection of hepatic aldehyde modified proteins in patients with ALD. Experimentally, there are numerous immune responses that occur when proteins are modified with the metabolites of ethanol. These products are formed in response to the high oxidative state of the liver during ethanol metabolism, causing the release of many inflammatory processes and potential of necrosis or apoptosis of liver cells. Should cellular proteins become modified with these reactive alcohol metabolites and be recognized by the immune system, then immune responses may be initiated. Therefore, it was the purpose of this article to shed some insight into how the immune system is involved in the development and/or progression of ALD.

Effects of F127 on Properties of PVB/F127 Blend Hollow Fiber Membrane via Thermally Induced Phase Separation

Hydrophilic poly(vinyl butyral)(PVB) /Pluronic F127(F127) blend hollow fiber membranes were prepared via thermally induced phase separation(TIPS) ,and the effects of blend composition on the performance of hydrophilic PVB/F127 blend hollow fiber membrane were investigated.The addition of F127 to PVB/polyethylene glycol(PEG) system decreases the cloud point temperature,while the cloud point temperature increases slightly with the addition of F127 to 20%(by mass) PVB/F127/PEG200 system when the concentration of F127 is not higher than 5%(by mass) .Light scattering results show that the initial inter-phase periodic distance formed from the phase separation of 20%(by mass) PVB/F127/PEG200 system decreases with the addition of F127,so does the growth rate during cooling process.The blend hollow fiber membrane prepared at air-gap 5mm,of which the water permeability increases and the rejection changes little with the increase of F127 concentration.For the membrane prepared at zero air-gap,both water permeability and rejection of the PVB/F127 blend membrane are greater than those of PVB membrane,while the tensile strength changes little.Elementary analysis shows that most F127 in the polymer solution can firmly exist in the polymer matrix,increasing the hydrophilicity of the blend membrane prepared at air-gap of 5mm.

Rheological properties of polyvinyl butyral/Pluronic F127/PEG200 blend systems

The influence of temperature and mass fraction of Pluonic F127 on the rheological properties of polyvinyl butyric （PVB）/Pluronic F127/polyethylene glycol （PEG） 200 blend systems was investigated by a rotational rheometer with parallel plates. The results show that the blend systems approach homogeneous state at 140, 150 and 160℃while the rheological properties of the blend systems significantly deviate from the homogeneous systems at 120℃. Shear thinning behavior is observed for all the blend systems at different temperatures and is enhanced by increasing Pluronic F127 content. The complex viscosity, storage modulus, loss modulus, zero-shear activation energy and flow recovery of the blend systems increase with the increase of Pluronic F127 content. There is a crossing point for the loss modulus and the storage modulus of each sample at high frequency, which is called specified frequency （SF）. The loss modulus is larger than the storage modulus when the frequency is less than the SF, and when frequency is more than SF, the loss modulus is smaller than the storage modulus.