Dye-sensitized solar cell module realized photovoltaic and photothermal highly efficient conversion via three-dimensional printing technology

Three-dimensional （3D） printing technology is employed to improve the photovoltaic and photothermal conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell （DSC） module. The 3D-printed concentrator is optically designed and improves the photovoltaic efficiency of the DSC module from 5.48% to 7.03%. Additionally, with the 3D-printed microfluidic device serving as water cooling, the temperature of the DSC can be effectively controlled, which is beneficial for keeping a high photovoltaic conversion efficiency for DSC module. Moreover, the 3D-printed microfluidic device can realize photothermal conversion with an instantaneous photothermal efficiency of 42.1%. The integrated device realizes a total photovoltaic and photothermal conversion efficiency of 49% at the optimal working condition.

The Cell Modules of the Green Algebra of Drinfel'd Quantum Double D(H_(4))

This paper is devoted to studying the structures of the cell modules of the complexified Green algebra R(D(H_(4))),where D(H_(4))is the Drinfel'd quantum double of Sweedler's 4-dimensional Hopf algebra H_(4).We show that R(D(H_(4)))has one infinite dimensional cell module,one 4-dimensional cell module generated by all finite dimensional indecomposable projective modules of D(H_(4))and infinitely many 2-dimensional cell modules.More precisely,we obtain the decompositions of all finite dimensional cell modules into the direct sum of indecomposable submodules,and show that the infinite dimensional cell module can be written as the direct sum of two infinite dimensional indecomposable submodules.

Dynamic Performance of Fuel Cell Power Module for Mobility Applications

Fuel cell powered vehicles have been developed as another alternative to internal combustion engine powered vehicles for some applications including passenger cars, buses, trains, motorcycles, forklifts, electric wheelchairs, electric trolleybuses, medical carts, military engines, personal sports craft, mobility devices and other self propelled equipment. Up to now, many researches have focused on the development of the power module in the Fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) and the components of these systems such as membranes, bipolar plates, and electrodes. However, our work in this study focuses on operating the integrated fuel cell power module system efficiently for various operating conditions such as pressure, relative humidity and operating modes. In our validation we have utilized PEMFC single cell, with active area geometry 16 cm2 and of 120 cm2. Some results obtained in our study shown significant performance indicators for PEMFC stack (composed of 2 cells and 4 cells in a series) at different humidification levels.

Rb1 protects endothelial cells from hydrogen peroxide-induced cell senescence by modulating redox status

Objectives Endothelial senescence has been proposed to be involved in endothelial dysfunction and atherogenesis. This study investigates the effects of ginsenoside Rbl, a major constituent of ginseng,on H2O2-induced endothelial senescence.Methods Primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells（HUVECs） senescence was induced by H2O2 as judged by senescence-associated P-galactosidase assay （SA-P-gal）.Fntracellur superoxide dismutase（S0D1） activity and malondialdehyde（MDA） level were determined by commercial kit.S0D1 mRNA and protein expression were analyzed by real time PCR and Western blot.Reactive oxygen species（ROS） were determined by flow cytometry.Results Rb1 was found to reverse endothelial senescence,as witnessed by a significant decrease of senescent cell numbers. Rbl could markedly increase intracellular SOD activity, decrease the MDA level,and suppress the generation of intracellular ROS in H2O2-treated HUVECs.Consistent with these findings,Rbl can effectively restore SOD1 mRNA and protein expression which decreased in H2O2 treated cells. Conclusions Our report demonstrates thatRbl can exert reversal effects on H2O2-induced cellular senescence through modulating cellular redox status.

Lysine-specific demethylase 1 inhibitor rescues the osteogenic ability of mesenchymal stem cells under osteoporotic conditions by modulating H3K4 methylation

Bone tissue engineering may be hindered by underlying osteoporosis because of a decreased osteogenic ability of autologous seed cells and an unfavorably changed microenvironment in these patients. Epigenetic regulation plays an important role in the developmental origins of osteoporosis; however, few studies have investigated the potential of epigenetic therapy to improve or rescue the osteogenic ability of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells(BMMSCs) under osteoporotic conditions. Here, we investigated pargyline, an inhibitor of lysine-specific demethylase 1(LSD1), which mainly catalyzes the demethylation of the di- and mono-methylation of H3K4. We demonstrated that 1.5 mmol·Lpargyline was the optimal concentration for the osteogenic differentiation of human BMMSCs. Pargyline rescued the osteogenic differentiation ability of mouse BMMSCs under osteoporotic conditions by enhancing the dimethylation level of H3K4 at the promoter regions of osteogenesis-related genes. Moreover, pargyline partially rescued or prevented the osteoporotic conditions in aged or ovariectomized mouse models, respectively. By introducing the concept of epigenetic therapy into the field of osteoporosis, this study demonstrated that LSD1 inhibitors could improve the clinical practice of MSC-based bone tissue engineering and proposes their novel use to treat osteoporosis.

Multifunctional role of microRNAs in mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes in treatment of diseases

Mesenchymal stem cells can be replaced by exosomes for the treatment of inflammatory diseases,injury repair,degenerative diseases,and tumors.Exosomes are small vesicles rich in a variety of nucleic acids[including messenger RNA,Long non-coding RNA,microRNA(miRNA),and circular RNA],proteins,and lipids.Exosomes can be secreted by most cells in the human body and are known to play a key role in the communication of information and material transport between cells.Like exosomes,miRNAs were neglected before their role in various activities of organisms was discovered.Several studies have confirmed that miRNAs play a vital role within exosomes.This review focuses on the specific role of miRNAs in MSC-derived exosomes(MSC-exosomes)and the methods commonly used by researchers to study miRNAs in exosomes.Taken together,miRNAs from MSC-exosomes display immense potential and practical value,both in basic medicine and future clinical applications,in treating several diseases.

Effect of microenvironment modulation on stem cell therapy for spinal cord injury pain

Spinal cord injury （SCI） currently ranks second after mental retarda- tion among neurological disorders in terms of cost to society. Pain is a debilitating consequence of SCI related to the nature of the lesion, neurological structures damaged, and secondary pathophysiological changes of surviving tissues （Yezierski, 2005; D＇Angelo et al., 2013）.

Phenotypic Modulation of Mesangial Cells in Diabetic Rats and Effect of Tujian Mixture (菟箭合剂) on It

Objective: To explore whether there is phenotypic modulation of mesangial cells in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats and study the effect of Tujian Mixture (TJM) on it. Methods: SD rats were divided into the normal control group , the unilateral nephrectomized control group , the STZ induced diabetes mellitus with unilateral nephrectomy model group , the Valsartan treated group (VT group, n=8) and the TJM treated group , rats in the latter two groups were modeled as in the DM group and treated with Valsartan (20 mg/kg·d) and TJM (20g/kg·d) respectively for 12 weeks. The expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and transforming growth factor-β 1 (TGF-β 1) in rats’ glomeruli were observed by immunohistochemistry assay, and the ratio of α-SMA and TGF-β 1 positive area/total glomerule tuft area (SMA/GT and TGF/GT) were analyzed using computer-assisted image analysis software. Results: In the NC and the QC groups, only trace of α-SMA positive staining was found. But there was prominant α-SMA positive staining in glomeruli of the DM group, with SMA/GT and TGF/GT increased significantly , and marked increase of 24 hrs proteinuria excretion ( P<0 01). As compared with the DM group, the three indexes were all significantly lower in the VT and ZY groups , and the lowering of proteinuria was more significant in the ZY group than that in the VT group (P<0 01). Conclusion: The expression of α-SMA in glomeruli in STZ induced diabetic rats with unilateral nephrectomy is pronounced, indicating that phenotypic modulation of mesangial cells involvement in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. TJM and Valsartan can reduce 24 hrs proteinuria excretion, inhibit the phenotypic modulation of mesangial cells and the expression of TGF-β 1 in glomeruli of diabetic rats, and the effect of TJM is more potent than that of Valsartan in lowering urinary protein excretion..

TELOMERASE: A NOVEL TARGET OF ANTITUMOR AGENTS

Telomerase activity was found to be high in various human cancers, but absent in most normal tissues. Its expression pattern made it a novel target for antitumor agents. Several strategies against telomerase were presented in this review. Targeting the telomerase RNA component by oligonucleotide/ribozyme was considered to be one of the most hopeful approaches. Some progresses were made in this area, such as the use of PANs and 2–5A antisense compounds. The relationships among telomerase activity and cell differentiation, signal transduction, oncogene, tumor suppressor gene as well as cell cycle modulation also provided a series of valuable ideas in designing anti-telomerase drugs for cancer therapy. In conclusion, although there is still a long way in understanding the mechanism and regulation of telomerase, the advance of studies on telomerase has allowed the development of numerous strategies for the treatment of cancer.

Efficient fully laser-patterned flexible perovskite modules and solar cells based on low-temperature solution-processed SnO2/mesoporous-TiO2 electron transport layers

Efficient flexible perovskite solar cells and modules were developed using a combination of SnO2 and mesoporous-TiO2 as a fully solution-processed electron transport layer （ETL）. Cells using such ETLs delivered a maximum power conversion efficiency （PCE） of 14.8%, which was 30% higher than the PCE of cells with only SnO2 as the ETL. The presence of a mesoporous TiO2 scaffold layer over SnO2 led to higher rectification ratios, lower series resistances, and higher shunt resistances. The cells were also evaluated under 200 and 400 lx artificial indoor illumination and found to deliver maximum power densities of 9.77 μW/cm^2 （estimated PCE of 12.8%） and 19.2 μW/cm^2 （estimated PCE of 13.3%）, respectively, representing the highest values among flexible photovoltaic technologies reported so far. Furthermore, for the first time, a fully laser-patterned flexible perovskite module was fabricated using a complete three-step laser scribing procedure （P1, P2, P3） with a PCE of 8.8% over an active area of 12 cm^2 under an illumination of 1 sun.

Down-Regulation of CD44 Contributes to the Differentiation of HL-60 Cells Induced by ATRA or HMBA

CD44 is highly expressed in human acute myeloid leukemia （AML） cells. Some experiments had shown that it was possible to reverse differentiation blockage in AML cells by CD44 ligation with specific antibodies, indicating that CD44 was closely related to the differentiation of leukemia cells. The differentiation of acute promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60 cells could be induced by all trans-retinoic acid （ATRA） and hexamethylene bisacetamide （HMBA）, but so far the mechanism was not demonstrated clearly. In the present study, we investigated whether ATRA or HMBA induced the growth arrest of HL-60 cells by down-regulating the expression of CD44. The results indicated that the proliferation of HL-60 cells was obviously inhibited and the differentiation was induced by both ATRA and HMBA. The decreased expression of CD44 and cyclin E mRNA, and the increased expression of p27 and p21 at mRNA levels were observed. Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between the expression of CD44 and p27. It was concluded that ATRA and HMBA played a role in the differentiation induction of HL-60 cells, which was mediated by the down-regulation of CD44, accompanied by down-regulation of cyclin E, and up-regulation of p27 and p21 mRNA. Cellular ＆ Molecular Immunology. 2007;4（1）：59-63.

Direct Modulation of the Guard Cell Outward- Rectifying Potassium Channel （CORK） by Abscisic Acid

Dear Editor,Abscisic acid （ABA） induces turgot loss and hence stomatal closure by promoting rapid net K^＋ efflux from guard cells （GCs） through outward-rectifying K^＋ （K^＋out） channels （Schroeder et al., 1987; Blatt, 1990）. The mechanisms of ABA signaling in GCs are detailed elsewhere （see Munemasa et al., 2015; Weiner et al., 2010; Pandey et al., 2007）. Briefly, ABA binds to the PYR/ PYL/RCARs, a family of soluble steroidogenic acute regulatory- related lipid transfer （START） proteins, and, in turn, inactivates the downstream PP2C （type 2C protein phosphatase）, leading to the activation of SnRK2.6 （SNF1 [sucrose non-fermenting-1- related protein kinase]/OST1 [open stomata 1]） protein kinases.

On the Grothendieck Ring of the Sequence of Walled Brauer Algebras

In this paper, we provide a diagrammatic approach to study the branching rules for cell modules on a sequence of walled Brauer algebras. This approach also allows us to calculate the structure constants of multiplication over the Grothendieck ring of the sequence.

Advanced subunit vaccine delivery technologies: From vaccine cascade obstacles to design strategies

Designing and manufacturing safe and effective vaccines is a crucial challenge for human health worldwide.Research on adjuvant-based subunit vaccines is increasingly being explored to meet clinical needs.Nevertheless,the adaptive immune responses of subunit vaccines are still unfavorable,which may partially be attributed to the immune cascade obstacles and unsatisfactory vaccine design.An extended understanding of the crosstalk between vaccine delivery strategies and immunological mechanisms could provide scientific insight to optimize antigen delivery and improve vaccination efficacy.In this review,we summarized the advanced subunit vaccine delivery technologies from the perspective of vaccine cascade obstacles after administration.The engineered subunit vaccines with lymph node and specific cell targeting ability,antigen cross-presentation,T cell activation properties,and tailorable antigen release patterns may achieve effective immune protection with high precision,efficiency,and stability.We hope this review can provide rational design principles and inspire the exploitation of future subunit vaccines.