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Doxorubicin is an anthracycline antitumor agent commonly used in clinical practice, which has some nephrotoxicity and is often used to establish mouse models of kidney injury for basic medical research. This study will investigate the protective effect of quercetin on renal function in doxorubicin-induced nephropathy mice. C57BL/6 mice were divided into control, model, and quercetin low-, and high-dose groups. Serum and urine were collected to analyze markers of kidney function. H&E staining was used to detect pathological changes in renal tissues. Transmission electron microscopy was performed to observe the ultrastructural changes in renal tissues. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the changes of Ang II. RT-qPCR was performed to detect the changes of cytokines. ELISA was used to detect changes in serum inflammatory factors. Molecular docking was performed to verify the targeting relationship between quercetin and AKT1. Western blot was performed to detect Bax, Bcl-2, Cyt-c, AKT1, Raf, MEK, and ERK proteins. Quercetin could induce the recovery of kidney function in kidney-injured mice; H&E results showed that kidney tissue damage and tissue fibrosis were reduced in kidney-injured mice under quercetin. The mitochondrial swollen structure was destroyed by doxorubicin, while the mitochondrial structure was restored under quercetin. The levels of abnormal apoptotic proteins Bax and Bcl-2 were regulated to normal by quercetin. The high expression of Ang II caused by doxorubicin was down-regulated by quercetin. Abnormal inflammatory factors caused by doxorubicin were reversed by quercetin. Western blot experiments showed that quercetin regulated the protein levels of AKT1 and Raf/MEK/ERK and inhibited the detrimental effects of doxorubicin. Quercetin may mitigate doxorubicin-induced kidney injury in mice by regulating renal cell inflammatory factors and Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway through AKT1 to promote recovery of renal function. • Quercetin can treat renal tissue damage and protect kidney function in mice with doxorubicin-induced nephropathy. • Quercetin can target AKT1 to regulate the Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway in the treatment of doxorubicin kidney-injured mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TiSiCN, TiSiCON, TiCrSiCN, TiCrSiCON, CrSiCN and CrSiCON coatings have been deposited on WC-Co substrates and Si wafers using plasma enhanced magnetron sputtering (PEMS) technique. The microstructure, composition and mechanical properties of the non-oxygen coatings and oxygen-containing coatings were studied by XRD, SEM, EDS and load-depth-sensing indentation. The tribological behavior of the coatings against Al 2 O 3 balls was conducted by pin-on-disc tests. The results show that TiSiCON, TiCrSiCON and CrSiCON coatings exhibit the face center cubic (fcc) TiN-type (or CrN-type) structure. The existence of oxygen will induce loose structure and more defects for TiSiCON, TiCrSiCON and CrSiCON coatings compared with TiSiCN, TiCrSiCN and CrSiCN, respectively. The addition of oxygen element would lead to the decrease of the hardness ( H ) and elasticity of Ti(Cr)SiCN coatings. TiCrSiCON and CrSiCON coatings with oxygen element have lower friction coefficients and wear rate compared with TiCrSiCN and CrSiCN coatings without oxygen, respectively. The TiSiCON with higher friction coefficient and wear rate shows poor abrasive wear resistance than TiSiCN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Civil engineers always face the challenge of uncertainty in planning, building, and maintaining infrastructure. These works rely heavily on a variety of surveying and monitoring techniques. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are an effective approach to obtain information from an additional view, and potentially bring significant benefits to civil engineering. This paper gives an overview of the state of UAV developments and their possible applications in civil engineering. The paper begins with an introduction to UAV hardware, software, and control methodologies. It also reviews the latest developments in technologies related to UAVs, such as control theories, navigation methods, and image processing. Finally, the paper concludes with a summary of the potential applications of UAV to seismic risk assessment, transportation, disaster response, construction management, surveying and mapping, and flood monitoring and assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]