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Acute liver injury (ALI) is characterized by massive hepatocyte death with high mortality and poor prognosis. Hepatocyte pyroptosis plays a key role in the physiopathological processes of ALI, which can damage mitochondria and release NLRP3 inflammasome particles, causing systemic inflammatory responses. Z-DNA Binding Protein 1 (ZBP1) is a sensor that induces cell death. Here, we investigated whether ZBP1 participates in hepatocyte pyroptosis and explored the possible pathogenesis of ALI.

Background: Cerebral malaria (CM) is a manifestation of malaria caused by plasmodium infection. It has a high mortality rate and severe neurological sequelae, existing a significant research gap and requiring further study at the molecular level. Methods: We downloaded the GSE117613 dataset from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to determine the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the CM group and the control group. Weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) was applied to select the module and hub genes most relevant to CM. The common genes of the key module and DEGs were selected to perform further analysis. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) logistic regression and support vector machine recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE) were applied to screen and verify the diagnostic markers of CM. Eventually, the hub genes were validated in the external dataset. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was applied to investigate the possible roles of the hub genes. Results: The GO and KEGG results showed that DEGs were enriched in some neutrophil-mediated pathways and associated with some lumen structures. Combining LASSO and the SVM-RFE algorithms, LEF1and IRAK3were identified as potential hub genes in CM. Through the GSEA enrichment results, we found that LEF1and IRAK3participated in maintaining the integrity of the blood–brain barrier (BBB), which contributed to improving the prognosis of CM. Conclusions: This study may help illustrate the pathophysiology of CM at the molecular level. LEF1and IRAK3can be used as diagnostic biomarkers, providing new insight into the diagnosis and prognosis prediction in pediatric CM.

Scrub typhus (ST) is an acute focal infectious disease that is caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. The Asia-Pacific region is an area of relatively high incidence. There is a high incidence in China, principally owing to the disease being endemic in the south of the country. The main source of ST infection is rats, which act as reservoirs of infection after being bitten by the chigger mite, and the human population is generally susceptible to the disease. ST can be controlled and treated successfully if antibiotics are administered in a timely manner. However, because it does not have a specific clinical manifestation, it is difficult to distinguish ST from other febrile diseases in clinical practice. Therefore, rapid diagnostic methods are still needed to help clinicians make a timely diagnosis. Here, we share three cases of patients with ST who experienced hemorrhage, but did not have typical skin lesions, such as eschar and ulcer, early in the course of their disease, and review the relevant literature regarding ST. We conclude that clinicians should pay attention to the risk of hemorrhage associated with this disease, and emphasize the importance of making an early diagnosis.

Porous Si3N4/SiO2/BN composite ceramics with high strength and low dielectric constant were prepared by dry-pressing process and pressureless sintering at 1750C for 1.5 h in flow nitrogen. The influences of BN content on microstructure, porosity, mechanical and dielectric properties of the porous Si3N4/SiO2/BN composite ceramics were discussed. The results showed that the porous Si3N4/SiO2/BN composite ceramics with porosity ranging from 29% to 48% were fabricated by adjusting the content of BN. The flexural strength of the porous Si3N4/SiO2/BN composite ceramics was 78215 MPa. The dielectric constant of the porous Si3N4/SiO2/BN composite ceramics was 3.9~5 at 1 MHz.

Nano-porous SiO2 insulation material was made from foamed aqueous slurry of nano-silica powder by filter-pressing. The foamed aqueous slurry mainly consists of hydrophobic SiO2 nano-particles, xonotlite whiskers and glass fiber. The latter two will enhance strength of the insulation material. Rheological properties of the foamed slurry with varying solid mass concentration were studied. The effect of forming pressure on the density and pore size distribution of the nano-porous silica material was investigated. It was found that the foamed slurry with solid concentration less than 17% behaves pseudoplastic as decreasing its apparent viscosity with increasing of shear rate during rheological testing. Homogeneous foamed slurry can be obtained when solid concentration in it is below 7%. Such slurry should be dewatered into solid concentration being of 10-15% before filter-pressing. Rigorously stirring of the concentrated slurry is required before pouring it into a mould, which leads to reducing the viscosity of the slurry and helps uniformly filling mould. During pressing the loading speed should be strictly controlled in order to reaching designed pore size distribution in SiO2 insulation material. The SiO2 insulation material with apparent density about 0.45g/cm3 and pore size mainly ranging from 10 to 50nm was obtained.

The Bi2MnxV1-xO5.5- powders were synthesized by high temperature melting method. The effect of Mn dopant concentration on the crystal structure and chemical composition was studied. The crystal structure was determined by X-ray powder diffraction. The chemical composition was tested by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Energy Disperse Spectroscopy (EDS). When x < 0.2 the Aurivillius structure solid solution coexisted with few BiVO4. When 0.2 ≤ x ≤ 0.3 the γ-phase Bi2MnxV1-xO5.5- solid solution with tetragonal structure formed and the maximum Mn atomic content was 2.14%. When x ≥ 0.4 the manganese oxide secondary phase appeared. And when x = 0.8 the Bi7VO13 structure solid solution formed while the Aurivillius structure disappeared.

BiFeO3-based single-phase multiferroics have been widely studied in both ceramics and films. However, the macroscopic magnetic properties of BiFeO3 ceramics were now most very weak. In this work, MnO2 and Co2O3 were used as B-site substitutes in BiFeO3 ceramics in order to the enhancement of magnetic properties. The change of magnetization was analyzed based on the phase composition and the microstructure of ceramics.

Porous SiO2 insulation material was made by wet process. Fibrous xonotlite crystal and glass fiber were used as reinforced fibers, and graphite, zirconia and titania powders were added as infrared scattering materials into the porous SiO2 insulation material. The density of the SiO2 insulation material was about 0.3g/cm3. The porosity was about 85%, and the pore size was mainly ranged from 20 to 60 nm in diameter. Heat transfer due to solid conduction and gas convection was reduced greatly because of the existence of larger amount of nano pores. Thermal radiation was partly blocked by the infrared scattering powders. Thermal conductivity of the porous SiO2 insulation material added with graphite powder as infrared scattering powder can reach as low as 0.04W/m.K at 700C. The type and amount of added infrared scattering powders had important influence on the thermal performances of insulation materials.

Anchorages are the most important structure in the bridge’s rehabilitation engineering under external prestressing load, whose stress distribution is complex, it is necessary to carry out a detailed and careful structure analysis of anchorages. The inspection and strengthening design of an extra-large Bridge in Dongpu of Guangzhou City was taken for the background in the paper, the longitudinal stress, transverse stress and vertical stress of the end anchorage were given before and after adding concrete block, through finite element analysis of the end anchorage under larger prestressing load and the results of calculation of the anchorage were analyzed, it was showed that the strengthened effect of the end anchorage had been very obvious after concrete block was added. At the same time it was found that there were still some deficiencies on the end anchorage after concrete was added and the suggestions of the local strengthening of the end anchorage were proposed. It is helpful and referenced for the design of similar anchorage.

The longitudinal cracks in the bottom slab of box girder have been found in lots of prestressed concrete continuous girder bridges in China, and the disease has been common by now. In this paper, a review of the causes of longitudinal crack is given. Then an analysis model is established by MIDAS/Civil 2006 to analyze the causes of longitudinal cracks in the bottom slab of an extra-large bridge. In calculations, dead load, vehicle load, prestressed load and temperature load etc are considered, and the distributions of transverse stress are obtained under three load combinations. The results show that the downward force caused by prestressed cables and the eccentric load under motor vehicles are the main factors which cause the appearance of these cracks. Finally, suggestions for the design and construction of such bridges are proposed to prevent the cracks, which can be referenced by relevant people.

Extrusion gelation freeform fabrication (EGFF) is a new solid freeform fabrication technique to fabricate ceramic parts. The study of ceramic suspensions rheological behavior is essential to a better understanding of parts fabrication through EGFF process. In this paper, the effects of dispersant concentrations, solids loading and binder composition on the rheological behavior of alumina suspensions were examined. The optimal amount of dispersant was found to be about 0.1 wt.%. The suspensions with 50 vol.% alumina and 1wt.% sodium alginate show shear thickening behavior. Such behavior is unfavorable for extrusion gelation freeform fabrication. By addition of PVA or styrene-acrylic latex, the rheological behavior of suspensions was changed. The addition of PVA or latex has a great effect on the viscosity of the suspensions and the type of their rheological behavior. The ceramic suspensions with PVA or latex were found to be shear thinning more suitable for EGFF.

As a good binder for aqueous Al2O3 suspensions tape-casting process, a commercial styrene-acrylic latex binder had been investigated. This paper studied on the rheological behaviors of the suspensions and drying process of aqueous slurries with latex binder system, and the research results indicated the rheological behaviors was affected by pH value, solid loading and dispersant (PAA-NH4) additives; and the drying speed of slurries was most decided by drying temperature and slurry coating thickness.

Abstract: LiNi0.80Co0.20− x Al x O2 samples (x = 0.025, 0.050 and 0.100) were prepared by a solid-state reaction at 725∘C for 24 h from LiOH⋅H2O, Ni2O3, Co2O3 and Al(OH)3 under oxygen flow. LiNiO2 simultaneously doped by Co-Al has been tried to improve the cathode performance. The results showed that substitution of optimum amount Al and Co at the Ni-site in LiNiO2 improved cycling performance. As a consequence, LiNi0.80Co0.15Al0.05O2 has 178.2 mAh/g of the first discharge capacity and 174.0 mAh/g after 10 cycles. Differential capacity vs. voltage curves indicated that the Co-Al co-doped LiNiO2 showed suppression of the phase transitions compared with pure LiNiO2.

Piezoelectricity of composite was simulated by employing Dilute Model and Limit Unit method. The analogizing results recommend that the particle stackers influence the properties of piezo-composite. While fabricating piezo-composite, particles stack different with different routine. For thermo-pressing proceeding, stackers trend to take on higher D33 than that processing from forging-membrane.

This paper focuses on the influence of interactions between different species in hybrids (CnH2n+1NH3)2MCl4 (M = Mn, Cu; n =2,4,6,8,10) on the structural stabilities. DSC-TG curves were used to find out the onset and the end decomposition temperatures. The results show that the hybrids of M =Cu start to decompose at about 210 centigrade degrees, average 25 centigrade degrees lower than that of M=Mn. The end temperatures of M=Cu are also lower. This suggests that in this case the thermal stabilities of the hybrids would be governed by the interactions between the organic and inorganic species and are little affected by weak Van de Waals interactions between the organic and organic species.

This paper focuses on the structural change and the thermochromism of the phase transition of the hybrid (C12H25NH3)2FeCl4. The temperature and the structures of the phase transition is investigated by a thermal gravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), an infrared spectra (IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. The UV adsorption spectra account for the thermochromism. The results suggest that the reversible phase transition arises from the structural changes of the organic chains. The thermochromism is presumably due to the electrons redistribution on the levels and to the energy transition to translational and rotational motions of the organic chains.

A new method, which allowed lamination at room temperature without any additional adhesive, was described in this paper. A low Tg styrene-acrylic latex binder was used to forming the green tape via a water-based slurry. The green tapes could adhere to each other at room temperature under low or slight pressure. The density and deformation of laminated green parts depended significantly on lamination pressure, but the density of green parts did not increase after the lamination pressure exceeded a specific value of 4MPa. The interface between the tapes had been investigated in the green and sintered state by SEM. The experimental results showed that the microstructure of interface and density of lamination ceramics was a function of fraction of binder, plasticizer, and laminated pressure.

We previously isolated a Brassica juncea cDNA encoding BjCHI1, a novel chitinase with two chitin-binding domains. Synthesis of its mRNA is induced by wounding, methyl jasmonate treatment, Aspergillus niger infection and caterpillar Pieris rapae feeding, suggesting that the protein has a role in defense. In that it possesses two chitin-binding domains, BjCHI1 resembles the precursor of Urtica dioica agglutinin but unlike that protein, BjCHI1 retains its chitinase catalytic domain after post-translational processing. To explore the properties of multi-domain BjCHI1, we have expressed recombinant BjCHI1 and two derivatives, which lack one (BjCHI2) or both (BjCHI3) chitin-binding domains, as secreted proteins in Pichia pastoris. Recombinant BjCHI1 and BjCHI2, showed apparent molecular masses on SDS-PAGE larger than calculated, and could be deglycosylated using a-mannosidase. Recombinant BjCHI3, without the proline/threonine-rich linker region containing predicted O-glycosylation sites, did not appear to be processed by a-mannosidase. BjCHI1’s ability to agglutinate rabbit erythrocytes is unique among known chitinases. Both chitin-binding domains are essential for agglutination; this property is absent in recombinant BjCHI2 and BjCHI3. To identify potential catalytic residues, we generated site-directed mutations in recombinant BjCHI3. Mutation E212A showed the largest effect, exhibiting 0 of wild-type specific activity. H211N and R361A resulted in considerable (>91) activity loss, implying these charged residues are also important in catalysis. E234A showed 36 retention of activity and substitution Y269D, 50. The least affected mutants were E349A and D360A, with 73 and 68 retention, respectively. Like Y269, E349 and D360 are possibly involved in substrate binding rather than catalysis.

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Extrusion gelation freeform fabrication process is an extrusion-based freeforming technique capable of fabricating complex shaped monolithic ceramic prototypes by the sequential deposition and solidification of ceramic suspensions from a computer aided design model. In this process, ceramic parts are produced using an extrusion nozzle suitable for extruding ceramic suspensions. In this study, the processing parameters influencing on manufacturing Al2O3 parts were discussed. Air pressure on top of suspensions, rotating speed of screw, nozzle diameter and scan speed are the main factors to influence the dimensional precision of ceramic bodies. By optimizing these processing parameters, the green bodies were fabricated with high precision. The sintered samples with homogenous microstructure and ~97.6% relative density could be prepared by sintering of these green bodies at 1600oC for 2 hours.

By means of a finite element method model, the effects of property parameters of refractory on thermal stress of injection lance have been studied. The results show that the maximum thermal stress increases with the improvement of thermal conductivity and elastic modulus of refractory, while it decreases at first and then increases with the improvement of the coefficient of expansion of refractory.