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Fast heat transfer in the pyrolyzer can increase the yield of pyrolysis gas and tar, and improve the quality of tar. Compared with the downer pyrolyzer, the cyclone pyrolyzer can simultaneously achieve high solids holdup and violent turbulence, and correspondingly faster heat transfer. In this work, the heat transfer behavior in the cyclone pyrolyzer is specifically studied using the computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method. The simulation results reveal that the gas-solids heat convection contributes mainly to the heat transfer process, and the heat radiation and conduction are relatively small and almost negligible, respectively. Compared with the downer pyrolyzer under the same operating conditions, the heating rate is significantly increased in the cyclone pyrolyzer. By analyzing the flow characteristics in the cyclone pyrolyzer, it is found that the region of high convective heat transfer rate coincides with that of natural cyclone length. Additionally, the final coal temperature increases with the increase of gas velocity and exists a maximum value. These results can offer some qualitative understanding of the heat transfer behavior in the cyclone pyrolyzer.

Background: Near-infrared fluorescent cholangiography (NIRFC) with indocyanine green (ICG) as the developer yields clear visualization of the extrahepatic bile ducts and is effective in identifying key structures. Here, we analyzed and compared the surgical outcomes of fluorescent and conventional laparoscopy in cholecystectomy of various difficulties and then assessed the value of NIRFC. Materials and methods: This retrospective study collected clinical data from partial patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) at the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University between 2020 and 2021. The study subjects were classified into ICG-assisted and white-light laparoscopy. Two cohorts with homogeneous baseline status were selected based on 1:1 ratio propensity score matching (PSM). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to predict independent risk factors for LC difficulty. Thereafter, the matched cases were classified into difficult and easy subgroups by combining difficulty score and gallbladder disease type, and then the surgical outcomes of the two groups were compared. Results: This study included a total of 624 patients. The patients were classified into the ICG group (n= 218) and the non-ICG group (n= 218) after a 1:1 ratio PSM. Our data showed significant differences between the groups in operative time (P= 0.020), blood loss (P= 0.016), length of stay (P= 0.036), and adverse reaction (P= 0.023). Stratified analysis demonstrated that ICG did not significantly improve the surgical outcomes in simple cases (n= 208). On the other hand, in difficult cases (n= 228), NIRFC shortened operative time (P= 0.003) and length of stay (P= 0.015), reduced blood loss (P= 0.028) and drain placement rate (P= 0.015), and had fewer adverse reactions (P= 0.023). The data showed that five cases were converted to laparotomy while two cases had minor bile leaks in the non-ICG group. There was no bile duct injury (BDI) in all the cases. Furthermore, high BMI, history of urgent admission and abdominal surgery, palpable gallbladder, thickened wall, and pericholecystic collection were risk factors for surgical difficulty. Conclusion: ICG-assisted NIRFC provides real-time biliary visualization. In complicated conditions such as acute severe inflammation, dense adhesions, and biliary variants, the navigating ability of fluorescence can enhance the operation progress, reduce the possibility of conversion or serious complications, and improve the efficiency and safety of difficult LC. Graphical abstract:

Reprogramming of lipid metabolism during hepatocarcinogenesis is not well elucidated. Here, we aimed to explore pivotal RNA-binding motif proteins (RBMs) in lipid metabolism and their therapeutic potential in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Through bioinformatic analysis, we identified RBM45 as a critical gene of interest among differentially expressed RBMs in HCC, with significant prognostic relevance. RBM45 influenced the malignant biological phenotype and lipid metabolism of HCC cells. Mechanically, RBM45 promotes de novo lipogenesis in HCC by directly targeting two key enzymes involved in long-chain fatty acid synthesis, ACSL1 and ACSL4. RBM45 also targets Rictor, which has been demonstrated to modulate lipid metabolism profoundly. RBM45 also aided lipid degradation through activating a key fatty acid β oxidation enzyme, CPT1A. Thus, RBM45 boosted lipid synthesis and decomposition, indicating an enhanced utility of lipid fuels in HCC. Clinically, body mass index was positively correlated with RBM45 in human HCCs. The combination of a PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway inhibitor in vitro or Sorafenib in orthotopic liver cancer mouse models with shRBM45 has a more significant therapeutic effect on liver cancer than the drug alone. In summary, our findings highlight the versatile roles of RBM45 in lipid metabolism reprogramming and its therapeutic potential in HCC.

The interaction between electromagnetic (EM) waves and plasma sheaths of reentry vehicles has attracted widespread attention for solving the blackout problem in reentry control and communication. In this article, an integrated model is proposed to study EM wave transmission and scattering characteristics in plasma sheaths for typical altitude and velocity regimes. The key plasma parameters and their distributions of the plasma sheath are investigated based on the previously reported flying data. Reflection, transmission, and absorption coefficients as well as radar cross sections (RCSs) in studied cases are calculated by the integrated model. The results show that multieffects of the plasma sheath, including the high-density, strong-collision, wide-dispersion, subwavelength thickness, etc., can synergistically affect the transmission and scattering characteristics. EM signals of control and communication are then reflected, transmitted, or absorbed differently in various parameter regimes of the plasma sheath. The backward RCS of reentry vehicles may decrease or increase due to variations of feature EM shapes of the plasma sheath. Communication and control properties of the reentry vehicles are also revealed by synergy of multieffects of the sheath on EM waves in various regimes.

Pervaporation technology using PEBA-2533 membranes was investigated to separate a low concentration of pyridine from the ternary mixture of pyridine, water, and NaCl. The experimental results showed that the studied membrane could achieve the enrichment of pyridine and the rejection of NaCl simultaneously. The permeation of pyridine was driven by the temperature and pyridine concentration in the feed solution. The experimental results for the effect of NaCl content on the fluxes correlated with the simulation values of water and pyridine activities. The pyridine activity values increased and water activity decreased on adding NaCl to the feed solution. What is more, it was confirmed that the accumulation of NaCl in the membrane increased with the NaCl concentration, which could influence the flux. According to the results of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, the introduction of NaCl reduced the number of hydrogen bonds between pyridine and water, which was beneficial to the separation. The long-term operation tests for the pervaporation process showed that the poly(ether-block-amide) (PEBA) membrane had excellent stability, which proved the feasibility of pervaporation as an industrial process.

Background: Laparoscopic right posterior hepatectomy is considered difficult on the basis of the surgery difficulty scoring system. In this study, we evaluated the safety and effectiveness of the technical application of indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging-guided laparoscopic right posterior hepatectomy. Methods: Twenty-six patients who underwent ICG fluorescence imaging-guided laparoscopic right posterior hepatectomy at Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery Department of Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, from June 2018 to December 2019, were included. The influence of patient position, trocar placement, hepatic inflow occlusion, central venous pressure (CVP), and the ICG fluorescence imaging-guided method were analyzed. Results: In 17 patients, the left lateral position was maintained when the main tumor was in the S7, and in the remaining nine patients, the supine position was maintained with the right side of the body raised when the main tumor was in the S6. Ten patients who underwent preoperative injection of ICG were successfully developed for nonanatomical hepatectomy. Sixteen patients received intraoperative ICG injection for anatomical hepatectomy (2 cases had positive imaging findings, 14 cases had negative imaging findings, and 2 cases had failed imaging findings). All patients underwent the Pringle maneuver during the procedure. Four patients were preset with subhepatic vena cava blocking and one patient with suprahepatic inferior vena cava blocking. CVP was controlled at 3.00 ± 0.63 (mean ± SD) cmH2O. The operative time was 216.14 ± 52.05 min, and the bleeding volume was 128.57 ± 75.55 ml. Four patients had Clavien–Dindo level I complications, and one had level III complications. Postoperative hospitalization duration was 6.19 ± 1.40 days. There were 14 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, 9 with metastatic liver malignancies, 2 with hepatic hemangioma, 1 with focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver, and 10 with hepatitis B liver cirrhosis. Conclusions: ICG fluorescence imaging guidance could be helpful for the safe implementation of laparoscopic right posterior hepatectomy.

Bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl)-coated electroactive film was fabricated for the separation of cesium ions based on a potential-triggered method. The effects of applied potential, conductive carbon black (Super P Li), and different exposed facets on the adsorption of Cs+ions were investigated. Experiments revealed that the adsorption efficiency gradually improved with increasing the applied potential to −0.7 V. The introduction of Super P Li improved the adsorption rate and increased the separation efficiency. The adsorption behavior followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. Additionally, the electroactive film showed adsorption selectivity for Cs+in preference to Li+, Na+, and Rb+; seven consecutive adsorption–desorption experiments indicated that the electroactive film is sensitive to potential. The BiOCl nanosheets with exposed (001) facets exhibited a higher adsorption ratio for Cs+removal than the counterpart with exposed (101) facets. It was also found that the separation performance of Cs+ions was best in the neutral condition. It is expected that this BiOCl material can be used as a promising electroactive material for the removal of Cs+ions from contaminated water in the future.

We present a dual-view liquid crystal display that allows two faces of the display to be viewed in opposite directions to show different image/video content simultaneously. This device is characterized by a two-domain twisted nematic liquid crystal and a patterned E-type polarizer. Its key optical performance, including the voltage-luminance curve, crosstalk, and viewing angle, has been investigated. When observed at the best viewing angle, the crosstalk between the right and left views is less than 0.07% for all grayscales. In addition, this type of crosstalk can be immune to the misalignment between the polarizers and the liquid crystal layer. For each right/left view, the range of the viewing angle spans roughly 50°.

Ti-based alloys fabricated by wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) exhibit continuous grain boundaries of α phase (GB-α), which easily initiate cracks and provide a continuous crack propagation path. Herein, an activating flux of CaF2particles was introduced into WAAM-fabricated Ti–6Al–4V alloy to tailor the microstructure for crack buffering (i.e., inhibit smooth propagation of cracks). The results showed that the addition of CaF2particles disrupted the continuous GB-α through the dowel-like lamellar α phase (DL-α), which was primary α lamella deeply embedded in the adjacent prior-β grains. This microstructure imparted an optimal combination of strain and strength even in the presence of pores in the WAAM-fabricated Ti–6Al–4V alloy. The enhanced mechanical properties can be attributed to uniform plastic deformations and tendency to transgranular fracture of tensile specimens. DL-α relieved stress concentration at the grain boundary and guided cracks into the prior-β grain interior (i.e., avoided inter-crystalline fracture), thereby promoting the crack buffering effect. The study can provide theory guidance and data support for improving the mechanical performance of WAAM-fabricated Ti–6Al–4V alloy.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant tumor of bone with a high propensity for lung metastasis. Despite significant advances in surgical techniques and chemotherapeutic regimens over the past few decades, there has been minimal improvement in OS patient survival. There is an urgent need to identify novel antitumor agents to treat human OS. Repurposing the clinically-used drugs represents a rapid and effective approach to the development of new anticancer agents. The anthelmintic drug niclosamide has recently been identified as a potential anticancer agent in human cancers. Here, we investigate if niclosamide can be developed as an anti-OS drug. We find that niclosamide can effectively inhibit OS cell proliferation and survival at low micromolar concentrations. Cell migration and wounding closure are significantly inhibited by niclosamide. Niclosamide induces cell apoptosis and inhibits cell cycle progression in OS cells. Analysis of niclosamide’s effect on 11 cancer-related signal pathway reporters reveals that three of them, the E2F1, AP1, and c-Myc-responsive reporters, are significantly inhibited. To a lesser extent, the HIF1, TCF/LEF, CREB, NFB, Smad/TGF, and Rbpj/Notch pathway reporters are also inhibited, while the NFAT and Wnt/-catenin reporters are not significantly affected by niclosamide treatment. We demonstrate that the expression of c-Fos, c-Jun. E2F1, and c-Myc in OS cells is effectively inhibited by niclosamide. Furthermore, niclosamide is shown to effectively inhibit tumor growth in a mouse xenograft tumor model of human osteosarcoma cells. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that niclosamide may exert its anticancer activity in OS cells by targeting multiple signaling pathways. Future investigations should be directed to exploring the antitumor activity in clinically relevant OS models and ultimately in clinical trials.

Cartilage tissue engineering holds great promise for treating cartilaginous pathologies including degenerative disorders and traumatic injuries. Effective cartilage regeneration requires an optimal combination of biomaterial scaffolds, chondrogenic seed cells, and biofactors. Obtaining sufficient chondrocytes remains a major challenge due to the limited proliferative capability of primary chondrocytes. Here we investigate if reversibly immortalized mouse articular chondrocytes (iMACs) acquire long-term proliferative capability while retaining the chondrogenic phenotype. Primary mouse articular chondrocytes (MACs) can be efficiently immortalized with a retroviral vector-expressing SV40 large T antigen flanked with Cre/loxP sites. iMACs exhibit long-term proliferation in culture, although the immortalization phenotype can be reversed by Cre recombinase. iMACs express the chondrocyte markers Col2a1 and aggrecan and produce chondroid matrix in micromass culture. iMACs form subcutaneous cartilaginous masses in athymic mice. Histologic analysis and chondroid matrix staining demonstrate that iMACs can survive, proliferate, and produce chondroid matrix. The chondrogenic growth factor BMP2 promotes iMACs to produce more mature chondroid matrix resembling mature articular cartilage. Taken together, our results demonstrate that iMACs acquire long-term proliferative capability without losing the intrinsic chondrogenic features of MACs. Thus, iMACs provide a valuable cellular platform to optimize biomaterial scaffolds for cartilage regeneration, to identify biofactors that promote the proliferation and differentiation of chondrogenic progenitors, and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying chondrogenesis.

Background: Kallistatin (KS) is a serine proteinase. The result of KS on ‘Renal Ischemia- Reperfusion Injury’ (IRI) has not clearly been researched. In this study, investigative research has been conducted to draw results on the administration of human KS on kidney response conducted within a mouse model of IRI. Materials and Methods: BALB/c mice were used and given 30 min ischemia that was injected into the kidney which was followed with 24 h reperfusion. The human KS gene contained within an adenoviral vector was injected intravenously 30 min before reperfusion and 12h after reperfusion. Analyses illustrated what impact KS had on renal IRI in realtion to tubular necrosis, apoptotic cell death, inflammatory cytokines, renal function, and inflammatory cell infiltration. Results: KS gene transfer significantly had a positive impact on renal function (reduced blood urea-nitrogen: 73.5±13.6 vs. 195.4±14.6 mg/dL at day three, p < 0.05 and the serum creatinine levels: 0.23±0.02 vs. 0.71±0.14 mg/dL at day three, p < 0.05), reduced tubular necrosis and apoptosis of IRI kidneys. The permeation of cells that were inflamed and the manufacturing of pro-inflammatory cytokines (RANTES-is regulated through been activated with normal T-cell which are expressed and secreted, tumour necrosis interleukin-1 factor-, and interferon-γ) resulted in significantly suppressing KS in mice with IRI. The efficacy to scavenge superoxide in tubule cells was also demonstrated by high-performance liquid chromatography. Conclusion: Our study suggests a novel role of KS in renal protection after ‘Renal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury’ blocking of oxidative stress and renal inflammation.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignancy of bone and is usually associated with poor prognosis due to its high incidence of metastasis and chemoresistance. Molecular pathogenesis of OS is poorly understood. We previously showed that OS cells are refractory to BMP9-induced osteogenesis and respond favorably to proliferation and tumor growth. Here we investigate if Notch signaling mediates the BMP9-promoted cell proliferation and tumor growth of human osteosarcoma (OS). We find that the expression of Notch1, Notch2, Notch3, DLL1, JAG1 and JAG2 is readily detected in most of the tested OS cell lines. BMP9-promoted OS cell proliferation, migration, and cell cycle S/G2 progression are effectively inhibited by a dominant-negative mutant of Notch1 (dnNotch1) or the γ-secretase inhibitor Compound E (ComE). Furthermore, BMP9-promoted tumor growth and osteolytic lesions in vivo are significantly inhibited by dnNotch1. BMP9 up-regulates the expression of Notch1, Notch3, DLL1, and JAG1 in OS cells. Accordingly, BMP9 stimulation induces a nuclear accumulation of NICD, which is blocked by ComE. Our results demonstrate that BMP9-promoted OS proliferation and tumor growth is at least in part mediated by Notch signaling, suggesting that osteogenic BMPs may function as upstream regulators of Notch signaling in OS tumorigenesis. Thus, pharmacologic intervention of Notch signaling may be explored as a new therapeutic strategy for human OS tumors.

•A coal pyrolysis model with char as heat carrier and catalyst is built.•The transfer behaviors in the high solids-flux coal pyrolysis process are predicted.•The non-uniform solids flow caused by the lateral coal feeding nozzle is reproduced.•Two indexes to assess binary particles mixing and gas–solids contacting are proposed.•The convective heat transfer strength rely on the state of gas–solids contacting.

Two-color persistent spectral hole-burning was achieved for the first time for a new system Zn-tetrabenzoporphin-crotonic acid/phenoxy resin at 20 K. The time dependence experiments show that the spectral holes are persistent at the temperature of 20 K. These holes can be erased by laser irradiation and reversible holeburning is performed. The hole width remains almost constant during the erasing process.

The temperature dependence properties of a new persistent spectral hole-burning system, Zn-tetrabenzoporphin-crotonic acid/phenoxy resin, are studied at temperatures from 20 to 100 K. Being annealed at different temperatures up to 80 K, the hole shape can partly recover at 20 K. The degree of hole recovery decreases as the annealing temperature is raised from 20 K. Two kinds of processes, reversible and irreversible, exist during the changing of the hole shape in the cycle annealing experiments.