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To enhance the safety grade and broaden the application scope of polypropylene in coal mines, the calcium alginate@ammonium polyphosphate@graphite microsheet (CA@APP@GM) had been synthesized and introduced into the polypropylene (PP) material to endow excellent flame retardancy, antistatic characteristics, thermostability, combustion behavior, and mechanical performance. Physical characterizations on the chemical composition and microstructure of both the gaseous and condensed phase products indicated that the phosphorus‐containing compounds were found in the char residue which were beneficial to accelerate the charring reaction to terminate the mass and heat transfer process. Hence, the CA@APP@GM executed the condensed‐phase flame‐retardant mechanism to enhance the fire resistance of PP matrix. Consequently, it is believed that the CA@APP@GM, with its remarkable flame retardancy and antistatic properties, has the potential to significantly expand the range of applications for PP materials in coal mines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prediction of prognosis in patients with immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is challenging. We investigated the correlation between urinary cMet (ucMet) levels and clinical parameters and examined the effects of cMet agonistic antibody (cMet Ab) in an in vitro IgAN model. Patients diagnosed with IgAN (n = 194) were divided into three groups representing undetectable (Group 1), below‐median (Group 2) and above‐median (Group 3) levels of ucMet/creatinine (ucMet/Cr). Stained kidney biopsy samples were graded according to cMet intensity. Primary‐cultured human mesangial cells were stimulated with recombinant tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α and treated with cMet Ab. Our results showed that ucMet/Cr levels positively correlated with proteinuria (P <.001). During the follow‐up, patients in Group 3 showed a significantly lower probability of complete remission (CR; uPCr < 300 mg/g) than those in groups 1 and 2, after adjusting for blood pressure, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and proteinuria, which influence clinical prognosis (HR 0.60, P =.038); moreover, ucMet/Cr levels were also associated with glomerular cMet expression. After TNF‐α treatment, the proliferation of mesangial cells and increased interleukin‐8 and intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 expression were markedly reduced by cMet Ab in vitro. In conclusion, ucMet/Cr levels significantly correlated with proteinuria, glomerular cMet expression, and the probability of CR. Further, cMet Ab treatment alleviated the inflammation and proliferation of mesangial cells. Hence, ucMet could serve as a clinically significant marker for treating IgAN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a very common complication with high morbidity and mortality rates and no fundamental treatment. In this study, we investigated whether the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/cMet pathway is associated with the development of AKI and how the administration of a cMet agonistic antibody (Ab) affects an AKI model. In the analysis using human blood samples, cMet and HGF levels were found to be significantly increased in the AKI group, regardless of underlying renal function. The administration of a cMet agonistic Ab improved the functional and histological changes after bilateral ischaemia‐reperfusion injury. TUNEL‐positive cells and Bax/Bcl‐2 ratio were also reduced by cMet agonistic Ab treatment. In addition, cMet agonistic Ab treatment significantly increased the levels of PI3K, Akt and mTOR. Furthermore, after 24 hours of hypoxia induction in human proximal tubular epithelial cells, treatment with the cMet agonistic Ab also showed dose‐dependent antiapoptotic effects similar to those of the recombinant HGF treatment. Even when the HGF axis was blocked with a HGF‐blocking Ab, the cMet agonistic Ab showed an independent dose‐dependent antiapoptotic effect. In conclusion, cMet expression is associated with the occurrence of AKI. cMet agonistic Ab treatment attenuates the severity of AKI through the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and improves apoptosis. cMet agonistic Ab may have important significance for the treatment of AKI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To evaluate the time periods of Wallerian degeneration (WD) in which the diffusion parameters of ipsilateral corticalspinal tract (CST) can be used to predict the motor function outcome after brain infarction. METHODS This retrospective study classified 48 diffusion tensor imaging patients with WD along CST into four groups based on the following time points after stroke onset, Group 1: within the first 2 weeks; Group 2: from 3 to 4 weeks; Group 3: from 5 to 14 weeks; Group 4: after 14 weeks. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), fractional anisotropy (FA), and their ratios (=ipsilateral diffusion value/contralateral value) of cerebral peduncle were evaluated. The correlation between imaging parameters in each group and the motor function scores appraised at 8 months after stroke onset were assessed. RESULTS There was no evident correlation of FA ratio (rFA) in Group 1 with motor function score ( P= .05). The rFA and FA correlated with motor function score in other groups ( P < .001 in each group). The ADC ratio and ipsilateral ADC value only showed significant correlation of with motor function score in Group 4 ( P= .016 and .029, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The rFA and ipsilateral FA values after 2 weeks of stroke onset correlate with the motor function outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism of age‐related decline in the angiogenic potential of the myocardium is not yet fully understood. Our previous report revealed that the aging of cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs) led to changes in their expression of receptor Trk isoforms: among the three isoforms (TrkB‐FL, TrkB‐T1 and TrkB‐T2), only the truncated TrkB‐T1 isoform continued to be expressed in aged CMECs, which led to decreased migration of CMECs in aging hearts. Thus far, how BDNF induces signalling through the truncated TrkB‐T1 isoform in aged CMECs remains unclear. Here, we first demonstrated that aged CMECs utilize BDNF–TrkB‐T1 signalling to recruit Willin as a downstream effector to further activate the Hippo pathway, which then promotes migration. These findings suggest that the aging process shifts the phenotype of aged CMECs that express TrkB‐T1 receptors by transducing BDNF signals via the BDNF–TrkB‐T1–Willin–Hippo pathway and that this change might be an important mechanism and therapeutic target of the dysfunctional cardiac angiogenesis observed in aged hearts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

tert-Butanol has been developed as a novel reaction medium for lipase-mediated methanolysis of renewable oils for biodiesel production, in which lipase could maintain high catalytic activity, although the log P value of tert-butanol was just about 0.35. The related mechanism exploration has been carried out, and it has been proposed first in this manuscript that in the biodiesel production system, log P(environment) (log P(environment) = x(methanol) log P(methanol) + x(oils) log P(oils) + x(solvent) log P(solvent)) including reactants and organic solvent should be taken into account to consider the effect of the whole environment on lipase activity instead of just considering the effect of the organic solvent itself. Further study showed that the operational stability of the lipase could be improved significantly in this system and there was no loss in lipase activity even after its being continuously used for 200 batches. The phase diagrams of the ternary-components tert-butanol/methanol/rapeseed oils were plotted further, and it was found that the methanol tolerance was the saturated methanol concentration in the system. It was demonstrated first here that the improved stability of the lipase was due to the elimination of negative effects caused by methanol and byproduct glycerol in the tert-butanol system.