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Global circulation and liquid back mixing adversely affect the continuous production of a multistage internal airlift loop reactor. A contraction-expansion guide vane (CEGV) is proposed and combined with a two-stage internal loop airlift reactor (TSILALR) to suppress the liquid back mixing between stages. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is conducted to evaluate the performance of the CEGV in the TSILALR. The bubble size distribution and turbulent flow properties in the TSILALR are considered in the CFD simulation by using the population balance model and RNG k-ε turbulence model. The CFD model is validated against the experimental results. The deviations in the gas holdup and mean bubble diameter between the simulation and experimental results are less than 8% and 6%, respectively. The streamlines, flow pattern, bubble size distribution, and axial liquid velocity in the TSILALRs with and without the CEGV at superficial velocities of 0.04 and 0.08 m/s are obtained by CFD simulation. It has been shown that the CEGV generated local circulation flows at each stage instead of a global circulation flow in the TSILALR. The average global gas holdup in the TSILALR with a CEGV increased up to 1.98 times. The global gas holdup increased from 0.045 to 0.101 and the average axial velocity in the riser decreased from 0.314 to 0.241 m/s when the width of the CEGV increased from 50 to 75 mm at the superficial gas velocity of 0.08 m/s.

BACKGROUND Hyperphosphatemia, hypocalcemia, and elevation of parathyroid hormone (PTH) are typical abnormalities of uremic patients with Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT). However, metabolic imbalance associated with SHPT is not well understood. METHODS A total of 15 SHPT patients with an intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) level > 600 pg/mL were set as preoperative (PR) group, 15 age- and gender-matched controls who had undergone parathyroidectomy plus forearm transplantation because of hyperparathyroidism and achieved an iPTH level

Disturbed intrauterine development increases the risk of renal disease. Various studies have reported that Notch signalling plays a significant role in kidney development and kidney diseases. A disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain 10 (ADAM10), an upstream protease of the Notch pathway, is also reportedly involved in renal fibrosis. However, how ADAM10 interacts with the Notch pathway and causes renal fibrosis is not fully understood. In this study, using a prenatal chlorpyrifos (CPF) exposure mouse model, we investigated the role of the ADAM10/Notch axis in kidney development and fibrosis. We found that prenatal CPF‐exposure mice presented overexpression of Adam10, Notch1 and Notch2, and led to premature depletion of Six2+ nephron progenitors and ectopic formation of proximal tubules (PTs) in the embryonic kidney. These abnormal phenotypic changes persisted in mature kidneys due to the continuous activation of ADAM10/Notch and showed aggravated renal fibrosis in adults. Finally, both ADAM10 and NOTCH2 expression were positively correlated with the degree of renal interstitial fibrosis in IgA nephropathy patients, and increased ADAM10 expression was negatively correlated with decreased kidney function evaluated by serum creatinine, cystatin C, and estimated glomerular filtration rate. Regression analysis also indicated that ADAM10 expression was an independent risk factor for fibrosis in IgAN. © 2020 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

Acute rejection (AR) can lead to allograft dysfunction following renal transplantation, despite immunosuppressive treatments. Accumulating evidence points out a role for epigenetic modification in immune responses. However, the mechanism and contribution of DNA methylation in allograft survival remain unclear. In this study, we followed up patients who successively experienced end‐stage renal disease, renal transplantation with allograft function or dysfunction, and hemodialysis. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected at different time points for analysis of the DNA methylation. Epigenetic modifier analysis was also performed to explore its effect of methylation in a mouse model of AR. Compared with the allograft‐stable cohort, patients who experienced AR‐induced allograft dysfunction demonstrated more changes in methylation patterns. Pathway analysis revealed that the hypermethylated areas in the allograft dysfunction group were associated with genes related to the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. Moreover, in the mouse AR model, treatment with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor—decitabine regulated the Th1/2/17/regulatory T cell (Treg cell) immune response via its demethylating role in the suppressing the activity of the mTOR pathway, which ultimately ameliorated renal allograft‐related inflammatory injuries. These results revealed that changes in methylation accompany AR‐induced allograft dysfunction after renal transplantation. Epigenetics may provide new insights into predicting and improving allograft survival., Whole‐genome bisulfite sequencing explores epigenetic changes in renal transplant recipients, revealing enhanced hypermethylation of genes enriched in immune‐related pathways.

A multiscale model for simulating the hydrodynamic behavior of catalytic bale packings has been proposed. This model combines computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and macroscopic calculation. At small scale calculation, the CFD model includes 3-D volume-of-fluid (VOF) simulation within representative elementary unit (REU) under unsteady-state conditions. The REU constitutes gauze and catalyst domain, and porous media model is applied. At large scale calculation, a new mechanistic model deduced from the unit network model is employed. Based on liquid split proportion from small scale calculation, liquid distribution of the entire bale packing can be predicted. To evaluate different packing design, three common bale arrangements, i.e. one-bale, nine-bales and seven-bales, are compared. The area-weighted Christiansen uniformity coefficient is introduced to assess the distribution performance. A comparison between simulation and experimental results is made to validate the multiscale model. The present methodology is proved to be effective to analysis and design of catalytic distillation columns.

The response technique was employed to investigate the axial and radial dispersion characteristics of the liquid phase in modular catalytic structured packing (MCSP) reaction elements. Residence time distribution (RTD) experiments were performed at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure. A two-dimensional dispersion model was solved analytically to determine the axial and radial dispersion coefficients and the dynamic liquid holdup from the RTD curves. Three different reaction elements containing Winpak packing sheets, Mellapak packing sheets, or only catalytic particles were employed. The radial dispersion coefficient in these structures is approximately 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than the axial dispersion coefficient. The axial and radial dispersion coefficients in the Winpak elements are greater than those in the other structures. Thus, it can be concluded that the liquid dispersion characteristics in the Winpak elements are satisfactory. These measured dispersion coefficients enable the reli...

The use of catalytic distillation (CD) in chemical production has gained popularity in recent years, as it results in minimized installation costs and increased efficiency. However, the design of suitable modular catalytic structured packing (MCSP) for CD processes remains a challenge. This paper presents a novel MCSP named Winpak-C. The hydraulic performance of Winpak-C is investigated in a 400-mm diameter column with an air-water system. Predictive models for the pressure drop and liquid holdup are proposed, which provide reasonably close predictions. The models describe the gas loading point, which reflects the transition from the liquid loading regime to the unstable flooding regime. Further, a visual experiment is performed to determine the maximum liquid load of the catalyst-containing bags, and the flow behaviours around the liquid load point are described. In addition, a tracer method is employed to determine the liquid residence time distribution (RTD). The Peclet number and axial dispersion coefficient deduced from RTD curves are discussed and compared with those for traditional MCSP. This study on the hydraulics of Winpak-C is significant for the design and scale-up of CD processes.

A recently designed packing sheet Winpak was assembled with catalysts in a modular catalytic structured packing (MCSP) column. A combined mesoscale–microscale methodology was used to analyze and determine the pressure drop mechanism in the MCSP. The proposed methodology differentiates the pressure drop into six different principles, which was determined and compared using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The three major causes are gas flow confluence and diffluence through the packing windows, the sudden change in the effective gas channel area and the wall effect. Inspired by constructal theory, the height of packing sheets loaded with catalysts was reduced, which resulted in a less abrupt gas channel contraction and expansion at the packing layer junction and more favorable for the undisturbed gas flow. The optimized overall pressure drop was reconstructed in Fluent and was validated by both dry and irrigated packing experiments. Furthermore, irrigated packing experiments were also conducted. Result ...

Rationale: Atrial fibrillation (AF) contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality in elderly and hypertensive patients and has been correlated to enhanced atrial fibrosis. Despite a lack of direct evidence that fibrosis causes AF, reversal of fibrosis is considered a plausible therapy. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of the antifibrotic hormone relaxin (RLX) in suppressing AF in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Methods and Results: Normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and SHR were treated for 2 weeks with vehicle (WKY+V and SHR+V) or RLX (0.4 mg/kg per day, SHR+RLX) using implantable mini-pumps. Hearts were perfused, mapped optically to analyze action potential durations, intracellular Ca 2+ transients, and restitution kinetics, and tested for AF vulnerability. SHR hearts had slower conduction velocity (CV; P P P P P + current density, I Na (≈2-fold in 48 hours) in human cardiomyocytes derived from inducible pluripotent stem cells (n=18/18; P Conclusions: RLX treatment suppressed AF in SHR hearts by increasing CV from a combination of reversal of fibrosis and hypertrophy and by increasing I Na . The study provides compelling evidence that RLX may provide a novel therapy to manage AF in humans by reversing fibrosis and hypertrophy and by modulating cardiac ionic currents.