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Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a kind of pulmonary microvascular disease and occurs in 15%-30% cirrhosis. This study aimed to investigate the effects of pulmonary CX3CR1 on angiogenesis and associated mechanisms in HPS animal models.CX3CR1GFP/GFP mice were constructed by replacing CX3CR1 with GFP. Common bile duct ligation (CBDL) mouse model was established with surgery. Release of nitric oxide (NO) was evaluated. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was employed to examine the inflammation of lung tissues. CD31 expression was detected with immunohistochemistry assay. Western blotting was used to evaluate the expression of CX3CL1, CX3CR1, phosphorylated-AKT (p-AKT), phosphorylated-ERK (p-ERK). Quantitative Real Time-PCR (qRT-PCR) assay was used to examine VEGF, PDGF, iNOS, eNOS, and HO-1 expression.CX3CR1-deficiency (CX3CR1GFP/GFP-sham or CX3CR1GFP/GFP-CBDL mice) significantly reduced NO release compared to wide type (WT)-mice or WT-CBDL mice (p0.05). CX3CR1-deficiency significantly alleviated inflammation compared to wide type (WT)-mice or WT-CBDL mice (p0.05). CX3CR1-deficiency significantly reduced CD31 expression compared to WT-sham and WT-CBDL mice, respectively (p0.05). CX3CR1 also participated in anti-angiogenesis efficacy of Bevacizumab. CX3CR1-deficiency significantly down-regulated the ratio of p-AKT/AKT and p-ERK/ERK and inhibited the secretion of VEGF and PDGF compared to WT-mice (p0.05). CX3CR1-deficiency significantly reduced iNOS, eNOS, and HO-1 expression compared to WT-mice (p0.05).CX3CR1 deficiency reduced VEGF and PDGF production, inhibited p-AKT, and p-ERK activation and down-regulated iNOS, eNOS, and HO-1 expression. Therefore, CX3CR1 participates in pulmonary angiogenesis in the experimental HPS mice via inhibiting AKT/ERK signaling pathway and regulating NO/NOS release. These findings would provide a potential insight for clarifying the pathological mechanisms of HPS.

Directional distance is commonly used in geographical information systems as a measure of openness. In previous works, the sweep line method and the interval tree method have been employed to evaluate the directional distances on vector maps. Both methods require rotating original maps and study points in every direction of interest. In this article, we propose a cell-based algorithm that pre-processes a map only once; that is, it subdivides the map into a group of uniform-sized cells and records each borderline of the map into the cells traversed by its corresponding line segment. Based on the pre-processing result, the neighbouring borderlines of a study point can be directly obtained through the neighbouring cells of the point, and the borderlines in a definite direction can be simply acquired through the cells traversed by the half line as well. As a result, the processing step does not need to enumerate all the borderlines of the map when determining whether a point is on a borderline or finding the nearest intersection between a half line and the borderlines. Furthermore, we implement the algorithm for determining fetch length in coastal environment. Once the pre-processing is done, the algorithm can work in a complex archipelago environment such as to calculate the fetch lengths in multiple directions, to determine the inclusion property of a point, and to deal with the singularity of a study point on a borderline.

The electronic structure of the amorphous alloys V36Zr64, Cr30Zr70 and Mn30Zr70 has been studied by photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS, XPS) and bandstructure calculations for the ordered analogs. The valence band photoelectron spectra and the calculated density of states reveal a large contribution to the state density at the Fermi level from the 3d metal. This behavior is characteristic of Zr based alloys with early 3d transition metals and differs from alloys with higher 3d electron numbers in which the 3d band is located at higher energies. The implications of the high density of states at EF of the amorphous Zr-(V, Cr, Mn) alloys for magnetism and the occurrence of superconductivity is discussed.

The conduction band of various stages of alkali graphite intercalation compounds has been studied by low energy photoelectron spectroscopy ( hv ⩽ 6.55 eV). The dissimilar behaviour of the width β of the conduction band peak as a function of photon energy for C 6 Li and C 8 M ( M = K, Rb, and Cs) is discussed in terms of different band types in the vicinity of the Fermi level. The stage dependence of β is measured and interpreted for the system C x K (for stages 1, 2, 4, and 5).

We demonstrate that magnetic force microscopy is able to detect the superconducting state and to distinguish between the Meissner and the Shubnikov phase. We point out that the magnetic force microscope might become an important tool to directly observe the vortex structure and its phase transitions. Additionally, the magnetic force microscope can be used to locally modify the magnetic structure.

A prototype of a liquid nitrogen level detector has been designed using a sensor made of the new high-T c superconductors. Level detection is performed by monitoring the resistance with an ac four probe technique. The transition temperature is fixed at 81 K by Sr doping of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−x . The use of the new high-T c superconductors makes liquid nitrogen level detection precise and reliable and overcomes problems associated with conventional level meters.