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Objective: To analyze the value of serum miRNA-122 expression in the diagnosis, severity, and prognosis of Acute Cerebral Infarction (ACI) and the correlation mechanism of serum miRNA-122 on the proliferation and apoptosis of vascular endothelial cells in ACI. Method: A total of 60 patients with ACI who were admitted to the emergency department of the Taizhou People’s Hospital from January 1, 2019, to December 30, 2019, and 30 healthy controls during the same period were selected. General clinical data of all patients at admission were collected. Including age, sex, medical history, and inflammatory factors (C-Reactive Protein [CRP], Interleukin-6 [IL-6], Procalcitonin [PCT], Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipid carrier protein [NGAL]). The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score at admission and short-term prognosis (the Modified Rankin Score [mRS]) score at 3 months after onset were recorded. The expression level of miRNA-122 in the serum of patients with ACI and normal controls was detected by reverse-transcription quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-QPCR), and the correlation between the expression level of miRNA-122 in the serum of patients with ACI and the level of inflammatory factors, NIHSS and mRS scores were analyzed. The expression levels of miRNA-122 in the serum of patients with ACI, normal people, and Human Umbilical cord Endothelial Cells (HUVECs) cultured in a blank control group were detected by RT-QPCR and statistically analyzed. MTT and flow cytometry was used to compare the proliferation and apoptosis of vascular endothelial cells in the miRNA-122 mimics and inhibitors transfection groups and the corresponding negative control group. The mRNA and protein levels of apoptosis-related factors Bax, Bcl-2, Caspase-3, and angiogenesis-related proteins Hes1, Notch1, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors (VEGF), and CCNG1 were detected by RT-QPCR and Western blot. Bioinformatics methods predicted CCNG1 to be the target of miRNA-122, and the direct targeting relationship between CCNG1 and miRNA-122 was verified by a dual-luciferase reporting assay. Result: Serum miRNA-122 expression in patients with ACI was significantly higher than that in healthy controls, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.929, 95% Confidence Interval of 0.875‒0.983, and an optimal cut-off value of 1.397. The expression levels of CRP, IL-6, and NGAL in patients with ACI were higher than those in healthy control groups, p < 0.05; miRNA-122 was positively correlated with CPR, IL-6, NIHSS score, and mRS score. At 48h and 72h, the proliferation rate of HUVECs cells in the miRNA-122 mimics group decreased and the apoptosis rate increased. Cell proliferation rate increased, and apoptosis rate decreased significantly in the groups transfected with miRNA-122 inhibitors. The mRNA and protein levels of pro-apoptotic factors Bax and caspase-3 were significantly increased in the miRNA-122 mimics transfection group, while those of anti-apoptotic factor Bcl-2 were significantly decreased compared to those of the control group. The expression of Bax and Caspase-3 decreased, and the expression of anti-apoptotic factor Bcl-2 increased in the transfected miRNA-122 inhibitors group. mRNA expression levels of Hes1, Notch1, VEGF, and CCNG1 in the miRNA-122 mimic transfected group were significantly decreased, while mRNA expression levels in the miRNA-122 inhibitors transfected group were significantly increased. Bioinformatics showed that there was a miRNA-122 binding site in the 3′UTR region of CCNG1, and dual luciferase assay confirmed that CCNG1 was the target of miRNA-122.

Former studies have revealed the link between the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-associated factor 1 (TRAF1) polymorphisms and autoimmunity. In the present study, we took an opportunity to investigate the association between TRAF1 and autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) in order to find a new susceptibility gene. A total of 1029 AITD patients [677 Graves' disease (GD) patients and 352 Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) patients] and 899 controls were enrolled. We used matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometer (MALDI-TOF-MS) to detect the polymorphisms of rs4836834, rs10760130, rs10818488, rs2239658, rs2900180. We also explored the association between polymorphisms and clinical subphenotypes. Genotype frequencies of the five loci in all AITD patients were significantly different from those of controls. Genotype frequencies of rs10760130, rs2239658 and rs2900180 in GD patients were significantly different from controls. Allele analysis found that T allele of rs4836834, G allele of rs10760130, A allele of rs10818488, T allele of rs2239658 and T allele of rs2900180 were significantly higher in GD and AITD patients. No significant differences were found between HT patients and controls. Haplotype analysis found three haplotypes including ACAGC, TTGAT and TCGAC. ACAGC frequencies were significantly lower in GD and HT patients. However, TTGAT frequency was only significantly higher in GD patients. No significant results were found between polymorphisms and clinical subphenotypes. Our study reveals TRAF1 as a susceptibility gene of AITD in Chinese Han population.

Purpose Previous studies have found that some immune-related genes were associated with autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs). A couple of studies have explored the association between vitamin D (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3) receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to AITDs in different populations and found conflicting results. This case-control study was designed to evaluate the role of polymorphisms of VDR gene in the predisposition of AITDs in a Chinese Han population. Methods A total of 417 patients with Graves’ disease (GD), 250 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and 301 healthy subjects were enrolled. The Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer (MALDI-TOF-MS) Platform was applied to detect four SNPs (rs1544410, rs2228570, rs731236 and rs7975232) in the VDR gene. Results In the rs7975232 allele A frequency showed a significant increase in GD patients (30.34% vs. 25.42% in controls; P = 0.041, OR = 1.278, 95%CI = 1.010–1.617). However, no relationship was found between clinical phenotypes and the four SNPs. Conclusions This result suggests that the VDR gene may be one susceptibility gene which contributes to the risk of GD.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) show high potential in adsorptive removal of aromatic sulfur compounds; however, the crucial factors affecting the adsorption performances are scarcely clarified. In the present study, three classic aromatic sulfur compounds (i.e., thiophene, benzothiophene, and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene) as well as five typical MOFs (i.e., MOF-5, HKUST-1, MIL-53(Fe), MIL-53(Cr), and MIL-101(Cr)) were selected for study. The adsorptive desulfurization performances of MOFs were investigated by using a fixed-bed adsorption system. In the case of thiophene, the adsorption capacity of MOFs decreases in the order MIL-53(Cr) > HKUST-1 > MOF-5 > MIL-53(Fe) > MIL-101(Cr). For the first time, the adsorbate–adsorbent interaction was examined in detail by using infrared spectra and temperature-programmed desorption. Such an interaction was demonstrated to be the most important factor affecting adsorption performance. When the molecular size of aromatic sulfur compounds is comparable to or smaller t...

Autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) comprises Graves' disease (GD) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). IL37 has been recently proved to be a natural suppressor for innate immunity and acquired immunity. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the association of IL37 genetic polymorphisms with AITD in Chinese Han population. Polymorphisms of rs3811046/rs3811047/rs2723176/rs272186 in the IL37 gene were assessed in a case–control study comprising 701 GD patients, 301 HT patients and 939 controls. Genetic variants were genotyped by multiplex polymerase chain reaction and ligase detection reaction. The frequencies of the minor allele A of rs2723176 and A of rs2723186 were significantly lower in the GD patients than in the controls (P=0.014, OR=0.774; P=0.014, OR=0.777). After gender stratification, the rs3811046 G allele and the rs3811047/rs2723186 A allele were both significantly associated with a decreased risk of GD in female patients (P=0.030, OR=0.777; P=0.023, OR=0.774; P=0.029, OR=0.761). However, none of the four single nucleotide polymorphisms of IL37 gene showed any significant association with HT. Moreover, haplotype analysis revealed the GCG haplotype conferred increased risk for GD as a whole and in female GD patients (OR=1.213; OR=1.320). The ACG haplotype was associated with an increased risk of HT as a whole (OR=1.567) and in male GD patients (OR=1.820). In contrast, the AAA haplotype showed a protective role for GD as a whole (OR=0.760) and in female GD patients (OR=0.765). Our study strongly supports that the IL37 gene variants are associated with the susceptibility to AITD.

As an autoimmune disease, Graves' disease (GD) is associated with many genetic and environmental risk factors. Although the exact mechanism remains unclear, epigenetic determinants, such as DNA methylation, are thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of GD. Here, we for the first time reported the DNA methylation pattern in GD through a high-throughput analysis. In order to investigate genome-wide DNA methylation profile of GD, methyl-DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) and Nimblegen human DNA methylation 3 × 720 K promoter plus CpG island microarrays were used to identify differentially methylated regions (DMRs) from blood samples in GD patients. Quantitative methylation-specific PCR (qMSP) was used to validate the methylation state of candidate genes. Transcription level of each gene was estimated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). A total of 132 hypermethylated and 133 hypomethylated regions were identified in GD. The methylation of ICAM1 in GD patients and normal controls was significantly different (p

A set of measurement system for the testing of transmission lines, composing of wireless center station, wireless current acquisition and transmission nodes, wireless voltage acquisition and transmission node, was designed, which was based on wireless communication. The high speed wireless bridge working at 2.4GHz together with the clock synchronization module based on the IEEE1588 communicating protocol were both employed for the communication and time synchronization separately. The measurement system has data storage, waveform display, data analysis, automatic report generation and other functions. The measurement system can greatly reduced arrangement of cables, thereafter improved the test efficiency.

Background Selenium is an essential trace and there is a high selenium concentration in the thyroid gland. Selenium deficiency may impair the thyroid function. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between three selenoprotein genes polymorphisms and autoimmune thyroid diseases. Methods We genotyped six single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs6865453 in selenoprotein P gene (SELENOP), rs713041 rs2074451 rs3746165 in glutathione peroxidase 4 gene (GPX4) and rs28665122 and rs7178239 in selenoprotein S gene (SELENOS) by MassARRAY system using the chip-based matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry technology in 1060 patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases and 938 healthy controls. Results Major alleles in rs6865453 of SELENOP, rs713041, rs2074451, rs3746165 of GPX4 decreased while the major allele C in rs28665122 of SELENOS increased in AITD patients than in the control. The allele C and genotype CC in rs7178239 of SELENOS showed different trend in GD and HT patients when compared with the control. All the distribution difference showed nonsignificant. Analysis according to clinical features including ophthalmopathy, hypothyroidism and family history came out to be negative either. Conclusions Our findings suggest non-association between three selenoprotein genes and AITD, conflicting to the positive result in another population. Different selenium nutrition status in different populations may contribute to conflicting results, the contribution of genetic variants in AITD mechanism may be another reason.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate UBASH3A gene variation association with autoimmune thyroid disease and clinical features in a Chinese Han population. Subjects and methods: A total of 667 AITD patients (417 GD and 250 HT) and 301 healthy controls were genotyped for two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs11203203, rs3788013 of UBASH3A gene, utilizing the Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer (MALDI-TOF-MS) Platform. Results: Between the control group and AITD, GD and HT group, no statistically significant difference was observed in the genotypic and allelic frequencies of the two SNPs. There was no significant difference in allelic frequencies of the two SNPs between GD with and without ophthalmopathy. There was no significant difference in haplotype distributions between the control group and AITD, GD or HT group. Conclusion: Rs11203203 and rs3788013 in UBASH3A gene may not be associated with AITD patients in Chinese Han population.

To investigate the association of CLEC16A gene polymorphisms and autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs). Six hundred sixty seven Han Chinese patients with AITDs were selected as study subjects, including 417 patients with Graves’ disease (GD), 250 patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) and 301 healthy control patients. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and the mass spectrometry technique were used to genotype five CLEC16A single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs12708716, rs12917716, rs12931878, rs2903692, and rs6498169). Higher frequency of G allele of rs6498169 CLEC16A gene in AITDs patients [P = 0.029, odds ratio (OR) 1.29 and 95% confidence interval 1.022−1.505] was observed. In addition an association between rs6498169 and HT was observed with statistical significance (P = 0.018, OR 1.335, 95% confidence interval 1.051−1.696). Furthermore, the GG haplotype containing the major allele of (rs12708716 and rs6498169) was associated with an increased risk of HT (P = 0.0148, OR 1.344). When patients with HT and controls were compared, results from the dominant and recessive models showed that the genotype frequency of rs6498169 were at borderline levels (P = 0.054 and P = 0.05), and the other four SNPs of CLEC16A gene showed no significant association with AITDs. Our results suggest that polymorphisms rs6498169 of CLEC16A gene confers susceptibility to AITDs. We therefore disclose for the first time the association of rs6498169 SNP with AITDs.

Autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) is a multifactorial organ-specific autoimmune disorder, and both genetic susceptibility and environmental factors are involved in its etiology. TNFAIP3 encodes the ubiquitin-modifying enzyme (A20), a key regulator of inflammatory signaling pathways. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between TNFAIP3 gene polymorphisms and AITD in Chinese Han population. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TNFAIP3 gene locus (rs598493, rs610604 and rs661561) were detected in a set of 667 patients with AITD and 301 controls in Han Chinese population using the Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer (MALDI-TOF-MS) Platform. Compared with those of the controls, the frequencies of GG genotype of rs598493, the AA genotype of rs610604, the allele G and GG genotype of rs661561 were significantly increased in Graves' disease (GD) patients. However, the frequencies of AG genotype of rs598493 and AC genotype of rs610604 were significantly decreased in GD patients. The ATC haplotype (rs598493, rs661561 and rs610604) was associated with a decreased risk of GD. No significant differences in the three SNPs were observed between HT patients and controls. Our study shows a clear association between the polymorphisms of TNFAIP3 gene and GD, not HT, suggesting that TNFAIP3 gene is likely to be a genetic susceptibility factor to GD.

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of hardness and contact stress on wear and damage behavior of wheel and rail materials using a rolling-sliding simulation facility. Furthermore, the hardness matching and damage mechanism of wheel and rail materials are explored and clarified using several techniques. The wear weight of wheel rollers increases nearly linearly with the hardness ratio of rail and wheel rollers. However, the wear weight of rail rollers linearly decreases at the same conditions. An increase in the hardness of the wheel material results in the damage mechanism of the wheel roller changing from small pitting and adhesion wear to delamination wear. Then the rail roller shows severe shelling damage. Practically, the matching of the hardness of wheel and rail materials shows significant potential for alleviating wear and surface damage. An increase in the contact stress results in the wear of wheel and rail rollers becoming more severe. The damage mechanism changes from small shelling to serious delamination damage and oxidation wear. The main compositions of wear debris are the oxide Fe2O3 and martensite. Accordingly, decreasing the contact stress is an effective measure for alleviating wear and damage of heavy-haul wheel and rail materials.

Background Several studies support a link between autoimmunity and interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) gene polymorphisms. We have taken the opportunity to examine association of the autoimmune disease risk gene, the interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) to survey its susceptibility to autoimmune thyroid disease. “A total of 667 patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases and 301 healthy controls were genotyped for rs10954213, rs2004640, rs3807306, rs752637 and rs7808907 of IRF5 gene polymorphisms”. We further investigated the association between BANK1 gene and IRF5 gene in AITD patients. Results For IRF5 gene, both in allele and genotype frequencies from both GD and HT patients were not significantly different from those of controls. Association between rs7808907 C allele and Graves’ disease showed trend towards significance (P = 0.067). Haplotype results in IRF5 represented in the same block, without significant association. No significant association was found between all IRF5 SNPs and ophthalmopathy in Graves’ patients. Additive interaction analysis revealed no interactions between IRF5 and BANK1 gene in AITD patients. Conclusion Our data fail to reveal IRF5 as a susceptibility gene to AITD and do not support additive effect of IRF5 to BANK1 gene.

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) polymorphisms and autoimmune thyroid diseases and clinical features. We genotyped six single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs1053005, rs2293152, rs744166, rs17593222, rs2291281, and rs2291282 of STAT3 gene in 667 patients with autoimmune thyroid disease (417 Graves' disease (GD) and 250 Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT)) and 301 healthy controls. The allele A from rs1053005 was significantly less frequent in both GD and HT patients (P = 0.0024, OR = 0.6958, 95%CI = 0.5508-0.8788; P = 0.0091, OR = 0.7013, 95%CI = 0.5397-0.9112, respectively). The AA genotype of rs1053005 was less in GD and HT patients too (P = 0.0025,OR = 0.6278, 95%CI = 0.466-0.847) and (P = 0.0036,OR = 0.601, 95%CI = 0.428-0.843). The allele G from rs17593222 increased the susceptibility to the ophthalmopathy development both in autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) and GD patients (P = 0.0007, OR = 3.980, 95%CI = 1.871-8.464; P = 0.0081, OR = 3.378, 95%CI = 1.441-7.919, respectively). The allele A and AA genotype of SNP rs1053005 may protect individuals from the susceptibility to AITD and their frequency decreased in AITD patients. In addition, the allele G of rs17593222 may increase the ophthalmopathy risk in AITD patients. Our findings suggest the existence of association between STAT3 gene and AITD, thus adding STAT3 gene to the list of the predisposing genes to AITD.

Selective reduction of supported CuO to Cu2O was realized using the strategy of vapor-induced reduction, in which HCHO/H2O vapor diffuses into the pores of the support and interacts with predispersed CuO. This new strategy allows the fabrication of supported cuprous sites at much lower temperatures within a short time, avoids the formation of Cu(0) with a Cu(I) yield of nearly 100%, and results in materials with good adsorption performance, which is impossible to achieve by conventional methods.

Ordered mesoporous carbon CMK-3 was modified with cuprous chloride (CuCl) by a spontaneous thermal dispersion approach. A new kind of π-complexation adsorbent was thus obtained and characterized by X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption, and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that the mesostructure of CMK-3 is well preserved after the introduction of CuCl. In comparison with parent CMK-3, the selectivity of ethylene over ethane increases from 0.93 on CMK-3 to 2.67 on CuCl/CMK-3. All of the adsorption isotherms can be well fitted with the corresponding models. The fitting parameters along with the heat of adsorption demonstrate that the introduction of CuCl improve the interaction of ethylene with adsorbent apparently. The present adsorbents may provide useful candidates for the separation of ethylene and ethane as well as other alkene-containing systems.

It is established that a decrease in β-cell number and deficiency in the function of existing β-cells contribute to type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Therefore, a major focus of current research is to identify novel methods of improving the number and function of β-cells, so as to prevent and/or postpone the development of diabetes mellitus and potentially reverse diabetes mellitus. Based on prior knowledge of the above-mentioned causes, promising therapeutic approaches may include direct transplantation of islets, implantation and subsequent induced differentiation of progenitors/stem cells to β-cells, replication of pre-existing β-cells, or activation of endogenous β-cell progenitors. More recently, with regards to cell replacement and regenerative treatment for diabetes patients, the identification of cellular signaling pathways with related genes or corresponding proteins involved in diabetes has become a topic of interest. However, the majority of pathways and molecules associated with β-cells remain unresolved, and the specialized functions of known pathways remain unclear, particularly in humans. The current article has evaluated the progress of research on pivotal cellular signaling pathways involved with β-cell proliferation and survival, and their validity for therapeutic adult β-cell regeneration in diabetes. More efforts are required to elucidate the cellular events involved in human β-cell proliferation in terms of the underlying mechanisms and functions.

Background Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the miR-146a, miR-499a and miR-125a have been shown to be associated with the susceptibility to several autoimmune diseases. This study was conducted to identify the association of SNPs rs2910164, rs57095329, rs3746444 and rs12976445 with autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) in a Chinese Han population. Methods We enrolled 1061 patients with AITDs, including 701 patients with Graves' disease (GD) and 360 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), and 938 healthy individuals for a case-control genetic association study. Four SNPs were selected for genotyping by multiplex polymerase chain reaction and ligase detection reaction. Results The frequencies of rs3746444 genotypes in patients with AITD and GD differed significantly from those in the controls. The frequencies of rs12976445 genotypes in patients with HT differed significantly from those in the controls. The frequencies of allele C in HT groups were significantly higher than those in control group. For the rs3746444 polymorphism, genetic associations between the combinational genotype and AITD/GD risk were observed in the dominant model, recessive model, and overdominant model. For the rs12976445 polymorphism, genetic associations between the combinational genotype and HT risk were also found in the dominant model and overdominant model. Moreover, gene-sex interactions were identified by GMDR and 2 × 2 crossover analysis. Conclusions Our results suggest rs3746444 (miR-499a) and rs12976445 (miR-125a) associated with AITD susceptibility and potential gene-sex interactions between the four polymorphisms and AITD.

Objective In the present study, we aimed to assess the associations of C1q gene polymorphisms with autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) susceptibility. Subjects and methods A set of 1,003 AITD patients (661 with Graves’ disease and 342 with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis) and 880 ethnically- and geographically-matched controls from Chinese Han population were included. Five common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs294185, rs292001, rs682658, rs665691 and rs294179) in C1q gene locus were genotyped. Frequencies of genotypes and alleles were compared between patients and controls, and haplotype analysis was also performed. Results There was no statistically significant difference between AITD patients and controls in the frequencies of alleles of rs294185 (P = 0.41), rs292001 (P = 0.71), rs682658 (P = 0.68), rs665691 (P = 0.68) and rs294179 (P = 0.69). There was also no statistically significant difference between AITD patients and controls in the frequencies of genotypes of rs294185 (P = 0.72), rs292001 (P = 0.89), rs682658 (P = 0.83), rs665691 (P = 0.90) and rs294179 (P = 0.43). Stratified analyses showed that none of those five SNPs in C1q gene were associated with Graves’ disease or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (all P values > 0.05). Haplotype analysis revealed that there were no obvious genetic associations of C1q gene polymorphisms with AITD susceptibility. Conclusions We, for the first time, identified the associations between C1q gene SNPs and AITD, and our findings suggested that five common SNPs in C1q gene were not associated with AITD susceptibility in Chinese Han population.

Potential pollution sources of atmospheric PM₂.₅ in Nanjing region were collected, and sulfur and carbon isotopic compositions were determined by EA-IRMS synchronously. The results showed that δ³⁴S and δ¹³C values ranged from 1.8‰-3.7‰ and -25.50‰- -23.57‰ in coal soot particles; 4.6‰-9.7‰ and -26.32‰- -23.57‰ in vehicle exhaust; 5.2‰-9.9‰ and -19.30‰- -30.42‰ in straw soot particles, respectively. Besides, the δ¹³C value of dust was -13.45‰. It can be observed that sulfur isotopic compositions in coal soot were lower, while the carbon isotopic composition in dust was higher. Comparing with δ³⁴S and δ¹³C values in domestic and foreign polluted sources, we found that sulfur and carbon isotopes in atmospheric PM₂.₅ in Nanjing region presented an obvious regional characteristics. Therefore, the source spectrum of sulfur and carbon isotopic compositions in Nanjing region might provide an insight into source apportionment of atmospheric PM₂.₅.

The adsorption performance of mercury ion onto activated carbon prepared from rice husk with NaOH was carried out at initial concentration of 100 mg/L. The activated carbon obtained at 800 °C possessed the outstanding specific surface area of 2786 m2/g. And the results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity of Hg2+ was recorded as 342.0 mg/g due to abundant micropores of 1.076 nm. In addition, the adsorption data were well explained by the Langmuir model with the monolayer adsorption capacity of 555.6 mg/g.

Although much attention has been paid to the preparation of mesoporous aluminas, limited reports are concentrated on their functionalization due to the inherent difficulty. In this work, a one-pot, two-step strategy was developed to synthesize metal (including iron, chromium, lead, and magnesium) oxides-functionalized mesoporous γ-Al2O3 with various contents (up to 39 wt%). The strategy permits fabrication and functionalization of mesoporous alumina in one process, thus avoiding the damage of mesostructure that usually takes place in post-modification. The obtained materials show well-expressed mesostructure, high surface area, and more important, γ-Al2O3 frameworks. The successful synthesis of the materials is associated with the formation of preassembled mesoporous precursors with boehmite frameworks in the first step. This makes it possible to generate γ-Al2O3 frameworks at the temperature as low as 500 °C, and is favorable to the maintenance of mesostructure. The guest metal oxide is thus formed and in situ coated on newly generated mesoporous γ-Al2O3 in the second calcination step. The materials obtained in the present study might offer potential candidates for catalytic and adsorptive applications.

This study investigates the effect of rail material on their wear behavior of rail-wheel system by using MMS-2A twin-disc abrasion tester. When one type of wheel matches with different types of steel rail, the worn lose of the steel rail decreases with the increasing hardness, and the abrade wear of wheel increases. The trend showed by the SEM micrograph of the wear scar was consistent with the results of the worn lose.

A theoretical investigation is carried out into the effect of spontaneously generated coherence (SGC) on Kerr nonlinearity of a four-level N-type system. It’s found that the Kerr nonlinearity can be obviously enhanced with SGC present. We attribute the enhancement of Kerr nonlinearity mainly to the generation of extra coherences induced by the superposition of the two SGC channels, and when the superposition is controlled by the interference between two SGC channels properly, the maximal Kerr nonlinearity does not only enter the electromagnetically induced transparency window as the spontaneous generated coherences intensify, but also gets enhanced about 10 times with very large SGC coefficients than that with no SGC effect.

We propose a scheme for giant enhancement of the Kerr nonlinearity in a four-level atomic system in which spontaneously generated coherence is present. The physics mechanism of the enhancement of Kerr nonlinearity is mainly based on the presence of an extra atomic coherence induced by the spontaneously generated coherence. Numerical values obtained by solving the density matrix equations agree well with these exact analytical values.

The effects of crystallization on the corrosion resistance of a Cu52.5Ti30Zr11.5Ni6 bulk amorphous alloy in 1 mol/L HCl, and 6 mol/L NaOH solutions were studied. The amorphous alloy was identified by differential thermal analysis(DSC) and by X-ray diffraction(XRD). The partially and fully crystallized alloys were prepared by controlling the annealing temperatures at 738 and 873 K for 1 and 12 min, respectively, and the corrosion resistances of those annealed alloys were compared with that of the amorphous alloy by immersion test and potentiodynamic measurements in 1 mol/L HCl and 6 mol/L NaOH solutions. The results show that the partially crystallized alloy exhibits high corrosion resistance, whereas full crystallization results in deteriorated corrosion resistance compared with that of the as-cast amorphous alloy.

To trace the sources of sulfate contributing to atmospheric aerosol, PM2.5 samples for isotopic analysis were collected in Nanjing northern suburb during January 2014. The sulfur and oxygen isotopic compositions of sulfate from these samples were determined by EA-IRMS. Source identification and apportionment were carried out using stable isotopic and chemical evidences, combined with absolute principal component analysis (APCA) method. The Δ34S values of aerosol sulfate ranged from 2.7 per thousand to 6.4 per thousand, with an average of 5.0 per thousand ± 0.9 per thousand, while the Δ18O values ranged from 10.6 per thousand to 16.1 per thousand, with an average of 12.5 per thousand ± 1.37 per thousand. In conjunction with air mass trajectories, the results suggested that aerosol sulfates were controlled by a dominance of local anthropogenic sulfate, followed by the contributions of long-distance transported sulfate. There was a minor effect of some other low-Δ34S valued sulfates, which might be expected from biogenic sources. Absolute principal component analysis results showed that the contributions of anthropogenic sulfate and long-distance transported sulfate were 46.74% and 31.54%, respectively.

The concentrations of OC and EC in PM1.1 collected from Nanshi (NS) and Nanhua (NH) in 2011 were analyzed using DRI Model 2001A Thermal Optical Carbon Analyzer. In addition, source apportionment was simultaneously evaluated. The results showed that the annual average concentrations of OC and EC in PM1.1 were 10. 10 μg x m(-3) and 2.52 μg x m(-3) in NS area, and 11.22 μg x m(-3) and 3.12 μg x m(-3) in NH area, respectively. This result indicated that OC and EC pollution in NH was more serious than that in NS area. Meanwhile, the concentrations of OC and EC in winter and spring were obviously higher compared to those in summer in these two sampling sites, which was mainly ascribed to the increased coal combustion and the unfavorable emission condition of air pollutants in summer and spring. We noted that the SOC/TOC value was the highest in summer and the lowest in winter. In addition, the SOC concentration was observed to show a positive correlation with ozone concentrations, which indicated that the photochemical reaction was a main way of SOC formation in autumn.

In this paper, we propose an improved median filtering algorithm by adding filtration function before replacing the value of the median position with the median and doing multiple processing of median filtering to overcome the shortcoming of the traditional Median Filtering Algorithm. Experimental results are shown that an image after processed by the improved algorithm is hard to find image noise, and has good effect on saving the detail as well. It turns out that the improved algorithm is better than the traditional Median Filtering Algorithm.

To determine the potential role of interleukin-21 (IL-21) / IL-21 receptor (IL-21R) in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) mainly known as Graves' disease (GD) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). IL-21 and IL-21R of peripheral blood samples and/or thyroid tissues from AITD patients and healthy controls were analyzed by ELISA, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. In vitro, the mRNA and protein of inflammatory cytokines of cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) upon recombinant human IL-21 (rhIL-21) stimulation were detected. There was an increased serum concentration of IL-21 in untreated GD and HT patients, and IL-21(+)CD3(+)CD8(-)T cells were significantly increased in PBMCs of HT patients compared with healthy volunteers. The IL-21 mRNA expression in PBMCs increased dramatically in GD and HT patients, and marked augmentations of IL-21 and IL-21R mRNA in thyroid tissues of HT patients were observed. Immunohistochemical staining confirmed the expression of IL-21R protein in HT thyroid cells and lymphocytes. In vitro, PBMCs from GD cultured with rhIL-21 induced increased IL-17A but decreased IL-4 production, while from HT stimulated by rhIL-21 induced augmented production of IFN-γ. In conclusion, the expression of IL-21 and IL-21R were up-regulated in AITD and may be involved in the pathogenesis of the disease through augmenting aberrant immune cascade.

Tourism informatization plays a very important role in the development of Hainan into an international tourism island. This chapter makes an analysis of the importance of Hainan’s tourism informatization. It then elaborates on the current situation of and problems in the province’s tourism informatization and puts forward relevant suggestions for improving its tourism informatization.

Digital watermarking technology being an important application of information hiding technology has become currently a hot issue in the field of digital information security. This chapter first discusses the digital copyright protection and safety requirements of the digital museum and then describes a common model of information hiding, digital watermarking technology of discrete cosine transform (referred as DCT), and its features in detail. At the same time, the chapter gives a DCT-based JPEG color image invisible watermarking algorithm, as well as swf animation file information hiding watermarking algorithm, in order to improve the information watermark security and attack resistance in the digital museum. The experimental tests show that the algorithm can better balance between imperceptibility, robustness, and security.

Stable carbon isotopes (delta13C) in aerosol fine particles (PM2.1) collected in Nanjing Normal University representing urban area, and in Nanjing College of Chemical Technology standing for suburban industrial area, were analyzed using EA-IRMS. Besides, sources of carbonaceous contents were studied and the pollution characteristics of total carbon (TC) were evaluated. The annual average concentrations of TC in urban area and suburban industrial area were 15.94 microg.m-3 and 17.17 microg.m-3, respectively. The proportions for TC in PM2.1 were 17.18% and 16. 40% , indicating that carbonaceous pollution was more serious and the pollutants were more complex in suburban industrial area. The average delta13C for winter, spring, summer and autumn were -24. 42 per thousand +/- 1. 12 per thousand, -25. 19 per thousand +/- 1. 92% per thousand, - 25.79 per thousand +/- 0.45 per thousand and - 25.58 per thousand + 0. 65 per thousand, respectively in urban area and - 25.34 per thousand +/- 1. 18 per thousand, -25. 55 per thousand +/- 1. 50 per thousand, -25. 31 per thousand +/- 0. 55%o and -25. 38 per thousand +/- 0. 82 per thousand, respectively in suburban area. Correlation analysis and isotopic signatures of potential sources suggested that carbonaceous contents mainly came from gasoline vehicles exhaust in urban area, and might be attributed to the vehicle exhaust emissions and industrial emissions in suburban area. In addition, coal combustion,biomass burning and geological sources might have important contribution to aerosols in winter and spring. Back trajectory analysis implied that the long-range transport had considerable contribution to the carbonaceous aerosol in winter and spring. However, the major sources might be attributed to local emissions in the other two seasons.

Background The abnormality of interleukin-21 (IL-21)-IL-21-receptor (IL-21R) system has been found in many autoimmune diseases including autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs). In this study, we investigated whether polymorphisms of the IL-21 and IL-21R are associated with Graves’ disease (GD) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT), two major forms of AITDs, among a Chinese population. Methods Rs907715, rs4833837, rs2221903 and rs2055979 of the IL-21 gene and rs3093301 and rs2285452 of the IL-21R gene were explored in a case–control study including 405 GD, 228 HT patients and 242 controls. These genes were genotyped by the PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis and the MASS spectrometry method. Results For IL-21 gene, we identified and confirmed a higher prevalence of A alleles of rs2221903 (P = 0.018, OR = 1.50 95% CI = 1.07-2.09) in GD patients. We also found a significant association between rs2221903 and HT (allele: P = 0.009, OR = 1.69 95% CI = 1.13-2.51; genotype: recessive P = 0.021, OR = 11.72 95% CI = 1.46-94.13). For the IL-21R gene, compared with controls, the genotype frequencies of rs3093301 and rs2285452 were significantly different in HT patients using dominant genetic model (P = 0.023, OR = 1.61 95% CI = 1.07-2.42; P = 0.031, OR = 1.71 95% CI = 1.05-2.80, respectively). Furthermore, the haplotype AA containing the major alleles of rs4833837 and rs2221903 was associated with increased susceptibility to GD with an OR of 1.50(95% CI =1.08-2.09, P = 0.016), and to HT with an OR of 1.69(95% CI =1.14-2.52, P = 0.009). Conclusion Our results indicated that the SNPs of the IL-21 gene is associated with the development of GD. In addition, we found that individuals with the SNPs of the common IL-21 and IL-21R may have higher risk of HT.

Deep desulfurization via π-complexation adsorption is an effective method for the selective capture of thiophenic sulfur compounds. The adsorptive desulfurization capacity of an adsorbent has been demonstrated to strongly depend on the dispersion degree of active species. In the present study, a strategy was developed to promote the dispersion of copper species by directly using as-synthesized mesoporous silica SBA-15 as a support. The results show that the confined space between template and silica walls is highly efficient in dispersing the resultant guest oxide, and unusual CuO dispersion is realized. However, severe CuO aggregation occurs on the material prepared through the conventional method based on template-free SBA-15. Interestingly, copper precursors have a significant effect on the dispersion degree of the oxide, which decreases in the order nitrate > acetate > chloride. After autoreduction, the materials are active in adsorptive desulfurization, and the desulfurization performance relates well to the dispersion degree of the oxide. The present strategy allows template removal and precursor conversion in one step, avoids the repeated calcination in the conventional modification process, and saves time and energy. This strategy may open up an avenue for the design and synthesis of new functional materials by use of some particular micro environments.