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Salvigenin is a Trimethoxylated Flavone enriched in Scutellariae Barbatae Herba and Scutellariae Radix and is demonstrated to have anti-tumor properties in colon cancer. Notwithstanding, the function and mechanism of Salvigenin in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are less well studied. Different doses of Salvigenin were taken to treat HCC cells. Cell viability, colony formation ability, cell migration, invasion, apoptosis, glucose uptake, and lactate production levels were detected. As shown by the data, Salvigenin concentration dependently dampened HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, weakened glycolysis by abating glucose uptake and lactate generation, and suppressed the profiles of glycolytic enzymes. Moreover, Salvigenin strengthened HCC cells’ sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and attenuated HCC 5-FU-resistant cells’ resistance to 5-FU. Through network pharmacological analysis, we found Salvigenin potentially regulates PI3K/AKT pathway. As shown by the data, Salvigenin repressed the phosphorylated levels of PI3K, AKT, and GSK-3β. The PI3K activator 740Y-P induced PI3K/AKT/GSK-3β pathway activation and promotive effects in HCC cells. However, Salvigenin substantially weakened 740Y-P-mediated effects. In-vivo assay revealed that Salvigenin hampered the growth and promoted apoptosis of HCC cells in nude mice. Collectively, Salvigenin impedes the aerobic glycolysis and 5-FU chemoresistance of HCC cells by dampening the PI3K/AKT/GSK-3β pathway.

Efficient wave mixers based on lithium-niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) hold great potential for next-generation photonic integrated circuits in both classical and quantum optics. However, achieving high-performance nonlinear photonic devices readily suitable for scalable, fiber-compatible applications remains challenging. Here, we report on the fabrication of LNOI micrometer waveguides, i.e., micro-waveguides, with a combination of ultraviolet lithography and deep dry etching technology for efficient nonlinear photonics applications. We fabricate periodically poled LNOI micro-waveguides with a cross section of ∼3×4µm2 and demonstrate a fiber–chip–fiber second-harmonic generation conversion efficiency of 1320%/W with an insertion loss of 3.8 dB at the telecommunication band. We also demonstrate high-quality photon pair generation via spontaneous parametric downconversion with a flux of 178 MHz/mW at sub-mW pump power and coincidence-to-accidental ratio >8000 at microwatt pump power. The overall performance in both applications is on par with that of state-of-the-art counterparts using thin-film lithium niobate nano-waveguides. The technique would make micrometer-thick LNOI an attractive platform for ready applications in nonlinear and quantum optics.

Whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) microresonators can dramatically boost the interaction between light and matter, making them an ideal platform for studying nonlinear optics. Efficient wavelength conversion by nonlinear parametric processes is key to integrated optics in many applications, where WGM microresonators play an important role. Here, we demonstrate efficient second-harmonic generation (SHG) and sum-frequency generation (SFG) in an x-cut thin film lithium niobate microdisk with a high intrinsic quality factor over 106. The normalized conversion efficiency of cyclic quasi-phase-matched (CQPM) SHG and SFG is measured to be 1.53%/mW and 2.52×10−4/mW, respectively. Our work expands nonlinear optics applications of CQPM WGM microresonators as efficient wavelength convertors for light upconversion.

Steam ejector as an energy-saving unit is of critical importance to the overall performance of MED-TVC desalination system. In this study, a combined pressure regulation solution is proposed to dredge the blocked entrained flow and alleviate the high-pressure effect simultaneously for multiple optimization of the entrainment passage flow field. The systematic analysis and investigation mainly concentrate on the feasibility verifications of the combined pressure regulations, and the performance comparisons between the combined and single pressure regulation schemes under various operating conditions. The results reveal that the throat-combined pressure regulation would simply lose efficacy, the diffuser- and multi-combined pressure regulations could achieve a similar multiple optimization that the alleviation effectiveness remains almost steady and the dredging effectiveness enhances continually as the back pressure decreases. Moreover, there is an optimum combination among the pressure regulation schemes, by which a most significant entrainment ratio improvement could be achieved, as high as 28.75% in the present simulations covered range. To be specific, TMCE pressure regulation could be selected if the ejector operates under the design condition, and for the off-design conditions, multi-combined pressure regulation should be adopted if the back pressure not exceeds its critical value, otherwise, CMCE pressure regulation is the best choice.

An improved microchannel heat sink with the sinusoidal wavy sidewall (SIN) is designed and fabricated by MEMS technique. The synchronous optical measurement system is established. The flow and heat transfer performance in SIN microchannels is experimentally studied using acetone as the working fluid. At mass fluxes of 251 kg/(m2·s)–423 kg/(m2·s) and heat fluxes of 0 kW/m2–601 kW/m2, the pressure drops, boiling curves, and heat transfer coefficient are investigated and analyzed. The temperatures, pressure drops, and corresponding flow patterns in the stable state are emphatically examined. The experimental results show that, a continuously developing liquid film always exists near the sidewall, which not only timely supplies the liquid for nucleation tending to occur in the corner regions, but effectively prevents the microchannel dry-out. Consequently, the premature onset of nucleate boiling (ONB), the delayed critical heat flux (CHF), and about 100% enhancement of heat transfer coefficient can be achieved with SIN microchannels compared to the traditional rectangular (R) microchannels. In the stable state, all the dominant flow patterns at different positions are almost fixed, which result in stable heat transfer enhancement. The flow pattern transitions between single liquid/bubbly flow, bubbly/slug flow, bubbly/annular flow are observed at the channel midstream in the low/medium/high heat flux, respectively. It is noteworthy that all of the dominant flow patterns at the channel downstream are not vapor flow but annular flow with thin and continuous liquid film. In addition, the flow boiling instabilities characterized by the temperatures and pressure drops with obvious fluctuations are also illustrated.

In this work, we proposed a porous-wall (PW) microchannel heat sink, in which micro pin fin arrays were fabricated on sidewalls of rectangular microchannels by MEMS (Microelectrical Mechanical System) technique. High speed flow visualizations were performed simultaneously with heat transfer and pressure drop measurements to investigate the flow boiling characteristics of PW microchannel heat sink. Conventional rectangular (Rec) microchannel heat sink was also explored together as a comparison. Experiments were carried out with pure acetone liquid at inlet temperature of 30 °C, mass flux from 255 kg/(m2·s) to 843 kg/(m2·s), heat flux from 4 W/cm2 to 110 W/cm2 and the maximum vapor quality at the outlet of the channel was 0.88. Experimental results demonstrated that the PW microchannels reduce wall superheat of onset of nucleate boiling (ONB) and improve critical heat flux (CHF) compared to the Rec microchannels. Moreover, the PW microchannels show significant heat transfer enhancement, pressure drop reduction and mitigation of two-phase flow instability. The porous walls provide numerous nucleation sites and the intensive pin fins arrangements introduce significant wicking effect to maintain the liquid rewetting, which contribute to the above notable flow boiling enhancement.

Background: Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is a relatively common complication of cirrhosis. However, the effect of PVT on the prognosis might not be unequivocal. A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to investigate the effect of PVT on the prognosis of patients with cirrhosis who have not received a liver transplant. Methods: Three databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library, were searched for studies published up to March 2020. The survival or mortality rate of patients with PVT served as the main index to evaluate the prognosis of these patients. Hepatic decompensation served as the index of disease progression. Meta-analyses were conducted using Review Manager software 5.2. Results: Sixteen clinical studies were included and analyzed. PVT was associated with an increased risk of mortality in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. According to the meta-analysis, patients with cirrhosis presenting with PVT had a lower 1-year survival rate than patients without PVT (odds ratio (OR), 0.32; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.14–0.75; P = .008). The cumulative survival rates were similar between the 2 groups at 3 years (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.00–1.08; P = .06), 5 years (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 0.71–2.48; P = .38) and 10 years (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 0.79–1.93; P = .35). PVT was associated with a higher mortality rate in patients with Child-Pugh class B and C disease. A significantly increased risk of death was observed in patients with complete PVT. Patients with both PVT and cirrhosis had a higher rate of decompensation than patients without PVT. Conclusions: The presence of PVT might exert a slight effect on the overall prognosis of patients with cirrhosis. PVT might mainly affect the short-term prognosis by increasing hepatic decompensation events in patients with cirrhosis. However, PVT might not influence the long-term prognosis of patients with cirrhosis.

Phase-matched nonlinear wave mixing, e.g., second-harmonic generation (SHG), is crucial for frequency conversion for integrated photonics and applications, where phase matching wavelength tunability in a wide manner is important. Here, we propose and demonstrate a novel design of angle-cut ridge waveguides for SHG on the lithium niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) platform via type-I birefringent phase matching (BPM). The unique strong birefringence of LN is used to achieve flexible temperature tuning. We experimentally demonstrate a normalized BPM conversion efficiency of 2.7%W−1cm−2 in an angle-cut LN ridge waveguide with a thermo tuning slope of 1.06 nm/K at the telecommunication C band. The approach effectively overcomes the spatial walk-off effect and avoids the need for periodic domain engineering. Furthermore, the angle-cut ridge waveguide scheme can be universally extended to other on-chip birefringent platforms where domain engineering is difficult or immature. The approach may open up an avenue for tunable nonlinear frequency conversion on integrated photonics for broad applications.

The geometry and operation parameters have important influences on the performance of steam ejectors. An axisymmetric two-dimensional mathematical model for transonic compressible flow inside a steam ejector has been established in this paper to investigate the flow characteristics inside steam ejectors aiming at optimizing primary steam nozzle exit section distance and mixing chamber throat diameter simultaneously. The results show that there are an optimum value for the primary steam nozzle distance ratio and an optimum diameter ratio of mixing chamber throat to primary nozzle throat at which the steam ejector acquires its best entrainment performance under the given design conditions. With the optimized primary steam nozzle distance, the optimization of the diameter ratio of the mixing chamber throat to primary nozzle throat is significant. In our case, the improvement of the entrainment ratio is as large as 25%. Deviation from its optimized value may result in a serious degeneration in the ejector performance. Therefore, to ensure the steam ejector performance, the primary steam nozzle distance should be designed at its optimum value and the diameter ratio of the mixing chamber throat to primary nozzle throat be within a narrow vicinity of its optimum value.

Steam ejector plays a critical role in MED-TVC desalination system that can achieve a good balance between freshwater production and energy savings. In this study, a pressure regulation technology is proposed to optimize the entrained flow passage and thus improve the ejector performance. The theoretical basis is that there have some existing low-pressure potentials inside the ejector that can be used to alleviate the high-pressure effect and shock wave at the mixing chamber end. Then the feasibility verification and performance comparison of different pressure regulation schemes is implemented systematically. Analysis and research mainly pay attention to the influences of pressure regulations on the mass flow rate, the entrainment ratio and internal flow field. The results reveal that there is an optimum combination of pressure regulation schemes, by which a most considerable entrainment ratio improvement could be achieved, as large as 11.77% within the simulated conditions, and with 3.94% even under the design condition. More specifically, for the given steam ejector, TMCE pressure regulation could be used if the ejector operates under the design condition. For the off-design conditions, CMCE pressure regulation is the best choice if the back pressure is larger than 34 kPa, otherwise DMCE pressure regulation should be chosen.

Steam ejectors are regarded as a promising energy-saving technology, it is thus crucial to enhance its working performance for broader application horizons. In this study, a detailed simulation is made of a design steam ejector used in MED-TVC desalination system. The results discloses that there is actually a large entrained flow blocked region downstream the entraining entrance and significant low-pressure potentials inside the throat and diffuser whose pressure are far lower than that of the blocked region. Based on this finding, a so-called pressure regulation technology is proposed to use these existing pressure differences to dredge the blocked entrained flow, and thus more entrained steam could be drawn into the ejector. Then the feasibility verifications of different pressure regulation schemes are carried out, and a systematic analysis and investigation of their influences on the entrainment performance has been implemented systematically from the mass flow rate and pressure field. The results reveal that there is an optimum combination of pressure regulation schemes to dredge the blocked entrained flow effectively, by which a maximum and considerable entrainment ratio improvement could be achieved, as large as 26.85% in the covered simulations, and with 3.31% even under the design condition. To be specific, the throat-entraining entrance downstream pressure regulation should be adopted if the ejector operates under the design condition, otherwise, the combined-entraining entrance downstream pressure regulation is the best choice.

Shikimate dehydrogenase (HpSDH) (EC 1.1.1.25) is a key enzyme in the shikimate pathway of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), which catalyzes the NADPH-dependent reversible reduction of 3-dehydroshikimate to shikimate. Targeting HpSDH has been recognized as an attractive therapeutic strategy against H. pylori infection. Here, the catalytic active site in the crystal structure of HpSDH in complex with its substrate NADPH and product shikimate was examined in detail; the site can be divided into three spatially separated subpockets that separately correspond to the binding regions of shikimate, NADPH dihydronicotinamide moiety, and NADPH adenine moiety. Subsequently, a cascading protocol that integrated virtual screening and antibacterial test was performed against a biogenic compound library to identify biologically active, subpocket-specific inhibitors. Consequently, five, eight, and six promising compounds for, respectively, subpockets 1, 2, and 3 were selected from the top-100 docking-ranked hits, from which 11 compounds were determined to have high or moderate antibacterial potencies against two reference H. pylori strains, with MIC range between 8 and 93 μg/mL. It is found that the HpSDH active site prefers to accommodate amphipathic and polar inhibitors that consist of an aromatic core as well as a number of oxygen-rich polar/charged substituents such as hydroxyl, carbonyl, and carboxyl groups. Subpockets 1- and 2-specific inhibitors exhibit a generally higher activity than subpocket 3-specific inhibitors. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed an intense nonbonded network of hydrogen bonds, π-π stacking, and van der Waals contacts at the tightly packed complex interfaces of active-site subpockets with their cognate inhibitors, conferring strong stability and specificity to these complex systems. Binding energetic analysis demonstrated that the identified potent inhibitors can target their cognate subpockets with an effective selectivity over noncognate ones.

It is crucial to enhance the entrainment performance of steam ejectors which operate under double-critical conditions to widen their application in industries. In this paper, combined auxiliary entrainment technical approach is proposed and corresponding geometric structure optimization has implemented systematically, for a better use of the inside low-pressure potential thus greatly improving the entrainment performance of the steam ejector under double-critical conditions. Moreover, a comprehensive analysis and discussion of the influence of the geometrical parameters on the auxiliary entrainment performance has been obtained from mass flow rate, pressure field and special internal flow characteristics. The results reveal that the combined auxiliary entrainment is the best choice for the given steam ejector operating under the double-critical conditions, and the optimum geometrical parameters of throat auxiliary entraining entrance are same as the designed condition and remain unchanged. For the diffuser auxiliary entraining entrance, the opening starting position Xs could be set at the entrance of the diffuser identically, the opening angle could be chosen as a common range Rθ from 75° to 105°. However, the optimum opening width d increases with the decrease of back pressure pC. In general, there is an optimum geometrical parameters combination that the entrainment performance can achieve its maximum value for each pC. The smaller the pC, the bigger the entrainment ratio improvement, as large as 34.8% for pC of 32 kPa.

Steam ejectors are regarded as a promising energy-saving technology, which have been widely used in many industries. The aim of this paper is to optimize the geometrical parameters of the auxiliary entraining entrance that has a significant influence on the entrainment performance. In this study, the developed auxiliary entrainment and structure optimization make good use of the low-pressure potential inside the throat for performance improvement. Moreover, the influence of auxiliary entraining entrance geometric parameters on internal flow fields and mass flow rate have been obtained numerically and analyzed carefully, and the special internal flow characteristics are also presented and discussed in detail to emphasize the role of auxiliary entraining entrance geometric parameters in determining entrainment performance. The results reveal that the major influence factors of entrainment performance are the effective suction pressure area, the near-wall mixed steam velocity and the negative affect on main entraining entrance. And there are an optimum geometrical parameters combination of the auxiliary entraining entrance, whose opening center position is 119mm, opening width is 5 mm and opening angle is 90° for the given ejector and operation parameters, with a maximum entrainment ratio improvement of 3.80% comparing with that of the conventional designed steam ejector. Furthermore, the auxiliary entraining entrance can be designed in an appropriate range.

Sinusoidal wavy microchannels with secondary channels (SWSC) are developed to integrate advantages of the sinusoidal corrugated structure and the introduction of secondary channels in flow boiling enhancement. Flow boiling investigations of acetone are made with variation in the heat flux and mass flux range of 251–512 kg/(m2·s). The boiling curves, heat transfer coefficients, pressure drops and flow boiling instabilities are systematically investigated. The experimental results show that the SWSC microchannels can achieve better heat removal performance than the conventional rectangular microchannels (R). Besides, the premature ONB and delayed CHF can also be obtained. The increased density of bubble nucleation induced by the enlarged surface area and the liquid stored in the corner regions in the nucleate boiling dominated regime, as well as the continuously developing thin liquid film created by the introduction of secondary channels in the stable liquid film evaporation dominated regime are considered to be the main reasons for the notable enhancement in heat transfer. However, the SWSC microchannels suffer a higher pressure drop penalty. The pressure fluctuations and temperature fluctuations of the SWSC microchannels are also illustrated.

In this study, it is found that there exist several low-pressure regions whose pressure is lower than that of the entrained steam inside the ejector under both its designed and non-designed conditions. Thus a novel steam ejector with auxiliary entrainment is proposed to take full use of the possible low-pressure regions to entrain the extra low-grade entrained steam for energy conservation and performance improvement. The internal flow fields in the steam ejector with and without auxiliary entrainment have been obtained numerically. Analysis and research are mainly focused on the influences of the mixing chamber, ejector throat, diffuser auxiliary and combined auxiliary entrainment on the mass flow rate, the entrainment ratio, the internal pressure field and the shock wave phenomena of a given ejector. The results reveal that the throat and diffuser auxiliary entrainment can increase the entrainment ratio of the steam ejector under the simulated operation conditions. The throat auxiliary entrainment is a feasible choice for ejectors operating under the designed conditions and the combined auxiliary entrainment of the throat and the diffuser is the best choice for ejectors operating under non-designed conditions.

There is not a specific technical proposal to be able to achieve a clear presentation of the complex mixing process between the primary and entrained flows within the steam ejector. In this study, a novel ejector model with species transport is proposed that can clearly elucidate how, when, where and to what extent the two streams mix. Systematic quantitative analysis toward the mixing of two streams is performed from the perspectives of mass, momentum and energy transfer. Further, the similarities and differences of the mixing process among three analytical perspectives are clarified. Key results revealed that the mixing mainly occurs at the nearby of the local mixing layer, and there are still some distances from the homogenous mixing state after the mixing chamber process, only up to 80.6% the mixing uniformity φ obtains. Additionally, the mixing layer follows a similar growth trajectory, and φ increases as mixing continues regardless of an analytical perspective. However, a much faster mixing is observed from the mass transfer perspective. Specifically, φM (80.6%) is significantly larger than φV (60.7%) and φE (59.6%) at the mixing chamber outlet. It can be concluded that the essential mass mixing laws of the two streams are not necessarily achieving a complete replication whether from the perspective of momentum or energy transfer. These key findings provide a more in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the mixing process inside the ejector.

There is pressing need to explore the fundamental link between the mixing efficiency and the entrainment performance for ensuring an efficient working of ejector in the associated energy systems. This study details where, how and to what extent the primary and entrained flows mix inside the steam ejector through a novel ejector model with species transport. The evolution laws of the mixing layer growth, the entrainment performance and the mass transfer of two streams are systematically discussed under various operational conditions. Further, their fundament links are clearly presented in a form of functional relation. The key findings emerged from this study: The mixing begins over a fluctuating mixing layer since the mixing chamber entrance. In the situation of critical operational models, the mixing layer experiences a fluctuating and exponential growth successively, but its development is severely obstructed under the subcritical models. Additionally, the entrainment ratio and the non-mixing length ratio are highly linear correlation with the mass transfer ratio. The variations of operational parameters essentially change the relative mass transfer capacity of the entrained flow. The more easily the entrained flow mixes into the primary jet flow, a faster mixing layer growth and higher entrainment performance are to be gained.

Previous studies obtained the heat and mass transfer coefficients of Indirect evaporative coolers (IECs) with condensation based on the following assumptions: (1) empirical equations in the dry channel without water evaporation or condensation, or the boundary condition is assumed to be a constant surface heat flux or temperature so that constant values of Nusselt number can be employed for evaluating the heat transfer coefficient; and (2) Lewis number is assumed to be unity so that the mass transfer coefficients can be then calculated via the heat and mass transfer analogy. Thus far, the heat and mass transfer coefficients of IECs with condensation under naturally formed boundary condition are lacking. In this paper, an experimental-validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model has been established to investigate the heat and mass transfer processes of IECs incorporating the phenomenon of condensation. A single factor analysis and a multiple factor analysis are concurrently carried out to evaluate the effects of the nine parameters on the heat and mass transfer processes of IECs. Key findings revealed that both mean Nusselt and Sherwood numbers under the presented conditions are larger than those obtained under constant surface temperature and heat flux conditions; and the respective values of the primary and secondary Lewis numbers are observed to change from 0.37 to 0.75 and 0.70 to 0.85 which severely deviate from the conventional assumed value of unity. Finally, empirical correlations are developed for the mean heat and mass transfer coefficients based on an orthogonal test method. The simplified linear correlations can serve as new fundamental references to account for IEC that are consistently experiencing with condensation.

There are few systematic studies to investigate the inherent reason behind the evolution law of ejector performance, only some simple qualitative or roundabout analysis. In this paper, a double-choking theory is proposed to provide an in-depth explanation of the evolution laws of ejector performance. The systematic investigation and quantitative analysis focus on the influences of various operational and geometrical parameters on the ejector choking flows. Key results revealed that the flow area of the primary jet flow at the choking cross-section Apy almost linearly increases with higher primary flow pressure pp0, while the entrainment choking area Aey declines instead, and thus the entrainment ratio e decreases. The mixing pressure py significantly increases with entrainment pressure pe0, and Apy partly reduces. Consequently, Aey becomes larger and e is accordingly with an over-double increase. Apy undergoes a continuous decrease when the area ratio of primary nozzle λt increases, and thus e rises consistently although Aey1 eventually experiences a slight decrease. However, the choking state of the entrained flow would discontinue as λt exceeds its critical value λtc. Additionally, Aey increases substantially when the area ratio of the constant-area section λ3 enlarges, while Apy and py always remain unchanged. Accordingly, e follows the same increasing trajectory as Aey. These impactful results could serve as an essential guide for optimizing the ejector design, and also ensure a clearer perspective to understand the fundamental link between the ejector’s entrainment performance and choking flow.

This study proposes an improved microchannel heat sink with offset zigzag cavities to enhance boiling performance. Flow and heat transfer characteristics are experimentally investigated via a microscale boiling heat transfer visualization system using acetone as the working fluid. At mass fluxes of 285, 402, and 684 kg/(m 2 ·s) and heat fluxes of 1.31–80.26 W/cm 2 , the effects of heat and mass fluxes on flow pattern, heat transfer, wall temperature, and pressure drop of zigzag microchannel heat sink are analyzed and compared with conventional rectangle microchannel heat sink. Results show that the fluctuating amplitude first increases and then decreases with the increment of heat fluxes, thereby causing a quasi-steady and unstable boiling with small fluctuations. Instability becomes increasingly severe for the nucleate boiling area moves toward the inlet and flow reversal intensity increases with heat fluxes under low heat flux. With heat flux increased furtherly. The proportion of steam in the channel increases to reduce fluctuations. Compared with the rectangular microchannel, the zigzag microchannel evidently enhances heat transfer characteristic with lower wall temperature at the onset of nucleate boiling (ONB), higher heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and critical heat flux (CHF) and improves boiling stability by suppressing flow reversal and reducing two-phase pressure drop. The mechanism of zigzag microchannel enhancement boiling performance can be attributed to (1) the improved disturbance of the working fluid, which enhances forced convective boiling heat transfer and mitigates bubble coalescence and flow reversal strength; (2) the continuously developing liquid film and improved wettability maintain a stable liquid film evaporation and delay partial dry out. Increase in mass flux can improve CHF and reduce pressure drop albeit with high wall temperature of ONB. The local HTC is enhanced, except for the low heat fluxes, because the bubbles are condensed by liquid and cannot grow to absorb heat at low heat fluxes.

There are few available related studies about condensing flow regime in the transonic mixing process of steam ejector due to its extreme complexity, although it is of great importance for improving ejector entrainment performance and broadening its application. In this paper, a visualization experimental platform of desalination-oriented steam ejector is designed, and the condensing flow regimes under various entrainment pressures pH are captured from multiple perspectives, by means of direct photography approach. The results reveal that the supersonic jet flow is full with massive amounts of condensation droplets whose particle size distribution is not uniform at various vertical positions, and some easily lose their dynamic equilibrium. There exists a slant reverse condensing flow cross-section at the mixing chamber end, which moves upstream as pH rises and where great numbers of condensation droplets constantly generate around. The condensate quantity of each observation surface is different and increases with pH. The reverse condensing flow regime formed is very complex and accompanied by flexible swirls, clockwise circumferential flow and condensate dynamic accumulation. Then the generated condensate significantly reduces after multiple evaporations downstream the reverse cross-section. It is also found that the flow regime is similar at a same field of view, but diverse at the different fields of view. These meaningful results could serve as a good start point for reducing internal irreversible losses and tailoring ejector design, as well as refining and evaluating physical and mathematical two-phase flow ejector models.

Hepatic fibrosis is overly exuberant wound healing in which excessive connective tissue builds up in the liver. The treatment of hepatic fibrosis is still difficult and remains a challenge to the clinician. In recent years, the TGF-β signaling pathway regulator tyrosine kinase Abl has been raised as a new and promising target of hepatic fibrosis therapy. Here, considering that there are numerous drugs and drug-like compounds being approved or under clinical development and experimental investigation, it is expected that some of the existing drugs can be re-exploited as new agents to target Abl with the capability of suppressing hepatic fibrosis. To achieve this, a synthetic protocol that integrated molecular docking, affinity scoring dynamics simulation and free energy analysis was described to systematically profile the inhibitory potency of various drugs and drug-like compounds against the kinase domain of Abl. Consequently, 4 out of 13 tested drug candidates were successfully identified to have high-Abl inhibitory activities. By visually examining the dynamics behavior, structural basis and energetic property of few typical Abl-drug complex cases, a significantly different pattern of non-bonded interactions between the binding of active and inactive drug ligands to Abl receptor was revealed; the former is defined by strong, specific chemical forces, while the latter can only form non-specific hydrophobic contacts with slight atomic collisions.

To investigate the effect and mechanism of leptin (LEP) on the osteoblastic differentiation of hBMSCs in vitro.Whole bone marrow culture method was applied to culture hMBSCs and hBMSCs at passage 3 were divided into groups A, B, C, D, E and F, and when cell attachment was evident, 400, 200, 100 and 50 ng/mL LEP, 100 ng/mL BMP and common nutrient medium were added into each group, respectively. ALP staining and mineralized nodules staining were conducted at 7 and 21 days after culture, respectively. And inverted phase contrast microscope observation was performed. ALP activity and osteocalcin (OCN) level of hBMSCs in each group was detected at 7, 14 and 21 days after culture to select the best induced concentration of LEP on osteoblastic differentiation. For groups of B, E and F at 7 days after culture, RT-PCR was adopted to detect the expression of such osteogenesis-related genes as core-binding factor alpha 1 (Cbf alpha 1), ALP, Col I and OCN mRNA.At 7 days after induced culture, the ALP staining result showed that the endochylema in groups A, B, C, D and E were stained blue and the endochylema in the group F was slightly positive. At 21 days after induced culture, the mineralized nodules staining showed that cells in groups A, B, C, D and E were stained positively and cells in group F were negative. At 7, 14 and 21 days after culture, ALP and OCN activities in group B were less than that of group E (P0.05), but significant higher than that of groups A, C, D and F (P0.05), the optimal concentration of LEP was 200 ng/mL. At 7 days after culture, group F witnessed no expression of Cbf alpha 1, ALP, Col I and OCN mRNA, while groups B and E witnessed expressions of all those indexes, but the expressions in group B were less than those of group E.LEP can stimulate osteoblastic differentiation of hBMSCs in vitro, and the possible mechanism is its role of promoting the expression of osteoblastic related genes.