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Objective To investigate the effect of pioglitazone (PIO) on vascular endothelial cell (VEC) apoptosis induced by the high glucose and its mechanism. Methods The VECs in the logarithmic growth were randomly divided into 6 groups: group A, normal control group (Glu 5.5 mmol/L) ; group B, cultured in high glucose group (Glu 33 mmol/L) ; group C, high glucose +low concentrations PIO group (PIO 1 x 10-8 mmol/L) ; group D, high glucose + middle concentrations PIO group (PIO 1 x 10-6 mmol/L) ; group E, high glucose + high concentrations PIO group (1 x 10-4 mmol/L) ; group F, 10.0 µM SP600125 + PIO group (PIO 1 x 10-4 mmol/L) . The apoptosis rate in each group was measured by Annexin V/PI double staining. The protein expressions of JNK and p-JNK in each group were detected by Western-Blot, and the change of JNK phosphorylation in high glucose-induced vascular endothelial cell under the action of PIO was observed. Results (1) Compared to the high glucose group, middle concentrations PIO (l x 10-6 mmol/L) and high concentrations PIO (l x 10-4 mmol/L) reduced the apoptosis of VEC obviously (P< 0.05), in a dose-dependent manner. (2) PIO obviously decreased the phosphorylation level of JNK in high glucose group (P< 0.05), and in a dose-dependent manner. Compared to high glucose group, JNK inhibitor SP600125 declined the level of phosphrylation, and the difference was significant (P < 0.05) . Conclusion PIO can obviously inhibit VEC apoptosis induced by high glucose, the inhibition effect of PIO may be achieved by affecting the JNK pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and utilization of new energy is an important way to solve the energy shortage, environmental pollution and so on, which is also an effective power source for the development of low carbon economy. This paper starts with nonlinear dynamics, brings new energy into the dynamics system of energy-saving and emission-reduction and analyzes the effect of new energy on energy intensity and economic growth. Based on Lyapunov exponents and bifurcation diagrams, the dynamic behavior of the system is analyzed, energy-saving and emission-reduction attractor with new energy constraints is put forward. Artificial neural network is used to identify the quantitative coefficients in the simulation models according to the statistical data of China, and an empirical analysis of the real system is carried out with the results in perfect agreement with actual situation. The result shows that, by relying on the development of new energy or simply increasing investment to develop new energy, the effect of controlling energy intensity is not conspicuous. When the financial investment is too high, the inhibition effect on economic growth is great or fatal. Increasing overall investment in energy-saving and emission-reduction system which includes new energy, energy intensity could be declined better. When the overall investment gets larger, the inhibition effect on economic growth is also getting bigger in the early stage, however, with the further development of the dynamics system and the gradual maturity of new energy, the investment's promoting effect on economic growth is also very bigger. Numerical simulations are carried out to demonstrate the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon nanotube aerogel is a kind of carbon nanotube with dispersed properties. In this paper, carbon nanotube aerogels were prepared by independent research and development. The carbon nanotube aerogels/natural rubber composites were prepared by traditional crafts. The mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of the as-prepared composites were studied. The results suggest that the tensile strength, tear strength and thermal conductivity of the composites are 47%, 52% and 49.9%, respectively higher than those of the carbon black/natural rubber composites, and reveal the good dispersion characteristics and broad application prospects of the carbon nanotube aerogels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]