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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most fatal subtype of breast cancer. Tumor immune microenvironments (TIMEs) have critical influences on TNBC therapies. However, syngeneic mouse tumor models are insufficient to evaluate immunotherapeutic efficacy, because the different immune responses between mice and human. Therefore, human xenograft tumor mouse models with humanized immune systems (HIS) are more suitable for evaluation of immunotherapeutic efficacy. In these study, two immune humanized mouse models transferred with human hematopoietic stem cells (hHSC-HIS) or human peripheral mononuclear cells (hPBMC-HIS) in our advanced severe immune deficiency (ASID) mice were generated. Both systemic immune profiling and TIMEs of TNBC MDA-MB-231 tumors from hHSC- and hPBMC-HIS ASID models were compared. Generation of the comprehensive human immune system and large amounts of human macrophages/bone marrow-derived stromal cells around the TIMEs were noted in hHSC-HIS ASID mice, but the growth of TNBC was not affected. In contrast, T cells dominated the systemic immune system and TIMEs in hPBMC-HIS ASID mice, and inhibited the tumor growth. In summary, the TIMEs of hHSC-HIS ASID model is suitable for validations of immunotherapies reversing immune suppression. The TIMEs of hPBMC-HIS ASID can be applied for cytotoxicity test of tumor specific T cells.

The treatment of subglottic stenosis remains a challenge due to anatomic and technological limitations, and there is no consensus regarding treatment. Restenosis and granulation formation are the most common complications. Balloon dilatation combined with cryotherapy and adjuvant topical medication is one treatment method. However, the efficacy of adjuvant topical medication is controversial, and the lack of efficacy may be related to the effective dose of the drug delivered to the submucosal layer of the lesion. Therefore, a tool with high efficiency for delivering medications to the submucosal layer via injection may play an important role in treatment. A hybrid knife (HK) with a pressure water jet traditionally used in endoscopy submucosal dissection to inject saline into the submucosa was employed here to inject medications for subglottic stenosis, followed by electrical excision. Here, we report the case of a man with complex subglottic stenosis who underwent balloon dilatation combined with cryotherapy and an adjuvant submucosal triamcinolone injection performed with an HK. The drug was delivered more efficiently into the submucosal layer, and the lumen of the trachea was patent. Performing a submucosal injection with an HK may be a new approach to deliver medications to the submucosal layer for the treatment of tracheal stenosis.

Sigma-2 receptor (σ

There are many different types of valence of sufur in aluminate sodium solution during the process of the bauxite dissolution, which mainly including S2-, S22-, S, S2O32-, SO32-, SO42- and it may have an effect on the mineral dissolution process. Therefore, it is necessary that the thermodynamic properties of S-H2O system were investigated in sodium aluminate solution. In this paper, the reactions between different valence states of sulfur and lye (with or without oxygen participation) were studied in sodium aluminate solution. The thermodynamic software Factsage 7.0 was carried out to calculate the standard reaction Gibbs free energy (ΔGTθ). The results showed that S2- and SO42- are the most stability in terms of the autoreactive reaction of different valence states at 298-573 K, and that the stability of different valence states of sufur order is “S22- >(S2O32-, SO32-) >S”. At 523 K, SO32- is more stable than S2O32-. On the other hand, the low-valent sulfur was more likely to be oxidized into SO42- under oxidizing conditions at 298-573 K. Besides, it was also found that S22- is most susceptible to oxidation because of the lowest stability. Finally, the stability of the other valence states of sulfur under oxidizing conditions order is “SO32- >S2O32- >S2- >S”.

Background Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a serious lung problem with advancing and diffusive pulmonary fibrosis as the pathologic basis, and with oxidative stress and inflammation as the key pathogenesis. Glycyl-L-histidyl- l -lysine (GHK) is a tripeptide participating into wound healing and regeneration. GHK-Cu complexes improve GHK bioavailability. Thus, the current study aimed to explore the therapeutic role of GHK-Cu on bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis in a mouse model. Methods BLM (3 mg/kg) was administered via tracheal instillation (TI) to induce a pulmonary fibrosis model in C57BL/6j mice 21 days after the challenge of BLM. GHK-Cu was injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) at different dosage of 0.2, 2 and 20 μg/g/day in 0.5 ml PBS on alternate day. The histological changes, inflammation response, the collagen deposition and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was evaluated in the lung tissue. EMT was evaluated by ɑ-SMA and fibronectin expression in the lung tissue. NF-κB p65, Nrf2 and TGFβ1/Smad2/3 signalling pathways were detected by immunoblotting analysis. Results GHK-Cu complex inhibited BLM-induced inflammatory and fibrotic pathological changes, alleviated the inflammatory response in the BALF by reducing the levels of the inflammatory cytokines, TNF-ɑ and IL-6 and the activity of MPO as well as reduced collagen deposition. In addition, the GHK-Cu treatment significantly reversed the MMP-9/TIMP-1 imbalance and partially prevented EMT via Nrf2, NF-κB and TGFβ1 pathways, as well as Smad2/3 phosphorylation. Conclusions GHK-Cu presented a protective effect in BLM-induced inflammation and oxidative stress by inhibiting EMT progression and suppressing TGFβ1/Smad2/3 signalling in pulmonary fibrosis.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease and characterized by dementia, memory decline, loss of learning and cognitive disorder. The main pathological features of AD are the deposition of amyloid plaques and the formation of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in the brain. The current anti-AD drugs have shown unsatisfactory therapeutic results. Due to the complications and unclear pathogenesis, AD is still irreversible and incurable. Among several hypotheses proposed by the academic community, the amyloid cascade is widely recognized by scholars and supported by a large amount of evidences. However, controversy over pathogenic factors has also been ongoing. Increasing evidence has shown that amyloid-β (Aβ) and especially amyloid-β oligomers (AβOs) are highly neurotoxic and pathogenic agents that damage neurons, mediate various receptors in the downstream pathways, and ultimately lead to learning and cognitive dysfunction. However, efforts in developing inhibitors of Aβ or amyloid-β precursor protein (APP) have all failed to yield good clinical results. More recently, it has been demonstrated that sigma receptors, including sigma-1 and sigma-2 subtypes, may play critical roles in the regulation of binding and metabolism of AβOs in neuron cells and the pathophysiology of AD. Thus, sigma receptor ligands are being recognized as promising therapeutic agents for treating or ameliorating AD. This article will review the pathophysiology of AD and highlight the sigma ligands that display the capability of preventing or even reversing Aβ- and AβOs-induced neurotoxicity and blocking the signal transduction caused by AβOs.

Flower-like CuO/ZnO/SiNWs nanostructures were successfully synthesized on SiNWs substrates using a simple hydrothermal method. The characteristics of the CuO/ZnO/SiNWs nanostructures were investigated through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and UV–vis spectrophotometer. SEM images revealed shape transitions when the precursor mass ratic increased from 50:50 to 5:95. The strong intensity and narrow width of XRD peaks indicate that CuO/ZnO nanostructures with high molarities have good crystallinity. The UV–vis spectro-photometer indicate that ultraviolet emissions shift slightly toward lower wavelengths with incr-easing precursor solution molarity and that the intensity increases with improvement in CuO/ZnO/SiNWs crystallization.The mechanism of CuO/ZnO/SiNWs for improvement in photocatalytic activity was also discussed.

In this work, graphene quantum dots were simply and rapidly prepared by thermal decomposition of citric acid. The resulting graphene quantum dots shows good dispersion and high crystallinity, the sizes can be effectively adjusted by controlling the temperature of decomposition. The results indicate that with the increase of temperature, the size of GQDs increased from 2 nm to 12 nm. The effect of the size of graphene quantum dots on the optical properties were carefully studied. Based on the optical properties and electrochemical results, the HOMO and LUMO value of GQDs with different sizes were obtained and the band gap becomes smaller from 3.36 eV to 2.87 eV with the increase of size of GQDs, which provides a potential application in the field of optoelectronic devices.

NiMoB alloy films were deposited on silicon substrate by electroless deposition for diffusion barrier application in copper interconnects technology. NiMoB(40nm)/SiO2/Si and NiMoB(20nm)/Cu (40nm)/NiMoB(40nm)/SiO2/Si samples were prepared and annealed at temperatures ranging from 400◦C to 600◦C. Samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Four Point Probes (FPP) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to investigate the phases, composition, sheet resistance and surface morphology. The results showed that electroless deposited NiMoB film can be used as an effective Cu diffusion barrier layer until 500◦C. And the failure mechanism is that NiMoB crystallized and grains grew after annealing at high temperature, a large number of Cu grains passed through NiMoB film via grain boundaries and then reacted with Si substrate and oxygen, causing the generation of highly resistive Cu4Si and CuO.

Vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF)-C promotes tumorigenesis by allowing lymph node metastasis and lymphangiogenesis, among other actions. RNA interference (RNAi) is a novel technique for suppressing target gene expression and may increase the effectiveness of cancer treatments. The present study assessed the influence of VEGF-C RNAi on the apoptosis and proliferation of mouse breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. A total of three pairs of small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting mouse VEGF-C were designed and synthesized prior to transfection into 4T1 cells via a liposomal approach. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, western blot analysis, a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, Hoechst 33258 staining and flow cytometry were performed in vitro to analyze VEGF-C expression, cleaved caspase-3 protein expression and 4T1 cell proliferation and apoptosis. Experiments were also conducted in vivo on BALB/c mice with breast cancer. Tumor weight and volume were measured and the number of apoptotic cells in tumor tissues was assessed by a TUNEL assay. Immunohistochemical assays and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to measure the expression of VEGF-C in tumor tissues. The results demonstrated that the three pairs of siRNA, particularly siV2, significantly reduced VEGF-C mRNA and protein levels in 4T1 cells. siV2 was deemed to be the most efficient siRNA and therefore was selected to be used in subsequent experiments. Furthermore, in vitro studies indicated that VEGF-C RNAi significantly decreased cell growth, induced apoptosis and upregulated the expression of cleaved caspase-3 protein. Tumor weight and volume in breast cancer in vivo models was reduced by the intratumoral injection of siV2. Antitumor efficacy was associated with decreased VEGF-C expression and increased induction of apoptosis. The present study therefore indicated that VEGF-C RNAi inhibited mouse breast cancer growth in vitro and in vivo and that it may be a novel targeted therapy for breast cancer.

The crystallization behavior of mold fluxes containing 0—8 mass% TiO2 was investigated using the single hot thermocouple technique (SHTT) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to study the possible effects on the coordination of heat transfer control and strand lubrication for casting crack-sensitive peritectic steels. Time-temperature-transformation (TTT) and continuous-cooling-transformation (CCT) curves were plotted using the data obtained from SHTT to characterize the crystallization of the mold fluxes. The results showed that crystallization of the mold fluxes during isothermal and non isothermal processes was suppressed with TiO2 addition. From the TTT curves, it could be seen that the incubation and growth time of crystallization increased significantly with TiO2 addition. The CCT curves showed that the crystallization temperature initially decreased, and then suddenly increased with increasing the TiO2 content. XRD analysis suggested the presence of cuspidine in the mold fluxes with lower TiO2 content (

In this work, directional solidification was performed for multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) ingot casting. The initial nucleation at the bottom of the silicon melt could be controlled by changing the cooling rate from 9 to 20μm/s. Metallographic microscope, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Microwave photoconductivity decay meter (μ-PCD) and four-point probe resistivity tester were used to investigate the microstructure, crystal orientation and electrical properties of the mc-Si ingots. The obtained results showed that cooling rate at 17μm/s is the optimum condition for the mc-Si ingots casting, under which the prepared ingot has lower dislocation density of 6×10-3 cm-2, better electrical properties, more uniformer resistivity distribution with an average value of 0.68 Ω×cm and higher minority carrier lifetime with a maximum value of 1.8 μs than that of in the other cooling rate conditions.

CoMoB film was prepared on Si substrate via electroless deposition as the diffusion barrier for ULSI-Cu metallization. Annealing experiments of CoMoB(30nm) film and CoMoB(10nm)/Cu (40nm)/CoMoB(30nm)/SiO2/Si multi-films were carried out in the temperature range from 400◦C to 700◦C. Failure temperature and mechanism of Cu diffusion in CoMoB film were discussed. The composition, sheet resistance and morphology of the film were investigated by X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Four Point Probe (FPP) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), respectively. It can be concluded that the failure temperature of CoMoB film is 600◦C. The main reason of failure is that a large number of Cu particles passed through CoMoB grain boundary and reacted with Si substrate to generate Cu4Si with high resistance.

Porous silicon (PS) was prepared with catalyst of Cu nanoparticles in HF/H2O2 solutions. The effects of the key fabrication parameters (amount of copper, etching temperature and concentration of H2O2) on the nanostructure of PS were systematically investigated and discussed. The experimental results indicated that the porosity of PS increased with the amount of copper, the reaction temperature and the concentration of H2O2, respectively. Copper can be used as catalyst to assist in etching silicon and the evolution process of copper nanoparticles was explored showing that the mass of copper experienced a drastic reduction in the first 60 seconds. A mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of PS by Cu-assisted chemical etching.

Stain etching, one step metal assisted chemical etching (1-MACE) and two-step metal assisted chemical etching (2-MACE) were used for preparing porous silicon powders (PSPs) based on metallurgical silicon powder. The influences of different oxidants species and concentrations on the structure of PSP were discussed. The results indicated that the different oxidant species has an important effect on the morphology and structure of PSP. In stain etching, there is still a challenge for fabricating PSP with uniform and controlled pore size structure. In contrast, metal-assisted chemical etching method is easier to prepare PSPs sample with uniform depth and pore size than stain etching, In 1-MACE, the growth rate of the PSPs pore was between 0.05 and 0.10 μm/min, which is far less than that of 2-MACE (about 0.2~0.5 μm/min). Furthermore, 2-MACE showed more advantages than stain etching and 1-MACE in controlling of pore size range and structure.

Sigma-2 receptor (σ2R/TMEM97) has been implicated to play important roles in multiple cellular dysfunctions, such as cell neoplastic proliferation, neuro-inflammation, neurodegeneration, etc. Selective σ2 ligands are believed to be promising pharmacological tools to regulate or diagnose various disorders. As an ongoing effort of discovery of new and selective σ2 ligands, we have synthesized a series of tetrahydroisoquinolino-2-alkyl phenone analogs and identified that 10 of them have moderate to potent affinity and selectivity for σ2R/TMEM97. Especially, 4 analogs showed Ki values ranging from 0.38 to 5.1 nM for σ2R/TMEM97 with no or low affinity for sigma-1 receptor (σ1R). Functional assays indicated that these 4 most potent analogs had no effects on intracellular calcium concentration and were classified as putative σ2R/TMEM97 antagonists according to current understanding. The σ2R/TMEM97 has been suggested to play important roles in the central nervous system. Based on published pharmacological and clinical results from several regarded σ2R/TMEM97 antagonists, these analogs may potentially be useful for the treatment of various neurodegenerative diseases.

The scarcity of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) significantly hindered their clinical potentials. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) has become the leading source of HSCs for both research and clinical applications. But the low content of HSCs in a single UCB unit limited its use only to pediatric patients. Various cytokines and small molecules have demonstrated strong abilities in promoting HSC ex vivo expansion, of which UM171 is the newest and by far the most potent HSC ex vivo expansion agent. In this study, we synthesized 37 pyrimidoindole analogs and identified 6 compounds to be potent in promoting HSC ex vivo expansion. In particular, analog 11 was found to be the most effective in stimulating ex vivo expansion of UCB CD34+ cells and CD34+CD38− cells. Initial data indicated that compound 11 promoted the absolute number of long term HSCs and inhibited their differentiation. UCB HSCs expanded with 11 retained adequate multi-lineage differentiation capacity. In addition, compound 11 is not cytotoxic at its test concentrations, suggesting that it merits further investigation for potential clinical applications.

Qin Zhang,1 Yan-xia Li,2 Xue-lian Li,3 Yan Yin,1 Rui-lan Li,1 Xin Qiao,1 Wei Li,1 Hai-feng Ma,1 Wen-hui Ma,1 Yu-feng Han,1 Guang-qiao Zeng,4 Qiu-yue Wang,1 Jian Kang,1 Gang Hou1 1Institute of Respiratory Disease, First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China; 2Department of Respiratory Medicine, First Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China; 3Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China; 4State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China Purpose: The sit-to-stand test (STST) has been used to evaluate the exercise tolerance of patients with COPD. However, mutual comparisons to predict poor exercise tolerance have been hindered by the variety of STST modes used in previous studies, which also did not consider patients’ subjective perceptions of different STST modes. Our aim was to compare the five-repetition sit-to-stand test (5STS) with the 30-second sit-to-stand test (30STS) for predicting poor performance in the six-minute walking test and to evaluate patients’ subjective perceptions to determine the optimal mode for clinical practice. Patients and methods: Patients with stable COPD performed 5STS, 30STS and the 6MWT and then evaluated their feelings about the two STST modes by Borg dyspnea score and a questionnaire. Moreover, we collected data through the pulmonary function test, mMRC dyspnea score, COPD assessment test and quadriceps muscle strength (QMS). A receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of the 5STS and 30STS results was used to predict 6-minute walk distance (6MWD)

Metastasis constantly occurs in the majority of cases of primary breast cancer at late stage or following surgical treatment. Survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family, has long been recognized as a promising anticancer target, but its antitumor effects remain largely unexplored. In order to elucidate the role of survivin in breast cancer metastasis, short interfering RNA (siRNA) was used in the present study to specifically downregulate survivin expression in the murine breast cancer cell line 4T1. The results demonstrated that blocking the expression of survivin by siRNA inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion abilities of murine breast cancer cells in vitro. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C is a lymphatic endothelial cell-stimulating factor that may lead to the formation of lymphatic vessels in lymph nodes. In the present study, the inhibition of survivin by siRNA was able to reduce the overexpression of VEGF-C in 4T1 cells. Furthermore, intratumoral injections of the survivin-siRNA significantly inhibited the growth of orthotopically transplanted 4T1 tumors in vivo. In addition, the number of pulmonary metastases and the microlymphatic vessel density were significantly reduced in vivo, following transfection with survivin-siRNA. The results of the present study suggested that the Akt/hypoxia-inducible factor-1α signaling pathway participates in the survivin-mediated downregulation of VEGF-C expression observed in breast cancer cells treated with survivin-siRNA. Therefore, the use of siRNA specifically targeting survivin may be a potential anticancer method in the future.

Coal fly ash (CFA), as a major solid waste of coal-fired power plants in China, is widely applied in building materials, pavement, and soil improvement. However, its potential value hasn’t been fully utilized yet. In recent years, CFA has received attractive attention as a potential raw material to prepare Al-Si alloy because of the main components of SiO2, Al2O3 and a small amount of iron in it. The presence of iron in CFA will benefit the process of carbothermic reduction which can be carried out at lower temperature for preparing Al-Si alloys. On the other hand, the content of iron in the Al-Si alloys products need to be controlled strictly, otherwise it will have the significant influence on the mechanical properties of the alloys and lead to the formation of excessive shrinkage defects. In this paper, we studied the necessity for deironing from Al-Si alloys prepared by CFA via hydrometallurgy pretreatment. Results indicate that the optimal route to prepare the qualified Al-Si alloys products is to remove most of the iron from CFA using hydrometallurgical pretreatment before carbothermic reduction. Other pyrometallurgy refining methods are applied to further deironing if necessary after the primary Al-Si alloys are obtained.

This work investigates the removal of B in Si by the addition of Zr in the electromagnetic solidification refinement of silicon-aluminum melts. As Zr has a strong affinity for B and can form the thermodynamically stable compound of ZrB2, the B content of lower-grade Si is expected to be effectively removed by adding a small amount of Zr to the Si-55 at% Al melt. The results show that Zr is strongly responsible for the decrease in B content of refined Si. The removal fraction of B significantly increased from 60.2% to 97.3% by adding a small amount of Zr (0 to 3500 ppmw). In addition, the removal fraction of Zr from Si was found to be as high as 98.6%; however, its residual content in the refined Si was significantly larger than its solid solubility in Si, possibly due to the non-equilibrium solidification occurring during the refining process.

La0.9Sr0.1Ga0.8Mg0.2O3-δ (LSGM) electrolyte thin films were fabricated on La0.7Sr0.3Cr0.5Mn0.5O2.75 (LSCM) porous anode substrates by Radio Frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method. The compatibility between LSGM and LSCM was examined. Microstructures of LSGM thin films fabricated were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The effect of substrate temperature on LSGM thin films was clarified by X-ray Diffraction (XRD). Deposition rate increases firstly at the range of 50°C~150°C, and then decreases at the range of 150°C ~300°C. After annealing, perovskite structure with the same growth orientation forms at different substrate temperature. Crystallite size decreases at first, to the minimum point at 150°C, then increases as substrate temperature rises.

Several methods of deep desulfurization in alumina production process were studied, and the costs of these methods were compared. It is found that most of the S2−removed by adding sodium nitrate or hydrogen peroxide in digestion process, and in this way the effect of S2− on alumina product quality is eliminated. However, the removal efficiency of S2O32− in sodium aluminate solution is very low by this method. Both S2− and S2O32− in sodium aluminate solution can be removed completely by wet oxidation method in digestion process. The cost of desulfurization by wet oxidation is lower than by adding sodium nitrate or hydrogen peroxide. The results of this research reveal that wet oxidation is an economical and feasible method for the removal of sulfur in alumina production process to improve alumina quality, and provide valuable guidelines for alumina production by high-sulfur bauxite.

Omega‑3 and ‑6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) can directly or indirectly regulate immune homeostasis via inflammatory pathways, and components of these pathways are crucial targets of microRNAs (miRNAs). However, no study has examined the changes in the miRNA transcriptome during PUFA‑regulated inflammatory processes. Here, we established PUFA diet‑induced autoimmune‑prone (AP) and autoimmune‑averse (AA) rat models, and studied their physical characteristics and immune status. Additionally, miRNA expression patterns in the rat models were compared using microarray assays and bioinformatic methods. A total of 54 miRNAs were differentially expressed in common between the AP and the AA rats, and the changes in rno‑miR‑19b‑3p, ‑146b‑5p and ‑183‑5p expression were validated using stem‑loop reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction. To better understand the mechanisms underlying PUFA‑regulated miRNA changes during inflammation, computational algorithms and biological databases were used to identify the target genes of the three validated miRNAs. Furthermore, Gene Ontology (GO) term annotation and KEGG pathway analyses of the miRNA targets further allowed to explore the potential implication of the miRNAs in inflammatory pathways. The predicted PUFA‑regulated inflammatory pathways included the Toll‑like receptor (TLR), T cell receptor (TCR), NOD‑like receptor (NLR), RIG‑I‑like receptor (RLR), mitogen‑activated protein kinase (MAPK) and the transforming growth factor‑β (TGF‑β) pathway. This study is the first report, to the best of our knowledge, on in vivo comparative profiling of miRNA transcriptomes in PUFA diet‑induced inflammatory rat models using a microarray approach. The results provide a useful resource for future investigation of the role of PUFA‑regulated miRNAs in immune homeostasis.

Chemical investigation on the endophytic fungus Penicillium sp. B21 from the leaf of Bruguiera sexangula var. rhynchopetala led to the isolation of a new compound, penicitrinone acetate (1), the structure of which was elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including 2D NMR techniques.

The present study aimed to determine the effects of Tianxiangdan Granule on nuclear factor (NF)-κB p65 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inflammatory signaling pathways, and explored the possible mechanism underlying the effects of Tianxiangdan Granule on prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis. A total of 48 apolipoprotein E−/− mice (age, 8 weeks) were selected and divided into two groups: The normal control group (n=12) and the modeling group (n=36). In the modeling group, mice were fed a high-fat diet and were maintained in an artificial climate box, in order to stimulate the climate and eating habit characteristics of Xinjiang. Every morning, ApoE−/− mice in the modeling group were placed in the artificial climate box at 10:00 am and were taken out at 09:00 pm and placed back in the room temperature environment. The temperature of the artificial climate box was set at 6±2°C, relative humidity was controlled at 25–32.8% and the light-dark cycle was 12 h/day. The purpose of this method was to establish the Huizhuo Tanzu type atherosclerosis model. Following successful generation of the model, mice in the modeling group were randomly divided into three groups: Model group (n=10), Tianxiangdan group (n=10) and atorvastatin group (n=10). After 12 weeks, mice were sacrificed and the serum levels of interleukin (IL)-1β and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in each group were detected. Furthermore, the expression levels of NF-κB p65 and p38 MAPK in aortic tissue were detected. The results indicated that the concentrations of IL-1β and TNF-α were significantly higher in mice in the model group compared with in the normal control group (P

Solar grade silicon and modified Al-Si alloys are widely used in the world. These two favored materials are expected to obtain by the electromagnetic directional solidification of hypereutectic Al-Si melts. The segregation of hypereutectic Al-Si alloy is feasible with respect to the process of either pull-up or drop-down in electromagnetic directional solidification. To explore the segregation efficiency, experiments have been conducted in a high-frequency induction furnace with different pulling conditions of hypereutectic Al-Si melts. The results show that the segregation efficiency of dropping-down is higher than that of pulling-up; the slower dropping-down rate lead to higher segregation efficiency in the electromagnetic directional solidification; increasing the temperature gradient may promote the separation efficiency. A separation mechanism model responsible for the formation of the distribution of primary silicon in the cross-sections is also proposed. Wish to provide theoretical basis for the more efficiency of the segregation of hypereutectic Al-Si melts.

Monodisperse mesoporous silica microspheres (MSM-SF) were successfully prepared through PICA and pseudomorphic transformation using silica fume as original silica source. The structure and morphology of spheres were quantitatively investigated by Zata potential and particle size analyzer, N2 sorption isotherms, XRD, SEM and TEM. The results showed that the monodisperse spherical mesoporous silica microspheres (MSM-SF) exhibited uniform spherical morphology, worm-like mesoporous, large BET surface area of 559.9m2/g; its BJH average pore size diameter and total pore volume are 3.3nm and 0.12cm3/g, respectively. This preparation method provides a new synthetic strategy to control the particle morphology and structure simultaneously, meanwhile this method can also significantly reduce the cost of synthesis of mesoporous silica microspheres.

HfSiN/Cu/HfSiN/SiO2/Si multilayer films were prepared on Si substrate via magnetron sputtering technology. Annealing experiments of samples among 400°C and 700°C were carried out in order to investigate the anti-diffusion performance of HfSiN thin film to Cu. XRD, AFM and FPP were used to characterize the structure, morphology and the resistivity of the thin films before and after annealing, respectively. The failure temperature and failure mechanism of HfSiN thin film were analyzed. The anti-diffusion failure temperature of HfSiN thin film is 600 °C. And the main reason is that a large number of Cu large particles passed through HfSiN diffusion barrier layer and reacted with Si substrate and oxygen to generate Cu3Si and CuO with high resistance.

The multicrystalline silicon wafers purified by directional solidification route were used to introduce copper impurities. The resistivity and minority carrier lifetime of multicrystalline silicon wafers were investigated by four-point probe resistivity tester and μ-PCD, respectively. Annealing temperature, atmosphere and cooling rate were researched. It was found that copper contaminants have a greater impact on the electrical properties of multicrystalline silicon. Research results showed that copper impurities tend to exist at defect sites at high temperature, and high annealing temperature, argon atmosphere and slow cooling conditions make more impact on the electrical properties of multicrystalline silicon than low annealing temperature, air atmosphere and fast cooling.

This paper discusses the way to realize the intercollegiate cooperation under the network environment. The ultimate aim is to promote students' effective learning ability. Analysis of the characteristics of effective learning under the network environment puts forward the experience, from the value of the income oriented learning early design participatory learning activities, into the earning guidance for effective learning strategies. And finally verify the effectiveness of these strategies can improve the learning under Internet environment, and promoting teachers' educational technology ability promotion.

La0.9Sr0.1Ga0.8Mg0.2O2.85 (LSGM) electrolyte films were successfully prepared by slurry spin coating method on porous La0.7Sr0.3Cr0.5Mn0.5O2.75 (LSCM) anode substrates. Ethyl celluloses content, coating cycles for slurry spin coating on the fabrication LSGM electrolyte films were investigated. The compatibility between LSGM and LSCM powders, microstructures and electricity conductivity of fabricated LSGM films were examined using XRD, SEM and electrochemical workstation. The film with good apparent morphology and electrical conductivity were obtained when the operating parameters were setted as the content of ethyl cellulose 10wt%, and the coating cycles 5.

The LSCM (La0.7Sr0.3Cr0.5Mn0.5O3-δ) powders were synthesized by glycine-nitrate process (GNP). An anode functional layer (AFL) LSCM was fabricated on an porous NiO-LSCM anode substrate by slurry spin coating. The effect of pore-former, sintering temperature and sintering time on the quality of thin film was investigated. The film with good apparent morphology was obtained when the operating parameters were fixed as follows: the pore-former is ethyl cellulose, the content of ethyl cellulose is 5 wt.%, the sintering temperature is 1000 °C and the sintering time is 4 h.

The anodic current-potential behaviors of PS fabrication by doubled-cell electrochemical etching method have been studied. There are three reaction regions: porous silicon formation region, a transition region and electropolishing region in I-V curves. Polishing current and the HF acid concentration has a directly proportional relationship, the electropolishing current of silicon increased with the increase of the concentration of HF, in a certain concentration range. The electropolishing current of silicon increased with increasing the sweep rate on the condition of the same HF concentration.

The UF resin/SiO2 composites microspheres with particle size of 2μm were successfully prepared by polymerization of silica sol from base-catalyzed hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate, and urea-formaldehyde via the PICA approach, and then calcination in air to remove organic UF resin and yield porous silica microspheres. The samples were characterized by Zetasizer NanoZS Instrument, SEM and Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. The results showed that the synthesized porous silica microspheres with a BET surface area of 67.01m2/g, a BJH average pore size diameter of 37.32 nm and a total pore volume of 0.69cm3/g, respectively.

In present, refining of metallurgical grade silicon is one of the promising routes to low-cost solar grade silicon for solar cells. Alloying with Ca has shown a great potential as efficient refining method of MG-Si in combination with acid leaching. Compared with Ca metal, Ca-Si alloy is cheaper and more secure. Great removal of impurity depends on microstructure of MG-Si after alloyed with Ca-Si alloy. In the work, the change of impurity phase which was performed by the change of the microstructure of MG-Si before and after alloyed with Ca-Si alloy has been analyzed. It was determined that CaSi2phase contained significant phosphorus content after alloying with Ca-Si alloy, It also investigated the optimal acid leaching condition after leaching, which confirmed that metallurgical grade silicon with Ca-Si alloy addition followed by acid leaching could be a potential route to remove phosphorus from MG-Si.

The microstructure and impurities distribution in metallurgical grade silicon with treated by CaO-SiO2 and Na2O-SiO2 slags were investigated. An exhaustive analysis of the transformation of precipitated phase at grain boundaries has been carried out. Prior to slag treatment, Si-Fe system intermetallic was the primary precipitated phase in metalllurgical grade silicon. After treated by CaO-SiO2 slag, Si-Ca system intermetallic became the main precipitated phase, such as Si-Ca, Si-Ca-Ti, Si-Ca-Al and Si-Fe-Ca. But Na2O-SiO2 slag had another result on refining metallurgical grade silicon; only Si-Fe-Ti phase was generated in precipitated phase and the low level of sodium in treated silicon was obtained.

The temperature distribution has important influence on the position and shape of solid-liquid interface during directional solidification process. So the calculation of temperature field is fairly significant for both structural analysis and temperature control. In this paper, the finite element method is applied to establish the 2D axisymmetric model for modeling the temperature distribution and the solid-liquid interface shape of multicrystalline silicon in semi-industrial directional solidification furnace. The numerical results show that the temperature field and solid-liquid interface shape can be controlled by adjusting the pulling rate in directional solidification process, and an optimized pulling rate of this system was obtained for large diameter silicon crystals with low defect density and uniform dopant distribution.