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Abstract Water management is a critical issue to be solved efficiently for an air-breathing direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The cell performance decreases sharply once the water flooding occurs. In this paper, a novel strategy of water removal is proposed by incorporating a functional self-made expanded metal mesh, which can be used as the cathode flow field in a DMFC. Experiments show that water can be directly discharged in the form of water film or water line from the water outlet to the bottom underneath the expanded mesh. The water management can be further improved by using absorbent cottons, suitable feed rates and an upright texture direction of the metal mesh. Results also show that only a few mesh openings are blocked by water when the tested device tilts from 60° to 120°. In a real DMFC, the expanded mesh displays an excellent ability in water removal compared to the traditional perforated flow fields. The cathode water only gathers at the bottom and covers very few mesh openings. This new method helps efficiently avoid the issue of water flooding at the cathode using the expanded mesh. Highlights • Forced under-rib water removal by using metal mesh is proposed and validated. • Evolvement process of water passage is visually observed. • Improved methods for water management are investigated. • Generated water only gathers at the bottom and covers just a few mesh openings. • The issue of water flooding at the cathode is efficiently avoided in a real DMFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This meta-analysis assessed the treatment effectiveness of acupuncture in patients with vascular dementia.Methods: The PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched to identify eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The odds ratios (ORs) and weighted mean differences (WMDs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the pooled effect estimates using a random-effects model for categorical and continuous outcomes, respectively.Results: Thirty-four RCTs (2672 patients) were selected for the final meta-analysis. The use of acupuncture showed association with an increased incidence of effective rate (OR: 3.28; 95 % CI: 2.54-4.24; P < 0.001). The pooled WMDs revealed that acupuncture was significantly associated with an improvement in the Hasegawa dementia scale (HDS) (WMD: 4.31; 95 % CI: 3.15-5.47; P < 0.001), and Mini-Mental State Examination scores (MMSE) (WMD: 3.07; 95 % CI: 2.40-3.74; P < 0.001). However, the use of acupuncture showed no association with the level of Activities of daily living (ADL) (WMD: 1.93; 95 % CI: - 2.53 to 6.38; P = 0.397). Finally, acupuncture was associated with lower levels of Scale for the differentiation of syndromes of vascular dementia (SDSVD) (WMD: - 2.15; 95 % CI: - 4.14 to - 0.16; P = 0.034), and National Institutes of Health stroke scale (NIHSS) (WMD: - 3.90; 95 % CI: - 4.87 to - 2.94; P < 0.001).Conclusions: Acupuncture is probably helpful in vascular stroke, but strong supportive data are not yet available. Acupuncture should be used cautiously, owing to the analysis of this study based on low to moderate evidence. Further high-quality, large-scale RCTs should be conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determined direct evaporative cooling with Lanzhou subway summer air-conditioning outdoor calculated dry bulb and wet bulb temperature of 28.2 °C and 18.1 °C respectively. In turn, by simulating the entry conditions, tested the stainless steel packing, the aluminum foil packing, the plant fiber packing, the glass fiber packing and polymer filler packing 5different packing types at the different thickness, different face velocity and different combination of water spray density of direct evaporative cooling efficiency and resistance, ultimately determined to use the stainless steel packing. Tested the stainless steel packing small prototype, preliminarily determine the best thickness is 450 mm; the best face velocity is 3 m/s; the [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of the produced carbon dioxide (CO 2) is important to improve the performance of a liquid-feed direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). This work investigates the CO 2 bubble behaviors and the two-phase flow characteristics, using a single sinusoidal corrugated channel as the anode flow field. The magnitude and gradient of the fluid velocity in this channel is higher than the traditional straight pattern, as proven by tracking CO 2 bubbles. The use of high magnitude and gradient of velocity enhances CO 2 emission and fuel delivery, as well as increases the pressure drop. The vortices in the disturbance structure of the corrugated channel help uniformly deliver the reactants and separate bubbles away from the channel wall. Using excessive values of amplitude A and angular frequency W in the corrugated channel causes serious bubble deformation and extra energy consumption. The effect of disturbance structure is negligible with small values of these two parameters. The cell with a corrugated channel shows a higher performance at different feed rates and concentrations of the methanol fuel. The optimal value of A and W are respectively 0.1and 5. The visualization tests demonstrate that the appearance of CO 2 bubbles in the corrugated channel is consistent with the simulation results. • A single-serpentine sinusoidal corrugated channel is used as the anode flow field. • Bubble behaviors are investigated by both simulation and visualization test. • The effects of two-phase flow characteristics on cell performance are studied. • The optimal parameters of amplitude A and angular frequency W are obtained. • The new flow field is preferred due to its functions in two-phase flow regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• BAFF-Trap is a novel fusion protein that contains the BAFF-binding domains of two BAFF receptors (TACI and BAFF-R), specifically neutralizes BAFF in vitro and vivo. • BAFF-Trap not only shows good therapeutic effects in arthritis mouse models, but also can treat SLE model mice. • BAFF-Trap reduce the content of B cells by neutralizing BAFF , while also regulating other immune cells, such as mDC, pDC, monocyte and macrophage, etc., thereby affecting the progression of SLE. Abnormal B cells, which produce antibodies against self-antigens, play a key role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). B-cell activating factor (BAFF) is closely associated with abnormal B cells and participates in B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases; thus, neutralizing BAFF is an effective method for treating these diseases. Our group designed a novel fusion protein, BAFF-Trap, that contains the BAFF-binding domains of two BAFF receptors (TACI and BAFF-R) and the Fc domain of human IgG1. In this study, we showed that BAFF-Trap significantly decreased the autoantibody levels, BAFF concentrations and B cells numbers in MRL/lpr mice. BAFF-Trap suppressed the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the kidney and decreased the frequencies of T cell subsets and dendritic cells. Furthermore, BAFF-Trap reduced proteinuria and IgG deposition, relieved glomerular damage in the kidney, and markedly improved the survival rate of mice. These results indicated that BAFF-Trap may be a potential drug for the treatment of SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bubble-derived concept for contour regeneration of flow channel is developed to address the issues of carbon dioxide (CO 2) management and reactant homogeneity in a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The bubble contour is extracted from the visualization experiment based on the conventional sinusoidal flow channel (SFCH), which is used as a model to design and fabricate the bubble-derived flow channel (BDFCH). The simulation results indicate that this renewed channel shows a lower momentum loss and uniform reactant distribution. Because of the optimized amplitude (A) and period (W) of BDFCH, the regenerated flow channel displays superior cell performances under various testing conditions. The cell based on the renewed design produces a peak power density of 37.07 mW cm−2 at a flow rate of 1 mL min−1 and a methanol concentration of 6 M. The maximum performance improvement of the BDFCH is 30.8% higher than the SFCH with the combination of A = 0.15 and W = 5. The BDFCH based on the SFCH (A = 0.1 and W = 5) shows a higher cell performance than the SFCH at 6 M, demonstrating the scalability of BDFCHs. This new concept for precision design and construction of flow channels provides an efficient solution for practical flow field optimization of fuel cells. • A bubble-derived concept for contour regeneration of flow channel is developed. • Two-phase flow mechanism of CO 2 bubbles in the flow channel is revealed. • The effects of BDFCH for CO 2 bubble management and reactant homogeneity in DMFC are analyzed. • A DMFC based on an optimized BDFCH with excellent electrochemical performance is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface-pattern engineering, as a key strategy to fabricate high-performance Nafion membranes for fuel cells, plays an important role in surface functionalization of the membrane, optimization of the three-phase boundary, water management, proton transport, etc. Considerable efforts have been dedicated to developing advanced-patterned Nafion membranes with single-scale (nanoscale or microscale) and multiscale-patterned structures which are believed to improve the performance of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for fuel cells. In this review, the recent progress in surface-patterned Nafion membranes (SPNMs) equipped with single-scale-patterned structures (including nanostructured and microstructured Nafion membranes) is firstly highlighted. The structural features and construction methods of SPNMs are discussed in detail. The effects of single-scale SPNMs on the construction and performance of fuel cells are also analyzed. Followed is an overview of the recent advances in fabricating multiscale SPNMs based on different strategies with a specific introduction on the membrane related effects on fuel cells. Finally, the future development direction and certain perspectives on the current issues of SPNMs are presented. • A review on surface-pattern engineering of Nafion membrane for advanced fuel cells is reported. • The structural features and construction methods of SPNMs are discussed. • The electrochemical effects and structure/property relationships of SPNMs are given. • Some guides for the future development of the SPNMs are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]