Search

In this article, the failure degree of spherical glass body in the ground fly ash produced in vertical mill and ball mill in the lab is analyzed. The relationship between it and the fly ash activity was analyzed. The results show that, when more spherical particles are destroyed, fly ash shows higher activity. Therefore, the spherical particle size destruction degree should be treated as an important indicator to evaluate the grinding effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead-free (1 − x)Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-xSrTiO3 (NBT-STx; x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20) ceramics were prepared using a high-temperature solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that the ceramics were a cubic structure with space group Pm3¯m at room temperature. The average grain sizes slightly decreased with the increasing SrTiO3 content observed by scanning electron microscope. The dielectric properties and complex impedance spectra were used to analyze the electrical behavior of the ceramics as a function of frequency at different temperature. The results showed that with the increase of x, the dielectric constant increased, however, the temperature of the dielectric maximum (Tm) and depolarization temperature (Td) decreased. The modified Curie-Weiss law was used to describe the diffuseness behavior of the ceramics. The relaxation activation energy was estimated to be 2.32-2.73 eV through Arrhenius fitting, which indicated that the oxygen vacancy concentration in the samples was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ag+ ions are greatly toxic to a lot of algae, fungi, viruses and bacteria, which can also induce harmful side-effects to environments and human health. Herein we report an ultra-sensitive method for the selective detection of Ag+ ions with electrochemical technique based on Ag+-assisted isothermal exponential degradation reaction. In the presence of Ag+, mismatched trigger DNA can transiently bind to template DNA immobilized on an electrode surface through the formation of C–Ag+–C base pair, which then initiates the isothermal exponential degradation reaction. As a result, the mismatched trigger DNA may melt off the cleaved template DNA to trigger rounds of elongation and cutting. After the cyclic degradation reactions, removal of the template DNA immobilized on the electrode surface can be efficiently monitored by using electrochemical technique to show the status of the electrode surface, which can be then used to determine the presence of Ag+. Further studies reveal that the proposed method can be ultra-sensitive to detect Ag+ at a picomolar level. The selectivity of the detection can also be satisfactory, thus the proposed method for the Ag+ ions detection may be potentially useful in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Podocytes play a pivotal role in maintaining glomerular filtration function through their interdigitated foot processes. However, the mechanisms that govern the podocyte cytoskeletal rearrangement remain unclear. Through analyzing the transcriptional profile of renal biopsy specimens from patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN) and control donors, we identify SLIT-ROBO ρGTPase-activating protein 2a (SRGAP2a) as one of the main hub genes strongly associated with proteinuria and glomerular filtration in type 2 DN. Immunofluorescence staining and Western blot analysis revealed that human and mouse SRGAP2a is primarily localized at podocytes and largely colocalized with synaptopodin. Moreover, podocyte SRGAP2a is downregulated in patients with DN and db/db mice at both the mRNA and the protein level. SRGAP2a reduction is observed in cultured podocytes treated with tumor growth factor-β or high concentrations of glucose. Functional and mechanistic studies show that SRGAP2a suppresses podocyte motility through inactivating RhoA/Cdc42 but not Rac1. The protective role of SRGAP2a in podocyte function also is confirmed in zebrafish, in which knockdown of SRGAP2a, a SRGAP2 ortholog in zebrafish, recapitulates podocyte foot process effacement. Finally, increasing podocyte SRGAP2a levels in db/db mice through administration of adenovirus-expressing SRGAP2a significantly mitigates podocyte injury and proteinuria. The results demonstrate that SRGAP2a protects podocytes by suppressing podocyte migration., (© 2017 by the American Diabetes Association.)