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Abstract Background Aortic dissection (AD) is a macrovascular disease which is pathologically characterized by aortic media degeneration.This experiment aims to explore how iron deficiency (ID) affects the function of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) and participates in the occurrence and development of AD by regulating gene expression. Methods The relationship between iron and AD was proved by Western-blot (WB) and immunostaining experiments in human and animals. Transcriptomic sequencing explored the transcription factors that were altered downstream. WB, flow cytometry and immunofluorescence were used to demonstrate whether ID affected HIF1 expression through oxygen transport. HIF1 signaling pathway and phenotypic transformation indexes were detected in cell experiments. The use of the specific HIF1 inhibitor PX478 further demonstrated that ID worked by regulating HIF1. Results The survival period of ID mice was significantly shortened and the pathological staining results were the worst. Transcriptomic sequencing indicated that HIF1 was closely related to ID and the experimental results indicated that ID might regulate HIF1 expression by affecting oxygen balance. HIF1 activation regulates the phenotypic transformation of VSMC and participates in the occurrence and development of AD in vivo and in vitro.PX478, the inhibition of HIF1, can improve ID-induced AD exacerbation.

Previous studies on discharge dynamics have primarily focused on the generation and migration of the charged particles and neglecting the influence of neutral excited-state particles. In this study, an integrated approach combining experiment and simulation was used to investigate the effect of neutral excited particles on discharge development. Firstly, partial discharge was induced by applying voltage to a pin-plate electrode in a darkroom environment and the emission spectrum of discharge was captured using an ultra-sensitive spectrometer. Then the formation mechanism of the main neutral excited particles in air corona discharge was analyzed based on the principle of quantum optics, and the collision cross-section data of the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) plasma chemical model for air was updated accordingly. Simulations revealed the process of electron pulses initiates the electron avalanche, which leads to dielectric breakdown. Results indicated that overvoltage can lead to the formation of electron avalanches at defect sites, which is capable of causing dielectric breakdown within the nanosecond time scale. The competitive mechanism of the excitation reactions to ionization reactions results in the dissipation of free electrons’ energy, effectively suppressing the development of electron avalanches and preventing electrical breakdown.

Abstract Background Heart transplantation (HT) has been approved as an optimal therapeutic regimen for patients with terminal-stage cardiac failure. However, cold ischaemia‒reperfusion (I/R) injury remains an unavoidable and outstanding challenge, which is a major factor in early graft dysfunction and an obstacle to long-term survival in HT. Cold I/R injury induces cardiac graft injury by promoting mitochondrial dysfunction and augmenting free radical production and inflammatory responses. We therefore designed a mitochondrion-targeted nanocarrier loaded with Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) (CoQ10@TNPs) for treatment of cold I/R injury after cardiac graft in a murine heterotopic cardiac transplantation model. Methods Hybrid nanoparticles composed of CaCO3/CaP/biotinylated-carboxymethylchitosan (CaCO3/CaP/BCMC) were synthesized using the coprecipitation method, and the mitochondria-targeting tetrapeptide SS31 was incorporated onto the surface of the hybrid nanoparticles through biotin-avidin interactions. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis were used for characterisation. In vitro, the hypoxia-reoxygenation model of H9c2 cells was employed to replicate in vivo cold I/R injury and treated with CoQ10@TNPs. The impact of CoQ10@TNPs on H9c2 cell injury was assessed by analysis of oxidative damage and apoptosis. In vivo, donor hearts (DHs) were perfused with preservation solution containing CoQ10@TNPs and stored in vitro at 4 °C for 12 h. The DHs were heterotopically transplanted and analysed for graft function, oxidative damage, apoptosis, and inflammatory markers 1 day post-transplantation. Results CoQ10@TNPs were successfully synthesized and delivered CoQ10 to the mitochondria of the cold ischaemic myocardium. In vitro experiments demonstrated that CoQ10@TNPs was taken up by H9c2 cells at 4 °C and localized within the mitochondria, thus ameliorating oxidative stress damage and mitochondrial injury in cold I/R injury. In vivo experiments showed that CoQ10@TNPs accumulated in DH tissue at 4 °C, localized within the mitochondria during cold storage and improved cardiac graft function by attenuating mitochondrial oxidative injury and inflammation. Conclusions CoQ10@TNPs can precisely deliver CoQ10 to the mitochondria of cold I/R-injured cardiomyocytes to effectively eliminate mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS), thus reducing oxidative injury and inflammatory reactions in cold I/R-injured graft tissues and finally improving heart graft function. Thus, CoQ10@TNPs offer an effective approach for safeguarding cardiac grafts against extended periods of cold ischaemia, emphasizing the therapeutic potential in mitigating cold I/R injury during HT. These findings present an opportunity to enhance existing results following HT and broaden the range of viable grafts for transplantation.

Under the goal of carbon peak and neutrality, the search for efficient and clean green energy has attracted widespread attention. Photovoltaic (PV) hydrogen production has become a research hotspot because of its clean and near-zero carbon emissions. However, due to the influence of natural light, PV power generation is volatile and intermittent, reducing the system’s stability. In order to improve the stability of the system, a large number of power electronic devices and control strategies are applied to the PV hydrogen production system. Among them, the Buck circuit using proportional–integral (PI) control is the most widely used. However, the PI control has a long response time and large ripple, which affects the energy efficiency of PV hydrogen production. This paper proposes a PV hydrogen production system control strategy based on Fuzzy PI control. In the Matlab/Simulink environment, a simulation model of a PV hydrogen production system composed of PV cells, proton exchange membrane electrolyzers, and DC/DC units is built. The DC/DC unit uses a Buck circuit. Simulation analysis compares the output voltage and current ripple of the PV hydrogen production system model under different working conditions using the Fuzzy PI control and classical PI control strategies. Finally, the simulation results verify that the proposed control strategy reduces the system output voltage and current ripple.

Abstract Depression is a severe mental disorder among public health issues. Researchers in the field of mental health and clinical psychiatrists have long been faced with difficulties in slow treatment cycles, high recurrence rates, and lagging efficacy. These obstacles have forced us to seek more advanced and effective treatments. Research has shown that novel drug delivery strategies for natural medicinal plants can effectively improve the utilization efficiency of the active molecules in these plants and therefore improve their efficacy. Currently, with the development of treatment technologies and the constant updating of novel drug delivery strategies, the addition of natural medicinal antidepressant therapy has given new significance to the study of depression treatment against the background of novel drug delivery systems. Based on this, this review comprehensively evaluates and analyses the research progress in novel drug delivery systems, including nanodrug delivery technology, in intervention research strategies for neurological diseases from the perspective of natural medicines for depression treatment. This provided a new theoretical foundation for the development and application of novel drug delivery strategies and drug delivery technologies in basic and clinical drug research fields. Graphical Abstract

Color tuning plays an increasingly vital role in daily life, including painting, printing, decoration, and animation display. Among many nonemissive color tuning technologies with low‐cost and low‐energy consumption, direct color mixing is simpler without fine and complex display structural designs or specific synthetic materials. Nevertheless, it yet faces an enormous challenge in precise color tuning due to high requirement for integrating dyes in a designable way. Herein, a scanning optical tweezers‐based color mixing method is proposed for precise color tuning. Water/oil‐soluble dye microdroplets with different sizes and colors can be stably captured and then rapidly fused by setting and exerting different trajectories of optical traps under optical tweezers. Thus, the color hue, saturation, and value of the mixed microdroplet can be accurately tuned. Besides, this is further applied to the optical assembly of colorful patterns in a programmable manner. The proposed method is more effective in harvesting pure color and high color quality without introducing exogenous materials contaminating the sample during the manipulation process, which is believed to have potential applications in liquid animation, human–robot interactive painting, and color sensing.

In this paper, simulation modeling was carried out using Sentaurus Technology Computer-Aided Design. Two types of high electron mobility transistors (HEMT), an AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN double heterojunction and AlGaN/GaN single heterojunction, were designed and compared. The breakdown characteristics and damage mechanisms of the two devices under the injection of high-power microwaves (HPM) were studied. The variation in current density and peak temperature inside the device was analyzed. The effect of Al components at different layers of the device on the breakdown of HEMTs is discussed. The effect and law of the power damage threshold versus pulse width when the device was subjected to HPM signals was verified. It was shown that the GaN HEMT was prone to thermal breakdown below the gate, near the carrier channels. A moderate increase in the Al component can effectively increased the breakdown voltage of the device. Compared with the single heterojunction, the double heterojunction HEMT devices were more sensitive to Al components. The high domain-limiting characteristics effectively inhibited the overflow of channel electrons into the buffer layer, which in turn regulated the current density inside the device and improved the temperature distribution. The leakage current was reduced and the device switching characteristics and breakdown voltage were improved. Moreover, the double heterojunction device had little effect on HPM power damage and high damage resistance. Therefore, a theoretical foundation is proposed in this paper, indicating that double heterojunction devices are more stable compared to single heterojunction devices and are more suitable for applications in aviation equipment operating in high-frequency and high-voltage environments. In addition, double heterojunction GaN devices have higher radiation resistance than SiC devices of the same generation.

In this manuscript, we present a novel deployment protection method aimed at safeguarding aeronautical radio altimeters (RAs) from interference caused by fifth-generation (5G) telecommunication base stations (BSs). Our methodology involves an integrated interference model for defining prohibited zones and utilizes power control and angle shutoff methods to mitigate interference. First, to ensure reliable protection, we define both horizontal and vertical prohibited zones and investigate their variations to immunize RA against 5G interference. Second, we validate the effectiveness of the model in various operational scenarios, analyzing the influence of factors such as base station types, antenna parameters, flight altitude, and aircraft attitudes to cover a wide range of real-world scenarios. Third, to mitigate interference, we propose and analyze the power control and angle shutoff methods through simulation for the RMa prohibited zone. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of the deployment protection method in safeguarding RAs from 5G interference, providing guidance for interference protection during civil aviation operations and base station deployment near airports.

Plasmonic-enhanced photocatalysis using visible light is considered a promising strategy for pollution photodegradation. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive and quantitative understanding of the underlying mechanisms and interactions involved. In this study, we employed a two-step process to fabricate arrays of ZnO nanosheets decorated with Au nanoparticles (Au-ZnO NS). Various characterization techniques were used to examine the morphological, structural, and chemical properties of the fabricated Au-ZnO NS array. Furthermore, we systematically investigated the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange under visible light irradiation using Au-ZnO NS arrays prepared with varying numbers of photochemical reduction cycles. The results indicated that as the number of photochemical reduction cycles increased, the photodegradation efficiency initially increased but subsequently decreased. Under visible light irradiation, the Au-ZnO NS array obtained via four cycles of photochemical reduction exhibits the highest photocatalytic degradation rate of methyl orange 0.00926 min−1, which is six times higher than that of the ZnO NS array. To gain a better understanding of the plasmonic effect on photodegradation performance, we utilized electromagnetic simulations to quantitatively investigate the enhancement of electric fields in the Au-ZnO NS array. The simulations clearly presented the nonlinear dependencies of electric field intensity on the distribution of Au nanoparticles and the wavelength of radiation light, leading to a nonlinear enhancement of hot electron injection and eventual plasmonic photodegradation. The simulated model, corresponding to four cycles of photochemical reduction, exhibits the highest electric field intensity at 550 nm, which can be attributed to its strong plasmonic effect. This work provides mechanistic insights into plasmonic photocatalysts for utilizing visible light and represents a promising strategy for the rational design of high-performance visible light photocatalysts.

Background: Aortic dissection (AD) is a macrovascular disease which is pathologically characterized by aortic media degeneration (AMD). Our team's previous research found that iron deficiency (ID) promoted the formation of AMD through presentative research. In this study, we aimed to investigate the underlying mechanism of ID promoting AMD formation. Methods: The human aortic tissues were harvested from AD patients and organ donors. ApoE-/- mice were simultaneously given AngII infusion and low-iron feed to investigate the relationship between ID and AD. The IRE1-XBP1-CHOP signal axis of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress was selectively inhibited with 4μ8C. Iron contents were detected by Perls staining. The expression of iron metabolism and ER stress-relative proteins were analyzed by IF and western blotting. Apoptosis rates of aortic tissue and ASMCs were detected by TUNEL staining and flow cytometry, and ROS content was also measured by the flow cytometry. Results: ID was accompanied by ER stress in patients with AD. Among the three signaling pathways of ER stress in ID-induced AMD, proteins of IRE1, PERK and ATF6 signaling pathways were up-regulated by 2.65 times, 1.14 times and 1.24 times, respectively. ID was positively related to ER stress, mitochondrial oxidative stress and aortic media apoptosis in vivo and in vitro assays, while 4μ8C reversed the severity of ER stress and AMD. Conclusions: ID could activate ER stress by eliciting mitochondrial oxidative stress to activate the IRE1-XBP1-CHOP signaling pathway in the ER, which accelerated the apoptosis of ASMCs in aortic media, thus promoting the formation of AMD.

Hydrogen production by electrolyzing water is an important technique to store energy from renewables into chemical energy. Many efforts have been made to improve the energy conversion efficiency. In this review article, we mainly summarized the emerging ideas on water oxidation by multi-energy coupling. First, the physicochemical nature of electrolyzing water reaction is described. Then, we conceptually proposed the physical basis of energy coupling with a goal to maximize the energy conversion efficiency and showed the methods to achieve heat–electricity and magnetism–electricity coupling to drive water splitting. Finally, the material requirements for creating efficient energy coupling water splitting system were proposed. These new ideas unlock a big potential direction for developing multi-energy coupling hydrogen production devices to efficiently store the intermittent and fluctuating renewables.

Hydrogen energy plays an important role in the transformation of low-carbon energy, and electric–hydrogen coupling will become a typical energy scenario. Aiming at the operation flexibility of a low-carbon electricity–hydrogen coupling system with high proportion of wind power and photovoltaic, this work studies the flexibility margin of an electricity–hydrogen coupling energy block based on model predictive control. By analyzing the power exchange characteristics of heterogeneous energy, the homogenization models of various heterogeneous energy sources are established. According to the analysis of power system flexibility margin, three dimensions of flexibility margin evaluation indexes are defined from the dimension of system operation, and an electricity–hydrogen coupling energy block scheduling model is established. The model predictive control algorithm is used to optimize the power balance operation of the electro–hydrogen coupling energy block, and the flexibility margin of the energy block is quantitatively analyzed and calculated. Through the example analysis, it is verified that the calculation method proposed in this article can not only realize the online power balance optimization of the electric–hydrogen coupling energy block but also effectively quantify the operation flexibility margin of the electric–hydrogen coupling energy block.

Abstract Background Chondrogenic progenitor cells (CPCs) have high self-renewal capacity and chondrogenic potential. Intra-articular delivery of purified mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from MRL/MpJ “superhealer” mice increased bone volume during repair and prevents post-traumatic arthritis. Recently, although extracellular vesicles released from MSCs have been used widely for treating OA, the application of extracellular vesicles secreted by CPCs from MRL/MpJ mice in OA therapy has never been reported. In this study, we evaluated the effects of extracellular vesicles secreted by CPCs from control CBA (CBA-EVs) and MRL/MpJ mice (MRL-EVs) on proliferation and migration of murine chondrocytes. We also determined here if weekly intra-articular injections of CBA-EVs and MRL-EVs would repair and regenerate surgically induced model in mice. Methods CPC surface markers were detected by flow cytometry. CBA-EVs and MRL-EVs were isolated using an ultrafiltration method. Nanoparticle tracking analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and western blots were used to identify extracellular vesicles. CBA-EVs and MRL-EVs were injected intra-articularly in a mouse model of surgical destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM)-induced OA, and histological and immunohistochemistry analyses were used to assess the efficacy of exosome injections. We used miRNA-seq analysis to analyze the expression profiles of exosomal miRNAs derived from CBA-EVs as well as MRL-EVs. Cell-counting and scratch assays were used to evaluate the effects of CBA-EVs and MRL-EVs on proliferation and migration of murine chondrocytes, respectively. Meanwhile, a specific RNA inhibitor assesses the roles of the candidate miRNAs in CPC-EV-induced regulation of function of chondrocytes. Results Both CBA-EVs and MRL-EVs stimulated chondrocyte proliferation and migration, but MRL-EVs exerted a stronger effect than CBA-EVs. The similar result was also observed in in vivo study, which indicated that injecting either CBA-EVs or MRL-EVs attenuated OA, but MRL-EVs showed a superior therapeutic effect in comparison with CBA-EVs. The results of bioinformatics analyses revealed that the differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs participated in multiple biological processes. We identified 80 significantly upregulated and 100 downregulated miRNAs. Moreover, we found that the top 20 differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs connected OA repair to processes such as AMPK signaling, regulation of autophagy, and insulin signaling. Notably, miRNA 221-3p were highly enriched in MRL-Exos and treatment with miR 221-3p inhibitor markedly decreased chondrocyte proliferation and migration induced by CBA-EVs or MRL-EVs in vitro. Conclusions This is the first study to demonstrate MRL-EVs had a greater therapeutic effect on the treatment of OA than CBA-EVs. This study will hopefully provide new insight into the pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment of OA.

The increasing penetration of renewable energy resources in the distribution network has posed great uncertainties and challenges for the system security operation. To model various uncertain factors like the wholesale market price and renewable energy generation in the active distribution network (ADN), a similarity measurement method considering the amplitude, volatility and variation trend is proposed. The Latin hypercube sampling method and Graph Pyramid clustering algorithm are adopted to obtain the comprehensive typical scenario set. Furthermore, this study proposes a scenario-based stochastic day-ahead optimal economic dispatch approach based on typical scenario set. The energy trading between the distribution system and the wholesale energy market, various distributed generators, network topology and power flow model are jointly formulated in the proposed operation model. The effectiveness and scalability of the proposed approach are verified using the IEEE 33-bus system. Numerical simulation results under different implementation scenarios indicate that the proposed approach offers a high computational efficiency and promotes the security and economy of the distribution system operation, which has a promising industrial application value.

Supported nanostructured photocatalysis is considered to be a sustainable and promising method for water pollution photodegradation applications due to its fascinating features, including a high surface area, stability against aggregation, and easy handling and recovery. However, the preparation and morphological control of the supported nanostructured photocatalyst remains a challenge. Herein, a one-step hydrothermal method is proposed to fabricate the supported vertically aligned ZnO nanosheet arrays based on aluminum foil. The morphologically controlled growth of the supported ZnO nanosheet arrays on a large scale was achieved, and the effects of hydrothermal temperature on morphologic, structural, optical, and photocatalytic properties were observed. The results reveal that the surface area and thickness of the nanosheet increase simultaneously with the increase in the hydrothermal temperature. The increase in the surface area enhances the photocatalytic activity by providing more active sites, while the increase in the thickness reduces the charge transfer and thus decreases the photocatalytic activity. The influence competition between the area increasing and thickness increasing of the ZnO nanosheet results in the nonlinear dependence between photocatalytic activity and hydrothermal temperature. By optimizing the hydrothermal growth temperature, as fabricated and supported ZnO nanosheet arrays grown at 110 °C have struck a balance between the increase in surface area and thickness, it exhibits efficient photodegradation, facile fabrication, high recyclability, and improved durability. The RhB photodegradation efficiency of optimized and grown ZnO nanosheet arrays increased by more than four times that of the unoptimized structure. With 10 cm2 of as-fabricated ZnO nanosheet arrays, the degradation ratio of 10 mg/L MO, MB, OFL, and NOR was 85%, 51%, 58%, and 71% under UV irradiation (365 nm, 20 mW/cm2) for 60 min. All the target pollutant solutions were almost completely degraded under UV irradiation for 180 min. This work offers a facile way for the fabrication and morphological control of the supported nanostructured photocatalyst with excellent photodegradation properties and has significant implications in the practical application of the supported nanostructured photocatalyst for water pollution photodegradation.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are diminutive noncoding RNAs that can influence disease development and progression by post-transcriptionally regulating gene expression. The anti-inflammatory miRNA, miR-223, was first identified as a regulator of myelopoietic differentiation in 2003. This miR-223 exhibits multiple regulatory functions in the immune response, and abnormal expression of miR-223 is shown to be associated with multiple infectious diseases, including viral hepatitis, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), and tuberculosis (TB) by influencing neutrophil infiltration, macrophage function, dendritic cell (DC) maturation and inflammasome activation. This review summarizes the current understanding of miR-223 physiopathology and highlights the molecular mechanism by which miR-223 regulates immune responses to infectious diseases and how it may be targeted for diagnosis and treatment.

Gender differences have important biological significance for medical research. In this study, a bias towards males was identified in animal experiments of Damp-Heat Syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine, as was first proposed by a data mining method. Combined with the correlation between Damp-Heat Syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine and Gender differences, it was considered that Gender-related factors have a significant influence on the development of Damp-Heat Syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine. However, most traditional Chinese medicine studies ignore the key significance of Gender-related factors. This study emphasises that the development of modern traditional Chinese medicine research needs to pay full attention to the biological significance of Gender-related factors and to apply this concept to the research on the Gender equivalence strategy in basic research and the practice of personalised medical diagnosis and clinical treatment.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are key mediators of transplant rejection. Numerous factors have been identified that regulate transplant immunopathology by modulating the function of DCs. Among these, microRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNA molecules, have received much attention. The miRNA miR-223 is very highly expressed and tightly regulated in hematopoietic cells. It plays an important role in modulating the immune response by regulating neutrophils and macrophages, and its dysregulation contributes to multiple types of immune diseases. However, the role of miR-223 in immune rejection is unclear. Here, we observed expression of miR-223 in patients and mice who had undergone heart transplantation and found that it increased in the serum of both, and also in DCs from the spleens of recipient mice, although it was unchanged in splenic T cells. We also found that miR-223 expression decreased in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated DCs. Increasing the level of miR-223 in DCs promoted polarization of DCs toward a tolerogenic phenotype, which indicates that miR-223 can attenuate activation and maturation of DCs. MiR-223 effectively induced regulatory T cells (Tregs) by inhibiting the function of antigen-presenting DCs. In addition, we identified Irak1 as a miR-223 target gene and an essential regulator of DC maturation. In mouse allogeneic heterotopic heart transplantation models, grafts survived longer and suffered less immune cell infiltration in mice with miR-223-overexpressing immature (im)DCs. In the miR-223-overexpressing imDC recipients, T cells from spleen differentiated into Tregs, and the level of IL-10 in heart grafts was markedly higher than that in the control group. In conclusion, miR-223 regulates the function of DCs via Irak1, differentiation of T cells into Tregs, and secretion of IL-10, thereby suppressing allogeneic heart graft rejection.

Despite decades of study into aortic dissection (AD), a lethal cardiovascular emergency due to a tear in the aorta intima or bleeding within the aortic wall, leading to the separation of the different layers of it, the factors that influence its progression and the deeper regulatory mechanisms remain poorly understood. Nowadays, with the maturity of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) sequence technology, m6A modification, one type of RNA epigenesis, has gradually become a new research hotspot for epigenetic molecular regulation. Especially recently, increasing evidence has revealed that m6A modification functions as a pivotal post-transcriptional modification to influence the progression of multiple diseases. Based on these findings, it is reasonable to speculate that m6A modification may affect the onset and progression of AD. To explore the validity of our conjecture and to elucidate its underlying molecular mechanism of action, we conducted the present study. In this study, we found that KIAA1429 is downregulated while ALKBH5 is upregulated in aortic tissues from AD patients. Furthermore, gain- and loss-of-function studies showed that KIAA1429 and ALKBH5 can oppositely regulate HASMC proliferation, HAEC apoptosis, and AD progression in AngII-infused mice. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that KIAA1429/ALKBH5-mediated m6A modifications can regulate the processing of pri-miR-143-3p through interacting with the microprocessor protein DGCR8, thus indirectly regulating the downstream target gene of mature miR-143-3p, DDX6, to perform their biological functions in vitro and in vivo. Our findings have revealed a novel connection between m6A modification and AD progression and may provide a novel molecular basis for subsequent researchers to search for novel therapeutic approaches to improve the health of patients struggling with AD.

Background. Heart transplantation (HT) is the only effective treatment for end-stage heart failure because it can effectively improve the survival rate and quality of life of patients with heart failure. Artesunate (ART) is an artemisinin derivative, with good water solubility and higher oral bioavailability. The main aim of this study was to determine the role of ART in HT mice. Methods. In animal experiments, mice were divided into the control group, HT group, low ART+HT group, and high ART+HT group. Next, inflammatory cell infiltration, oxidative stress injury, and myocardial cell apoptosis were determined in heart tissue. The proportion of multiple lymphocytes in spleen and lymph nodes was then determined using flow cytometry. In addition, cell experiments were conducted to determine the changes in expression of surface maturation markers of BMDC and changes in intracellular reactive oxygen species after LPS stimulation. Finally, western blot analysis was performed to determine the levels of endoplasmic reticulum stress-related proteins (CHOP/ATF4/PERK). Results. The survival time of mice in the ART treatment group was significantly prolonged and was positively correlated with the dose. In animal experiments, ART significantly reduced inflammatory cell infiltration in heart tissue and the proportion of CD4+CD8+ T cells in spleens and lymph nodes. Moreover, ART treatment lowered the 8-OHdg in hearts and myocardial apoptosis. In cell experiments, ART treatment slowed down the development and maturation of BMDCs by inhibiting the expression of endoplasmic reticulum stress-related proteins. Furthermore, the treatment alleviated the oxidative stress damage of BMDCs. Conclusion. ART can inhibit maturation of dendritic cells through the endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling pathway, thereby alleviating acute rejection in mice after heart transplantation.

Controllably accumulating and delivering nanoparticles (NPs) into specific locations are a central theme of nano-engineering and important for targeted therapy or bacteria removal. Here we present a technique allowing bidirectional accumulation, directional delivery and release of nanoparticles through two 980-nm-wavelength counter-propagating evanescent waves in an optical nanofiber (NF). Using 713-nm-diameter polystyrene NPs suspension and an 890-nm-diameter NF as an example, we experimentally and theoretically demonstrate that the NPs delivered along the NF surface in opposite directions are accumulated into the region where the scattering loss of the NPs is maximum, and about 90% of the incident optical field from both ends of the NF can be coupled into the region. Moreover, the accumulation region can be controlled by altering the incident optical power ratio of the two counter-propagating laser beams, while the accumulated NPs can be delivered and then released into the specific locations by turning off the two lasers.

In order to solve the influence of nonlinear and unbalanced mixed loads on output voltage of microsource inverters in microgrid, this paper proposes a comprehensive strategy which can be used to accurate power distribution, harmonic suppression, negative-sequence voltage component suppression, and stability improvement. On one hand, a fundamental control strategy is proposed upon the conventional droop control; the problem of accurate reactive power distribution is solved by introducing virtual impedance to inverters, while considering the aggravating problem of stability because of introducing virtual impedance, a secondary power balance controller is added to improve the stability of voltage and frequency. On the other hand, the fractional frequency harmonic control strategy and negative-sequence voltage control strategy are proposed to solve the influence of mixed loads, which focus on eliminating specific harmonics caused by the nonlinear loads and the negative sequence component of the voltage. The power quality of microgrid can be improved effectively. Finally, small signal analysis is used to analyze the stability of the multiconverter parallel system after introducing the whole control strategy. The simulation results show that the strategy proposed in this paper has a great performance on distributing reactive power, regulating and eliminating harmonic components, eliminating negative-sequence components and stabilizing output voltage of inverters and frequency, and improving the power quality of multiinverter-based microgrid.

The construction and operation of the ultrahigh voltage power grid has solved the problem of optimal allocation of energy resources and played a key role in promoting social development. However, concerns about its safety have kept growing in recent years. In order to analyze the reliability of ultrahigh voltage AC/DC system combined with the quasi-Monte Carlo method and PSD-BPA simulation, the reliability model of various components and system is established, and the simulation speed is improved with accuracy ensured. In order to ensure the compatibility and efficiency of the software, we design the BPA-Matpower data interface, and the data translation from BPA to Matpower is realized by fourth conversion. Then, we propose an index system for reliability evaluation, concise and easy to compute, to reflect the reliability of the UHV grids and the characteristics of AC and DC systems. Based on actual regional powergrid, we compare the model in this paper with the traditional sequential Monte Carlo method, and carry out the analysis of the component sensitivity to study the multi-fault characteristics and the weakness of the system, and verify the scientific and effective result of this paper.

Among the issues of accurate power distribution, stability improvement, and harmonic suppression in micro-grid, each has been well studied as an individual, and most of the strategies about these issues aim at one inverter-based micro-grid, hence there is a need to establish a model to achieve these functions as a whole, aiming at a multi-inverter-based micro-grid. This paper proposes a comprehensive strategy which achieves this goal successfully; since the output voltage and frequency of micro-grid all consist of fundamental and harmonic components, the strategy contains two parts accordingly. On one hand, a fundamental control strategy is proposed upon the conventional droop control. The virtual impedance is introduced to solve the problem of accurate allocation of reactive power between inverters. Meanwhile, a secondary power balance controller is added to improve the stability of voltage and frequency while considering the aggravating problem of stability because of introducing virtual impedance. On the other hand, the fractional frequency harmonic control strategy is proposed. It can solve the influence of nonlinear loads, micro-grid inverters, and the distribution network on output voltage of inverters, which is focused on eliminating specific harmonics caused by the nonlinear loads, micro-grid converters, and the distribution network so that the power quality of micro-grid can be improved effectively. Finally, small signal analysis is used to analyze the stability of the multi-converter parallel system after introducing the whole control strategy. The simulation results show that the strategy proposed in this paper has a great performance on distributing reactive power, regulating and stabilizing output voltage of inverters and frequency, eliminating harmonic components, and improving the power quality of multi-inverter-based micro-grid.

This paper proposes an energy and reserve joint dispatch model based on a robust optimization approach in real-time electricity markets, considering wind power generation uncertainties as well as zonal reserve constraints under both normal and N-1 contingency conditions. In the proposed model, the operating reserves are classified as regulating reserve and spinning reserve according to the response performance. More specifically, the regulating reserve is usually utilized to reduce the gap due to forecasting errors, while the spinning reserve is commonly adopted to enhance the ability for N-1 contingencies. Since the transmission bottlenecks may inhibit the deliverability of reserve, the zonal placement of spinning reserve is considered in this paper to improve the reserve deliverability under the contingencies. Numerical results on the IEEE 118-bus test system show the effectiveness of the proposed model.