Hawthorn (Crataeguspinnatifida) belongs to the genus Rosaceae family of plants. The hawthorn leaf, Crataeguspinnatifida Bunge, is used for both condiment and medicinal purposes to prevent and treat metabolic dysfunctions, such as hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease in traditional Chinese medicine. However, its effects on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remain obscure. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the protective effect of hawthorn leaf flavonoids (HLF), the dominant bioactive extracts of hawthorn leaves, on high fat diet (HFD)-induced hepatic steatosis and to elucidate its underlying mechanisms. HLF supplementation significantly lowered body weight, liver weight, liver/body weight ratio, improved serum parameters and liver dysfunction and markedly decreased hepatic lipid accumulation in HFD-fed rats. In addition, HLF intervention dramatically increased circulating adiponectin levels and up-regulated the expression of adiponectin receptors, particularly adiponectin receptor 2 (AdipoR2) in the liver. Moreover, adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) was also activated, as well as AMPK-mediated alteration of sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) and their downstream targets. Taken together, our data suggest that HLF ameliorates hepatic steatosis by enhancing the adiponectin/AMPK pathway in the liver of HFD-induced NAFLD rats.
At present, the pouring riser of valve castings is mainly removed by manual cutting, polluting the environment and causing harm to the human body with a low efficiency. Therefore, an automatic cutting pouring riser method using the stereo vision system and manipulator is proposed. The relative position of the valve casting and the end of the manipulator is obtained through the position transformation of the valve casting coordinate system, the manipulator end of the coordinate system, and the camera coordinate system. The spatial motion trajectory of the manipulator is planned, implementing automatic pouring riser cutting of the same valve casting with the same pose. The experimental results show that the position deviation and the angle deviation of the repetitive positioning accuracy and the random positioning accuracy of the visual system are within ±1 mm and ±1°; in the pouring riser cutting test, the maximum deviation between the actual cutting trajectory and the theoretical cutting trajectory is 3 mm. In summary, the method shows a good reliability and could meet the requirements of cutting accuracy.
Microencapsulation of healing agents has been applied to realize the self-healing function of polymeric composites. In practice, however, microencapsulation of a liquid amine is very complicated because it is soluble in water and most organic solvents. In this paper, we report a new approach to preparing amine microcapsules that constitute a dual-microcapsule epoxy-amine self-healing system for epoxy composites. Ethylenediamine (EDA)-containing microcapsule with epoxy-EDA shell was successfully synthesized via interfacial polymerization in a water-in-oil emulsion. There were three key factors to solve the problem of microencapsulated a liquid amine, including preparation of epoxy-EDA shell prepolymer, a small amount of deionized water into core material, and polydimethylsiloxane as the continuous phase. A series of methods including Fourier transform infrared, differential scanning calorimetry, optical microscope, and scanning electron microscope were carried out to prove that microcapsules were suitable for preparing self-healing composites. Healing efficiency of self-healing epoxy achieved to 80.4% with 12 wt% epoxy-containing microcapsules and 8 wt% EDA-containing microcapsules. In general, this work provides a novel preparation method of liquid amine microcapsules. This novel and effective self-healing system may be useful for the development of epoxy-based structural composites for various applications.
Hydrothermal reaction of CuBr2 and 1,2-di(1H-benzoimidazol-2-yl)ethane-1,2-diol leads to the formation of a new mixed-valence copper(I,II) complex [(C7H5N2)(CuICuIIBr2)], which exhibits a two-dimensional layer structure, containing the first example of a rhombic dodecahedral CuBr [4,3] polyhedral column. The synthesis, crystal structure, electronic property, thermal stability and electrochemical characterization of this complex are investigated.
The PEC water splitting performance of BiVO4 is limited by its low carrier mobility and poor water oxidation kinetics. Through the introduction of a foreign Mo dopant into BiVO4 lattice and combining NiFe layered double hydroxides (NiFe-LDHs) nanosheets as the cocatalyst modified on the surface of BiVO4, the inherent defects of BiVO4 can be effectively solved. Herein, a plain and effective integrated ternary photoanode, NiFe-LDHs/Mo-doped BiVO4 was designed on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate by a simple two-step electrodeposition method. The PEC activity and the water oxidation performance via Mo-doping and NiFe-LDHs deposition were greatly enhanced. The designed ternary photoanode showed a significant negative shift of onset potential compared to pristine BiVO4 photoanode, and its photocurrent density was approximately 4.5 times higher than that of pure BiVO4. Moreover, its incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) of 3.6% was 5 times compared to pure BiVO4. The improved performance was explored from the effective carrier separation by Mo-doping and accelerated charge transfer efficiency by NiFe-LDHs deposition. This work provides a new insight into the mechanism of high efficiency, low-cost photoanodes and further utilization for environmental practical applications.
Monitoring environmental pollutants has become a popular topic because of the serious adverse effects of environmental pollutants on human beings and ecosystems. In the present work, a 3D flower-like nickel oxide (NiO)-decorated PDDA (poly(dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride))-functionalized RGO nanocomposite (NiO/PDDA-RGO) was synthesized via a hydrothermal route combined with an ultrasonic process. The nanocomposite integrates the large surface area and remarkable electrical properties of RGO with the good catalytic activity of NiO and shows great electrochemical signal enhancement toward the electrooxidation of nitrite. In optimal experimental conditions, the as-prepared sensor exhibited excellent nitrite sensing performances, with a wide operating range (5 μM–8 mM), low detection limit (0.98 μM), and high sensitivity (0.0184 μA mM–1 cm–2). Furthermore, the proposed strategy can perform real-time monitoring of nitrite in tap water with satisfactory results. A NiO/PDDA-RGO-based electrochemical sensor also has the advantages of simple preparation, environmental friendliness, low cost, outstanding reproducibility, and stability, which have profound significance for environmental pollution monitoring.
In recent years, the economic viability of large-scale shale-gas exploration and development projects has been impacted directly by improvements in horizontal-well drilling and hydraulic-fracturing technologies. However, results from multiple shale-gas projects indicate that accurate reservoir descriptions and resulting predictions of sweet spots are also crucial to maximize production from those projects. Accurate reservoir description results in the most appropriate placement of well locations and trajectories, hydraulic-fracture design, and reservoir engineering. The successful experience in shale-gas exploration and development outside China can aid in the search for the most favorable geologic characteristics and rock-physical properties and the examination of appropriate well-log interpretation and seismic-reservoir-prediction technologies for a shale-gas study in the eastern area of Sichuan Basin, China. Favorable parameters in a shale-gas reservoir are mid- to high kerogen content, low clay volumes, high brittleness, high effective porosity, and high permeability, along with well-developed microfractures. Of those parameters, mid- to high total organic carbon (TOC) is favorable for shale-gas accumulation, and high brittleness is beneficial to hydraulic-fracture propagation. Hence, the aim is to find sweet spots with high TOC and high brittleness. Starting with petrophysical analyses that combine laboratory measurements, core data, and well logs, a statistical model is used to estimate relative volumes and compositions of TOC and minerals and to establish a qualitative evaluation criterion for shale-gas reservoirs in this area. Petrophysical modeling and rock-property analyses establish the relationship among petrophysical properties (such as TOC, effective porosity, and gas saturation) and elastic properties (such as P-impedance, V P /V S ratio, Poisson's ratio, and Young's modulus) of the formation, which are related to brittleness. Rock-property analysis, prestack simultaneous inversion, and facies-fluid probability-analysis technologies help to predict favorable development zones for the shale-gas reservoir. Finally, the values of brittleness, TOC, and shale-gas lithology volume are combined to predict the sweet spots of the gas shale and to guide subsequent developments.
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