环境内分泌干扰物毒理学研究

传统上,环境内分泌干扰物的研究对象主要是对动物生殖器官的作用.但是脊椎动物体内存在复杂的内分泌系统,来调节其生长发育及繁殖.本文从环境内分泌干扰物对生物完整内分泌系统的影响总结了最近的研究进展.内分泌干扰物可通过作用于下丘脑.脑垂体.性腺轴的内分泌系统途径,影响重要激素或者受体,并最终影响动物的繁殖;也可作用于下丘脑一脑垂体.甲状腺轴途径,影响甲状腺激素的合成、转运、结合等过程,破坏甲状腺激素内环境的稳定而对生长发育造成危害.环境污染物也可通过影响类固醇激素的合成途径,即通过非受体途径而发挥内分泌干扰物作用.水体缺氧也可干扰鱼类的内分泌系统,因此也是内分泌干扰物.分子生物学技术,如组学、转基因技术等不仅可为环境污染物的内分泌干扰作用的危险评价提供可靠的手段而且也可揭示污染物作用的模式.     

Morphine-induced conditioned place preference in mice: Metabolomic profiling of brain tissue to find “molecular switch” of drug abuse by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Conditioned place preference (CPP) is a widely used model to explore the mechanism of context-dependent learning. In this work, we developed a GC–MS method to investigate the metabolites in mice brain which was used to study the mechanism of context-dependent learning associated with rewarding effect of morphine. Metabolites were extracted from brain tissues and derivatized followed by analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS). In total, 69 peaks were identified as known compounds. By a Wilcoxon ran sum test with p value ≤0.05, 21 metabolites were selected and considered as the potential biomarkers of morphine in mice brain. Using principal component analysis (PCA) and receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves, a model was constructed with a combination of these 21 metabolic markers. Multivariate statistics of the model yielded separation between the two groups with an area under the curve value of 0.947. Some metabolites were further discussed in detail about their pathway. Results showed that our technique can be successfully applied to profile for biomarkers and in understanding molecular mechanisms of drug abuse.     

Synthesis and characterization of visible light responsive N-TiO2 mixed crystal by a modified hydrothermal process

N doped TiO₂ with anatase and rutile mixed crystal were prepared by using tetrabutyl titanate as the precursor via a modified hydrothermal process and calcination at 320 °C. The microstructure and morphology of samples were characterized by XRD, UV-vis-DRS, FTIR and XPS. The results showed that N-TiO₂ particles were crystallized to anatase and rutile mixed crystal structure; they were presented narrow particle size distribution, and the average particle size was ca. 13.5 nm calculated from XRD results. It was found that the N-doped TiO₂ particles showed strong visible-light absorption and high photocatalytic activity for the mineralization of Rhodamine B under irradiation by visible light (400-500 nm). The high visible-light photocatalytic activity of the obtained N-doped TiO₂ might result from the synergetic effect of nitrogen doping and the mixed lattice structure of N-TiO₂. Possible mechanism of N-TiO₂ mixed crystal formed under hydrothermal conditions was discussed.     

Dynamic modeling and simulation of deploying process for space solar power satellite receiver

To reveal some dynamic properties of the deploying process for the solar power satellite via an arbitrarily large phased array (SPS-ALPHA) solar receiver, the symplectic Runge-Kuttamethod is used to simulate the simplified model with the consideration of the Rayleigh damping effect. The system containing the Rayleigh damping can be separated and transformed into the equivalent nondamping system formally to insure the application condition of the symplectic Runge-Kutta method©First, the Lagrange equation with the Rayleigh damping governing the motion of the system is derived via the variational principle. Then, with some reasonable assumptions on the relations among the damping, mass, and stiffness matrices, the Rayleigh damping system is equivalently converted into the nondamping system formally, so that the symplectic Runge-Kutta method can be used to simulate the deploying process for the solar receiver. Finally, some numerical results of the symplectic Runge-Kutta method for the dynamic properties of the solar receiver are reported. The numerical results show that the proposed simplified model is valid for the deploying process for the SPS-ALPHA solar receiver, and the symplectic Runge-Kutta method can preserve the displacement constraints of the system well with excellent long-time numerical stability.     

Cytosolic escape of mitochondrial DNA triggers cGAS-STING-NLRP3 axis-dependent nucleus pulposus cell pyroptosis

Low back pain (LBP) is a major musculoskeletal disorder and the socioeconomic problem with a high prevalence that mainly involves intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration, characterized by progressive nucleus pulposus (NP) cell death and the development of an inflammatory microenvironment in NP tissue. Excessively accumulated cytosolic DNA acts as a damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) that is monitored by the cGAS-STING axis to trigger the immune response in many degenerative diseases. NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent pyroptosis is a type of inflammatory programmed death that promotes a chronic inflammatory response and tissue degeneration. However, the relationship between the cGAS-STING axis and NLRP3 inflammasome-induced pyroptosis in the pathogenesis of IVD degeneration remains unclear. Here, we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histopathology to demonstrate that cGAS, STING, and NLRP3 are associated with the degree of IVD degeneration. Oxidative stress induced cGAS-STING axis activation and NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis in a STING-dependent manner in human NP cells. Interestingly, the canonical morphological and functional characteristics of mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening with the cytosolic escape of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) were observed in human NP cells under oxidative stress. Furthermore, the administration of a specific pharmacological inhibitor of mPTP and self-mtDNA cytosolic leakage effectively reduced NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptotic NP cell death and microenvironmental inflammation in vitro and degenerative progression in a rat disc needle puncture model. Collectively, these data highlight the critical roles of the cGAS-STING-NLRP3 axis and pyroptosis in the progression of IVD degeneration and provide promising therapeutic approaches for discogenic LBP.Subject terms: Cell death, Diseases     

Molecular Simulation on Competitive Adsorption Differences of Gas with Different Pore Sizes in Coal

Micropores are the primary sites for methane occurrence in coal. Studying the regularity of methane occurrence in micropores is significant for targeted displacement and other yield-increasing measures in the future. This study used simplified graphene sheets as pore walls to construct coal-structural models with pore sizes of 1 nm, 2 nm, and 4 nm. Based on the Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) and molecular dynamics theory, we simulated the adsorption characteristics of methane in pores of different sizes. The results showed that the adsorption capacity was positively correlated with the pore size for pure gas adsorption. The adsorption capacity increased with pressure and pore size for competitive adsorption of binary mixtures in pores. As the average isosteric heat decreased, the interaction between the gas and the pore wall weakened, and the desorption amount of CH₄ decreased. In ultramicropores, the high concentration of CO₂ (50–70%) is more conducive to CH₄ desorption; however, when the CO₂ concentration is greater than 70%, the corresponding CH₄ adsorption amount is meager, and the selected adsorption coefficient S_CO2/CH4 is small. Therefore, to achieve effective desorption of methane in coal micropores, relatively low pressure (4–6 MPa) and a relatively low CO₂ concentration (50–70%) should be selected in the process of increasing methane production by CO₂ injection in later stages. These research results provide theoretical support for gas injection to promote CH₄ desorption in coal pores and to increase yield.     

Ultra-Broadband Infrared Metamaterial Absorber for Passive Radiative Cooling

Infrared metamaterial absorber(MMA) based on metal-insulator-metal(MIM) configuration with flexible design,perfect and selective absorption,has attracted much attention recently for passive radiative cooling applications.To cool objects passively,broadband infrared absorption(i.e.8-14 μm) is desirable to emit thermal energy through atmosphere window.We present a novel MMA composed of multilayer MIM resonators periodically arranged on a PbTe/MgF_2 bilayer substrate.Verified by the rigorous coup led-wave analysis method,the proposed MMA shows a relative bandwidth of about 45%(from 8.3 to 13.1 μm with the absorption intensity over 0.8).The broadband absorption performs stably over a wide incident angle range(below 50°) and predicts 12 K cooling below ambient temperature at nighttime.Compared with the previous passive radiative coolers,our design gets rid of the continuous metal substrate and provides an almost ideal transparency window(close to 100%)for millimeter waves over 1 mm.The structure is expected to have potential applications in thermal control of integrated devices,where millimeter wave signal compatibility is also required.     

页岩矿物不同润湿性表征与吸附微观机理

无机矿物作为页岩气吸附的重要载体,其表面性质对甲烷吸附能力有着重要影响,而润湿性作为固体重要表面性质之一,对矿物气体吸附能力的影响不可忽视.文章以蒙脱石和石英作为研究对象,通过对矿物表面甲基化(-CH₃)和羟基化(-OH)处理来改变其润湿性,以探究无机矿物表面润湿性对甲烷吸附能力的影响.采用分子动力学方法研究矿物体系的润湿性,用接触角对润湿性进行定量表征,并构建纳米狭缝,结合巨正则蒙特卡罗方法模拟润湿性改变前后,CH₄在矿物中的吸附变化.研究结果表明,水滴在羟基化矿物表面迅速破裂并铺展在矿物表面,而在甲基化表面铺展程度较小,普遍呈半球形.羟基化蒙脱石和石英表面的润湿接触角分别为12.7°和26.5°,均小于其甲基化表面接触角62.5°和85.7°.甲基化矿物甲烷吸附量均高于其羟基化,气体几乎大都以吸附状态位于孔隙壁面,随着矿物亲水性的减弱,其对甲烷吸附能力增强.     

Theoretical study of metal-insulator transition in rhombohedral vanadium sesquioxide

The electronic structure and the metal-insulator transition (MIT) of V₂O₃ are investigated in the framework of density functional theory and GGA+U. It is found that, both the insulating and metallic phases can be realized in rhombohedral structure by varying the on-site Coulomb interaction, and the MIT in V₂O₃ can take place without any structure phase transition. Our calculated energy gap (0.63 eV) agrees with experimental result very well. The metallic phase exhibits high spin (S=1) character, but it becomes S=1/2 in insulating phase. According to our analysis, the Mott-Hubbard and the charge-transfer induce the MIT together, and it supports the mechanism postulated by Tanaka (2002) [11].     

Multilayer dielectric cylindrical mirrors based on omnidirectional reflection from a one-dimensional photonic crystal

A multilayer dielectric cylindrical mirror (MDCM) based on the one-dimensional omnidirectional reflection of a photonic crystal is presented. In this case, the refractive indices of the two materials are 1.6 (polystyrene) and 4.6 (tellurium), and the corresponding optimized thicknesses are 0.75a and 0.25a. A very high reflectance over a wide frequency range is observed. In this case, a is the lattice constant of the photonic crystal. In this band, the MDCM has good reflection and focal properties. Therefore, it is feasible to use the MDCM for integrated waveguide devices. As an example, an etched diffraction grating demultiplexer based on the MDCM is also proposed. Both the operational principle and design of the device are introduced. This provides a method for designing compact integrated waveguide devices.