Role of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in the Pathogenesis of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Comprehensive Review

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered the most common liver disorder, affecting around 25% of the population worldwide. It is a complex disease spectrum, closely linked with other conditions such as obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome, which may increase liver-related mortality. In light of this, numerous efforts have been carried out in recent years in order to clarify its pathogenesis and create new prevention strategies. Currently, the essential role of environmental pollutants in NAFLD development is recognized. Particularly, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have a notable influence. EDCs can be classified as natural (phytoestrogens, genistein, and coumestrol) or synthetic, and the latter ones can be further subdivided into industrial (dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, and alkylphenols), agricultural (pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides), residential (phthalates, polybrominated biphenyls, and bisphenol A), and pharmaceutical (parabens). Several experimental models have proposed a mechanism involving this group of substances with the disruption of hepatic metabolism, which promotes NAFLD. These include an imbalance between lipid influx/efflux in the liver, mitochondrial dysfunction, liver inflammation, and epigenetic reprogramming. It can be concluded that exposure to EDCs might play a crucial role in NAFLD initiation and evolution. However, further investigations supporting these effects in humans are required.     

Environmental Enrichment Enhances Cav 2.1 Channel-Mediated Presynaptic Plasticity in Hypoxic–Ischemic Encephalopathy

Hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a devastating neonatal brain condition caused by lack of oxygen and limited blood flow. Environmental enrichment (EE) is a classic paradigm with a complex stimulation of physical, cognitive, and social components. EE can exert neuroplasticity and neuroprotective effects in immature brains. However, the exact mechanism of EE on the chronic condition of HIE remains unclear. HIE was induced by a permanent ligation of the right carotid artery, followed by an 8% O₂ hypoxic condition for 1 h. At 6 weeks of age, HIE mice were randomly assigned to either standard cages or EE cages. In the behavioral assessments, EE mice showed significantly improved motor performances in rotarod tests, ladder walking tests, and hanging wire tests, compared with HIE control mice. EE mice also significantly enhanced cognitive performances in Y-maze tests. Particularly, EE mice showed a significant increase in Ca_v 2.1 (P/Q type) and presynaptic proteins by molecular assessments, and a significant increase of Ca_v 2.1 in histological assessments of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. These results indicate that EE can upregulate the expression of the Ca_v 2.1 channel and presynaptic proteins related to the synaptic vesicle cycle and neurotransmitter release, which may be responsible for motor and cognitive improvements in HIE.     

电石汽车卸料、破碎、除尘、输送一体化智能系统——中吴天玺系统

针对PVC企业电石车间存在的粉尘污染严重、人工操作安全隐患大等问题,江苏中吴环境工程设计研究有限公司开发了电石汽车卸料、破碎、除尘、输送一体化智能系统(即中吴天玺系统),对该系统的工艺流程、系统组成、占地空间、经济效益和社会效益簣方面进行了介绍。     

Maternal Responses and Adaptive Changes to Environmental Stress via Chronic Nanomaterial Exposure: Differences in Inter and Transgenerational Interclonal Broods of Daphnia magna

There is increasing recognition that environmental nano-biological interactions in model species, and the resulting effects on progeny, are of paramount importance for nanomaterial (NM) risk assessment. In this work, Daphnia magna F0 mothers were exposed to a range of silver and titanium dioxide NMs. The key biological life history traits (survival, growth and reproduction) of the F1 intergenerations, at the first (F1B1), third (F1B3) and fifth (F1B5) broods, were investigated. Furthermore, the F1 germlines of each of the three broods were investigated over 3 more generations (up to 25 days each) in continuous or removed-from NM exposure, to identify how the length of maternal exposure affects the resulting clonal broods. Our results show how daphnids respond to NM-induced stress, and how the maternal effects show trade-offs between growth, reproduction and survivorship. The F1B1 (and following germline) had the shortest F0 maternal exposure times to the NMs, and thus were the most sensitive showing reduced size and reproductive output. The F1B3 generation had a sub-chronic maternal exposure, whereas the F1B5 generation suffered chronic maternal exposure where (in most cases) the most compensatory adaptive effects were displayed in response to the prolonged NM exposure, including enhanced neonate output and reduced gene expression. Transgenerational responses of multiple germlines showed a direct link with maternal exposure time to ‘sub-lethal’ effect concentrations of NMs (identified from standard OECDs acute toxicity tests which chronically presented as lethal) including increased survival and production of males in the F1B3 and G1B5 germlines. This information may help to fine-tune environmental risk assessments of NMs and prediction of their impacts on environmental ecology.     

Fire safe,sustainable loose furnishing

The aim of this exploratory study has been to investigate the fire properties and environmental aspects of different upholstery material combinations, mainly for domestic applications. An analysis of the sustainability and circularity of selected textiles, along with lifecycle assessment, is used to qualitatively evaluate materials from an environmental perspective. The cone calorimeter was the primary tool used to screen 20 different material combinations from a fire performance perspective. It was found that textile covers of conventional fibres such as wool, cotton and polyester, can be improved by blending them with fire resistant speciality fibres. A new three‐dimensional web structure has been examined as an alternative padding material, showing preliminary promising fire properties with regard to ignition time, heat release rates and smoke production.     

基于PMU的电力系统监控体系结构优化设计

文中提出了一种利用有限数量的相量测量单元(PMU)和相量数据集中器(PDC)设计最优监控结构的方法。通过在大量的设定值场景下,使电力系统可观测性曲线的期望值最大化,同时使通信基础设施成本最小化,最终确定PMU和PDC的最佳位置。提出了一种非线性动态扩展卡尔曼滤波(EFK)状态观测器。这种状态观测器可以将暂态行为转换为由代数微分方程描述的广域电力系统,而无需非线性反演技术。最后以IEEE-5电力系统为例,说明了该方法的有效性。     

立柱加固型框架大楼的爆破拆除

采用定向控制爆破技术拆除立柱加固型7层框架大楼。为了彻底炸毁加固立柱,确保大楼顺利定向倾倒,通过多次爆破试验确定了炸药单耗、布孔参数和装药结构。为了控制大楼塌落时的触地震动,采取了秒差分区爆破、空中解体、铺垫缓冲层和开挖减震沟等技术措施。爆破过程中进行了震动监测。此外还介绍了起爆顺序、安全防护措施及爆破结果。     

火电机组一次调频性能实时监测系统

为了实时监测和评价火电机组一次调频性能，开发了火电机组一次调频性能实测监测系统。该系统具有一次调频参数异动感知、一次调频性能量化预测及自适应校正等关键功能。某机组的实际应用表明，该系统能够实现火电机组一次调频关键参数的实时监测和调频性能的准确预测。     

基于TRNSYS的茯砖茶生产工艺能源系统节能环保特性研究

茯砖茶发酵、干燥过程中，烘房内温湿度稳定性和能源系统低能耗是保证茯砖茶品质与成本的重要因素。本文采用TRNSYS仿真与实验研究相结合的方法，对咸阳某茯砖茶厂实际使用的空气源热泵系统进行建模，通过研究各季节典型代表月烘房温湿度的波动情况，确定该空气源热泵系统在全年的运行状态是否满足工艺要求，在此基础上，对比了该系统在全年可运行季节代表月与该生产厂房早期使用的燃气锅炉系统的能耗仿真结果，对空气源热泵系统的节能与环保特性进行研究。结果表明：由于夏季送风质量流量过大且室外空气含湿量较高，7月烘房温湿度不满足工艺要求。热泵系统在1、4、10月的总标煤消耗量的平均值是锅炉系统的44.42%，平均CO2、SO2、NOx排放量分别为锅炉系统的34.13%、44.1%、40.60%。在茯砖茶发酵、干燥的过程中，相比于燃气锅炉系统，空气源热泵系统具有更好的节能与环保特性。     

Photomemory and Pulse Monitoring Featured Solution-Processed Near-Infrared Graphene/Organic Phototransistor with Detectivity of 2.4 × 1013 Jones

Emerging graphene/organic phototransistors are eye-catching technologies owing to their unique merits including easy/low-cost fabrication, temperature independent, and achieving various functions. However, their development in the near-infrared (NIR) region is experiencing a bottleneck of inferior sensitivity due to low exciton dissociation efficiency and inefficient charge extraction rate. Here, a novel-design solution-processed graphene/organic NIR phototransistor is reported, that is, creatively introducing electron extraction layer of ZnO on graphene channel and employing organic ternary bulk heterojunction as photosensitive layer, successfully breaking that bottleneck. The phototransistor exhibits a high responsivity of 6.1 × 10⁶ A W⁻¹, a superior detectivity of 2.4 × 10¹³ Jones, and a remarkable minimum detection power of 1.75 nW cm⁻² under 850 nm radiation. Considering its excellent NIR detection performance, a noncontact transmission-type pulse monitoring is carried out with no external circuit support, from which human pulse signal and heart rate can be displayed in real time. The phototransistor, interestingly, can be switched into a photomemory function with a retention time of 1000 s in the atmosphere through a gate voltage of −20 V. The design takes the characteristics of graphene/organic phototransistors to a higher level, beyond the limit of sensitivity, and opens up a novel approach for developing multifunction devices.