Cornus officinalis vinegar reduces body weight and attenuates hepatic steatosis in mouse model of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

This study aimed to determine the main bioactive components of Cornus officinalis vinegar (COV) and assess the effects of COV on the body weight (BW) and hepatic steatosis in a nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) mouse model. Seven-week-old KM female mice were divided into five treatment groups: (1) Normal control (NC) group, (2) high fat diet (HFD) group, (3) low concentration treatment group (3.5% COV), (4) medium concentration treatment group (5.0% COV), and (5) high concentration treatment group (6.5% COV). Mice in the NC group were fed with a normal chow diet, and those in the other four groups were fed with a HFD known for causing obesity for 10 weeks. Then, mice in the three COV treatment groups were orally administered with COV once a day for 6 weeks. Results showed that the contents of loganin and morroniside in COV reached 16.82 and 51.17 µg/ml, respectively, and COV also contained multiple organic acids. COV significantly reduced BW, abdominal fat weight, liver weight, and the levels of glucose, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol of serum and increased the levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol of serum (p < 0.05). COV also improved the liver function and anti-oxidant activity of liver (p < 0.05). COV treatments increased the interleukin-10 expression and reduced the tumor necrosis factor-α expression in the liver tissue of NAFLD mice (p < 0.05). Histopathological observation revealed that COV suppressed hepatic lipid accumulation and steatosis. The results suggest that COV may contribute to the alleviation of NAFLD and obesity.     

双亲纳米SiO2颗粒的制备及提高渗吸采收率性能

以正辛基三乙氧基硅烷和3-巯基丙基三乙氧基硅烷为改性剂，以双氧水为氧化剂，在水基环境下对亲水纳米SiO2颗粒表面进行改性，得到具有磺酸基和辛基的双亲纳米SiO2颗粒，并通过红外和热重对其化学结构和热稳定性进行分析。将双亲纳米SiO2颗粒分散在地层水中制备纳米流体，并评价纳米流体的稳定性、界面性质和渗吸效率。利用核磁共振技术探究纳米流体渗吸过程中岩心孔隙内原油运移规律。结果表明，纳米流体储存30 d未出现分层现象，表现出良好的稳定性；经纳米流体处理的岩心亲水性增强。此外，双亲纳米SiO2颗粒将油水界面张力降低至1.7 mN/m；纳米流体渗吸采收率高达22.6%，渗吸初始阶段小孔隙中的原油被动用，而在渗吸后期阶段大孔隙中的原油才被动用。     

Electrochemical performance of in situ LiFePO4 modified by N-doped graphene for Li-ion batteries

LiFePO₄ modified by N-doped graphene (NG) with a three-dimensional conductive network structure was synthesized via a one-step in situ hydrothermal method. The effects of N amount of NG on the phase structure, morphology, and electrochemical properties of LiFePO₄ are investigated in this study. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that doping suitable N amounts in NG do not alter the crystal structure of LiFePO_4, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images show that NG can slightly reduce the particle size of LiFePO₄. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) results show that the LiFePO₄ particles are well covered and connected by NG. The electrochemical performance confirms that LiFePO₄ modified by 20% N-doped graphene (named LFP/NG-4) displays a perfect specific capacity of 166.6 mAh·g^?1 at a rate of 0.2C and can reach 125 mAh·g^?1 at a rate of 5 C. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results illustrate that the charge transfer resistance value of the LFP/NG-4 composite is only 58.6 Ω, which is very low compared with LiFePO₄. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) tests indicate that the addition of 20% N-doped graphene can effectively reduce electrode polarization and improve reversibility. The LFP/NG-4 composite with a three-dimensional conductive network structure can be regarded as a promising cathode material for Li-ion batteries.     

Chromium-promoted preparation of forsterite refractory materials from ferronickel slag by microwave sintering

The chromium-promoted preparation of forsterite refractory materials from ferronickel slag was investigated by microwave sintering of the slag with the additions of sintered magnesia and 0–10 wt% chromium oxide (Cr₂O₃). The thermodynamic calculations revealed that the addition of Cr₂O₃ can promote the formations of spinel and liquid phase and maintain high content of forsterite below 1500 °C. The experimental results showed that there existed a stronger promoting effect of Cr₂O₃ additive on the properties of refractory materials in the microwave field than that in conventional sintering. It was attributed to the preferential formation and growth of spinel with stronger microwave absorption than other phases (e.g., enstatite), the existence of more forsterite, and the enhanced densification in association with the presence of more liquid phase at the same temperature. By microwave sintering of the mixture of ferronickel slag, 25 wt% sintered magnesia, and 4 wt% Cr₂O₃ at 1350 °C for 20 min, a superior refractory material with refractoriness of 1801 °C, thermal shock resistance of 6 times, bulk density of 2.97 g/cm³, apparent porosity of 1.4%, and compressive strength of 197 MPa was obtained. Compared with that prepared by conventional sintering at 1350 °C for 2 h, the refractoriness and thermal shock resistance were increased by 175 °C and 100%, respectively. The present study provided a novel method for preparing high-quality refractory materials from ferronickel slag and relevant industrial wastes.     

Nanoporous Surface High-Entropy Alloys as Highly Efficient Multisite Electrocatalysts for Nonacidic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution in alkaline and neutral media offers the possibility of adopting platinum-free electrocatalysts for large-scale electrochemical production of pure hydrogen fuel, but most state-of-the-art electrocatalytic materials based on nonprecious transition metals operate at high overpotentials. Here, a monolithic nanoporous multielemental CuAlNiMoFe electrode with electroactive high-entropy CuNiMoFe surface is reported to hold great promise as cost-effective electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline and neutral media. By virtue of a surface high-entropy alloy composed of dissimilar Cu, Ni, Mo, and Fe metals offering bifunctional electrocatalytic sites with enhanced kinetics for water dissociation and adsorption/desorption of reactive hydrogen intermediates, and hierarchical nanoporous Cu scaffold facilitating electron transfer/mass transport, the nanoporous CuAlNiMoFe electrode exhibits superior nonacidic HER electrocatalysis. It only takes overpotentials as low as ≈240 and ≈183 mV to reach current densities of ≈1840 and ≈100 mA cm⁻² in 1 m  KOH and pH 7 buffer electrolytes, respectively; ≈46- and ≈14-fold higher than those of ternary CuAlNi electrode with bimetallic Cu–Ni surface alloy. The outstanding electrocatalytic properties make nonprecious multielemental alloys attractive candidates as high-performance nonacidic HER electrocatalytic electrodes in water electrolysis.     

免涂装低屈强比耐候桥梁钢的开发应用

通过优化成分设计以及轧制、热处理工艺,成功开发出8 ～ 80 mm厚度的免涂装低屈强比耐候桥梁钢.针对免涂装低屈强比耐候桥梁钢的工艺、金相组织和焊接性进行分析研究,结果表明:耐候桥梁钢Q345qENH～ Q690qENH的屈强比可以通过适量铁素体+不同形态贝氏体组织配比进行调控,使低温冲击韧性、低屈强比和耐候性同时得到保证,实现了优良的强度、冲击韧性和可焊性.     

An image encryption scheme based on precision limited chaotic system

Multimedia Tools and Applications - In recent years, various chaotic maps have been used for image encryption. However, most of these image encryption algorithms entail a lot of floating-point...     

PWR堆芯燃料组件非线性梁模型研究

为描述燃料组件的非线性特性，采用有限元方法建立燃料组件横向梁模型，并引入迟滞模型，用于模拟燃料组件横向变形时的非线性效应。计算结果表明:该非线性梁模型能够更准确地获得组件的弯曲变形和受力，有助于开展燃料组件事故分析。      

Low Li ion diffusion barrier on low-crystalline FeOOH nanosheets and high performance of energy storage

Nano Research - To obtain symmetric supercapacitors (SCs) with high energy density, it is critical to fabricate an electrode with wide potential window and excellent capacitive performance. Herein,...