4-Methyl-2,4-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)pent-1-ene,a Major Active Metabolite of Bisphenol A,Triggers Pancreatic β-Cell Death via a JNK/AMPKα Activation-Regulated Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Mediated Apoptotic Pathway

4-methyl-2,4-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)pent-1-ene (MBP), a major active metabolite of bisphenol A (BPA), is generated in the mammalian liver. Some studies have suggested that MBP exerts greater toxicity than BPA. However, the mechanism underlying MBP-induced pancreatic β-cell cytotoxicity remains largely unclear. This study demonstrated the cytotoxicity of MBP in pancreatic β-cells and elucidated the cellular mechanism involved in MBP-induced β-cell death. Our results showed that MBP exposure significantly reduced cell viability, caused insulin secretion dysfunction, and induced apoptotic events including increased caspase-3 activity and the expression of active forms of caspase-3/-7/-9 and PARP protein. In addition, MBP triggered endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, as indicated by the upregulation of GRP 78, CHOP, and cleaved caspase-12 proteins. Pretreatment with 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA; a pharmacological inhibitor of ER stress) markedly reversed MBP-induced ER stress and apoptosis-related signals. Furthermore, exposure to MBP significantly induced the protein phosphorylation of JNK and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)α. Pretreatment of β-cells with pharmacological inhibitors for JNK (SP600125) and AMPK (compound C), respectively, effectively abrogated the MBP-induced apoptosis-related signals. Both JNK and AMPK inhibitors also suppressed the MBP-induced activation of JNK and AMPKα and of each other. In conclusion, these findings suggest that MBP exposure exerts cytotoxicity on β-cells via the interdependent activation of JNK and AMPKα, which regulates the downstream apoptotic signaling pathway.     

An active balancer with rapid bidirectional charge shuttling and adaptive equalization current control for lithium-ion battery strings

This article proposes an active balancer, which features bidirectional charge shuttling and adaptive equalization current control, to fast counterbalance the state of charge (SOC) of cells in a lithium-ion battery (LIB) string. The power circuit consists of certain bidirectional buck-boost converters to transfer energy among the different cells back and forth. Owing to the characterization of the open-circuit voltage (OCV) vs SOC in LIB being relatively smooth near the SOC middle range, the SOC-inspected balance strategy can achieve more precise and efficient equilibrium than the voltage-based control. Accordingly, a compensated OCV-based SOC estimation is put forward to take into account the discrepancy of SOC estimation. Besides, the varied-duty-cycle (VDC) and curve-fitting modulation (CFM) methods are devised herein to tackle the problems of slow equalization rate and low balance efficacy, which arise from the diminution in balancing current as the SOC difference between the cells decreases in the later duration of equalization especially. The proposed strategies have taken the battery nonlinear characteristic and circuit parameter nonideality into account and can adaptively modulate the duty cycle with the SOC difference to keep balancing current constant throughout the balancing cycle. Simulated and experimental results are given to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the same prototype constructed. Compared with the fixed duty cycle and the VDC methods, the proposed CFM has the best balancing efficiency of 81.4%, and the balance time is shortened by 27.1% and 18.6%, respectively.     

境外炼化工程项目投标竞争者分析报价策略

全球炼化工程总承包市场呈现出垄断竞争型特征,欧美和日韩国际工程公司由于技术和报价竞争力较强,一直占据本行业高端市场,中国炼化工程企业尚有差距.文章综合考虑投标报价阶段竞争者分析路径,提出了随机型和不完全信息静态博弈综合集成分析的投标报价最优决策模型,并以中东海湾地区某炼化工程总承包项目为例,进行多维度的实证分析,提出模型的有效性和可行性,为中国炼化工程企业"走出去"高质量发展提供有益的决策支持和信息参考.     

Evaluation of Scale and Corrosion Inhibition of Modified Polyaspartic Acid

Amino acid modified polyaspartic acids were evaluated as calcium-scale inhibitors. Feasibility of scale inhibition experiments was analyzed by molecular dynamics simulation and Gaussian optimization, and the scale inhibition mechanism was theoretically analyzed. Scale inhibition performance was studied by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, static scale inhibition experiments, and electrochemical performance testing, which provided an experimental basis for the molecular dynamics simulation. The experimental results showed that Arg-SA-PASP has better scale inhibition and corrosion inhibition performance than His-SA-PASP. The scale inhibition effect increased with increasing concentration. Electrochemical tests indicated that Arg-SA-PASP is an excellent scale and corrosion inhibitor.     

总变差模型在书画打印宣纸印刷质量预测中的应用

为了建立适用于书画打印宣纸印刷质量的预测模型,本研究测量了14种书画打印宣纸的粗糙度、白度、不透明度、定量、光泽度和针对宣纸特别设定的帘纹深浅以及帘纹疏密度等表面物理参量,并在相同条件下,使用喷墨打印设备输出并测量印品色度值,利用总变差模型构建去除帘纹色差的测定方法,得到与人眼视觉特征相符的色差。运用GRNN广义回归神经网络结合书画打印宣纸表面物理参量与宣纸去帘纹后的色差值,建立预测模型。结果表明,该模型能够在仅测量书画打印宣纸表面物理参量的情况下,便能较为准确地预测书画打印宣纸印刷质量,为书画打印宣纸印刷前的选纸工作提供指导依据。     

定距螺旋桨对船用主机外特性的要求分析

为解决定距螺旋桨与船用主机在船舶运行工况的机桨匹配问题,结合船舶系泊和航行试验的相关标准,分析和归纳船舶运行数据,将实船测试与船机桨匹配理论计算相结合,得出运输船和拖轮在常用工况及特殊工况下定距螺旋桨对主机外特性的定量要求,为配套不同细分市场时船用主机的优化和开发提供参考依据。     

床温及SNCR脱硝对CFB锅炉NOx和N2O排放影响的试验研究

为了研究循环流化床（CFB）锅炉燃用无烟煤时床温及选择性非催化还原（SNCR）脱硝对于NO和N2O排放的影响，在1 MW CFB试验装置上开展了试验研究。结果表明:床温由880 ℃提高到970 ℃，NO排放质量浓度由119.5 mg/m3上升到226.0 mg/m3，N2O排放质量浓度由216.0 mg/m3降低到102.2 mg/m3；在氨氮摩尔比（NSR）为0~3.7之间，随着NSR的提高，脱硝效率从0上升到50.72%；进一步提高NSR到5.2，脱硝效率升至53.61%，增加较为缓慢；随着NSR从0提高到1.7，N2O排放质量浓度由84.3 mg/m3上升至118.3 mg/m3，增长较为缓慢；进一步提高NSR至2.0，N2O排放质量浓度上升至187.7 mg/m3，增长速度提高；继续提高NSR至5.2，N2O排放质量浓度上升至381.4 mg/m3；CFB锅炉采用以尿素为还原剂的SNCR脱硝工艺时，单纯通过加大NSR来提高脱硝效率不仅效果有限，过量喷入的还原剂会造成N2O排放量的显著提高。