Neoagarooligosaccharide Protects against Hepatic Fibrosis via Inhibition of TGF-β/Smad Signaling Pathway

Hepatic fibrosis occurs when liver tissue becomes scarred from repetitive liver injury and inflammatory responses; it can progress to cirrhosis and eventually to hepatocellular carcinoma. Previously, we reported that neoagarooligosaccharides (NAOs), produced by the hydrolysis of agar by β-agarases, have hepatoprotective effects against acetaminophen overdose-induced acute liver injury. However, the effect of NAOs on chronic liver injury, including hepatic fibrosis, has not yet been elucidated. Therefore, we examined whether NAOs protect against fibrogenesis in vitro and in vivo. NAOs ameliorated PAI-1, α-SMA, CTGF and fibronectin protein expression and decreased mRNA levels of fibrogenic genes in TGF-β-treated LX-2 cells. Furthermore, downstream of TGF-β, the Smad signaling pathway was inhibited by NAOs in LX-2 cells. Treatment with NAOs diminished the severity of hepatic injury, as evidenced by reduction in serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels, in carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)-induced liver fibrosis mouse models. Moreover, NAOs markedly blocked histopathological changes and collagen accumulation, as shown by H&E and Sirius red staining, respectively. Finally, NAOs antagonized the CCl₄-induced upregulation of the protein and mRNA levels of fibrogenic genes in the liver. In conclusion, our findings suggest that NAOs may be a promising candidate for the prevention and treatment of chronic liver injury via inhibition of the TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway.     

Use of Nuclear Energy in Outer-Space Systems

Atomic Energy - The history and direction of further development of space nuclear energetics are examined. The functional diagram and principle of operation of a promising, powerful,...     

Laboratory Studies to Determine Suitable Chemicals to Improve Oil Recovery from Garzan Oil Field

Garzan oil field is located at the south east of Turkey. It is a mature oil field and the reservoir is fractured carbonate reservoir. After producing about 1% original oil in place (OOIP) reservoir pressure started to decline. Waterflooding was started in order to support reservoir pressure and also to enhance oil production in 1960. Waterflooding improved the oil recovery but after years of flooding water breakthrough at the production wells was observed. This increased the water/oil ratio at the production wells. In order to enhance oil recovery again different techniques were investigated. Chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods are gaining attention all over the world for oil recovery. Surfactant injection is an effective way for interfacial tension (IFT) reduction and wettability reversal. In this study, 31 different types of chemicals were studied to specify the effects on oil production. This paper presents solubility of surfactants in brine, IFT and contact angle measurements, imbibition tests, and lastly core flooding experiments. Most of the chemicals were incompatible with Garzan formation water, which has high divalent ion concentration. In this case, the usage of 2-propanol as co-surfactant yielded successful results for stability of the selected chemical solutions. The results of the wettability test indicated that both tested cationic and anionic surfactants altered the wettability of the carbonate rock from oil-wet to intermediate-wet. The maximum oil recovery by imbibition test was reached when core was exposed 1-ethly ionic liquid after imbibition in formation water. Also, after core flooding test, it is concluded that considerable amount of oil can be recovered from Garzan reservoir by waterflooding alone if adverse effects of natural fractures could be eliminated.     

Technological Aspects of Synthesizing Ceramic Coatings by Flow-Through Micro-Arc Oxidation

Refractories and Industrial Ceramics - The paper introduces a promising technology for utilizing a traditional scheme for implementing a flow-through micro-arc oxidation method to restore localized...     

Influence of Titanium Excess in a Ti–Si Reaction Mixture on the Synthesis of a Composite in a Combustion Wave

Theoretical Foundations of Chemical Engineering - On the basis of the classic concepts of the theory of solid-phase combustion, for the first time, a model with a detailed scheme of chemical...     

Diluted chemical bath deposition of CdZnS as prospective buffer layer in CIGS solar cell

In this study, dilute chemical bath deposition technique has been used to deposit CdZnS thin films on soda-lime glass substrates. The structural, morphological, optoelectronic properties of as-grown films have been investigated as a function of different Zn²⁺ precursor concentrations. The X-ray diffractogram of CdS thin-film reveals a peak corresponding to (002) plane with wurtzite structure, and the peak shift has been observed with the increase of the Zn²⁺ concentration upon formation of CdZnS thin film. From morphological studies, it has been revealed that the diluted chemical bath deposition technique provides homogeneous distribution of film on the substrate even at a lower concentration of Zn²⁺. Optical characterization has shown that the transparency of the film is influenced by Zn²⁺ concentration and when the Zn²⁺ concentration is varied from 0 M to 0.0256 M, bandgap values of resulting films range from 2.42 eV to 3.90 eV while. Furthermore, electrical properties have shown that with increasing zinc concentration the resistivity of the film increases. Finally, numerical simulation validates and suggests that CdZnS buffer layer with composition of 0.0032 M Zn²⁺ concentration would be a promising candidate in CIGS solar cell.     

Modeling of Ignition and Combustion of a Coflowing Hydrogen Jet in a Supersonic Air Flow

Combustion, Explosion, and Shock Waves - Results of a numerical study of mixing, ignition, and combustion of a cold hydrogen jet propagating along the lower wall of a channel parallel to a...     

Designing optical glasses by machine learning coupled with a genetic algorithm

Engineering new glass compositions have experienced a sturdy tendency to move forward from (educated) trial-and-error to data- and simulation-driven strategies. In this work, we developed a computer program that combines data-driven predictive models (in this case, neural networks) with a genetic algorithm to design glass compositions with desired combinations of properties. First, we induced predictive models for the glass transition temperature (T_g) using a dataset of 45,302 compositions with 39 different chemical elements, and for the refractive index (n_d) using a dataset of 41,225 compositions with 38 different chemical elements. Then, we searched for relevant glass compositions using a genetic algorithm informed by a design trend of glasses having high n_d (1.7 or more) and low T_g (500 °C or less). Two candidate compositions suggested by the combined algorithms were selected and produced in the laboratory. These compositions are significantly different from those in the datasets used to induce the predictive models, showing that the used method is indeed capable of exploration. Both glasses met the constraints of the work, which supports the proposed framework. Therefore, this new tool can be immediately used for accelerating the design of new glasses. These results are a stepping stone in the pathway of machine learning-guided design of novel glasses.