Baicalin suppresses neuron autophagy and apoptosis by regulating astrocyte polarization in pentylenetetrazol-induced epileptic rats and PC12 cells.

Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder worldwide, but its entire pathology remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to explore the antiepileptic effect of baicalin (BAL), the main bioactive component of scutellaria. We isolated astrocytes from neonatal rats and astrocytes were identified by glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunostaining. The viability and phenotype of astrocytes were determined by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and immunofluorescence staining, respectively. For investigating the effect of BAL on the autophagy in A1 astrocytes treated PC12 cells, expression of light chain 3B (LC3-B) and sequestosome 1 (P62) was analyzed by immunofluorescence staining and apoptosis by acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining, respectively. For animal experiments, pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced epileptic model was used to explore the antiepileptic effect of BAL. The results showed that BAL reduced lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced complement C3 (C3, a marker of A1 astrocytes) + A1 cells and decreased autophagy and apoptosis in PC12 cells. Further findings showed seizure grade and latency were positively correlated with GFAP+/C3 + A1 cells' infiltration in interstitial astrocytes. After BAL treatment, epileptogenesis was ameliorated with decreased A1 astrocytes in the brain and improved behavioral performance. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed that the levels of interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were reduced in the cerebral interstitial site in the BAL group compared to the PTZ group. Western blotting analysis showed that BAL treatment reduced expression of C3, inward rectifier potassium channel Kir4.1, aquaporin-4 (AQP4) in the frontal cortex and Caspase-3, BCL2-associated X protein (Bax) in the hippocampus. In conclusion, these findings suggest that BAL can prevents cognitive and emotional disorders and has antiepileptic effects in rats, which may be associated with suppresses neuron autophagy and apoptosis in the hippocampus via regulate astrocyte phenotypes.

First-order metal-ferromagnetic insulator phase transition induced by Rashba spin-orbit coupling on the puckered honeycomb lattice.

We investigate the first-order metal-ferromagnetic insulator phase transition on the puckered honeycomb lattice, combining the cellular dynamical mean field theory with the continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo method. By analyzing the interplay among intrinsic spin-orbit coupling (SOC), Rashba SOC and on-site interaction, we show that the ferromagnetic (FM) order and the antiferromagnetic (AFM) order occur in different regimes. Rashba SOC allows the electron spin flipping, which leads to the phase transition from the metal to FM insulator induced by the increasing on-site interaction. In contrast to the usual continuous metal-antiferromagnetic insulator phase transition, we find that the metal-ferromagnetic insulator transition is first-order by computing the double occupancy. Furthermore, the complete phase diagrams of the Rashba SOC, on-site interaction and temperature are also demonstrated.

Kinetics and mechanistic aspects of removal of heavy metal through gas-liquid sulfide precipitation: A computational and experimental study.

The production of fine particles from extremely high supersaturation has challenged the application of sulfide precipitation in treating heavy metal wastewater due to the difficulty of solid-liquid separation. To this end, a gas-liquid sulfide precipitation reactor for the removal of Cu2+ was designed by controlling the mass transfer and supersaturation levels during sulfidation processes. Particularly, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the reactor, integrating sulfidation reaction kinetics with two-phase flow hydrodynamics, was first built, followed by examining the effects of H2S(g) bubble diameter and flow rate. Based on the CFD simulation, the rate-limiting step of the gas-liquid sulfide precipitation reaction is the gas-liquid mass transfer process. Either reducing H2S(g) bubble diameter or increasing H2S(g) flow rate can result in the control of reaction rate and supersaturation level in the system. In order to validate the CFD simulations, we measured Cu2+ concentrations during the sulfidation process with the batch experiments. The agreement between computational and experimental results indicated that our mechanistic model can provide a protocol for the design and optimization of the reaction system, allowing one to visualize the time-dependent reaction process and evaluate the performance of a reactor.

Design and analysis of continuous-flow reactors for copper sulfide precipitation process by a computational method.

Sulfide precipitation method has been widely applied in heavy metal-polluted wastewater treatment, due to the low solubility of most metal sulfide precipitates. Nevertheless, the relevant hydrodynamics studies on the metal sulfide precipitation process are rarely found in the literature. In this study, three continuous-flow sulfide precipitation reactors (CFSPRs) were designed and evaluated by a computational method. To characterize the process efficiency of copper sulfide precipitation in different reactors, fluid velocity field, species concentration distribution, and reaction rate distribution maps were acquired as simulation results. A two-factor designed set of boundary conditions was used to determine their effects on processing efficiency. The model results indicate that the inflow rate and reactor layout have significant effects on the copper sulfide precipitation process. The layout of reactor no. 3 and the inflow rate of 0.75 m/s prove to have higher treatment efficiencies than those at other conditions. Possible explanations for the simulation results were proposed. The model data of effluent concentration were compared and statistically analyzed with the measured concentrations of copper ion and sulfur ion in the outlet stream, and the results demonstrate a strong correlation between them, which suggests the model is reasonably accurate.

Microwave-Assisted Morphology Evolution of Fe-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks and Their Derived Fe2O3 Nanostructures for Li-Ion Storage.

The metal-organic-framework (MOF) approach is demonstrated as an effective strategy for the morphology evolution control of MIL-53(Fe) with assistance of microwave irradiation. Owing to the homogeneous nucleation offered by microwave irradiation and confined porosity and skeleton by MOF templates, various porous Fe2O3 nanostructures including spindle, concave octahedron, solid octahedron, yolk-shell octahedron, and nanorod with porosity control are derived by simply adjusting the irradiation time. The formation mechanism for the MOF precursors and their derived iron oxides with morphology control is investigated. The main product of the mesoporous yolk-shell octahedron-in-octahedron Fe2O3 nanostructure is also found to be a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries due to its excellent Li-storage performance. It can deliver a reversible larger-than-theoretical capacity of 1176 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles at 100 mA g-1 and good high-rate performance (744 mAh g-1 after 500 cycles at 1 A g-1).

Multilayer CuO@NiO Hollow Spheres: Microwave-Assisted Metal-Organic-Framework Derivation and Highly Reversible Structure-Matched Stepwise Lithium Storage.

A unique CuO@NiO microsphere with three-layer ball-in-ball hollow morphology is successfully synthesized by Cu-Ni bimetallic organic frameworks. The beforehand facile microwave-assisted production of the Ni organic framework sphere is used as the template to induce the morphology control of bimetallic oxides. Designed by the controlled surface cationic exchange reactions between Cu and Ni ions, there is an elemental gradient (decreased amount of CuO but increased amount of NiO) from the shell to the core of the microsphere product. This ternary metal oxide hollow structure is found to be very suitable for solving the critical volume expansion problem, which is critical for all high-capacity metal oxide electrodes for lithium ion batteries. A reversible larger-than-theoretical capacity of 1061 mAh·g(-1) can be retained after a repetitive 200 cycles without capacity fading compared to the initial cycle. These excellent electrochemical properties are ascribed to the step-by-step lithium insertion reactions induced by the matched CuO@NiO composition from the shell to the core and facilitated lithium/electron diffusion and accommodated volume change in the porous bimetallic oxides microsphere with a multiple-layer yolk-shell nanostructure.