Preparation and Tribological Properties of a Multilayer Graphene-Reinforced TiO Composite Nanolubricant Additive.

The unique structure and physical properties of graphene and anatase TiO make them suitable for use as additives for engine lubricants. This study describes the use of dielectric barrier discharge plasma-assisted ball milling to synthesize a multilayer graphene-reinforced TiO composite nanolubricant additive (MGTC). A variety of physical and chemical tests were performed to characterize the resulting experimental materials, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Upper airway obstruction during extubation after general anesthesia, in a patient with Parkinson disease: A case report.

Rationale: Parkinson disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative condition often suffered by the elderly. Upper airway obstruction, though rare in patients with PD, can be life threatening and is associated with vocal cord paralysis, laryngeal spasm, and dystonia of jaw and neck muscles.

Patient Concerns: We describe a life-threatening upper airway obstruction caused by bilateral vocal cord paralysis, in an elderly man with PD, during extubation after general anesthesia.

HSPA12A Is a Novel Player in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis via Promoting Nuclear PKM2-Mediated M1 Macrophage Polarization.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the most prevalent cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Macrophage-mediated inflammation plays a critical role in NASH pathogenesis; however, optimum therapies for macrophage activation and NASH remain elusive. HSPA12A encodes a novel member of the HSP70 family.

Autophagy activated by tuberin/mTOR/p70S6K suppression is a protective mechanism against local anaesthetics neurotoxicity.

The local anaesthetics (LAs) are widely used for peripheral nerve blocks, epidural anaesthesia, spinal anaesthesia and pain management. However, exposure to LAs for long duration or at high dosage can provoke potential neuronal damages. Autophagy is an intracellular bulk degradation process for proteins and organelles.

HSPA12B Attenuated Acute Myocardial Ischemia/reperfusion Injury via Maintaining Endothelial Integrity in a PI3K/Akt/mTOR-dependent Mechanism.

Endothelial damage is a critical mediator of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. HSPA12B is an endothelial-cell-specifically expressed heat shock protein. However, the roles of HSPA12B in acute myocardial I/R injury is unknown.

Toward NIR driven photocatalyst: Fabrication, characterization, and photocatalytic activity of β-NaYF4:Yb(3+),Tm(3+)/g-C3N4 nanocomposite.

The β-NaYF4:Yb(3+),Tm(3+)/g-C3N4 (NYT/C3N4) photocatalyst has been successfully fabricated by a stepwise method. Firstly, the advanced near-infrared (NIR) driven photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and UV-Vis-NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. It was found that NYT/C3N4 photocatalyst consisted of uniform hexagonal phase NaYF4 nanocrystals with about 20nm diameter distributed on surface of g-C3N4 sheets, and the NYT/C3N4 composite exhibited strong near-infrared light absorption and the energy transfer from β-NaYF4:Yb(3+),Tm(3+) to g-C3N4 was confirmed.

Optical study of diffuse bi-directional nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge in nitrogen.

In this study, a bi-directional high voltage pulse with 20 ns rising time is employed to generate diffuse glow-like dielectric barrier discharge plasma with very low gas temperature in N2 using needle-plate electrode configuration at atmospheric pressure. Both the diffuse nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge images and the optical emission spectra of the discharge are recorded successfully under severe electromagnetic interference. The effects of pulse peak voltage, pulse repetition rate, and the concentrations of Ar and O2 on the emission intensities of NO (A2Σ→X2Π), OH (A2Σ→X2Π, 0-0), N2 (C3Πu→B3Πg, 0-0, 337.