[Effect of CYP11B2 gene -344T/C polymorphism on renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activity and blood pressure response to hydrochlorothiazide].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of CYP11B2 gene -344T/C polymorphism on renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) activity and blood pressure in response to hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) treatment in Han Chinese patients with essential hypertension. METHODS: Eight hundred and twenty-nine patients with mild/moderate essential hypertensive were enrolled. All subjects had their antihypertensive medications withdrawn. After two weeks of wash-out period with placebo, each patient was given 12.5 mg of HCTZ per day for the next six weeks. Physical, biochemical measurements, and the activity of RAAS were taken at the end of the wash-out period (baseline) and 6-week diuretic therapy period. Changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure were analyzed for association with interaction between genotypes at CYP11B2 -344T/C polymorphism and gender. RESULTS: A total of 776 patients completed the study. 17.5% of subjects have achieved blood pressure normalization after six weeks treatment. For male patients, the aldosterone level with CC genotype was significantly higher than that of those with TT or TC genotype. Following the HCTZ treatment, the blood pressure response in patients with CC genotype was less obvious than that in others, whilst the increase of aldosterone level was greater. For female patients, no association was found between CYP11B2 -344T/C polymorphism and aldosterone level. Following the HCTZ treatment, the blood pressure response in patients with CC genotype was greater than others, whilst the increase of aldosterone activity was less apparent. CONCLUSION: In males, the -344T/C polymorphism of CYP11B2 gene is associated with aldosterone level, and the change of aldosterone level was greater, the blood pressure response was weaker after HCTZ treatment. In females, there was no association between this polymorphism and aldosterone level. The change of aldosterone level and blood pressure response to HCTZ were different from that in males.

Study on energy saving and environmental protection generator with hydrogen-oxygen-gasoline compound fuel.

The generator is the most popular mobile power device and backup power device in the world. It is very important for human life. Therefore, it is important to develop more efficient combustion technology in order to save energy and reduce air pollution. In this paper, a novel technology of hydrogen and oxygen compound gasoline fuel is developed. Hydrogen and oxygen gases are produced from an electrolytic cell and then mixed with the intake gasoline and air. The compound fuel is sucked into the engine combustion chamber. The hydrogen and oxygen gases can be produced immediately without any storage device of hydrogen. The experimental results show that this technology can increase the power generation and decrease emission pollution due to promoting combustion efficiency. In addition, the spark plug seat temperature increases due to higher heat value of hydrogen. This technique can reduce carbon monoxide and HC, but increase carbon dioxide. The research and development of this technique can achieve the goals of energy saving, emission reduction, relative safety, easy refitting and low refitting expense. Moreover, this research possesses academic innovation and industrial application.

A Misalignment Optical Guiding Module for Power Generation Enhancement of Fixed-Type Photovoltaic Systems.

: This study presents a misalignment light-guiding module to increase the effectiveness of absorbing light. For a general fixed-type photovoltaic (PV) panel, the misalignment light decreases the efficiency of the system. A solar tracking system was installed for obtaining higher power generation. However, the cost of the PV system and maintenance was 5-10 times higher than the general type. In this study, this module is composed of an array of misalignment light-guiding units that consist of a non-axisymmetric compound parabolic curve (NACPC) and a freeform surface collimator. The NACPC efficiently collects the misalignment light within ±30° and guides the light to the collimator. The light has a better uniformity and smaller angle at the exit aperture. The simulation results show that the optical efficiency of the unit was above 70% when the misalignment angle was smaller than 20°. The experimental results show that the power generation of the light-guiding unit was 1.8 times higher than the naked PV panel.