The Role of Gut Microbiota in Male Erectile Dysfunction of Rats

Xu Zhunan,Wang Shangren,Liu Chunxiang,Kang Jiaqi,Pan Yang,Zhang Zhexin,Zhou Hang,Xu Mingming,Li Xia,Wang Haoyu,Niu Shuai,Liu Li,Sun Daqing,Liu Xiaoqiang 대한남성과학회 2025 The World Journal of Men's Health Vol.43 No.1

Purpose: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common male sexual dysfunction. Gut microbiota plays an important role in various diseases. To investigate the effects and mechanisms of intestinal flora dysregulation induced by high-fat diet (HFD) on erectile function. Materials and Methods: Male Sprague–Dawley rats aged 8 weeks were randomly divided into the normal diet (ND) and HFD groups. After 24 weeks, a measurement of erectile function was performed. We performed 16S rRNA sequencing of stool samples. Then, we established fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) rat models by transplanting fecal microbiota from rats of ND group and HFD group to two new groups of rats respectively. After 24 weeks, erectile function of the rats was evaluated and 16S rRNA sequencing was performed, and serum samples were collected for the untargeted metabolomics detection. Results: The erectile function of rats and the species diversity of intestinal microbiota in the HFD group was significantly lower, and the characteristics of the intestinal microbiota community structure were also significantly different between the two groups. The erectile function of rats in the HFD-FMT group was significantly lower than that of rats in the ND-FMT group. The characteristics of the intestinal microbiota community structure were significantly different. In the HFD-FMT group, 27 metabolites were significantly different and they were mainly involved in the several inflammation-related pathways. Conclusions: Intestinal microbiota disorders induced by HFD can damage the intestinal barrier of rats, change the serum metabolic profile, induce low-grade inflammation and apoptosis in the corpus cavernosum of the penis, and lead to ED.

Imbalance of Innate and Adaptive Immunity in Esophageal Achalasia

Lu Yao,Zuqiang Liu,Weifeng Chen,Jiaqi Xu,Xiaoyue Xu,Jiaxin Xu,Liyun Ma,Xiaoqing Li,Quanlin Li,Pinghong Zhou 대한소화기 기능성질환∙운동학회 2023 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.29 No.4

Background/AimsPrevious studies reveal that immune-mediated neuroinflammation plays a key role in the etiology of esophageal achalasia. However, the understanding of leucocyte phenotype and proportion is limited. This study aim to evaluate the phenotypes of leukocytes and peripheral blood mononuclear cells transcriptomes in esophageal achalasia. MethodsWe performed high-dimensional flow cytometry to identified subsets of peripheral leukocytes, and further validated in lower esophageal sphincter histologically. RNA sequencing was applied to investigate the transcriptional changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with achalasia. Cell-type Identification by Estimating Relative Subsets of RNA Transcripts (CIBERSORT) was used for estimating the immune cell types. A differential gene expression analysis was performed and the differential expressed genes were subjected to gene ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes network, protein-protein interaction network construction. ResultsAn imbalance between innate and adaptive immune cells occurred in achalasia. Specifically, neutrophils and CD8+ T cells increased both in peripheral blood and lower esophageal sphincter in achalasia. Eosinophils decreased in peripheral blood but massively infiltrated in lower esophageal sphincter. CIBERSORT analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells RNA sequencing displayed an increased prevalence of CD8+ T cells. 170 dysregulated genes were identified in achalasia, which were enriched in immune cells migration, immune response, etc. Proton pump inhibitor analysis revealed the intersections and gained 7 hub genes in achalasia, which were IL-6, Toll-like receptor 2, IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor, complement C3, and complement C1q A chain. ConclusionPatients with achalasia exhibited an imbalance of systematic innate and adaptive immunity, which may play an important role in the development of achalasia.

Ultrasonic guided waves-based fatigue crack detection in a steel I-beam: an experimental study

Jiaqi Tu,Xian Xu,Chung Bang Yun,Yuan-Feng Duan 국제구조공학회 2023 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.31 No.1

Fatigue crack is a fatal problem for steel structures. Early detection and maintenance can help extend the service life and prevent hazards. This paper presents the ultrasonic guided waves-based (UGWs-based) fatigue crack detection of a steel Ibeam. The semi-analytical finite element model has been built to obtain the wave propagation characteristics. Damage indices in both time and frequency domains were analyzed by considering the characteristic variations of UGWs including the amplitude, phase angle, and wave packet energy. The pulse-echo and pitch-catch methods were combined in the detection scheme. Labscale experiments were conducted on welded steel I-beams to verify the proposed method. Results show that the damage indices based on the characteristic variations in the time domain can identify and localize the fatigue crack before it enters the rapid growth stage. The damage severity can be reasonably evaluated by analyzing the time-domain damage indices. Two nonlinear damage indices in the frequency domain give earlier warnings of the fatigue crack than the time-domain damage indices do. The identification results based on the above two nonlinear indices are found to be less consistent under various excitation frequencies. More robust nonlinear techniques needed to be searched and tested for early crack detection in steel I-beams in further study.

Prediction of Undisturbed Clay Rebound Index Based on Soil Microstructure Parameters and PSO-SVM Model

Jiaqi Dong,Boxin Wang,Xuexin Yan,Xinchuan Xu,Guangping Xiao,Qingbo Yu,Meng Yao,Qing Wang 대한토목학회 2022 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.26 No.5

The rebound index Cr is an important design parameter in engineering construction, and its determination is cumbersome and susceptible to errors. Explaining the macroscopic rebound characteristic parameter Cr from the perspective of microscopic mechanism is an important research area that is addressed in this study. In this paper, the different soil parameters, including the Cr parameter and the physical parameters (void ratio e, liquid limit water contentwL, and plasticity index Ip), have been determined through experiments for the undisturbed clay of Chongming East Shoal (CES), Shanghai. Further, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging was used to analyze the microstructural features. Through SEM, the grey correlation degree, the average abundance of structural units ACp and the average equivalent diameter of pores ADv were determined as the soil microstructure parameters with the most significant correlation with Cr. The predictive analysis model of Cr was then carried out combined with the PSO-SVM algorithm. In order to evaluate the influence of microscopic parameters of soil on the prediction accuracy, four sets of input parameter combinations were used. The results indicate the high prediction accuracy of the developed model. Sensitivity analysis was also carried out, which showed that the sensitivity of Cr to ACp and ADv was significantly lower than e; however, the difference from wL and Ip was small, indicating that it is imperative to consider microscopic parameters while predicting Cr. This study, thus, provides a basis and method for predicting the rebound index of soil from the microstructure perspective.

3D Printing Silk Fibroin/Hydroxyapatite/Sodium Alginate Composite Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

Zhenyu Xu,Ke Li,Kui Zhou,Shuiyuan Li,Hongwei Chen,Jiaqi Zeng,Rugang Hu 한국섬유공학회 2023 Fibers and polymers Vol.24 No.1

Silk Fibroin (SF) is a protein polymer with great biocompatibility, which can promote cell proliferation and differentiation,and enhance bone repair. In this paper, the effects of distinctive concentrations of SF solutions on the physicochemical andbiological properties of the SF-HA-SA scaffolds were investigated. The SF-HA-SA porous scaffolds were prepared utilizingthe pneumatic extrusion 3D printing technique, composed of hydroxyapatite (HA) and different concentrations of SF solution,and sodium alginate (SA) as a binder. The results shown the SF-HA-SA scaffolds can promote cell proliferation withthe increase of SF concentration in scaffolds, and the strength meets the necessities of trabecular bone defects of bone andcartilage repair. It provides an important reference for the application of SF in bone tissue engineering.

Model to Predict Absorbed Amino Acid Supply at the Proximal Duodenum in Growing Beef Cattle

Yan, Xianghua,Xu, Zirong,Zhang, Wen-ju,Wang, Jiaqi Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2005 Animal Bioscience Vol.18 No.3

Five crossbred beef cattle (Simmental${\times}$yellow cattle, Shantung Province) fitted with permanent cannulae in the rumen and T-type cannulae at the proximal duodenum and terminal ileum, were fed five different diets containing corn, cotton meal or soybean meal and ammoniated straw to determine the dry matter, crude protein and amino acid flows in duodenal and ileum digesta, and to calculate the regression equations between theoretical and experimental concentration of AA in duodenal digesta. The results showed that there was a strong correlation between experimental (g/d, y) and theoretical CP flows (g/d, x) at the proximal duodenum, the $R^2$-value regression equation of crude protein is very high (0.9636). The $R^2$-value regression equation of the limiting amino acid (such as Met or Lys) is high (0.7573 or 0.9252 respectively). This results indicated that we can formulate better diets fed to beef cattle according to the theoretical amino acid concentration. A mathematical model has been successfully constructed for predicting the supply of absorbed amino acids at the proximal duodenum in growing beef cattle.

Dynamic deformation measurement in structural inspections by Augmented Reality technology

Fernando Moreu,Jiaqi Xu,Elijah Wyckoff,John-Wesley Hanson,Derek Doyle 국제구조공학회 2022 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.30 No.6

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) researchers have identified Augmented Reality (AR) as a new technology that can assist inspections. Post-seismic structural inspections are conducted to evaluate the safety level of the damaged structures. Quantification of nearby structural changes over short-term and long-term periods can provide building inspectors with information to improve their safety. This paper proposes a Time Machine Measure (TMM) application based on an Augmented Reality (AR) Head-Mounted-Device (HMD) platform. The primary function of TMM is to restore the saved meshes of a past environment and overlay them onto the real environment so that inspectors can intuitively measure dynamic structural deformation and other environmental movements. The proposed TMM application was verified by demo experiments simulating a real inspection environment.

Topology optimization of the photovoltaic panel connector in high-rise buildings

Xilin Lu,Jiaqi Xu,Hongmei Zhang,Peng Wei 국제구조공학회 2017 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.62 No.4

Photovoltaic (PV) panels are used in high-rise buildings to convert solar energy to electricity. Due to the considerable energy consumption of high-rise buildings, applying PV technology is of great significance to energy saving. In the application of PV panels, one of the most important construction issues is the connection of the PV panel with the main structures. One major difficulty of the connection design is that the PV panel connection consists of two separate components with coupling and indeterminate dimension. In this paper, the gap element is employed in these two separated but coupled components, i.e., hook and catch. Topology optimization is applied to optimize and design the cross-section of the PV panel connection. Pareto optimization is conducted to operate the optimization subject to multiple load scenarios. The initial design for the topology optimization is determined by the common design specified by the Technical Code for Glass Curtain Wall Engineering (JGJ 102-2003). Gravity and wind load scenarios are considered for the optimization and numerical analysis. Post analysis is conducted for the optimal design obtained by the topology optimization due to the manufactory requirements. Generally, compared with the conventional design, the optimized connector reduces material use with improved structural characteristics.

A New On-line Power Flow Calculation Method with Computation Loads Separation Technique in DC Power Systems

Yuqi Wang,Qingshan Xu,Jiaqi Zheng 대한전기학회 2019 Journal of Electrical Engineering & Technology Vol.14 No.4

The speed of one-time power fl ow calculation is hard to be further improved with satisfi ed accuracy and stability after decades of researches. However, the improvement on many-times calculation speed may be possible and is important for practical application. This paper proposes a novel method which can dramatically improve the many-times calculation speed of power fl ow without sacrifi ce of accuracy, convergence and stability in DC power systems. To achieve the purpose, this paper adopts a novel basic technique to separate the computation loads of grid topology analysis and bus types analysis from power fl ow equations. The technique is based on the analysis of linear relationships-based nonlinear problems and strict mathematical derivations. Combined with the basic technique, a correctness method is also proposed to deal with the specifi c nonlinear factors in power fl ow calculation. Thus, a complete novel power fl ow calculation method is proposed and the detailed mathematical derivation is presented. With the novel ant lion optimizer, the proper DC test systems are constructed. Compared with classical Newton–Raphson method, the proposed method is more stable and the initial values requirement is lower. At last, the numerical verifi cation validates that the speed of the proposed method can be more than 10 times faster than Newton–Raphson method without the sacrifi ce of other performance.

Research on a New Class of Planar Tensegrity Trusses Consisting of Repetitive Units

Sili Li,Xian Xu,Jiaqi Tu,Yafeng Wang,Yao-Zhi Luo 한국강구조학회 2020 International Journal of Steel Structures Vol.20 No.5

Tensegrity structure is a prestressed self-equilibrated system consisting of compressed struts and tensioned cables. Planar truss is one of the most common forms of engineering structures with a wide application. This paper proposes a new class of planar tensegrity trusses whose prototype is unintentionally found by a topology optimization algorithm. The prototype truss is composed of two basic units which are combined alternately. In this paper, the state of prestress of the truss is analytically determined from the equilibrium conditions. The stiff ness and strength of the structure are analytically formulated by using the principle of virtual work. Parametric analysis of geometrical parameters on the stiff ness and strength of the structure is carried out. By changing the shape of the basic units, the uniform planar tensegrity truss is extended to a fi sh-bellied truss. Parametric analysis is also carried out for the fi sh-bellied truss. An example of extending the planar tensegrity truss into a three-dimensional latticed tensegrity truss is also given.