Effect of molecular weight of regenerated silk fibroin on silk-based spheres for drug delivery

Zengkai Wang,Xiangming Li,Yanhua Cui,Kai Cheng,Mingdong Dong,Lei Liu 한국화학공학회 2020 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.37 No.10

Silk fibroin presents a good advantage as a drug carrier for drug delivery, due to the excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and tunable drug loading and release properties. In this work, we constructed silk spheres by phase separation of the regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) solutions with different MW and polyvinyl alcohol; and it was revealed that MW of RSF can affect the structure, size, surface potential and drug loading and release efficiency of silk spheres. Silk spheres prepared from high MW of RSF were found to load more macromolecular drug with negative charge compared to middle and low MW of RSF. However, for the positive charge and low MW drug, the silk spheres prepared from low MW of RSF could present a high loading efficiency compared to other carriers. Finally, a positive drug with low MW, streptomycin was encapsulated in silk spheres prepared from low MW of RSF, and displayed a long bactericidal and bacteriostatic effect compared to bared streptomycin solution. The results obtained provide guidelines for the modification and options of drug transport vehicles for more efficient drug delivery and utilization through a simple, rapidly constructed, applicable and low-cost drug carrier.

A polymeric composite protective layer for stable Li metal anodes

Guo Suogang,Wang Li,Jin Yuhong,Piao Nan,Chen Zonghai,Tian Guangyu,Li Jiangang,Zhao Chenchen,He Xiangming 나노기술연구협의회 2020 Nano Convergence Vol.7 No.21

Lithium (Li) metal is a promising anode for high-performance secondary lithium batteries with high energy density due to its highest theoretical specific capacity and lowest electrochemical potential among anode materials. However, the dendritic growth and detrimental reactions with electrolyte during Li plating raise safety concerns and lead to premature failure. Herein, we report that a homogeneous nanocomposite protective layer, prepared by uniformly dispersing ­AlPO 4 nanoparticles into the vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene matrix, can effectively prevent dendrite growth and lead to superior cycling performance due to synergistic influence of homogeneous Li plating and electronic insulation of polymeric layer. The results reveal that the protected Li anode is able to sustain repeated Li plating/stripping for > 750 cycles under a high current density of 3 mA cm −2 and a renders a practical specific capacity of 2 mAh cm −2 . Moreover, full-cell Li-ion battery is constructed by using ­LiFePO 4 and protected Li as a cathode and anode, respectively, rendering a stable capacity after 400 charge/discharge cycles. The current work presents a promising approach to stabilize Li metal anodes for next-generation Li secondary batteries.

Relationships among bedding materials, bedding bacterial composition and lameness in dairy cows

Li, Han,Wang, Xiangming,Wu, Yan,Zhang, Dingran,Xu, Hongyang,Xu, Hongrun,Xing, Xiaoguang,Qi, Zhili Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2021 Animal Bioscience Vol.34 No.9

Objective: Bedding materials directly contact hooves of dairy cows and they may serve as environmental sources of lameness-associated pathogen. However, the specific composition of bacteria hidden in bedding materials is still not clear. The aim of this study was to determine the effect bedding material and its bacterial composition has on lameness of Holstein heifers. Methods: Forty-eight Holstein heifers with similar body weights were randomly assigned into three groups including sand bedding (SB), concrete floor (CF), and compost bedding (CB). Hock injuries severity and gait performance of dairy cows were scored individually once a week. Blood samples were collected at the end of the experiment and bedding material samples were collected once a week for Illumina sequencing. Results: The CF increased visible hock injuries severity and serum biomarkers of joint damage in comparison to SB and CB groups. Besides, Illumina sequencing and analysis showed that the bacterial community of CB samples had higher similarity to that of SB samples than CF samples. Bacteria in three bedding materials were dominated by gastrointestinal bacteria and organic matter-degrading bacteria, such as Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and norank JG30-KF-cM45. Lameness-associated Spirochaetaceae and Treponeme were only detected in SB and CB samples with a very low relative abundance (0% to 0.08%). Conclusion: The bacterial communities differed among bedding materials. However, the treponemes pathogens involved in the pathogenesis of lameness may not be a part of microbiota in bedding materials of dairy cows.

PEO based polymer-ceramic hybrid solid electrolytes: a review

Feng Jingnan,Wang Li,Chen Yijun,Wang Peiyu,Zhang Hanrui,He Xiangming 나노기술연구협의회 2021 Nano Convergence Vol.8 No.2

Compared with traditional lead-acid batteries, nickel–cadmium batteries and nickel-hydrogen batteries, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are much more environmentally friendly and much higher energy density. Besides, LIBs own the characteristics of no memory effect, high charging and discharging rate, long cycle life and high energy conversion rate. Therefore, LIBs have been widely considered as the most promising power source for mobile devices. Commonly used LIBs contain carbonate based liquid electrolytes. Such electrolytes own high ionic conductivity and excellent wetting ability. However, the use of highly flammable and volatile organic solvents in them may lead to problems like leakage, thermo runaway and parasitic interface reactions, which limit their application. Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) can solve these problems, while they also bring new challenges such as poor interfacial contact with electrodes and low ionic conductivity at room temperature. Many approaches have been tried to solve these problems. This article is divided into three parts to introduce polyethylene oxide (PEO) based polymer-ceramic hybrid solid electrolyte, which is one of the most efficient way to improve the performance of SPEs. The first part focuses on polymer-lithium salt (LiX) matrices, including their ionic conduction mechanism and impact factors for their ionic conductivity. In the second part, the influence of both active and passive ceramic fillers on SPEs are reviewed. In the third part, composite SPEs’ preparation methods, including solvent casting and thermocompression, are introduced and compared. Finally, we propose five key points on how to make composite SPEs with high ionic conductivity for reference.

Performances of Concrete Columns with Modular UHPC Permanent Formworks Under Axial Load

Yibo Yang,Baixi Chen,Yong Chen,Huanyang Zhou,Fucai Liu,Xiangming Xie,Junsheng Chen,Wenying Guo,Hengchang Wang 한국콘크리트학회 2023 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.17 No.5

This research proposed the modular prefabricated permanent formwork system made of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC). Two kinds of modular formwork shapes were designed: the flat formwork and the ribbed. The experimental investigation on the axial compression performance of the composite columns that consist of the normal strength concrete (NSC) core and the modular UHPC permanent formwork was demonstrated. Compared with the flat formwork, the ribbed formwork exhibited better bonding with the NSC core. As observed from the test results, the composite column with the ribbed formwork presented a similar axial behavior as the NSC column with a slight improvement in ultimate loads. Therefore, the modular UHPC ribbed permanent formwork could be regarded as the additional cover to the conventional NSC column. In addition, the finite element analysis (FEA) model was also developed to simulate the composite columns numerically. The predicted capacities agreed with the experimental results, which validated the numerical models. The crack pattern estimated by the FEA model revealed that the interaction between the permanent formwork and the inner concrete introduced many tiny cracks to the concrete core. However, as protected by the UHPC permanent formwork, the overall durability of the composite columns can still be enhanced.

MicroRNA-129-5p inhibits 3T3-L1 preadipocyte proliferation by targeting G3BP1

Shun Lv,Weijun Pang,Meilin Ma,Yunmei Sun,Xiangming Wang,Naren Qimuge,Jin Qin 한국통합생물학회 2017 Animal cells and systems Vol.21 No.4

MicroRNAs have been regarded to play a crucial role in the proliferation of different cell types including preadipocytes. In our study, we observed that miR-129-5p was down-regulated during 3T3-L1 preadipocyte proliferation, while the expression of G3BP1 showed a contrary tendency. 5- Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU) incorporation assay and flow cytometry showed that overexpression of miR-129-5p could bring about a reduction in S-phase cells and G2-phase arrest. Additional study indicated that miR-129-5p impaired cell cycle-related genes in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Importantly, it showed that miR-129-5p directly targeted the 3′UTR of G3BP1 and the expression of G3BP1 was inhibited by miR-129-5p mimic. Moreover, miR-129-5p mimic activated the p38 signaling pathway through up-regulating p38 and the phosphorylation level of p38. In a word, results in our study revealed that miR-129-5p suppressed preadipocyte proliferation via targeting G3BP1 and activating the p38 signaling pathway.

Chewing Lice of Swan Geese (Anser cygnoides)

Chang-Yong Choi,John Y. Takekawa,Diann J. Prosser,Lacy M. Smith,Craig R. Ely,Anthony D. Fox,Lei Cao,Xin Wang,Nyambayar Batbayar,Tseveenmayadag Natsagdorj,Xiangming Xiao 대한기생충학열대의학회 2016 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.54 No.5

Chewing lice (Phthiraptera) that parasitize the globally threatened swan goose Anser cygnoides have been long recognized since the early 19th century, but those records were probably biased towards sampling of captive or domestic geese due to the small population size and limited distribution of its wild hosts. To better understand the lice species parasitizing swan geese that are endemic to East Asia, we collected chewing lice from 14 wild geese caught at 3 lakes in northeastern Mongolia. The lice were morphologically identified as 16 Trinoton anserinum (Fabricius, 1805), 11 Ornithobius domesticus Arnold, 2005, and 1 Anaticola anseris (Linnaeus, 1758). These species are known from other geese and swans, but all of them were new to the swan goose. This result also indicates no overlap in lice species between older records and our findings from wild birds. Thus, ectoparasites collected from domestic or captive animals may provide biased information on the occurrence, prevalence, host selection, and host-ectoparasite interactions from those on wild hosts.