Effect of Different Cooling Rates in High Rheological Rate Forming Process on Mechanical Properties of Zr57Cu20Al10Ni8Ag5 Bulk Metallic Glass

Xiao‑Bo Mei,Bao‑Chuan Liu,Wei Jiang,Quan Xu,Qi‑Dong Zhang,Yu‑Bai Ma,Fang‑Qiu Zu 대한금속·재료학회 2020 METALS AND MATERIALS International Vol.26 No.9

The influence of cooling rates on the mechanical properties of a Zr-based bulk metallic glass prepared with high rheologicalrate forming (HRRF) was investigated and compared with traditional suction cast methods. Amorphous samples of Zr57Cu-20Ni8Al10Ag5 were prepared in copper molds with different sizes in order to obtain different cooling rates for both HRRFand traditional cast methods. These specimens were subjected to compression experiments, including microhardness testing,X-ray diffraction testing and differential scanning calorimetry analysis. The results indicate that the plasticity of the samplesformed by HRRF are higher than that of the as-cast ones at the same cooling rates, while the microhardness manifests theopposite principle. As the cooling rate increases further, the difference in plasticity further increases between two methods,indicating that the plasticity of metallic glasses is more sensitive to cooling rates during the HRRF process. At the core ofthis phenomenon is the fact that HRRF methods can introduce more free volume into glasses than traditional cast methodswith an elevated cooling rate are able to.

A newly characterized exopolysaccharide from Sanghuangporus sanghuang

Xiao-kui Ma,Xu She,Eric Charles Peterson,Yu Zhen Wang,Peng Zheng,Hongyan Ma,Kexin Zhang,Jian Liang 한국미생물학회 2019 The journal of microbiology Vol.57 No.9

Sanghuangporus sanghuang is a well-known pharmacodynamic and economically important edible fungus associated with mulberry (Morus spp.). A distinctly new exopolysaccharide (EPS), designated SHP-2 was obtained from S. sanghuang P0988 broth, and its structure and anti-aging prosperity were characterized. SHP-2 was found to be composed of a backbone of 4)-β-Manp-(1 4)-α-Araf-(1 3,4)-α-Glcp(1 3,4)-α-Glcp-(1 3,4)-α-Glcp-(1 3,4)-α-Glcp-(1 3,4)-α- Glcp-(1 6)-α-Galp-(1 4)-β-Manp-(1 and five branches, including four α-D-Glcp-(1 and one α-D-Manp-(1 SHP-2 was shown to increase antioxidant enzyme activities including catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, as well as trolox equivalent antioxidant (TEAC) capacity in serum of mice pre-treated with D-Gal, while reducing lipofuscin levels. SHP-2 exerted a favorable influence on immune organ coefficients and ameliorated the histopathological hepatic lesions and apoptosis in hepatocytes of Dgalactose- aged mice almost in a dose-dependent manner. Using the same analytical methods, on comparison with previously studied EPS compounds (i.e. SHP-1), SHP-2 was found to have more complex structure, larger molecule weight, and different anti-aging properties. The results presented here suggest that not only does EPS bioactivity vary with respect to molecular structures and molecule weight, but that multiple structures with different activity can be expressed by a single fungal strain. These results may help understanding the antiaging prosperity of these polysaccharides for use in health foods or dietary supplements.

Plasma Post-operative miR-21 Expression in the Prognosis of Gastric Cancers

Ma, Guo-Jian,Gu, Rong-Min,Zhu, Ming,Wen, Xu,Li, Jin-Tian,Zhang, Yuan-Ying,Zhang, Xiao-Mei,Chen, Sen-Qing Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.12

Tumor-associated microRNAs have been detected in serum or plasma, but whether plasma microRNA-21 (miR-21) could be a potential circulating biomarker for gastric cancer (GC) prognosis in Chinese is still uncertain. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) was employed in this study to compare the relative expression of miR-21 between pre-operative and post-operative paired plasmas from 42 patients with primary GCs. The results showed that the expression levels of miR-21 in the post-operative plasmas were significantly reduced by an average of 18.2 times in all patients when compared to the pre-operative plasmas, and by 22.1 times in the subgroup of patients without family history, while only 1.76 times in the subgroup of patients with a family history. With respect of clinicopathological characteristics, the plasma miR-21 expression was highly associated with differentiation degree and lymph node metastasis rate. The results suggested plasma miR-21 could be a novel potential biomarker for GC prognosis and evaluation of surgery outcomes, especially in patients without a family history.

Intravoxel Incoherent Motion Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Assessing Parotid Gland Tumors: Correlation and Comparison with Arterial Spin Labeling Imaging

Ma Gao,Xu Xiao-Quan,Zhu Liu-Ning,Jiang Jia-Suo,Su Guo-Yi,Hu Hao,Bu Shou-Shan,Wu Fei-Yun 대한영상의학회 2021 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.22 No.2

Objective: To compare and correlate the findings of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and arterial spin labeling (ASL) imaging in characterizing parotid gland tumors. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 56 patients with parotid gland tumors evaluated by MR imaging. The true diffusion coefficient (D), pseudo-diffusion coefficient (D*), and fraction of perfusion (f) values of IVIM imaging and tumor-to-parotid gland signal intensity ratio (SIR) on ASL imaging were calculated. Spearman rank correlation coefficient, chi-squared, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal-Wallis tests with the post-hoc Dunn-Bonferroni method and receiver operating characteristic curve assessments were used for statistical analysis. Results: Malignant parotid gland tumors showed significantly lower D than benign tumors (p = 0.019). Within subgroup analyses, pleomorphic adenomas (PAs) showed significantly higher D than malignant tumors (MTs) and Warthin’s tumors (WTs) (p < 0.001). The D* of WTs was significantly higher than that of PAs (p = 0.031). The f and SIR on ASL imaging of WTs were significantly higher than those of MTs and PAs (p < 0.05). Significantly positive correlation was found between SIR on ASL imaging and f (r = 0.446, p = 0.001). In comparison with f, SIR on ASL imaging showed a higher area under curve (0.853 vs. 0.891) in discriminating MTs from WTs, although the difference was not significant (p = 0.720). Conclusion: IVIM and ASL imaging could help differentiate parotid gland tumors. SIR on ASL imaging showed a significantly positive correlation with f. ASL imaging might hold potential to improve the ability to discriminate MTs from WTs.

Morphological, Phylogenetic and Biological Characteristics of Ectropis obliqua Single-Nucleocapsid Nucleopolyhedrovirus

Ma Xiu-cui,Xu Hai-Jun,Tang Mei-Jun,Xiao Qiang,Hong Jian,Zhang Chuan-Xi The Microbiological Society of Korea 2006 The journal of microbiology Vol.44 No.1

The tea looper caterpillar, Ectropis obliqua, is one of the major pests of tea bushes. E. obliqua single-nucleocapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (EcobSNPV) has been used as a commercial pesticide for biocontrol of this insect. However only limited genetic analysis for this important virus has been done up to now. EcobSNPV was characterized in this study. Electron microscopy analysis of the occlusion body showed polyhedra of 0.7 to $1.7\;{\mu}m$ in diameter containing a single nucleocapsid per envelope of the virion. A 15.5 kb genomic fragment containing EcoRI-L, EcoRI-N and HindIII-F fragments, was sequenced. Analysis of the sequence revealed that the fragment contained eleven potential open reading frames (ORFs): lef-1, egt, 38.7k, rrl, polyhedrin, orfl629, pk-1, hoar and homologues to Spodoptera exigua multicapsid NPV (SeMNPV) ORFs 15, 28, and 29. Gene arrangement and phylogeny analysis suggest that EcobSNPV is closely related to the previously described Group II NPV. Bioassays on lethal concentration $(LC_{50}\;and\;LC_{90})$ and lethal time $(LT_{50}\;and\;LT({90})$ were conducted to test the susceptibility of E. obliqua larvae to the virus.

Effect of polymer and additive on the structure and property of porous stainless steel hollow fiber

Xiao-Hua Ma,Zhen-Liang Xu,Yu Bai,Yue Cao 한국화학공학회 2014 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.31 No.8

Porous stainless steel hollow fiber has been widely used due to its high mechanical strength, excellentthermal conductivity and good sealing properties compared with other porous supports. We successfully prepared porousstainless steel hollow fibers using polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as polymer via dry-wet spinning followed by sintering throughtemperature programming method. The PAN concentration had an obvious impact on the structure and property ofporous stainless steel hollow fiber even if it would be burned off during sintering. The results showed that the morphologycould be tuned by adjusting the concentration of PAN. With increasing PAN concentration in casting solutionfor spinning, the viscosity was increased dramatically, resulting in much compact structures with high pure water flux(higher than 3×105 L·m−2·h−1·Pa−1). A more dense structure could be obtained by adding additive polyvinylpyrrolidone(PVP) as viscosity enhancer.

Selection signature reveals genes associated with susceptibility loci affecting respiratory disease due to pleiotropic and hitchhiking effect in Chinese indigenous pigs

Xu, Zhong,Sun, Hao,Zhang, Zhe,Zhang, Cheng-Yue,Zhao, Qing-bo,Xiao, Qian,Olasege, Babatunde Shittu,Ma, Pei-Pei,Zhang, Xiang-Zhe,Wang, Qi-Shan,Pan, Yu-Chun Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2020 Animal Bioscience Vol.33 No.2

Objective: Porcine respiratory disease is one of the most important health problems causing significant economic losses. To understand the genetic basis for susceptibility to swine enzootic pneumonia (EP) in pigs, we detected 102,809 single nucleotide polymorphisms in a total of 249 individuals based on genome-wide sequencing data. Methods: Genome comparison of susceptibility to swine EP in three pig breeds (Jinhua, Erhualian, and Meishan) with two western lines that are considered more resistant (Duroc and Landrace) using cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity and F-statistic (F_ST) statistical approaches identified 691 positively selected genes. Based on quantitative trait loci, gene ontology terms and literature search, we selected 14 candidate genes that have convincible biological functions associated with swine EP or human asthma. Results: Most of these genes were tested by several methods including transcription analysis and candidate genes association study. Among these genes: cytochrome P450 1A1 and catenin beta 1 (CTNNB1) are involved in fertility; transforming growth factor beta receptor 3 plays a role in meat quality traits; Wnt family member 2, CTNNB1 and transcription factor 7 take part in adipogenesis and fat deposition simultaneously; plasminogen activator, urokinase receptor (completely linked to AXL receptor tyrosine kinase, r² = 1) plays an essential role in the successful ovulation of matured oocytes in pigs; colipase like 2 (strongly linked to SAM pointed domain containing ETS transcription factor, r² = 0.848) is involved in male fertility. Conclusion: These adverse genes susceptible to swine EP may be selected while selecting for economic traits (especially reproduction traits) due to pleiotropic and hitchhiking effect of linked genes. Our study provided a completely new point of view to understand the genetic basis for susceptibility or resistance to swine EP in pigs thereby, provides insight for designing sustainable breed selection programs. Finally, the candidate genes are crucial due to their potential roles in respiratory diseases in a large number of species, including human.

Application of molecular dynamics simulation in self-assembled cancer nanomedicine

Xueli Xu,Ao Liu,Shuangqing Liu,Yanling Ma,Xinyu Zhang,Meng Zhang,Jinhua Zhao,Shuo Sun,Xiao Sun 한국생체재료학회 2023 생체재료학회지 Vol.27 No.00

Self-assembled nanomedicine holds great potential in cancer theragnostic. The structures and dynamics of nanomedicine can be affected by a variety of non-covalent interactions, so it is essential to ensure the self-assembly process at atomic level. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is a key technology to link microcosm and macroscale. Along with the rapid development of computational power and simulation methods, scientists could simulate the specific process of intermolecular interactions. Thus, some experimental observations could be explained at microscopic level and the nanomedicine synthesis process would have traces to follow. This review not only outlines the concept, basic principle, and the parameter setting of MD simulation, but also highlights the recent progress in MD simulation for self-assembled cancer nanomedicine. In addition, the physicochemical parameters of self-assembly structure and interaction between various assembled molecules under MD simulation are also discussed. Therefore, this review will help advanced and novice researchers to quickly zoom in on fundamental information and gather some thoughtprovoking ideas to advance this subfield of self-assembled cancer nanomedicine.

Engineered exosomes enriched in netrin-1 modRNA promote axonal growth in spinal cord injury by attenuating inflammation and pyroptosis

Lu Xiao,Xu Guangyu,Lin Zhidi,Zou Fei,Liu Siyang,Zhang Yuxuan,Fu Wei,Jiang Jianyuan,Ma Xiaosheng,Song Jian 한국생체재료학회 2023 생체재료학회지 Vol.27 No.00

Spinal cord injury (SCI) brings a heavy burden to individuals and society, and there is no effective treatment at present. Exosomes (EX) are cell secreted vesicles containing molecules such as nucleic acids and proteins, which hold promise for the treatment of SCI. Netrin-1 is an axon guidance factor that regulates neuronal growth. We investigated the effects of engineered EX enriched in netrin-1 chemically synthetic modified message RNA (modRNA) in treating SCI in an attempt to find a novel therapeutic approach for SCI.Netrin-1 modRNA was transfected into bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to obtain EX enriched with netrin-1 (EX-netrin1). We built an inflammatory model in vitro with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in vitro to study the therapeutic effect of EX-netrin1 on SCI. For experiments in vitro, ELISA, CCK-8 assay, immunofluorescence staining, lactate dehydrogenase release experiments test, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and western blot were conducted. At the same time, we constructed a rat model of SCI. MRI, hematoxylin-eosin and Nissl staining were used to assess the extent of SCI in rats.In vitro experiments showed that EX had no effect on the viability of oligodendrocytes and PC12 cells. EX-netrin1 could attenuate LPS-induced inflammation and pyroptosis and accelerate axonal/dentritic growth in PC12 cells/oligodendrocytes. In addition, netrin-1 could activate the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling pathway upon binding to its receptor unc5b. When Unc5b and PI3K were inhibited, the effect of EX-netrin1 was weakened, which could be reversed by PI3K or mTOR activator. Our in vivo experiments indicated that EX-netrin1 could promote recovery in rats with SCI.We found that EX-netrin1 regulated inflammation, pyroptosis and axon growth in SCI via the Unc5b/PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, which provides a new strategy for the treatment of SCI.

Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Promote the Chemo-resistance in Gastric Cancer through Secreting IL-11 Targeting JAK/STAT3/Bcl2 Pathway

Jun Ma,Xiao Song,Xiaowu Xu,Yiping Mou 대한암학회 2019 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.51 No.1

Purpose Our aim was to detect the potential role of interleukin 11 (IL-11) in the development of chemo-resistance in gastric cancer and to reveal the mechanism involved in the process. Materials and Methods Here, we used flow cytometry to examine the percentage of cancer-associated-fibroblasts in tumor samples from chemo-resistant and -sensitive gastric cancer patients. Using MTT assay, we detected the cell viability under different conditions. Using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting, we determined the target expressions in mRNA and protein levels. We also performed immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence to detect the target proteins under different conditions. Animal models were constructed to verify the potential role of IL-11 in chemo-resistant develop in vivo. Results Herein, we observed enriched cancer associated fibroblasts in drug resistant tumor tissues from gastric patients. Those fibroblasts facilitate the chemotherapeutic drugs resistance development through the secretion of IL-11, which activates the IL-11/IL-11R/gp130/ JAK/STAT3 anti-apoptosis signaling pathway in gastric cancer cells. We found that the combination of chemotherapeutic drugs and JAK inhibitor overcomes the resistance and increases the survival of mice with gastric cancer xenografts. Conclusion Our results demonstrated that IL-11 contributed to the obtain of resistance to chemotherapy drugs through gp130/JAK/STAT3/Bcl2 pathway, and targeting the IL-11 signaling pathway induced by fibroblasts might be a promising strategy to overcome the multi-drugs resistant cancer in clinic.