Hypoglycemic and Antioxidant Activities of Paeonol and Its Beneficial Effect on Diabetic Encephalopathy in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Jiping Liu,Shuyuan Wang,Liang Feng,Dongying Ma,Qiang Fu,Yu Song,Xiaobin Jia,Shiping Ma 한국식품영양과학회 2013 Journal of medicinal food Vol.16 No.7

Diabetic encephalopathy (DE) is one of the severe complications in patients with diabetes mellitus. Paeonol, an active compound isolated from the root bark of Paeonia suffruticosa, has significant antidiabetic activity in vivo. However, its underlying beneficial effects on DE were unclear. In the present study, the protective activity of paeonol on DE was evaluated in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Paeonol at 50 and 100mg/kg significantly increased body weight and decreased blood glucose levels, glycosylated serum proteins, and serum advanced glycation end products (AGEs) levels. Immunohistochemistry assays and Western blot analysis revealed a significant decrease in expressions on receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-jB) in hippocampus and cerebral cortical neurons after paeonol treatment. Furthermore, paeonol significantly increased glutathione content and remarkedly decreased induced nitric oxide synthase activity in hippocampus tissue. Our findings indicated that paeonol could improve the pathological damage of DE in STZ-induced diabetic rats. It might be associated with the modulating AGEs/RAGE/NF-jB pathway. This study suggested that paeonol might be a promising candidate for the prevention and treatment of DE.

Seasonal Variation and Sources of Heavy Metals in Urban Street Dusts and River Sediments of Dongluo River Watershed in Ji’nan City, China

Tingting Duan,Shanjun Liu,Dongying Wang,Jiashen Feng,Ningning Song,Yanxin Yu,Yingxia Li 대한토목학회 2020 KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Vol.24 No.5

Due to intense human activities, urban street dusts and river sediments are usually polluted by heavy metals. This study investigated the seasonal variations (summer and winter) of pollution level, spatial distribution and potential sources of heavy metals in street dusts (SD) and river sediments (RS) of Dongluo River watershed, Ji’nan, China. Results showed cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) contents were 3.5 (8.6), 3.0 (1.4), 4.9 (2.6), 4.1 (1.1) and 3.9 (4.0)-fold of their geochemical soil background values (BGV) of Shandong Province, China in summer (winter). Mercury (Hg) and arsenic (As) contents were lower than their background values in both summer and winter. The differences of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn and As contents in river sediments between winter and summer were not statistically significant. The correlation coefficients between metal contents and the distance between sampling sites and the east-west boundary of study area were higher in summer than those in winter. Based on principal component analysis (PCA) and multivariate linear regression (MLR), coal combustion and traffic-related sources were the main sources in winter, and agricultural activities and traffic-related sources were the main sources in summer.

A Lectin Receptor Kinase Positively Regulates ABA Response During Seed Germination and Is Involved in Salt and Osmotic Stress Response

Keqin Deng,Qiming Wang,Jianxin Zeng,Xinhong Guo,Xiaoying Zhao,Dongying Tang,Xuanming Liu 한국식물학회 2009 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.52 No.6

Lectin receptor-like kinases (LecRK) are widespread in higher plants; however, little is known about their physiological roles. In this study, At1g70130 (designated LecRK-b2), an Arabidopsis LecRK gene, has been investigated. LecRK-b2 was predominantly expressed during seed germination, and its expression was ceased following germination. The expression of LecRK-b2 was induced by abscisic acid (ABA), salt, and osmotic stress. LecRK-b2 lossof- function mutation slightly reduced the ABA sensitivity during seed germination, and this reduced sensitivity was demonstrated not due to lower ABA accumulation level in the seeds. Dual-luciferase transient expression assay confirmed that the transcription factor ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3) could activate the luciferase under driving of LecRK-b2 promoter. LecRK-b2 transcription level was found to be down-regulated in abi3 during seed germination. Furthermore, LecRK-b2 loss-of-function mutation reduced the salt and osmotic sensitivity during early development stage of Arabidopsis. Taken together, these results suggest that LecRK-b2 functions as a positive regulator of the ABA response during the seed germination and is involved in salt and osmotic stress response in the early development stage.

A new iterative near-field coherent subspace method for rub-impact fault localization using AE technique

Jing Li,Aidong Deng,Yong Yang,Xinmin Cheng,Dongying Liu,Li Zhao 대한기계학회 2017 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.31 No.5

Acoustic emission (AE) localization is an important method to detect defects in bearing of rotatory machine for faults maintenance. However, only the faults near the sensor array can be detected due to severe attenuation in the recorded AE signals. Therefore, we propose a highly reliable new Iterative near-field Coherent subspace method (IN-CSM) for multiple rub-impact faults localization. The proposed approach contains four improved processes: Modal plate wave theory (MPWT) analysis for the multi-modes decomposition and group velocity revision; Discrete wavelet transform (DWT) for the useful narrow band extraction; Near field Multiple signal classification (N-MUSIC) method for the preliminary position estimations; the IN-CSM algorithm for the multiple coherent sources separation and the precise localizations. The simulations based on N-MUSIC and IN-CSM methods were compared by rubbing teston the test rig of rotation machinery. The results indicate that the proposed method can effectively locate multiple coherent rubbing faults at once. Thus, it is an effective analysis tool for rub-impact fault detection.

Across-fault distributions of radon concentrations in soil gas for different tectonic environments

Xiaolong Sun,Pengtao Yang,Yang Xiang,Xueyun Si,Dongying Liu 한국지질과학협의회 2018 Geosciences Journal Vol.22 No.2

The radon concentration in soil gas at the crustal surface is closely related to the development of local fractures. Therefore, the spatial variation in soil-gas radon concentrations across faults differs between fault zones located in different tectonic environments. This study investigates the Beiluntai thrust fault and the Haiyuan strike-slip fault in west China, which are assumed to be typical examples of the different types of faults. Radon concentrations in soil gas were measured at various locations around these faults, and the spatial variation in these concentrations was characterized along fault-perpendicular profiles. For normal fault, our results indicate that concentrations are usually highest at the fault, and decrease gradually away from the fault in either direction. For thrust, however, concentrations increase in the hanging wall approaching the fault, but decrease sharply at the fault. For strike-slip fault with extension across the fault, soil-gas radon concentrations are relatively high at the fault, and decrease gradually with distance from the fault. For strike-slip fault with contraction across the fault, soil-gas radon concentrations are relatively low at the fault, and increase gradually with distance from the fault.

A Defect in Zinc Finger Protein Double B-box 1a (DBB1a) Causes Abnormal Floral Development in Arabidopsis

Qiming Wang,Xiaoju Tu,Keqin Deng,Jianxin Zeng,Xiaoying Zhao,Dongying Tang,Xuanming Liu 한국식물학회 2009 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.52 No.6

The double B-box (DBB) type zinc finger protein has thus far been shown to be involved in photomorphegenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Here, we show that DBB1a is expressed in the embryo, cytolden, and flower. Misexpression of DBB1a in mutant plants resulted in abnormal numbers and patterns of floral organs. We further show that DBB1a could regulate expression of several floral homeotic genes, including APETALA 2, APETALA 3, PISTILLATA, and AGAMOUS. Interestingly, expression of the microRNA gene MiR172, which is involved in organ boundary establishment, was also misregulated in the dbb1a mutant plants. Our study identified a previously uncharacterized role of DDB1a in regulation of expression of floral homeotic genes and miR172, which is important for understanding of floral pattern formation.

Heterologous Expression of a Gibberellin 2-Oxidase Gene from Arabidopsis thaliana Enhanced the Photosynthesis Capacity in Brassica napus L.

Bo Zhou,Dan Peng,Jianzhong Lin,Xingqun Huang,Wusheng Peng,Reqing He,Ming Guo,Dongying Tang,Xiaoying Zhao,Xuanming Liu 한국식물학회 2011 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.54 No.1

Gibberellins (GAs) are endogenous hormones that play an important role in regulating plant stature by increasing cell division and promoting seed germination. The GA2-oxidase gene from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtGA2ox8) was introduced into Brassica napus L. by Agrobacterium-mediated floral-dip transformation with the aim of decreasing the amount of bioactive GA and hence reduced the plant height. As anticipated, the transgenic plant exhibited dwarf phenotype. Importantly, compared with the wild type, the transgenic plants had delayed the seed germination, increased the chlorophyll content (28.7–36.3%) and photosynthesis capacity (14.3–18.7%) in a single leaf. At the same time, the photosynthesis capacity of the whole plants was significantly enhanced (35.7–48.6%) due to the extra leaves and branches.