Effects of fission product doping on the structure, electronic structure, mechanical and thermodynamic properties of uranium monocarbide: A first-principles study

Ru-Ting Liang,Tao Bo,Wan-Qiu Yin,Chang-Ming Nie,Lei Zhang,Zhi-Fang Chai,Wei-Qun Shi Korean Nuclear Society 2023 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.55 No.7

A first-principle approach within the framework of density functional theory was employed to study the effect of vacancy defects and fission products (FPs) doping on the mechanical, electronic, and thermodynamic properties of uranium monocarbide (UC). Firstly, the calculated vacancy formation energies confirm that the C vacancy is more stable than the U vacancy. The solution energies indicate that FPs prefer to occupying in U site rather than in C site. Zr, Mo, Th, and Pu atoms tend to directly replace U atom and dissolve into the UC lattice. Besides, the results of the mechanical properties show that U vacancy reduces the compressive and deformation resistance of UC while C vacancy has little effect. The doping of all FPs except He has a repairing effect on the mechanical properties of U_1-xC. In addition, significant modifications are observed in the phonon dispersion curves and partial phonon density of states (PhDOS) of UC_1-x, Zr_xU_1-xC, Mo_xU_1-xC, and Rh_xU_1-xC, including narrow frequency gaps and overlapping phonon modes, which increase the phonon scattering and lead to deterioration of thermal expansion coefficient (α_V) and heat capacity (C_p) of UC predicted by the quasi harmonic approximation (QHA) method.

Chinese herbal injections in combination with radiotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer: A systematic review and network meta-analysis

Yun-Ru Chen,Ruo-Tong Zhao,Yi-Fang Xu,Yin-Jie Ma,Shao-Bo Hu,Xue-Hui Wang,Bing-Bing Fan,Yan-Ji Zhou,Yu-Bei Huang,Nicola Robinson,Jian-ping Liu,Zhao-Lan Liu 한국한의학연구원 2023 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.12 No.4

Background: Advanced pancreatic cancer (APC) is a fatal disease with limited treatment options. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of different Chinese herbal injections (CHIs) as adjuvants for radiotherapy (RT) in APC and compare their treatment potentials using network meta-analysis. Methods: We systematically searched three English and four Chinese databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from inception to July 25, 2023. The primary outcome was the objective response rate (ORR). Secondary outcomes included Karnofsky performance status (KPS) score, overall survival (OS), and adverse events (AEs). The treatment potentials of different CHIs were ranked using the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA). The Cochrane RoB 2 tool and CINeMA were used for quality assessment and evidence grading. Results: Eighteen RCTs involving 1199 patients were included. Five CHIs were evaluated. Compound Kushen injection (CKI) combined with RT significantly improved ORR compared to RT alone (RR 1.49, 95 % CrI 1.21–1.86). Kanglaite (KLT) plus RT (RR 1.58, 95 % CrI 1.20–2.16) and CKI plus RT (RR 1.49, 95 % CrI 1.16–1.95) were associated with improved KPS score compared to radiation monotherapy, with KLT+RT being the highest rank (SUCRA 72.28 %). Regarding AEs, CKI plus RT was the most favorable in reducing the incidence of leukopenia (SUCRA 90.37 %) and nausea/vomiting (SUCRA 85.79 %). Conclusions: CKI may be the optimal choice of CHIs to combine with RT for APC as it may improve clinical response, quality of life, and reduce AEs. High-quality trials are necessary to establish a robust body of evidence. Protocol registration: PROSPERO, CRD42023396828.

CIC-3 chloride channel blockade protects mouse photoreceptorderived 661W cells against ischemia-reperfusion-induced injury in vitro

Shi Wei Huang,Yuan Yin,Ya Juan Zheng,Ya Ru Dong 대한독성 유전단백체 학회 2015 Molecular & cellular toxicology Vol.11 No.1

Exposure to ischemia/reperfusion leads to the development and progression of retinal degenerative diseases. However, the exact mechanisms are not fully understood. In this article, the role of CIC-3 chloride channel in OGD-R (oxygen-glucose deprivation followed by reperfusion)-induced retinal damage was examined. Mouse photoreceptor-derived 661W cells were treated with the CIC-3 antisense oligonucleotide before exposure to OGD-R. Cell viability, mitochondrial membrane potential, cytochrome-c level, DNA fragmentation, caspase activity and protein expression were detected. Pretreatment of 661W cells with CIC- 3 antisense oligonucleotide significantly decreased OGD-R-mediated toxicity. In addition, apoptosis-related biochemical indicators showed that pre-incubation of CIC-3 antisense oligonucleotide would elevate the mitochondrial membrane potential, decrease the release of cytochrome-c as well as formation of DNA fragmentation, and inhibit activities of caspase-3 and caspase- 9 in exogenous OGD-R-treated 661W cells. Moreover, treatment with CIC-3 antisense oligonucleotide changed the expression of apoptosis-related protein. These results suggest that CIC-3 chloride channel mediates OGD-R-induced apoptosis, at least partially through mitochondrial membrane potential pathway and increasing the levels of proapoptotic molecules in 661W cells. CIC-3 chloride channel blockade may provide a new therapeutic approach for preventing ischemia/reperfusion- induced retinal neural damage.

Impact of a Glyphosate-Tolerant Soybean Line on the Rhizobacteria, Revealed by Illumina MiSeq

( Gui-hua Lu ),( Yin-ling Zhu ),( Ling-ru Kong ),( Jing Cheng ),( Cheng-yi Tang ),( Xiao-mei Hua ),( Fan-fan Meng ),( Yan-jun Pang ),( Rong-wu Yang ),( Jin-liang Qi ),( Yong-hua Yang ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2017 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.27 No.3

The global commercial cultivation of transgenic crops, including glyphosate-tolerant soybean, has increased widely in recent decades with potential impact on the environment. The bulk of previous studies showed different results on the effects of the release of transgenic plants on the soil microbial community, especially rhizosphere bacteria. In this study, comparative analyses of the bacterial communities in the rhizosphere soils and surrounding soils were performed between the glyphosate-tolerant soybean line NZL06-698 (or simply N698), containing a glyphosate-insensitive EPSPS gene, and its control cultivar Mengdou12 (or simply MD12), by a 16S ribosomal RNA gene (16S rDNA) amplicon sequencing-based Illumina MiSeq platform. No statistically significant difference was found in the overall alpha diversity of the rhizosphere bacterial communities, although the species richness and evenness of the bacteria increased in the rhizosphere of N698 compared with that of MD12. Some influence on phylogenetic diversity of the rhizosphere bacterial communities was found between N698 and MD12 by beta diversity analysis based on weighted UniFrac distance. Furthermore, the relative abundances of part rhizosphere bacterial phyla and genera, which included some nitrogen-fixing bacteria, were significantly different between N698 and MD12. Our present results indicate some impact of the glyphosate-tolerant soybean line N698 on the phylogenetic diversity of rhizosphere bacterial communities together with a significant difference in the relative abundances of part rhizosphere bacteria at different classification levels as compared with its control cultivar MD12, when a comparative analysis of surrounding soils between N698 and MD12 was used as a systematic contrast study.

Effects of Dietary Alpha-lipoic Acid and Acetyl-L-carnitine on Growth Performance and Meat Quality in Arbor Acres Broilers

Zhang, Yong,Jia, Ru,Ji, Cheng,Ma, Qiugang,Huang, Jin,Yin, Haicheng,Liu, Laiting Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2014 Animal Bioscience Vol.27 No.7

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary alpha-lipoic acid (LA) and acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) on growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality in Arbor Acres broilers. A total of 486 1-d-old male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly allocated to 9 dietary treatments, 9 treatments were group A (0 mg/kg LA and 0 mg/kg ALC), group B (50 mg/kg LA and 0 mg/kg ALC), group C (100 mg/kg LA and 0 mg/kg ALC), group D (0 mg/kg LA and 50 mg/kg ALC), group E (50 mg/kg LA and 50 mg/kg ALC), group F (100 mg/kg LA and 50 mg/kg ALC), group G (0 mg/kg LA and 100 mg/kg ALC), group H (50 mg/kg LA and 100 mg/kg ALC), group I (100 mg/kg LA and 100 mg/kg ALC). Birds were slaughtered at 42 days old. Average daily gain (ADG), average feed intake (AFI), feed conversion rate (FCR), eviscerated rate, breast muscle percentage, thigh muscle percentage, abdominal fat percentage, liver weight, muscle color ($L^*$ value, $a^*$ value, $b^*$ value), pH values at 45 min and 24 h postmortem were measured. Results showed that there existed an interaction between LA and ALC in growth performance of broilers, carcass traits and meat quality. The overall result is that high level of LA and ALC led to lower AFI, ADG (p<0.01), lower abdominal fat percentage, liver weight (p<0.01), lower $L^*$ value, $a^*$ value, and $b^*$ value of breast muscle, $L^*$ value of thigh muscle (p<0.05), and higher FCR (p<0.01), eviscerated rate (p<0.01), breast muscle percentage, thigh muscle percentage (p<0.05), $a^*$ value, pH 45 min and pH 24 h of thigh muscle (p<0.01). These results suggested that dietary LA and ALC contributed to the improvement of meat quality in broilers.

Dimer-type heterostructure of Ag/Zn0.995Ni0.005O microspheres: Microwave-assisted synthesis and synergistic antibacterial activity

Linxiang Tan,Wenjie Wu,Qiaoqiao Yin,Xiaoxia Ke,Ru Qiao,Guoxiu Tong,Lanlan Zhu 한국공업화학회 2017 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.52 No.-

The dimer-type heterostructured Ag/Zn0.995Ni0.005O microspheres were prepared via two-stepmicrowave-assisted process, which exhibited stronger visible-light-activated antibacterial performancethan visible-light only, ZnO/Vis, Zn0.995Ni0.005O/Vis, or AgNPs/Vis. It is attributed to not only theinteraction of released metal ions with functional groups of vital enzymes and proteins, but also thecollapsing force of reactive oxygen species to the cells. Photoelectrochemical measurements show thatthe photogenerated charges of Ag/Zn0.995Ni0.005O possess longer lifetime and higher separation resultingfrom the synergistic effect between Ni and Ag, which leads to its superior visible-light-drivenantibacterial performance. Gram-negative bacteria are more effectively restrained by Ag/Zn0.995Ni0.005Othan Gram-positive bacteria because of structural difference between their cell walls.

Double-layered core–shell structure of NaYF4:Yb,Er@SiO2@Zn1 − xMnxO for near-infrared-triggered photodegradation and antibacterial application

Linxiang Tan,Xiaoxia Ke,Xuechun Song,Qiaoqiao Yin,Ru Qiao,Kaiyan Guo,Lanlan Zhu 한국공업화학회 2018 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.60 No.-

A novel NIR-responsive photocatalyst NaYF4:Yb,Er@SiO2@Zn1 − xMnxO with double-layered core–shell structure was prepared by a three-step reaction. NaYF4:Yb,Er serves as a NIR-to-visible upconverter and provides “visible light” or “necessary energy” to Zn1 − xMnxO. Meanwhile, Mn2+-doping in Zn1 − xMnxO can extend the photoresponse of ZnO to visible-light region and enhance its charge separation. The nanocomposite exhibits good activity for dye decomposition and antibacterial property under NIR irradiation. The “energy absorption – energy conversion – energy transfer – surface reaction” process dominates the overall photocatalytic activity. Based on the standard MTT (abbr. for 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay, NaYF4:Yb,Er@SiO2@Zn1 − xMnxO also exhibits good biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) as model cells.

Tumor-Derived Transforming Growth Factor-β is Critical for Tumor Progression and Evasion from Immune Surveillance

Li, Zheng,Zhang, Li-Juan,Zhang, Hong-Ru,Tian, Gao-Fei,Tian, Jun,Mao, Xiao-Li,Jia, Zheng-Hu,Meng, Zi-Yu,Zhao, Li-Qing,Yin, Zhi-Nan,Wu, Zhen-Zhou Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.13

Tumors have evolved numerous mechanisms by which they can escape from immune surveillance. One of these is to produce immunosuppressive cytokines. Transforming growth factor-${\beta}$(TGF-${\beta}$) is a pleiotropic cytokine with a crucial function in mediating immune suppression, especially in the tumor microenvironment. TGF-${\beta}$ produced by T cells has been demonstrated as an important factor for suppressing antitumor immune responses, but the role of tumor-derived TGF-${\beta}$ in this process is poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated that knockdown of tumor-derived TGF-${\beta}$ using shRNA resulted in dramatically reduced tumor size, slowing tumor formation, prolonging survival rate of tumor-bearing mice and inhibiting metastasis. We revealed possible underlying mechanisms as reducing the number of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) and $CD4^+Foxp3^+$ Treg cells, and consequently enhanced IFN-${\gamma}$ production by CTLs. Knockdown of tumor-derived TGF-${\beta}$ also significantly reduced the conversion of na$\ddot{i}$ve $CD4^+$ T cells into Treg cells in vitro. Finally, we found that knockdown of TGF-${\beta}$ suppressed cell migration, but did not change the proliferation and apoptosis of tumor cells in vitro. In summary, our study provided evidence that tumor-derived TGF-${\beta}$ is a critical factor for tumor progression and evasion of immune surveillance, and blocking tumor-derived TGF-${\beta}$ may serve as a potential therapeutic approach for cancer.

Prognostic Model Built on Blood-based Biomarkers in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

He, Wen-Zhuo,Jiang, Chang,Yin, Chen-Xi,Guo, Gui-Fang,Rong, Ru-Ming,Qiu, Hui-Juan,Chen, Xu-Xian,Zhang, Bei,Xia, Liang-Ping Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.17

Background: We had previously showed that the neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR), ${\gamma}$-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) are prognostic factors for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. In this study we developed a prognostic model based on these three indices. Materials and Methods: A total of 243 patients who were initially diagnosed as mCRC between 2005 and 2010 in the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center were studied. The endpoint was overall survival (OS). Results: NLR>3, elevated GGT and elevated CEA were confirmed as independent risk factors which could predict poor prognosis. Patients could be divided into three groups according to the number of risk factors they had. Those with two or three were defined as the high risk group, individuals with one risk factor as the modest risk group and patients without risk factor as the low risk group. The OS values for these three groups were 16.2 months (2.80~68.8), 24.2 months (4.07~79.0), and 37.2 months (12.6~87.8), respectively (p<0.001). Conclusions: We developed a simple but useful model based on NLR, GGT and CEA to provide prognostic information to clinical practice in highly selected mCRC patients. Further prospective and multi-center studies are warranted to test our model.

Effects of bmim[PF6] treatments with different concentrations on microbial activity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Xian-Liang Song,Sheng-Ying Ye,Ru Xie,Ling Yin,Xun Shi,Shu-Can Luo 한국화학공학회 2011 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.28 No.9

−To study the role of ionic liquid as a solvent in whole cell biocatalyst, it is necessary to probe the effects of ionic liquid treatments on microbial activity. In this paper, Saccharomyces cerevisiae was selected as a test bacterium to study the effects of bmim[PF6] ionic liquid in different concentration on yeast activity through determining the growth curve, sugar degradation curve, microbial activity, colonial morphology and cell morphology. The results revealed that the growth of yeast is inhibited strongly in low concentration ionic liquid, while the lethal effect is feeble in high concentration ionic liquid. This result was totally different from that of supercritical CO_2 treatment or high concentration benzene methanol treatment which would lead most yeast to death.