One-step Purification and Immobilization of His-tagged Protein via Ni2+-functionalized Fe3O4@Polydopamine Magnetic Nanoparticles

Jianbing Yang,Kefeng Ni,Dongzhi Wei,Yuhong Ren 한국생물공학회 2015 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.20 No.5

Ni2+-functionalized Fe3O4@polydopamine magnetic nanoparticles (Ni2+-PD-MNPs) were designed and synthesized by in situ coating of magnetic nanoparticles with polydopamine, followed by conjugation of Ni2+ to the polydopamine film. The Ni2+-PD-MNPs were used to purify His-tagged red fluorescent protein (His-RFP) via affinity interaction between Ni2+ and the His-tag. The results showed that the Ni2+-PD-MNPs had extraordinary selectivity for His-RFP purification. In addition, a Histagged transaminase (ω-transaminase BJ110) was selectively immobilized onto the Ni2+-PD-MNPs without purification, and the immobilized enzyme showed improved specific activity, as well as enhanced stability and reusability.

Assessment of turbulent heat flux models for URANS simulations of turbulent buoyant flows in ROCOM tests

Wei Zonglan,Ničeno Bojan,Puragliesi Riccardo,Fogliatto Ezequiel 한국원자력학회 2022 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.54 No.11

Turbulent mixing in buoyant flows is an essential mechanism involved in many scenarios related to nuclear safety in nuclear power plants. Comprehensive understanding and accurate predictions of turbulent buoyant flows in the reactor are of crucial importance, due to the function of mitigating the potential detrimental consequences during postulated accidents. The present study uses URANS methodology to investigate the buoyancy-influenced flows in the reactor pressure vessel under the main steam line break accident scenarios. With a particular focus on the influence of turbulent heat flux closure models, various combinations of two turbulence models and three turbulent heat flux models are utilized for the numerical simulations of three ROCOM tests which have different characteristic features in terms of the flow rate and fluid density difference between loops. The simulation results are compared with experimental measurements of the so-called mixing scalar in the downcomer and at the core inlet. The study shows that the anisotropic turbulent heat flux models are able to improve the accuracy of the predictions under conditions of strong buoyancy whilst in the weak buoyancy case, a major role is played by the selected turbulence models with essentially a negligible influence of the turbulent heat flux closure models

Seismic Performance of a Full-Scale Precast Concrete L-Shaped Column Frame Structure with a Grouted Connection

Wei-Bin Ni,De-Hao Qiao,Hong-Wei Sun,Xu Zhang,Zhong-Wen Zhang,Shao-Jie Wang 대한토목학회 2022 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.26 No.2

Precast concrete frame structure with nonrectangular columns are becoming attractive to researchers and engineers owing to advantages such as avoiding column protrusion from walls and saving space. This paper presents the experimental investigation of a full-scale precast concrete frame structure with L-shaped columns (PCFS) subjected to reverse cyclic loading. The precast connection adopted grouted anchor connection. As a comparison and benchmark, one full-scale monolithic sample (RCFS) was also tested. The results indicates that the greater steel ratio in the grouted anchor connection region leads to a high local stiffness of the elements, which contributed to delaying occurrence of the first crack at the grouting holes. The failure mode, lateral load capacity, stiffness degradation, load-carrying capacity degradation, energy-dissipating capacity, ductility and interlayer residual deformation were compared between two specimens. PCFS specimen exhibited comparatively better hysteretic behavior, energy-dissipating capacity, residual deformation-resisting capacity and ductility. For RCFS and PCFS specimens, the peak load difference was within 7%. About 15% increases in ductility were observed for PCFS specimen compared with RCFS specimen. The test results would provide reference for the application of the precast concrete structure with nonrectangular columns in the new residential buildings.

Prognostic Value of ALDH1A3 Promoter Methylation in Gliob;astoma: A Single Center Experience in Western China

Ni, Wei,Luo, Lin,Ping, Zuo,Yuan, Hong-Ping,Zhao, Xu-Dong,Xu, Wei Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.2

Background: Aberrations in gene methylation patterns play important roles in gliomagenesis. However, whether the ALDH1A3 promoter methylation is related to prognoses of primary glioblastomas (GBMs) in Western China remains unclear. Materials and Methods: Methylation levels of ALDH1A3 CpG island in 36 GBMs were identified by pyrophosphate sequencing, while ALDH1A3 expression was assessed with matched paraffin section immunohistochemistry. Survival curves were analysed by Kaplan-Meier. Results: The hypermethylation status of ALDH1A3 promoter predicted a better prognosis accompanied with low expression of ALDH1A3 protein. Conclusions: Our results indicate ALDH1A3 promoter methylation correlates with prognosis in primary GBMs.

ASTROD I, Test of Relativity, Solar-System Measurement and G-Wave Detection

Wei-Tou Ni,Albrecht Rudiger,Etienne Samain,Stephan Schiller,Diana Shaul,Sachie Shiomi,Timothy Sumner,Chien-Jen Tang,Jinhe Tao,Pierre Touboul,Haitao Wang,Andreas Wicht,Ji Wu,Xue-Jun Wu,Yaoheng Xiong,Ch 한국물리학회 2004 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.45 No.1

ASTROD-I is a mission concept under study to realize the general concept of ASTROD (Astrodynamical Space Test of Relativity using Optical Devices). This mission concept has one spacecraft carrying a payload of a telescope, ve lasers, and a clock together with ground stations (ODSN: Optical Deep Space Network) to test the optical scheme of interferometric and pulse ranging and yet give important scientic results. The scientic goals include a better measurement of the relativistic parameters, a better sensitivity in using optical Doppler tracking method for detecting gravitational waves, and measurement of many solar system parameters more precisely. The weight of this spacecraft is estimated to be about 300-350 kg with a payload of about 100-120 kg. The spacecraft is to be launched with initial period about 290 days and to pass by Venus twice to receive gravity-assistance for achieving shorter periods. With good orbit design, after about 370 days from launch, the spacecraft will arrive at the other side of the Sun for the determination of relativistic parameters.

Bioinformatics Analysis Reveals Connection of Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Adenocarcinoma of the Lung

Fan, Wei-Dong,Zhang, Xian-Quan,Guo, Hui-Lin,Zeng, Wei-Wei,Zhang, Ni,Wan, Qian-Qian,Xie, Wen-Yao,Cao, Jin,Xu, Chang-Hua Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.4

Squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma are the major histological types of non-small cell lung cancer. Because they differ on the basis of histopathological and clinical characteristics and their relationship with smoking, their etiologies may be different; for example, different tumor suppressor genes may be related to the genesis of each type. We used microarray data to construct three regulatory networks to identify potential genes related to lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma and investigated the similarity and specificity of them. In the network, some of the observed transcription factors and target genes had been previously proven to be related to lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. We also found some new transcription factors and target genes related to SCC. The results demonstrated that regulatory network analysis is useful in connection analysis between lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

A vision-based system for long-distance remote monitoring of dynamic displacement: experimental verification on a supertall structure

Yi-Qing Ni,You-Wu Wang,Wei-Yang Liao,Wei-Huan Chen 국제구조공학회 2019 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.24 No.6

Dynamic displacement response of civil structures is an important index for in-construction and in-service structural condition assessment. However, accurately measuring the displacement of large-scale civil structures such as high-rise buildings still remains as a challenging task. In order to cope with this problem, a vision-based system with the use of industrial digital camera and image processing has been developed for long-distance, remote, and real-time monitoring of dynamic displacement of supertall structures. Instead of acquiring image signals, the proposed system traces only the coordinates of the target points, therefore enabling real-time monitoring and display of displacement responses in a relatively high sampling rate. This study addresses the in-situ experimental verification of the developed vision-based system on the Canton Tower of 600 m high. To facilitate the verification, a GPS system is used to calibrate/verify the structural displacement responses measured by the vision-based system. Meanwhile, an accelerometer deployed in the vicinity of the target point also provides frequency-domain information for comparison. Special attention has been given on understanding the influence of the surrounding light on the monitoring results. For this purpose, the experimental tests are conducted in daytime and nighttime through placing the vision-based system outside the tower (in a brilliant environment) and inside the tower (in a dark environment), respectively. The results indicate that the displacement response time histories monitored by the vision-based system not only match well with those acquired by the GPS receiver, but also have higher fidelity and are less noise-corrupted. In addition, the low-order modal frequencies of the building identified with use of the data obtained from the vision-based system are all in good agreement with those obtained from the accelerometer, the GPS receiver and an elaborate finite element model. Especially, the vision-based system placed at the bottom of the enclosed elevator shaft offers better monitoring data compared with the system placed outside the tower. Based on a wavelet filtering technique, the displacement response time histories obtained by the vision-based system are easily decomposed into two parts: a quasi-static ingredient primarily resulting from temperature variation and a dynamic component mainly caused by fluctuating wind load.

Functions of Membrane-bound Alcohol Dehydrogenase and Aldehyde Dehydrogenase in the Bio-oxidation of Alcohols in Gluconobacter oxydans DSM 2003

Liu-Jing Wei,Ji-lai Zhou,Dan-ni Zhu,Bai-yi Cai,Jin-Ping Lin,Qiang Hua,Dong-Zhi Wei 한국생물공학회 2012 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.17 No.6

In this study a new insight was provided to understand the functions of membrane-bound alcohol dehydrogenase (mADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (mALDH) in the bio-oxidation of primary alcohols, diols and poly alcohols using the resting cells of Gluconobacter oxydans DSM 2003 and its mutant strains as catalyst. The results demonstrated that though both mADH and mALDH participated in most of the oxidation of alcohols to their corresponding acid, the exact roles of these enzymes in each reaction might be different. For example,mADH played a key role in the oxidation of diols to its corresponding organic acid in G. oxydans, but it was dispensable when the primary alcohols were used as substrates. In contrast to mADH, mALDH appears to play a relatively minor role in organic acid-producing reactions because of the possible presence of other isoenzymes. Aldehydes were, however, found to be accumulated in the mALDH-deficient strain during the oxidation of alcohols.

Applying Multifractal Spectrum Theory to Fingerprint Features Recognition

Hai Ming Ni,Da Wei Qi,Hongbo Mu 보안공학연구지원센터 2015 International Journal of Hybrid Information Techno Vol.8 No.1

Fingerprint features recognition which can be used to distinguish between individuals is an intriguing study with many potential applications. In this paper, a new method for fingerprint recognition based on multifractal spectrum theory was proposed. The recognition process can be divided into the following main steps: (1) Extracting the core point in fingerprint; (2) Fragmenting the fingerprint image to get a subimage with fixed size; (3) Thinning the fingerprint image by using an improved OPTA algorithm; (4) Segmenting the curves in fingerprint image into digital straight segments with normalized straight length threshold; (5) Selecting the appropriate dividing scale to segment the processed fingerprint image; (6) Calculating and analyzing the multifractal spectrum curve - f (a) ; (7) Fitting curve equation and extracting the characteristic parameters of a - f(a); (8) Finally, the parameters matching and fingerprint feature recognition. A large number of experimental results show that our method is effective.

Seroprevalence of Encephalitozoon cuniculi and Toxoplasma gondii in domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in China

Qing-Feng Meng,Wei-Lin Wang,Xiao-Ting Ni,Hai-Bin Li,Gui-Zhe Yao,Xiao-Lin Sun,Wei-Li Wang,Wei Cong 대한기생충학열대의학회 2015 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.53 No.6

The breeding of domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) for human consumption has a long tradition in China. Infections that can affect the production of meat or even be transmitted from animals to humans are important to monitor, especially for public health reasons as well as for their impact on animal health. Thus, a total of 1,132 domestic rabbit sera from 4 regions in China were collected for serological screening for Encephalitozoon cuniculi and for Toxoplasma gondii by ELISA and modified agglutination test (MAT), respectively. Antibodies to E. cuniculi were detected in 248/1,132 (21.9%) sera tested while antibodies against T. gondii revealed a seroprevalence of 51/1,132 (4.5%). We believe that the present results are of epidemiological implications and public health importance due to the acknowledged susceptibility of humans to E. cuniculi and T. gondii infections. Therefore, routine screening tests of domestic rabbits are proposed considering the zoonotic potential of these parasites.