Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Cold Drawn Ti–Nb–Ta–Zr–O Wires for Orthodontic Applications

Wei‑dong Zhang,Junye Ren,Bin Liu,Yong Liu,Zhenggang Wu,Jingwen Qiu 대한금속·재료학회 2020 METALS AND MATERIALS International Vol.26 No.7

Ti–36Nb–2Ta–3Zr–0.35O (TNTZO) alloy is an excellent candidate for biomedical applications. In this study, a new methodcombining cold-swaging and cold-drawing was used to fabricate the TNTZO alloy wires with 0.3 mm diameter for orthodonticapplications. The microstructure and mechanical properties of cold-drawn and annealed TNTZO wires (referred toas TNTZO0.3and TNTZO0.3(HT), respectively) were investigated. The results show that the microstructure of cold drawnTNTZO0.3consists of main-sized elongated grains with 70 nm width. After annealing at 700 °C for 5 min, the microstructureof TNTZO0.3(HT) wires becomes equiaxial with a grain size of ~ 5 μm. The cold drawn TNTZO0.3wires exhibit improvedmechanical properties, higher tensile strength (about 1000 MPa) and similar elastic modulus (69 GPa), compared to annealedTNTZO0.3(HT) wires. Besides, TNTZO0.3has higher creep resistance and lower stress exponent (around 2), compared to Tiwires and TC4 wires with the same diameter. These results prove that TNTZO0.3wires have most of the ideal characteristicsof orthodontic wires.

A Hausdorff Distance Based Image Registration Algorithm

Liu Hui,Zhang Zhichun,Wei Dong 보안공학연구지원센터(IJSIP) 2015 International Journal of Signal Processing, Image Vol.8 No.1

Hausdorff distance is a common image registration method that is based on the edge features in the image. Theoretically, using Hausdorff distance method, the rotation, scaling and translation factors of the image can be obtained by searching the four-dimensional space that includes one rotation factor, one scaling factor and two translation factors. However, each additional factor means that the dimension degree of searching space is increased one more. The searching speed will be greatly reduced with the increasing of dimension degree. This paper presents a new image registration algorithm that combines the Hausdorff distance with the angle transform. Using this method, the translation factors can be obtained by Hausdorff distance and the angle transform can be directly computed. There is three step for finishing the image registration through the new method. Firstly, discrete Canny edge detection is used on the image. Secondly, the linear features of the image is directly used to calculate the rotation angle parameter. Then Hausdorff distance is used searching in two-dimensional space for getting the translation parameters of the image. Simulation results verified the correctness and validity of the paper method.

ST6Gal-I Predicts Postoperative Clinical Outcome for Patients with Localized Clear-cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Liu, Hai-Ou,Wu, Qian,Liu, Wei-Si,Liu, Yi-Dong,Fu, Qiang,Zhang, Wei-Juan,Xu, Le,Xu, Jie-Jie Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.23

Hyperactivated ${\alpha}2$-6-sialylation on N-glycans due to overexpression of the Golgi enzyme ${\beta}$-galactoside: ${\alpha}2$-6-sialyltransferase (ST6Gal-I) often correlates with cancer progression, metastasis, and poor prognosis. This study was aimed to determine the association between ST6Gal-I expression and the risk of recurrence and survival of patients with localized clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) following surgery. We retrospectively enrolled 391 patients (265 in training cohort and 126 in validation cohort) with localized ccRCC underwent nephrectomy at a single center. Tissue microarrays were constructed for immunostaining of ST6Gal-I. Prognostic value and clinical outcomes were evaluated. High ST6Gal-I expression was associated with Fuhrman grade (p<0.001 and p=0.016, respectively) and the University of California Los-Angeles Integrated Staging System (UISS) score (p=0.004 and p=0.017, respectively) in both cohorts. Patients with high ST6Gal-I expression had significantly worse overall survival (OS) (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively) and recurrence free survival (RFS) (p<0.001 and p=0.002, respectively) than those with low expression in both cohorts. On multivariate analysis, ST6Gal-I expression remained associated with OS and RFS even after adjusting for the UISS score. Stratified analysis suggested that the association is more pronounced among patients with low and intermediate-risk disease defined by the UISS score. High ST6Gal-I expression is a potential independent adverse predictor of survival and recurrence in ccRCC patients, and the prognostic value is most prominent in those with low and intermediate-risk disease defined by the UISS score.

C-type natriuretic peptide attenuates renal osteodystrophy through inhibition of FGF-23/MAPK signaling

Dong Dong Zhang,Yang Fang Wu,Wei Xia Chen,Yao Xu,Si Yan Liu,Huang Huang Luo,Guang Mei Jiang,Yue Wu,Peng Hu 생화학분자생물학회 2019 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.51 No.-

Renal osteodystrophy (ROD) occurs as early as chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 2 and seems ubiquitous in almost all pediatric patients with CKD stage 5. Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-23, a bone-derived endocrine regulator of phosphate homeostasis, is overexpressed in CKD and disturbs osteoblast differentiation and matrix mineralization. In contrast, C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) acts as a potent positive regulator of bone growth. In the present study, we infused CNP into uremic rats and observed whether CNP could attenuate ROD through the inhibition of FGF-23 cascades. In uremic rats, CNP administration significantly alleviated renal dysfunction, calcium phosphate metabolic disorders, hypovitaminosis D, secondary hyperparathyroidism, the decrease in bone turnover markers and retarded bone pathological progression. More importantly, within FGF-23/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, the fibroblast growth factor receptor-1, Klotho and alternative (STAT-1/phospho-STAT-1) elements were upregulated by CNP, whereas FGF-23, RAF-1/phospho-RAF-1, and downstream (ERK/phospho-ERK and P38/phospho-P38) elements were paradoxically underexpressed in bone tissue. Therefore, CNP exerts a therapeutic effect on ROD through inhibition of FGF-23/MAPK signaling at the RAF-1 level.

Analysis on Response Prediction of a Single Pile and Pile Groups Based on the Runge-Kutta Method

Dong-dong Pan,Qian-qing Zhang,Shan-wei Liu,Shi-min Zhang 대한토목학회 2018 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.22 No.1

The conventional load-transfer approach can not consider the interaction of piles, and can not be directly used in the analysis of the response of pile groups. The interactive effects among piles can be taken into account in the shear displacement method based on the principle of superposition. In the present analysis, the shaft displacement of a single pile at a given depth is assumed to be composed of the pile-soil relative displacement developed at the disturbed soil around pile and the elastic vertical soil displacement developed in the soil mass. A new load-transfer function which is very similar to a hyperbolic model is then established to describe the relationship between unit skin friction and shaft displacement at a given depth. Furthermore, a hyperbolic model is used to simulate the relationship between unit end resistance and pile end displacement. As to the analysis of the response of pile groups, the interactive effects among piles are considered by using the shear displacement method. For an individual pile in pile groups, new load-transfer functions are established to capture the relationship between unit skin friction and shaft displacement and the relationship between end resistance and pile end displacement. Based on the fourth order Runge-Kutta method, a modified loadtransfer method is proposed to analyze the response of pile groups considering the interactive effects among piles. The reliability of the present method is checked by using comparisons of the present calculated results, the measured results and the computed values derived from other methods.

Multiple Sexual Partners as a Potential Independent Risk Factor for Cervical Cancer: a Meta-analysis of Epidemiological Studies

Liu, Zhi-Chang,Liu, Wei-Dong,Liu, Yan-Hui,Ye, Xiao-Hua,Chen, Si-Dong Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.9

It's known that having multiple sexual partners is one of the risk factors of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection which is a major cause of cervical cancer. However, it is not clear whether the number of sexual partners is an independent risk factor for cervical cancer. We identified relevant studies by searching the databases of MEDLINE, PubMed and ScienceDirect published in English from January 1980 to January 2014. We analyzed those studies by combining the study-specific odds ratios (ORs) using random-effects models. Forty-one studies were included in this meta-analysis. We observed that the number of sexual partners was associated with the occurrence of non-malignant cervical disease (OR=1.82, 95%CI 1.63-2.00) and invasive cervical carcinoma (OR=1.77, 95%CI 1.50-2.05). Subgroup analyses revealed that the association remained significant after controlling for HPV infection (OR=1.52, 95%CI 1.21-1.83 for non-malignant disease; OR=1.53, 95%CI 1.30-1.76 for invasive cervical carcinoma). We found that there was a non-linear relation of the number of sexual partners with both non-malignant cervical disease and invasive cervical carcinoma. The risk of both malignant and non-malignant disease is relatively stable in women with more than 4-7 sexual partners. Furthermore, the frequency-risk of disease remained significant after controlling for HPV infection.The study suggested that h aving multiple sexual partners, with or without HPV infection, is a potential risk factor of cervical cancer.

Homoisoflavanones from Polygonatum odoratum Rhizomes Inhibit Advanced Glycation End Product Formation

Wei Dong,Hai Bo Shi,Heng Ma,Yan Bo Miao,Tong Jun Liu,Wei Wang 대한약학회 2010 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.33 No.5

Protein glycation inhibitors from Polygonatum odoratum rhizomes were investigated using a bioassay-guided procedure to characterize active compounds for preventing and treating diabetic complications. The EtOH extract and soluble fractions were evaluated using an in vivo model of renal advanced glycation end-product (AGE) accumulation in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and an in vitro bovine serum albumin-glucose assay. Three homoisoflavanones 3-(4’-hydroxybenzyl)-5,7-dihydroxy-6-methyl-8-methoxychroman-4-one (1), 3-(4’-hydroxybenzyl)-5,7-dihydroxy-6,8-dimethylchroman-4-one (2), and 3-(4’-methoxybenzyl)-5,7-dihydroxy-6-methyl-8-methoxychroman-4-one (3), isolated from the active CHCl3-soluble fraction of the EtOH extract, were subjected to in vitro bioassays to evaluate their inhibitory activities against AGE formation. All the isolates inhibited AGE formation more effectively than the positive control, aminoguanidine. These results indicate that pending further study these compounds could be used as novel natural product drug for mitigating diabetic complications.

Silencing of long noncoding RNA PVT1 inhibits podocyte damage and apoptosis in diabetic nephropathy by upregulating FOXA1

Dong-Wei Liu,Jia-Hui Zhang,Feng-Xun Liu,Xu-Tong Wang,Shao-Kang Pan,Deng-Ke Jiang,Zi-Hao Zhao,Zhang-Suo Liu 생화학분자생물학회 2019 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.51 No.-

The number of patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN) is still on the rise worldwide, and this requires the development of new therapeutic strategies. Recent reports have highlighted genetic factors in the treatment of DN. Herein, we aimed to study the roles of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (PVT1) and histone 3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) in DN. A model of DN was established by inducing diabetes in mice with streptozotocin. Mouse podocyte clone 5 (MPC5) podocytes and primary podocytes were cultured in normal and high glucose media to observe cell morphology and to quantify PVT1 expression. The roles of PVT1 and enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) were validated via loss-of-function and gain-of-function in vitro experiments to identify the interactions among PVT1, EZH2, and forkhead box A1 (FOXA1). The podocyte damage and apoptosis due to PVT1 and FOXA1 were verified with in vivo experiments. PVT1 was highly expressed in MPC5 and primary podocytes in DN patients and in cultures grown in high glucose medium. A large number of CpG (C-phosphate-G) island sites were predicted at the FOXA1 promoter region, where PVT1 recruited EZH2 to promote the recruitment of H3K27me3. The silencing of PVT1 or the overexpression of FOXA1 relieved the damage and inhibited the apoptosis of podocytes in DN, as was evidenced by the upregulated expression of synaptopodin and podocin, higher expression of Bcl-2, and lower expression of Bax and cleaved caspase-3. The key findings of this study collectively indicate that the suppression of lncRNA PVT1 exerts inhibitory effects on podocyte damage and apoptosis via FOXA1 in DN, which is of clinical significance.

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.

Preparation of environmentally friendly low‐cost mullite porous Ceramics and the effect of Waste Glass Powder on structure and mechanical Properties

Wei Lian,Yan Liu,Wenjie Wang,Yangtao Dong,Sheng Wang,Zhenying Liu,Yin Liu 한국정밀공학회 2022 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol.9 No.2

Environmentally friendly low-cost porous ceramics are prepared with 98.2 wt% mining waste as the raw materials at 1180 °C. The glass powder forms liquid phase at high temperatures, promoting the densification of the materials. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that the formation of mullite is affected by sintering temperature and content of liquid phase. The enhancement in densification is verified by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis results. According to the evolution of pore structure, the effect of the glass powder on the structure is confirmed. The number ratio of pores of < 8 μm to those of 8 ~ 20 μm is varied from 7:2 to 2:7. The minimum apparent porosity is 31.22 %, while the maximum density and linear shrinkage are 1.75 g/cm 3 and 8.48 %, respectively. The flexural strength (three-point bending method) was increased from 7.47 MPa to 28.36 MPa, indicating that the addition of glass powder could increase mechanical properties of the porous ceramics. Therefore, solid wastes can be used as the resource to develop porous mullite ceramics.