Genetic diversity and population structure of the amylolytic yeast Saccharomycopsis fibuligera associated with Baijiu fermentation in China

Wang Ju-Wei,Han Pei-Jie,Han Da-Yong,Zhou Sen,Li Kuan,He Peng-Yu,Zhen Pan,Yu Hui-Xin,Liang Zhen-Rong,Wang Xue-Wei,Bai Feng-Yan 한국미생물학회 2021 The journal of microbiology Vol.59 No.8

The amylolytic yeast Saccharomycopsis fibuligera is a predominant species in starters and the early fermentation stage of Chinese liquor (Baijiu). However, the genetic diversity of the species remains largely unknown. Here we sequenced the genomes of 97 S. fibuligera strains from different Chinese Baijiu companies. The genetic diversity and population structure of the strains were analyzed based on 1,133 orthologous genes and the whole genome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Four main lineages were recognized. One lineage contains 60 Chinese strains which are exclusively homozygous with relatively small genome sizes (18.55–18.72 Mb) and low sequence diversity. The strains clustered in the other three lineages are heterozygous with larger genomes (21.85–23.72 Mb) and higher sequence diversity. The genomes of the homozygous strains showed nearly 100% coverage with the genome of the reference strain KPH12 and the sub-genome A of the hybrid strain KJJ81 at the above 98% sequence identity level. The genomes of the heterozygous strains showed nearly 80% coverage with both the sub-genome A and the whole genome of KJJ81, suggesting that the Chinese heterozygous strains are also hybrids with nearly 20% genomes from an unidentified source. Eighty-three genes were found to show significant copy number variation between different lineages. However, remarkable lineage specific variations in glucoamylase and α-amylase activities and growth profiles in different carbon sources and under different environmental conditions were not observed, though strains exhibiting relatively high glucoamylase activity were mainly found from the homozygous lineage.

The Dynamic Mechanical Properties for Recycled Aggregate Concrete under Tensile-Compressive States

Zhen-Jun He,Zhi-qiang Wang,Meng-jia Ding,Zhen-wei Wang,Xiao-jie Zhang,Lian-shuo Liu 대한토목학회 2020 KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Vol.24 No.5

The experiments under biaxial tensile-compressive (T-C) complex stress were carried out for two kinds of substitution percentages of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) on biaxial proportional loading (α = σ1:σ3 =1:0, 0: -1, 0.05: -1, 0.1: -1, 0.25: -1, 0.5: -1, 1: -1 and-1: -1) and four loading deformation rates of 10−5/s, 10−4/s , 10−3/s, and 10−2/s. The research was completed in the static-dynamic true triaxial machine. The experimental phenomena indicate the tensile failure appears in these specimens of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) under biaxial T-C stress states. The dynamic mechanical behavior for RAC under biaxial T-C loadings was affected by the strain rates, stress ratios and its substitution percentages of RCA. Accompanied by the increase of strain rates, its strength of RAC is improved. As the tensile stress increases, its compressive strength decreases. The T-C strengths for RAC under biaxial T-C states are less than its corresponding uniaxial T-C strengths at a certain identical strain rates, respectively. Considering the effect of loading rates, a new tensile-compressive failure criterion is established under complex stress states.

Prognostic Value of Serum AFP, AFP-L3, and GP73 in Monitoring Short-term Treatment Response and Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Radiofrequency Ablation

Wang, Nan-Ya,Wang, Cong,Li, Wei,Wang, Guan-Jun,Cui, Guo-Zhen,He, Hua,Zhao, Heng-Jun Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.4

Purpose: Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive fraction of AFP (AFP-L3), and Golgi protein 73 (GP73) levels have been widely used as tumor markers for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to investigate whether these tumor markers could be used to monitor short-term treatment response and recurrence of HCC in patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Methods: Between July 2012 and July 2013, 53 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed HCC were prospectively enrolled in this study. Among these, 32 patients underwent RFA, after which they were followed up prospectively at the First Hospital of Jilin University in China. Results: AFP, AFP-L3, and GP-73 values pre-RFA were not associated with tumor size, whereas AFP and GP-73 levels tended to be associated with tumor number, the presence of vascular invasion, deterioration of liver function, advanced-stage disease, and a poor performance status. GP-73 levels were dramatically elevated in the patients with hepatitis C-associated HCC. Neither pre-RFA nor 1-month post-RFA tumor marker values were associated with short-term outcome. The short-term recurrence rate of AFP-positive patients measured 1 month post-RFA was obviously higher than that of AFP-negative patients. Conclusions: AFP and GP-73 values were associated with clinical variables representing tumor growth and invasiveness, and the AFP value measured 1 month post-RFA was a strong predictor of short-term recurrence in patients with HCC.

Overexpression of Hiwi Promotes Growth of Human Breast Cancer Cells

Wang, Da-Wei,Wang, Zhao-Hui,Wang, Ling-Ling,Song, Yang,Zhang, Gui-Zhen Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.18

The Piwi subfamily comprises two argonaute (Ago) family proteins, which are defined by the presence of PAZ and Piwi domains, with well known roles in RNA silencing. Hiwi, a human Piwi subfamily member, has been shown to play essential roles in stem cell self-renewal and gametogenesis. Recently, accumulating reports have indicated that abnormal hiwi expression is associated with poorer prognosis of multiple types of human cancers, including examples in the breast. However, little is known about details of the oncogenic role of hiwi in breast cancers. In present study, we confirmed overexpression of hiwi in breast cancer specimens and breast cancer cell lines at both mRNA and protein levels. Thus both RT-qPCR and Western blot data revealed significantly higher hiwi in intratumor than peritumor specimens, overexpression being associated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis and histological grade. Hiwi overexpression was also identified in breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7, and gain-of-function and loss-of-function strategies were adopted to identify the role of hiwi in the MCF-7 cell growth. Results demonstrated that hiwi expression in MCF-7 cells was significantly up- or down-regulated by the two strategies. We next evaluated the influence of hiwi overexpression or knockdown on the growth of breast cancer cells. Both cell count and colony formation assays confirmed promoting roles of hiwi in MCF-7 cells, which could be inhibited by hiwi specific blockage by siRNAs. In summary, the present study confirmed overexpression of hiwi in breast cancer specimens and breast cancer cell lines, and provided e vidence of promotion by hiwi of cell growth. The results imply an oncogenic role of hiwi in breast cancers.

Detection of gas-solid flow faults of a circulating fluidized bed using pressure fluctuations in wind caps

Hua-wei Jiang,Jian-qiang Gao,Hong-wei Chen,Jun-fu Lu,Fu-mao Wang,Yang Wang,Zhen-xin Wu 한국화학공학회 2016 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.33 No.7

Wind cap partial blockages and agglomeration are two of the most common gas-solid flow faults that occur under the actual operations of circulating fluidized bed boilers. Using the method of measuring pressure fluctuations, for the characterization of fluid dynamics in fluidized beds, has a great advantage, due to its flexible adaptation to any operating conditions to monitor fluidization. This paper presents research into the use of measuring and analyzing pressure fluctuations in wind caps, for the analysis of the gas-solid fluidization characteristics in a fluidized bed with wind cap partial blockages or agglomeration fault. Partial blockages in a wind cap near feeding side and partial blockages in another wind cap near recycling side as well as agglomeration of different extents were simulated in a cold circulating fluidized bed. Pressure fluctuations in the inlets of several wind caps were measured at different primary air velocities under different fault conditions. They were then analyzed with the methods of statistical average, standard deviation, wavelet analysis and homogeneous index. Based on the calculated characteristic parameters, the effects of gas-solid flow faults on the gas-solid fluidization characteristics were analyzed. Results showed that variations of characteristic parameters of pressure fluctuations were related to variations of the gas-solid flow condition, which were caused by wind cap partial blockages or agglomerations. It is shown that the proposed method is practical.

Pathogenicity of Five Strains of Toxoplasma gondii from Different Animals to Chickens

Shuai Wang,Guang-Wei Zhao,Wang Wang,Zhen-Chao Zhang,Bo Shen,I. A. Hassan,Qing Xie,Ruo-Feng Yan,Xiao-Kai Song,Li-Xin Xu,Xiang-Rui Li 대한기생충학열대의학회 2015 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.53 No.2

Surface Modification with Pluronic P123 Enhances Transfection Efficiency of PAMAM Dendrimer

Xiang Wang,Shen Gao,Xin Wu,Wei Fan,Baoyue Ding,Xiaoyu Wang,Wei Zhang,Xueying Ding,Jing Gao,Quangang Zhu,Jiyong Liu,Zhen Cai 한국고분자학회 2012 Macromolecular Research Vol.20 No.2

To improve gene delivery efficiency and decrease cytotoxicity of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) polymers,P123-g-PAMAM was synthesized by modifying PAMAM with pluronic P123. The structure of the synthesized polymers was analyzed using proton nuclear magnetic resonance. The polymers were able to self-assemble with DNA,forming nanometer-scale complexes. Particle size measurement confirmed that the mean diameter of the polyplexes was 100-250 nm. The cytotoxicity and transfer efficiency were measured and compared with those of PEI and PAMAM. All of the polyplexes showed significantly low cytotoxicity in the MCF-7, HepG2, and 293T cell lines. In addition, the low level of P123 grafting to PAMAM showed significantly higher transfection efficiency than unmodified PAMAM at the optimal N/P ratio. These results suggest that P123-ylated PAMAM may prove as a useful carrier for gene delivery.

Sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum to Antimalarial Drugs in Hainan Island, China

Shan-Qing Wang,Guang-Ze Wang,Yu-Chun Li,Feng Meng,Shi-Gan Lin,Zhen-Hu Zhu,Ding-Wei Sun,Chang-Hua He,Xi-Min Hu,Jian-Wei Du 대한기생충학열대의학회 2015 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.53 No.1

Study of Recellularized Human Acellular Arterial Matrix Repairs Porcine Biliary Segmental Defects

Wei Liu,Sheng-Ning Zhang,Zong-Qiang Hu,Shi-Ming Feng,Zhen-Hui Li,Shu-Feng Xiao,Hong-Shu Wang,Li Li 한국조직공학과 재생의학회 2019 조직공학과 재생의학 Vol.16 No.6

BACKGROUND: With the popularity of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, common bile duct injury has been reported more frequently. There is no perfect method for repairing porcine biliary segmental defects. METHODS: After the decellularization of human arterial blood vessels, the cells were cultured with GFP? (carry green fluorescent protein) porcine bile duct epithelial cells. The growth and proliferation of porcine bile duct epithelial cells on the human acellular arterial matrix (HAAM) were observed by hematoxylin–eosin (HE) staining, electron microscopy, and immunofluorescence. Then, the recellularized human acellular arterial matrix (RHAAM) was used to repair biliary segmental defects in the pig. The feasibility of it was detected by magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography, liver function and blood routine changes, HE staining, immunofluorescence, real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), and western blot. RESULTS: After 4 weeks (w) of co-culture of HAAM and GFP? porcine bile duct epithelial cells, GFP? porcine bile duct epithelial cells grew stably, proliferated, and fused on HAAM. Bile was successfully drained into the duodenum without bile leakage or biliary obstruction. Immunofluorescence detection showed that GFP-positive bile duct cells could still be detected after GFP-containing bile duct cells were implanted into the acellular arterial matrix for 8 w. The implanted bile duct cells can successfully resist bile invasion and protect the acellular arterial matrix until the newborn bile duct is formed. CONCLUSION: The RHAAM can be used to repair biliary segmental defects in pigs, which provides a new idea for the clinical treatment of common bile duct injury.

Preparation and characterization of flaky FeSiAl composite magnetic powder core coated with MnZn ferrite

Zhen Wang,Xiansong Liu,Xucai Kan,Ruiwei Zhu,Wei Yang,Qiuyue Wu,Shengqiang Zhou 한국물리학회 2019 Current Applied Physics Vol.19 No.8

The flattening of FeSiAl soft magnetic powder was achieved by ball milling process, and MnZn/FeSiAl composite magnetic powder core was prepared by press molding. The effect of different coating amount of MnZn ferrite on the soft magnetic properties of FeSiAl was studied. At the same time, the optimal stress-relieving annealing temperature of the composite magnetic powder core is revealed. The results showed that the addition of MnZn ferrite affected the magnetic properties such as saturation magnetization (Ms), initial permeability (μi) and power loss (Pcm) of FeSiAl soft magnetic. With the increase of MnZn ferrite addition content, the saturation magnetization of composites decreased gradually, and the magnetic permeability increased first and then decreased, and the loss decreased first and then increased. When the addition content of MnZn ferrite was 5%, the permeability reached the maximum, which was 28.1% higher than that of the pure FeSiAl magnetic powder core under the same conditions. At the same time, the loss was the lowest, which was 13.3% lower than the pure FeSiAl powder core under the same conditions. When the annealing temperature is around 650 °C, the magnetic powder core has the largest magnetic permeability and the lowest loss.