Short-term Haze Exposure Predisposes Healthy Volunteers to Nasal Inflammation

Mu Xian,Kuiji Wang,Hongfei Lou,Yang Wang,Luo Zhang,Chengshuo Wang 대한천식알레르기학회 2019 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.11 No.5

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the impact of short-term haze exposure on nasal inflammation in healthy volunteers. Methods: Thirty-three healthy university students were assessed for nasal symptoms, nasal patency, upper and lower respiratory tract nitric oxide (NO) as well as inflammatory mediators and neuropeptides in nasal secretions before and after a 5-day haze episode. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were stimulated with particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5), and cytokines in the supernatants were examined. Results: Mild nasal symptoms were reported by some participants during the haze episode. Objective measures of nasal patency demonstrated that nasal airway resistance was significantly increased from baseline levels, while nasal cavity volume and minimum cross-sectional area were significantly decreased. Similarly, the levels of nasal and exhaled NO, eotaxin, interleukin (IL)-5, chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 17, IL-8, substance P, nerve growth factor and vasoactive intestinal peptides in nasal secretions were significantly increased from baseline values following the haze episode. In contrast, the levels of interferon-γ, IL-10, transforming growth factor-β and neuropeptide Y were significantly decreased. Incubation with 0.1-10 μg/mL PM2.5 significantly increased release of IL-1β, IL-4, IL-5, IL-8 and IL-10 from PBMCs. Conclusions: Short-term haze exposure may lead to nasal inflammation and hypersensitivity in healthy subjects predominantly by Th2 cytokine-mediated immune responses.

Particulate Matter 2.5 Causes Deficiency in Barrier Integrity in Human Nasal Epithelial Cells

Mu Xian,Siyuan Ma,Kuiji Wang,Hongfei Lou,Yang Wang,Luo Zhang,Chengshuo Wang,Cezmi A. Akdis 대한천식알레르기학회 2020 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.12 No.1

Purpose: The effect of air pollution-related particulate matter (PM) on epithelial barrier function and tight junction (TJ) expression in human nasal mucosa has not been studied to date. This study therefore aimed to assess the direct impact of PM with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) on the barrier function and TJ molecular expression of human nasal epithelial cells. Methods: Air-liquid interface cultures were established with epithelial cells derived from noninflammatory nasal mucosal tissue collected from patients undergoing paranasal sinus surgery. Confluent cultures were exposed to 50 or 100 μg/mL PM2.5 for up to 72 hours, and assessed for 1) epithelial barrier integrity as measured by transepithelial resistance (TER) and permeability of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) 4 kDa; 2) expression of TJs using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence staining, and 3) proinflammatory cytokines by luminometric bead array or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Compared to control medium, 50 and/or 100 μg/mL PM2.5-treatment 1) significantly decreased TER and increased FITC permeability, which could not be restored by budesonide pretreatment; 2) significantly decreased the expression of claudin-1 messenger RNA, claudin-1, occludin and ZO-1 protein; and 3) significantly increased production of the cytokines interleukin-8, TIMP metallopeptidase inhibitor 1 and thymic stromal lymphopoietin. Conclusions: Exposure to PM2.5 may lead to loss of barrier function in human nasal epithelium through decreased expression of TJ proteins and increased release of proinflammatory cytokines. These results suggest an important mechanism of susceptibility to rhinitis and rhinosinusitis in highly PM2.5-polluted areas.

Pristimerin Inhibits Breast Cancer Cell Migration by Up-regulating Regulator of G Protein Signaling 4 Expression

Mu, Xian-Min,Shi, Wei,Sun, Li-Xin,Li, Han,Wang, Yu-Rong,Jiang, Zhen-Zhou,Zhang, Lu-Yong Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.4

Background/Aim: Pristimerin isolated from Celastrus and Maytenus spp can inhibit proteasome activity. However, whether pristimerin can modulate cancer metastasis is unknown. Methods: The impacts of pristimerin on the purified and intracellular chymotrypsin proteasomal activity, the levels of regulator of G protein signaling 4 (RGS 4) expression and breast cancer cell lamellipodia formation, and the migration and invasion were determined by enzymatic, Western blot, immunofluorescent, and transwell assays, respectively. Results: We found that pristimerin inhibited human chymotrypsin proteasomal activity in MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Pristimerin also inhibited breast cancer cell lamellipodia formation, migration, and invasion in vitro by up-regulating RGS4 expression. Thus, knockdown of RGS4 attenuated pristimerin-mediated inhibition of breast cancer cell migration and invasion. Furthermore, pristimerin inhibited growth and invasion of implanted breast tumors in mice. Conclusion: Pristmerin inhibits proteasomal activity and increases the levels of RGS4, inhibiting the migration and invasion of breast cancer cells.

Do Independent Director Characteristics Affect Firm Performance Under the COVID-19 Epidemic? Empirical Evidence from China

Xiaoqing ZHAO(Xiaoqing ZHAO),Qingbang MU(Qingbang MU),Brian Sheng-Xian TEO(Brian Sheng-Xian TEO ) 한국유통과학회 2023 The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Busine Vol.10 No.1

This paper investigates the effect of independent directorship on the firm performance of Chinese listed companies under the impact of the global COVID-19 epidemic. The study starts by assessing the relationship between independent director-related characteristics and firm performance, then mines independent director characteristics variables, collects variable data, proposes reasonable hypotheses, and constructs a data model. 1597 companies listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen stock index, China, from 2020 to 2021 has been selected as the research sample. An empirical study on the relationship between independent directors’ characteristics and firm performance was conducted using SPSS25. The results show that under the impact of the global COVID-19 epidemic, the proportion of independent directors on the board of directors, the age of independent directors, the remuneration of independent directors, and the overseas background of independent directors in Chinese listed companies have a negative relationship with the current firm performance, while the proportion of female independent directors and the part-time rate of independent directors do not have a positive effect on firm performance. The findings of this study strongly imply that independent directors’ characteristics play a significant role in corporate governance and firm performance in Chinese listed companies and that the external environment has an impact on how well independent directors can carry out their duties.

Error-Correcting Codes Scheme for Remote Control System

Mu kun Wang,Xiao Hua Yin,Xian Ming Zhao,Zheng Lian Li 대한전자공학회 1992 대한전자공학회 Conference Vol.1992 No.2

Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Properties of Concentric Dual-Ring Nanodisk

Haiwei Mu,Jianxin Wang,Qiang Liu,Wei Liu,Xianli Li,Jingwei Lv,Chao Liu,Famei Wang,Tao Sun,Paul K. Chu 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2019 NANO Vol.14 No.6

The extinction spectral properties based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of the concentric dual-ring nanodisk (CDRN) structure are investigated by discrete dipole approximation (DDA) and plasmon hybridization theory. The CDRN nanostructure shows flexible tunable multipole resonances in the near-infrared regime and the coupled resonance wavelengths depend on the structural parameters of the nanostructure, which has great potential in multichannel LSPR-based bio-sensing applications.

Research on Application of Hierarchical Trust Mechanism in Internet of Things

Deng Xian-Rui,Mu Jingqin,Wei Ping 보안공학연구지원센터 2015 International Journal of Security and Its Applicat Vol.9 No.6

In order to determine the conditions for the application of the dynamic authorization problem in the Internet of things, a reliable trust mechanism must be established between the institution, the reader and the tag. Thus, this paper proposes a hierarchical trust mechanism, and puts forward a verifiable caching interaction digest schema at the same time. At first, this paper analyzes the features of the application and the trust demands of different subjects in the Internet of things, the credibility of the detaching mechanism and the reader trust. Then, it proposes the improved method of evidence theory accoording to the characteristics of the readers, which can deduce the routing trust of the reader. The experimental results show that the hierarchical trust mechanism has a very good convergence of trust, and the algorithm in this paper can effectively detect the malicious terminal nodes.

Error-Correcting Codes Scheme for Remote Control System

Wang, Mu kun,Yin, Xiao Hua,Zhao, Xian Ming,Li, Zheng Lian 대한전자공학회 1992 HICEC:Harbin International Conference on Electroni Vol.1 No.1

How to rise the reliability of the data transmission is one of the main problem faced by modern digital communication designer. This paper studies the error-correcting codes being suitable for the channel existing both the random error and the burst error. A new error control scheme is given. The scheme is a concatenated coding system using an interleaved Reed-Solomon code with symbols over GF (2⁴) as the outer code and a Vitcrbi-decoded convolutional code as the inner code. As a result of the computer simulation, it is proved that the concatenated coding system has a output at a very low bit error rate (BER) and can correct a lot of compound error pattern. It is suitable for the serious disturb channel existing both the random error and the burst error. This scheme will be adopted for a remote control system

CD64 Expression Is Increased in Patients with Severe Acute Pancreatitis: Clinical Significance

( Hao Zhang ),( Xian Long Ling ),( Yu Yun Wu ),( Mu Han Lu ),( Hong Guo ),( Peng Bin Zhang ),( Xiao Yan Zhao ),( Shi Ming Yang ) 대한소화기학회 2014 Gut and Liver Vol.8 No.4

Background/Aims: Upregulated CD64 expression on neutrophils is the most useful marker for acute bacterial infections and systemic inflammation. However, it is unknown whether CD64 is involved in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis (AP). This study was designed to determine whether CD64 is implicated in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), and thus, is a suitable marker for SAP. Methods: SAP was induced in rats with an intraperitoneal injection of L-arginine. CD64 expression in the rat pancreas was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry. Additionally, the CD64 mRNA expression in peripheral blood leukocytes from 21 patients with mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) and 10 patients with SAP was investigated at the time of admission and during remission by qRT-PCR. Results: CD64 mRNA and protein expression in the pancreas was significantly higher in rats with SAP, compared to the controls. The CD64 expression was higher in the patients with SAP than in the patients with MAP. During remission, CD64 mRNA decreased in both the MAP and SAP patients. The area under the curve of CD64 expression for the detection of SAP was superior to both the Ranson and the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II scores. Conclusions: The CD64 level was significantly increased in correlation with the disease severity in SAP and may act as a useful marker for predicting the development of SAP. (Gut Liver 2014;8:445-451)

Alternaria yunnanensis sp. nov., a New Alternaria Species Causing Foliage Spot of Rubber Tree in China

( Zhi-ying Cai ),( Yi-xian Liu ),( Yu-ping Shi ),( Li-ming Dai ),( Lan-lan Li ),( Hong-jun Mu ),( Mei-lin Lv ),( Xiao-yong Liu ) 한국균학회 2019 Mycobiology Vol.47 No.1

A new species of Alternaria causing leaf spots on the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) in Yunnan, China, was isolated, examined, and illustrated. Morphologically, it belongs to the section Porri of Alternaria, which produces relatively large conidia and a simple or branched, filamentous long beak. It is, however, characterized by conidiophores gradually enlarging near the apex into a clavate conidiogenous cell and long ellipsoid to obclavate, smoothwalled conidia with a long filamentous beak. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on ITS rDNA, GAPDH, and TEF1-alpha sequences demonstrate that the phytopathogen falls in the clade of the section Porri, being most closely related to A. sidae, A. sennae, A. deseriticola, A. cyamopsidis, A. rostellata, A. nitrimali, A. crassa, and A. thunbergiae.