Transcriptional profiling reveals the molecular bases of immune regulation in Apis mellifera in response to Ascosphaera apis infection

Bo Xu,Yingzhe WANG,Shixin ZHU,Haizhu ZHOU,Changlong GOU,Wenlong DONG,Yu Wang,Yunhang GAO,Hongxia MA 한국곤충학회 2019 Entomological Research Vol.49 No.1

Chalkbrood, which results from Ascosphaera apis infection, is one of the bee diseases that causes serious damage to the bee colony. Understanding the molecular bases underlying immune response to chalkbrood disease would facilitate the genetic breeding of bees by selecting races with superior chalkbrood resistance. In this study, transcriptome sequencing was performed to identify genes and pathways involved in the immune response to As. apis infection in A. mellifera larvae. In total, 2,890 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (FDR < 0.001) were identified between the healthy and As. apis infected bee larvae, including 2,214 up‐regulated and 676 down‐regulated unigenes. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway classification of the DEGs revealed association with development, energy metabolism, signal transduction, disease, and immune response. Among the immune‐related genes, p38, toll‐like receptors (TLRs), integrin, and antimicrobial peptides were up‐regulated under As. apis infection. This study provides valuable gene transcriptional information towards the investigation of molecular mechanisms related to chalkbrood immune response and host pathogenesis in A. mellifera.

Melt-Electrospun Polyvinylbutyral Bonded Polypropylene Composite Fibrous Mat: Spinning Process, Structure and Mechanical Property Study

Jinhao Xu,Fuli Zhang,Binjie Xin,Yuansheng Zheng,Chun Wang,Shixin Jin 한국섬유공학회 2020 Fibers and polymers Vol.21 No.7

In this study, a novel polyvinylbutyral (PVB) bonded polypropylene (PP) composite fibrous mat was fabricated viamelt-electrospinning. In order to enhance the structure stability and mechanical properties of pristine PP fibrous mat system,preparation and characterization of the composite fibrous material by mixing different percentages of PVB and PP wasdesigned. The PVB can form bonding point between the PP fibers, which can ease the slip phenomenon between strainedfibers. The structure, morphology, tensile and tearing stress were measured systematically. The resultants exhibited that thetensile stress and tearing strength of composite fibrous mats were increased from 30.13 to 43.73 kPa and from 0.07 to 0.5 N,respectively. Meanwhile, the straight jet length and whipping range of each electrospun jets were analyzed via the imagescaptured by a high-speed photography system during the spinning process. The experimental resultants depicted thatcomposite system can lead to longer straight jet length and smaller whipping range.

Preparation, characterization, and in vivo evaluation of a polymorphic form of valnemulin hydrogen tartrate

Xinle Zhu,Shixin Xu,Lianshou Lu,Shensen Wang,Qi Zhao,Dan Li,Jian Li,Hui Zhao,Bingen Xu 대한수의학회 2019 Journal of Veterinary Science Vol.20 No.2

We prepared a polymorphic form of valnemulin hydrogen tartrate (Form I) to overcome the instability and irritating odor of valnemulin hydrochloride that affect its use in the production and application of veterinary drugs. The physicochemical properties of Form I were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, infraredspectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. The results showed the crystal structure and thermal properties of Form I were very different from those of a commercially available form of valnemulin hydrogen tartrate (Form II). Form I and Form II were more stable than valnemulin hydrochloride after storage under irradiation and high humidity conditions, respectively. The solubility of Form I was 2.6 times that of Form II, and Form I was selected for use in pharmaceutical kinetics experiments in vivo. Compared to valnemulin hydrochloride, after oral administration at a dose of 10 mg/kg in pigs, Form I had similar pharmaceutical kinetic behavior but a slightly higher area under the concentration– time curve from time zero to the last measurable concentration. Consequently, Form I should be suitable for the development of simple formulations and be effective in the clinical application of veterinary drugs.

Microwave-assisted pyrolysis of phosphoric acid-activated Goldenberry peel powder biochar for enhancing the adsorption of trace beta-lactamase inhibitors

Tian Ai,Chunmei Xu,Lei Zhang,Ke Chen,Yonggui Wu,Shujuan Dai,Xiaolu Xiong,Shixin Jie,Xiaoni Jin,Zhongxu Yu 한국화학공학회 2022 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.39 No.9

Novel efficient biochar of Goldenberry peels (GBPMW-H3PO4) was prepared through a microwave-assistedphosphoric acid activation method. It was characterized and used for removing two beta-lactamase inhibitors, sulbactam(SAM, first listed in Japan in 1986) and avibactam (AVI, first listed in the U.S. in 2015), from aqueous solution. Characterization confirmed that GBPMW-H3PO4 displayed a high surface area (720.046m2 g1), more abundant porestructure, smaller particle size, and higher thermal stability. The experimental results showed that the adsorption of thetwo antibiotics was a spontaneous, favorable, and endothermic process, highly dependent on solution pH. A contacttime of 60 min assured equilibrium, and GBPMW-H3PO4 followed pseudo-first-order kinetics (R2=0.9950-0.9977). Furthermore,the adsorption capacities of GBPMW-H3PO4 for SAM and AVI were 211.86 and 198.81mg g1, respectively,and the performance was better than that of unmodified biochar. Microscopically, the main mechanism could beexplained by - electron donor-acceptor interaction, hydrogen bonding interaction, -hydrogen bonding, hydrophobicinteraction, and electrostatic interaction. The study demonstrates that the microwave-assisted H3PO4 activationmethod could produce biochar, and GBPMW-H3PO4 was confirmed to be a low-cost and high-efficiency adsorbent forremoving beta-lactamase inhibitors from medical wastewater.

ENERGY-SAVING MODEL PREDICTIVE CRUISE CONTROL COMBINED WITH VEHICLE DRIVING CYCLES

SiLun Peng,ZhiHao Xu,JianHua Li,Feng Xiao,Xu Zhang,ShiXin Song,Da Wang,ChunYang Qi,JianFeng Wang 한국자동차공학회 2022 International journal of automotive technology Vol.23 No.2

This study analyzes the problem of adaptive cruise control of vehicles in different driving cycles and divides diverse weight coefficient intervals for the vehicles under the different driving cycles to improve the adaptability of the vehicles in various environments. This paper first describes the driving environment of the adaptive cruise vehicle, and a model prediction algorithm with fixed weight coefficients is established to control the vehicle state. Then, a neural network is established to identify the vehicle driving cycles, the weight intervals are divided in accordance with different driving cycles, and the weight value is dynamically adjusted through fuzzy control. Lastly, the variable weight coefficients of different driving cycles are combined with the model prediction controller. The software cosimulation shows that the method designed in this paper plays a positive role in the fuel economy of adaptive cruise.

Polymorphisms in Epigenetic and Meat Quality Related Genes in Fourteen Cattle Breeds and Association with Beef Quality and Carcass Traits

Xuan Liu,Tahir Usman,Yachun Wang,Zezhao Wang,Xianzhou Xu,Meng Wu,Yi Zhang,Xu Zhang,Qiang Li,Lin Liu,Wanhai Shi,Chunhua Qin,Fanjun Geng,Congyong Wang,Rui Tan,Xixia Huang,Airong Liu,Hongjun Wu,Shixin Ta 아세아·태평양축산학회 2015 Animal Bioscience Vol.28 No.4

Improvement for carcass traits related to beef quality is the key concern in beef production. Recent reports found that epigenetics mediates the interaction of individuals with environment and nutrition. The present study was designed to analyze the genetic effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in seven epigenetic-related genes (DNMT1, DNMT3a, DNMT3b, DNMT3L, Ago1, Ago2, and HDAC5) and two meat quality candidate genes (CAPN1 and PRKAG3) on fourteen carcass traits related to beef quality in a Snow Dragon beef population, and also to identify SNPs in a total of fourteen cattle populations. Sixteen SNPs were identified and genotyped in 383 individuals sampled from the 14 cattle breeds, which included 147 samples from the Snow Dragon beef population. Data analysis showed significant association of 8 SNPs within 4 genes related to carcass and/or meat quality traits in the beef populations. SNP1 (13154420A>G) in exon 17 of DNMT1 was significantly associated with rib-eye width and lean meat color score (p<0.05). A novel SNP (SNP4, 76198537A>G) of DNMT3a was significantly associated with six beef quality traits. Those individuals with the wild-type genotype AA of DNMT3a showed an increase in carcass weight, chilled carcass weight, flank thicknesses, chuck short rib thickness, chuck short rib score and in chuck flap weight in contrast to the GG genotype. Five out of six SNPs in DNMT3b gene were significantly associated with three beef quality traits. SNP15 (45219258C>T) in CAPN1 was significantly associated with chuck short rib thickness and lean meat color score (p<0.05). The significant effect of SNP15 on lean meat color score individually and in combination with each of other 14 SNPs qualify this SNP to be used as potential marker for improving the trait. In addition, the frequencies of most wild-type alleles were higher than those of the mutant alleles in the native and foreign cattle breeds. Seven SNPs were identified in the epigenetic-related genes. The SNP15 in CAPN1 could be used as a powerful genetic marker in selection programs for beef quality improvement in the Snow Dragon Beef population.