Both decreased Akt expression and mTOR phosphorylation are related to decreased neuronal differentiation in the hippocampal alveus of aged mice

Yan, Bing Chun,Jiang, Dan,Wang, Jie,Zhang, Yuanyuan,Zhu, Xiaolu,Xu, Pei,Yu, Xing,Won, Moo-Ho,Su, Pei Qing Springer-Verlag 2018 AGING CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH Vol.30 No.7

Study on Spinnability of PP/PU Blends and Preparation of PP/PU Bi-component Melt Blown Nonwovens

Yanfen Zhou,Liang Jiang,Huiying Jia,Xiaolu Xing,Zhenhua Sun,Shaojuan Chen,Jianwei Ma,Stephen Jerrams 한국섬유공학회 2019 Fibers and polymers Vol.20 No.6

Melt blown polymer blends offers a good way to combine two polymers in the same fiber generating nonwovenswith new and novel properties. In this study, polypropylene (PP) and polyurethane (PU) were blended to prepare PP/PU bicomponentmelt blown nonwovens. The spinnability of PP/PU composites was investigated and PP/PU bi-componentnonwovens with compositions of 95/5, 90/10, 80/20 and 70/30 were prepared by using the melt blowing technique. The meltblown fibers exhibited a ‘sea-island’ structure with PP as the continuous phase and PU as the dispersed phase. When thecontent of PU in the blend was above 40 %, PP/PU melt blown nonwovens could not be produced due to fiber breaking. ForPP/PU (90/10) nonwovens, it was found that the average fiber diameter decreased with increasing die to collector (DCD) andelevated hot air pressure.

Vibration mitigation of stay cable using optimally tuned MR damper

Huang, Hongwei,Sun, Limin,Jiang, Xiaolu Techno-Press 2012 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.9 No.1

Mechanical dampers have been proved to be one of the most effective countermeasures for vibration mitigation of stay cables in various cable-stayed bridges over the world. However, for long stay cables, as the installation height of the damper is restricted due to the aesthetic concern, using passive dampers alone may not satisfy the control requirement of the stay cables. In this connection, semi-active MR dampers have been proposed for the vibration mitigation of long stay cables. Although various studies have been carried out on the implementation of MR dampers on stay cables, the optimal damping performance of the cable-MR damper system has yet to be evaluated. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of MR damper as a semi-active control device for the vibration mitigation of stay cable. The mathematical model of the MR damper will first be established through a performance test. Then, an efficient semi-active control strategy will be derived, where the damping of MR damper will be tuned according to the dynamic characteristics of stay cable, in order to achieve optimal damping of cable-damper system. Simulation study will be carried out to verify the proposed semi-active control algorithm for suppressing the cable vibrations induced by different loading patterns using optimally tuned MR damper. Finally, the effectiveness of MR damper in mitigating multi modes of cable vibration will be examined theoretically.

Vibration mitigation of stay cable using optimally tuned MR damper

Hongwei Huang,Limin Sun,Xiaolu Jiang 국제구조공학회 2012 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.9 No.1

Mechanical dampers have been proved to be one of the most effective countermeasures for vibration mitigation of stay cables in various cable-stayed bridges over the world. However, for long stay cables, as the installation height of the damper is restricted due to the aesthetic concern, using passive dampers alone may not satisfy the control requirement of the stay cables. In this connection, semi-active MR dampers have been proposed for the vibration mitigation of long stay cables. Although various studies have been carried out on the implementation of MR dampers on stay cables, the optimal damping performance of the cable-MR damper system has yet to be evaluated. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of MR damper as a semi-active control device for the vibration mitigation of stay cable. The mathematical model of the MR damper will first be established through a performance test. Then, an efficient semi-active control strategy will be derived, where the damping of MR damper will be tuned according to the dynamic characteristics of stay cable, in order to achieve optimal damping of cable-damper system. Simulation study will be carried out to verify the proposed semi-active control algorithm for suppressing the cable vibrations induced by different loading patterns using optimally tuned MR damper. Finally, the effectiveness of MR damper in mitigating multi modes of cable vibration will be examined theoretically

Deep convolutional neural network: a novel approach for the detection of Aspergillus fungi via stereomicroscopy

Ma Haozhong,Yang Jinshan,Chen Xiaolu,Jiang Xinyu,Su Yimin,Qiao Shanlei,Zhong Guowei 한국미생물학회 2021 The journal of microbiology Vol.59 No.6

Fungi of the genus Aspergillus are ubiquitously distributed in nature, and some cause invasive aspergillosis (IA) infections in immunosuppressed individuals and contamination in agricultural products. Because microscopic observation and molecular detection of Aspergillus species represent the most operator-dependent and time-intensive activities, automated and cost-effective approaches are needed. To address this challenge, a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) was used to investigate the ability to classify various Aspergillus species. Using a dissecting microscopy (DM)/stereomicroscopy platform, colonies on plates were scanned with a 35× objective, generating images of sufficient resolution for classification. A total of 8,995 original colony images from seven Aspergillus species cultured in enrichment medium were gathered and autocut to generate 17,142 image crops as training and test datasets containing the typical representative morphology of conidiophores or colonies of each strain. Encouragingly, the Xception model exhibited a classification accuracy of 99.8% on the training image set. After training, our CNN model achieved a classification accuracy of 99.7% on the test image set. Based on the Xception performance during training and testing, this classification algorithm was further applied to recognize and validate a new set of raw images of these strains, showing a detection accuracy of 98.2%. Thus, our study demonstrated a novel concept for an artificial-intelligence-based and cost-effective detection methodology for Aspergillus organisms, which also has the potential to improve the public’s understanding of the fungal kingdom.

Association between expression levels and growth trait-related SNPs located in promoters of the MC4R and MSTN genes in Spinibarbus hollandi

Yang Yang,Zhaojun Lan,Hu Shu,Huiqiang Zhou,Xiaolu Jiang,Liping Hou,Pinghua Gu 한국유전학회 2018 Genes & Genomics Vol.40 No.11

Melanocortin 4 receptor: (MC4R) and Myostatin (MSTN) are two important growth trait-related genes in animals. In this study, we showed that two SNPs, MC4R-719A>G and MSTN-519C>T, found in the promoters of the MC4R and MSTN genes, respectively, are both associated with growth traits in Spinibarbus hollandi. Furthermore, we observed that there were significant associations between the expression levels of the MC4R and MSTN genes and these two growth trait-related SNPs. The expression level of MC4R gene in brain was lower in GG genotype fish with extremely high growth performance than that in AA genotype fish with extremely low growth performance. Expression level of the MSTN gene in muscle was lower in TT genotype fish with extremely high growth performance than that in CC and CT genotype fish with lower growth performance. The results indicated that these SNPs located in the promoters of MC4R and MSTN are associated with growthrelated traits through modification of gene expression levels. The MSTN and MC4R SNPs may have useful application in effective marker-assisted selection aimed to increase output in S. hollandi.

The Relationship Between Preoperative Cervical Sagittal Balance and Clinical Outcome of Patients With Hirayama Disease Treated With Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion

Xiao Lu,Guang-Yu Xu,Cong Nie,Yu Xuan Zhang,Jian Song,Jianyuan Jiang 대한척추신경외과학회 2021 Neurospine Vol.18 No.3

Objective: Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is a common surgical method used to treat patients with Hirayama disease. And sagittal balance indexes have been revealed to be predictors of clinical outcomes in patients with cervical diseases, but their relationships with ACDF-treated Hirayama disease outcomes remain unknown. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship of preoperative cervical sagittal balance indexes and clinical outcomes in ACDF-treated Hirayama disease patients. Methods: Eighty patients with Hirayama disease treated by ACDF were reviewed retrospectively. Six cervical sagittal balance parameters were collected including Cobb angle, T1 slope, C1–7 sagittal vertical axis (SVA), C2–7 SVA, center of gravity of the head (CGH)-C7 SVA, range of motion. The recovery outcomes of the patients were divided into 2 groups by Odom score and the differences in recovery between the 2 groups were confirmed by electromyography. The correlation between imaging parameters and postoperative outcome was evaluated with logistic regression. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the ROC curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the significant result of logistic regression and the optimal diagnostic value. Results: Only 2 parameters, Cobb angle and CGH-C7 SVA, showed statistical correlation with the postoperative outcome assessment by logistic regression. AUC of Cobb angle and CGH-C7 SVA were 0.559 and 0.702 respectively. The optimal predictive threshold was 1.50° and 5.40 mm, respectively. Conclusion: A larger Cobb angle and smaller CGH-C7 SVA seemed to correlate with a better postoperative outcome. These 2 factors could be used to predict the outcome of surgical treatment of Hirayama disease preoperatively.