Two New Natural Products from the Fruits of Alpinia oxyphylla with Inhibitory Effects on Nitric Oxide Production in Lipopolysaccharide- Activated RAW264.7 Macrophage Cells

Zhang Jun Qing,Duan Jin Ao,Wang Yong,Li Yong Hui,Lai Wei Yong,Li Hai Long,Pei Li Xia 대한약학회 2012 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.35 No.12

Chemical investigation of the fruits of Alpinia oxyphylla led to an isolation of the two new natural products, 9-hydroxy epinootkatol (1) and (S)-2-pentanol-2-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), in addition to the nine known compounds, pinocembrin (3), tectochrysin (4), izalpinin (5), nookatone (6), yakuchinone A (7), protocatechuic acid (8), β-sitosterol (9), daucosterol (10) and β-sitosterol palmitate (11). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of physicochemical constants and NMR spectral data analysis. The effects of the isolated components on nitric oxide production in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages were examined. The two new natural compounds showed inhibitory activities with IC50 values of 21.8 and 32.8 μg/mL, respectively.

DEPTOR Expression Negatively Correlates with mTORC1 Activity and Tumor Progression in Colorectal Cancer

Lai, Er-Yong,Chen, Zhen-Guo,Zhou, Xuan,Fan, Xiao-Rong,Wang, Hua,Lai, Ping-Lin,Su, Yong-Chun,Zhang, Bai-Yu,Bai, Xiao-Chun,Li, Yun-Feng Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.11

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway is upregulated in the pathogenesis of many cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC). DEPTOR is an mTOR inhibitor whose expression is negatively regulated by mTOR. However, the role of DEPTOR in the development of CRC is not known. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of DEPTOR and mTORC1 activity (P-S6) in a subset of CRC patients and determine their relation to tumor differentiation, invasion, nodal metastasis and disease-free survival. Here, Immunohistochemical expression of P-S6 (S235/236) and DEPTOR were evaluated in 1.5 mm tumor cores from 90 CRC patients and in 90 samples of adjacent normal mucosa by tissue microarray. The expression of P-S6 (S235/236) was upregulated in CRC, with the positive rate of P-S6 (S235/236) in CRC (63.3%) significantly higher than that in control tissues (36.7%, 30%) (p<0.05). P-S6 (S235/236) also correlated with high tumor histologic grade (p=0.002), and positive nodal metastasis (p=0.002). In contrast, the expression level of DEPTOR was correlated with low tumor histological grade (p=0.006), and negative nodal metastasis (p=0.001). Interestingly, P-S6 (S235/236) expression showed a significant negative association with the expression of DEPTOR in CRC (p=0.011, R= -0.279). However, upregulation of P-S6 (S235/236) (p=0.693) and downregulation of DEPTOR (p=0.331) in CRC were not significantly associated with overall survival. Thus, we conclude that expression of DEPTOR negatively correlates with mTORC1 activity and tumor progression in CRC. DEPTOR is a potential marker for prognostic evaluation and a target for the treatment of CRC.

Recent developments in superhydrophobic surfaces with unique structural and functional properties

Zhang, Yong-Lai,Xia, Hong,Kim, Eunkyoung,Sun, Hong-Bo The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012 SOFT MATTER Vol.8 No.44

<P>The surface wettability control of solid materials has been considered as an essential aspect of surface chemistry. In the past decade, superhydrophobic surfaces have revealed a cornucopia of novel structural and functional properties, exhibiting considerable importance in both fundamental research and practical applications. In this review, we summarize the recent developments of superhydrophobic surfaces with unique structural and functional properties. Both the fabricative methods and the working performance of superhydrophobic surfaces with multidisciplinary functionalities including self-cleaning, icephobicity, anti-corrosion, drag reduction, transparency, anti-reflection, structural color, droplet transportation, anisotropy, oil–water separation, water supporting force, superamphiphobicity and responsive switching, have been discussed briefly. Finally, the current challenges and future prospects of this dynamic field are discussed based on our own opinion.</P> <P>Graphic Abstract</P><P>This review highlights the recent developments in superhydrophobic surfaces with unique structure-defined functionalities towards a wide range of applications. <IMG SRC='http://pubs.rsc.org/services/images/RSCpubs.ePlatform.Service.FreeContent.ImageService.svc/ImageService/image/GA?id=c2sm26517f'> </P>

Fabrication of Photopolymer Hierarchical Micronanostructures by Coupling Electrospinning and Photolithography for SERS Substrates

Wen-Yi Zhang,Xin-Ze Xiao,Chao Lv,Jia Zhao,Gong Wang,Xuan Gu,Ran Zhang,Bin-Bin Xu,Dan-Dan Zhang,Ai-Wu Li,Yong-Lai Zhang,Hong-Bo Sun 한국고분자학회 2013 Macromolecular Research Vol.21 No.3

Reported here is the fabrication of photopolymer hierarchical micronanostructures through a combinative process of electrospinning and subsequent photolithography. Electrospun SU-8 (epoxy-based negative photoresist)nanofiber films have been patterned into gratings with periods of 100, 200, 300, and 400 μm, respectively. Deposition of a silver nanolayer on these interlaced nanofiber films would lead to the formation of various plasmonic nanostructures,and therefore, giving rise to abundant surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) “hot spots”. In the detection of Rhodamine 6G (R6G), probing molecule, the resultant SERS substrates show both high sensitivity and good reproducibility. The SERS enhancement factor could reach as high as ~108, indicating high efficiency. The fabrication of patterned, highly efficient SERS substrates may hold a great promise for the integration of SERS substrates in various microdevices such as microfluidic chips.

Daclatasvir plus Asunaprevir in Interferon (± Ribavirin)- Ineligible/Intolerant Asian Patients with Chronic HCV Genotype-1b Infection

( Lai Wei ),( Mingxiang Zhang ),( Min Xu ),( Wan-Long Chuang ),( Wei Lu ),( Wen Xie ),( Zhansheng Jia ),( Guozhong Gong ),( Yueqi Li ),( Si Hyun Bae ),( Yong-Feng Yang ),( Qing Xie ),( Shumei Lin ),( 대한간학회 2016 춘·추계 학술대회 (KASL) Vol.2016 No.1

Aims: The efficacy/safety of daclatasvir (pan-genotypic NS5A inhibitor) plus asunaprevir (NS3 protease inhibitor) in interferon (± ribavirin)- ineligible/intolerant patients with chronic HCV genotype-1b infection from mainland China, Korea and Taiwan was investigated in a phase 3, open-label study. Methods: Patients received daclatasvir 60 mg (tablet) once daily plus asunaprevir 100 mg (soft capsule) twice daily for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was sustained virologic response at post-treatment Week 24 (SVR24). Results: This study treated 159 patients from mainland China (80%), Korea (11%) and Taiwan (9%), including patients with cirrhosis (33%), IL28B non-CC genotypes (40%), and aged ≥70 years (4%). SVR24 was achieved by 91% of patients (100% concordance with SVR12) and was similarly high in all subgroups, e.g. cirrhotic patients (90%), and in patients from mainland China (91%), Korea (94%) and Taiwan (87%). SVR24 was higher in patients without baseline NS5A (L31M/Y93H) resistance-associated variants (RAVs) (n=137/139 [99%]), regardless of the presence (98%) or absence (99%) of cirrhosis, and lower in patients with baseline NS5A RAVs (n=8/19 [42%]). All serious adverse events (AEs) (n=5/159 [3.1%]), grade 4 laboratory abnormalities (n=3/159 [1.9%]) and deaths (n=1/159 [0.6%]) that occurred on-treatment were unrelated to the study drugs; two patients discontinued due to AEs. Treatment was generally well tolerated regardless of cirrhosis status. Conclusions: Daclatasvir plus asunaprevir achieved a high SVR24 rate of 91%, rising to 99% in patients without baseline NS5A RAVs, and was generally well tolerated in cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic interferon (± ribavirin)-ineligible/intolerant patients with HCV genotype-1b infection from mainland China, Korea and Taiwan.

A general methodology for reliability-based robust design optimization of computation-intensive engineering problems

Lai Xiongming,Huang Ju,Zhang Yong,Wang Cheng,Zhang Xiaodong 한국CDE학회 2022 Journal of computational design and engineering Vol.9 No.5

As for complex engineering structures, their single deterministic solutions need to be calculated with the help of computation-intensive finite element software, and the corresponding computation time always lasts very long. When referring to robust design optimization of complex engineering structures, the above expensive job should be repeatedly carried out for a considerable amount of time during the full optimization process. Hence, such repetitive jobs may be difficult to complete for most engineering applications. Aiming at this problem, the paper proposes a general methodology for reliability-based robust design optimization (RBRDO). Firstly, the improved formulation of the RBRDO problem is proposed based on the conventional RBRDO form, and the original probabilistic constraint functions in the improved formulation are changed into the deterministic ones by means of employing the performance measure approach (PMA). Secondly, the above-mentioned improved RBRDO problem is approximately replaced by a new sequence of approximate suboptimizations. For each suboptimization, its original PMA functions are replaced by the approximate explicit form only concerning the deterministic design variables rather than random variables. In this way, each suboptimization is deterministic. Furthermore, the trust-region method is adopted to ensure that the new sequence of suboptimization converge to the original improved RBRDO problem. Lastly, a test problem and three applications are adopted to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the above-proposed methods.PACS(optional, as per journal): 75.40.-s; 71.20.LP

Waiguan Stimulation May Kindle Anticorrelated Brain Networks: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data Revisited

Gustav Wik,Yong Huang,Tongjun Zeng,Shanshan Qu,Yu Zheng,Jiping Zhang,Xinsheng Lai,Chunzhi Tang,Baoci Shan 사단법인약침학회 2016 Journal of Acupuncture & Meridian Studies Vol.9 No.1

Subtraction of functional magnetic resonance imaging activity data results in a loss of information regarding possible general patterns of brain activation under experimental conditions. We, hence, reanalyzed previous Waiguan acupuncture data to qualitatively elucidate patterns of cerebral correlations to acupuncture and placebo conditions. Healthy individuals (n=24) were randomly allocated to true and sham Waiguan acupuncture and to true and sham needling of a nonacupuncture point (nonacupoint), and functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed during stimulation. Statistical parametric mapping group comparisons revealed clearly different patterns of activation between Waiguan stimulation and the corresponding stimulation of a nonacupoint. The former condition produced less neocortical activation than the nonacupoint stimulation. Cerebellar activation was typically seen only during true Waiguan acupuncture. The reduced neocortical activity during both true and sham Waiguan acupuncture may indicate that this point activates anticorrelated networks, with possible intrinsic healing properties. Cerebellar activation during true Waiguan acupuncture implies the region's influence on healing networks.

Degradation of roller compacted concrete subjected to low-velocity fatigue impacts and salt spray cycles

Gao, Longxin,Lai, Yong,Zhang, Huigui,Zhang, Jingsong,Zhang, Wuman Techno-Press 2021 Advances in concrete construction Vol.12 No.5

Roller compacted concrete (RCC) used in the island reef airport runway will be subjected to the coupling actions of the fatigue impacts and the salt spray cycles, which will accelerate the deterioration of runway concrete and even threaten the flight safety. A cyclic impact testing machine and a climatic chamber were used to simulate the low-velocity fatigue impact and the salt spray cycles, respectively. The physical properties, the microstructures and the porosity of RCC were investigated. The results show the flexural strength firstly increases and then decreases with the increase of the fatigue impacts and the salt spray cycles. However, the decrease in the flexural strength is significantly earlier than the compressive strength of RCC only subjected to the salt spray cycles. The chlorine, sulfur and magnesium elements significantly increase in the pores of RCC subjected to 30000 fatigue impacts and 300 salt spray cycles, which causes the decrease in the porosity of RCC. The coupling effects of the fatigue impacts and the salt spray cycles in the later period accelerates the deterioration of RCC.

In vitro evaluation of 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl)adenine ester analogues, a series of anti-HBV structures with improved plasma stability and liver release

Sha Liao,Shi-Yong Fan,Qin Liu,Chang-Kun L,Jia Chen,Jing-Lai Li,Zhi-Wei Zhang,Zhen-Qing Zhang,Bo-Hua Zhong,Jian-Wei Xie 대한약학회 2014 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.37 No.11

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection maylead to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, butfew drugs are available for its treatment. Acyclic nucleosidephosphonates (ANPs) have remarkable antivirusactivities but are not easily absorbed from the gastrointestinaltract and accumulate in the kidneys, resulting innephrotoxicity. Therefore, there is a need to find effectiveliver site-specific prodrugs. The dipivaloyloxymethyl esterof 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl)adenine (PMEA)—adefovirdipivoxil (ADV)—is a first-line therapy drug forchronic hepatitis B with a low therapeutic index because ofrenal toxicity and low hepatic uptake. In this study, a seriesof PMEA derivatives were synthesized to enhance plasmastability and liver release. The metabolic stability of ADV(Chemical I) and its two analogues (Chemicals II and III)was evaluated in rat plasma and liver homogenate in vitro. An ion-pair reverse-phase HPLC–UV method and a hybridion trap and high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry(LC-IT-TOF-MS) were used to evaluate the degradationrate of the analogues and to identify their intermediatemetabolites, respectively. Chemicals I and II were hydrolyzedby cleavage of the C–O bond to give monoesters. Sufficient enzymatic activation in the liver homogenatethrough a relatively simple metabolic pathway, in additionto a favorable stability profile in rat plasma, made ChemicalII an optimal candidate. Next, six analogues based onthe structure of Chemical II were synthesized and evaluatedin plasma and liver homogenate. Compared toChemical II, these compounds generated less active PMEAlevels in rat liver homogenate. Therefore, chemical modificationof Chemical II may lead to new promising PMEAderivatives with enhanced plasma stability and liveractivation.

Overexpression of Cyclooxygenase-1 Correlates with Poor Prognosis in Renal Cell Carcinoma

Yu, Zu-Hu,Zhang, Qiang,Wang, Ya-Dong,Chen, Jing,Jiang, Zhi-Mao,Shi, Min,Guo, Xin,Qin, Jie,Cui, Guang-Hui,Cai, Zhi-Ming,Gui, Yao-Ting,Lai, Yong-Qing Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.6

The aim of this study was to evaluate expression of COX-1 in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and its prognostic value. mRNA of COX-1 was detected in 42 paired RCC and adjacent normal tissues with quantitative realtime polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Expression of COX-1 was also evaluated in 196 RCC sections and 91 adjacent normal tissues with immunohistochemistry. Statistical analysis was performed to assess COX-1 expression in RCC and its prognostic significance. The results of qRT-PCR showed mRNA levels of COX-1 in RCC tissues to be significantly higher than that in adjacent normal tissues (p < 0.001). Immunohistochemical assays also revealed COX-1 to be overexpressed in RCC tissues (p < 0.001). Statistical analysis demonstrated high expression of COX-1 was correlated with tumour size (p = 0.002), pathological stage (p = 0.003), TNM stage (p = 0.003, 0.007, 0.027, respectively), and tumour recurrence (p < 0.001). Survival analysis indicated patients with high expression of COX-1 had shorter survival time (p < 0.001), and COX-1 was an independent predictor. This is the first study to reveal overexpression of COX-1 in RRC and point to use as a prognostic marker in affected patients.