Alternative Biological Material for Tissue Engineering of the Vagina: Porcine-Derived Acellular Vaginal Matrix

Tian Yanpeng,Liu Yibin,Xiao Yanlai,Li Zhongkang,Zhang Mingle,Chen Liang,Li Zhen,Zhang Wangchao,Zhang Zhiqiang,Kong Desheng,Meng Li,Du Yanfang,Zhang Jingkun,Gao Jingui,Huang Xianghua 한국조직공학과 재생의학회 2024 조직공학과 재생의학 Vol.21 No.2

Background: Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome is a severe congenital disorder characterized by vaginal hypoplasia caused by dysplasia of the Müllerian duct. Patients with MRKH syndrome often require nonsurgical or surgical treatment to achieve satisfactory vaginal length and sexual outcomes. The extracellular matrix has been successfully used for vaginal reconstruction. Methods: In this study, we developed a new biological material derived from porcine vagina (acellular vaginal matrix, AVM) to reconstruct the vagina in Bama miniature pigs. The histological characteristics and efficacy of acellularization of AVM were evaluated, and AVM was subsequently transplanted into Bama miniature pigs to reconstruct the vaginas. Results: Macroscopic analysis showed that the neovaginas functioned well in all Bama miniature pigs with AVM implants. Histological analysis and electrophysiological evidence indicated that morphological and functional recovery was restored in normal vaginal tissues. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the neovaginas had mucosal folds characteristics of normal vagina. No significant differences were observed in the expression of CK14, HSP47, and α-actin between the neovaginas and normal vaginal tissues. However, the expression of estrogen receptor (ER) was significantly lower in the neovaginas than in normal vaginal tissues. In addition, AVM promoted the expression of β-catenin, c-Myc, and cyclin D1. These results suggest that AVM might promotes vaginal regeneration by activating the β-catenin/c-Myc/cyclin D1 pathway. Conclusion: This study reveals that porcine-derived AVM has potential application for vaginal regeneration. Background: Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome is a severe congenital disorder characterized by vaginal hypoplasia caused by dysplasia of the Müllerian duct. Patients with MRKH syndrome often require nonsurgical or surgical treatment to achieve satisfactory vaginal length and sexual outcomes. The extracellular matrix has been successfully used for vaginal reconstruction. Methods: In this study, we developed a new biological material derived from porcine vagina (acellular vaginal matrix, AVM) to reconstruct the vagina in Bama miniature pigs. The histological characteristics and efficacy of acellularization of AVM were evaluated, and AVM was subsequently transplanted into Bama miniature pigs to reconstruct the vaginas. Results: Macroscopic analysis showed that the neovaginas functioned well in all Bama miniature pigs with AVM implants. Histological analysis and electrophysiological evidence indicated that morphological and functional recovery was restored in normal vaginal tissues. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the neovaginas had mucosal folds characteristics of normal vagina. No significant differences were observed in the expression of CK14, HSP47, and α-actin between the neovaginas and normal vaginal tissues. However, the expression of estrogen receptor (ER) was significantly lower in the neovaginas than in normal vaginal tissues. In addition, AVM promoted the expression of β-catenin, c-Myc, and cyclin D1. These results suggest that AVM might promotes vaginal regeneration by activating the β-catenin/c-Myc/cyclin D1 pathway. Conclusion: This study reveals that porcine-derived AVM has potential application for vaginal regeneration.

ISDS Mechanism: Revocation or Reform?-Seeking the New Way Out through the Backlash of the ISDS

장첨첨 ( Zhang Tian Tian ) 제주대학교 법과정책연구소 2016 국제법무 Vol.8 No.1

ISDS체제에 대한 공중의 질의와 반대는 체제의 탄생부터 현재까지 끊이지 않고 제기되어 왔다. 현재는 TPP협정의 체결과 TTIP협상의 가속적인 진행으로 ISDS체제에 대한 관심은 더욱 뜨거워 졌으며 국제사회의 ISDS체제에 대한 논의와 문제제기가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 그 중에서 ISDS체제에 대한 많은 반대의 의견이 나오고 있고 이 체제를 폐기하자는 의견도 나타났다. 그러나 필자는 체제에 대한 간단한 폐기보다는 체제의 단점과 부족을 분석하고 연구하여 최적화한 개혁방안을 설계함으로써 ISDS 체제의 새로운 출로를 모색하는 것이 더욱 바람직하다고 생각한다. 투자협정을 기초로 하는 ISDS체제의 설립취지는 투자자의 합법적 권익을 보호하고 국제투자의 양성(良性) 발전을 촉진하는데 있다. 그러나 현실에서는 ISDS중재판정부가 판정을 내릴 때 일반적으로 투자유치국의 공공이익을 경시하고 단편적으로 투자자의 사적 권리를 보호하는 경향이 있어 투자유치국의 공공이익, 사법주권 내지 사회의 안정에 부정적인 영향을 미치게 되고 심지어 일부 국가의 국가경제안정에 치명적인 타격을 가하게 됨으로써 국제투자 활동에서의 사적 권리와 공공이익간의 균형관계를 무너뜨리게 된다. 따라서 ISDS체제 자체도 많은 의문, 비판과 반대를 받게 되었다. 본 논문은 3개 부분으로 구성되었다. 우선 ISDS가 체결되어서부터 현재까지의 발전과정에 대하여 간략하게 소개한다. 여기에는 ISDS체제의 정의, ISDS조항에 규정되어있는 투자협정, ISDS체제의 사건수리기구 그리고 ISDS 체제의 필요성, 독창성, 존재의 의의가 포함된다. 다음으로 아르헨티나 위기, Philip Morris담배 사건, 한미FTA에 대한 사레분석을 통하여 ISDS체제대한국제사회의 비판과 반대 그리고 공공이익에 미치는 부정적인 영향을 제시한다. 그리고 ISDS체제의 성격과 특정에서 출발하여 공공이익과 사적 권리의 충돌 및 이익불균형이 발생하게 된 원인을 분석한다. 마지막으로 실체적인 측면과 절차적인 측면에서 ISDS체제에 대한 일련의 개혁조치를 제안하는 것으로 ISDS체제의 새로운 형평효과를 기대한다. 실체적인 측면에서 ISDS체제를 규정하고 있는 국제투자협정의 세부적인 내용을 명확하게 규정하고 상세한 공공이익의 예외규정을 추가함으로써 조약에 대한 중재판정부의 임의적인 해석을 제한한다. 절차적인 측면에서 ISDS체제의 투명성을 제고하고자 중재인 선임에 있어서의 공정성을 강화하고 제3자 소송제도를 개선한다. 그리고 상소 기구를 설치하여 ISDS의 잘못된 판정에 대한 구제체제를 마련함으로서 전면적으로 ISDS체제의 공정성과 합리성을 보장한다. As a relatively new form of dispute settlement in international investment, the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism has gone through tremendous questioning and challenges in both of the academic field and the practice field. In the ongoing negotiations of the TPP and the TTIP, whether to apply the ISDS mechanism under the framework also becomes a hot debatable issue. This essay argues that reform rather than revocation should be the better way for ISDS mechanism to go. The ISDS mechanism is based on the investment treaties, with the initial purposes of protecting the legitimate rights of investors and promoting the benign development of international investment. While in the practice, some international investment tribunals gave too much protection to investors and paid little attention on the public interest of the host state, which brought negative influence to the public policy, legal sovereignty and social stability of the host state. Moreover, the backlash also comes from the transparency principal and the arbitrator selection under the ISDS mechanism. This article mainly talks about 3 aspects. Firstly, it gives a brief introduction to the birth and development of the ISDS mechanism, including the definition of ISDS, the investment treaties containing ISDS, and the international arbitration tribunals that apply the ISDS mechanism. Then the article points out the backlash and challenges to the ISDS through the cases of Argentina crisis, Philip Morris tobacco cases and the KORUS FTA. Lastly it provides some approaches to the reform of ISDS substantially and procedurally. In the perspective of substantial law, it suggests that the content and provisions of investment treaties should be specified, with the definite and specific exceptional clauses, which would limit the discretion of the arbitrators. In the procedural perspective, the transparency and the arbitrator`s impartiality should be emphasized, at the same time, the perfection of Amicus Curiae system and the establishment of the appellate body of ISDS should also be brought into mind.

Information Fusion Filter for Multi-rate Multi-sensor Systems

Jing Ma,Hao Jin,Tian Tian,Wei Zhang 보안공학연구지원센터 2015 International Journal of Multimedia and Ubiquitous Vol.10 No.1

This paper is concerned with the information fusion filtering problem for a class of multi-rate multi-sensor systems, where the system is described at the highest sampling rate and different sensors may have different lower sampling rates. Firstly, the local filters (LFs) at state updating points are proposed by using the LFs at measurement sampling points. Then, the distributed suboptimal fusion filter is obtained by the well-known covariance intersection fusion (CIF) algorithm. The filtering error variance matrices are derived to obtain the fusion weights. The computational cost is reduced since the cross-covariance matrices between any two local filters are avoided. Simulation example verifies the correctness and feasibility of the proposed algorithm.

Risk of Treatment-related Mortality with Sorafenib in Patients with Cancer

Zhang, Xin-Ji,Zhang, Tian-Yi,Yu, Fei-Fei,Wei, Xin,Li, Ye-Sheng,Xu, Feng,Wei, Li-Xin,He, Jia Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.11

Background: Fatal adverse events (FAEs) have been reported with sorafenib, a vascular endothelial growth factor receptor kinase inhibitor (VEGFR TKI). We here performed an up-to-date and detailed meta-analysis to determine the overall risk of FAEs associated with sorafenib. Methods: Databases, including PubMed, Embase and Web of Science, and abstracts presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meetings were searched to identify relevant studies. Eligible studies included randomized controlled trials evaluating sorafenib effects in patients with all malignancies. Summary incidence rates, relative risks (RRs), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for FAEs. In addition, subgroup analyses were performed according to tumor type and therapy regimen. Results: 13 trials recruiting 5,546 patients were included in our analysis. The overall incidence of FAEs with sorafenib was 1.99% (95%CI, 0.98-4.02%). Patients treated with sorafenib had a significantly increased risk of FAEs compared with patients treated with control medication, with an RR of 1.77 (95%CI 1.25-2.52, P=0.001). Risk varied with tumour type, but appeared independent of therapy regimen. A significantly increased risk of FAEs was observed in patients with lung cancer (RR 2.26; 95% CI 1.03-4.99; P= 0.043) and renal cancer (RR 1.84; 95% CI 1.15-2.94; P= 0.011). The most common causes of FAEs were hemorrhage (8.6%) and thrombus or embolism (4.9%). Conclusions: It is important for health care practitioners to be aware of the risks of FAEs associated with sorafenib, especially in patients with renal and lung cancer.

Hypoxia-inducible Factor 1 Alpha (HIF-1α) as a Prognostic Indicator in Patients with Gastric Tumors: A Meta-analysis

Zhang, Zhi-Gang,Zhang, Qiu-Ning,Wang, Xiao-Hu,Tian, Jin-Hui Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.7

Background and Objective: Though researched for years, the prognostic role of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-$1{\alpha}$) in gastric cancer is still controversial. We thus undertook a systematic review to assess the relationship. Method: A systematically literature search of Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, China Biological Medicine Disc and Cochrane Library was undertaken in February 2013, and the reference lists of articles were retrieved. Results: 12 trials (1,555 participants) were included to assess the association between HIF-$1{\alpha}$ expression and survival. Summary hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated. HIF-$1{\alpha}$ expression was significantly correlated with poor overall survival of gastric cancer patients (HR=1.34, 95%CI: 1.13-1.58; P=0.0009), but not with poor disease free survival of gastric cancer patients (HR=1.67, 95%CI: 0.99-2.82; P=0.06). Conclusion: HIF-$1{\alpha}$ was associated with poor OS, but not DFS, especially for Asian patients. But studies evaluating relationships of HIF-$1{\alpha}$ with OS and DFS in non-Asian gastric cancer patients appear needed.

Integral inequalities of Hermite-Hadamard type for harmonically quasi-convex functions

TIAN-YU ZHANG,AI-PING JI,Feng Qi 장전수학회 2013 Proceedings of the Jangjeon mathematical society Vol.16 No.3

In the paper, by creating an integral identity and using Holder’s inequality,the authors establish some Hermite-Hadamard type integral inequalitiesfor harmonically quasi-convex functions and apply these inequalities to constructseveral inequalities for special means.

Coupling reaction of carbon dioxide and epoxides efficiently catalyzed by one-component aluminum-salen complex under solvent-free conditions

Tian, D.,Liu, B.,Zhang, L.,Wang, X.,Zhang, W.,Han, L.,Park, D.W. Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemi 2012 Journal of industrial and engineering chemistry Vol.18 No.4

Four novel bifunctional aluminum-salen complexes (2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d) containing both Lewis acidic metal center and Lewis base quaternary phosphonium salt sites within one molecule and an aluminum-salen complex with a neutral tert-butyl group (2f) for comparison were synthesized and characterized by UV-vis, IR, <SUP>1</SUP>H, <SUP>13</SUP>C, <SUP>27</SUP>Al NMR spectroscopy and Elemental analysis (EA). Their catalytic efficiencies as single-component catalysts toward the coupling reaction of carbon dioxide and propylene oxide were evaluated. These complexes exhibit catalytic activity in the order 2d>2a>2b>2c@?2f. <SUP>27</SUP>Al NMR spectra reveal the existence of five- and six-coordinated metal centers in the aluminum-salen complexes bearing a quaternary phosphonium salt group, whereas only five-coordinate aluminum species were found in the aluminum-salen complex with a neutral tert-butyl group. This indicates the importance of the six-coordinate aluminum center in enhancing the catalytic activity as well as an intramolecular cooperative effect in bifunctional aluminum-salen complexes 2a-d. The effects of reaction variables on the catalytic performance were investigated in detail. These new catalysts are highly stable to moisture and air and robust to impurities in the coupling reaction.

Protective Effect of Ultra Low Molecular Weight Heparin on Glutamate-Induced Apoptosis in Cortical Cells

Tian-Gui Yu,Qing-Zhu Zhang,Zhi-Guo Zhang,Wei-Wei Wang,Sheng-Li Ji,Guan-Hua Du 연세대학교의과대학 2008 Yonsei medical journal Vol.49 No.3

Purpose: To investigate the effect of ultra low molecular weight heparin (ULMWH) on glutamate induced apoptosis in rat cortical cells and to explore the possible mechanisms. Materials and Methods: Cell viability was measured using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Apoptosis was first analyzed with Hoechst 33258 and then confirmed by DNA fragmentation. The concentration of free intracellular calcium ([Ca²+]i) was determined with fura-2/AM fluorometry. The expression of Bcl-2 family protein and caspase-3 were evaluated with Western blot. Results: Typical apoptotic morphological change in rat cortical cells treated with 100μmol/L glutamate for 24h was detected by Hoechst 33258 staining, which was then confirmed by the DNA ladder of agarose gel electrophoresis. The apoptotic rate of the glutamate treated cells was up to 33.21%, and 24 h of treatment with glutamate increased [Ca²+]i, down-regulated Bcl-2 expression, up-regulated Bax expression, and increased caspase-3 activation in rat cortical cells. Our research demonstrated that ULMWH pretreatment can prevent the glutamate- induced apoptosis, attenuate the increase of [Ca²+]i not only in medium containing Ca²+ but also in Ca²+-free medium, up-regulate the expression of Bcl-2, down-regulate the expression of Bax, and decrease caspase-3 activation. Conclusion: ULMWH has neuroprotective capacity to antagonize glutamate-induced apoptosis in cortical cells, through decrease of Ca²+ release and modulation of apoptotic processes.

Development of Nested PCR, Multiplex PCR, and Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Assays for Rapid Detection of Cylindrocladium scoparium on Eucalyptus

Tian-Min Qiao,Jing Zhang,Shu-Jiang Li,Shan Han,Tian-Hui Zhu 한국식물병리학회 2016 Plant Pathology Journal Vol.32 No.5

Eucalyptus dieback disease, caused by Cylindrocladiumscoparium, has occurred in last few years in largeEucalyptus planting areas in China and other countries. Rapid, simple, and reliable diagnostic techniquesare desired for the early detection of Eucalyptus diebackof C. scoparium prior to formulation of efficientcontrol plan. For this purpose, three PCR-based methodsof nested PCR, multiplex PCR, loop-mediatedisothermal amplification (LAMP) were developed fordetection of C. scoparium based on factor 1-alpha (tef1)and beta-tubulin gene in this study. All of the threemethods showed highly specific to C. scoparium. Thesensitivities of the nested PCR and LAMP were muchhigher than the multiplex PCR. The sensitivity of multiplexPCR was also higher than regular PCR. C. scopariumcould be detected within 60 min from infectedEucalyptus plants by LAMP, while at least 2 h wasneeded by the rest two methods. Using different Eucalyptustissues as samples for C. scoparium detection,all of the three PCR-based methods showed muchbetter detection results than regular PCR. Base on theresults from this study, we concluded that any of thethree PCR-based methods could be used as diagnostictechnology for the development of efficient strategiesof Eucalyptus dieback disease control. Particularly,LAMP was the most practical method in field applicationbecause of its one-step and rapid reaction, simpleoperation, single-tube utilization, and simple visualizationof amplification products.

Dynamic Trust Model Based on Extended Subjective Logic

( Tian Junfeng ),( Zhang Jiayao ),( Zhang Peipei ),( Andma Xiaoxue ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2018 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.12 No.8

In Jøsang’s trust model, trust evaluation is obtained through operators, but there are problems with the mutuality and asymmetry of trust and the impact of event weight on trust evaluation. Trust evaluation is updated dynamically and continuously with time and the process of interactions, but it has not been reflected in Jøsang’s model. Therefore, final trust evaluation is not accurate, and malicious fraud cannot be prevented effectively. This causes the success rate of interaction to be low. To solve these problems, a new dynamic trust model is proposed based on extended subjective logic (DTM-ESL). In DTM-ESL, the event weight and the mutuality of trust are fully considered, the original one-way trust relationship is extended to a two-way trust relationship, discounting and consensus operators are improved, and trust renewal is designed based on event weight. The viability and effectiveness of this new model are verified by simulation experiments.