• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권8호
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• pp.3293-3299
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• 2015

Background: Arm protein lost in epithelial cancers, on chromosome X (ALEX) is a novel subgroup within the armadillo (ARM) family, which has one or two ARM repeat domains as opposed to more than six-thirteen repeats in the classical Armadillo family members. Materials and Methods: In the study, we explore the biological functions of ALEX1 in breast cancer cells. Overexpression of ALEX1 and silencing of ALEX1 were performed with SK-BR3 and MCF-7 cell lines. Cell proliferation and colony formation assays, along with flow cytometry, were carried out to evaluate the roles of ALEX1. Results: ALEX1 overexpression in SK-BR3 breast cancer cells inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis. Furthermore, depletion of ALEX1 in MCF-7 breast cancer cells increased proliferation and inhibited apoptosis. Additional analyses demonstrated that the overexpression of ALEX1 activated the intrinsic apoptosis cascades through up-regulating the expression of Bax, cytosol cytochrome c, active caspase-9 and active caspase-3 and down-regulating the levels of Bcl-2 and mitochondria cytochrome c. Simultaneouly, silencing of ALEX1 inhibited intrinsic apoptosis cascades through down-regulating the expression of Bax, cytosol cytochrome c, active caspase-9, and active caspase-3 and up-regulating the level of Bcl-2 and mitochondria cytochrome c. Conclusions: Our data suggest that ALEX1 as a crucial tumor suppressor gene has been involved in cell proliferation and apoptosis in breast cancer, which may serve as a novel candidate therapeutic target.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.291-298
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• 2019

In order to study the mechanical properties of rock salt, triaxial compression tests under different temperatures and confining pressure are carried out on rock salt specimens, the influence of temperature and confining pressure on the mechanical properties of rock salt was studied. The results show that the temperature has a deteriorative effect on the mechanical properties of rock salt. With the increase of temperature, the peak stress of rock salt decreases visibly; the plastic deformation characteristics become much obvious; the internal friction angle increases; while the cohesion strength decreases. With the increase of confining pressure, the peak stress and peak strain of rock salt will increase under the same temperature. Based on the test data, the Duncan-Chang constitutive model was modified, and the modified Duncan-Chang rock salt constitutive model considering the effect of temperature and confining pressure was established. The stress-strain curve calculated by the modified model was compared with the stress-strain curve obtained from the test. The close match between the test results and the model prediction suggests that the modified Duncan-Chang constitutive model is accurate in describing the behavior of rock slat under different confining pressure and temperature conditions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제31권9호
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• pp.1272-1280
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• 2021

With changes in human dietary patterns, the proportion of high-fat and high-cholesterol foods in the daily diet has increased. As a result, the incidence rate of cholelithiasis is increasing rapidly. Many studies have reported on the crucial role that the intestinal microflora plays in the progression of gallstones. Although the whole herb of Lysimachia christinae, a traditional Chinese medicine, has long been extensively used as a remedy for cholelithiasis in China, its effects on the intestinal microflora remain unknown. Hence, in this study, we investigated the ability of the aqueous extract of L. christinae (LAE) to prevent cholesterol gallstones (CGSs) in model animals by affecting the intestinal microflora. The effects of LAE on body weight, serum lipid profile, visceral organ indexes, and histomorphology were studied in male C57BL/6J mice, which were induced by a lithogenic diet. After the 8-week study, CGSs formation was greatly reduced after LAE treatment. LAE also reduced body weight gain and hyperlipidemia and restored the histomorphological changes. Moreover, the intestinal microflora exhibited significant variation. In the model group fed the lithogenic diet, the abundances of the genera unclassified Porphyromonadaceae, Lactobacillus and Alloprevotella decreased, but in contrast, Akkermansia dramatically increased compared with the control check group, which was fed a normal diet; the administration of LAE reversed these changes. These results imply that L. christinae can be considered an efficient therapy for eliminating CGSs induced by a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet, which may be achieved by influencing the intestinal microflora.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제35권4호
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• pp.395-409
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• 2023

Long-span suspension bridges have tunnel anchor systems to maintain stable cables. More investigations are required to determine how closely tunnel excavation beneath the tunnel anchor impacts the stability of the tunnel anchor. In order to investigate the impact of the adjacent tunnel's excavation on the stability of the tunnel anchor, a large-span suspension bridge tunnel anchor is utilised as an example in a three-dimensional numerical simulation approach. In order to explore the deformation control mechanism, orthogonal tests are employed to pinpoint the major impacting elements. The construction of an advanced pipe shed, strengthening the primary support. Moreover, according to the findings the grouting reinforcement of the surrounding rock, have a significant control effect on the settlement of the tunnel vault and plug body. However, reducing the lag distance of the secondary lining does not have such big influence. The greatest way to control tunnel vault settling is to use the grout reinforcement, which increases the bearing capacity and strength of the surrounding rock. This greatly minimizes the size of the tunnel excavation disturbance area. Advanced pipe shed can not only increase the surrounding rock's bearing capacity at the pipe shed, but can also prevent the tunnel vault from connecting with the disturbance area at the bottom of the anchorage tunnel, reduce the range of shear failure area outside the anchorage tunnel, and have the best impact on the plug body's settlement control.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제38권2호
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• pp.129-146
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• 2024

Aiming at the problem of non-stationary wind field simulation of downbursts, a non-stationary down-burst generation system was designed by adding a nozzle and program control valve to the inlet of the original wall jet model. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method was used to simulate the downburst. Firstly, the two-dimensional (2D) model was used to study the outflow situation, and the database of working conditions was formed. Then the combined superposition of working conditions was carried out to simulate the full-scale measured downburst. The three-dimensional (3D) large eddy simulation (LES) was used for further verification based on this superposition condition. Finally, the wind tunnel test is used to further verify. The results show that after the valve is opened, the wind ve-locity at low altitude increases rapidly, then stays stable, and the wind velocity at each point fluctuates. The velocity of the 2D model matches the wind velocity trend of the measured downburst well. The 3D model matches the measured downburst flow in terms of wind velocity and pulsation characteris-tics. The time-varying mean wind velocity of the wind tunnel test is in better agreement with the meas-ured time-varying mean wind velocity of the downburst. The power spectrum of fluctuating wind ve-locity at different vertical heights for the test condition also agrees well with the von Karman spectrum, and conforms to the "-5/3" law. The vertical profile of the maximum time-varying average wind veloci-ty obtained from the test shows the basic characteristics of the typical wind profile of the downburst. The effectiveness of the downburst generation system is verified.

• 한국식품저장유통학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국식품저장유통학회 2005년도 아시안 푸드의 기능성과 세계화 전략에 관한 국제심포지움
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• pp.133-135
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• 2005

• Advances in nano research
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• 제12권5호
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• pp.501-514
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• 2022

This study aimed to investigate the effects and potential mechanisms of Chikusetsusaponin V (CsV) on endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and vascular endothelial cell functions. Different concentrations of CsV were added to animal models, bovine aorta endothelial cells (BAECs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) cultured in vitro. qPCR, Western blotting (WB), and B ultrasound were performed to explore the effects of CsV on mouse endothelial cell functions, vascular stiffness and cellular eNOS mRNA, protein expression and NO release. Bioinformatics analysis, network pharmacology, molecular docking and protein mass spectrometry analysis were conducted to jointly predict the upstream transcription factors of eNOS. Furthermore, pulldown and ChIP and dual luciferase assays were employed for subsequent verification. At the presence or absence of CsV stimulation, either overexpression or knockdown of purine rich element binding protein A (PURA) was conducted, and PCR assay was employed to detect PURA and eNOS mRNA expressions, Western blot was used to detect PURA and eNOS protein expressions, cell NO release and serum NO levels. Tube formation experiment was conducted to detect the tube forming capability of HUVECs cells. The animal vasodilation function test detected the vasodilation functions. Ultrasonic detection was performed to determine the mouse aortic arch pulse wave velocity to identify aortic stiffness. CsV stimulus on bovine aortic cells revealed that CsV could upregulate eNOS protein levels in vascular endothelial cells in a concentration and time dependent manner. The expression levels of eNOS mRNA and phosphorylation sites Ser1177, Ser633 and Thr495 increased significantly after CsV stimulation. Meanwhile, CsV could also enhance the tube forming capability of HUVECs cells. Following the mice were gavaged using CsV, the eNOS protein level of mouse aortic endothelial cells was upregulated in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, and serum NO release and vasodilation ability were simultaneously elevated whereas arterial stiffness was alleviated. The pulldown, ChIP and dual luciferase assays demonstrated that PURA could bind to the eNOS promoter and facilitate the transcription of eNOS. Under the conditions of presence or absence of CsV stimulation, overexpression or knockdown of PURA indicated that the effect of CsV on vascular endothelial function and eNOS was weakened following PURA gene silence, whereas overexpression of PURA gene could enhance the effect of CsV upregulating eNOS expression. CsV could promote NO release from endothelial cells by upregulating the expression of PURA/eNOS pathway, improve endothelial cell functions, enhance vasodilation capability, and alleviate vessel stiffness. The present study plays a role in offering a theoretical basis for the development and application of CsV in vascular function improvement, and it also provides a more comprehensive understanding of the pharmacodynamics of CsV.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제21권7호
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• pp.859-868
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• 2020

Objective: To investigate the value of initial CT quantitative analysis of ground-glass opacity (GGO), consolidation, and total lesion volume and its relationship with clinical features for assessing the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Materials and Methods: A total of 84 patients with COVID-19 were retrospectively reviewed from January 23, 2020 to February 19, 2020. Patients were divided into two groups: severe group (n = 23) and non-severe group (n = 61). Clinical symptoms, laboratory data, and CT findings on admission were analyzed. CT quantitative parameters, including GGO, consolidation, total lesion score, percentage GGO, and percentage consolidation (both relative to total lesion volume) were calculated. Relationships between the CT findings and laboratory data were estimated. Finally, a discrimination model was established to assess the severity of COVID-19. Results: Patients in the severe group had higher baseline neutrophil percentage, increased high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and procalcitonin levels, and lower baseline lymphocyte count and lymphocyte percentage (p < 0.001). The severe group also had higher GGO score (p < 0.001), consolidation score (p < 0.001), total lesion score (p < 0.001), and percentage consolidation (p = 0.002), but had a lower percentage GGO (p = 0.008). These CT quantitative parameters were significantly correlated with laboratory inflammatory marker levels, including neutrophil percentage, lymphocyte count, lymphocyte percentage, hs-CRP level, and procalcitonin level (p < 0.05). The total lesion score demonstrated the best performance when the data cut-off was 8.2%. Furthermore, the area under the curve, sensitivity, and specificity were 93.8% (confidence interval [CI]: 86.8-100%), 91.3% (CI: 69.6-100%), and 91.8% (CI: 23.0-98.4%), respectively. Conclusion: CT quantitative parameters showed strong correlations with laboratory inflammatory markers, suggesting that CT quantitative analysis might be an effective and important method for assessing the severity of COVID-19, and may provide additional guidance for planning clinical treatment strategies.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제33권5호
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• pp.1613-1616
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• 2012

Ni nanoparticles-$TiO_2$ nanotube arrays (Ni/$TiO_2NTs$) composites were prepared by pulsed electrodeposition method and subsequently characterized by means of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The FESEM results showed that highly dispersed Ni nanoparticles were not only loaded on the top of the $TiO_2NTs$ but also within the tubular structure, and the particle size of Ni prepared at different current amplitude (100, 200 and 300 $mA{\cdot}cm^{-2}$) was in the range of 15 to 70 nm. The electrochemical studies indicated that Ni nanoparticles loaded on the highly ordered $TiO_2NTs$ are readily accessible for electrochemical reactions, which improve the efficiency of the Ni nanoparticles and $TiO_2NTs$. A maximum specific capacitance (27.3 $mF.cm^{-2}$) was obtained on the Ni/$TiO_2NTs$ composite electrode that prepared at a current of 200 $mA.cm^{-2}$, and the electrode also exhibited excellent electrochemical stability.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.197-205
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• 2013

In energy injection resonant AC-AC converters, due to the low frequency effect of the AC input envelope and the low energy injection losses requirement, the constant and steady control of the high frequency AC output envelope is still a problem that has not been solved very well. With the aid of system modeling, this paper analyzes the mechanism of the envelope pit on the resonant AC current. The computing methods for the critical damping point, the falling time and the bottom value of the envelope pit are presented as well. Furthermore, this paper concludes the stability precondition of the system AC output. Accordingly, an optimal control method for the AC output envelope is put forward based on the envelope prediction model. This control method can predict system responses dynamically under different series of control decisions. In addition, this control method can select best series of control decisions to make the AC output envelope stable and constant. Simulation and experimental results for a contactless power transfer system verify the control method.