Cationic surface modification of cellulose nanocrystals: Toward tailoring dispersion and interface in carboxymethyl cellulose films

Li, Mei-Chun,Mei, Changtong,Xu, Xinwu,Lee, Sunyoung,Wu, Qinglin Elsevier 2016 Polymer Vol.107 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>The present work describes the development of high performance cellulose nanocrystals/carboxymethyl cellulose (CNC/CMC) films through a rational design of CNC surface chemistry. Considering the anionic surface nature of CMC, surface cationization of CNCs was performed in order to build strong interfacial bonding by electrostatic attraction and form uniform dispersion state by electrostatic repulsion. Nanocomposite films were fabricated by dispersing the CNCs and cationically modified CNCs (mCNCs) in CMC matrix through solution casting. The resultant CNC/CMC and mCNC/CMC films were then evaluated in terms of processability, mechanical properties and fracture surface morphology. Results showed that the reinforcing capacity of mCNCs was greatly dependent on its substitution degree. High substitution degree was favorable for obtaining mCNC/CMC film with uniform dispersion and superior mechanical properties. The observed distinctive reinforcing phenomena from CNCs and mCNCs in CMC matrix were interpreted in terms of dispersion state and interfacial bonding based on the fracture surface morphology.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Cationic cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are synthesized through etherification. </LI> <LI> Substitution degree (DS) is tuned by controlling water content in reaction system. </LI> <LI> Cationic CNCs are firstly used to reinforce carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) films. </LI> <LI> The DS of cationic CNCs plays critical role on their dispersion in CMC films. </LI> <LI> Superior reinforcement of CMC films is achieved using cationic CNCs with higher DS. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

Interpretability Analysis of Shear Capacity in Reinforced Recycled Aggregate Concrete Beams Using Tree Models

Li Li,Ya-Peng Qin,Yang Zhang,Kai-dong Xu,Xiao-Mei Yang 대한토목학회 2024 KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Vol.28 No.8

Recycled aggregate concrete is an effective solution for efficiently managing municipal construction waste on a large scale. Shear bearing capacity (SBC) is significant for reinforced concrete structures, and it is essential to develop trustworthy calculation models for structural design. This paper proposes a tree model-based SBC assessment system that considers eight design parameters of reinforced recycled concrete beams (RRCBs). Evaluation results revealed that the extreme gradient boosting model yielded the highest prediction accuracy with an R2of 0.960 and a mean absolute percentage error of 7.343%. To reduce the risk of black-box models, this study conducted feature importance calculations, sensitivity analyses and reliability validation of the prediction results. The findings demonstrated that increasing the hoop reinforcement ratio and beam width significantly improved the SBC of RRCB. The compressive strength and longitudinal reinforcement ratio had positive effects on the SBC, while longitudinal steel bar yield strength had no effect on the SBC. These analyses can be combined with physical mechanisms to better refine the performance design. Furthermore, a comparative study utilizing two commonly used standard formulas was conducted. The results indicated that the SBCs estimated using the tree model are more accurate than those calculated by the standard formulas.

Ginsenoside Rg1 attenuates mechanical stress-induced cardiac injury via calcium sensing receptorrelated pathway

Mei-Li Lu,Jing Wang,Yang Sun,Cong Li,Tai-Ran Sun,Xu-Wei Hou,Hong-Xin Wang 고려인삼학회 2021 Journal of Ginseng Research Vol.45 No.6

Background: Ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1) has been well documented to be effective against various cardiovasculardisease. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of Rg1 on mechanical stress-inducedcardiac injury and its possible mechanism with a focus on the calcium sensing receptor (CaSR)signaling pathway. Methods: Mechanical stress was implemented on rats through abdominal aortic constriction (AAC)procedure and on cardiomyocytes and cardiac fibroblasts by mechanical stretching with Bioflex CollagenI plates. The effects of Rg1 on cell hypertrophy, fibrosis, cardiac function, [Ca2þ]i, and the expression ofCaSR and calcineurin (CaN) were assayed both on rat and cellular level. Results: Rg1 alleviated cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, and improved cardiac decompensation inducedby AAC in rat myocardial tissue and cultured cardiomyocytes and cardiac fibroblasts. Importantly, Rg1treatment inhibited CaSR expression and increase of [Ca2þ]i, which similar to the CaSR inhibitor NPS2143. In addition, Rg1 treatment inhibited CaN and TGF-b1 pathways activation. Mechanistic analysis showedthat the CaSR agonist GdCl3 could not further increase the [Ca2þ]i and CaN pathway related proteinexpression induced by mechanical stretching in cultured cardiomyocytes. CsA, an inhibitor of CaN,inhibited cardiac hypertrophy, cardiac fibrosis, [Ca2þ]i and CaN signaling but had no effect on CaSRexpression. Conclusion: The activation of CaN pathway and the increase of [Ca2þ]i mediated by CaSR are involved incardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, that may be the target of cardioprotection of Rg1 against myocardialinjury.

Association Between the Ku70-1310C/G Promoter Polymorphism and Cancer Risk: a Meta-analysis

Xu, Lu,Ju, Xiao-Bing,Li, Pu,Wang, Jue,Shi, Zhu-Mei,Zheng, Ming-Jie,Xue, Dan-Dan,Xu, Yan-Jie,Yin, Yong-Mei,Wang, Shui,You, Yong-Ping Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.2

Ku70 plays an important role in DNA double-strand break repair. Studies revealing conflicting results on the role of the Ku70-1310C/G promoter polymorphism on cancer risk led us to perform a meta-analysis to investigate this relationship. Ten case-control studies with 2566 cases and 3058 controls were identified. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of associations. The overall results suggested no association between the Ku70-1310C/G promoter polymorphism and total cancer risk. However, on stratified analysis, significantly increased risks were observed among the Asian population (GG vs. CC: OR=1.50, 95%CI=1.10-2.06; GG vs. CC/CG: OR=1.47, 95%CI=1.07-2.01) and population-based case-control studies (GG vs. CC: OR=1.57, 95%CI=1.12-2.22; CG vs. CC: OR=1.35, 95%CI=1.11-1.64; CG/GG vs. CC: OR=1.37, 95%CI=1.14-1.65). Additionally, variant genotypes were associated with a significantly increased breast cancer risk (GG vs. CC: OR=1.80, 95%CI=1.26-2.56; GG vs. CC/CG: OR=1.40, 95%CI=1.01-1.95).

Predicting patient experience of Invisalign treatment: An analysis using artificial neural network

Lin Xu,Li Mei,Ruiqi Lu,Yuan Li,Hanshi Li,Yu Li 대한치과교정학회 2022 대한치과교정학회지 Vol.52 No.4

Objective: Poor experience with Invisalign treatment affects patient compliance and, thus, treatment outcome. Knowing the potential discomfort level in advance can help orthodontists better prepare the patient to overcome the difficult stage. This study aimed to construct artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict patient experience in the early stages of Invisalign treatment. Methods: In total, 196 patients were enrolled. Data collection included questionnaires on pain, anxiety, and quality of life (QoL). A four-layer fully connected multilayer perception with three backpropagations was constructed to predict patient experience of the treatment. The input data comprised 17 clinical features. The partial derivative method was used to calculate the relative contributions of each input in the ANNs. Results: The predictive success rates for pain, anxiety, and QoL were 87.7%, 93.4%, and 92.4%, respectively. ANNs for predicting pain, anxiety, and QoL yielded areas under the curve of 0.963, 0.992, and 0.982, respectively. The number of teeth with lingual attachments was the most important factor affecting the outcome of negative experience, followed by the number of lingual buttons and upper incisors with attachments. Conclusions: The constructed ANNs in this preliminary study show good accuracy in predicting patient experience (i.e., pain, anxiety, and QoL) of Invisalign treatment. Artificial intelligence system developed for predicting patient comfort has potential for clinical application to enhance patient compliance.

Genetic Overlap in the Quantitative Resistance of Rice at the Seedling and Adult Stages to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae

Yong-Li Zhou,Xue-Wen Xie,Mei-Rong Xu,Jin-Ping Zang,Ling-Hua Zhu,Jian-Long Xu,Zhi-Kang Li 한국식물학회 2012 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.55 No.2

The genetic components responsible for the qualitative and quantitative resistance of rice to three Chinese races (C2, C4, and C5) of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo)were investigated at the seedling and adult stages in two successive years in set of Lemont/Teqing cross introgression lines (ILs) in a Teqing background, to create a complete linkage map using 160 well-distributed SSR markers. Teqing was resistant to C2 and C4, but moderately susceptible to C5,whereas Lemont was susceptible to all three races. Highly significant correlations were detected among the resistance to different races at different developmental stages. A major gene (Xa4), 14 main-effect QTLs (M-QTLs), and 18 epistatic QTLs were identified in the two developmental stages over 2 years,and were largely responsible for the segregation of resistance in the ILs. In 2007, the Lemont alleles at all loci in the seedling stage, except QBbr10 to C4, increased lesion length (LL) or decreased resistance. The Teqing allele at the Xa4 locus acted as a resistance gene against C2 and C4, but acted as a M-QTL when its resistance was overcome by the virulent race C5. MQTLs showed a degree of race specificity and had a cumulative effect on resistance. Most M-QTLs (94%) consistently expressed resistance to the same race at the seedling and adult stages, indicating that a high degree of genetic overlap exists between Xoo resistance at both developmental stages in rice. Among the digenic interactions, most co-introgressed Lemont alleles at the two epistatic loci lead to significantly smaller LL with all three races, compared to other types of interacting alleles at both development stages. The results indicate that a high level of resistance may be achieved by the cumulative effect of multiple M-QTLs, including the residual effects of “defeated” major resistance genes and the epistatic effects of co-introgression from diverse susceptible varieties.

New dammarane-type triterpenoid saponins from Panax notoginseng saponins

Qian Li,Mingrui Yuan,Xiaohui Li,Jinyu Li,Ming Xu,Di Wei,Desong Wu,Jinfu Wan,Shuangxi Mei,Tao Cui,Jingkun Wang,Zhaoyun Zhu 고려인삼학회 2020 Journal of Ginseng Research Vol.44 No.5

Background: Panax notoginseng saponin (PNS) is the extraction from the roots and rhizomes of Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F. H. Chen. PNS is the main bioactive component of Xuesaitong, Xueshuantong, and other Chinese patent medicines, which are all bestselling prescriptions in China to treat cardiocerebrovascular diseases. Notoginsenoside R₁ and ginsenoside Rg₁, Rd, Re, and Rb₁ are the principal effective constituents of PNS, but a systematic research on the rare saponin compositions has not been conducted. Objective: The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic chemical study on PNS and establish the HPLC fingerprint of PNS to provide scientific evidence in quality control. In addition, the cytotoxicity of the new compounds was tested. Methods: Pure saponins from PNS were isolated by means of many chromatographic methods, and their structures were determined by extensive analyses of NMR and HR-ESI-MS studies. The fingerprint was established by HPLC-UV method. The cytotoxicity of the compounds was tested by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5 -diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Results and Conclusion: Three new triterpenoid saponins (1e3) together with 25 known rare saponins (4 e28) were isolated from PNS, except for the five main compounds (notoginsenoside R₁ and ginsenoside Rg₁, Rd, Re, and Rb₁). In addition, the HPLC fingerprint of PNS was established, and the peaks of the isolated compounds were marked. The study of chemical constituents and fingerprint was useful for the quality control of PNS. The study on antitumor activities showed that new Compound 2 exhibited significant inhibitory activity against the tested cell lines.

Disruption of the F-actin Cytoskeleton and Monolayer Barrier Integrity Induced by PAF and the Protective Effect of ITF on Intestinal Epithelium

Ling-fen Xu,Cheng Xu,Zhi-Qin Mao,Xu Teng,Li Ma,Mei Sun 대한약학회 2011 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.34 No.2

To explore whether platelet-activating factor (PAF) can disrupt the intestinal epithelial barrier directly and is associated with structural alterations of the F-actin-based cytoskeleton, and to observe the protective effect of intestinal trefoil factor (ITF), we establish an intestinal epithelia barrier model using Caco-2 cells in vitro. Transepithelial electrical resistance and unidirectional flux of lucifer yellow were measured to evaluate barrier permeability; immunofluorescent staining and flow cytometry were applied to observe morphological alterations and to quantify proteins of the F-actin cytoskeleton: the tight junction marker ZO-1 and Claudin-1 were observed using immunofluorescent staining. PAF significantly increased paracellular permeability, at the same time, F-actin and tight junction proteins were disrupted. It was thought that ITF could reverse the high permeability by restoring normal F-actin, ZO-1 and Claudin-1 structures. These results collectively demonstrated that PAF plays an important role in the regulation of mucosal permeability and the effects of PAF are correlated with structural alterations of the F-actin-based cytoskeleton and of tight junctions. ITF can protect intestinal epithelium against PAF-induced disruption by restricting the rearrangement of the F-actin cytoskeleton and of tight junctions.

Identification, fine mapping and characterization of Rht-dp, a recessive wheat dwarfing (reduced height) gene derived from Triticum polonicum

Hou-Yang Kang,Li-Juan Lin,Zhi-Jian Song,Jing-Ya Yuan,Mei-Yu Zhong,Hai-Qin Zhang,Xing Fan,Li-Na Sha,Yi Wang,Li-Li Xu,Jian Zeng,Yong-Hong Zhou 한국유전학회 2012 Genes & Genomics Vol.34 No.5

Semi-dwarfism is an agronomically important trait in breeding for resistance to damage by wind and rain (lodging resistance)and for stable high yields. Dwarf Polish wheat (Triticum polonicum L., 2n = 4x = 28, AABB AS304) is a potential donor of dwarfing and other traits for common wheat improvement. A genetic analysis using an F2 population derived from a cross of AS304 and tall cultivar AS302 and derived F2:3 lines indicated that AS304 carries a recessive dwarfing gene, temporarily designated Rht-dp. Molecular markers and bulked segregant analysis were used to characterize and map the gene. Eight polymorphic SSR markers (Xwmc511, Xgwm495, Xgwm 113, Xgwm192, Xgpw7026, Xgpw3017, Xgpw1108 and Xgpw7521) on chromosome arm 4BS and two AFLP markers (M8/E5 and M4/E3) were mapped relative to the dwarfing locus. The closest linked markers, Xgpw3017 and M8/E5 at 0.5 and 3.5 cM, respectively, from Rht-dp will enable its marker assisted transfer to wheat breeding populations. Allelic tests indicated that Rht-dp was allelic to Rht-B1b; hence it may be an alternative allele at the Rht-B1 locus.

Spraying Calcium on Fruit Surface Is Not an Effective Way to Prevent Litchi Fruit Cracking

Xu-Ming Huang,Wei-Liang Zhong,Hui-Cong Wang,Wei-Qun Yuan,Jie-Mei Lu,J. C. Li,H. B. Huang 한국원예학회 2006 한국원예학회 기타간행물 Vol.- No.-