Search

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of paclitaxel combined with curcumin (CUR) against drug resistance in ovarian cancer cells. PLGA-phospholipid-PEG nanoparticles were prepared using the nano precipitation method. The size and morphology of the nanoparticles were determined using a transmission electron microscope and particle size analyzer. The encapsulation efficiency of nanoparticles was determined using the ultrafiltration centrifugation method. The dialysis method was used to study the release of PLGA-phospholipid-PEG nanoparticles. ADM was used to induce the A2780 cell line (human ovarian cancer cell line) to establish the model of the multidrug-resistant (MDR) cell line, and the protein activity of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in the A2780 cell line and A2780/ADM resistant cell line was determined using western blot analysis. The results showed that, the prepared nanoparticles were uniform in size, with a size of approximately 100 nm, and round in shape. Additionally, the nanoparticles had a more gentle and slow release than the free drug release. The results of the protein trace printing experiment showed that the P-gp content of the drug-resistant cell line was significantly reduced by the CUR nanoparticles. In conclusion, PLGA-phospholipid nanoparticles containing taxol and CUR have improved solubility and stability together with a slow release effect. In addition, CUR was able to overcome the MDR of tumor cells by elevating the paclitaxel concentration in the tumor cells to improve the antitumor activity of this combination.

The present study was planned to investigate miR-143 expression during stomach cancer. The study explored the relationship between miR-143 expression and clinicopathological characteristics including proliferation, migration and apoptosis of stomach cancer cells. Sixty-three samples from each of stomach cancer tissue and surrounding tissue were obtained. Total RNA was extracted. The expression levels of miR-143 from stomach cancer tissue as well as from surrounding tissue were measured by semi-quantitative PCR. The effects of miR-143 overexpression on the migration of stomach cancer cells were examined by Transwell assay. The effects of miR-143 overexpression on the apoptosis of stomach cancer cells were examined by flow cytometer. The expression level of miR-143 was significantly decreased in stomach cancer tissues in comparison to surrounding tissues (P

Theranostic agents are of immense consideration in the current generation nanomedicine. In this study, we have developed a facile approach for the fabrication of Tamoxifen citrate modified nanosized reduced graphene oxide (nano-rGO) with more stability and low cytotoxicity. The prepared nano-rGO sheets were characterized using HR-TEM and AFM imaging techniques. Further, the cytotoxicity was assessed using MTT assay on female BALB/c nude mice MCF-7 cell lines. In addition, by means of continuous-wave near-infrared laser, cancer cells in vivo were significantly ablated because of the photothermal effect stimulated by tamoxifen modified nano-rGO. These results indicated that the prepared tamoxifen modified nano-rGO has the ability to apply in the photothermal therapy of breast cancers. Consequently, further exploration of photothermal therapeutics is desirable for the synthesis of novel nano materials with additional functionalities.

By considering the characteristics of bionics theory of non-smooth surfaces to reduce the frictional resistance of a body, theoretical analysis of bionic jet surface was carried out based on the shark gill slits. Experimental and simulation methods were employed in order to study the drag reduction characteristics and drag reduction mechanism on gyroidal objects of bionic jet surface. Friction torque was tested by using a torque signal coupler on a smooth surface experimental model and bionic jet surface experimental models on many groups of different rotation speeds, and then the jet drag reduction characteristics and friction torque characteristics curves were obtained. Numerical simulation was used with SST k–ω turbulence model at the optimum rotation speed, and the characteristics of the smooth surface and the bionic jet surface were analyzed. Results show that the bionic jet surface has remarkable drag reduction effect, and the drag reduction rate is related to the rotational speed of the experimental model, the jet aperture and the jet velocity. The calculated results were closer to the experimental results; the numerical simulation results were a little higher than the experimental results, but the value was in the allowed error tolerance range, which dictated that the calculating way is right. The numerical simulation conformation to the experiments on the drag reduction rate will further verify the drag reduction characteristics of the bionic jet surface. The surface of jet flow thickens the viscous bottom of the boundary layer in the downstream field of the jet hole and decreases the wall shear stress. Meanwhile, there is a low-speed vortex in the downstream field which further thickens the viscous bottom and decreases the wall shear stress, and this is the reason why friction resistance decreases.

According to the jet hole configuration mode of bionic jet surface and its influence on the drag reduction, as the basic form of jet hole configuration is the isosceles triangle elements, so this was used to establish the computational model of jet hole configuration. In this case, the height and base of the triangles were considered as variable. The SST k-ω turbulence model was used to simulate and research the drag reduction characteristics of bionic jet surface in different configuration modes of jet holes at the main flow field velocity value of 20m/s and the jet velocity value of 0.4~2.0m/s. Also the influence of different configurations of height and base on drag reduction characteristics of bionic jet surface was studied, which got the optimum size of jet hole configuration. Results show that in triangle configuration elements, the drag reduction characteristics of bionic jet surface can be influenced by the jet hole of different configurations of height and base; the drag reduction of bionic jet surface reaches the peak of 32.74% at 8mm height, 11mm base, and the jet velocity value of 2.0m/s. At the same flow field velocity, the drag reduction rate results achieved by experimental tests and by numerical simulation were changing consistently and were found same, which verifies correctness of numerical simulation results.

Parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells (PgES) might advance cell replacement therapies and provide a valuable in vitro model system to study the genomic imprinting. However, the differential potential of PgES cells was limited. It could result from relative low heterology of PgES cells compared with ES cells from fertilization (fES), which produce different expression of most imprinted genes. Here, we described the establishment of PgES cells by aggregating parthenogenetic embryos at the 8-cell stage (aPgES cells), which may increase heterozygy. We found that derivation of aPgES cells in association with an increased number of inner cell mass cells by aggregating was more efficient than that of PgES cells from a single parthenogenetic blastocyst. The aPgES cells have normal karyotype, stain positive for alkaline phosphatase, express high levels of ES cell markers and can differentiate into teratomas composed of the three germ layers. Moreover, compared with PgES cells, the more highly upregulated paternally expressed imprinted genes were observed in aPgES cells, the same change was not shown in aPg blastocysts. This suggested that the aggregation induced effect could modify the expression of paternally expressed imprinted genes. Our studies showed that aPgES cells, the expression of imprinted genes in which more closely resemble fES cells than PgES cells, would contribute to all organs and avoiding immuno-rejection, which may provide invaluable material for regeneration medicine.

It is of significance for pile foundation design and construction to predict the penetration depth accurately of the displacement pile under a fixed pressure. A new type cone penetrometer and corresponding exploration methods are developed through increasing weight of the device, enhancing the strength of probing rod and probe, and embedding a new function on measuring the total penetration resistance. Not only applied appropriately to various strata except for pebble bed, functions such as the total penetration resistance determination, soil layer classification and soil compression modulus and dynamic-static friction ratio calculation are also provided. Data of total penetration resistance, static point resistance and side friction are measured with the new type cone penetrometer, a new coefficient of dynamic-static friction ratio is introduced and employed to calculate the dynamic side friction, a new estimation method, with which the influence of dynamic side friction is take into account, on penetration depth evaluation of the displacement pile is established and proposed subsequently. Validity of the new method is verified by means of case study of pile engineering and the results indicate, for its high accuracy, the method proposed is of practice and theoretical significance, as well as valuable for popularization.

To observe the expression and distribution of stromal cell derived factor -l (SDF-1) in the soft tissues after tooth extraction, in order to provide new ideas to promote wound healing of tooth extraction.Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 10 groups. After extracting the first molar of left mandibular respectively, immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR technique were used to evaluate the distribution and expression of SDF-1 1, 2, 4, 7 and 10 days after extraction. Data processing was performed using SPSS 12.0 software package.Immunohistochemical staining showed the SDF-1 protein was strongly expressed at the gingival tissues around tooth extraction wound at early stage, mainly in the cytoplasm and intercellular substance of the stratum spinosum and stratum basale, and stained more obviously closer to the stratum basale. Four days after tooth extraction, the expression of SDF-1 in the stratum basale became more evident, and it is also positive inside endothelial cells of granulation tissues. Seven days after tooth extraction, the staining became uniform in the gingival epithelium, and a few positive staining of vascular endothelial cells could be found in lamina propria; Ten days after tooth extraction, the staining characteristics were similar to the normal gingiva. RT-PCR results showed that SDF-1mRNA underwent a biphasic expression change during gingival wound healing. SDF-1 mRNA level reached peak at day 1 after tooth extraction (P0.01) but decreased by day 2. However, the SDF-1 mRNA level increased again to a peak at day 4 and then returned to a normal level by day 10 (P0.05).SDF-1 is involved in the early soft tissue healing process, and may play a role as a promoter in tooth extraction healing. Supported by Young Scientists Award Fund of Shangdong Province(BS2013YY056) and Sci-tech Development Planning Program of Jinan City (2013-60).

Brain arteriovenous malformation (BAVM) is an important risk factor for intracranial hemorrhage, especially in children and young adults. Inflammation has been implicated in BAVM lesion progression. Among various inflammatory components, macrophage is one of the major inflammatory cells present in human ruptured and unruptured BAVM and in the BAVM lesions of animal models. The role of macrophage in BAVM pathogenesis is not fully understood. In this review, we summarize recent studies on macrophages and introduce a non-invasive imaging protocol as a potential tool for detecting macrophage in BAVM and predicting the risk of BAVM rupture.

In this paper the habitat structure and ecology of Presbytis françoisi and Presbytis leucocephalus are compared. Observations were made of the two langur species in areas of southwest Guangxi province in which the langurs occur but are not sympatric. The results showed that the habitat of P. leucocephalus differs from that of P. françoisi and that the habitat in western areas was different from that in eastern areas in terms of vegetation and other criteria. P. françoisi was limited in its distribution to localities at higher altitudes, in contrast to P. leucocephalus. This may be due to human activities such as crop cultivation and logging. With respect to its activity pattern, P. leucocephalus spent 51.8% of its day in the trees and 48.2% on the rocky substrate. The results of this study suggest that Presbytis may best be regarded as a semiarboreal form.

A non-template CVD method was used to synthesize well-aligned carbon nanotube (ACNT) arrays. Ferrocene was used as a catalyst, xylene as the carbon source. This process carried out in a single-furnace system. The products were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy(TEM), Energy Dispersive Spectrometry(EDS) and Raman Spectroscopy. The effects of process parameters on ACNT arrays growth were also investigated. The results show that well-aligned carbon nanotubes can be easily grown on polished silicon substrate at 800℃ with catalyst concentration of 0.02mg/L. Under the above conditions the rate of growth of ACNT arrays can reach 25μm/min.