Search

Aims: Emerging evidence is demonstrating that rapid regeneration of remnant liver elicited by associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) may be attenuated in fibrotic livers. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for this process are largely unknown. It is widely acknowledged that the TGFβ1 signaling axis plays a major role in liver fibrosis. Therefore, the aims of this study were to elucidate the underlying mechanism of liver regeneration during ALPPS with or without fibrosis, specifically focusing on TGFβ1 signaling. Approach: ALPPS was performed in rat models with N-diethylnitrosamine-induced liver fibrosis and no fibrosis. Functional liver remnant regeneration and expression of TGFβ1 were analyzed during the ALPPS procedures. Adeno-associated virus-shTGFβ1 and the small molecule inhibitor LY2157299 (galunisertib) were used separately or in combination to inhibit TGFβ1 signaling in fibrotic rats. Results: Liver regeneration following ALPPS was lower in fibrotic rats than non-fibrotic rats. TGFβ1 was a key mediator of postoperative regeneration in fibrotic liver. Interestingly, AAV-shTGFβ1 accelerated the regeneration of fibrotic functional liver remnant and improved fibrosis, while LY2157299 only enhanced liver regeneration. Moreover, combination treatment elicited a stronger effect. Conclusions: Inhibition of TGFβ1 accelerated regeneration of fibrotic liver, ameliorated liver fibrosis, and improved liver function following ALPPS. Therefore, TGFβ1 is a promising therapeutic target in ALPPS to improve fibrotic liver reserve function and prognosis.

Suitable fissures in kernels and the golden yellow color are the desired visual quality to evaluate germinated brown rice (GBR) subjected to drying processing. To improve the visual quality of GBR ...

The reinforced concrete-filled steel tube (RCFST) column solves several of the problems of the concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) column in practical engineering applications. Moreover, RCFST has a simple joint structure, high bearing capacity, good ductility, and superior fire resistance. From a structural safety perspective, designers prioritize the creep performance of CFST members in structural design. Therefore, the creep behavior of RCFST columns should be thoroughly investigated in practical engineering design. To study the influence of the creep behavior of RCFST columns under axial compression, this work analyzed the mechanical behavior of composite columns based on their mechanical characteristics under axial compression and established a creep formula suitable for RCFST columns under axial compression. A creep analysis program was also developed to obtain the creep strain–time curve, and its correctness was verified by existing tests. On this basis, the effects of the main design parameters, such as the stress level, steel ratio, and reinforcement ratio, on the creep behavior were determined and analyzed. The creep of the tested composite columns increased rapidly in the early stages (28 days) of load action; the growth rate was relatively low after 28 days and tended to stabilize after approximately six months. The stress level had the greatest influence on the creep of RCFST columns under axial compression, followed by the steel ratio. The influence of the reinforcement ratio on the creep behavior was less. The results of this study can provide a reference for engineering practice.

Objective To clarify the role of miR‐92a in regulating the malignant progression of cervical cancer and its specific molecular mechanism. Methods qRT‐PCR was used to detect the differential expression of miR‐92a in cervical cancer and adjacent tissues. The effects of overexpression of miR‐92a on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of HeLa and SiHa cells were tested. Luciferase assays and rescue experiments were used to investigate the regulatory mechanism of miR‐92a on its downstream gene PIK3R1 and their interaction in the progression of cervical cancer. Results miR‐92a was significantly up‐regulated in cervical cancer tissues. Overexpression of miR‐92a significantly increased the ability of cervical cancer cells to proliferate, migrate, and invade. PIK3R1 was identified as a downstream gene of miR‐92a. In cervical cancer tissues, PIK3R1 was found to be down‐regulated and negatively correlated with the level of miR‐92a. Overexpression of PIK3R1 reversed the promotional effect of overexpressed miR‐92a on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of cervical cancer. Conclusion miR‐92a is up‐regulated in cervical cancer tissues. miR‐92a promotes the malignant development of cervical cancer by negatively regulating PIK3R1., miR‐92a increases expression in cervical cancer tissues and promotes cervical cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and migration.

The replacement of coal gangue for aggregate in concrete can not only reduce the construction cost but also improve the environmental condition. The GFRP-coal gangue concrete-steel tubular (GGCS) columns provide a way to consume the coal gangue. The target of this work is to validate the feasibility of replacing ordinary concrete with coal gangue concrete and investigate the compression behavior of GGCS columns. The nonlinear analysis program of GGCS hollow columns under axial compression was proposed, and the axial compression tests of seven GGCS hollow columns were carried out. The program was verified through experimental results. On the basis of the correctness of the program, the influences of the typical parameters, such as the thickness of the glass fiber tube, the thickness of the steel tube, and the outer radius of the steel tube, on its axial compression performance were systematically analyzed. Finally, the analytical formula for predicting the axial bearing capacity of GGCS hollow column was proposed. The comparison of results indicated that the analytical results agreed well with the experimental results. The axial compression capacity of GGCS hollow columns increased linearly with the increase of the thickness of the glass fiber tube and the steel tube, but not linearly with the decrease of the outer radius of the steel tube. With the increase of the thickness of the glass fiber tube, the constraint effect of the glass fiber tube on gangue concrete was improved. With the increase of the thickness of the steel tube, the stiffness of GGCS hollow column increased. The conclusions of the presented work can provide references for the design and calculation of the GGCS columns.

High-efficiency phosphate removal from wastewater is crucial for protecting environmental stability. In this work, a lanthanum carbonate grafted ZSM-5 adsorbent (LC-ZSM-5) was prepared and optimized by a Box-Behnken design. The higher temperature, molar ratio of urea to lanthanum and initial lanthanum concentration are beneficial for LC-ZSM-5 synthesis, and the adsorption capacity of LC-ZSM-5 under optimistic conditions was 91.2 mg-PO43-/g. The growth mechanism indicates that the LC particles grow larger with synthesis time and finally agglomerate, and 12 h is the best synthesis time. The thermodynamic results show that phosphate adsorption over LC-ZSM-5 is a spontaneously exothermic and combined physicochemical adsorption process. Kinetic studies suggest that higher temperatures help increase the phosphate adsorption rate, and chemical adsorption plays an important role during adsorption with an activation energy Ea of 42.7 kJ/mol. The adsorption mechanism of the phosphate uptake process includes electrostatic attraction and ligand exchange, through which LC is changed to lanthanum phosphate (LP) during adsorption. Finally, the regeneration study revealed that LC-ZSM-5 still exhibited a high adsorption capacity after 5 cycles, showing its satisfactory regeneration ability and potential industrial application.

The hypoxic microenvironment is one of the major features of solid tumors, which regulates cell malignancy in multiple ways. As a response to hypoxia, a large number of target genes involved in cell growth, metabolism, metastasis and immunity are activated in cancer cells. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), as a heterodimeric DNA-binding complex, is comprised of a constitutively expressed HIF-1β subunit and an oxygen sensitive HIF-1α subunit, thus, adapts to decreased oxygen availability as a transcriptional factor. HIF-1 regulates many genes involved in tumorigenesis. Here, we focus on cancer cell metabolism and metastasis regulated by hypoxia.