Novel CFTR Activator Cact-3 Ameliorates Ocular Surface Dysfunctions in Scopolamine-Induced Dry Eye Mice

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is highly expressed on the ocular epithelium and plays a pivotal role in the fluid secretion driven by chloride transport. Dry eye disease is one of the most common diseases with limited therapeutic options. In this study, a high-throughput screening was performed to identify novel CFTR activators capable of inducing chloride secretion on the ocular surface. The screening of 50,000 small molecules revealed three novel CFTR activators. Among them, the most potent CFTR activator, Cact-3 (7-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-(4-ethoxyphenyl)pyrazolo [1,5-α]pyrimidine-2-carboxamide), produced large and sustained Cl⁻ currents in WT-CFTR-expressing FRT cells with no alterations of ANO1 and hERG channel activity. The application of Cact-3 strongly activated CFTR in the ocular epithelia of mice and it also significantly increased CFTR-mediated Cl⁻ transport in a primary cultured human conjunctival epithelium. Cact-3 strongly stimulated tear secretion in normal mice. In addition, Cact-3 significantly reduced ocular surface damage and the expression of proinflammatory factors, including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interferon (IFN)-γ in an experimental mouse model of dry eye disease. These results suggest that Cact-3, a novel CFTR activator, may be a potential development candidate for the treatment of dry eye disease.     

miR-22-3p and miR-30e-5p Are Associated with Prognosis in Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Alteration in expression of miRNAs can cause various malignant changes and the metastatic process. Our aim was to identify the miRNAs involved in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) and metastasis, and to test their utility as indicators of metastasis and survival. Using microarray technology, we performed miRNA expression profiling on primary cervical SqCC tissue (n = 6) compared with normal control (NC) tissue and compared SqCC that had (SqC-M; n = 3) and had not (SqC-NM; n = 3) metastasized. Four miRNAs were selected for validation by qRT-PCR on 29 SqC-NM and 27 SqC-M samples, and nine metastatic lesions (ML-SqC), from a total of 56 patients. Correlation of miRNA expression and clinicopathological parameters was analyzed to evaluate the clinical impact of candidate miRNAs. We found 40 miRNAs differentially altered in cervical SqCC tissue: 21 miRNAs were upregulated and 19 were downregulated (≥2-fold, p < 0.05). Eight were differentially altered in SqC-M compared with SqC-NM samples: four were upregulated (miR-494, miR-92a-3p, miR-205-5p, and miR-221-3p), and four were downregulated (miR-574-3p, miR-4769-3p, miR-1281, and miR-1825) (≥1.5-fold, p < 0.05). MiR-22-3p might be a metastamiR, which was gradually further downregulated in SqC-NM > SqC-M > ML-SqC. Downregulation of miR-30e-5p significantly correlated with high stage, lymph node metastasis, and low survival rate, suggesting an independent poor prognostic factor.     

Methane steam reforming for synthetic diesel fuel production from steam-hydrogasifier product gases

Steam-methane reforming (SMR) reaction was studied using a tubular reactor packed with NiO/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst to obtain synthesis gases with H₂/CO ratios optimal for the production of synthetic diesel fuel from steam-hydrogasification of carbonaceous materials. Pure CH₄ and CH₄-CO₂ mixtures were used as reactants in the presence of steam. SMR runs were conducted at various operation parameters. Increasing temperature from 873 to 1,023 K decreased H₂/CO ratio from 20 to 12. H₂/CO ratio decreased from 16 to 12 with pressure decreasing from 12.8 to 1.7 bars. H₂/CO ratio also decreased from about 11 to 7 with steam/CH₄ ratio of feed decreasing from 5 to 2, the lowest limit to avoid severe coking. With pure CH₄ as the feed, H₂/CO ratio of synthesis gas could not be lowered to the optimal range of 4–5 by adjusting the operation parameters; however, the limitation in optimizing the H₂/CO ratio for synthetic diesel fuel production could be removed by introducing CO₂ to CH₄ feed to make CH₄-CO₂ mixtures. This effect can be primarily attributed to the contributions by CO₂ reforming of CH₄ as well as reverse water-gas shift reaction, which led to lower H₂/CO ratio for the synthesis gas. A simulation technique, ASPEN Plus, was applied to verify the consistency between experimental data and simulation results. The model satisfactorily simulated changes of H₂/CO ratio versus the operation parameters as well as the effect of CO₂ addition to CH₄ feed.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel hybrid polyoxazoline‐grafted multiwalled carbon nanotubes

The novel hybrid polyoxazoline‐grafted multiwalled carbon nanotubes (POZO‐grafted MWNTs) were synthesized by the reaction of partially hydrolyzed polyoxazolines (Hydrolyzed‐POZO) and MWNTs having carboxylic acid groups (MWNT‐COOH) in the presence of DCC as a condensing agent. Hydrolyzed‐POZO (degree of hydrolysis, 20.2 mol % by ¹H‐NMR) were produced from the hydrolysis of polyoxazolines in an aqueous NaOH solution at reflux for 72 h. MWNT‐COOH were prepared by acid treatment of pristine MWNTs. The composition, structure, thermal property, and surface morphology of the novel hybrid POZO‐grafted MWNTs were fully characterized by FT‐IR, Raman, ¹H‐NMR, DSC, TGA, SEM, and TEM. The obtained POZO‐grafted MWNTs are well soluble in various organic solvents and water. It was observed that the glass transition temperature (T_g) of POZO‐grafted MWNTs was lower than that of Hydrolyzed‐POZO due to the absence of hydrogen bonding interactions between Hydrolyzed‐POZO itself caused by the incorporation with MWNTs. It was also found that Hydrolyzed‐POZO was homogeneously attached to the surfaces of MWNTs through the “grafting‐to” method. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Grain Boundary Conformed Volumetric Mesh Generation from a Three-Dimensional Voxellated Polycrystalline Microstructure

We present a new comprehensive scheme for generating grain boundary conformed, volumetric mesh elements from a three-dimensional voxellated polycrystalline microstructure. From the voxellated image of a polycrystalline microstructure obtained from the Monte Carlo Potts model in the context of isotropic normal grain growth simulation, its grain boundary network is approximated as a curvature-maintained conformal triangular surface mesh using a set of in-house codes. In order to improve the surface mesh quality and to adjust mesh resolution, various re-meshing techniques in a commercial software are applied to the approximated grain boundary mesh. It is found that the aspect ratio, the minimum angle and the Jacobian value of the re-meshed surface triangular mesh are successfully improved. Using such an enhanced surface mesh, conformal volumetric tetrahedral elements of the polycrystalline microstructure are created using a commercial software, again. The resultant mesh seamlessly retains the short- and long-range curvature of grain boundaries and junctions as well as the realistic morphology of the grains inside the polycrystal. It is noted that the proposed scheme is the first to successfully generate three-dimensional mesh elements for polycrystals with high enough quality to be used for the microstructure-based finite element analysis, while the realistic characteristics of grain boundaries and grains are maintained from the corresponding voxellated microstructure image.     

Catalysts characteristics of Ni/YSZ core-shell according to plating conditions using electroless plating

This study aims to develop an anode catalyst for a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) using electroless nickel plating. We have proposed a new method for electroless plating of Ni metal on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) particles. We examine the uniformity of the Ni layer on the plated core-shell powder, in addition to the content of Ni and the reproducibility of the plating. We have also evaluated the carbon deposition rate and characteristics of the SOFC anode catalyst. To synthesize Ni-plated YSZ particles, the plated powder is heat-treated at 1200 °C. The resultant particles, which have an average size of 50 μm, were subsequently used in the experiment. The size of the Ni particles and the Ni content both increase with increasing plating temperature and plating time. The X-ray diffraction pattern reveals the growth of Ni particles. After heat-treatment, Ni is oxidized to NiO, leading to the co-existence of Ni and NiO; Ni₃P is also observed due to the presence of phosphorous in the plating solution. Following heat treatment for 1 h at 1200 °C, Ni is mostly oxidized to NiO. The carbon deposition rate of the reference YSZ powder is ~135%, while that of the Ni-plated YSZ is 1%-6%.     

Effects of gamma irradiation on the thermal and mechanical properties of chitosan/PVA nanofibrous mats

Chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibrous mats were prepared by the electrospinning method. The morphology and structure of electrospun nanofibers were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. SEM images showed that the uniform and bead-free fibers were obtained at concentrations greater than 8 wt%. Chitosan/PVA mats were irradiated with different doses (50–200 kGy) of ⁶⁰Co gamma rays. The effect of irradiation dose on the mechanical and thermal properties of these films was also investigated. Increasing the irradiation dose led to a decrease in tensile strength. FT-IR and DSC demonstrated that there were strong intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the chitosan and PVA molecules.     

Improvement in CO2 absorption and reduction of absorbent loss in aqueous NH3/triethanolamine/2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol blends

Changes in the CO₂ absorption rates and capacities of the absorbent 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP), blended with NH₃ and other additives, were investigated toward performance improvement. The NH₃-blended absorbent removed CO₂ more efficiently than the AMP absorbent alone. However, absorbent loss through NH₃ evaporation was observed under these conditions. A second absorbent, the tertiary amine triethanolamine (TEA), which has a low vapor pressure, was selected and blended with the NH₃/AMP system to reduce NH₃ evaporation. Its effects on NH₃ loss and the absorption rate and capacity of the NH₃/AMP system were investigated, and the optimum blending ratios were determined. In addition, the absorbent blend at the optimum blending ratio was compared to AMP alone and the commercially available absorbent monoethanolamine at the same weight ratio. The thermal stabilities of the absorbents, under conditions used in the CO₂ absorption process, were compared by thermogravimetric analysis.     

Laser diffraction particle sizing by wet dispersion method for spray-dried infant formula

A laser diffraction particle sizing method involving wet analysis could be adapted effectively to measure the accurate particle size distribution of a spray-dried infant formula. Polar, polar aprotic and non-polar solvents, such as ethanol, methanol, acetone, pentane, heptane and hexane, were tested as dispersants for wet analysis. Non-polar solvents such as pentane, heptane and hexane found to be suitable dispersant because the shape of the infant formula particles in non-polar solvents was similar before and after the measurement while the particles had dissolved in the other solvents. The particle size distributions (PSD) of the infant formula determined by laser diffraction (Malvern Master Sizer, UK) using the dry analysis method with air was unsuitable because some parts of the primary and aggregated infant formula particles had been destroyed. The PSD graph of the air dispersion was shifted toward a smaller particle size from that of hexane dispersion. Overall, it is believed that laser diffraction particle sizing involving wet analysis with non-polar solvents may provide a suitable particle sizing method for infant formula products that is better than an air dispersion method.     

Lead-free NKN-5LT piezoelectric materials for multilayer ceramic actuator

As a candidate for lead-free piezoelectric materials, Li₂O excess 0.95(Na_0.5K_0.5)NbO₃–0.05LiTaO₃ (NKN-5LT) ceramics were developed by conventional sintering process. Sintering temperature was lowered by adding Li₂O as a sintering aid. Abnormal grain growth in NKN-5LT ceramics was observed with varying Li₂O content. In the 1 mol% Li₂O excess NKN-5LT samples sintered at 1000°C for 4 h in air, electromechanical coupling factor and piezoelectric constant of NKN-5LT ceramics were found to reach the highest values of 0.37 and 250 pC/N, respectively. Lead-free piezoelectric ceramic, Li₂O excess NKN-5LT, multilayer ceramic actuators (MLCA) were fabricated. 10?×?10?×?1 mm³ size MLCAs were fabricated by conventional tape casting method. The displacement of Li₂O excess NKN-5LT MLCA with 3 mm thickness was ~1 μm at 150 V.