Postnatal changes in flight development, wing shape and wing bone lengths of 56 marked neonate Hi... more Postnatal changes in flight development, wing shape and wing bone lengths of 56 marked neonate Hipposideros pomona were investigated under natural conditions in southwest China. Flight experiments showed that pups began to flutter with a short horizontal displacement at 10 days and first took flight at 19 days, with most achieving sustained flight at 1 month old. Analysis of covariance on wingspan, wing area, and the other seven wing characteristics between 'pre-flight' and 'post-volancy' periods supports the hypothesis that growth had one 'pre-flight' trajectory and a different 'post-volancy' trajectory in bats. Wingspan, handwing length and area, armwing length and area, and total wing area increased linearly until the age of first flight, after which the growth rates decreased (all P < 0.001). Wing loading declined linearly until day 19 before ultimately decreasing to adult levels (P < 0.001). Additionally, the relationship of different pairw...
Porous titanium carbide ceramics are fabricated by the coat-mix process with phenolic resin as th... more Porous titanium carbide ceramics are fabricated by the coat-mix process with phenolic resin as the carbon source, and titania powders as the titanium source. The phase composition, residual free carbon content, and microstructure have been investigated by X-ray ...
Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures, 2009
ABSTRACT Large-scale silicon carbide nanowires with the lengths up to several millimeters were sy... more ABSTRACT Large-scale silicon carbide nanowires with the lengths up to several millimeters were synthesized by a coat-mix, moulding, carbonization, and high-temperature sintering process, using silicon powder and phenolic resin as the starting materials. Ordinary SiC nanowires, bamboo-like SiC nanowires, and spindle SiC nanochains are found in the fabricated samples. The ordinary SiC nanowire is a single-crystal SiC phase with a fringe spacing of 0.252nm along the [111] growth direction. Both of the bamboo-like SiC nanowires and spindle SiC nanochains exhibit uniform periodic structures. The bamboo-like SiC nanowires consist of amorphous stem and single-crystal knots, while the spindle SiC nanochains consist of uniform spindles which grow uniformly on the entire nanowires.
ABSTRACT Coat mix process is employed to synthesize high purity porous SiC ceramics with phenolic... more ABSTRACT Coat mix process is employed to synthesize high purity porous SiC ceramics with phenolic resin and silicon powders as starting materials. The results show that the fabricated porous SiC ceramics have a homogeneous structure with interconnected open pores and dense struts. They also have a relatively narrow pore size distribution in the range of 1–6μm. The total porosity and the average pore size are 62% and 2.6μm, respectively.
ABSTRACT A series of supported Mn-Ce mixed oxide catalysts were prepared by the impregnation meth... more ABSTRACT A series of supported Mn-Ce mixed oxide catalysts were prepared by the impregnation method and used for the oxidation of methane. The catalysts were characterized by N2 adsorption (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), laser Raman spectrum (LRS), and temperature programmed reduction (TPR) techniques. The XRD and LRS results confirmed the high dispersion of active components or formation of solid solution between manganese and cerium oxides in the bulk and on the surface of mixed oxide catalysts. The reducibility was remarkably promoted by the stronger synergistic interaction between the two oxides from H2-TPR measurements. As expected, all the experimental mixed oxide catalysts showed excellent activity for methane combustion at low temperature. Especially, for the catalyst with Mn-Ce ratio 3:7, methane conversion reached 92% at a temperature as low as 470 °C.
Nesfatin-1, a newly discovered satiety molecule which reduces feeding behavior, has been recogniz... more Nesfatin-1, a newly discovered satiety molecule which reduces feeding behavior, has been recognized as a unique regulatory neuropeptide with its multiple roles, both central and peripheral. However, whether it had neuronal modulation effect on dopaminergic neurons is largely unknown. In the present study, using whole-cell patch clamp under current-clamp mode, we investigate the effects of nesfatin-1 on the electrical activity of rat nigral dopaminergic neurons. Nesfatin-1 could produce a resting membrane potential hyperpolarization on the majority of dopaminergic neurons tested. The spike frequency decreased by 23.13 ± 5.93 and 43.20 ± 5.56 % in 5-nM and 10-nM nesfatin-1 groups, respectively. These effects persisted in the presence of ionotropic glutamate and GABA receptor antagonists. Our study suggests that nesfatin-1 postsynaptically inhibits the electrical activity of nigral dopaminergic neurons.
Abstract Mesoporous aluminosilicate spheres of 0.3–0.4 Μm diameter, with different Si/Al ratios, ... more Abstract Mesoporous aluminosilicate spheres of 0.3–0.4 Μm diameter, with different Si/Al ratios, have been prepared by surfactant templating. Surface area of these materials is in the 510–970 m 2 g-1 range and pore diameter in the 15–20 å range.
High specific surface area porous SiC ceramics, coated completely with reticulated amorphous SiC ... more High specific surface area porous SiC ceramics, coated completely with reticulated amorphous SiC nanowires, have been fabricated with commercially available phenolic resin and silicon powders using a novel method. The results indicate that the specific surface ...
Hibernation is one type of torpor, a hypometabolic state in heterothermic mammals, which can be u... more Hibernation is one type of torpor, a hypometabolic state in heterothermic mammals, which can be used as an energy-conservation strategy in response to harsh environments, e.g. limited food resource. The liver, in particular, plays a crucial role in adaptive metabolic adjustment during hibernation. Studies on ground squirrels and bears reveal that many genes involved in metabolism are differentially expressed during hibernation. Especially, the genes involved in carbohydrate catabolism are down-regulated during hibernation, while genes responsible for lipid β-oxidation are up-regulated. However, there is little transcriptional evidence to suggest physiological changes to the liver during hibernation in the greater horseshoe bat, a representative heterothermic bat. In this study, we explored the transcriptional changes in the livers of active and torpid greater horseshoe bats using the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. A total of 1358 genes were identified as differentially expressed duri...
ABSTRACT The 1:1 cocrystal between piroxicam and saccharin exhibits significantly deteriorated po... more ABSTRACT The 1:1 cocrystal between piroxicam and saccharin exhibits significantly deteriorated powder compaction properties compared to both coformers. The molecular origin of this effect is revealed by a systematic investigation of crystal mechanical properties, probed with nanoindentation, and crystal structure analysis. The order of bulk powder tabletability of the three materials is identical to that of single crystal plasticity (saccharin &gt; piroxicarn &gt; cocrystal). The lowest plasticity of the cocrystal is confirmed by its highest crystal hardness and the highest yield strength. The low plasticity of the cocrystal is attributed to structural packing features that discourage plastic deformation. This work demonstrates that cocrystallization, even though it may be useful to improve pharmaceutically relevant properties, must be carefully evaluated to avoid unexpected problems in formulation and drug product manufacturing due to compromised mechanical properties.
An analysis of data collected from 25 sets of diverse pharmaceutical powders has identified that ... more An analysis of data collected from 25 sets of diverse pharmaceutical powders has identified that an exponential growth function satisfactorily describes the relationship between tablet brittleness and tablet porosity while a power law function well describes the relationship between tablet brittleness and tensile strength. These equations have the potential to facilitate better characterization of tablet mechanical properties and to guide the design and optimization of pharmaceutical tablet products.
International journal of pharmaceutics, Jan 15, 2011
The aim of this work is to demonstrate that uncontrolled initial moisture content in microcrystal... more The aim of this work is to demonstrate that uncontrolled initial moisture content in microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) can profoundly affect high shear wet granulation (HSWG) process. We show that granule tabletability is reduced by approximately 50% when initial moisture content in MCC increases from 0.9% to 10.5% while all other processing parameters remain unchanged. An important observation is that granule tableting performance deteriorates significantly when initial moisture content increases from 2.6% to 4.9%, which is considered normal variation in moisture content for typical MCC (3-5%). The deteriorated tabletability is largely caused by increased granule size. On the other hand, granule flowability improves continuously with increasing initial moisture content in MCC. The improved flowability is mainly a result of granule size enlargement. Clearly, moisture content of raw materials for a HSWG process must be carefully monitored and controlled to ensure a robust manufacturin...
International journal of developmental neuroscience : the official journal of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience
Epidemiological studies have shown that maternal infection can increase the risk for mental illne... more Epidemiological studies have shown that maternal infection can increase the risk for mental illness in the offspring. In a mouse model of maternal respiratory infection with influenza virus, the adult offspring display striking behavioral, pharmacological and histological abnormalities. Although influenza primarily infects the respiratory system, there are reports of viral mRNA and protein in the fetus of infected pregnant animals. To determine the extent of viral spread following maternal respiratory infection, we used RT-PCR to assay various maternal and fetal tissues for influenza A mRNAs coding for neuraminidase, non-structural protein 2, nuclear protein and matrix protein. While infected maternal lungs exhibit uniformly very strong signals, placentae are only rarely positive, and viral RNAs are not detectable in fetal brains from infected mothers. Thus, the effects of maternal infection on fetal brain development are likely to be indirect, probably involving the maternal inflam...
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2003
Maternal viral infection is known to increase the risk for schizophrenia and autism in the offspr... more Maternal viral infection is known to increase the risk for schizophrenia and autism in the offspring. Using this observation in an animal model, we find that respiratory infection of pregnant mice (both BALB/c and C57BL/6 strains) with the human influenza virus yields offspring that display highly abnormal behavioral responses as adults. As in schizophrenia and autism, these offspring display deficits in prepulse inhibition (PPI) in the acoustic startle response. Compared with control mice, the infected mice also display striking responses to the acute administration of antipsychotic (clozapine and chlorpromazine) and psychomimetic (ketamine) drugs. Moreover, these mice are deficient in exploratory behavior in both open-field and novel-object tests, and they are deficient in social interaction. At least some of these behavioral changes likely are attributable to the maternal immune response itself. That is, maternal injection of the synthetic double-stranded RNA polyinosinic-polycyt...
We investigated the role of maternal exposure to human influenza virus (H1N1) in C57BL/6 mice on ... more We investigated the role of maternal exposure to human influenza virus (H1N1) in C57BL/6 mice on Day 9 of pregnancy on pyramidal and nonpyramidal cell density, pyramidal nuclear area, and overall brain size in Day 0 neonates and 14-week-old progeny and compared them to sham-infected cohorts. Pyramidal cell density increased significantly (p < 0.0038) by 170% in Day 0 infected mice vs. controls. Nonpyramidal cell density decreased by 33% in Day 0 infected progeny vs. controls albeit, nonsignificantly. Pyramidal cell nuclear size decreased significantly (p < 0.0465) by 29% in exposed newborn mice vs. controls. Fourteen-week-old exposed mice continued to show significant increases in both pyramidal and nonpyramidal cell density values vs. controls respectively (p < 0.0085 E1 (exposed group 1), p < 0.0279 E2 (exposed group 2) pyramidal cell density; p < 0.0092 E1, p < 0.0252 E2, nonpyramidal cell density). By the same token, pyramidal cell nuclear size exhibited 37-43%...
Postnatal changes in flight development, wing shape and wing bone lengths of 56 marked neonate Hi... more Postnatal changes in flight development, wing shape and wing bone lengths of 56 marked neonate Hipposideros pomona were investigated under natural conditions in southwest China. Flight experiments showed that pups began to flutter with a short horizontal displacement at 10 days and first took flight at 19 days, with most achieving sustained flight at 1 month old. Analysis of covariance on wingspan, wing area, and the other seven wing characteristics between 'pre-flight' and 'post-volancy' periods supports the hypothesis that growth had one 'pre-flight' trajectory and a different 'post-volancy' trajectory in bats. Wingspan, handwing length and area, armwing length and area, and total wing area increased linearly until the age of first flight, after which the growth rates decreased (all P < 0.001). Wing loading declined linearly until day 19 before ultimately decreasing to adult levels (P < 0.001). Additionally, the relationship of different pairw...
Porous titanium carbide ceramics are fabricated by the coat-mix process with phenolic resin as th... more Porous titanium carbide ceramics are fabricated by the coat-mix process with phenolic resin as the carbon source, and titania powders as the titanium source. The phase composition, residual free carbon content, and microstructure have been investigated by X-ray ...
Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures, 2009
ABSTRACT Large-scale silicon carbide nanowires with the lengths up to several millimeters were sy... more ABSTRACT Large-scale silicon carbide nanowires with the lengths up to several millimeters were synthesized by a coat-mix, moulding, carbonization, and high-temperature sintering process, using silicon powder and phenolic resin as the starting materials. Ordinary SiC nanowires, bamboo-like SiC nanowires, and spindle SiC nanochains are found in the fabricated samples. The ordinary SiC nanowire is a single-crystal SiC phase with a fringe spacing of 0.252nm along the [111] growth direction. Both of the bamboo-like SiC nanowires and spindle SiC nanochains exhibit uniform periodic structures. The bamboo-like SiC nanowires consist of amorphous stem and single-crystal knots, while the spindle SiC nanochains consist of uniform spindles which grow uniformly on the entire nanowires.
ABSTRACT Coat mix process is employed to synthesize high purity porous SiC ceramics with phenolic... more ABSTRACT Coat mix process is employed to synthesize high purity porous SiC ceramics with phenolic resin and silicon powders as starting materials. The results show that the fabricated porous SiC ceramics have a homogeneous structure with interconnected open pores and dense struts. They also have a relatively narrow pore size distribution in the range of 1–6μm. The total porosity and the average pore size are 62% and 2.6μm, respectively.
ABSTRACT A series of supported Mn-Ce mixed oxide catalysts were prepared by the impregnation meth... more ABSTRACT A series of supported Mn-Ce mixed oxide catalysts were prepared by the impregnation method and used for the oxidation of methane. The catalysts were characterized by N2 adsorption (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), laser Raman spectrum (LRS), and temperature programmed reduction (TPR) techniques. The XRD and LRS results confirmed the high dispersion of active components or formation of solid solution between manganese and cerium oxides in the bulk and on the surface of mixed oxide catalysts. The reducibility was remarkably promoted by the stronger synergistic interaction between the two oxides from H2-TPR measurements. As expected, all the experimental mixed oxide catalysts showed excellent activity for methane combustion at low temperature. Especially, for the catalyst with Mn-Ce ratio 3:7, methane conversion reached 92% at a temperature as low as 470 °C.
Nesfatin-1, a newly discovered satiety molecule which reduces feeding behavior, has been recogniz... more Nesfatin-1, a newly discovered satiety molecule which reduces feeding behavior, has been recognized as a unique regulatory neuropeptide with its multiple roles, both central and peripheral. However, whether it had neuronal modulation effect on dopaminergic neurons is largely unknown. In the present study, using whole-cell patch clamp under current-clamp mode, we investigate the effects of nesfatin-1 on the electrical activity of rat nigral dopaminergic neurons. Nesfatin-1 could produce a resting membrane potential hyperpolarization on the majority of dopaminergic neurons tested. The spike frequency decreased by 23.13 ± 5.93 and 43.20 ± 5.56 % in 5-nM and 10-nM nesfatin-1 groups, respectively. These effects persisted in the presence of ionotropic glutamate and GABA receptor antagonists. Our study suggests that nesfatin-1 postsynaptically inhibits the electrical activity of nigral dopaminergic neurons.
Abstract Mesoporous aluminosilicate spheres of 0.3–0.4 Μm diameter, with different Si/Al ratios, ... more Abstract Mesoporous aluminosilicate spheres of 0.3–0.4 Μm diameter, with different Si/Al ratios, have been prepared by surfactant templating. Surface area of these materials is in the 510–970 m 2 g-1 range and pore diameter in the 15–20 å range.
High specific surface area porous SiC ceramics, coated completely with reticulated amorphous SiC ... more High specific surface area porous SiC ceramics, coated completely with reticulated amorphous SiC nanowires, have been fabricated with commercially available phenolic resin and silicon powders using a novel method. The results indicate that the specific surface ...
Hibernation is one type of torpor, a hypometabolic state in heterothermic mammals, which can be u... more Hibernation is one type of torpor, a hypometabolic state in heterothermic mammals, which can be used as an energy-conservation strategy in response to harsh environments, e.g. limited food resource. The liver, in particular, plays a crucial role in adaptive metabolic adjustment during hibernation. Studies on ground squirrels and bears reveal that many genes involved in metabolism are differentially expressed during hibernation. Especially, the genes involved in carbohydrate catabolism are down-regulated during hibernation, while genes responsible for lipid β-oxidation are up-regulated. However, there is little transcriptional evidence to suggest physiological changes to the liver during hibernation in the greater horseshoe bat, a representative heterothermic bat. In this study, we explored the transcriptional changes in the livers of active and torpid greater horseshoe bats using the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. A total of 1358 genes were identified as differentially expressed duri...
ABSTRACT The 1:1 cocrystal between piroxicam and saccharin exhibits significantly deteriorated po... more ABSTRACT The 1:1 cocrystal between piroxicam and saccharin exhibits significantly deteriorated powder compaction properties compared to both coformers. The molecular origin of this effect is revealed by a systematic investigation of crystal mechanical properties, probed with nanoindentation, and crystal structure analysis. The order of bulk powder tabletability of the three materials is identical to that of single crystal plasticity (saccharin &gt; piroxicarn &gt; cocrystal). The lowest plasticity of the cocrystal is confirmed by its highest crystal hardness and the highest yield strength. The low plasticity of the cocrystal is attributed to structural packing features that discourage plastic deformation. This work demonstrates that cocrystallization, even though it may be useful to improve pharmaceutically relevant properties, must be carefully evaluated to avoid unexpected problems in formulation and drug product manufacturing due to compromised mechanical properties.
An analysis of data collected from 25 sets of diverse pharmaceutical powders has identified that ... more An analysis of data collected from 25 sets of diverse pharmaceutical powders has identified that an exponential growth function satisfactorily describes the relationship between tablet brittleness and tablet porosity while a power law function well describes the relationship between tablet brittleness and tensile strength. These equations have the potential to facilitate better characterization of tablet mechanical properties and to guide the design and optimization of pharmaceutical tablet products.
International journal of pharmaceutics, Jan 15, 2011
The aim of this work is to demonstrate that uncontrolled initial moisture content in microcrystal... more The aim of this work is to demonstrate that uncontrolled initial moisture content in microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) can profoundly affect high shear wet granulation (HSWG) process. We show that granule tabletability is reduced by approximately 50% when initial moisture content in MCC increases from 0.9% to 10.5% while all other processing parameters remain unchanged. An important observation is that granule tableting performance deteriorates significantly when initial moisture content increases from 2.6% to 4.9%, which is considered normal variation in moisture content for typical MCC (3-5%). The deteriorated tabletability is largely caused by increased granule size. On the other hand, granule flowability improves continuously with increasing initial moisture content in MCC. The improved flowability is mainly a result of granule size enlargement. Clearly, moisture content of raw materials for a HSWG process must be carefully monitored and controlled to ensure a robust manufacturin...
International journal of developmental neuroscience : the official journal of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience
Epidemiological studies have shown that maternal infection can increase the risk for mental illne... more Epidemiological studies have shown that maternal infection can increase the risk for mental illness in the offspring. In a mouse model of maternal respiratory infection with influenza virus, the adult offspring display striking behavioral, pharmacological and histological abnormalities. Although influenza primarily infects the respiratory system, there are reports of viral mRNA and protein in the fetus of infected pregnant animals. To determine the extent of viral spread following maternal respiratory infection, we used RT-PCR to assay various maternal and fetal tissues for influenza A mRNAs coding for neuraminidase, non-structural protein 2, nuclear protein and matrix protein. While infected maternal lungs exhibit uniformly very strong signals, placentae are only rarely positive, and viral RNAs are not detectable in fetal brains from infected mothers. Thus, the effects of maternal infection on fetal brain development are likely to be indirect, probably involving the maternal inflam...
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2003
Maternal viral infection is known to increase the risk for schizophrenia and autism in the offspr... more Maternal viral infection is known to increase the risk for schizophrenia and autism in the offspring. Using this observation in an animal model, we find that respiratory infection of pregnant mice (both BALB/c and C57BL/6 strains) with the human influenza virus yields offspring that display highly abnormal behavioral responses as adults. As in schizophrenia and autism, these offspring display deficits in prepulse inhibition (PPI) in the acoustic startle response. Compared with control mice, the infected mice also display striking responses to the acute administration of antipsychotic (clozapine and chlorpromazine) and psychomimetic (ketamine) drugs. Moreover, these mice are deficient in exploratory behavior in both open-field and novel-object tests, and they are deficient in social interaction. At least some of these behavioral changes likely are attributable to the maternal immune response itself. That is, maternal injection of the synthetic double-stranded RNA polyinosinic-polycyt...
We investigated the role of maternal exposure to human influenza virus (H1N1) in C57BL/6 mice on ... more We investigated the role of maternal exposure to human influenza virus (H1N1) in C57BL/6 mice on Day 9 of pregnancy on pyramidal and nonpyramidal cell density, pyramidal nuclear area, and overall brain size in Day 0 neonates and 14-week-old progeny and compared them to sham-infected cohorts. Pyramidal cell density increased significantly (p < 0.0038) by 170% in Day 0 infected mice vs. controls. Nonpyramidal cell density decreased by 33% in Day 0 infected progeny vs. controls albeit, nonsignificantly. Pyramidal cell nuclear size decreased significantly (p < 0.0465) by 29% in exposed newborn mice vs. controls. Fourteen-week-old exposed mice continued to show significant increases in both pyramidal and nonpyramidal cell density values vs. controls respectively (p < 0.0085 E1 (exposed group 1), p < 0.0279 E2 (exposed group 2) pyramidal cell density; p < 0.0092 E1, p < 0.0252 E2, nonpyramidal cell density). By the same token, pyramidal cell nuclear size exhibited 37-43%...
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