| 1. |
- Klionsky, Daniel J., et al.
(author)
-
Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy
- 2012
-
In: Autophagy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1554-8635 .- 1554-8627. ; 8:4, s. 445-544
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.
|
|
| 2. |
- Zhang, Hongwei, et al.
(author)
-
Partial Equilibrium Prediction of Solidification and Carbide Precipitation in Ti-added High Cr Cast Irons
- 2014
-
In: ISIJ International. - : Iron and Steel Institute of Japan. - 0915-1559 .- 1347-5460. ; 54:2, s. 374-383
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Carbide precipitation and eutectic phase transformation during solidification of Fe-C-Cr-Ti-Mn-Mo-Ni-Si Ti-added high-chromium cast irons (HCCIs) were studied numerically and experimentally by the help of Partial Equilibrium approximation, DSC thermal analyses and EDX analyses. The main carbides formed during the solidification are distinguished as MC, primary M7C3 and eutectic M7C3 from their distinguished constitution, while other researchers didn't distinguish the primary and eutectic M7C3 carbide. Through comparing the prediction of Partial Equilibrium approximation with DSC thermal analysis measurement, the precipitation sequence of the eutectic structure in HCCIs is clarified to follow the sequence of FCC prior to the eutectic M7C3, although they were usually expected to precipitate simultaneously. The hardness index of the HCCIs is evaluated quantatively by summation of the contributions of the Vickers hardness of MC, primary M7C3 and eutectic M7C3 carbides with predicted precipitation amount and composition / constitution. The effects of C, Ti and Cr contents on the precipitation sequence, the amount and the composition of carbides as well as the hardness of the HCCIs are discussed deeply. Finally, the validity of Partial Equilibrium approximation is shown in prediction of the solidification in multicomponent system with large amount of precipitated carbides.
|
|
| 3. |
- He, Jia, et al.
(author)
-
A population-based survey of the epidemiology of symptom-defined gastroesophageal reflux disease : the Systematic Investigation of Gastrointestinal Diseases in China
- 2010
-
In: BMC Gastroenterology. - 1471-230X. ; 10, s. 94-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: The epidemiology of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has yet to be investigated using the symptomatic threshold criteria recommended by the Montreal Definition. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of symptom-defined GERD across five regions of China, and to investigate variables associated with GERD. Methods: A representative sample of 18 000 adults (aged 18-80 years) were selected equally from rural and urban areas in each region (n = 1800). According to the Montreal Definition, GERD is present when mild symptoms of heartburn and/ or regurgitation occur on >= 2 days a week, or moderate-to-severe symptoms of heartburn and/or regurgitation occur on >= 1 day a week. Results: In total, 16 091 participants completed the survey (response rate: 89.4%) and 16 078 responses were suitable for analysis. Applying the Montreal criteria, the prevalence of symptom-defined GERD was 3.1% and varied significantly (p < 0.001) among the five regions (from 1.7% in Guangzhou to 5.1% in Wuhan) and between rural and urban populations (3.8% vs 2.4%). Factors significantly associated with GERD included living in a rural area and a family history of gastrointestinal diseases. Conclusions: This population-based survey found that the prevalence of symptom-defined GERD in China was 3.1%, which is lower than that found in Western countries.
|
|
| 4. |
- Li, Dewei, et al.
(author)
-
Effects of Electromagnetic Swirling Flow in Submerged Entry Nozzle on Square Billet Continuous Casting of Steel Process
- 2013
-
In: ISIJ International. - : Iron and Steel Institute of Japan. - 0915-1559 .- 1347-5460. ; 53:7, s. 1187-1194
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this study, a new method for swirling flow generation in submerged entry nozzle (SEN) in continuous casting of steel process has been proposed. A rotating electromagnetic field is set up around the SEN to induce swirling flow in it by the Lorentz force. And this kind of electromagnetic swirling flow in the SEN is proposed to use in square billet continuous casting of steel process. The effects of coil current intensity and nozzle structure on the flow and temperature fields in the SEN and mold are numerically simulated and verified by an electromagnetic swirling model experiment of low melting point alloy. The overall results of the study show that the magnetic flux density and the swirling flow velocity in the SEN increase with the increase of coil current intensity. The largest swirling flow velocity in the SEN can reach about 3 m/s when coil current intensity 500 A, frequency 50 Hz. The electromagnetic swirling flow in the SEN can reduce the impinging depth of the flow and increase the upward flow. An impinging flow near the mold corner can be observed. The flow field changes mentioned above result in a uniform temperature field in the mold, increase the meniscus temperature, effectively increase the temperature at the mold corner. The divergent nozzle used in this new process also reduces the impinging depth, increases the upward flow and makes the meniscus temperature increase significantly.
|
|
| 5. |
- Li, Donggang, et al.
(author)
-
Reactive Diffusion at the Liquid Al/Solid Cu Interface in a High Magnetic Field
- 2011
-
In: Materials and Manufacturing Processes. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1042-6914 .- 1532-2475. ; 26:6, s. 821-825
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The kinetics of the reactive diffusion at the liquid Al/solid Cu interface was investigated at T = 973 K, 1023 K, and 1073K in a high magnetic field of 11.5 T. During the annealing process, three stable compounds (delta, xi(2), and eta(2)) layers were formed at the interface of the couples, and a power function relationship between the mean thickness of the diffusion layers and the annealing time kept stable. Without magnetic field, the exponent of the power function for each compound layer was higher than 0.5, but it was close to or even smaller than 0.5 with a magnetic field. Compared with the field-free environment, the migration of the liquid/solid interface due to interdiffusion decreased in the presence of a magnetic field. A considerable decrease in the effective diffusion coefficient under a magnetic field provided a likely explanation for the experimental results.
|
|
| 6. |
- Liu, Qiang
(author)
-
Dealing with Missing Mappings and Structure in a Network of Ontologies
- 2011
-
Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- With the popularity of the World Wide Web, a large amount of data is generated and made available through the Internet everyday. To integrate and query this huge amount of heterogeneous data, the vision of Semantic Web has been recognized as a possible solution. One key technology for the Semantic Web is ontologies. Many ontologies have been developed in recent years. Meanwhile, due to the demand of applications using multiple ontologies, mappings between entities of these ontologies are generated as well, which leads to the generation of ontology networks consisting of ontologies and mappings between these ontologies. However, neither developing ontologies nor finding mappings between ontologies is an easy task. It may happen that the ontologies are not consistent or complete, or the mappings between these ontologies are not correct or complete, or the resulting ontology network is not consistent. This may lead to problems when they are used in semantically-enabled applications.In this thesis, we address two issues relevant to the quality of the mappings and the structure in the ontology network. The first issue deals with the missing mappings between networked ontologies. Assuming existing mappings between ontologies are correct, we investigate whether and how to use these existing mappings, to find more mappings between ontologies. We propose and test several strategies of using the given correct mappings to align ontologies. The second issue deals with the missing structure, in particular missing is-a relations, in networked ontologies. Based on the assumption that missing is-a relations are a kind of modeling defects, we propose an ontology debugging approach to tackle this issue. We develop an algorithm for detecting missing is-a relations in ontologies, as well as algorithms which assist the user in repairing by generating and recommending possible ways of repairing and executing the repairing. Based on this approach, we develop a system and test its use and performance.
|
|
| 7. |
- Liu, Tie, et al.
(author)
-
Effects of high magnetic fields on solidification microstructure of Al-Si alloys
- 2011
-
In: Journal of Materials Science. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0022-2461 .- 1573-4803. ; 46:6, s. 1628-1634
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The effects of high magnetic fields on the solidification microstructure of Al-Si alloys were investigated. Al-7.2 wt%Si and Al-11.8 wt%Si alloys were solidified in various high magnetic fields at different cooling rates. The secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) of the primary Al dendrites and the lamellar spacing (LS) of the eutectics were measured. It was found that the application of a high magnetic field could decrease the SDAS of the primary Al dendrites in Al-7.2 wt% Si alloys and the LS of the eutectics in Al-11.8 wt% Si alloys. The effects of the high magnetic field on the SDAS decreased with increasing cooling rate. The decrease in the SDAS and LS can be attributed to the decrease of the solute diffusivity in the liquid ahead of the solid/liquid interface during the growth of the dendrite and eutectic. This decrease is caused by the high magnetic field which can damp the convection and avoid its contributions to the diffusion.
|
|
| 8. |
- Wang, Qiang, et al.
(author)
-
Solidified Structure Control of Metallic Materials by Static High Magnetic Fields
- 2010
-
In: ISIJ International. - : Iron and Steel Institute of Japan. - 0915-1559 .- 1347-5460. ; 50:12, s. 1941-1946
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recently the studies on the effects of high magnetic fields on solidification processes have been paid much attention both from the fundamental and applied points of view With the aid of the enhanced Lorentz force and magnetization effect caused by the remarkably increased magnetic field intensity several interesting phenomena such as the control of fluid flow and particle migration in a melt crystal orientation and phase alignment have been obtained Moreover the magnetic force induced by the interaction of magnetization and high magnetic field gradient has been evidenced to show significant effects on the microstructure evolution of alloys In this paper the recent development of the control of the solidification process by high magnetic fields is reviewed from the view point of uniform magnetic fields and magnetic field gradients
|
|
| 9. |
- Yin, Mingjie, et al.
(author)
-
Highly sensitive and fast responsive fiber-optic modal interferometric pH sensor based on polyelectrolyte complex and polyelectrolyte self-assembled nanocoating
- 2011
-
In: Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1618-2642 .- 1618-2650. ; 399:10, s. 3623-3631
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A new fiber-optic pH sensor is demonstrated by coating negatively charged polyelectrolyte complex (PEC-) nanoparticles, made of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA), and positively charged PDDA on the surface of a thin-core fiber modal interferometer (TCFMI) with a layer-by-layer (LbL) electrostatic self-assembly method. The fabricated TCFMI pH sensor has different transmission dip wavelengths under different pH values and shows high sensitivities of 0.6 nm/pH unit and -0.85 nm/pH unit for acidic and alkaline solutions, respectively, and short response time of 30-50 s. The LbL electrostatic self-assembly process of a PEC-/PDDA multilayer is traced by quartz crystal microbalance and shows a fast thickness growth. Atomic force microscopy shows the root mean square (RMS) surface roughness of electrostatic self-assembly nanocoating of polyelectrolyte complex/polyelectrolyte is much higher than that of polyelectrolyte/polyelectrolyte due to the larger size of PEC- colloidal nanoparticles. The enhanced RMS surface roughness and thickness of the nanocoating can shorten the response time and raise the sensitivity of the TCFMI pH sensor, respectively. In addition, the TCFMI pH sensor has highly reversible performance and good durability.
|
|
