Preparation of Self-microemulsion Solids of Kaempferia galanga (L.) Volatile Oil and Its Effect on Rats with Gastric Ulcer.

Kaempferia galanga volatile oil (KVO), the main effective component of the medicinal plant Kaempferia galanga L., possesses a variety of pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-angiogenic activities and has therapeutic potential for gastric ulcer (GU). However, poor solubility as well as instability limits the clinical application of KVO. In this study, K. galanga volatile oil self-microemulsion solids (KVO-SSMEDDS) were prepared to improve its bioavailability and stability, and the therapeutic effects were evaluated in a rat model with GU. The ratio of oil phase, emulsifier, and co-emulsifier in the KVO-SMEDDS prescription were optimized by plotting the pseudo-ternary phase diagram with the star point design-response surface method. Based on the optimal prescription, self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) was prepared as solid particles (S-SMEDDS). The prepared KVO-SSMEDDS had a rounded and non-adhesive appearance, formed an O/W emulsion after dissolution in water, and had a uniform particle size distribution with good stability and solubility. It was administered to GU model animals, and the results showed that a certain dose of KVO-SSMEDDS solution could increase the content of gastric mucosal protective factors PGE2, TGF-α, and EGF in gastric tissues and serum, and the expression of inflammatory factors IL-8 and TNF-α was downregulated. Meanwhile, the expression of the NF-κB/COX-2 pathway proteins was inhibited. In conclusion, the prepared KVO-SSMEDDS has good dispersion, solubility, and stability and has a therapeutic effect on rats with GU.

Effect of Microstructure on High-Speed Tensile Mechanical Properties of Ti-1300 Alloy.

It is usually required that Ti-1300 alloys be able to withstand a greater load under special conditions, such as the controllable collision of a space shuttle and rapid collision of an automobile. Because of a good combination of strength and toughness, Ti-1300 alloys are widely applied in the aerospace industry. However, during the service process, the alloy components inevitably bear extreme loads. This paper uses high-speed tensile technology to systematically study the effects of different strain rates on the deformation of the microstructure and deformation mechanism of Ti-1300 alloys and to clarify a relation between the microstructure and mechanical properties. The results show that no phase transformation occurs during the high-speed tensile process at strain rates of 200 s-1 and 500 s-1. The deformation mechanism is mainly due to dislocation slip. The fracture mode is ductile fracture at the two strain rates, due to the connection between micro-voids promoted by dislocation slip. The ultimate tensile strengths are 1227 MPa and 1368 MPa, the yield strengths are 1050 MPa and 1220 MPa, and the elongations are 11.3% and 10.4%, respectively. The present results provide theoretical guidance for the further application of metastable ß titanium alloys in working environments with high strain rates.

MiR-134-5p/Stat3 Axis Modulates Proliferation and Migration of MSCs Co-Cultured with Glioma C6 Cells by Regulating Pvt1 Expression.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are critical in regenerating tissues because they can differentiate into various tissue cells. MSCs interact closely with cells in the tissue microenvironment during the repair of damaged tissue. Although regarded as non-healing wounds, tumors can be treated by MSCs, which showed satisfactory treatment outcomes in previous reports. However, it is largely unknown whether the biological behaviors of MSCs would be affected by the tumor microenvironment. Exploring the truth of tumor microenvironmental cues driving MSCs tumor "wound" regeneration would provide a deeper understanding of the biological behavior of MSCs. Therefore, we mimicked the tumor microenvironment using co-cultured glioma C6 cells and rat MSCs, aiming to assess the proliferation and migration of MSCs and the associated effects of Stat3 in this process. The results showed that co-cultured MSCs significantly exhibited enhanced tumorigenic, migratory, and proliferative abilities. Both up-regulation of Stat3 and down-regulation of miR-134-5p were detected in co-cultured MSCs. Furthermore, miR-134-5p directly regulated Stat3 by binding to the sequence complementary to microRNA response elements in the 3'-UTR of its mRNA. Functional studies showed that both the migration and proliferation abilities of co-cultured MSCs were inhibited by miR-134-5p, whereas Stat3 gain-of-function treatment reversed these effects. In addition, Pvt1 was confirmed to be regulated by miR-134-5p through Stat3 and the suppression of Pvt1 reduced the migration and proliferation abilities of co-cultured MSCs. To sum up, these results demonstrate a suppressive role of miR-134-5p in tumor-environment-driven malignant transformation of rat MSCs through directly targeting Stat3, highlighting a crucial role of loss-of-function of miR-134-5p/Stat3 axis in the malignant transformation, providing a reference to the potential clinic use of MSCs.

Erratum: Co-culture with Endothelial Progenitor Cells promotes the Osteogenesis of Bone Mesenchymal Stem Cells via the VEGF-YAP axis in high-glucose environments: Erratum.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.7150/ijms.52316.].

Three-Dimensional Modeling of Segregation Behavior during Solidification of a Sn-6 wt.% Pb Alloy.

In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) solidification model was developed that uses a SOLA algorithm to solve momentum equations and accelerate iterative convergence. The macrosegregation behavior of a sand-cast Sn-6 wt.% Pb alloy was numerically investigated by the developed 3D model. The experiment was carried out for a casting with one side in contact with a graphite chill and the other sides in contact with resin sand. The necessary precision of in-house-developed codes was validated by comparisons with experimentally measured cooling curves and lead concentration distribution. The limitations of the model in fitting experimental results well were discussed. A comparative study between simulations in two-dimensional (2D) and 3D cavities showed that although the general distribution pattern of macrosegregation was slightly affected, the details regarding segregation degree, solute composition distribution over the solidifying domain, solidification time and fluid flow pattern were different. For 2D simulations without boundary walls, the convection behavior was less complicated, and the cooling process was slowed down both in the casting and in the mold.

Enhanced Grain Refinement and Precipitation of the IEECAPed Mg-Sm-Zn-Zr Alloy by Nd Addition.

Achieving magnesium-rare earth alloys with excellent mechanical properties remains a challenging goal in the aerospace industry. The integrated extrusion and equal channel angular pressing were employed to refine grain and improve the mechanical properties of Mg-xNd-2.0Sm-0.4Zn-0.4Zr alloys. The effect of Nd element on microstructure and mechanical properties of the extruded and subsequently aged alloys were carried out by varying the amount of the Nd element from 0 wt.% to 2.5 wt.%. The optical microscopy results indicated that the grain size was remarkably refined by the addition of Nd element. The grain size decreased from 29.7 µm to 10.9 µm with increasing of the Nd element from 0 wt.% to 2.5 wt.%. The transmission electron microscopy results showed that the nano-scaled basal lamellar precipitates, prismatic lamellar precipitates and granular precipitates were formed in α-Mg matrix. The amount of the precipitates increased significantly by the addition of Nd. Moreover, the strength of the alloys significantly improved with Nd. Superior strength and considerable plasticity were obtained as the content of Nd element reached 2.0 wt.%, while the tensile strength of the Mg-2.0Nd-Sm-Zn-Zr alloy (315 ± 5 MPa) increased by 35.8% with respect to the Nd-free alloy (232 ± 3 MPa).

[PVT1 Promoted the Proliferation and Migration Ability of BMSCs in Glioma C6 Microenvironment].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes in the proliferation and migration ability of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) after indirect co-culturing with glioma C6 cells, and to examine the role of plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 gene ( PVT1), a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), in these changes. METHODS: After separation, cultivation and identification of BMSCs, BMSCs of good growth condition were picked out and indirectly co-cultured with glioma C6 cells in Transwell chambers. These cells are henceforth referred to as the co-culture group. Normal BMSCs cultured separately were the control group. CCK-8 and soft agar colony formation assay were used to examine the proliferation ability of the two groups of cells. Flow cytometry was used to examine the cell cycle. Wound healing assay and Transwell assay were used to explore the migration ability of the cells. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to examine the genetic expression level of PVT1 in the two groups. The above-mentioned tests were repeated after the co-cultured BMSCs were transfected with si- PVT1 (si- PVT1 group) and si-NC (si-NC group). In addition, qRT-PCR was done to evaluate the expression of CyclinD1, a cell cycle protein gene, and matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9 ( MMP2 and MMP9), the migration-related genes in the si- PVT1 and si-NC transfected co-cultured BMSCs. RESULTS: The BMSCs used in the present study possess the capability of osteogeneic and adipogenic differentiation. Compared with the control group, the co-cultured BMSCs had smaller size, disorderly arrangement and the lack of intercellular contact inhibition. The proliferation and migration ability was significantly enhanced, the proportions of S and G 2 phase cells greatly increased and the expression level of PVT1 was significantly up-regulated ( P<0.05) in the co-cultured group in comparison with those of the control group. When compared with the si-NC group, the si- PVT1 group showed inhibited proliferation and migration ability of the co-cultured BMSCs; the percentage of G 1 phase cells increased, while that of S phase decreased; the expression of PVT1, CyclinD1, MMP2 and MMP9 mRNA also decreased ( P<0.05) in the si- PVT1 group. CONCLUSION: The enhanced proliferation and migration ability of BMSCs in the glioma C6 microenvironment may be associated with the up-regulated expression of PVT1 .

Co-culture with Endothelial Progenitor Cells promotes the Osteogenesis of Bone Mesenchymal Stem Cells via the VEGF-YAP axis in high-glucose environments.

Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have a high risk of fracture and experience poor bone healing. In recent years, bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have become the most commonly used cells in cell therapy and tissue engineering. In this study, we found that high glucose levels had a negative effect on the differentiation of BMSCs and EPCs. Considering that EPCs-BMSCs sheets can provide endothelial cells and osteoblastic cells, we transplanted cell sheets into T2DM rats with bilateral skull defects. The outcomes of the in vivo study revealed that EPCs-BMSCs sheets promoted ossification, which was verified by micro-CT and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analyses. Furthermore, we detected the VEGF content in the culture supernatant using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results showed that the BMSCs co-cultured with EPCs presented a higher level of VEGF than other cells. To assess the differentiation and migration of BMSCs exposed to VEGF, ALP staining, scratch assay and qRT-PCR analysis were performed. In addition, we used immunofluorescence and western blotting analysis to further explore the related mechanisms. The results showed that cells cultured with VEGF had a stronger actin cytoskeleton and a greater amount of nuclear and total YAP than cells cultured without VEGF. Taken together, our results indicate that co-culture with EPCs could promote the osteogenesis of BMSCs partially via VEGF. Furthermore, YAP and F-actin play important roles in this process.

[Indwelling the anterior urethral stent: a good treatment option for anterior urethral stricture].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effect of indwelling the anterior urethral stent in the treatment of anterior urethral stricture. METHODS: We included 38 patients with anterior urethral stricture in the treatment group, and another 38 in the control, the former treated by indwelling the anterior urethral stent, and the latter by urethral dilatation. Then we analyzed the clinical results by comparing the Qmax, urinary hesitancy and numbers of urethral dilations between the two groups. RESULTS: Compared with the controls, the patients of the treatment group showed an obvious increase in Qmax, a significant decrease in the number of urethral dilatations, and a marked improvement of the quality of life. Six months after the stent removal, there were significantly more patients with Qmax > 15 ml/s in the treatment group than in the control (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Indwelling the anterior urethral stent is a desirable option for the treatment of anterior urethral stricture, which is simple, safe, effective and reliable, and can be applied to general clinical practice.