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Cable vibration and its mitigation are major concern for cable-stayed bridges. The taut cable can be simplified as a tight string, and the stiffness contribution of the secondary cable as that of a spring. This paper tries to investigate the stiffness contribution effect of secondary cable to the stay cable by studying the vibration of cable-spring system. Based on dynamic equation of the taut cable with a spring, the characteristic equation was derived by separation of variables. In the case of ultimate spring stiffness, the limit solutions of eigenvalue were investigated and its existed range was determined too. The iterative solution and asymptotic one of the eigenvalue according to first order Taylor expansion were derived when spring was located near to cable anchorage. Parameter studies were conducted, influences of the stiffness of spring and its location on eigenvalues were analyzed, and further recommendation for optimization of spring location to improve first few modal frequencies of cable vibration was given. The studied results provide a theoretical base for further investigating the design of secondary cables for vibration reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the role of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) in bladder neck contracture (BNC) after transurethral enucleation and resection of the prostate (TUERP)., Methods: This study included 300 BPH patients undergoing TUERP, aged 51－89 (69.19 ± 8.43) years, with the prostate volume of 14.4－355.8 (63.18 ± 47.63) ml and preoperative IPSS of 15－35 (26.07 ± 5.9), QOL score of 3－6 (4.43 ± 0.67), PSA content of 0.17－23.16 (2.94 ± 3.77) ug/L, urinary leukocyte increase in 50 cases, post-void residual urine volume (PVR) of 0－440 (83.53 ± 86.85) ml, and maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax) of 2.3－14.5 (7.77 ± 3.47) ml/s. During TUERP, we collected the tissues from the bladder neck at 5 and 7 o'clock as well as the BPH tissue and the tissue from the residual prostate for HE staining, immunohistochemistry (the SP method) and examination of the infiltration degree of inflammatory cells and expressions of TGF-β1 and TGF-β3. During the 6－24 months follow-up, 6 of the patients were confirmed with BNC based on the clinical symptoms and the results of uroflowmetry and cystoscopy, and underwent transurethral bladder neck incision and detection of the expressions of TGF-β1 and TGF-β3 in the bladder neck tissue with BNC., Results: The bladder neck tissue without BNC was mainly composed of smooth muscle and fibrous tissues with local infiltration of inflammatory cells, and the residual prostate tissue primarily comprised fibrous and muscle tissues, mixed with a little prostatic epithelial tissue. The bladder neck tissue with BNC, compared with that harvested during the initial TUERP, exhibited significantly increased expression of TGF-β1 (［68.20 ± 10.88］% vs ［36.14 ± 7.62］%, P < 0.05), decreased expression of TGF-β3 (［8.55 ± 4.73］% vs ［20.77 ± 8.69］%, P < 0.05), and enhanced infiltration of inflammatory cells (P < 0.05). The bladder neck tissue without BNC, in comparison with the BPH tissue, showed dramatically up-regulated expressions of TGF-β1 (［27.05 ± 8.21］% vs ［1.61 ± 0.69］%, P < 0.001) and TGF-β3 (［14.09 ± 4.19］% vs ［0.32 ± 0.11］%, P < 0.001) and increased infiltration of inflammatory cells (P < 0.05)., Conclusions: After TUERP, the expression of TGF-β1 is increased, that of TGF-β3 decreased and the infiltration of inflammatory cells enhanced in the bladder neck tissue with BNC, which suggests that BNC may be related to the expression of TGF-β and that BNC after TUERP could be prevented by regulating the expression of TGF-β.

To intuitive and accurate quantitatively analyze Raman enhancement of surface enhanced Raman scattering substrate structure, three-dimensional composite structure of silver nanoparticles modified vertically aligned carbon nanotube array is produced by magnetron sputtering and thermal annealing process; Relevant experiments using Rhodamine 6G (R6G) solution as the molecular probes are conducted to analyze surface enhanced Raman enhancement factor (EF), combining with confocal Raman microscopy systems. The result of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows that a large number of silver nanoparticles are attached onto the tips and sidewalls of the ordered carbon nanotubes array uniformly. EF of the sample which was produced 30 min annealing time and 450 degrees C annealing temperature evaluates to 2.2 x 10(3), and the reasons for the low EF are analyzed: on the one hand, thickness of silver film sputtered on vertically aligned carbon nanotube array is non-uniform, leading to distribution of silver nanoparticles is uneven after annealing, so that the value of sample roughness is too large, EF value is low; on the other hand, the excitation light source is not the advantage wavelength of silver nanoparticles in the experiments.

Objective: To study the effect of RhoE on the transcriptional regulation of cd44 and in vivo tumorigenicity of nude mice., Methods: cd44 promoter was amplified from human embryonic kidney HEK293 cells with PCR and insert into Dual-Luciferase Reporter plasmid pGL3-Basic. After confirmed with sequence analysis, the generated recombinant was transfected into SW480 and LoVo cells to monitor their activity. Colon cancer SW480 and LoVo cells were cotransfected with pGL3-CD44 promoter along with pcDNA3. 1-RhoE and pcDNA3. 1 respectively. SW480 and LoVo cells were stably transfected with pcDNA3. 1-RhoE and the control group and were inoculated into nude mice to observe tumor growth. Immunohistochemistry assay was applied to observe the morphology of tumor cells and the expression of CD44 molecules., Results: The cd44 promoter sequence was amplified correctly, Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay showed that the constructed reporter gene has promoter activity. The expression of cd44 promoter sequence containing reporter gene in pcDNA3. 1-RhoE expression positive LoVo cells was inhibited; HE staining demonstrated that the pcDNA3. 1-RhoE transfected tumor cells was significantly smaller than that in the control group, and consistent size and shape tumor cells were observed but no tumor giant cells, the corresponding volume of the tumor nuclei were also small., Conclusion: RhoE could partially reverse the malignant biological behavior of tumors by inhibiting the transcriptional regulation of cd44 promoter.

Objective: To observe the affect of Small interfering RNA Rac1b (Si-Rac1b) on the malignant biological behaviors of colorectal cancer cell including the proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis of the cells., Methods: Mediated by lipofectamine 2000, Si-Rac1b was transfected into colorectal cancer cell line SW1116 (with overexpression of Rac1b). The expression of Rac1b was detected by Western blotting and RT-PCR. The CCK-8 assay was used to analyze the cell proliferation, the Wound-healing assay and invasion assay were respectively applied to analyze the cell migration and invasion, and the Hoechst 33258 was used to evaluate the apoptotic index., Results: Si-Rac1b can knock down the Rac1b but not Rac1 both in the level of mRNA and protein. In addition, Si-Rac1b could singnificantly facilitate the cell proliferation, migration, invasion and control the cell apoptosis., Conclusion: Si-Rac1b could partically reverse the malignant phenotypes of colorectal cancer cell.

Objective: To investigate the effect of RhoA to VEGF, HIF-1alpha and MVD (microvascular density) and the effect of MG132 to RhoA., Methods: The constitutively-active mutant vectors of RhoA (pCEFL-GST-V14RhoA) were transfected into gastric cancer cell line MKN-45 by Lipofectamine 2000, single clones were selected by G418 and identified with western blot. The content of VEGF in the conditioned media was detected by ELISA. Constitutively-active RhoA nude mice models were established and treated with MG132. The effect of RhoA and MG132 on expression of HIF-1alpha, VEGF and CD31 were detected by immunohistochemistry., Results: Cell line of stable-transfected constitutively-active RhoA was established and constitutively-active RhoA could stimulate secretion of VEGF but MG132 inhibited that. Constitutively-active RhoA could obviously induce growth of tumor (P < 0.05), but MG132 inhibited it (P < 0.05). Constitutively-active RhoA could promote protein of HIF-1alpha, VEGF and CD31 but MG132 inhibited the function of RhoA (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Our studies indicates that MG132 could affect angiogenesis of tumors through inhibition the regulating function of RhoA on HIF-1alpha, VEGF and CD31.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between PAR1 (Protease-Activated Receptor 1) expression and the clinicopathologic features and to investigate the prognostic value of PAR1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in early stage after curative resection., Methods: Real-time PCR was used to detect PAR1 expression in 41 pairs of tumors and matched peritumoral samples of HCC in early stage. Prognostic value of PAR1 mRNA expression was evaluated. Meanwhile, another 49 tissue paraffin slices of HCC were tested using immunohistochemistry (Envision) and the prognostic value of PAR1 expression and other clinicopathologic factors were evaluated., Results: Peritumoral PAR1 mRNA expression was significantly increased in HCCs from the patients with tumor recurrence as compared with those without recurrence (P < 0.05). Peritumoral PAR1 protein expression was related to tumor differentiation (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that Peritumoral PAR1 protein expression was associated with the overall survival (OS) (P < 0.05) of HCC patients and the time to recurrence (TTR) (P < 0.05). The 1, 3 and 5 -year overall survival time and the cumulative recurrence time in the high PAR1 protein expression group were significantly lower as compared to the low PAR1 expression group in the peritumoral liver tissue., Conclusions: Peritumoral PAR1 expression is closely associated with the prognosis of early stage HCC patients after curable surgery. PAR1 may be involved in thrombin-mediated invasion process and may be used as a prognostic marker for HCC.

Objective: To investigate the restoration of erectile function by reconstructing cavernous nerves (CN) with small intestinal submucosa (SIS) grafts., Methods: We prepared SIS grafts, established rat models and divided the models into a CN ablation, a sham-operation and an SIS graft group. The CNs at both sides were severed with 1 cm ablated in the first group, and 0.5 cm removed in the third, followed by reconstruction with the SIS grafts. Three months after surgery, the apomorphine test was performed to evaluate the erectile function, and then all the rats were sacrificed to detect the expression of nNOS in the penis., Results: Penile erection was observed in 72.73% (8/11) of the rats for (1.07 +/- 0.89) times within 30 min in the SIS graft group, as compared with 0% (0/11) of the rats for (0.00 +/- 0.00) times in the CN ablation group (P < 0.01), and 90.91% (10/11) of the rats for (2.19 +/- 1.17) times in the sham-operation group (P < 0.01). The number of nNOS nerve fibers was significantly larger in the SIS graft than in the CN ablation group (70.36 +/- 10.09 versus 22.09 +/- 4.76, P < 0.01), but both were significantly smaller than that of the sham-operation group (90.81 +/- 5.69, P < 0.01)., Conclusion: The SIS grafting technique contributes to the recanalization of the severed CN and restoration of erectile function in rats after surgical injury.

Objective: To study on the cultivation method for tumor spheres from colorectal cancer cell lines and identify whether resulting Colo205 spheroid cells display cancer stem cell characteristics., Methods: Lovo, Colo205 and SW480 cells were seeded in serum free medium (SFM) with EGF and bFGF. Flow cytometry analysis, cell invasion assay and xenograft experiment were applied to examine the cell surface marker expression pattern, cell invasive ability and in vivo tumorigenicity of both Colo205 spheres and parental cells. CD44 expression of tumor spheroid cells was also analyzed after cultured with serum supplemented medium by flow cytometry. CD44, Musashi-1 and Oct4 mRNA were detected in these two cells by RT-PCR., Results: Tumor spheres could be generated from three colorectal cancer cell lines in SFM. The formation and proliferation of tumor spheres were benefited from fresh SFM, cell dissociation reagent Accutase and the floating status of cancer cells. The overwhelming majority of spheroid cells were CD44+ cells. But CD44+ cells were gradually decreased when spheres cultured with serum supplemented medium. Colo205 spheres have higher Musashi-1 and Oct4 mRNA expression, tumor-initiating capability and invasive ability compared with those of parental cells., Conclusion: Tumor spheres in which enrich cancer stem cells can be generated and matained from colorectal cancer cell lines in SFM on floating-culture condition.

Objective: To identify the metastasis-related miRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines., Methods: A qRT-PCR method was established and optimized., Results: All candidate metastasis associated miRNAs except miR-124a were expressed in high metastasis cell line MHCC97H and low metastasis cell line MHCC97L, while some miRNAs were differentially expressed between liver cancer cell line (HepG2) and hepatic cell line (L02) (P less than 0.05), these miRNAs include: miR-148b (1.96+/-0.51 vs 3.76+/-0.28), miR-9 (-4.38+/-0.86 vs -1.10+/-0.53), miR-30c (8.41+/-0.40 vs 6.82+/-0.29), miR-338 (3.14+/-0.29 vs -2.36+/-0.32), miR-34a (0.71+/-0.40 vs -2.95+/-0.26), Let-7g (-4.07+/-0.55 vs -6.98+/-0.56). miR-148b expression was about 4 times higher than miR-148a [5.46 (IQR 4.25-6.67) vs 1.29 (IQR 0.94-1.64)] in all cell line tested (Z=-5.097, P=3x10(-7))., Conclusion: This study may help to understand the biological significance of miRNAs in HCC metastasis.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of specific peptide (AWYPLPP peptide) binding to high metastatic potential human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells on the invasion and metastasis of liver cancer., Methods: The effects of AWYPLPP peptide on the invasion, migration, proliferation and adhesion of high metastatic potential human HCC cell line (HCCLM3) were evaluated in vitro by Matrigel invasion assay, migration assay, MTT assay and adhesion assay. The effect of AWYPLPP peptide on lung metastasis of HCC in vivo was evaluated in male nude mice with subcutaneously implanted HCCLM3 cells., Results: Incubation with the AWYPLPP peptide, but not the control peptide, resulted in a concentration-dependent increase of invasion ability in HCCLM3 cells at the concentration of 0.1 to 100 micromol/L. At any concentration used for the invasion assay, the peptide had no effect on cell migration, proliferation and adhesion. After 30 days of transplantation, eight of nine (88.9%) mice in the AWYPLPP peptide group showed obvious lung metastasis. The metastatic rate of lung metastasis was significantly increased in the AWYPLPP peptide group compared with that in the control group. There was no significant difference among the weights of primary tumor in the PBS, control peptide and AWYPLPP peptide groups., Conclusion: AWYPLPP peptide can promote in vitro invasion and in vivo lung metastasis of high metastatic potential human HCC cells. Identification of the receptor for AWYPLPP peptide binding may provide new insights into the molecular mechanism underlying HCC invasion and metastasis as well as new targets for intervention.

By studying the novel methods for reconstructing damaged cavernous nerves and the related literature on the regeneration of cavernous nerves, restoration of erectile function and neurohistological reconstruction engineering, a variety of grafting materials have been found applicable to cavernous nerve reconstruction, including autogenetic nerve grafts, silicone tubes, artificial biodegradable conduits and so on. Neurotrophic factors, extra cellular matrix components and Schwann cells have been shown to promote cavernous regeneration. Artificial nerve guides, especially biodegradable ones containing growth-promoting factors or cells, are a promising option for the repair of cavernous nerve lesions.

The fluorescence characteristics of the complex of piperine with cation in micellar system were studied. At the same time, the influence of experimental condition on the fluorescence intensity was also studied. The experiments indicated that piperine had very low fluorescence signal itself. But in pH 8.77 Na2 HPO4-NaH2PO4 buffer solution, both Mn(II) and cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide can enhance the fluorescence intensity and stability of piperine. Based on this, a sensitive method has been developed for the quantitative determination of piperine in Mn(II)-piperine-cetyltrimethylammonium bromide ternary system. Under the optimum conditions, there is a linear relationship between the enhancement of fluorescence intensity and the concentration of Mn(II). The optimal conditions are as follows: the concentration of Mn(II) is 2.5 x 10(-4) mol x L(-1) and the concentration of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide is 5 x 10(-4) mol x L(-1). The fluorescence intensity was determined by a 1 cm quartz cell with the excitation wavelength of 352 nm and the emission wavelength of 452 nm. The linear range of concentration of piperine was 2.02-10.1 microg x mL(-1) with the relative coefficient of 0.9985 and the detection limit of 0.0602 microg x mL(-1). The relative standard deviation (RSD) was 1.10%. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the quantitative determination of piperine in the Mongolian medicine Piper longum L, and the recovery was within the range of 97.6%-102.0%. The results were very satisfactory.

Objective: To screen hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) autoantibodies as diagnostic biomarkers or therapy targets by serologic proteome analysis (SERPA)., Methods: Total proteins extracted from human HCC cell line HCCLM3 were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and then transferred onto PVDF membranes, which were subsequently incubated with sera from HCC, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected patients or healthy volunteers. All immuno-reactive protein spots on blot films were matched to those on 2-DE gel maps by image analysis and identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS/MS)., Results: 2-DE gel maps of HCCLM3 and corresponding blot films of good quality and reproducibility were established. The number of spots on HCCLM3 2-DE reference gel totaled 603 and those on HCC, HBV and healthy sera blotted films were 70.75+/-24.25, 68.5+/-23.44 and 41.38+/-15.05, respectively. Blot films of HCC and HBV groups had more spots than those of the healthy group (P < 0.05) while no significance was found between films of HCC and HBV groups. By identification, those HCC autoantibodies could be classified as nuclear proteins, cytoskeleton proteins, heat shock proteins and metabolic enzymes., Conclusion: Serological proteome analysis is a high throughput technique for screening tumor autoantibodies. Those newly identified HCC associated tumor antigens and corresponding autoantibodies can be used in the early diagnosis or immuno-therapy of HCC.

Objective: To investigate the role of dendritic cells (DCs) in host defense against aspergillus, and how corticosteroids hydrocortisone (HC) affects host anti-aspergillus immunity at the DCs level., Methods: Mouse bone marrow-derived DCs were generated ex vivo and the uptake of inactivated Aspergillus fumigatus conidia (iAfc) by DCs was assayed using McFarland standard. Cytokine production by DCs or by splenic T cells were measured using ELISA method., Results: DCs were capable of ingesting iAfc efficiently. HC significantly inhibited the capacity of DCs to phagocytose iAfc. After stimulated with iAfc in vitro, DCs secreted IL-12 and IFN-gamma, but did not secret IL-10. 10(-5) mol/L HC down-regulated IL-12 and IFN-gamma production by DCs, but it didn't affect IL-10 production. After the mice were inoculated with iAfc-pulsed DCs, their splenic T cells secreted IFN-gamma upon the re-stimulation with iAfc in vitro. In contrast, after the mice were inoculated with iAfc-HC-pulsed DCs, the splenic T cells showed significantly decreased IFN-gamma secretion upon the same stimulation, but the secretion of IL-10 was increased., Conclusions: DCs might act as effector cells in host defense against aspergillus, and initiate anti-aspergillus Th1 type immunity. HC inhibited the above functions of DCs and skew the immunity response towards Th2 type. iAfc-pulsed DCs might be useful for promoting the anti-aspergillus immunity of immunocompromised host.