Antibiotics induce polarization of pleural macrophages to M2-like phenotype in patients with tuberculous pleuritis

Pleural macrophages play critical roles in pathogenesis of tuberculous pleuritis, but very little is known about their response to anti-tuberculosis antibiotics treatment. Here, we examined whether and how pleural macrophages change in phenotype, transcription and function following antibiotics treatment in patients with tuberculous pleuritis. Results show pro-inflammatory cytokines were down-regulated significantly post antibiotic treatment in the pleural effusions and pleural macrophages up-regulated markers characteristic of M2 macrophages such as CD163 and CD206. Differential expression analysis of transcriptomes from four paired samples before and after treatment identified 230 treatment-specific responsive genes in pleural macrophages. Functional analysis identified interferon-related pathway to be the most responsive genes and further confirmed macrophage polarization to M2-like phenotype. We further demonstrate that expression of a significant fraction of responsive genes was modulated directly by antibiotics in pleural macrophages in vitro. Our results conclude that pleural macrophages polarize from M1-like to M2-like phenotype within a mean of 3.5 days post antibiotics treatment, which is dependent on both pleural cytokine environment and direct modulatory effects of antibiotics. The treatment-specific genes could be used to study the roles of pleural macrophages in the pathogenesis of tuberculous pleuritis and to monitor the response to antibiotics treatment

The Natural Compound Myricetin Effectively Represses the Malignant Progression of Prostate Cancer by Inhibiting PIM1 and Disrupting the PIM1/CXCR4 Interaction

Background/Aims: Natural compounds are a promising resource for anti-tumor drugs. Myricetin, an abundant flavonoid found in the bark and leaves of bayberry, shows multiple promising anti-tumor functions in various cancers. Methods: The cytotoxic, pro-apoptotic, and anti-metastatic effects of myricetin on prostate cancer cells were investigated in both in vitro and in vivo studies. Short-hairpin RNA knockdown of the proviral integration site for Moloney murine leukemia virus-1 (PIM1), pull-down and co-immunoprecipitation assays, and an intracellular Ca2+ flux assay were used to investigate the potential underlying mechanism of myricetin. ONCOMINE database data mining and immunohistochemical analysis of prostate cancer tissues were used to evaluate the expression of PIM1 and CXCR4, as well as the correlation between PIM1 and CXCR4 expression and the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognoses of prostate cancer patients. Results: Myricetin exerted selective cytotoxic, pro-apoptotic, and anti-metastatic effects on prostate cancer cells by inhibiting PIM1 and disrupting the PIM1/CXCR4 interaction. Moreover, PIM1 and CXCR4 were coexpressed and associated with aggressive clinicopathologic traits and poor prognosis in prostate cancer patients. Conclusion: These results offer preclinical evidence for myricetin as a potential chemopreventive and therapeutic agent for precision medicine tailored to prostate cancer patients characterized by concomitant elevated expression of PIM1 and CXCR4

The role of tribo-pairs in modifying the tribological behavior of the MoS2/Ti composite coating

Mechanical contact conditions and the shear strength of the interface are the two independent factors that control the friction behavior of the MoS2 coating. Although ZrO2 and GCr15 had similar mechanical contact conditions, they showed rather different friction behaviors. Therefore, the shear strength of the interface was prominent in determining the friction behavior of the MoS2/Ti composite coating, particularly in the initial stage of friction. The strong interfacial shear strength between GCr15, WC and MoS2/Ti resulted in the high friction coefficient in air and short wear life in vacuum. Furthermore, we found that the interfacial shear strength was affected by the Ti content in the MoS2/Ti coatings, and the adhesive behavior of Ti and GCr15 was responsible for the high friction coefficient and high wear rate. The shear strength between the two sliding materials was amplified with the increase in the vacuum degree. These results benefit us to tailor or select the MoS2-based composite coatings and the corresponding tribo-pairs for vacuum operating conditions

Effect of Bi modification treatment on microstructure, tensile properties, and fracture behavior of cast Al-Mg2Si metal matrix composite

Bi has a good modification effect on the hypoeutectic Al-Si alloy, and the morphology of eutectic Si changes from coarse acicular to fine fibrous. Based on the similarity between Mg2Si and Si phases in crystalline structure and crystallization process, the present study investigated the effects of different concentrations of Bi on the microstructure, tensile properties, and fracture behavior of cast Al-15wt.%Mg2Si in-situ metal matrix composite. The results show that the addition of the proper amount of Bi has a significant modification effect on both primary and eutectic Mg2Si in the Al-15wt.%Mg2Si composite. With an increase in Bi content from 0 to 1wt.%, the morphology of the primary Mg2Si is changed from irregular or dendritic to polyhedral shape; and its average particle size is significantly decreased from 70 to 6 μm. Moreover, the morphology of the eutectic Mg2Si phase is altered from flake-like to very short fibrous or dot-like. When the Bi addition exceeds 4.0wt.%, the primary Mg2Si becomes coarse again. However, the eutectic Mg2Si still exhibits the modified morphology. Tensile tests reveal that the Bi addition can improve the tensile strength and ductility of the material. Compared with those of the unmodified composite, the ultimate tensile strength and percentage elongation after fracture with 1.0wt.% Bi increase 51.2% and 100%, respectively. At the same time, the Bi addition changes the fracture behavior from brittle to ductile

Low humidity-sensitivity of MoS2/Pb nanocomposite coatings

Optimizing the MoS2-based coating to overcome its humidity sensitivity is still a challenge. In this work, MoS2/Pb composite coatings with various Pb contents were synthesized by unbalanced magnetron sputtering system. The microstructures of the coatings change from loose columnar structure for pure MoS2 to a compact featureless structure for Pb doped MoS2. The hardness and elastic modulus of the MoS2/Pb composite coatings gradually increase with the Pb content increase and exhibit a maximum value at Pb content of 8.9 at%. Further increase in the Pb content results in a decrease in the hardness and elastic modulus of the coatings. The tribological performance of the coatings was systematically evaluated under different humidity conditions, and the underlying mechanisms were investigated. The results show that the mechanical property of the coating determines the wear properties under dry air; whereas the antioxidant property of the coating becomes prominent with regard to the wear -resistant in humid environmental. This benefits us to tailor or select the MoS2-based composite coatings for different operating conditions. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Structure and mechanical properties of reactive sputtering CrSiN films

CrSiN films with various Si contents were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering using the codeposition of Cr and Si targets in the presence of the reactive gas mixture. Comparative studies on microstructure and mechanical properties between CrN and CrSiN films with various Si contents were carried out. The structure of the CrSiN films was found to change from crystalline to amorphous structure as the Si contents increase. Amorphous phase of Si3N4 compound was suggested to exist in the CrSiN film. The growth of films has been observed from continuous columnar structure, granular structure to glassy-like appearance morphology with the increase of silicon content. The film fracture changed from continuous columnar structure, granular structure to glassy-like appearance morphology with theincrease of silicon content. Two hardness peaks of the films as function of Si contents have been discussed

The Tribological Mechanism of MoS2 Film under Different Humidity

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been widely used in vacuum environment as an excellent solid lubricant. However, the application of MoS2 is greatly limited in terrestrial atmosphere due to the sensitivity to humidity. Although the sensitivity of MoS2 to water vapor has been widely recognized, the mechanism is not clear. To explore the tribological mechanism of MoS2 in the presence of water vapor, a series of experiments were performed to investigate the effect of N-2 (inert gas), O-2 (active gas), air (a combination of both) and cyclic humidity change in air on the frictional response of MoS2 to humidity. According to the results, a model that described water adsorption enhanced by active sites in MoS2 and formed oxides, and an adsorption action change in water molecules with humidity was proposed. The model was applied to explain the recovery and instantaneous response of friction coefficient to humidity change

The corrosion behaviors of multilayer diamond-like carbon coatings: influence of deposition periods and corrosive medium

Electrochemical measurements, salt spray tests and immersion tests were employed to investigate the influence of deposition periods and corrosive medium (NaCl, H2SO4, HCl, NaOH) on the corrosion behaviors of silicon doped multilayer diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings. The results showed that the corrosion resistance of the multilayer DLC coatings was significantly improved with the increase of deposition periods. Interestingly, the coating with the highest deposition periods provided good corrosion protection in neutral and acidic solutions while poor corrosion protection in alkaline and acidic chloride solutions

Adhesive transfer at copper/diamond interface and adhesion reduction mechanism with fluorine passivation: A first-principles study

Tribological behavior of Cu is peculiar among soft metal when it rubs on diamond flat in experiments, and passivating element F and H at Cu/diamond interface can affect mechanical properties and even tribological characteristics as well, related special adhesive transfer (fracture location) and adhesion tuning mechanism at Cu/diamond interface remain obscure. Here, we investigate the interfacial structure change, electronic and mechanical properties of Cu/diamond and interface with fully F passivation (Cu/diamond: F) through first-principles calculations. The study shows that Cu(111)/diamond(111) interface exhibits the special phenomenon of adhesive transfer (different cleavage location and interfacial strength under applied load) due to adhesion, and this contribute to different frictional properties among soft metal. The effect on mechanical properties of F at Cu/diamond interface is studied systematically, passivation of fluorine on diamond surface reduces work of separation of the interface significantly, from 3.64 to 0.02 J/m(2). Combining with kinetic analysis, we gain that fluorine might be a kind of promising adhesion-reducing element at interface and improve related tribological characteristics of Cu(111)/diamond( 111) system. The results of this study benefit the understanding of different tribological properties of Cu/diamond system, adhesion reduction mechanism of fluorine at interface and its effect on tribological behavior at atomic scale. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Effects of intermediate Ar plasma treatments on CrN coating microstructures and property evolutions

Chromium nitride (CrN) coatings with different steps of intermediate argon plasma treatments were deposited with primary (200) orientation by multi-arc ion plating technique. By virtue of scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, the influence of intermediate argon plasma treatments on the coating microstructures, mechanical properties and corrosion properties as well as tribological behaviors in artificial seawater solutions were systematically investigated. It was assumed that the mechanical properties, adhesion strength, corrosion and tribological performances of coatings depended on argon plasma treatment steps. High-performance coatings could be obtained by proper plasma treatment steps. The superior anti-corrosion ability of coating with appropriate treatment steps may be ascribed to the increased charge transfer resistance due to alternative interface and CrN layer and the compact microstructure. On the other hand, the excellent tribological performances in seawater conditions may be attributed to the enhanced mechanical properties. Otherwise, further increase in treatment steps was assumed to distinctly increase defects and deteriorate the coating integrity thus weakening coating properties and behaviors. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd