The Impacts and Countermeasures of Japan's Proposal to Release Nuclear-Contaminated Water into the Sea on Neighboring Countries

Xuexi Zhang(Xuexi Zhang),Xi Chen(Xi Chen) 아시아사회과학학회 2023 Jornal of Asia Social Science Vol.10 No.1

Since 2020, the Japanese government has made great efforts to promote the discharge of nuclear-polluted water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Although it is strongly opposed by the Japanese and neighboring countries, the Japanese government still puts economic benefits first and does not fully consider the biological and chemical hazards that may be caused by the discharge of nuclear-polluted water into the sea, the impact on people's health, or whether it will pose a threat to Japan's offshore and neighboring countries' marine safety and food safety. As always, it is an obvious violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to choose the simplest, lowest-cost, and most irresponsible way to discharge nuclear-polluted water into the sea, which needs to be highly valued by neighboring countries and even all countries around the Pacific Ocean, and actively take measures to avoid the harm caused by Japan's nuclear-polluted water discharged into the sea to neighboring countries. To solve the current problems, it is necessary for the United Nations to actively play the role of central mediator and for neighboring countries to jointly create international public opinion on the harm caused by the discharge of nuclear-polluted water into the sea. At the same time, it is also necessary to call on non-governmental environmental protection organizations to protest and continuously increase internal pressure in Japan. In addition, the active resistance to importation of the fish resources from Japan and the reduction in the number of tourists to Japan are also important measures to prevent the Japanese government from dumping nuclear-polluted water. Therefore, actively calling on the Japanese government to cancel or terminate the dumping of nuclear-polluted water into the sea is not only the greatest protection of the lives and property of people in Japan and neighboring countries, but a responsible expression of ensuring that the world's maritime security is not threatened.

Retinoic Acid Promotes Interleukin-4 Plasmid-Dimethylsulfoxide Topical Transdermal Delivery for Treatment of Psoriasis

( Zhong Wen Chen ),( Yin Bing Zhang ),( Xaing Jun Chen ),( Xiao Liu ),( Zhen Wang ),( Xi Kun Zhou ),( Ji Qiu ),( Nan Nan Zhang ),( Xiu Teng ),( Yong Qiu Mao ),( Chang Yong Liu ),( Yu Quan Wei ),( Jion 대한피부과학회 2015 Annals of Dermatology Vol.27 No.3

Background: Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that is caused by a shift in the Th1/Th2 balance toward Th1- dominant immunity. It has been established as an effective treatment to counteract psoriasis by subcutaneous injection of recombinant interleukin (IL)-4, and IL-4 gene therapy by topical transdermal penetration has shown its antipsoriatic effect in mice. Retinoic acid (RA) and dimethylsulfoxide can increase the efficiency of gene transfection in the topical transdermal delivery system. Objective: We investigated whether RA could improve anti-psoriasis efficiency using IL-4 expression plasmid pORF-mIL-4 (pIL-4) via transdermal delivery system in K14-vascular endothelial growth (K14- VEGF) factor transgenic mice. Methods: After pretreatment with RA, plasmid pIL-4 in 10% dimethylsulfoxide was applied to the ear skin by topical transdermal penetration. Hematoxylin- eosin staining and immunohistochemistry were performed with ear samples to evaluate anti-psoriasis efficiency in mice. Results: The psoriasis pathological features were relieved and psoriasis-associated factors were significantly reduced. Conclusion: Our results reveal that topical application of pIL-4 in dimethylsulfoxide by transdermal delivery with RA pretreatment can improve psoriasis significantly. (Ann Dermatol 27(2) 121∼127, 2015)

Retinoic Acid Promotes Interleukin-4 Plasmid-Dimethylsulfoxide Topical Transdermal Delivery for Treatment of Psoriasis

( Zhong Wen Chen ),( Yin Bing Zhang ),( Xaing Jun Chen ),( Xiao Liu ),( Zhen Wang ),( Xi Kun Zhou ),( Ji Qiu ),( Nan Nan Zhang ),( Xiu Teng ),( Yong Qiu Mao ),( Chang Yong Liu ),( Yu Quan Wei ),( Jion 대한피부과학회 2015 Annals of Dermatology Vol.27 No.2

Background: Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that is caused by a shift in the Th1/Th2 balance toward Th1- dominant immunity. It has been established as an effective treatment to counteract psoriasis by subcutaneous injection of recombinant interleukin (IL)-4, and IL-4 gene therapy by topical transdermal penetration has shown its antipsoriatic effect in mice. Retinoic acid (RA) and dimethylsulfoxide can increase the efficiency of gene transfection in the topical transdermal delivery system. Objective: We investigated whether RA could improve anti-psoriasis efficiency using IL-4 expression plasmid pORF-mIL-4 (pIL-4) via transdermal delivery system in K14-vascular endothelial growth (K14- VEGF) factor transgenic mice. Methods: After pretreatment with RA, plasmid pIL-4 in 10% dimethylsulfoxide was applied to the ear skin by topical transdermal penetration. Hematoxylin- eosin staining and immunohistochemistry were performed with ear samples to evaluate anti-psoriasis efficiency in mice. Results: The psoriasis pathological features were relieved and psoriasis-associated factors were significantly reduced. Conclusion: Our results reveal that topical application of pIL-4 in dimethylsulfoxide by transdermal delivery with RA pretreatment can improve psoriasis significantly.(Ann Dermatol 27(2) 121∼127, 2015)

A Continuous Abnormal Speech Detection Method Based on Time Domain features Weighted

He Jun,Ji-chen Yang,Qing-hua Zhang,Guo-xi Sun,Jian-bing Xiong 보안공학연구지원센터 2014 International Journal of Control and Automation Vol.7 No.12

In this brief, a novel pathological continuous speech detection method based on time domain features weighted. First, different optimal threshold for time domain features, including zero crossing ratio, short-time energy and autocorrelation, are obtained from training speech data. Second, a difference evaluation technique is proposed, and with it, the difference of the same time domain feature selected from testing speech data and training speech data were obtained. Finally, to distinguish a given speech well, a novel weighting method based on difference evaluation for each kinds of time domain is employed, respectively. Experiments were conducted on the pathological speech database to prove the power and effectiveness of the proposed method. Results obtained shown that this method outperforms other early proposed time domain feature method, creating a more reliable technique for pathological continuous speech detection.

MD2 blockade prevents modified LDL-induced retinal injury in diabetes by suppressing NADPH oxidase-4 interaction with Toll-like receptor-4

Chen Huaicheng,Yan Tao,Song Zongming,Ying Shilong,Wu Beibei,Ju Xin,Yang Xi,Qu Jia,Wu Wencan,Zhang Zongduan,Wang Yi 생화학분자생물학회 2021 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.53 No.-

Modified LDL-induced inflammation and oxidative stress are involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. Recent studies have also shown that modified LDL activates Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) to mediate retinal injury. However, the mechanism by which modified LDL activates TLR4 and the potential role of the TLR4 coreceptor myeloid differentiation protein 2 (MD2) are not known. In this study, we inhibited MD2 with the chalcone derivatives L2H17 and L6H21 and showed that MD2 blockade protected retinal Müller cells against highly oxidized glycated-LDL (HOG-LDL)-induced oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. MD2 inhibition reduced oxidative stress by suppressing NADPH oxidase-4 (NOX4). Importantly, HOG-LDL activated TLR4 and increased the interaction between NOX4 and TLR4. MD2 was required for the activation of these pathways, as inhibiting MD2 prevented the association of NOX4 with TLR4 and reduced NOX4-mediated reactive oxygen species production and TLR4-mediated inflammatory factor production. Furthermore, treatment of diabetic mice with L2H17 significantly reduced LDL extravasation in the retina and prevented retinal dysfunction and apoptosis by suppressing the TLR4/MD2 pathway. Our findings provide evidence that MD2 plays a critical role in mediating modified LDL-induced cell injury in the retina and suggest that targeting MD2 may be a potential therapeutic strategy.

Sclareol production in the moss Physcomitrella patens and observations on growth and terpenoid biosynthesis

Xi-Wu Pan,Lei Han,Yu-Hua Zhang,Dong-Fang Chen,Henrik Toft Simonsen 한국식물생명공학회 2015 Plant biotechnology reports Vol.9 No.3

The moss Physcomitrella patens was engineered to produce the diterpenoid sclareol, an important precursor for the synthesis of ambergris substitutes for the perfume industry. The best total yield of sclareol was 2.84 mg/g dry weight (2.28 mg/l culture) obtained after 18 days of cultivation in liquid media (extracted from both media and cell pellet). The two active sclareol synthase genes were integrated in a random fashion, and linked with the ribosomal skip 2A under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter. We conclude that moss can produce sclareol and utilize the ribosomal skip 2A. In addition, we observed growth impairment in all our sclareol-producing lines and moss lines knocked out in the endogenous diterpene synthase (copalyl/kaurene synthase—PpCPS/KS). A RT-PCR study, with ubiquitin as the best reference gene, showed that there was a down-regulation of the transcription of the terpenoid biosynthetic genes in the PpCPS/KS knock out moss. This down-regulation was recovered by the introduction of the two sclareol synthases, suggesting that the regulation of the general terpenoid biosynthesis is very flexible and can be amended in future biotechnological engineering.

Filled Skutterudites: from Single to Multiple Filling

Xi, Lili,Zhang, Wenqing,Chen, Lidong,Yang, Jihui The Korean Ceramic Society 2010 한국세라믹학회지 Vol.47 No.1

This paper shortly reviews our recent work on filled skutterudites, which are considered to be one of the most promising thermoelectric (TE) materials due to their excellent power factors and relatively low thermal conductivities. The filled skutterudite system also provides a platform for studying void filling physics/chemistry in compounds with intrinsic lattice voids. By using ab initio calculations and thermodynamic analysis, our group has made progresses in understanding the filling fraction limit (FFL) for single fillers in $CoSb_3$, and ultra-high FFLs in a few alkali-metal-filled $CoSb_3$ have been predicted and then been confirmed experimentally. FFLs in multiple-element-filled $CoSb_3$ are also investigated and anonymous filling behavior is found in a few specific systems. The calculated and measured FFLs, in both single and multiple-filled $CoSb_3$ systems, show good accordance so far. The thermal transport properties can be understood qualitatively by a phonon resonance scattering model, and it seems that a scaling rule may exist between the lattice thermal resistivity and the resonance frequency of filler atoms in filled system. Even though a few things become clear now, there are still many unsolved issues that call for further work.

Optimized Discriminant Locality Preserving Projection of Gabor Feature for Biometric Recognition

Xi Chen,Jiashu Zhang 보안공학연구지원센터 2012 International Journal of Security and Its Applicat Vol.6 No.2

Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus 16 in Esophageal Cancer Among the Chinese Population: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Zhang, Shao-Kai,Guo, Lan-Wei,Chen, Qiong,Zhang, Meng,Liu, Shu-Zheng,Quan, Pei-Liang,Lu, Jian-Bang,Sun, Xi-Bin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.23

Background and Aim: No firm evidence of HPV infection in esophageal cancer has been established to date. The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate the prevalence of HPV 16 in esophageal cancer in China, which had a high burden of the disease. Materials and Methods: Studies on HPV infection and esophageal cancer were identified and a random-effects model was used to pool the summary prevalence and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: A total of 3,429 esophageal cancer cases were evaluated from 26 eligible studies in this meta-analysis. The summary estimate for HPV16 prevalence was 0.381 (95% CI: 0.283, 0.479). The prevalence varied by geographical areas of the study, publication year, HPV detection method and types of specimen. In sensitivity analysis, HPV 16 prevalence ranged from 0.368 (95% CI: 0.276, 0.460) to 0.397 (95% CI: 0.286, 0.508). Conclusions: The results indicate a relatively high level of HPV 16 prevalence in esophageal cancer among Chinese population, although there was variation between different variables. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of HPV in esophageal carcinogenesis with careful consideration of study design and laboratory detection method, providing more accurate assessment of the HPV status in esophageal cancer.

Expression of Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor-associated Factor 6 in Lung Cancer Tissues

Zhang, Xiu-Ling,Dang, Yi-Wu,Li, Ping,Rong, Min-Hua,Hou, Xin-Xi,Luo, Dian-Zhong,Chen, Gang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.24

Background: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) has been reported to be associated with the development of various cancers. However, the role of TRAF6 in lung cancer remains unclear. Objective: To explore the expression and clinicopathological significance of TRAF6 protein in lung cancer tissues. Materials and Methods: Three hundred and sixty-five lung cancer samples and thirty normal lung tissues were constructed into 3 microarrays. The expression of TRAF6 protein was determined using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Furthermore, correlations between the expression of TRAF6 and clinicopathological parameters were investigated. Results: The expression of TRAF6 in total lung cancer tissues (365 cases), as well as in small cell lung cancer (SCLC, 26 cases) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, 339 cases) was significantly higher compared with that in normal lung tissues. The ROC curve showed that the area under curve of TRAF6 was 0.663 (95%CI 0.570~0.756) for lung cancer. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of TRAF6 were 52.6% and 80%, respectively. In addition, the expression of TRAF6 was correlated with clinical TNM stage, tumor size and lymph node metastasis in all lung cancers. Consistent correlations were also observed for NSCLCs. Conclusions: TRAF6 might be an oncogene and the expression of TRAF6 protein is related to the progression of lung cancer. Thus, TRAF6 might become a target for diagnosis and gene therapy for lung cancer patients.