Sulfuric Acid Hydrolysis and Detoxification of Red Alga Pterocladiella capillacea for Bioethanol Fermentation with Thermotolerant Yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus

( Chien Hui Wu ),( Wei Chen Chien ),( Han Kai Chou ),( Jung Woo Yang ),( Hong Ting Victor Lin ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2014 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.24 No.9

One-step sulfuric acid saccharification of the red alga Pterocladiella capillacea was optimized, and various detoxification methods (neutralization, overliming, and electrodialysis) of the acid hydrolysate were evaluated for fermentation with the thermotolerant yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus. A proximate composition analysis indicated that P. capillacea was rich in carbohydrates. A significant galactose recovery of 81.1 ± 5% was also achieved under the conditions of a 12% (w/v) biomass load, 5% (v/v) sulfuric acid, 121°C, and hydrolysis for 30 min. Among the various detoxification methods, electrodialysis was identified as the most suitable for fermentable sugar recovery and organic acid removal (100% reduction of formic and levulinic acids), even though it failed to reduce the amount of the inhibitor 5-HMF. As a result, K. marxianus fermentation with the electrodialyzed acid hydrolysate of P. capillacea resulted in the best ethanol levels and fermentation efficiency.

Detecting small lung tumors in mouse models by refractive-index microradiology

Chien, Chia-Chi,Zhang, Guilin,Hwu, Y.,Liu, Ping,Yue, Weisheng,Sun, Jianqi,Li, Yan,Xue, Hongjie,Xu, Lisa X.,Wang, Chang Hai,Chen, Nanyow,Lu, Chien Hung,Lee, Ting-Kuo,Yang, Yuh-Cheng,Lu, Yen-Ta,Ching, Y Springer-Verlag 2011 ANALYTICAL AND BIOANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY Vol.401 No.3

A Novel Esterase from Paenibacillus sp. PBS-2 Is a New Member of the β-Lactamase Belonging to the Family VIII Lipases/Esterases

( Chien Hui Wu ),( Wei Chen Chien ),( Kai Chou Han ),( Jung Woo Yang ),( Hong Ting Victor Lin ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2014 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.24 No.9

Screening of a gene library from Paenibacillus sp. PBS-2 generated in Escherichia coli led to the identification of a clone with lipolytic activity. Sequence analysis showed an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 378 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 42 kDa. The esterase displayed 69% and 42% identity with the putative β-lactamases from Paenibacillus sp. JDR-2 and Clostridium sp. BNL1100, respectively. The esterase contained a Serx- x-Lys motif that is conserved among all β-lactamases found to date. The protein PBS-2 was produced in both soluble and insoluble forms when E. coli cells harboring the gene were cultured at 18°C. The enzyme is a serine protein and was active against p-nitrophenyl esters of C2, C4, C8, and C10. The optimum pH and temperature for enzyme activity were pH 9.0 and 30°C, respectively. Relative activity of 55% remained at up to 5°C with an activation energy of 5.84 kcal/mol, which indicates that the enzyme is cold-adapted. Enzyme activity was inhibited by Cd2+, Cu2+, and Hg2+ ions. As expected for a serine esterase, activity was inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. The enzyme was remarkably active and stable in the presence of commercial detergents and organic solvents. This cold-adapted esterase has potential as a biocatalyst and detergent additive for use at low temperatures.

Use of Information Technologies to Explore Correlations between Climatic Factors and Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Different Age Groups

Ting, Hsien-Wei,Chan, Chien-Lung,Pan, Ren-Hao,Lai, Robert K.,Chien, Ting-Ying Korean Institute of Information Scientists and Eng 2017 Journal of Computing Science and Engineering Vol.11 No.4

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) has a high mortality rate. Research has demonstrated that sICH occurrence is related to weather conditions; therefore, this study used the decision tree method to explore the impact of climatic risk factors on sICH at different ages. The Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) and other open-access data were used in this study. The inclusion criterion was a first-attack sICH. The decision tree algorithm and random forest were implemented in R programming language. We defined a high risk of sICH as more than the average number of cases daily, and the younger, middle-aged and older groups were calculated as having 0.77, 2.26 and 2.60 cases per day, respectively. In total, 22,684 sICH cases were included in this study; 3,102 patients were younger (<44 years, younger group), 9,089 were middle-aged (45-64 years, middle group), and 10,457 were older (>65 years, older group). The risk of sICH in the younger group was not correlated with temperature, wind speed or humidity. The middle group had two decision nodes: a higher risk if the maximum temperature was >$19^{\circ}C$ (probability = 63.7%), and if the maximum temperature was <$19^{\circ}C$ in addition to a wind speed <2.788 (m/s) (probability = 60.9%). The older group had a higher risk if the average temperature was >$23.933^{\circ}C$ (probability = 60.7%). This study demonstrated that the sICH incidence in the younger patients was not significantly correlated with weather factors; that in the middle-aged sICH patients was highly-correlated with the apparent temperature; and that in the older sICH patients was highly-correlated with the mean ambient temperature. "Warm" cold ambient temperatures resulted in a higher risk of sICH, especially in the older patients.

Fermat's equation over 2-by-2 matrices

Mao-Ting Chien,Jie Meng 대한수학회 2021 대한수학회보 Vol.58 No.3

We study the solvability of the Fermat's matrix equation in some classes of 2-by-2 matrices. We prove the Fermat's matrix equation has infinitely many solutions in a set of 2-by-2 positive semidefinite integral matrices, and has no nontrivial solutions in some classes including 2-by-2 symmetric rational matrices and stochastic quadratic field matrices.

Impact of Interleukin-10 Gene Polymorphisms on Survival in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Wen-Chien Ting,Lu-Min Chen,Li-Chia Huang,Mann-Jen Hour,Yu-Hsuan Lan,Hong-Zin Lee,Bang-Jau You,Ta-Yuan Chang,Bo-Ying Bao 대한의학회 2013 Journal of Korean medical science Vol.28 No.9

Chronic inflammation is thought to be the leading cause of colorectal cancer, and interleukin-10 (IL10) has been identified as a potent immunomodulatory cytokine that regulates inflammatory responses in the gastrointestinal tract. Although several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL10 have been associated with the risk of colorectal cancer, their prognostic significance has not been determined. Two hundred and eightytwo colorectal cancer patients were genotyped for two candidate cancer-associated SNPs in IL10. The associations of these SNPs with distant metastasis-free survival and overall survival were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression model. The minor homozygote GG genotype of IL10 rs3021094 was significantly associated with a 3.30-fold higher risk of death compared with the TT+TG genotypes (P = 0.011). The patients with IL10rs3021094 GG genotype also had a poorer overall survival in Kaplan-Meier analysis (log-rank P = 0.007) and in multivariate Cox regression model (P = 0.044) adjusting for age, gender,carcinoembryonic antigen levels, tumor differentiation, stage, lymphovascular invasion,and perineural invasion. In conclusion, our results suggest that IL10 rs3021094 might be a valuable prognostic biomarker for colorectal cancer patients.

The Ca _V 3.2 T-Type Ca ²⁺ Channel Is Required for Pressure Overload-Induced Cardiac Hypertrophy in Mice

Chiang, Chien-Sung,Huang, Ching-Hui,Chieng, Hockling,Chang, Ya-Ting,Chang, Dory,Chen, Ji-Jr,Chen, Yong-Cyuan,Chen, Yen-Hui,Shin, Hee-Sup,Campbell, Kevin P.,Chen, Chien-Chang Ovid Technologies Wolters Kluwer -American Heart A 2009 Circulation research Vol.104 No.4

<P>Voltage-gated T-type Ca(2+) channels (T-channels) are normally expressed during embryonic development in ventricular myocytes but are undetectable in adult ventricular myocytes. Interestingly, T-channels are reexpressed in hypertrophied or failing hearts. It is unclear whether T-channels play a role in the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathy and what the mechanism might be. Here we show that the alpha(1H) voltage-gated T-type Ca(2+) channel (Ca(v)3.2) is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy via the activation of calcineurin/nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) pathway. Specifically, pressure overload-induced hypertrophy was severely suppressed in mice deficient for Ca(v)3.2 (Ca(v)3.2(-/-)) but not in mice deficient for Ca(v)3.1 (Ca(v)3.1(-/-)). Angiotensin II-induced cardiac hypertrophy was also suppressed in Ca(v)3.2(-/-) mice. Consistent with these findings, cultured neonatal myocytes isolated from Ca(v)3.2(-/-) mice fail to respond hypertrophic stimulation by treatment with angiotensin II. Together, these results demonstrate the importance of Ca(v)3.2 in the development of cardiac hypertrophy both in vitro and in vivo. To test whether Ca(v)3.2 mediates the hypertrophic response through the calcineurin/NFAT pathway, we generated Ca(v)3.2(-/-), NFAT-luciferase reporter mice and showed that NFAT-luciferase reporter activity failed to increase after pressure overload in the Ca(v)3.2(-/-)/NFAT-Luc mice. Our results provide strong genetic evidence that Ca(v)3.2 indeed plays a pivotal role in the induction of calcineurin/NFAT hypertrophic signaling and is crucial for the activation of pathological cardiac hypertrophy.</P>

Representation of the Convectively-coupled Kelvin Wave in Modern Reanalysis Products

Mu-Ting Chien,Daehyun Kim 한국기상학회 2021 한국기상학회 학술대회 논문집 Vol.2021 No.10

Despite decades of research, fundamental questions about the convectively-coupled Kelvin waves (KWs) remain unanswered. To deepen our understanding of the KWs and to test simple models for KWs, in this study we examine KW precipitation, vertical structure, and energetics in four modern reanalyses (RAs): ERA5, MERRA2, CFSR, and JRA-55. The KW precipitation signal strength in the wavenumber-frequency domain, the geographical distribution of KW precipitation, and the meridional migration of KW precipitation with seasons are reasonably represented in all RAs, although they commonly underestimate the amplitude of KW precipitation. There is a considerable inter-RA differences in the vertical structure of KWs, especially in the variables that are associated with the thermodynamics of KWs (temperature, moisture, and diabatic heating). The eddy available potential energy (EAPE) production within the KW is found to be associated with the second baroclinic mode whereas the first baroclinc mode damps KW EAPE in three out of four RAs (except for JRA-55). Geographically, the KW EAPE production by the second baroclinic mode occurs in areas with environmental conditions that are favorable for upscale growth of convective systems (i.e., relatively high sea surface temperature and column moisture). Our results are supportive of the simple models for KWs in which KWs are destabilized by the second baroclinic mode.

Sequencial Enzymatic Synthesis of Sugar nucleotides and Poly-LacNAc

Wei-Ting Chien,Ching-Ching Yu,Chun-Cheng Lin 한국당과학회 2012 한국당과학회 학술대회 Vol.2012 No.1

Poly-N-acetyllactosamine (poly-LacNAc, (3Gal1-4GlcNAc1-)n) is a linear carbohydrate polymer composed by repeatingN-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and galactose (Gal) residues. These polysaccharides are found either on N- / O-linked glycoproteins or glycolipids and involve in diverse cellular functions such as differentiation, apoptosis, and metastasis. Poly-LacNAc can be further modified by various glycosyltransferases to create branched structures and display terminal epitopes. Sialylated and fucosylated derivatives of poly-LacNAc have been characterized as specific ligands for different lectins such as selectins and galectins as well as being tumor-associated antigens.It is demanded to have various lengths of oligo-LacNAc for studying LacNAc associated biology. However, the traditional organic synthesis requires tedious multiple protection and de-protection steps which are heavily relied on labor-intensive and time-consuming synthetic routes. To efficiently and quickly produce oligo-LacNAc, we expressed the recombinant bacterial enzymes, □ - 1,3-N-acetyl-glucosaminyltransferase of Helicobacter pylori (HpGnT) and □ -1,4-galactosyltransferase of Neisseria meningitides (NmGalT), from E. coli. Defined lengths of oligo-LacNAcs were synthesized by using the expressed enzymes in the presence of sugar donors, uridine 5’-diphosphate galactose (UDP- Gal) and uridine 5’-diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc). To reduce the cost of NDP-sugars used in the oligo-LacNAc synthesis, we set up an enzymatic system for one-pot synthesis of NDP- sugars by using a wild-type bacterial thymidylyltransferase (RmlA). In this study, we applied RmlA to synthesize both UDP-Gal and UDP-GlcNAc. In combination with the use of corresponding kinases, UDP- GlcNAc and UDP-Gal were obtained from cheap starting materials, GlcNAc and Gal. Take the advantage of the great thermal stability of RmlA, the sugar nucleotides were prepared with quantitative yield at 55 oC within two hours. By the alternative addition of HpGnT and NmGalT, different lengths of oligo-LacNAc were synthesized. Compare to previous report, we successfully achieve the synthesis of oligo-LacNAc with a more economical way.

Use of Information Technologies to Explore Correlations between Climatic Factors and Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Different Age Groups

Hsien-Wei Ting,Chien-Lung Chan,Ren-Hao Pan,Robert K. Lai,Ting-Ying Chien 한국정보과학회 2017 Journal of Computing Science and Engineering Vol.11 No.4

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) has a high mortality rate. Research has demonstrated that sICH occurrence is related to weather conditions; therefore, this study used the decision tree method to explore the impact of climatic risk factors on sICH at different ages. The Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) and other open-access data were used in this study. The inclusion criterion was a first-attack sICH. The decision tree algorithm and random forest were implemented in R programming language. We defined a high risk of sICH as more than the average number of cases daily, and the younger, middle-aged and older groups were calculated as having 0.77, 2.26 and 2.60 cases per day, respectively. In total, 22,684 sICH cases were included in this study; 3,102 patients were younger (<44 years, younger group), 9,089 were middle-aged (45–64 years, middle group), and 10,457 were older (>65 years, older group). The risk of sICH in the younger group was not correlated with temperature, wind speed or humidity. The middle group had two decision nodes: a higher risk if the maximum temperature was >19°C (probability = 63.7%), and if the maximum temperature was <19°C in addition to a wind speed <2.788 (m/s) (probability = 60.9%). The older group had a higher risk if the average temperature was >23.933°C (probability = 60.7%). This study demonstrated that the sICH incidence in the younger patients was not significantly correlated with weather factors; that in the middle-aged sICH patients was highly-correlated with the apparent temperature; and that in the older sICH patients was highly-correlated with the mean ambient temperature. “Warm” cold ambient temperatures resulted in a higher risk of sICH, especially in the older patients.