Full-space Cloud of Random Points with a Scrambling Metasurface

Li, Zile,Dai, Qi,Mehmood, Muhammad Q.,Hu, Guangwei,yanchuk, Boris Luk’,Tao, Jin,Hao, Chenglong,Kim, Inki,Jeong, Heonyeong,Zheng, Guoxing,Yu, Shaohua,Alù,, Andrea,Rho, Junsuk,Qiu, Cheng-Wei Nature Publishing Group UK 2018 Light, science & applications Vol.7 No.1

<▼1><P>With the rapid progress in computer science, including artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing, full-space spot generation can be pivotal to many practical applications, such as facial recognition, motion detection, augmented reality, etc. These opportunities may be achieved by using diffractive optical elements (DOEs) or light detection and ranging (LIDAR). However, DOEs suffer from intrinsic limitations, such as demanding depth-controlled fabrication techniques, large thicknesses (more than the wavelength), Lambertian operation only in half space, etc. LIDAR nevertheless relies on complex and bulky scanning systems, which hinders the miniaturization of the spot generator. Here, inspired by a Lambertian scatterer, we report a Hermitian-conjugate metasurface scrambling the incident light to a cloud of random points in full space with compressed information density, functioning in both transmission and reflection spaces. Over 4044 random spots are experimentally observed in the entire space, covering angles at nearly 90°. Our scrambling metasurface is made of amorphous silicon with a uniform subwavelength height, a nearly continuous phase coverage, a lightweight, flexible design, and low-heat dissipation. Thus, it may be mass produced by and integrated into existing semiconductor foundry designs. Our work opens important directions for emerging 3D recognition sensors, such as motion sensing, facial recognition, and other applications.</P></▼1><▼2><P><B>Metasurfaces: scrambling light for 3D detection and recognition</B></P><P>Firing light at a manufactured 'metasurface'—one carrying patterns at a smaller scale than the wavelength of the light—fills large volumes of space with defined points of light, potentially improving 3-D recognition and sensor applications. Cheng-Wei Qui and colleagues at the National University of Singapore, with co-workers across Asia and in the USA, created their unique metasurface from amorphous silicon. Light is scattered from and transmitted through the material to generate a cloud of data points in the surrounding space in which the structure and motion of objects under study can be analyzed. The initial development work with this “scrambling metasurface” suggests it could improve pattern recognition, including face recognition, motion detection and augmented reality applications. The researchers describe how their innovation overcomes significant limitations of existing methods in these fields.</P></▼2>

Facile and controllable synthesis of nitrogen self-doped chitosan-derived carbon for high-performance Li-ion batteries

Xia Wentao,Cheng Miao,Hu Jing,Liu Qianqian,Wei Tao,Wang Ruirui,Li Wanfei,Liu Bo 한국탄소학회 2024 Carbon Letters Vol.34 No.1

N-doping content and configurations have a significant effect on the electrochemical performance of carbon anodes. Herein, we proposed a simple method to synthesize highly N self-doped chitosan-derived carbon with controllable N-doping types by introducing 2ZnCO3·3Zn(OH)2 into the precursor. The as-synthesized NC-CS/2ZnCO3·3Zn(OH)2 electrode exhibited more than twice the reversible capacity (518 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 200 mA g−1) compared to the NC-CS electrode, superior rate performance and outstanding cycling stability. The remarkable improvement should be mainly attributed to the increase of N-doping content (particularly the pyrrolic-N content), which provided more active sites and favored Li+ diffusion kinetics. This study develops a cost-effective and facile synthesis route to fabricate high-performance N self-doped carbon with tunable doping sites for rechargeable battery applications.

Identification of candidate odorant‐degrading enzyme genes in the antennal transcriptome of Aphidius gifuensis

Kang Zhi‐Wei,Liu Fang‐Hua,Xu Yong‐Yu,Cheng Jia‐Hui,Lin Xiao‐Li,Jing Xiang‐Feng,Tian Hong‐Gang,Liu Tong‐Xian 한국곤충학회 2021 Entomological Research Vol.51 No.1

Odorant‐degrading enzymes (ODEs) have been found in insect antennae and play a critical role in signal chemical degradation once the message is conveyed. Significant progress has been made in characterizing ODEs in a variety of pests but very little is known in their natural enemies. We have carried out an antennae‐ and sex‐specific transcriptome of Aphidius gifuensis, a natural enemy of aphid, to identify the candidate ODEs. Based on the antennae‐ and sex‐specific transcriptome, a total of 100 putative ODEs were identified including one aldehyde oxidase (AOX), four alcohol dehydrogenases (ADs), eight UDP‐glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs), 45 cytochrome P450 (P450s), nine glutathione S‐transferases (GSTs) and 40 carboxylesterases (CCEs or CXEs). Additionally, we used RT‐qPCR to determine the expression profiles of these genes in tissues of both sexes. Based on the phylogenic analysis and tissue‐expression patterns, AgifEstE4, AgifCXE3, AgifCCE4, AgifCCE7, and AgifCCE18 were suggested as key ODEs in A. gifuensis. In addition, the female or male specifically enriched genes, such as AgifCCE17, AgifEstB1, AgifCYP18a1, AgifUGT2C2, were also considered to involve in the chemosensory processing in A. gifuensis. This study not only identified the candidate ODEs in A. gifuensis but also provided source for further exploration of the molecular mechanisms of chemical signal transductions in A. gifuensis, as well as other hymenopteran species.

No Association Between the USP7 Gene Polymorphisms and Colorectal Cancer in the Chinese Han Population

Li, Xin,Wang, Yang,Li, Xing-Wang,Liu, Bao-Cheng,Zhao, Qing-Zhu,Li, Wei-Dong,Chen, Shi-Qing,Huang, Xiao-Ye,Yang, Feng-Ping,Wang, Quan,Wang, Jin-Fen,Xiao, Yan-Zeng,Xu, Yi-Feng,Feng, Guo-Yin,Peng, Zhi-Ha Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.5

Colorectal cancer (CRC), now the third most common cancer across the world, is known to aggregate in families. USP7 is a very important protein with an important role in regulating the p53 pathway, which is critical for genomic stability and tumor suppression. We here genotyped eight SNPs within the USP7 gene and conducted a case-control study in 312 CRC patients and 270 healthy subjects in the Chinese Han population. No significant associations were found for any single SNP and CRC risk. Our data eliminate USP7 as a potential candidate gene towards for CRC in the Han Chinese population.

Circular RNA expression profile of systemic lupus erythematosus and its clinical significance as a potential novel biomarker

Li Wenyu,Fan Runge,Zhou Cheng,Wei Yue,Lin Shunsheng,Wen Sijian,Zeng Wen,Hou Wei,Zhao Cheng,Lin Youkun 한국유전학회 2022 Genes & Genomics Vol.44 No.11

Background: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of endogenous noncoding RNAs that are more abundant, specific, and highly organized than linear RNAs. Increasing evidence supports that circRNAs may serve as diagnostic biomarkers in many diseases, but their potential as biomarkers in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remains unclear. Objective: We investigated the critical circRNAs involved in SLE progression and explored their potential application as biomarkers in SLE. Method: RNA sequencing was conducted on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 4 SLE patients and 4 healthy volunteers. CircRNA profile data were analyzed to identify differentially expressed circRNAs and visualized via R software. After screening, qPCR analysis of target circRNA expression was performed using PBMCs from 31 SLE patients and 35 healthy volunteers. Correlations between circRNA expression levels and the SLEDAI score were assessed via Spearman correlation analysis. Finally, the performance of circRNAs as biomarkers in SLE was examined by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Results: The result identified six differentially expressed circRNAs between SLE patients and healthy controls: hsa_circ_0006689, hsa_circ_0070562, hsa_circ_0006117, hsa_circ_0007683, hsa_circ_0042519, and hsa_circ_0008647. The validation analysis showed differing relative expression levels of hsa_circ_0007683, hsa_circ_0042519, hsa_circ_0008647, and hsa_circ_0006689 between SLE patients and healthy volunteers (P < 0.05), and hsa_circ_0006689 expression in PBMCs correlated with the SLEDAI score (P < 0.05). Furthermore, addition of hsa_circ_0006689 expression increased the sensitivities of anti-dsDNA antibody and anti-Sm antibody levels for SLE diagnosis (from 29.03 to 61.30% and 32.26-71.00%, respectively). Conclusion: Our results suggest hsa_circ_0006689 may be a useful circRNA biomarker for SLE diagnosis and prognosis.

Expression of Proteasome Activator REGγ in Human Laryngeal Carcinoma and Associations with Tumor Suppressor Proteins

Li, Li-Ping,Cheng, Wei-Bo,Li, Hong,Li, Wen,Yang, Hui,Wen, Ding-Hou,Tang, Yue-Di Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.6

The functional significance of the proteasome activator $REG{\gamma}$ in the regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis has been recognized. However, pathological contributions to tumor development remain to be elucidated. Both oncogenic proteins and tumor suppressors are targeted by $REG{\gamma}$ for proteasomal degradation. It has been proposed that the role of the $REG{\gamma}$ in the pathogenesis of cancer is cell- and context-specific. In this study, we aimed to explore the potential involvement of $REG{\gamma}$ in laryngeal carcinomas, comparing protein expression in tumor and adjacent tissues by immunohistochemical staining and Western blot analysis. We also characterized the correlation between the expression of $REG{\gamma}$ and the previously identified substrates p53 and p21. We showed that $REG{\gamma}$ was abnormally highly expressed in cancer tissues. Statistical analysis revealed that there was a positive relationship between the level of $REG{\gamma}$ and the expression of p53 and p21. Our study suggests that $REG{\gamma}$ overexpression can facilitate the growth of laryngeal cancer cells.

A Robust Direction-selectable Edge-based Panel Cutting-Line Detection Algorithm

Wei Li(이위),Hakil Kim(김학일),Cheng-Bin Jin(김성빈),Mingjie Ma(마명걸),Qiongxiu Li(이경수),Jong-Hee Kim(김종희),Xuenan Cui(최학남) 대한전자공학회 2016 대한전자공학회 학술대회 Vol.2016 No.6

This paper proposes three robust detection algorithms for locating the cutting line in an image captured by a panel-cutting system. All of the proposed methods contain two stages: edge detection and line fitting. A designed step-edge operator is applied to detect edges in the search direction of interest depending on the intensity concentration. Meanwhile, the proposed line-fitting algorithm is able to precisely fit a line by minimizing the summation of L1 distance from each detected edge point to the fitted line. As the result, all of the proposed methods achieve accuracy of more than 85%. Going one step further, full-scale edge detection (FSED) obtains the best performance at 99.05%, which is evaluated by using a variety of real-world images.

Mangiferin ameliorates cardiac fibrosis in D-galactose-induced aging rats by inhibiting TGF-β/p38/MK2 signaling pathway

Cheng, Jing,Ren, Chaoyang,Cheng, Renli,Li, Yunning,Liu, Ping,Wang, Wei,Liu, Li The Korean Society of Pharmacology 2021 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.25 No.2

Aging is the process spontaneously occurred in living organisms. Cardiac fibrosis is a pathophysiological process of cardiac aging. Mangiferin is a well-known C-glucoside xanthone in mango leaves with lots of beneficial properties. In this study, rat model of cardiac fibrosis was induced by injected with 150 mg/kg/d D-galactose for 8 weeks. The age-related cardiac decline was estimated by detecting the relative weight of heart, the serum levels of cardiac injury indicators and the expression of hypertrophic biomakers. Cardiac oxidative stress and local inflammation were measured by detecting the levels of malondialdehyde, enzymatic antioxidant status and proinflammatory cytokines. Cardiac fibrosis was evaluated by observing collagen deposition via masson and sirius red staining, as well as by examining the expression of extracellular matrix proteins via Western blot analysis. The cardiac activity of profibrotic TGF-β1/p38/MK2 signaling pathway was assessed by measuring the expression of TGF-β1 and the phosphorylation levels of p38 and MK2. It was observed that mangiferin ameliorated D-galactose-induced cardiac aging, attenuated cardiac oxidative stress, inflammation and fibrosis, as well as inhibited the activation of TGF-β1/p38/MK2 signaling pathway. These results showed that mangiferin could ameliorate cardiac fibrosis in D-galactose-induced aging rats possibly via inhibiting TGF-β/p38/MK2 signaling pathway.

Occult Interpositional Rotator Cuff - an Extremely Rare Case of Traumatic Rotator Cuff Tear

Cheng-Li Lin,Wei-Ren Su,I-Ming Jou,Wei-Hsing Chih 대한영상의학회 2012 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.13 No.1

Traumatic interposition of a rotator cuff tendon in the glenohumeral joint without recognizable glenohumeral dislocation is an unusual complication after shoulder trauma. Here we report the clinical and imaging presentations of a 17-year-old man with trapped rotator cuff tendons in the glenohumeral joint after a bicycle accident. The possible trauma mechanism is also discussed.

Hypoxia Induced Multidrug Resistance of Laryngeal Cancer Cells via Hypoxia-inducible Factor-1α

Li, Da-Wei,Dong, Pin,Wang, Fei,Chen, Xin-Wei,Xu, Cheng-Zhi,Zhou, Liang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.8

Objectives: To investigate whether hypoxia has an effect on regulation of multidrug resistance (MDR) to chemotherapeutic drugs in laryngeal carcinoma cells and explore the role of hypoxia-inducible factor-$1{\alpha}$ (HIF-$1{\alpha}$). Methods: Laryngeal cancer cells were cultured under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. The sensitivity of the cells to multiple drugs and levels of apoptosis induced by paclitaxel were determined by MTT assay and annexin-V/propidium iodide staining analysis, respectively. HIF-$1{\alpha}$ expression was blocked by RNA interference. The expression of HIF-$1{\alpha}$ gene was detected by real-time quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting. The value of fluorescence intensity of intracellular adriamycin accumulation and retention in cells was evaluated by flow cytometry. Results: The sensitivity to multiple chemotherapy agents and induction of apoptosis by paclitaxel could be reduced by hypoxia (P<0.05). A the same time, the adriamycin releasing index of cells was increased (P<0.05). However, resistance acquisition subject to hypoxia in vitro was suppressed by down-regulating HIF-$1{\alpha}$ expression. Conclusion: HIF-$1{\alpha}$ could be considered as a key regulator for mediating hypoxia-induced MDR in laryngeal cancer cells via inhibition of drug-induced apoptosis and decrease in intracellular drug accumulation.