Antiproliferative and Antitumorigenic Activity of Toona sinensis Leaf Extracts in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Chih-Jen Yang,Yu-Jung Huang,Cheng-Yuan Wang,Chuan-Sheng Wang,Pei-Hui Wang,Jen-Yu Hung,Tung-Heng Wang,Hseng-Kuang Hsu,Hurng-Wern Huang,S.P. Anand Kumar,Ming-Shyan Huang,Ching-Feng Weng 한국식품영양과학회 2010 Journal of medicinal food Vol.13 No.1

Toona sinensis is a traditional Chinese herb, and the extracts of T. sinensis leaf possess a variety of biological functions. This study attempted to test the antiproliferative effect of TSL-1 (a bioactive fraction of T. sinensis) in H441 cells (lung adenocarcinoma). The data showed that the antiproliferative effect of TSL-1 on H441 cells is prominent using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. TSL-1-induced apoptosis was confirmed by cell morphology, sub-G1 peak accumulation, cleavage of poly(ADP)-ribose polymerase, and propidium iodide-annexin V double staining. Furthermore, decreased Bcl-2 accompanied by increased Bax (in western blotting) was found with TSL-1 treatment of H441 cells. TSL-1 treatment-induced G1 arrest was concurrent with the down-regulation of protein levels of cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 4 in H441 cells. Peroral and intraperitoneal administrations of TSL-1 were performed to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy, and peroral administration of TSL-1 was also used to elucidate the therapeutic efficacy in the H441 cell xenograft model in vivo. The data revealed that TSL-1 treatment inhibited H441 tumor growth in both therapeutic and preventive experiments. Taken together, these results demonstrate that TSL-1 possesses the capability of preventing and alleviating lung cancer proliferation in vitro and in vivo with proven nephrological and hepatic safety and has the potential to be developed as an anti–lung cancer drug.

A King Stifling Voices of Dissent? Popular Protests and State Responses in Xi's China

Wang Hsin‐Hsien,Tzeng Wei‐Feng,Wang Shinn‐Shyr,Chiu Wei‐Chih 인하대학교 국제관계연구소 2021 Pacific Focus Vol.36 No.1

To deal with the increases in the frequency of popular protests, China's leader, Xi Jinping, has called for “innovative social governance” as a new concept to resolve social conflicts. In this study, we collect and analyze a unique dataset to compare state responses to popular protests during Xi's term and Hu's term. We find that, under Xi's rule, state repression is more frequently employed to handle social disturbances. Violent protests are significantly more likely to be repressed than nonviolent protests during both the rule of Hu and Xi, while protests that involved a population of the middle and upper classes experienced more state crackdown under Xi's rule rather than under Hu's governance. Our empirical analysis suggests that the approaches by which the Chinese government deals with social unrest have not yet been “innovative.” Instead, China still relies heavily on despotic power in the Xi era.

Effects of charge storage dielectric thickness on hybrid gadolinium oxide nanocrystal and charge trapping nonvolatile memory

Jer-Chyi Wang,Chih-Ting Lin,Chi-Feng Chang 한국물리학회 2014 Current Applied Physics Vol.14 No.3

The characteristics of hybrid gadolinium oxide nanocrystal (Gd2O3-NC) and gadolinium oxide charge trapping (Gd2O3-CT) memories were investigated with different Gd2O3 film thickness. By performing the rapid thermal annealing on Gd2O3 films with different thickness, the Gd2O3-NCs with the diameter of 6 e9 nm for charge storage, surrounded by the amorphous Gd2O3 (a-Gd2O3) layer, were formed. The a-Gd2O3 layer was considered to be the charge trapping layer, resulting in the large memory window of Gd2O3-NC/CT memories with thick Gd2O3 film. The charge trapping energy level of the Gd2O3-NCs and a-Gd2O3 layer was extracted to be 0.16 and 0.45 eV respectively by using the temperature-dependent retention measurement. Further, after a 106 program/erase cycling operation, the memory with thin Gd2O3 film can be predicted to sustain a 94% memory window of the first cycling one while the memory with thick Gd2O3 film suffered from a 30% charge loss because of the traps within the a-Gd2O3 layer. The Gd2O3 film thickness of 10 nm was optimized to exhibit superior performances of the Gd2O3-NC/CT memory, which can be applied into the nonvolatile memory.

Hybrid Navigation of a Four-Wheeled Tour-Guide Robot

Yuan-Pao Hsu,Ching-Chih Tsai,Zeng-Chung Wang,Yi-Jiang Feng,Hung-Hsing Lin 제어로봇시스템학회 2009 제어로봇시스템학회 국제학술대회 논문집 Vol.2009 No.8

This paper develops methodologies and techniques for motion control and autonomous navigation of a tour-guide robot with a four-wheeled omni-directional mobile platform. A nonlinear unified kinematical control method is presented for point stabilization and trajectory tracking of a mobile robot which equipped with four independent driving omni-directional wheels equally spaced at 90 degrees between adjacent wheels. A hybrid navigation method is proposed to achieve safely autonomous navigation of the tour-guide robot; this approach includes two behaviors: one is the point-to-point trajectory tracking, and the other is the obstacle avoidance function using the traversability distance histogram (TDH) method to avoid barriers in museums. The effectiveness and merit of the proposed techniques are exemplified by conducting several experiments on an experimental four-wheeled omni-directional tour-guide robot.

Effect of seasonal changes on fertility parameters of Holstein dairy cows in subtropical climate of Taiwan

Liu, Wen-Bor,Peh, Huo-Cheng,Wang, Chien-Kai,Mangwe, Mancoba Christopher,Chen, Chih-Feng,Chiang, Hsin-I Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2018 Animal Bioscience Vol.31 No.6

Objective: The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate the relationship between temperature-humidity index (THI), season, and conception rate (CR) of Holstein cows in central Taiwan. Methods: The mean performance and number of observations were statistically evaluated for various parameters, including age at first service, number of days open, gestation length, CR, and calving interval for different parities. Results: The results indicate that the mean age at first service was 493.2 days; the gestation length was similar across all cows of different parities, ranging from 275.1 to 280.7 days. The overall CR of all inseminations was significantly lower in multiparous cows ($47.26%{\pm}0.22%$) than in heifers ($57.14%{\pm}0.11%$) (p<0.05). At THI>72 and during the hot season (from June to November), CRs for multiparous cows were significantly reduced compared to that for heifers, while the ratio remained unchanged among heifers for all seasons. Conclusion: To achieve a high CR, lactating cows should be bred in winter and spring (from December to May) from the start of the seasonal breeding program, whereas the heifer should be allowed to breed in summer and fall under the subtropical climate in Taiwan.

Preparation and Characterization of PMMA/TEMPO-oxidized Cellulose Nanocomposites

Cheng-Han Yang,Po-Hung Wang,Chih-Feng Huang 한국고분자학회 2016 한국고분자학회 학술대회 연구논문 초록집 Vol.41 No.2

Does Spore Count Matter in Fungal Allergy?: The Role of Allergenic Fungal Species

Wan-Rou Lin,Yi-Hsing Chen,Mey-Fann Lee,Ling-Yi Hsu,Chih-Jen Tien,Feng-Ming Shih,Shih-Ching Hsiao,Pi-Han Wang 대한천식알레르기학회 2016 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.8 No.5

Purpose: Fungi have been known to be important aeroallergens for hundreds of years. Most studies have focused on total fungal concentration; however, the concentration of specific allergenic fungi may be more important on an individual basis. Methods: Ten fungal allergic patients and 2 non-fungal allergic patients were enrolled. The patients with a decrease in physician or patient global assessment by more than 50% of their personal best were considered to have an exacerbation of allergic symptoms and to be in the active stage. Those who maintained their physician and patient global assessment scores at their personal best for more than 3 months were considered to be in the inactive stage. The concentrations of dominant fungi in the patients’ houses and outdoors were measured by direct and viable counts at active and inactive stages. Results: The exacerbation of allergic symptoms was not correlated with total fungal spore concentration or the indoor/outdoor ratio (I/O). Specific fungi, such as Cladosporium oxysporum (C. oxyspurum), C. cladosporioides, and Aspergillus niger (A. niger), were found to be significantly higher concentrations in the active stage than in the inactive stage. Presumed allergenic spore concentration threshold levels were 100 CFU/m3 for C. oxysporum, and 10 CFU/m3 for A. niger, Penicillium brevicompactum and Penicillium oxalicum. Conclusions: The major factor causing exacerbation of allergic symptoms in established fungal allergic patients may be the spore concentration of specific allergenic fungi rather than the total fungal concentration. These results may be useful in making recommendations as regards environmental control for fungal allergic patients.

Modified automotive organic friction materials through infiltration of liquid carbon precursors

이규정,Wu Ting-Yu,Lin Hsun-Yu,Cheng Huy-Zuㅍ,Wang Chih-Feng 한국탄소학회 2019 Carbon Letters Vol.29 No.4

This research combines the liquid carbon precursor infiltration process for carbon/carbon composites with the fabrication procedure for organic, carbon-matrix friction materials in automotive. In the densification process, different liquid carbon precursors and numbers of densification cycle are adopted to investigate the influence on physical and mechanical properties, microstructure and tribological behavior. Experimental results indicate that the infiltration of liquid carbon precursors could improve the physical, mechanical properties and tribological performances of organic friction materials. The open porosity decreases with the number of densification cycle. Both bulk density and hardness increase with the number of densification cycle. The resin-based specimens show higher hardness and lower open porosity than those of the pitch-based specimens after each densification cycle. The tribological measurement of specimens with different carbon precursors shows that the pitch-based specimen shows lower and more stable friction coefficients and exhibits lower weight losses in comparison with other carbon precursors. Morphological observations show that a large area of smooth lubricative film was easily presented on the worn surfaces of the pitch-based specimens, whereas it was seldom observed on the worn surfaces of the preform specimen and resin-based specimens.

Modified automotive organic friction materials through infiltration of liquid carbon precursors

Kuo‑Jung Lee,Ting‑Yu Wu,Hsun‑Yu Lin,Huy‑Zu Cheng,Chih‑Feng Wang 한국탄소학회 2019 Carbon Letters Vol.29 No.4

This research combines the liquid carbon precursor infiltration process for carbon/carbon composites with the fabrication procedure for organic, carbon-matrix friction materials in automotive. In the densification process, different liquid carbon precursors and numbers of densification cycle are adopted to investigate the influence on physical and mechanical properties, microstructure and tribological behavior. Experimental results indicate that the infiltration of liquid carbon precursors could improve the physical, mechanical properties and tribological performances of organic friction materials. The open porosity decreases with the number of densification cycle. Both bulk density and hardness increase with the number of densification cycle. The resin-based specimens show higher hardness and lower open porosity than those of the pitch-based specimens after each densification cycle. The tribological measurement of specimens with different carbon precursors shows that the pitch-based specimen shows lower and more stable friction coefficients and exhibits lower weight losses in comparison with other carbon precursors. Morphological observations show that a large area of smooth lubricative film was easily presented on the worn surfaces of the pitch-based specimens, whereas it was seldom observed on the worn surfaces of the preform specimen and resin-based specimens.

2022 Taiwan clinical multicenter expert consensus and recommendations for thyroid radiofrequency ablation

Wei-Che Lin,Wen-Chieh Chen,Pei-Wen Wang,Yi-Chia Chan,Yen-Hsiang Chang,Harn-Shen Chen,Szu-Tah Chen,Wei-Chih Chen,Kai-Lun Cheng,Shun-Yu Chi,Pi-Ling Chiang,Chen-Kai Chou,Feng-Fu Chou,Shun-Chen Huang,Feng 대한초음파의학회 2023 ULTRASONOGRAPHY Vol.42 No.3

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive management strategy that has been widely applied for benign and recurrent malignant thyroid lesions as an alternative to surgery in Taiwan. Members of academic societies for specialists in interventional radiology, endocrinology, and endocrine surgery collaborated to develop the first consensus regarding thyroid RFA in Taiwan. The modified Delphi method was used to reach a consensus. Based on a comprehensive review of recent and valuable literature and expert opinions, the recommendations included indications, pre-procedural evaluations, procedural techniques, post-procedural monitoring, efficacy, and safety, providing a comprehensive review of the application of RFA. The consensus effectively consolidates advice regarding thyroid RFA in clinical practice for local experts.