Mirror of Empowerment : Consuming Sex and the City among Female University Students in Taiwan

Ya-chien Huang 숙명여자대학교 아시아여성연구원 2007 Asian Women Vol.23 No.2

Television deregulation in Taiwan since 1993 has allowed foreign cultural ideas and practices to be disseminated more easily through imported dramas inscribed with representations of contemporary western lifestyle and aspirations. At a relatively early point in this development, an HBO production, Sex and the City (SATC), has attracted a substantial amount of interest in Taiwan. While the series’ representations of the intermittent sex and conspicuous consumption have raised a few eyebrows in the Taiwanese society, young Taiwanese women aged between 18 and 35 have made up the loyalist fans base. Although having received scant research attention, these young women’s fandom has offered an interesting case study to revisit debates on media consumption as well as examine the dynamic relationship between local audiences and the global media. The culturally specific experience of Taiwanese young female fans has become a starting point that leads one ‘outwards’ to think about a set of gender issues in the contemporary Taiwanese society. This article sheds light on the ways in which some university female students in Taiwan translated SATC into a working language of action more consonant with the culture and forms of everyday life they are embedded in, and argues that their response to SATC epitomised a process of negotiating their real life tensions between traditional Confucianist socio-cultural values and more individualistic, consumerist, lifestyles. In this negotiation process, moreover, struggles for greater autonomy have emerged, reflecting these young women’s desire to exercise deeper control over the personal sphere and to redraw boundaries within a set of structural constraints after having been provided with greater opportunities in education and employment.

Evaluation of Heat Transfer in Acupuncture Needles: Convection and Conduction Approaches

Ya-Chien Chung,Chieh-Han John Tzou,Tzyy-Yih Yang 사단법인약침학회 2015 Journal of Acupuncture & Meridian Studies Vol.8 No.2

Originating in ancient China, acupuncture using needles has been developed for thousands of years and has received attention for its reported medical remedies, such as pain relief and chronic disease treatment. Heat transfer through the needles, which might have effects on the biomechanism of acupuncture, providing a stimulus and regulating homeostasis, has never been studied. This article analyzes the significance of heat transfer through needles via convection and conduction, approached by means of computational analysis. The needle is a cylindrical body, and an axis symmetrical steady-state heat-transfer model that viscosity and static pressure was not applied. This article evaluates heat transfer via acupuncture needles by using five metal materials: silver, copper, brass, iron, and stainless steel. A silver needle of the type extensively applied in acupuncture can dissipate more than seven times as much heat as a stainless steel needle of the same type. Heat transfer through such a needle is significant, compared to natural body-energy consumption over a range of ambient temperatures. The mechanism by which heat flows in or out of the body through the needles may be crucial in the remedial efficacy of acupuncture.

Mirror of Empowerment

Huang, Ya-Chien 숙명여자대학교 아시아여성연구소 2007 Asian Women Vol.23 No.2

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>

Symposia : Immunology ; Innovative strategy to enhance antigen-specific CD4+Th cell immune responses by DNA vaccines

( Chien Fu Hung ),( Ya Chea Tsai ),( Lian Mei He ),( T. C. Wu ) 한국생화학분자생물학회 (구 한국생화학회) 2007 생화학분자생물학회 춘계학술발표논문집 Vol.2007 No.-

Cilostazol ameliorates diabetic nephropathy by inhibiting highglucose-induced apoptosis

Chien-Wen Chian,Yung-Shu Lee,Yi-Ju Lee,Ya-Hui Chen,Chi-Ping Wang,Wen-Chin Lee,Huei-Jane Lee 대한생리학회-대한약리학회 2020 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.24 No.5

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a hyperglycemia-induced progressive development of renal insufficiency. Excessive glucose can increase mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induce cell damage, causing mitochondrial dysfunction. Our previous study indicated that cilostazol (CTZ) can reduce ROS levels and decelerate DN progression in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetes. This study investigated the potential mechanisms of CTZ in rats with DN and in high glucose-treated mesangial cells. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed 5 mg/kg/day of CTZ after developing STZ-induced diabetes mellitus. Electron microscopy revealed that CTZ reduced the thickness of the glomerular basement membrane and improved mitochondrial morphology in mesangial cells of diabetic kidney. CTZ treatment reduced excessive kidney mitochondrial DNA copy numbers induced by hyperglycemia and interacted with the intrinsic pathway for regulating cell apoptosis as an antiapoptotic mechanism. In high-glucose-treated mesangial cells, CTZ reduced ROS production, altered the apoptotic status, and down-regulated transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) and nuclear factor kappa light chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB). Base on the results of our previous and current studies, CTZ deceleration of hyperglycemia-induced DN is attributable to ROS reduction and thereby maintenance of the mitochondrial function and reduction in TGF-β and NF-κB levels.

Prioritization of Sleep: Discrepancies Between Attitude and Practice

Ya-Chuan Huang,Tzu-Ting Lin,Chien-Ming Yang 대한수면연구학회 2023 Journal of sleep medicine Vol.20 No.3

Objectives: With the promotion of sleep through education, an increasing recognition of the importance of sleep among the general public has been observed. However, whether this increased recognition affects sleep practices is unknown. To provide direction for future sleep education programs, this study aimed to explore the consistency between people’s prioritization of sleep among their daily life activities and their actual practice when sleep conflicts with other activities.Methods: The study was a cross-sectional online survey with 898 adults (male:female=372:526; age=39.74±10.04 years). The participants were asked to complete an online survey that required them to 1) rate how important sleep was; 2) prioritize daily life activities including sleep, work, family activities, leisure activities, social activities, and exercise; and 3) recall the actions they undertook at the most recent instance when sleep conflicted with each of the other activities.Results: Although 70.7% of the participants prioritized sleep by placing it in their top three daily life activities, only 35.7% and 38.1% chose to go to sleep when it conflicted with work and family activities, respectively. Gender and occupational factors also significantly influenced the discrepancy between sleep attitudes and practices.Conclusions: Our study demonstrated an inconsistency between reporting sleep as a priority in daily life activities and actual behavioral practices when sleep conflicted with other activities. The results suggest that sleep education should not only emphasize the importance of sleep but also provide practical solutions for circumstances when sleep conflicts with other activities.

An Aligned Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) Scaffold Fixed with Fibronectin to Enhance the Attachment and Growth of Human Endothelial Progenitor Cells

Chien-Ning Hsu,Ya-Ting Lin,Yu-Hsu Chen,Tsung-Yu Tseng,Hsing-Fen Tsai,Shinn-Gwo Hong,Chao-Ling Yao 한국생물공학회 2023 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.28 No.3

Repair and regeneration of vascular tissue is a crucial current research focus in the fields of biomedical engineering and regenerative medicine. Numerous studies revealed that cells are required to grow on an appropriate extracellular matrix to maintain or enhance functionality. In the present study, various surface modification methods were evaluated to fix fibronectin on the surface of a bio-based and aligned poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) film for vascular tissue engineering. After chemical modification, the properties of the fibronectin-fixed PHBV films were examined and compared with the original films, including -NH2 group expression, contact angle, mechanical properties, and fibronectin binding amount. Then, cytotoxicity and biocompatibility were measured by culture with L929 cells and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) of the fibronectinfixed PHBV films. In addition, cell morphology, cell growth kinetics, acetylated low-density lipoprotein uptake ability, lectin binding ability and specific gene expressions of cultured EPCs on fibronectin-fixed PHBV films were also analyzed. Taken together, our data demonstrated that the surface of the aligned PHBV films could be successfully modified to immobilize fibronectin. Importantly, EPCs cultured on the fibronectin-fixed PHBV films showed excellent cell biocompatibility, a rapid proliferation rate, an aligned growth direction and correct cell functions. We believed that fibronectin-fixed PHBV films can serve as a potential scaffold for vascular tissue engineering.

Discovery of Novel DUSP4 Inhibitors through the Virtual Screening with Docking Simulations

박황서,전태진,Pham Ngoc Chien,So Ya Park,Sung Min Oh,김승준,류성언 대한화학회 2014 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.35 No.9

Dual specificity protein phosphatase 4 (DUSP4) has been considered a promising target for the development of therapeutics for various human cancers. Here, we report the first example for a successful application of the structure-based virtual screening to identify the novel small-molecule DUSP4 inhibitors. As a consequence of the virtual screening with the modified scoring function to include an effective molecular solvation free energy term, five micromolar DUSP4 inhibitors are found with the associated IC50 values ranging from 3.5 to 10.8 μM. Because these newly identified inhibitors were also screened for having desirable physicochemical properties as a drug candidate, they may serve as a starting point of the structure-activity relationship study to optimize the medical efficacy. Structural features relevant to the stabilization of the new inhibitors in the active site of DUSP4 are discussed in detail.

POLARIZATION PROPERTIES OF LARGE-AREA GaN-BASED LIGHT-EMITTING DIODES WITH AN OMNIDIRECTIONAL NANOSTRUCTURE

WAN-WEI WANG,LUNG-CHIEN CHEN,YA-HSIN WANG 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2012 NANO Vol.7 No.5

Large-area GaN-based blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on sapphire substrates with an omnidirectional nanostructure consisted of Ag nanoparticles and TiO2/SiO2 Bragg re°ector were fabricated. For the LEDs without the omnidirectional nanostructure, the spectra of the P- and S-polarization light are lightly di®erent and the peak wavelength of P- and S-polarization light was estimated to be 464 nm and 463 nm, respectively at forward current of 20 mA. In contrast, for the LEDs with the omnidirectional nanostructure, the spectra of the P- and S-polarization light are nearly the same at forward current of 20mA and 100 mA.