Application of physical vapor deposition process to modify activated carbon fibers for ozone reduction

Yu-Chih Lin,Chung-Liang Chang,Tser-Sheng Lin,Hsunling Bai,Ming-Gu Yan,Fu-Hsiang Ko,Chia-Tien Wu,Cheng-Hsiung Huang 한국화학공학회 2008 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.25 No.3

This study utilized the activated carbon fiber (ACF) modified with metal catalyst via physical vapor deposition (PVD) process (ACF/PVD) to diminish ozone. Furthermore, the ozone removal efficiency of ACF/PVD was compared with that of original ACF and ACF modified with metal catalyst via impregnation process (ACF/impregnation). In addition to the kinds of coated metal and the inlet ozone concentrations, the effects of the coating thickness and the reaction temperature on ACF/PVD for ozone removal were also examined. The results indicate that the ozone removal efficiency of ACF/PVD is better than that of original ACF and ACF/impregnation. The ozone removal efficiency of different metal-coated ACF/PVD in the superior order is gold (Au), and manganese (Mn). The increase of Au-coated thickness (3 nm to 80 nm) on ACF/PVD will enhance the ozone removal. However, when the Mn-coated thickness on ACF/PVD is larger than 15 nm, the ozone removal efficiency displays a declining trend. Furthermore, a higher reaction temperature will result in a better ozone removal of ACF/PVD and the original ACF.

Expression of microRNA-218 and its Clinicopathological and Prognostic Significance in Human Glioma Cases

Cheng, Mao-Wei,Wang, Ling-Ling,Hu, Gu-Yu Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.5

Background: MicroRNAs are a class of noncoding RNAs which regulate multiple cellular processes during tumor development. The purpose of this report is to investigate the clinicopathological and prognostic significance of miR-218 in human gliomas. Materials and Methods: Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) was conducted to detect the expression of miR-218 in primary normal human astrocytes, three glioma cell lines and 98 paired glioma and adjacent normal brain tissues.Associations of miR-218 with clinicopathological variables of glioma patients were statistically analyzed. Finally, a survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox's proportional hazards model. Results: The expression level of miR-218 in primary normal human astrocytes was significantly higher than that in glioma cell lines (p<0.01). Also, the expression level of miR-218 in glioma tissues was significantly downregulated in comparison with that in the adjacent normal brain tissues (p<0.001). Statistical analyses demonstrated that low miR-218 expression was closely associated with advanced WHO grade (p=0.002) and low Karnofsky performance score (p=0.010) of glioma patients. Kaplan-Meier analysis with the log-rank test showed that patients with low-miR-218 expression had poorer disease-free survival and overall survival (p=0.0045 and 0.0124, respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed that miR-218 expression was independently associated with the disease-free survival (p=0.009) and overall survival (p=0.004) of glioma patients. Conclusions: Our results indicate that miR-218 is downregulated in gliomas and that its status might be a potential valuable biomarker for glioma patients.

Lithium chloride's inhibition of 3T3-L1 cell differentiation by regulating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and enhancing villin 2 expression

Chi, Yu-Yang,Shen, Jing-Lin,Zhang, Jing,Shan, An-Shan,Niu, Shu-Ling,Zhou, Chang-Hai,Lee, Hong-Gu,Jin, Yong-Cheng Korean Society of Food Science and Technology 2016 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.25 No.4

The aim of this study is to reveal the relation among villin 2, $Wnt/{\beta}-catenin$, and adipogenesis by adding appropriate lithium chloride (LiCl). The study comprises three parts: the selection of LiCl concentration, the effect of LiCl on adipocyte differentiation during and after differentiation induction. By comprehensively analyzing the results of the experiments, we proved that LiCl can inhibit adipocyte differentiation and enhance villin 2 and ${\beta}-catenin$ expressions not only during differentiation induction but also after it. Moreover, villin 2 has a significant impact on ${\beta}-catenin$. We suggest that villin 2 may participate in $Wnt/{\beta}-catenin$ signaling.

Fusion Expression and Immunogenicity of EHEC EspA-Stx2A1 Protein: Implications for the Vaccine Development

Yan Cheng,Youjun Feng,Ping Luo,Jiang Gu,Shu Yu,Wei-jun Zhang,Yan-qing Liu,Qing-xu Wang,Quan-ming Zou,Xu-hu Mao 한국미생물학회 2009 The journal of microbiology Vol.47 No.4

Shiga toxin 2 (Stx2) is a major virulence factor for enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), which is encoded by λ lysogenic phage integrated into EHEC chromosome. Stx2A1, A1 subunit of Stx2 toxin has gathered extensive concerns due to its potential of being developed into a vaccine candidate. However, the substantial progress is hampered in part for the lack of a suitable in vitro expression system. Here we report use of the prokaryotic system pET-28a::espA-Stx2A1/BL21 to carry out the fusion expression of Stx2A1 which is linked to E. coli secreted protein A (EspA) at its N-terminus. Under the IPTG induction, EspA- Stx2A1 fusion protein in the form of inclusion body was obtained successfully, whose expression level can reach about 40% of total bacterial protein at 25°C, much higher than that at 37°C. Western blot test suggested the refolded fusion protein is of excellent immuno-reactivity with both monoclonal antibodies, which are specific to EspA and Stx2A1, respectively. Anti-sera from Balb/c mice immunized with the EspA-Stx2A1 fusion protein were found to exhibit strong neutralization activity and protection capability in vitro and in vivo. These data have provided a novel feasible method to produce Stx2A1 in large scale in vitro, which is implicated for the development of multivalent subunit vaccines candidate against EHEC O157:H7 infections.

An amphipathic polypeptide derived from poly-γ-glutamic acid for the stabilization of membrane proteins : Amphipathic Polymer for Membrane Proteins

Han, Seong-Gu,Na, Jung-Hyun,Lee, Won-Kyu,Park, Dongkook,Oh, Jihye,Yoon, Sung-Ho,Lee, Cheng-Kang,Sung, Moon-Hee,Shin, Yeon-Kyun,Yu, Yeon Gyu Wiley (John WileySons) 2014 Protein science Vol.23 No.12

<P>Difficulties in the extraction of membrane proteins from cell membrane and their solubilization in native conformations have hindered their structural and biochemical analysis. To overcome these difficulties, an amphipathic polypeptide was synthesized by the conjugation of octyl and glucosyl groups to the carboxyl groups of poly-관-glutamic acid (PGA). This polymer, called amphipathic PGA (APG), self-assembles as mono-disperse oligomers consisted of 4-5 monomers. APG shows significantly low value of critical micelle concentration and stabilization activity toward membrane proteins. Most of the sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-solubilized membrane proteins from Escherichia coli remain soluble state in the presence of APG even after the removal of SDS. In addition, APG stabilizes purified 7 transmembrane proteins such as bacteriorhodopsin and human endothelin receptor Type A (ETA ) in their active conformations. Furthermore, ETA in complex with APG is readily inserted into liposomes without disrupting the integrity of liposomes. These properties of APG can be applied to overcome the difficulties in the stabilization and reconstitution of membrane proteins.</P>

Flexural behavior of ultra high performance concrete beams reinforced with high strength steel

Jun-Yan Wang,Jin-Ben Gu,Chao Liu,Yu-Hao Huang,Ru-Cheng Xiao,Biao Ma 국제구조공학회 2022 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.81 No.5

A detailed experimental program was conducted to investigate the flexural behavior of ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) beams reinforced with high strength steel (HSS) rebars with a specified yield strength of 600 MPa via direct tensile test and monotonic four-point bending test. First, two sets of direct tensile test specimens, with the same reinforcement ratio but different yield strength of reinforcement, were fabricated and tested. Subsequently, six simply supported beams, including two plain UHPC beams and four reinforced UHPC beams, were prepared and tested under four-point bending load. The results showed that the balanced-reinforced UHPC beams reinforced with HSS rebars could improve the ultimate loadbearing capacity, deformation capacity, ductility properties, etc. more effectively owing to interaction between high strength of HSS rebar and strain-hardening characteristic of UHPC. In addition, the UHPC with steel rebars kept strain compatibility prior to the yielding of the steel rebar, further satisfied the plane-section assumption. Most importantly, the crack pattern of the UHPC beam reinforced with HSS rebars was prone to transform from single main crack failure corresponding to the normal-strength steel, to multiple main cracks failure under the condition of balanced-reinforced failure, which validated by the conclusion of direct tensile tests cooperated with acoustic emission (AE) source locating technique as well.

Up-regulation of NICE-3 as a Novel EDC Gene Could Contribute to Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Wei, Yuan-Jiang,Hu, Qin-Qin,Gu, Cheng-Yu,Wang, Yu-Ping,Han, Ze-Guang,Cai, Bing Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.9

The epidermal differentiation complex (EDC) contains a large number of gene products which are crucial for the maturation of the human epidermis and can contribute to skin diseases, even carcinogenesis. It is generally accepted that activation of oncogenes and/or inactivation of tumor suppressor genes play pivotal roles in the process of carcinogenesis. Here, NICE-3, a novel EDC gene, was found to be up-regulated in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Furthermore, overexpression of exogenous NICE-3 by recombinant plasmids could significantly promote cell proliferation, colony formation and soft agar colony formation in Focus and WRL-68 HCC cell lines. Reversely, NICE-3 silencing by RNA interference could markedly inhibit these malignant phenotypes in YY-8103 and MHCC-97H cells. Moreover, cell cycle analysis of MHCC-97H transfected with siRNA by flow cytometry showed that NICE-3 knockdown may inhibit cell growth via arrest in G0/G1 phase and hindering entry of cells into S phase. All data of our findings indicate that NICE-3 may contribute to human hepatocellular carcinoma by promoting cell proliferation.

Recent progresses in marine microbial-derived antiviral natural products

Yun‑Fei Teng,Li Xu,Mei‑Yan Wei,Chang‑Yun Wang,Yu‑Cheng Gu,Chang‑Lun Shao 대한약학회 2020 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.43 No.12

Viruses have always been a class of pathogenicmicroorganisms that threaten the health and safety of humanlife worldwide. However, for a long time, the treatment ofviral infections has been slow to develop, and only a fewantiviral drugs have been using clinically. Compared withthese from terrestrial environments, marine-derived microorganismscan produce active substances with more novelstructures and unique functions. From 2015 to 2019, 89antiviral compounds of 8 structural classes have been isolatedfrom marine microorganisms, of which 35 exhibit anti-H1N1 activity. This review surveys systematically marinemicrobial-derived natural products with antiviral activityand illustrates the impact of these compounds on antiviraldrug discovery research.

Targeting SHCBP1 Inhibits Cell Proliferation in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Tao, Han-Chuan,Wang, Hai-Xiao,Dai, Min,Gu, Cheng-Yu,Wang, Qun,Han, Ze-Guang,Cai, Bing Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.10

Src homology 2 domain containing (SHC) is a proto-oncogene which mediates cell proliferation and carcinogenesis in human carcinomas. Here, the SHC SH2-domain binding protein 1 (SHCBP1) was first established to be up-regulated in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues by array-base comparative genome hybridization (aCGH). Meanwhile, we examine and verify it by quantitative real-time PCR and western blot. Our current data show that SHCBP1 was up-regulated in HCC tissues. Overexpression of SHCBP1 could significantly promote HCC cell proliferation, survival and colony formation in HCC cell lines. Furthermore, knockdown of SHCBP1 induced cell cycle delay and suppressed cell proliferation. Furthermore, SHCBP1 could regulate the expression of activate extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and cyclin D1. Together, our findings indicate that SHCBP1 may contribute to human hepatocellular carcinoma by promoting cell proliferation and may serve as a molecular target of cancer therapy.

Dissipative Particle Dynamics Simulation on the Formation Process of CeO₂ Nanoparticles in Alcohol Aqueous Solutions

Zhang, Qi,Zhong, Jing,Yang, Bao-Zhu,Huang, Wei-Qiu,Chen, Ruo-Yu,Liao, Jun-Min,Gu, Chi-Ruei,Chen, Cheng-Lung Korean Chemical Society 2012 대한화학회지 Vol.56 No.4

Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) was carried out to study the nucleation and crystal growth process of $CeO_2$ nanoparticles in different alcohol aqueous solutions. The results showed that the nucleation and crystal growth process of $CeO_2$ can be classified into three stages: nuclei growth, crystal stabilization and crystal aggregation except the initial induction stage, which could be reproduced by collecting simulation results after different simulation time. Properly selecting the sizes of $CeO_2$ and water bead was crucial in the simulation system. The influence of alcohol type and content in solutions, and precipitation temperature on the particle dimension were investigated in detail and compared with the experimental results. The consistency between simulation results and experimental data verify that the simulation can reproduce the macroscopic particle aggregation process. The effect of solvent on the nucleation and crystal growth of $CeO_2$ nanoparticles are different at three stages and can not be simply described by Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory or nucleation thermodynamics theory. Our work demonstrated that DPD methods can be applied to study nanoparticle forming process.