Character Segmentation in Chinese Handwritten Text Based on Gap and Character Construction Estimation

Zhang, Cheng Dong,Lee, Guee-Sang The Korea Contents Association 2012 International Journal of Contents Vol.8 No.1

Character segmentation is a preprocessing step in many offline handwriting recognition systems. In this paper, Chinese characters are categorized into seven different structures. In each structure, the character size with the range of variations is estimated considering typical handwritten samples. The component removal and merge criteria are presented to remove punctuation symbols or to merge small components which are part of a character. Finally, the criteria for segmenting the adjacent characters concerning each other or overlapped are proposed.

Text Location and Extraction for Business Cards Using Stroke Width Estimation

Zhang, Cheng Dong,Lee, Guee-Sang The Korea Contents Association 2012 International Journal of Contents Vol.8 No.1

Text extraction and binarization are the important pre-processing steps for text recognition. The performance of text binarization strongly related to the accuracy of recognition stage. In our proposed method, the first stage based on line detection and shape feature analysis applied to locate the position of a business card and detect the shape from the complex environment. In the second stage, several local regions contained the possible text components are separated based on the projection histogram. In each local region, the pixels grouped into several connected components based on the connected component labeling and projection histogram. Then, classify each connect component into text region and reject the non-text region based on the feature information analysis such as size of connected component and stroke width estimation.

Mechanistic Insight into Nanoarchitected Ag/Pr₆O₁₁ Catalysts for Efficient CO Oxidation

Zhang, Xinxin,Cheng, Shiyang,Zhang, Wei,Zhang, Cai,Drewett, Nicholas E.,Wang, Xiyang,Wang, Dong,Yoo, Seung Jo,Kim, Jin-Gyu,Zheng, Weitao American Chemical Society 2017 INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH - Vol.56 No.39

<P>Ag/Pr<SUB>6</SUB>O<SUB>11</SUB> catalysts supported by either Pr<SUB>6</SUB>O<SUB>11</SUB> nanorods (Pr<SUB>6</SUB>O<SUB>11</SUB>-NRs) or nanoparticles (Pr<SUB>6</SUB>O<SUB>11</SUB>-NPs) were prepared by conventional incipient wetness impregnation. The nanocomposite of Ag/Pr<SUB>6</SUB>O<SUB>11</SUB>-NRs demonstrated a higher catalytic activity for CO oxidation than Ag/Pr<SUB>6</SUB>O<SUB>11</SUB>-NPs at lower temperatures. This improved performance may be ascribed to the mesoporous features and resultant oxygen vacancies of the Pr<SUB>6</SUB>O<SUB>11</SUB> nanorods support, as well as the large surface area and homogeneous loading of Ag species. As a result, 98.7 and 100% CO conversions were achieved at 210 and 240 °C for Ag/Pr<SUB>6</SUB>O<SUB>11</SUB>-NRs, while Ag/Pr<SUB>6</SUB>O<SUB>11</SUB>-NPs require a temperature of 320 °C to obtain the 100% CO conversion rate. These findings reveal that Pr<SUB>6</SUB>O<SUB>11</SUB>-NRs is the preferable support, comparative to Pr<SUB>6</SUB>O<SUB>11</SUB>-NPs, for Ag/Pr<SUB>6</SUB>O<SUB>11</SUB> catalysts, for CO oxidation.</P><P><B>Graphic Abstract</B> <IMG SRC='http://pubs.acs.org/appl/literatum/publisher/achs/journals/content/iecred/2017/iecred.2017.56.issue-39/acs.iecr.7b02530/production/images/medium/ie-2017-02530c_0006.gif'></P><P><A href='http://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/ie7b02530'>ACS Electronic Supporting Info</A></P>

Antitumor Activity of Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Trichostatin A in Osteosarcoma Cells

Cheng, Dong-Dong,Yang, Qing-Cheng,Zhang, Zhi-Chang,Yang, Cui-Xia,Liu, Yi-Wen Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.4

Background: Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have been reported to induce cell growth arrest, apoptosis and differentiation of tumor cells. The present study aimed to examine the effects of trichostatin A (TSA), one such inhibitor, on the cell cycle, apoptosis and invasiveness of osteosarcoma cells. Methods: MG-63 cells were treated with TSA at various concentrations. Then, cell growth and apoptosis were determined by 3-(4, 5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and TUNEL assays, respectively; cell cycling was assessed by flow cytometry; invasion assays were performed with the transwell Boyden Chamber system. Results: MTT assays revealed that TSA significantly inhibited the growth of MG-63 cells in a concentration and time dependent manner. TSA treated cells demonstrated morphological changes indicative of apoptosis and TUNEL assays revealed increased apoptosis of MG-63 cells after TSA treatment. Flow cytometry showed that TSA arrested the cell cycle in G1/G2 phase and annexin V positive apoptotic cells increased markedly. In addition, the invasiveness of MG-63 cells was inhibited by TSA in a concentration dependent manner. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that TSA inhibits the proliferation, induces apoptosis and inhibits invasiveness of osteosarcoma cells in vitro. HDAC inhibitors may thus have promise to become new therapeutic agents against osteosarcoma.

Clinical Significance of SH2B1 Adaptor Protein Expression in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Zhang, Hang,Duan, Chao-Jun,Chen, Wei,Wang, Shao-Qiang,Zhang, Sheng-Kang,Dong, Shuo,Cheng, Yuan-Da,Zhang, Chun-Fang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.5

The SH2B1 adaptor protein is recruited to multiple ligand-activated receptor tyrosine kinases that play important role in the physiologic and pathologic features of many cancers. The purpose of this study was to assess SH2B1 expression and to explore its contribution to the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: SH2B1 expression in 114 primary NSCLC tissue specimens was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and correlated with clinicopathological parameters and patients' outcome. Additionally, 15 paired NSCLC background tissues, 5 NSCLC cell lines and a normal HBE cell line were evaluated for SH2B1 expression by RT-PCR and immunoblotting, immunofluorescence being applied for the cell lines. Results: SH2B1 was found to be overexpressed in NSCLC tissues and NSCLC cell lines. More importantly, high SH2B1 expression was significantly associated with tumor grade, tumor size, clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, and recurrence respectively. Survival analysis demonstrated that patients with high SH2B1 expression had both poorer disease-free survival and overall survival than other patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that SH2B1 overexpression was an independent prognostic factor for patients with NSCLC. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the SH2B1 protein may contribute to the malignant progression of NSCLC and could offer a novel prognostic indicator for patients with NSCLC.

Impact of Caspase-8 (CASP8) -652 6N Del and D302H Polymorphisms on Prostate Cancer in Different Ethnic Groups

Zhang, Cheng-Dong,Li, Hong-Tao,Liu, Kun,Lin, Zhi-Di,Peng, Qi-Liu,Qin, Xue,He, Min,Wu, Hua,Mo, Zeng-Nan,Yang, Xiao-Li Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.18

Background: Despite evidence suggesting roles for caspase-8 (CASP8) -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms in prostate cancer (PCa), the association of these polymorphisms with PCa risk remains inconclusive. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to more precisely estimate the association of CASP8 -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms with PCa susceptibility. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify all case-control studies of CASP8 D302H and -652 6N del polymorphisms and PCa risk. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the association and the precision of the estimate, respectively. Results: Nine -625 6N del studies and 4 D302H studies were included. CASP8 -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms were not significantly associated with PCa risk in the overall analyses. However, in the subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity, -625 6N del was significantly associated with PCa risk in the East Asian and Indian populations under the recessive model. Furthermore, the subgroup analysis strongly suggested that D302H was associated with lower PCa risk in the Non-Indian population under the dominant model. Conclusions: In our meta-analysis, ethnic-specific differences were evident in the association of CASP8-625 6N del and D302H polymorphisms with PCa risk.

Longitudinal Intrinsic Brain Activity Changes in Cirrhotic Patients before and One Month after Liver Transplantation

Yue Cheng,Li-Xiang Huang,Li Zhang,Ming Ma,Shuang-Shuang Xie,Qian Ji,Xiao-Dong Zhang,Gao-Yan Zhang,Xue-Ning Zhang,Hong-Yan Ni,Wen Shen 대한영상의학회 2017 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.18 No.2

Objective: To evaluate the spontaneous brain activity alterations in liver transplantation (LT) recipients using resting-state functional MRI. Materials and Methods: Twenty cirrhotic patients as transplant candidates and 25 healthy controls (HCs) were included in this study. All patients repeated the MRI study one month after LT. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) values were compared between cirrhotic patients (both pre- and post-LT) and HCs as well as between the pre- and post-LT groups. The relationship between ALFF changes and venous blood ammonia levels and neuropsychological tests were investigated using Pearson’s correlation analysis. Results: In the cirrhotic patients, decreased ALFF in the vision-related regions (left lingual gyrus and calcarine), sensorimotor-related regions (left postcentral gyrus and middle cingulate cortex), and the default-mode network (bilateral precuneus and left inferior parietal lobule) were restored, and the increased ALFF in the temporal and frontal lobe improved in the early period after LT. The ALFF decreases persisted in the right supplementary motor area, inferior parietal lobule, and calcarine. The ALFF changes in the right precuneus were negatively correlated with changes in number connection test-A scores (r = 0.507, p < 0.05). Conclusion: LT improved spontaneous brain activity and the results for associated cognition tests. However, decreased ALFF in some areas persisted, and new-onset abnormal ALFF were possible, indicating that complete cognitive function recovery may need more time.

Causal Relations between Exposome and Stroke: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Hong-Qi Li,Yi-Wei Feng,Yu-Xiang Yang,Xin-Yi Leng,Prof Can Zhang,Shi-Dong Chen,Kevin Kuo,Shu-Yi Huang,Xue-Qing Zhang,Yi Dong,Xiang Han,Xin Cheng,Mei Cui,Lan Tan,Qiang Dong,Jin-Tai Yu 대한뇌졸중학회 2022 Journal of stroke Vol.24 No.2

Background and Purpose To explore the causal relationships of elements of the exposome with ischemic stroke and its subtypes at the omics level and to provide evidence for stroke prevention. Methods We conducted a Mendelian randomization study between exposure and any ischemic stroke (AIS) and its subtypes (large-artery atherosclerotic disease [LAD], cardioembolic stroke [CE], and small vessel disease [SVD]). The exposure dataset was the UK Biobank involving 361,194 subjects, and the outcome dataset was the MEGASTROKE consortium including 52,000 participants. Results We found that higher blood pressure (BP) (systolic BP: odds ratio [OR], 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 1.04; diastolic BP: OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.05; pulse pressure: OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.06), atrial fibrillation (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.25), and diabetes (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.18) were significantly associated with ischemic stroke. Importantly, higher education (OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.79) decreased the risk of ischemic stroke. Higher systolic BP (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.10), pulse pressure (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.14), diabetes (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.45), and coronary artery disease (OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.25 to 2.00) could cause LAD. Atrial fibrillation could cause CE (OR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.71 to 2.11). For SVD, higher systolic BP (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.07), diastolic BP (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.12), and diabetes (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.36) were causal factors. Conclusions The study revealed elements of the exposome causally linked to ischemic stroke and its subtypes, including conventional causal risk factors and novel protective factors such as higher education.

Association of Six Susceptibility Loci with Prostate Cancer in Northern Chinese Men

Zhang, Yu-Rong,Xu, Yong,Yang, Kuo,Liu, Ming,Wei, Dong,Zhang, Yao-Guang,Shi, Xiao-Hong,Wang, Jian-Ye,Yang, Fan,Wang, Xin,Liang, Si-Ying,Zhao, Cheng-Xiao,Wang, Fei,Chen, Xin,Sun, Liang,Zhu, Xiao-Quan,Zh Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.12

Background/Aim: Six prostate cancer (PCa) susceptibility loci were identified in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in populations of European decent. However, the associations of these 6 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with PCa has remained tobe clarified in men in Northern China. This study aimed to explore the loci associated with PCa risk in a Northern Chinese population. Methods: Blood samples and clinical information of 289 PCa patients and 288 controls from Beijing and Tianjin were collected. All risk SNPs were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-high resolution melting curve technology and gene sequencing. Associations between PCa and clinical covariates (age at diagnosis, prostate-specific antigen [PSA], Gleason score, tumor stage, and level of aggressiveness) and frequencies of alleles and genotypes of these SNPs were analyzed using genetic statistics. Results: Among the candidate SNPs, 11p15 (rs7127900, A) was associated with PCa risk (P = 0.02, odds ratio [OR] = 1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09-2.46). Genotypes showed differences between cases and controls on 11p15 (rs7127900, A), 11q13 (rs7931342, T), and HNF1B (rs4430796, A) (P = 0.03, P = 0.01, and P = 0.04, respectively). The genotype TG on 11q13 (rs7931342, T) was positively associated with an increased Gleason score (P = 0.04, OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.02-4.55). Patients carrying TG on 17q24 (rs1859962, G) were negatively associated with an increased body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.03, OR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.21-0.92) while those with AG on HNF1B (rs4430796, A) were more likely to have PSA increase (P = 0.002). Conclusion: Our study suggests that 11p15 (rs7127900, A) could be a susceptibility locus associated with PCa in Northern Chinese. Genotype TG on 11q13 (rs7931342, T) could be related to an increased Gleason score, AG on HNF1B (rs4430796, A) could be associated with PSA increase, and TG on 17q24 (rs1859962, G) could be negatively associated with an increased BMI in Chinese men with PCa.

Synthesis and Catalytic Application of Ni-Supported Carbon Nanotubes for n-Heptane Cracking

Zhang, Ai Min,Han, Dong Cheng,Zhu, Zhi Qing,Lee, Jung-Woo,Rhee, Hyun-Ku 한국화학공학회 2003 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.20 No.4

Carbon nanotubes were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition and subsequently purified and oxidized by repeated treatment with nitric acid. After acid treatment the walls of carbon nanotubes became thinner and the surface area increased. The Ni-supported carbon nanotubes prepared by impregnation were applied to the cracking of nheptane to show an excellent activity. This indicates that the carbon nanotubes can serve as a good catalyst support with high dispersion of metallic components. The optimum Ni loading turned out to be about 5.2 mmol/g. The cracking product was found to contain mainly small hydrocarbons; thus the Ni-supported carbon nanotubes may be applied as a potential catalyst to the cracking of heavy hydrocarbons.