p‐Type InP Nanopillar Photocathodes for Efficient Solar‐Driven Hydrogen Production

Lee, Min Hyung,Takei, Kuniharu,Zhang, Junjun,Kapadia, Rehan,Zheng, Maxwell,Chen, Yu‐,Ze,Nah, Junghyo,Matthews, Tyler S.,Chueh, Yu‐,Lun,Ager, Joel W.,Javey, Ali WILEY‐VCH Verlag 2012 Angewandte Chemie Vol.124 No.43

<P><B>Perfekte Textur</B>: Der Einfluss der Oberflächen‐Nanotexturierung, der TiO<SUB>2</SUB>‐Passivierung und des Ru‐Cokatalysators auf die photoelektrochemische Wasserstoffentwicklung durch p‐InP‐Photokathoden wurde untersucht. Höhere Stromdichten und günstigere Onset‐Potentiale werden nach Oberflächen‐Nanotexturierung beobachtet. NHE=Normalwasserstoffelektrode.</P>

Association Between the Red Blood Cell Distribution Width and 30-Day Mortality in Intensive Care Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery: A Retrospective Observational Study Based on the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-IV Database

Chen Weiqiang,Yu Peiling,Chen Chao,Cai Shaoyan,Chen Junheng,Zheng Chunqin,Chen Chaojin,Zheng Liangjie,Guo Chunming 대한진단검사의학회 2024 Annals of Laboratory Medicine Vol.44 No.5

Background: Millions of patients undergo cardiac surgery each year. The red blood cell distribution width (RDW) could help predict the prognosis of patients who undergo percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass surgery. We investigated whether the RDW has robust predictive value for the 30-day mortality among patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) after undergoing cardiac surgery. Methods: Using the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-IV Database, we retrieved data for 11,634 patients who underwent cardiac surgery in an ICU. We performed multivariate Cox regression analysis to model the association between the RDW and 30-day mortality and plotted Kaplan–Meier curves. Subgroup analyses were stratified using relevant covariates. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the predictive value of the RDWs. Results: The total 30-day mortality rate was 4.2% (485/11,502). The elevated-RDW group had a higher 30-day mortality rate than the normal-RDW group (P <0.001). The robustness of our data analysis was confirmed by performing subgroup analyses. Each unit increase in the RDW was associated with a 17% increase in 30-day mortality when the RDW was used as a continuous variable (adjusted hazard ratio=1.17, 95% confidence interval, 1.10–1.25). Our ROC results showed the predictive value of the RDW. Conclusions: An elevated RDW was associated with a higher 30-day mortality in patients after undergoing cardiac surgery in an ICU setting. The RDW can serve as an efficient and accessible method for predicting the mortality of patients in ICUs following cardiac surgery.

miR-340 Reverses Cisplatin Resistance of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Lines by Targeting Nrf2-dependent Antioxidant Pathway

Shi, Liang,Chen, Zhan-Guo,Wu, Li-li,Zheng, Jian-Jian,Yang, Jian-Rong,Chen, Xiao-Fei,Chen, Zeng-Qiang,Liu, Cun-Li,Chi, Sheng-Ying,Zheng, Jia-Ying,Huang, Hai-Xia,Lin, Xiang-Yang,Zheng, Fang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.23

Many chemotherapeutic agents have been successfully used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the development of chemoresistance in liver cancer cells usually results in a relapse and worsening of prognosis. It has been demonstrated that DNA methylation and histone modification play crucial roles in chemotherapy resistance. Currently, extensive research has shown that there is another potential mechanism of gene expression control, which is mediated through the function of short noncoding RNAs, especially for microRNAs (miRNAs), but little is known about their roles in cancer cell drug resistance. In present study, by taking advantage of miRNA effects on the resistance of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells line to cisplatin, it has been demonstrated that miR-340 were significantly downregulated whereas Nrf2 was upregulated in HepG2/CDDP (cisplatin) cells, compared with parental HepG2 cells. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase assays of Nrf2-3'-untranslated region-based reporter constructor indicated that Nrf2 was the direct target gene of miR-340, miR-340 mimics suppressing Nrf2-dependent antioxidant pathway and enhancing the sensitivity of HepG2/CDDP cells to cisplatin. Interestingly, transfection with miR-340 mimics combined with miR-340 inhibitors reactivated the Nrf2 related pathway and restored the resistance of HepG2/CDDP cells to CDDP. Collectively, the results first suggested that lower expression of miR-340 is involved in the development of CDDP resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, at least partly due to regulating Nrf2-dependent antioxidant pathway.

Instantaneous multi-mode identification and analysis of vortex-induced vibration via a mode decomposition method

Chen, Zheng-Shou,Rhee, Shin Hyung Elsevier 2019 Applied ocean research Vol.93 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>The dynamic characteristics of marine risers/pipes often present serried modes with various frequencies due to high levels of structural flexibility and slenderness, especially when the flow velocity is non-uniformly distributed along the span. Therefore, the vortex-induced vibration (hence VIV) for slender risers/pipes is usually characterized by multi-mode motions. In this paper, by means of a newly developed empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method which contributes to more efficient instantaneous multi-mode identification and analysis, new characteristics of a multi-mode “lock-in” vibration process of a large-scale flexible pipe subject to shear flow were discussed. Because the two-degree vibration along the span can be analyzed simultaneously, the effects of multi-mode VIV were investigated systematically. From the given illustrative examples, it was found that the vibration energy diffusion between the fluid and the structure, and among the participating modes, may be repeatable and reversible, or even irreversible, which causes VIV to be highly intricate. The coexistence of multiple modes, energy transfer, and mode switching/jump is observed when the reduced velocity is relatively high. The multi-dominant mode phenomenon is also found in both cross-flow (CF) and in-line (IL) VIVs. Energy transfers between the CF and IL directions occasionally occur, and CF VIV is apt to dominate the vibration process, because it is superior to IL VIV with the increment of the reduced velocity.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> By means of a newly developed empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method, new characteristics of a multi-mode “lock-in” vibration process of a large-scale flexible pipe subject to shear flow were discussed. </LI> <LI> The vibration energy diffusion between the fluid and the structure, and among the participating modes, may be repeatable and reversible, or even irreversible, which causes VIV to be highly intricate. </LI> <LI> The multi-dominant mode phenomenon is found in both cross-flow (CF) and in-line (IL) VIVs. </LI> <LI> In contrast to IL VIV, CF VIV is superior and prone to dominate the vibration process with the increment of the reduced velocity. </LI> <LI> Energy transfers between the CF and IL directions occasionally occur. </LI> </UL> </P>

Preceding Vehicle Identification for Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control Platoon Forming

Chen, Zheng,Park, Byungkyu Brian IEEE 2020 IEEE transactions on intelligent transportation sy Vol.21 No.1

<P>Cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) has shown great potential in enhancing traffic efficiency and sustainability. While past research efforts focused on the development of CACC systems and their demonstrations, very few of them considered in detail how to form a CACC platoon in real traffic, where the proper identification of preceding vehicle is required. To ensure safe and reliable CACC operations, the following vehicle needs to establish the correct connection with its preceding vehicle. Although this can be done by matching information shared by surrounding vehicles with the ego-vehicle’s radar measurements, the existence of sensor/global positioning system (GPS) errors makes it a challenging task. Considering possible sensor/GPS errors in real traffic, this paper proposes a procedure of identifying preceding vehicle under fully connected vehicle environment and evaluates three preceding vehicle identification systems (PVIS), namely, location-based PVIS, distance-based PVIS, and integrated PVIS combining both location and distance information. The mathematical models of PVISs are developed. The performance evaluation of the PVISs is conducted based on real vehicle trajectory data from the Next Generation Simulation (NGSIM) program, which reflects how vehicles’ relative positions change in a high-density segment of highway. The feasibility, performance, and potential of the three PVISs are compared. The results show that location-based PVIS requires a relative positioning accuracy below 1.1 m to ensure an acceptable identification time with zero failure rate. The integrated PVIS has the best performance, providing 99% confidence in identifying preceding vehicle within 1.3 s under typical sensor error settings.</P>

Grem1 accelerates nucleus pulposus cell apoptosis and intervertebral disc degeneration by inhibiting TGF-β-mediated Smad2/3 phosphorylation

Chen Shunlun,Lei Linchuan,Li Zemin,Chen Fan,Huang Yuming,Jiang Guowei,Guo Xingyu,Zhao Zhuoyang,Liu Hui,Wang Hua,Liu Caijun,Zheng Zhaomin,Wang Jianru 생화학분자생물학회 2022 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.54 No.-

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a main cause of low back pain, and inflammatory factors play key roles in its pathogenesis. Gremlin-1 (Grem1) was reported to induce an inflammatory response in other fields. This study aimed to investigate the mechanisms of Grem1 in the degenerative process of intervertebral discs. Dysregulated genes were determined by analyzing microarray profiles. The expression of Grem1 in 17 human disc samples (male:female = 9:8) and rat models (n = 5 each group) was measured by western blotting (WB), real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), and immunohistochemistry (IHC). The regulatory effects of Grem1 on apoptosis were examined using siRNAs, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence (IF), and WB. The therapeutic effect was evaluated by locally injecting specific Grem1 siRNA into IVDD rats. The expression of Grem1 was significantly increased in human degenerative intervertebral discs; furthermore, the expression of Grem1 positively correlated with the level of intervertebral disc degeneration. Grem1 was significantly overexpressed in tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α-induced degenerative NP cells. Apoptosis in degenerative NP cells transfected with siRNA targeting Grem1 was significantly lower than that in the control group. Specific Grem1 siRNA markedly repressed the development of IVDD in surgery-induced IVDD rats. These results indicated that the expression of Grem1 was positively correlated with the severity of intervertebral disc degeneration, and Grem1 siRNA could inhibit Grem1-induced apoptosis and extracellular matrix alterations by mediating the TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway. This study may provide a therapeutic strategy for alleviating inflammation-induced apoptosis associated with intervertebral disc degeneration.

Numerical investigation of vortex shedding and vortex-induced vibration for flexible riser models

Chen, Zheng-Shou,Kim, Wu-Joan The Society of Naval Architects of Korea 2010 International Journal of Naval Architecture and Oc Vol.2 No.2

The numerical study about the vortex-induced vibration and vortex shedding in the wake has been presented. Prior to the numerical simulation of flexible riser systems concerning engineering conditions, efficiency validating of the proposed FSI solution method have been performed. The comparison between numerical simulation and published experimental data shows that the CFD method designed for FSI solution could give acceptable result for the VIV prediction of flexible riser/pipe system. As meaningful study on VIV and vortex shedding mode with the focus on flexible riser model systems, two kinds of typical simulation cases have been carried out. One was related to the simulation of vortex visualization in the wake for a riser model subject to forced oscillation, and another was related to the simulation of fluid-structure interaction between the pipes of coupled multi-assembled riser system. The result from forced oscillation simulation shows that the vortex-induced vibration with high response frequency but small instantaneous vibration amplitude contributes to vortex conformation as much as the forced oscillation with large normalized amplitude does, when the frequency of forced oscillation was relatively high. In the multi-assembled riser systems, it has been found that the external current velocity and the distance between two pipes are the critical factors to determine the vibration state and the steady vibration state emerging in quad-pipe system may be destroyed more easily than dual-pipe system.

RASAL1 Attenuates Gastric Carcinogenesis in Nude Mice by Blocking RAS/ERK Signaling

Chen, Hong,Zhao, Ji-Yi,Qian, Xu-Chen,Cheng, Zheng-Yuan,Liu, Yang,Wang, Zhi Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.3

Recent studies have suggested that the RAS protein activator like-1 (RASAL1) functions as a tumor suppressor in vitro and may play an important role in the development of gastric cancer. However, whether or not RASAL1 suppresses tumor growth in vivo remains to be determined. In the present study, we investigated the role of RASAL1 in gastric carcinogenesis using an in vivo xenograft model. A lentiviral RASAL1 expression vector was constructed and utilized to transfect the human poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma cell line, BGC-823. RASAL1 expression levels were verified by quantitative real-time RT-PCR and Western blotting analysis. Then, we established the nude mice xenograft model using BGC-823 cells either over-expressing RASAL1 or normal. After three weeks, the results showed that the over-expression of RASAL1 led to a significant reduction in both tumor volume and weight compared with the other two control groups. Furthermore, in xenograft tissues the increased expression of RASAL1 in BGC-823 cells caused decreased expression of p-ERK1/2, a downstream moleculein the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signal pathway. These findings demonstrated that the over-expression of RASAL1 could inhibit the growth of gastric cancer by inactivation of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway in vivo. This study indicates that RASAL1 may attenuate gastric carcinogenesis.

Dose-Dependent Associations between Wine Drinking and Breast Cancer Risk - Meta-Analysis Findings

Chen, Jia-Yan,Zhu, Hong-Cheng,Guo, Qing,Shu, Zheng,Bao, Xu-Hui,Sun, Feng,Qin, Qin,Yang, Xi,Zhang, Chi,Cheng, Hong-Yan,Sun, Xin-Chen Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2016 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.17 No.3

Purpose: To investigate any potential association between wine and breast cancer risk. Materials and Methods: We quantitatively assessed associations by conducting a meta-analysis based on evidence from observational studies. In May 2014, we performed electronic searches in PubMed, EmBase and the Cochrane Library to identify studies examining the effect of wine drinking on breast cancer incidence. The relative risk (RR) or odds ratio (OR) were used to measure any such association. Results: The analysis was further stratified by confounding factors that could influence the results. A total of twenty-six studies (eight case-control and eighteen cohort studies) involving 21,149 cases were included in our meta-analysis. Our study demonstrated that wine drinking was associated with breast cancer risk. A 36% increase in breast cancer risk was observed across overall studies based on the highest versus lowest model, with a combined RR of 1.0059 (95%CI 0.97-1.05) in dose-response analysis. However, 5 g/d ethanol from wine seemed to have protective value from our non-linear model. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that wine drinking is associated with breast cancer risk in a dose-dependent manner. High consumption of wine contributes to breast cancer risk with protection exerted by low doses. Further investigations are needed for clarification.

Baicalin Induces Apoptosis in Leukemia HL-60/ADR Cells via Possible Down-regulation of the PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway

Zheng, Jing,Hu, Jian-Da,Chen, Ying-Yu,Chen, Bu-Yuan,Huang, Yi,Zheng, Zhi Hong,Liu, Ting-Bo Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.4

Background: The effect and possible mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine, baicalin, on the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in drug-resistant human myeloid leukemia HL-60/ADR cells have been investigated in this current study. Methods: HL-60/ADR cells were treated by 20, 40, $80\;{\mu}mol/L$ baicalin followed by cell cycle analysis at 24h. The mRNA expression level of the apoptosis related gene, Bcl-2 and bad, were measured by RT-PCR on cells treated with $80\;{\mu}mol/L$ baicalin at 12, 24 and 48hr. Western blot was performed to detect the changes in the expression of the proteins related to HL-60/ADR cell apoptosis and the signaling pathway before and after baicalin treatment, including Bcl-2, PARP, Bad, Caspase 3, Akt, p-Akt, NF-${\kappa}B$, p-NF-${\kappa}B$, mTOR and p-mTOR. Results: Sub-G1 peak of HL-60/ADR cells appeared 24 h after $20\;{\mu}mol/L$ baicalin treatment, and the ratio increased as baicalin concentration increased. Cell cycle analysis showed 44.9% G0/G1 phase cells 24 h after baicalin treatment compared to 39.6% in the control group. Cells treated with $80\;{\mu}mol/L$ baicalin displayed a trend in decreasing of Bcl-2 mRNA expression over time. Expression level of the Bcl-2 and PARP proteins decreased significantly while that of the PARP, Caspase-3, and Bad proteins gradually increased. No significant difference in Akt expression was observed between treated and the control groups. However, the expression levels of p-Akt, NF-${\kappa}B$, p-NF-${\kappa}B$, mTOR and p-mTOR decreased significantly in a time-dependent manner. Conclusions: We conclude that baicalin may induce HL-60/ADR cell apoptosis through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.