Neural correlates of the popular music phenomenon: evidence from functional MRI and PET imaging

Chen, Qiaozhen,Zhang, Ying,Hou, Haifeng,Du, Fenglei,Wu, Shuang,Chen, Lin,Shen, Yehua,Chao, Fangfang,Chung, June-key,Zhang, Hong,Tian, Mei Springer-Verlag 2017 European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular Vol.44 No.6

<P>Popular music Gangnam Style can arouse pleasure experience and strong emotional response. The left putamen is positively correlated with the mood arousal level score under the Gangnam Style condition. Our results revealed characteristic patterns of brain activity associated with Gangnam Style, and may also provide more general insights into the music-induced emotional processing.</P>

Tumor-derived CD4+CD25+ Tregs Inhibit the Maturation and Antigen-Presenting Function of Dendritic Cells

Du, Yong,Chen, Xin,Lin, Xiu-Qing,Wu, Wei,Huang, Zhi-Ming Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.7

CD4+CD25+regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a key role in regulation of immnue response and maintenance of self-tolerance. Studies have found Tregs could suppress tumor-specific T cell-mediated immune response and promote cancer progression. Depletion of Tregs can enhance antitumor immunity. Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells and capable of activating antigen-specific immune responses, which make them ideal candidate for cancer immunotherapy. Now various DC vaccines are considered as effective treatment for cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate variation of Tregs in BALB/C mice with hepatocellular carcinoma and investigate the interaction between tumor-derived Tregs, effector T cells (Teff) and splenic DCs. We found the percentages of Tregs/CD4+ in the peripheral blood of tumor-bearing mice were higher than in normal mice. Tumor-derived Tregs diminished the up-regulation of costimulatory molecule expression on splenic DCs, even in the presence of Teff cells and simultaneously inhibited IL-12 and $TNF-{\alpha}$ secretion by DCs.

Study properties of soft subgrade soil stabilized by sewage sludge/lime and nano-SiO₂

Lin, Deng-Fong,Luo, Huan-Lin,Chen, Chien-Ta,Cai, Ming-Du Techno-Press 2016 Geomechanics & engineering Vol.10 No.6

The pozzolanic characteristics of a sludge incinerated into ash were determined in this study. Lime is commonly used as a stabilizer for the treatment of soils, whereas sewage sludge ash (SSA) is often applied with lime to improve soft subgrade soil. In this study, a cohesive soil categorized as A-4 (low-plasticity clay) by AASHTO classifications was mixed with SSA/lime with a 3:1 ratio. Nano-$SiO_2$ was also added to the soil. To identify changes in the workability, strength, permeability, and shear strength of the soft subgrade soil, basic soil tests were conducted, and the microstructure of the treated soil was analyzed. The results indicate that SSA/lime mixtures improve the properties of soft subgrade soil and transform the soil from "poor subgrade soil" to "good to excellent subgrade soil" with a CBR > 8. Additionally, the addition of 2% nano-$SiO_2$ increases the unconfined compressive strength of soft subgrade soil treated with SSA/lime mixture by approximately 17 kPa. However, the swelling of the treated soil increased by approximately 0.1% after the addition of nano-$SiO_2$ and lime. Thus, soil swelling should be considered before lime and nano-$SiO_2$ are applied to soft subgrade soil.

Assembly Mechanism of [Fe2S2] Cluster in Ferredoxin from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

Qian Chen,Hong Yu Mo,Lin Tang,Juan Du,Fang Qin,Jia Zeng 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2011 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.21 No.2

Ferredoxin is a typical iron-sulfur protein that is ubiquitous in biological redox systems. This study investigates the in vitro assembly of a [Fe2S2] cluster in the ferredoxin from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans in the presence of three scaffold proteins: IscA, IscS, and IscU. The spectra and MALDI-TOF MS results for the reconstituted ferredoxin confirm that the iron-sulfur cluster was correctly assembled in the protein. The inactivation of cysteine desulfurase by L-allylglycine completely blocked any [Fe2S2] cluster assembly in the ferredoxin in E. coli, confirming that cysteine desulfurase is an essential component for iron-sulfur cluster assembly. The present results also provide strong evidence that [Fe2S2] cluster assembly in ferredoxin follows the AUS pathway.

β-elemene Induces Caspase-dependent Apoptosis in Human Glioma Cells in vitro through the Upregulation of Bax and Fas/FasL and Downregulation of Bcl-2

Li, Chen-Long,Chang, Liang,Guo, Lin,Zhao, Dan,Liu, Hui-Bin,Wang, Qiu-Shi,Zhang, Ping,Du, Wen-Zhong,Liu, Xing,Zhang, Hai-Tao,Liu, Yang,Zhang, Yao,Xie, Jing-Hong,Ming, Jian-Guang,Cui, Yu-Qiong,Sun, Ying Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.23

Background: ${\beta}$-elemene, extracted from herb medicine Curcuma wenyujin has potent anti-tumor effects in various cancer cell lines. However, the activity of ${\beta}$-elemene against glioma cells remains unclear. In the present study, we assessed effects of ${\beta}$-elemene on human glioma cells and explored the underlying mechanism. Materials and Methods: Human glioma U87 cells were used. Cell proliferation was determined with MTT assay and colony formation assay to detect the effect of ${\beta}$-elemene at different doses and times. Fluorescence microscopy was used to observe cell apoptosis with Hoechst 33258 staining and change of glioma apoptosis and cell cycling were analyzed by flow cytometry. Real-time quantitative PCR and Western-blotting assay were performed to investigated the influence of ${\beta}$-elemene on expression levels of Fas/FasL, caspase-3, Bcl-2 and Bax. The experiment was divided into two groups: the blank control group and ${\beta}$-elemne treatment group. Results: With increase in the concentration of ${\beta}$-elemene, cytotoxic effects were enhanced in the glioma cell line and the concentration of inhibited cell viability ($IC_{50}$) was $48.5{\mu}g/mL$ for 24h. ${\beta}$-elemene could induce cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase. With Hoechst 33258 staining, apoptotic nuclear morphological changes were observed. Activation of caspase-3,-8 and -9 was increased and the pro-apoptotic factors Fas/FasL and Bax were upregulated, while the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 was downregulated after treatment with ${\beta}$-elemene at both mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, proliferation and colony formation by U87 cells were inhibited by ${\beta}$-elemene in a time and does-dependent manner. Conclusions: Our results indicate that ${\beta}$-elemene inhibits growth and induces apoptosis of human glioma cells in vitro. The induction of apoptosis appears to be related with the upregulation of Fas/FasL and Bax, activation of caspase-3,-8 and -9 and downregulation of Bcl-2, which then trigger major apoptotic cascades.

Initial selection of groove location combination for multi-groove casing treatments

Juan Du,Lipeng Gao,Jichao Li,Feng Lin,Jingyi Chen 대한기계학회 2016 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.30 No.2

Stall margin improvement (SMI) curve is a function of a single groove location for a low-speed axial compressor and is investigated numerically and experimentally in this paper. SMI curve illustrates that good grooves are located in a fairly wide region approximately from 30% C ax to 80% C ax aft of the rotor leading edge. The narrow region that contains bad grooves is near 20% C ax aft of the rotor leading edge. The initial selection of groove location combination for multi-groove casing treatments is proposed based on the SMI and efficiency improvement data generated by a series of single-groove and multi-groove casing treatments. The grooves should be set in the “wide region” of the SMI curve. The grooves located near the “narrow region” and the rotor trailing edge should be avoided. The “narrow region” can be identified by the axial momentum distribution of the tip leakage flow or the circumferentially averaged axial shear stress on the casing using the simulation results of the smooth casing at the near-stall point.

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals B cell–related molecular biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease

Xiong Liu-Lin,Xue Lu-Lu,Du Ruo-Lan,Niu Rui-Ze,Chen Li,Chen Jie,Hu Qiao,Tan Ya-Xin,Shang Hui-Fang,Liu Jia,Yu Chang-Yin,Wang Ting-Hua 생화학분자생물학회 2021 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.53 No.-

In recent years, biomarkers have been integrated into the diagnostic process and have become increasingly indispensable for obtaining knowledge of the neurodegenerative processes in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in human blood have been reported to participate in a variety of neurodegenerative activities. Here, a single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of PBMCs from 4 AD patients (2 in the early stage, 2 in the late stage) and 2 normal controls was performed to explore the differential cell subpopulations in PBMCs of AD patients. A significant decrease in B cells was detected in the blood of AD patients. Furthermore, we further examined PBMCs from 43 AD patients and 41 normal subjects by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS), and combined with correlation analysis, we found that the reduction in B cells was closely correlated with the patients’ Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores. To confirm the role of B cells in AD progression, functional experiments were performed in early-stage AD mice in which fibrous plaques were beginning to appear; the results demonstrated that B cell depletion in the early stage of AD markedly accelerated and aggravated cognitive dysfunction and augmented the Aβ burden in AD mice. Importantly, the experiments revealed 18 genes that were specifically upregulated and 7 genes that were specifically downregulated in B cells as the disease progressed, and several of these genes exhibited close correlation with AD. These findings identified possible B cell-based AD severity, which are anticipated to be conducive to the clinical identification of AD progression.

The optimization study of core power control based on meta-heuristic algorithm for China initiative accelerator driven subcritical system

Li Jin-Yang,Du Jun-Liang,Gu Long,Zhang You-Peng,Lin Cong,Wang Yong-Quan,Zhou Xing-Chen,Lin Huan 한국원자력학회 2023 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.55 No.2

The core power control is an important issue for the study of dynamic characteristics in China initiative accelerator driven subcritical system (CiADS), which has direct impact on the control strategy and safety analysis process. The CiADS is an experimental facility that is only controlled by the proton beam intensity without considering the control rods in the current engineering design stage. In order to get the optimized operation scheme with the stable and reliable features, the variation of beam intensity using the continuous and periodic control approaches has been adopted, and the change of collimator and the adjusting of duty ratio have been proposed in the power control process. Considering the neutronics and the thermal-hydraulics characteristics in CiADS, the physical model for the core power control has been established by means of the point reactor kinetics method and the lumped parameter method. Moreover, the multi-inputs single-output (MISO) logical structure for the power control process has been constructed using proportional integral derivative (PID) controller, and the meta-heuristic algorithm has been employed to obtain the global optimized parameters for the stable running mode without producing large perturbations. Finally, the verification and validation of the control method have been tested based on the reference scenarios in considering the disturbances of spallation neutron source and inlet temperature respectively, where all the numerical results reveal that the optimization method has satisfactory performance in the CiADS core power control scenarios.

Exploration and Validation of the Performance of Hemoglobin A1c in Detecting Diabetes in Community-Dwellers With Hypertension

Shan-hu Qiu,Ziwei Du,Weiling Li,Juan Chen,Hang Wu,Jingbao Liu,Min Cai,Bei Wang,Haijian Guo,Zi-lin Sun 대한진단검사의학회 2020 Annals of Laboratory Medicine Vol.40 No.6

Background: Diabetes can complicate hypertension management by increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality. Studies targeting diabetes detection in hypertensive individuals demonstrating an increased risk of diabetes are lacking. We aimed to assess the performance of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and its cut-off point in detecting diabetes in the abovementioned population. Methods: Data from 4,096 community-dwellers with hypertension but without known diabetes were obtained from the Study on Evaluation of iNnovated Screening tools and determInation of optimal diagnostic cut-off points for type 2 diaBetes in Chinese muLti-Ethnic (SENSIBLE) study; these data were randomly split into exploration (70% of the sample) and internal validation (the remaining 30%) datasets. The optimal HbA1c cut-off point was derived from the exploration dataset and externally validated using another dataset from 2,431 hypertensive individuals. The oral glucose tolerance test was considered the gold-standard for confirming diabetes. Results: The areas under the ROC curves for HbA1c to detect diabetes were 0.842, 0.832, and 0.829 for the exploration, internal validation, and external validation datasets, respectively. An optimal HbA1c cut-off point of 5.8% (40 mmol/mol) yielded a sensitivity of 76.2% and a specificity of 74.5%. Individuals who were not diagnosed as having diabetes by HbA1c at 5.8% (40 mmol/mol) had a lower 10-year CVD risk score than those diagnosed as having diabetes (P=0.01). HbA1c≤5.1% (32 mmol/mol) and ≥6.4% (46 mmol/mol) could indicate the absence and presence of diabetes, respectively. Conclusions: HbA1c could detect diabetes effectively in community-dwellers with hypertension.

Ferric Reductase Activity of the ArsH Protein from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

( Mo Hong Yu ),( Qian Chen ),( Juan Du ),( Lin Tang ),( Fang Qin ),( Bo Miao ),( Xue Ling Wu ),( Jia Zeng ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2011 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.21 No.5

The arsH gene is one of the arsenic resistance system in bacteria and eukaryotes. The ArsH protein was annotated as a NADPH-dependent flavin mononucleotide (FMN) reductase with unknown biological function. Here we report for the first time that the ArsH protein showed high ferric reductase activity. Glu104 was an essential residue for maintaining the stability of the FMN cofactor. The ArsH protein may perform an important role for cytosolic ferric iron assimilation in vivo.